The Roman Marble Sculptures from the North Hall of the East Baths at Gerasa.pdf

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The Roman Marble Sculptures from the North Hall of the East Baths at GerasaAuthor(s): Elise A. FriedlandSource: American Journal of Archaeology, Vol. 107, No. 3 (Jul., 2003), pp. 413-448Published by: Archaeological Institute of AmericaStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/40025394 .

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T h e R o m a n M a r b le Sculptures f r o m t h e N o r t hH a l l o f t h e E a s t B a t h s at G e r a s a

ELISE A. FRIEDLANDAbstract

In 1984,Jordanian archaeologistsdiscovered five Ro-man marble sculptures in the North Hall of the EastBathsat ancientGerasa(modernJerash,Jordan) Tradi-tionally, n the Roman NearEast,marblesculptureshavebeen studied as objets 'art,while their role as culturalartifactshas often been overlooked. Nothing could beclearerevidence of "cultural hoice," however, han theimportation and displayof Roman marble sculptures,carved in non-native stone and sculpted in non-localGraeco-Romantyle.Becausetheirarchitectural, rtistic,and social contexts are largely preserved, these sculp-turesoffer an ideal case studyfor culturalassimilation,urbanization,and the decoration of baths. They weredisplayed n the basilical hall of an imperial-stylebath,indicating that the Gerasenesadopted the Roman cul-tural institution of bathing and its architecture. Theirsculptural tyle,carving echnique, and isotopic datare-vealorigins n Thasosand AsiaMinor,demonstrating heparticipationofArabia n the imperialmarble trade.Six-teen statue bases (found with the sculptures) preserveinformationabout the patrons,honorees, and subjects.The sculptural nstallationsuggeststhat the North Hallmayhavebeen constructedanddecoratedin the secondhalf of the second centuryA.D. with a possible renova-tion in the earlythird century.Bythe third century,the

*Forpermission o studyandpublish hesepieces,Iwouldliketo thankFawwaz l-KhrayshehndGhaziBisheh,currentandformerDirectors-Generalf the DepartmentofAntiqui-ties ofJordan,andAidaNaghawi,Directorof the excavationsof the NorthHall of the EastBaths,andformerInspectorofAntiquities tjerash. amparticularlyndebted o Ms.Naghawi,whonot onlyaffordedme the invaluable pportunity o pub-lish thismaterial rom her excavations, ut who spentmuchtimecarefully eviewing erfieldnoteswithme. Forassistancein thecataloguing, tudy,andphotographingof thesepieces,I thankIman Oweiss,Curatorof theJerashArchaeologicalMuseum,AbdulMajeedAl-Mujali,ChiefRestorerofJerash,MontherAl-Dahash,ormer nspector fAntiquities tjerash,andthemany estoration orkmen ndmuseum upervisorsttheDepartment fAntiquitiesOfficeandJerashArchaeolog-icalMuseum.PierreBikai,Directorof theAmericanCenterofOrientalResearch n Amman,generouslyandunfailinglyas-sistedwithall mattersof thefieldwork.Likewise, am indebt-ed to the entirestaffof ACOR,especiallyPatriciaBikai,KurtZamora, ndHumiAyoubi.AndrewM.Smith Ioffered nvalu-ableassistance oth at the beginningand end of thisproject.Duringthe summersof 2000, 2001, and 2002, SharonHer-bert,Directorof theKelseyMuseumattheUniversity fMich-igan,generouslyprovidedme withresearchspace n the mu-seum.Chrysanthosanellopoulos'sxpertise, rtistry,nd imelyassistance avegreatly nrichedmyunderstandingof the ar-

display ncluded mythological figures,portraitsof localelite, a governor of Arabia,and Caracalla, evealingthedesires of the Gerasenesto participate n Romanpoliti-cal and social arenas. Thus, the sculptures of the EastBathsdemonstrate the prominent role of statuary n ur-banization andRomanization of Arabiaand the ancientNear East*INTRODUCTION

In recent publications on baths and bathing inthe Roman world,1scholars have called for furtherresearch to exploit "the potential for baths to con-tribute to our widerunderstandingof what it was tobe Roman in different times and places within theheterogeneous world of the Roman empire."2Inthe latest research on the architecture,design, con-struction,and context of Romanbaths, however, hesculptural displaysthat once enlivened their majorhalls rarelyhave been given center stage.3Ironical-ly, t is in the patrons,honorees, subjectmatter,style,technique, and material of the marble sculpturesfound in bath buildings throughout the empire thatwe can discover instances of "culturalchoice" most

chitectureof the EastBaths. profitedmuch fromdiscussionsof thismaterialwithAndreaM.Berlin,ElaineK.Gazda,ToddE.Gering,SharonC.Herbert, ohn G.Pedley,DavidS.Potter,M.BarbaraReeves,AndrewM.Smith I,MelanieGrunowSob-ocinski,andLaurenE.Talalay. especiallyhankjoanA.Fried-land, Elaine K.Gazda, ohn G. Pedley,AndrewM. SmithII,MelanieGrunowSobocinski, ndMarilynC. Stewartor read-ing draftsof thisarticle.I wouldalso like to thank R. BruceHitchner ndthe twoanonymousA]Areaderswhosecommentsandsuggestionsgreatlymproved hisarticle.Finally,myworkhas been supportedbya USIA-CAORCost-Doctoral ellow-ship from the AmericanCenter of OrientalResearch,twoCritchfield rantsromRollinsCollege, ndresearchunds romRollinsCollege.This article s dedicated toJohn G.Pedley,atruementor and teacher.1DeLaine1997;DeLaineandJohnston1999;Fagan1999.2DeLaine1999, 10.3The seminalmonographbyManderscheid atesto 1981,and Marvin'sandmarkarticlewaspublished n 1983.In themostrecent two-volume et editedbyDeLaineandJohnston(1999) no one article ocuseson thesculptural ecorationofa specificbathbuildingand itsprogrammaticmeaning.Yet,see DeLaine s callto "[treat]decorationas anintegralpartofthe intended architecturalffect"of bathbuildings(DeLaine1997, 226).

413AmericanJournal ofArchaeology 01 (2003) 413-48

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414 ELISEA. FRIEDLAND [AJA107indicative of Romanization.4While many have de-clared that the role of bathing was so essential toRoman social life that the presence of a bath build-ing in a provincial setting is "a clear indication ofRomanization,"5t is the statuary nstalled in thesebath buildings that animated them and "spoke" odailyvisitors,peripateticgovernmentalofficials,andvisiting emperors. These statues not only relayedmessages of health, bodily pleasure, physical fit-ness, and cultural and intellectual pursuits, theyalso proclaimed the cultural, social, and politicalaspirationsof their patrons, and often (by associa-tion) of their cities. Careful analysisof these mes-sages in the provincescan, therefore, contribute tothe larger dialogue on cultural transmission andchange in the Roman empire.In the Roman Near East,6 he studyof these bathstatues is particularlyrevealing, because their mes-sages are amplified by their material. There is nonativesourceof marbleanywhere n the Levant,nor alocal tradition of carvingmarble. Here, all marbleartifactshad to be importedfrom one of the marble-rich provinces of the empire such as Asia Minor,Greece, or Italy,either as fully carved monuments,partially arvedworks,or uncarvedblocks.7Thus, theimportation and display of marble statuaryin theRoman Near Eastprovidesyet a further index of Ro-manization,since it must have been a concerted andcostly venture for patrons. Traditionally,however,marblesculptures rom the NearEasthave been stud-ied as objetsd'art,and thus theirrole as culturalarti-facts has often been overlooked.8Yet,nothing couldbe more blatant evidence for identity and changes

thereof under Roman rule than the importationand displayof Roman marble sculptures,carvedinnon-nativestone and non-localGraeco-Romantyle.

