Triumphata Corintho: la preda bellica e i doni di Lucio Mummio Achaico
In: Archeologia Classica: 55, 2003
Permalink: http://digital.casalini.it/4324119
Starting from a new presentation of the inscription concerning the dedication of a statue
by L. Mummius to the colones of Parma, and from a re-examination of all the data on this
famous personage, this study attempts a critical synthesis of his artistic and cultural politics
and of his relationships with Roman society. The destruction of Corinth and the problem of
Roman imperialism in Greece after that event have contributed to the development of a
tradition hostile to Mummius, who became a symbol of an arrogant, brutal, and ignorant
Roman power, sometimes exploiting the historical data.
The archaeological documentation is first reviewed, followed by some observations on a
very important relief of that period, the Altar of Domitius Ahenobarbus. This sculpture is a
war plunder, and it is possible to verify a correspondence of the advertising and political
language between a Roman war dedication and Mummius' behaviour. The possibility of
reconstructing a close relationship between the monument and the person is a further step
to the general analysis of the reliefs and their historical context.