The Sculpturesfrom the North HallFivelife-size and largerRomanmarblesculptures,discoveredbyJordanianarchaeologistsnJulyof 1984during rescue excavations n the North Hall of theEast Baths at Gerasa,provide a perfect case study.9The five sculptures,carvedin Graeco-Roman tyle,represent a satyrwearing a nebris fig. 1; cat. 1), ayouthfulnude male who maybe identifiedas eitherApollo or Dionysos (fig. 2; cat. 2), a figurewearingafloor-length chitonand standing atop a rocky out-crop who maybe identifiedas either an Apollo or aMuse (fig. 3; cat. 3), and two togate men (figs. 4-5;cats. 4-5). 10Two of the three mythological piecespreserved may be associated with sculptural typescreatedduringthe fourth centuryB.C.or the Helle-nisticperiod. The satyrwearingthe nebrismaybe aversion of the "PouringSatyr"ype, originallycreat-ed by Praxiteles around 360 B.C. The nude malemay be associated with the Apollo or DionysosLykeios ype,also thought to havebeen createddur-ing the middle of the fourth centuryB.C., perhapsby Praxiteles.The two togate figuresmust have rep-resented portraits of private individuals, one ofwhom (fig. 5; cat. 5) wasof the equestrianorder.Of the five sculpturesdiscovered,three preservefeaturesthat allowthem to be dated. One of the to-gatemen (fig.4;cat.4) maybe datedbythe styleandfolds of his toga to the Hadrianicor earlyAntonineperiod, that is, to the middle of the second century

4Smith 1998)provides n excellentmodel orviewing culp-turalobjetsd'art as materialculture.AlthoughWoolf (2001,180) does mention statues of Gauls n his discussionof theGallic ultural evolution,he givesno specifics egarding heirmaterial,display ontext,orsubjectmatter.5Dodge 1990, 112.See also Woolf2001, 180-1, andYegiil1992, 30-43.6Here I define the RomanNear Eastas the Mediterraneanareaeastand southofAsiaMinor modernTurkey) including

the Romanprovinces fSyria, alestine,Arabia, ndEgypt.Thisareaalsomaybe referred o asthe Levant.7For a thorough studyof the imperialmarble rade n Ro-man Palestine,see Fischer 1998. Little recent work on thistopichas been done in the otherregionsof the Levant;how-ever,see Mussche 1961.8E.g., at the end of a recent article on Gerasa, DavidKennedyoutlines a seriesof questionsregarding he cityandthen enumerates he manygenresof unpublishedor unana-lyzedmaterial hatmightanswer hese (1998, 66-9). The 58marblesculpturesdiscoveredthroughoutGerasago unmen-tioned,however.9AidaNaghawi, hen InspectorofJerash,directed theseexcavationson behalf of the Departmentof AntiquitiesofJordan.Therectangular all nwhich hesculptures ere oundis referred o here as the "NorthHall."Althoughshort cata-

logue entriesof thesculptures ppear n the appendix oTh-omas Weber'srecentlypublishedHabilitationsschrift2002),whichI thankhimforsharingwithme, and I havepublisheda briefdiscussionof thegroupand ongercatalogue ntries nthe Annual of theDepartment f AntiquitiesofJordan(Friedland2001), the pieces have neverbeen interpretedwithin theirarchitectural,ocial,andurban ontexts. naddition o thefivelife-size ndlarger culptures, t eastnine unidentifiable ndsmallfragmentswere recovered rom the NorthHall,six ofwhichare still ocatable n the so-calledArtemisStorehouseatthe site.Thesesmallpieces ncludemultipledraperyragments(Weber2002,pl. 128, G-H;pl. 129, E-I;thoseI could locateI numberedAS.13,AS.15,andNEB.6);a fragmentof alimb(unpublished,nownumberedAS.17);a basewithseveraloldsofdraperyurrounding eft oot(unpublished, ownumberedAS.12);and the corner of a thickbase,atopwhichstandsanunevenlyshaped,four-sidedpillar (unpublished,now num-beredNEB. ). Because all of these fragmentsare smallandnone preserveany dentifiable conographyorattributes,t isimpossible o identify heirsubjectmatteror associate hemwithanyof the fivelarger inds.Thus,thesefragmentsdo notprovideanyadditionalevidenceconcerningsculptural ypesdisplayedn the North Hall.luFor ormalcatalogueentries,see the appendix.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLESCULPTURESFROM GERASA 415

Fig.1. Satyrwearinga nebris (cat. 1). Top,rontview;bottom,left profile.

A.D. The other togatus fig. 5; cat. 5) may comparewith pieces dated to the earlyAntonine period (midsecond century A.D.). Finally,the sculptor's signa-ture on the front of the base of the Apollo or Muse(fig. 3; cat. 3) is dated to the second half of the sec-ond centuryA.D. based on the name of the sculptorand on comparison with the letter forms of otherinscriptionsfrom Gerasa that are internallydated.Stable isotopic analyses performed on samplesfrom each of the five sculptures (and from six ofthe unidentifiable sculpted fragments also foundin the room) associate the marble with one quarryin Greece and severalquarries n AsiaMinor (tableI).11Four of the sculptures and three of the frag-ments are carved of marble from Cape Vathy onThasos, a quarryknown to have supplied marble tolocations throughout the Mediterranean duringthe Roman period.12One other sculpture (the tog-atus, fig. 4, cat. 4) and three more fragments arecarved of marble whose isotopic data compare tovarious Anatolian quarries including Marmara,Denizli, Afyon, Ephesos, Iznik, and Sardis.13Each

11The authorcollected the samples,and the analyseswereconducted at the Center orArchaeologicalSciences,thanksto NormanHerz of the University f Georgia,whocomparedthe data to his ClassicalMarbleDatabase:"Stableisotopicra-tios of carbon and oxygenwere determinedby a stable iso-topegasmassspectrometer.Extraction fCO2wascarriedoutat 50 C and valuesreduced to 25C The resultsof isoto-pic analysiswere run through a least squares programthatcompares hem to the classicalmarbleisotopicdatabaseandcalculates hepercent probabilityor eachquarry s a source.Theprogramonlymeasures he distancebetween thesampleandthe quarry entroid,thatis, itscentraldatapoint asplot-ted on a 813C/518Oiagram. t should not be takenliterally,

butother dataespeciallypetrography houldalso be usedinmakinga decisionon origin" N.Herz,pers.comm.,23June2000). Therefore, the physicalcharacteristics f the marblewere also taken nto account.Because the marbleof the ma-jority of the North Hall sculptureshas large,white, translu-cent crystalswith no foliationor color-banding, ome quarrysourcesmaybe ruledout and othersexpected. Forexample,Pentelikon,shown as a statistical ossibility or AS.15,can beruled out sincethe marbledidnot showanypronouncedfoli-ation (N. Herz,pers.comm., 23June 2000). The largegrainsize (indicatinga dolomiticstone) makesCapeVathya verylikelyquarry ource,since thissite"appearso havebeen theonlydolomiticmarble ourceoflarge-grained hite culpturalmarbleusedin theMediterranean egion" Tykot1998) Thesuggestion hat hemarbleof theNorthHallsculptures omesfromquarriesnboth GreeceandAsiaMinor orrespondswithprevioussotopicresearch romtheregion,much of whichwasconductedbyZ. Pearlduringhis scientificstudyof importedwhitemarbleartifacts iscovered n Israel(Pearl1989,14-28formethodologyand 68forconclusions) Pearl'sworkrecent-lyhas been extended andrepublishedbyFischer(1998,247-62) Thissurveyistsstudiesof marbleoriginsbyotherschol-ars,which have ocused onmarbleobjects ound atsinglesitesin Israel.All haveupheldPearl'sconclusions.As the ClassicalMarbleDatabasecontinuesto expand,however, uturefind-ings mayaltercurrentconclusions.12Formultiplediscussionsof the role ofThasianmarble nthe imperialmarbletrade,see Herrmann1990, 1992;Herr-mann and Newman1995;Herz 1988.IntheRomanNearEast,Thasianmarblehasbeen identified n fivesculpturesromthesite of CaesareaMaritima Pearl1989, table 7.2), twosculp-tures ound at TelNaharon(Pearl1989, able7.2) earlyChris-tian Ioniccapitals n Syria Herrmannand Sodini1977,492-3), and the North Theaterat Gerasa Dodge 1988,218).13InPalestine nparticular,Marmara, phrodisias/Denizli,andAfyonareknown o havebeenmajor uppliers fsculptur-al marble (alongwiththe Greekquarriesof PentelikonandThasos).OtherAnatolianquarries, uch asEphesos,shippedmarbleto thisregion aswell (Fischer1998,255-6, ill. 4).



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416 ELISE A. FRIEDLAND [AJA107

Fig. 2. Apollo or DionysosLykeios (cat. 2). Left, ront view; center, ackview;right, eft profile.of the sampled pieces is associated with at least twodifferent Turkish quarries, and the marbles frommanyof these quarrieshave identical physicalchar-acteristics.Thus, because they are not distinguish-able from one another by these or other known sci-entific methods, it is not possible to identify thespecific quarry origins of these sculptures.Becausemost of the sculpturesfrom the North Hall do notpreserveenough detail to associate them with spe-cific sculptural workshops, the isotopic data sug-gesting Greek and Anatolian origins can be sup-ported by the carving technique of only one piece.The togate man (fig. 4; cat. 4) includes a neck strut,highly polished drapery and flesh, and emphaticand plentiful drill-work n the drapery,all featuresthat identify this piece as a product of a sculptortrained in the workshopsof Asia and Cariain AsiaMinor. The availableevidence, then, suggests thatthe sculptures displayed in the North Hall werepurchased and imported to Arabia, in some casesperhaps fully carved, from both Greece and AsiaMinor.A Brief History of GerasaAlthough the city's name is Semitic in origin,14the legends, inscriptions, and material evidenceshow that Gerasa was a Greek foundation. The

Greek sculptural types of these statues as well astheir Graeco-Romansubject matter and stylewere,therefore, quite "athome"in Gerasa.Its coins claimthat Alexander the Great founded Gerasa,15whileA.H.M.Jones concludes that Perdiccaswasthe orig-inal founder of the city, based on a statue of thisgeneral of Alexander, erected in the city duringthe third century A.D.16During Seleucid reign ofTransjordan, he city was renamed Antioch on theChrysorhoas,and its Greek constitution is believedto date to the reign of Antiochus IV Epiphanes(175-164 B.C.).17Though the city subsequentlywascaptured by Alexander Jannaeus in the early 70sB.C. and remained under Hasmonaean controluntil Pompeythe Greatarrived n the Levant,Gerasawas reinstituted as a free Greek city of the Decapo-lis in 64/63 B.C.,as is shown by the fact that the citycounted its yearsfrom the Pompeiian era. From 63B.C. until the annexation of Transjordan by theRomans in A.D. 106, then, Gerasa operated as afree Greekcity.18ndeed,J.M.C.BowshershowsthatGerasa and its sister Decapolitan cities all "sharedconstitutional (Greek) civic status and commoncivic and magisterialtitles . . . [which] in most cases. . . extend beyond the date (AD 106) thought torepresent the demise of the Decapolis as an inde-pendent administrativeunit."19Even the language

14For the Semiticoriginsof the name of Gerasa, ee Millar1993, 398.15Seyrig 965.16Jones1937, 239, 447;Welles 1938,no. 137.17Bowsher1992, 266.18For the Greeknatureof Gerasa, ee Gatier1993. For the

Greeknatureof the Decapoliscities,see Graf1992.EvidenceforNabataean nfluenceat Gerasa omesmostly romcoins,asinglebilingualNabataean-Greeknscription Welles1938,no.1), and the presenceof Nabataeancults n the city(Kraeling1938,36-9).19Bowsher1992, 278.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLE SCULPTURES FROM GERASA 417Table 1. Data from Isotopic Analyses of the Sculptures from theNorth Hall of the East Baths at Gerasa

Inv. No. Subject Grain Size Minerals 513C 518O Possible QuarryaNEB.l Lower portion, togatus 1.5 mm Dol? 3.68 -4.37 Th/CVNEB.2 Apollo/Muse? 1.5 mm Dol? 3.71 -3.36 Th/CV 73NEB.3 Satyr 1 mm Dol? 3.46 -7.00 Th/CVNEB.4 Dionysos/Apollo? 1 mm Dol? 3.58 -4.30 Th/CVNEB.5 Togatus 0.5 mm 3.44 -2.52 Mar 43, De 29NEB.6 Drapery fragment 1.5 mm Dol? 3.46 -4.86 Th/CVNEB.7 Base with square pillar Fine grained 1.36 -4.94 Af 94, Ef 47AS. 12 Left foot on base lmm 3.49 -2.79 Th/CVAS.13 Drapery fragment 1.5 mm Dol? 3.57 -5.13 Th/CVAS. 15 Drapery fragment Finegrained 2.93 -7.38 Pe 68, Iz 66, Sa 66AS. 17 Limb fragment Finegrained 1.17 -4.85 Af98, Ef57aQuarry ources:Af=Afyon,De =Denizli,Ef=Ephesos,Iz= Iznik,Mar=Marmara, e =Pentelikon,Sa= Sardis,Th/CV =Thasos/CapeVathy.Numbers istedbesidequarryourcesare%probability.

of the inscriptions from the site, which are almostexclusively Greek, and the names of the local pa-trons testify to the largely Greek character of thiscity, not only in its Hellenistic phase, but well into

Fig.3.Apollo or Muse (cat. 3) . Top,rontview;bottom,hree-quarters eft view.

the Roman reign of the area.20n A.D. 106, with theestablishment of the province of Arabia, Gerasafound itself at the center of a newly redefined re-gion and became an important urban node out ofwhich several roads emerged. Gerasa wasjust westof the new Via Nova Traiana,with a new road con-necting the town to this majornorth-south artery;furthermore, roads were built from Gerasato Phil-adelphia, from Gerasato Dium and on to the Arabi-an capital of Bosra, and from Gerasa to Pella, thisone leading all the way to the Levantine port ofCaesareaMaritima.All of these roads situatedGera-sa at the nexus of a number of important traderoutes, especially those from the Red Sea northalong the Via Nova and from the Mediterraneaninland along the Caesarea Maritima-Beth Shean-Pella axis.21Such new exposure certainly broughtprosperityto the city.The city's plan is thought to have been laid outsometime around the middle of the first centuryA.D., with subsequent urban development in thesecond half of the first centuryA.D., including theconstruction of the Temple of Zeus, the South The-ater, the Oval Plaza, and the Cardo. The imperialvisitby Hadrian in the winter of A.D. 129-130 initi-ated massiveurban renovation, beginning with theTriumphalArch dedicated to Hadrian and renova-tions to the South Gate. Thereafter, during theAntonine period, Gerasais said to have entered its"Golden Age," which witnessed the constructionof a new temple to Artemis with a huge monumen-tal gateway,a widened cardowith renovated corin-

20Isaac1992,346-7.21Gerasa s approximately47.85 miles (77 km) from thecoast.Fortheroad,see IsaacandRoll1982,9;for thedistancefrom Caesarea o Scythopolis, ee Isaacand Roll1982, 10; orthe pre-Hadrianic ate of the extensionof the CaesareaMar-itima-Scythopolis oad,see IsaacandRoll1982,9.



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Fig. 4. Togateman (cat. 4). Left, ront view;right, ight profile.thian capitals, the south tetrakionia t the junctionof the cardo and decumanus,he nymphaeum, newTemple of Zeus, the North Theater complex, thehippodrome, and perhaps the West Baths. Some ofthis building continued under the Severans,whichis to be expected, since the Near East enjoyed fur-ther prosperityand connection to the imperialcoreduring this period because of Septimius Severus'sinterests in the Near East. Not only did Severusre-organize the provincesof Syriaand Arabia,his wife,JuliaDomna, belonged to the Syrianaristocracy, ndduring his reign the first Arabs became Roman sen-ators.22 n the early third century A.D., Caracallafurthered this focus on the Near East with his fa-mousjourney through the Eastfrom A.D. 215-21 7.23In fact, many scholars propose that the East Bathswere built in this era.

Roughly two centuries of building at Gerasa,therefore, cloaked the Greek city in distinctly Ro-man facades: a town plan based on a cardo and de-cumanus, two Roman-style theaters, colonnadedstreets, a nymphaeum, a hippodrome (though itmayhave been used for Greek-stylechariot racing)

and two imperial-styleRoman bath complexes.24 naddition to this distinctly Roman infrastructure,Gerasa seems to have had its fair share of Romanadministrativepresence. Fromthe firstcenturyA.D.on, we have evidence for a Roman military pres-ence at Gerasa,if not constant, at least periodic.25Moreover,from the early second century A.D. on,many inscriptions mention the governor of Arabiaand six are set up for the procurator. WhetherIsaac'ssuggestion that Gerasamight have served asthe main office for financial administrationof Ara-bia is true or not, it is clear that the cityservedas aperiodic center of Roman administration.26Thequestion then becomes, how Greek wasGerasa,and,more importantly,how Roman did it become? In-deed, Gerasa,with its clearlyGreekorigins and civ-ic identity, but conspicuously Roman veneer, pro-vides an interesting case for the study of identity,and transformations hereof, in response to Romanrule.27This contextual study of the Roman marblesculptures from the North Hall of the East Bathsat Gerasa will add to this inquiry into the identity

22Bowersockl983,110-22.23On Caracalla'spath,seeJohnston1983 and Levick1969.24Forrecentworkon these urban tructures ndothers,seethe many articles in Zayadine 1986 and Institut francaisd'archeologie du Proche-Orient1989. See also Sear 1996;Kehrberg nd Ostrasz1997;Ostrasz1997;andKehrbergandManley2001. For the urbanizationof Roman Gerasa,see

Seigne 1992;however,"noneof [these buildings] is said tohave been paid for by the imperialauthorities" Isaac1992,345).25Isaac1992, 124-5,346.26Isaac1992,345-6.27For one recent study,see Kennedy1998.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLESCULPTURES FROM GERASA 419

Fig. 5. Lowerportion of a togate man (cat. 5), front view

of Roman Gerasa and contribute to the dialogueon Romanization and the processes of culturaltransmission and change in the Roman empire.The sculptural installation documented here,from a major hall of an imperial-style bath com-plex in Arabia, provides important evidence forthe decoration of provincial baths in the middleempire; furthermore, it provides new evidencefor the connection of Roman Arabia to the morecentral provinces of Greece and Asia Minor viathe imperial marble trade. The chronology ofsculptural dedication suggests new dates for theconstruction and use of the North Hall and per-haps the East Baths. Finally, the patrons and hon-orees of dedications in the hall reveal new infor-mation about the history of Gerasa and its urban-ization and Romanization in the second and thirdcenturies A.D.

THE ARCHITECTURALND ARCHAEOLOGICALCONTEXTOFTHE SCULPTURESLocated immediately to the east of the Chrysor-hoas Riverand surroundedtoday by the central bus

station of modernJerash,the ruins of the East Bathspreservethe North Hall and four largechambers,allbuilt of large, well-cut, limestone ashlars: threealigned along an east-west axis and a fourth to thenorth of the easternmosthall (figs. 6-7) ,28Thoughasyet unexcavated,the well-preservedEast Baths arelarger than the better known WestBaths at Gerasa.The general display context of the sculptureswas,therefore,one of the largestimperial thermae nownto have been constructedin the Roman Near East.29

Fig.6. Plan of the EastBaths. (ChrysanthosKanellopoulos)28The followingdescription s based on personalobserva-tionsunlessotherwisenoted. It s meantonlytoprovidea basicarchitecturaldescriptionof the remainsof the EastBathsandsomethingof the scale of the structure.29Fora correctedversionof theplan publishedbyKraeling(1938,24;planI, areaH, 6-7; pl.VII),see Braunet al. 2001,434,no. 37.Todate, however,Kraelingprovides heonly pub-

lishedmeasurementsorthismonument, houghDodge (1990,

114)notes that"stone aultsof at least20m on massively uiltwallscan be reconstructed."Basedon cataloguesof baths nthe Roman Near East in both Nielsen (1990) and Reeves(1996), the four largestbathsknown to date in the RomanNear Eastarethe WesternBathhouseatBethShean/Scytho-polis (5700 m2) the WestBathsat Gerasa 4500m2) the Bathsof DiocletianatPalmyra 4335m2) and the bathsatHammatGader(4200 m2).



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Fig. 7.Jerash,Palace of the Baths,Bonfils (HSM 983) . (Courtesyof the Fine ArtsLibrary,HarvardCollege Library)The date of the construction for the East Baths is

commonly published as the third century A.D.;30however,this date rests on very little evidence andis not secure. Nielsen associatesthe EastBaths witha group of monumental, mostlylate thermae,whichinclude the West Baths at Gerasa,Bath C in Antio-chia, the baths at Bosra, Alexandria, Palmyra,andPhilippopolis, the Byzantine bath at Gadara, andthe recently excavated Western Baths at BethShean/Scythopolis.31 I suggest that this classifica-tion of the East Baths can be further specified, andthat the complex is identifiable as Krencker'ssmallimperial type. More specifically,the East Bathsmaybe associated with the variation which has the fol-lowing layout:a central north-south axis; a row ofheated rooms perpendicular to that main axis on

its south; a frigidarium o the north of the centralcaldarium long the main axis; two apodyterialank-ing thatfrigidarium;a basilicahermarumo the northof the frigidarium (again on the main axis); and apalaestranorth of the basilica.32Other examples ofthis small imperial type, which may serve as com-parandafor the EastBaths,include the LargeSouthBaths at Cuicul, the Large Baths at Lambaesis,theBath-Gymnasiumat Aphrodisias, the Vedius Bath-Gymnasiumat Ephesos, and the Bath-Gymnasiumat Odessus.33The imperial-styleEastBathsmaybe reconstruct-ed as follows (fig. 8). The massivewestwall of room1 must have constituted the westernmost (and per-haps the southernmost) end of the complex. Thenorth-south axis through room 3, room 4, and the

30Kraeling 938, 57-8; Browning1982, 51;Nielsen 1990,112,n. 131;Nielsen etal. 1993,150-1. It is important o notethat heearly hird-century .D. dateassignedbyKraeling ndacceptedby subsequent cholarsrestson that of a statuebase(Welles1938,no. 16) that is not securelyassociatedwith theEastBaths,butwasonlyfound "near he EastBaths" Welles1938, 383).31Nielsen1990,112,n. 131 According oNielsen,thistypegenerallyhad acompactplan,one thatwasdeeperthan t waswide.Inaddition, hese bathcomplexesrarelyhadpalaestrae,"becausetheyaregenerally ate . . . but also because thegym-

nasium nstitutionwasneverparticularly opular n thesere-gions"(113) (foranotherdiscussionof the lack of palaestraein baths of the Easternempire,seeYegiil1992,326-9). Nor,accordingto Nielsen, did this type of bath complex haveaprojecting aldarium.32See Krencker1929for a reprintof Krencker's lassifica-tions;also see Nielsen 1990, 51-2;Yeffiil1992, 131-2.33Forplansof thesebaths,see Nielsen 1990,174 (fig. 194,Cuicul),176(fig.197,Lambaesis), 92(fig.220,Aphrodisias),196 (fig. 226, Ephesos),209 (fig. 250, Odessus).



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2003] ROMAN MARBLE SCULPTURES FROM GERASA 421

Fig.8. Reconstructiondrawingof the EastBaths, ncluding the North Hall. (ChrysanthosKanellopoulos)North Hall apparently provided a central line ofsymmetry.That the complex continued to the eastis clear from two lines of evidence: first, the exteri-ors of both the west and east walls of room 4 pre-servecarvings or the support of a rakingroof; andsecond, the passagesin the eastern walls of rooms 3and 4 must have led to other bathing rooms. Thus,rooms 1 and 2 were probablybalanced on the otherside of the central north-south axis by two similarlysized rooms. Rooms 1, 2, and 3 were equipped withdown-drains(shaftsthat held the lead or terracottapipes that supplied the pools in the variousrooms)and were likely used as wet rooms.34Their south-ern position and vaulted ceilings indicate use astepidaria rooms 1 and 2) and a caldarium (room3). Room 4, with its much larger passagewaysandlack of down-drains,could have served as the frigi-darium. The twotransepts lankingroom 4, extend-ing from its northern end and perpendicular tothe north-south central axis, may have served as

apodyteria, long, rectangular halls, often adjacentto the frigidarium.Finally, he EastBathswere com-pleted by a basilica, the North Hall.The North Hall, where all of the statuarywas re-covered, was clearly part of the EastBathscomplexfor severalreasons.First,the North Hall is built in asimilargrand, public scale to that of the East Bathsand is located near the centralbathing block (11.93m from column O to the ruined, extant northernedge of the west wall of room 4) . Second, the hall isexactly parallel to the axis of the main bathingblock, both oriented east-west, and to the recon-structed north wall of room 4. In addition, a pas-sage in the north wall of room 4 leads toward theNorth Hall, while another wall extends south frompilasterP in the North Hall toward the centralbath-ing block.35The North Hall is a rectangularstructure 12.45m wide and at least 29 m long (figs. 9-1 0).36Thefollowing brief description, date, and identification

34DeLaine 997, 153-4;for the watersystemsof baths,seeYegul1992,390-5.35The level of the floor of the North Hall washigherthanthatof the mainbathingblock.Although he level of the floorof the EastBaths s unknown,we mayestimatewhere it liesbased on the top of the archedpassageway t the center ofthe north wall of room 4. The level of the floor in the NorthHall is approximately .5m below the underside of the key-stone of this archedpassage.We can estimatethe floor levelof room 4 based on the projectedheight of thispassageway.Thoughit is impossible o know the styleand size of thispas-sage,wemay maginethat a door from the NorthHall,orany

smallerrooms thatwere built betweenit and room 4, wasaminimumof 10 Roman eet high (approximately m) and amaximumof 18 Roman feet high (5.22 m), becauseit con-nectedthe centralbathingblock o asubsidiaryoom(DeLaine1997,61-3) .Thus,the floorof the North Hallwas1 5-3.72mhigher than the projected loor level of room 4. This differ-ence could havebeenbridgedby5 to 12standardRomanstepsleadingdown nto the mainbathingblock.36The northwestern ornerof the hallwasuncovered,andfromthis hesouthwestern ornercan bereconstructed.How-ever, the easterncorners remainunexposed, as the hall ex-tends furthereastbelowmodernbuildings.



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Fig.9. Plan of the North Hallshowing indspotsof statuesand statuebases. (ChrysanthosKanellopoulosandEliseA.Friedland)of the room's function (not intended as the finalpublication of this monument) provide an archi-tectural and archaeological context for the sculp-turaldecoration published here.37The entire struc-ture, including architectural features such as col-umn and pilaster capitals,shafts, and bases, is con-structed of pinkish-orangelimestone. The hall waspaved with smooth rectangular white limestonepavers,38while numerous ceramic roof tiles foundwithin the building indicate that the hall was cov-ered with a flat or rakingtimberroof. In its currentstate,the North Hall hasfour entrances,allscreenedby columns: one running most of the length of thewestern side between pilasters C and F; two along

the northern wall (one between columns A and Band another beginning at column I and extendingfor an unknown length); and another at the east-ern end of the southern wall beginning with pilas-ter P and extending eastward for an unknownlength. The walls between pilaster Q and columnA, between column B and pilaster G, and betweenpilaster H and column I are thinner, perhaps be-cause they served as niches or because these inter-columniations were originally entrances to theroom that were later blocked.39The averageinter-axial column spacing of all 14 intercolumniationsis 2.977 m, or 10 Roman feet.40The pilasterbasesatthe ends of the screened entrances are approxi-371am ndebted oAidaNaghawiorallowingme topublishthefollowingbriefdescriptionof the room.Ms.Naghawi en-erouslyprovided he size of the room, location of entrances,andinformationregarding he archaeological ontext of thesculptures, tatuebases,andinscriptions rom herfield note-books.38Justutside he hallto thewest,aportionof a mosaic loorwasuncoveredbut not excavated.39Not enough of the North Hall is preservedor has beenexcavatedodeterminewhether he roomwaselaboratedwith

nichesthatwouldhaveaccommodatedsculptural ecorationand whether hese thinnerwallswouldhavebeen partof suchniches. Forthe importanceof accounting or the architectur-al provisions orstatuary,ee Marvin1983, 377,n. 188.40Forparallels o 10foot-long nteraxial olumnspacing nthe Decapolis, ee Kanellopoulos1994, 14,figs.18, 15, 19; orthe standard10foot-longRomanmeasuring od,ordecempedapertica,ee Vergil,Eel 9.7;also Chen 1980,256.1 thankChry-santhosKanellopoulosormaking hisobservation ndsupply-ing these references.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLE SCULPTURESFROM GERASA 423

Fig. 10. North Hall. Top,view from northeast; bottom, iew of the northwesterncorner.mately0.9 m wide (basesC, F,and P), while the col-umn bases measure approximately 0.84 m wide(basesA, B, D, E, O, N, M).41Four squared pilastercapitals are preserved:two among the ashlars andcolumn shafts n the center of the room (fig.11 (bothin the northeasterncorner;both measuring0.76 mhigh, 1.69 m wide, and 0.88 m long); a third atoppreserved pilaster Q in the northeastern corner ofthe hall;and a fourth outside the North Hall on theruined northernedge of the westernwall of room 4.

The dates for construction and use of the NorthHall are not known, although its association withthe main bathing complex suggests that it mayhavebeen constructed contemporaneously. The pre-served Corinthian pilaster capitals from the hall(fig. 11) date to the early third century A.D.: thecapitals' proportions (narrow volute zone andbroad acanthus leaves) and numerous drill chan-nels make them slightlylater than the securelydat-ed Severanexamplesfrom the Nymphaeumat Gera-

41Acompletepilaster,ncluding quaredCorinthian apital,ispreserved n the northernwall4.6 m east of the northwest-ern corner of the room and wasstandingalongwith anotherin the 19thcenturywhen the Bonfils view of the East Baths

was taken (fig. 7) . Both the square shaft and capital aresmoothedanddecoratedon threesides,whiletheirwestsidesareworkedntorectangular rojections, robablyo insert ntothe ashlarmasonryof the wall.



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Fig. 11. Pilastercapital,North Hallsa and the Tychaion at as-Sanamain and indicatethat they were probably produced during the reignof Caracallaor Alexander Severus.42Except for thethinner walls noted above, no evidence exists forrebuilding or renovation of the North Hall. Yet,while the decorative evidence supportsa third-cen-turyA.D. architecturalphase, this date may repre-sent only a renovation of the North Hall. The exca-vator of the North Hall reported finding Byzantinestrata atop the southwestern corner of the build-ing, indicating that the hall fell out of use after thefifth or sixth centuries A.D.The North Hall's scale, surviving architecturalelements, and proximity to the central bathingblock, as well as its displayof a substantial numberof sculptural dedications, suggest that the roomprobablyfunctioned as a social hall.43The architec-tural form and large scale of the North Hall ruleout its identification as any of the smaller auxiliarybathing rooms, such as a sudatorium r laconicum.No evidence was found of hydraulic plaster,waterbasins, drains, or tubulation within the walls;there-fore, the room could not have functioned as a wet

bathing room (such as a natatio,piscina,frigidari-um, or caldarium)or asanysortof asecondaryheat-ed room (tepidarium or sudatorium).44The roofand pavement rule out the hall's use as a palaestra,since these courtyardswere open and rarely paved.It is unlikely that the North Hall functioned as anapodyterium, because of the sculptural decora-tion.45Instead, the large scale, rectangular shape,lack of bathing and heating installations,and prox-imityto room 4 of the EastBathspoint to the NorthHall's use as a basilicalhall. The presence of sculp-tural dedications also helps confirm this hypothe-sis. These long rectangular halls or galleries arecommon in the baths of North Africaand Asia Mi-nor and are thought to have served as social halls,corridors, or exercise venues.46Thus, the architectural context of the marblesculptures discovered in the North Hall seems tohave been a major public hall in one of the largestimperial-type bath complexes discovered to datein the Roman Near East. The East Baths suggestthat the Gerasenes adopted the Roman culturalin-stitution of bathing and frequented a large-scaleRoman-stylebathhouse, whose plan was based onimperial models erected in Rome, the likes ofwhich were dedicated throughout the Roman em-pire from North Africa to Arabia.social context: the sculptural displayin the north hall of the east baths

The five life-size or larger sculptures and nineother fragments were found in the southeasternand southwestern corners of the North Hall onthe limestone paversof the floor. They were mixedwith dirt and architectural fragments, and, in sev-eral cases, were lying on the stylobate of the hallbetween columns or near statue bases (fig. 9). Asmany as 8 of the 16 statue bases were found up-right on the floor in front of columns, presumablyin situ (table 2). The deposition suggests a roofcollapse, dated to sometime before the fifth orsixth centuries A.D. (as noted above), by which

42For he architectural ecor of theNymphaeumat Gerasaand theTychaionatas-Sanamam,eeFreyberger 989b,100-1,pls.4, 36a,36c,and 37b.Forotherexamplesof architecturaldecoration that date to the Severanperiod, see the capitalsfrom heNymphaeum tBosra(Freyberger989a,55,pl.1 b) ,the capitals romthe TheateratBosra(Freyberger 988,23-4,pls.10a,10b) and thecapitalsrom he "Podiummonument"at Gadara(Freyberger 999). KlausFreyberger,who kindlyexaminedphotosof thepilasters ndoffered urthercomparan-da,confirmed his date.43Thefollowingdiscussion f the identification fthe NorthHall employsNielsen's terminologyand definitionsfor thevarious ooms ound in Romanbaths(1990, 153-66)

44A hypocaust ystem,however,could havebeen installedbeneath the limestonepavers:Nielsen (1990, 14) statesthatthe cover-tiles fahypocaust ystem ouldbe coveredwithopussigninum,mosaic,or marble. t stands o reason hat imestonemustalsohavebeen usedin placeofmarble.Ms.Naghawididnot liftanyof the paversduring he courseof the excavations.45Nielsen 1990, 153.46Yegul 992, 400,414-6. Theselong rectangularhallsareoften identified asbasilicae hermarum,both a questionableterm and unproven function. For recent reviews of thepalaestra/basilica hermarumdebate,seeYegiil1992,160-2and n. 67;DeLaine 1993, 356-8; 1999, 231.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLESCULPTURESFROM GERASA 425Table2. Statue Bases Found in the 1984 Excavationsof the North Hall of the EastBaths, Gerasa (widthanddepth represent measurements of the footprint of the statue base)Base No.;Location Patron/Honoree Findspot Style Height Width Depth1; in situ Between M-N Square; spoliated 1.52 m 0.56 m 0.49 minside hall2; in situ Between O-N Square; spoliated 1.32 m 0.595 m 0.56 moutside hall3; in situ In front of O Square; spoliated 1.25 m 0.60 m 0.58 m4; in situ 2.65 m south of Q Square; plainly 1.09 m 0.67 m 0.665 mcarved5; mus. To motherland West of C Square; molded n.p. 0.72 m 0.695 mbase6; mus. An equestrian West of C Hexagonal; n.p. 0.51m 0.51mscalloped base7; in situ West of D Square; molded n.p. 0.695 m 0.53 mbase8; in situ Eastof E Square; molded n.p. 0.53 m 0.49 mbase9; in situ West of F Square; molded n.p. n.p. n.p.base10; mus. H nOAIE South of G, H, or I Square; plainly 1.46 m 0.59 m 0.60 mcarved11; mus. H nOAIZ South of G, H, or I Square; plainly 1.42 m 0.545 m 0.545 mcarved12; mus. H nOAIS South of G, H, or I Square; plainly 1.32 m 0.50 m 0.53 mcarved13; unk. In southwest Square;not seen unk. unk. unk.corner of hall14; mus. H nOAIS In front of P? Round 1.50 m 0.585 m diam. -Hermaphrodite15; mus. H 11OAIS In front of P? Round 1.31m 0.598 m diam. -To Carbonius16; mus. H nOAIE Disturbed context Square 1.46 m 0.90 m 0.60 mTo CaracallaNote:mus.=museum;n.p.=not preserved; nk.=unknownthe statuesand some, but not all, of the statue baseswere dislodged from their original display con-texts. Thus, the sculptures are clearly associatedwith the North Hall and were once displayedwith-in the hall itself. Evidence that the finds preservea largely in situ sculptural display comes from thefact that, though architectural debris wasscatteredthroughout the hall, finds of statuarywere discov-ered only in areas where statue bases were alsofound in situ, that is, at the western entrance and

in the center of the hall in the area bounded bypilaster H and columns I, M, and O. In addition,the number of intact or largely intact statue basesdiscovered (16) is nearly equal to the number ofcolumn bases preserved (17). This may be a coin-cidence of survival, however, since it is clear thatthe North Hall continued to the east and that itcontained more statue bases. While none of thesculptures can be securely associated with any ofthe bases discovered in the hall,47 he statuaryand

47While t is common to discover tatuesand statue basesfromthe samesculpturaldisplay,t is exceedinglyrareto dis-coverstatues hatmaybe securelyassociatedwithspecific n-scribedstatuebases.Forexample,of the 25 statues,25 more

heads,and 34 inscribedbases rom lateantiqueAphrodisias,onlysix statuesmaybesecurely ssociatedwith nscribedbases(Smith1999, 161).



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426 ELISE A. FRIEDLAND [AJA107the bases must be considered together, as the twogroups of evidence are inseparable contextually.The excavationsof the North Hall, then, revealedimportant evidence that provides a window ontothe sculpturaldecoration of a single hall in a pro-vincial, imperial-stylebath building of the middleempire.48At some point in time before the NorthHall went out of use, the pieces were displayedto-gether, and their meaning was, in part, constructedthrough this association. As will be discussed be-low, possible dates for the erection of the sculptur-al displayare suggested by the style of some of thestatuary(above,pp. 414-5) and the bases (below,p.430), though the North Hall may have been a sec-ondarycontext for both. Firmer dates for the instal-lation of the display,or at least parts of it, are de-rivedfrom inscriptions,that on the front of the stat-ue of the Apollo or Muse (above,p. 415) and thoseon bases 15 and 16 (below, pp. 429-31). The in-scribed statue bases also preserve important infor-mation about the patrons and honorees of the dis-play. Finally,evidence for the subject matter of thedisplaycomes from both the statues themselvesandthe inscriptionson severalbases (14, 15, and 16).49The arrangement of these different subjects in re-lation to one another and that of the overall instal-lation can be interpretedfrom the relativefindspotsof the statuaryand the bases.50To provide a more vivid reconstruction of thesculptural display of the North Hall, an experien-tial approach is used here to allow us to view thehall and its displayas one piece of the broader ur-

ban image of Gerasa.51f we walkthrough the NorthHall viewing the sculpturaldisplayas an elite maleGerasenewould have seen it during the course of aregularvisit to the baths in the early third centuryA.D. (figs. 9, 12, table 3), we glean importantinfor-mation regarding the possible dates of sculpturaldedication, the historyof the use of the North Hall,the meaning of the sculpturalinstallation,and thehistory of Gerasa itself. Although individual visi-tors no doubt perceived the display differently, alocal elite male, visiting in the early third centuryA.D. (i.e., the latest datable evidence for construc-tion and sculptural dedication in the North Hall)would have been most likely to understand fullythe intended artistic,social, and cultural messagesof this display.52The Display: Evidence and ReconstructionWhen approaching the western entrance of theNorth Hall, this visitorwould have encountered anarrayof statuarydisplayed on more or less match-ing squaremolded bases (5, 7, 9; fig. 13) in front ofa screen of columns.53On his right,this visitormighthave seen the marbletogatus (fig. 4, cat. 4) ,54 non-imperial portrait, perhaps displayed at F. On thefar left at C, the visitormight have observeda statue(base 5) dedicated by its patron to the "mother-land." Also on his left, somewhere west of C, hemight have noted a hexagonally-shaped,scallopedbase (6) whose statue wasdedicated by an equestri-an, very likely a member of the local elite. The visi-tor might have noted the overall uniformityof the

48Thefollowing econstruction f thesculpturalnstallationis basedon the data et andapproximate tratigraphyrovidedbyAidaNaghawi, he excavator. n addition to permission ostudyandpublish he statuary,he alsoprovidedme withthecurrent ocationsof all of the statuebasesandgaveme permis-sion tostudy nd discuss hem nmy nterpretation f thesculp-turalprogram. naddition o the statuebasespresentedhere,manyotherfragments learlybelongingto statuebaseswerediscoveredduringexcavation, articularlyn thesouthwesterncornerof thehall,and one largebasewasnotedin the easternbaulk.As it could not be determinedhowmanystatuebasesthese fragmentsrepresented, they are not included in thenumberpublishedhere. Like the nine unidentifiablefrag-mentsofsculptedmarble, heyprovide ome evidence hat hesculptural rogrammusthavebeen moreextensive,as do twootherbasessubsequently ocumentedbyother scholars.One,built nto ashopin the centralmarketofGerasa,wassignedbyAntoninuswho alsosignedthe statuebaseofApolloor a Muse(Donderer2001;see cat.3). Another nscribedbase s said tocome fromthe samesectoras statuebase 15 (Gatier1996,53)Futurework nthe NorthHallwouldclarify nd addto the con-clusionsbelow,but for now the presentevidenceprovidesanimportantwindow ntosculptural isplaynthe middleempire.49For the purposesof the reconstruction f the sculpturalprogram,AidaNaghawi uppliedme withworking ranslationsoftheinscriptions ndgavemepermission o discussonly heir

content. Pierre-LouisGatier spublishingthese inscriptionsaspartof alargermultivolumeworkentitledInscriptionse aJordaine.50All of the statuebases excavated n the North Hall arecarvedof the samepinkish-orangeimestoneas the otherar-chitectural lements of the building.Moreover, heir dimen-sions showthatallwere madetosupport tatuaryhatwas ife-size or slightly arger.All but two of the baseswithpreservedtopswereworkedwith omearrangement fcuttingsorclampsto secure the plinthsof statues.These cuttings ndicate thatthe entiresculptural rogramwascomposedofmarble tatuaryasopposedto bronzepieces,whichwouldhaverequired oot-shapedcuttings nstead.51Favrol996,1-23.52In the followingsection,I presentonlyone possiblere-construction.Alternativeplacementof statues s recorded nfootnotes.Becausenone of thestatuesaresecurely ssociatedwithanyof the bases and becausewe have so littlesecure ev-idence for the precise placementof statues n the hall, thismethod of presenting he evidence seemsappropriate.53Bases5, 7, and 9 were found in situ n front of pilasterC,columnD, andpilasterFrespectively.Base 5 is largeroveralland,unlike the othertwo, s inscribed.54Found on the stylobateof the North Hall betweencol-umn E andpilasterF.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLE SCULPTURES FROM GERASA 427Table 3. Evidence for Installationof SculpturalDedications in the North Hall of the EastBaths,Gerasa

Location Evidence Date SubjectMatter Patron HonoreeWestentrance, Statue base 6 Middleempire? EquestrianoutsideHall,westof pilasterCWestentrance, Statue base 5 Middleempire? MotherlandoutsideHall,in front of pilasterCWestentrance, Statue base 7 Middleempire?outsideHall,in front of column DWestentrance, Statue base 9 Middleempire?outsideHall,in front of column FWestentrance, Statuebase 8 Middleempire?insideHall,in front of column EWestentrance, Togatus(cat.4) Mid2ndc.A.D. Non-imperialon stylobate portraitNorthwestcorner, Statuebase 4in front of pilasterQNorth entrance, inside Statue base 10 H I1OAIZHall, in front of

pilasterG, H, or INorth entrance, inside Statuebase 11 H nOAIZHall, in front of

pilasterG,H, or INorth entrance, inside Statuebase 12 H IIOAIEHall, in front ofcolumn G,H, or INorthernwall, Lowerportion A.D. 138-192? Non-imperialin front of statuebase 11 of Togate Man (cat. 5) portraitof equestrianCenterof Hall Satyr(cat. 1) SatyrCenterof Hall Apollo/Muse (cat.3) Ca.A.D. 150-200 ApolloorMuseCenterof Hall Fragmentof a thighSouth entrance, Apollo/Dionysos (cat.2) Apolloorin front of column M DionysosSouth entrance, Statuebase 1 Lateperiodin front of column M? b/c spoliated?South entrance, Statuebase 2 Lateperiod

in front of column N? b/c spoliated?South entrance, Statuebase 3 Lateperiodin front of column O b/c spoliated?Southernwall, Statuebase 14 Hermaphrodite H 11OAIZin front of P?Southernwall, Statuebase 15 A.D. 177-188? Portrait H FIOAIZ Governorin front of P? of GovernorDisturbedcontext Statuebase 16 AD. 211-217 Portrait H nOAIE Caracallaof Caracalla

molded bases and concluded that the statuesjustoutside the western entrance (except for that atopthe hexagonal base) were dedicated as a group.

This visitor might also have noticed that the toga-tus (fig. 4, cat. 4) was from an earlier period thanhis own. The visitorcertainlywould have noted the



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Fig. 12. Reconstructiondrawingof the North Hall with statuebases. (ChrysanthosKanellopoulos)costume of this statue, because dress was used tosignalsocial and politicalidentity.55 venin the earlythird centuryA.D. with Caracalla'sgrant of citizen-ship to all freeborn persons throughout the em-pire, the toga, as opposed to the more commonGreek himation and tunic, still signaled elite sta-tus and participation in Roman politics.56Beforeeven entering the North Hall, then, our visitorwould have realized that this wasa luxuriouslydec-orated room, filled with imported marble statues,paid for (at least in part) by well-to-do individualsof Gerasa,who had connections to Roman culturaland political spheres.

Upon passing through the western entrance ofthe North Hall, the visitor might glimpse a row ofstatues screening the inner side of this entrance(base 8).57Once inside the hall, the visitorwouldhave been drawnto his left by a single statue at Q(base 4)58and by another sculpturaldisplaycloak-ing the inner sides of the short screen wall east ofthe northwesternentrance.59Here, the visitormighthave seen a togate equestrian (fig. 5, cat. 5),60themarblesatyr (fig. 1, cat. I),61and the statue of Apol-lo or a Muse (fig. 3, cat. 3),62all displayedatop rela-tivelysimilar,plainlycarved,unmolded statuebases(10, 11, 12; fig. 14), each inscribed only with H

55Smith 1998,64.56While"old-styleogascontinued to be worn"n the thirdcenturyA.D.,"thevariousnew forms of the late toga can beseen asways fdefining urther,higherranksor officeswithinthelargergroupof possible oga-wearers"Smith1999,179)Infact,the newtogaseemsto have been wornlargelybysen-ators,consuls,proconsuls,and consularesSmith1999,179).Statuebase8, found east andsquarelyn front of columnE,maybe evidence for such an installation. t is alsopossiblethat the visitormight have encountered the togatus (fig. 4,cat.4) here,perhapsdisplayed n base8, rather han outsidethe hallatopbase 9.

58Thoughbase 4 was ound2.65m south of Q,this nstalla-tion wasprobably rectedin front of pilasterQ. The dimen-sions of thisbase are n noway onsistentwith heotherplain-lycarvedbasesdisplayed longthis northernside of the hall.59Thisdisplaywas nstalled nfrontofpilastersG andH andcolumnI.60The lowerportionof a togatus (fig.5, cat.5) was oundnearpilasterH.61Found 5.5 m south of pilasterH.62Found in the middle of the hall south of and betweenpilasterH and columnI.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLESCULPTURESFROM GERASA 429IIO AIE.63The visitormightwell have observedthatthe three bases matched more or less in style, size,and dedicatory nscription.Thereforehe might haveconcluded that these three statues constituted an-other group, thisone dedicatedbythe cityof Gerasa(ratherthan by individuals) The visitorwould againhave noted the distinctlyRoman dressof the togateportraitof theequestrian fig.5, cat.5) andalsowouldhave noted that this local individualwas importantenough to have been honored by the city via thissculptural dedication. The visitor might also havenoticed that this togatuswasfrom an earlierperiodthanhis own. In addition,the visitorwouldhave rec-ognized the satyr (fig. 1, cat. 1) and the Apollo orMuse (fig. 3, cat. 3) as statuaryappropriate or a Ro-man bath, where the urban masses pursued bodilypleasures (signified by Dionysos and his consorts,the satyrs)as well as culturaland intellectualactivi-ties (embodied by both Apollo and the Muses)Turningto the south to cross the hall and pro-ceed through its southern exit into the main bath-ing block of the East Baths, the visitorwould haveencountered yet another sculpturaldisplayscreen-ing the passageway n the southern wall.64 n thisdisplay, the visitor might have seen an Apollo orDionysos (fig. 2, cat. 2), perhaps at M,65 nd a her-maphrodite (base 14), perhaps at P, which waserected bythe city (H 1TOAIS) 66The visitor wouldhave recognized both mythological figures as stat-uary appropriatefor a bath (see below). He mightalso have noted that three of the four bases (1,2,

and 3) were similar, because they are architraveblocks that were recut to serve as statue bases (fig.15). Thus, the visitor might have concluded thatthese statues constituted yet another group, andone that looked very different from the moldedbasesat the westernentrance and the plainlycarvedbases across the hall.67

Finally, at some unknown location in the hall,the visitor would have encountered two other in-stallations.The visitormight have read the inscrip-tion on the statue base of GaiusCarboniusStatiliusSeverusHadrianus (15),68a governorof Arabiawhoprobably held office in the second quarter of thesecond century A.D.:'Aya0flT


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Fig. 13. Statue base 8, an example of a molded base from GroupIThe Display: Chronology of Dedication, Patrons,Honorees, Arrangement, and MessagesAt least three distinct sculptural installationswere displayed in the North Hall: group I at thewestern entrance (displayedon the molded bases);group II screening the low walls just east of thenorthern entrance (displayedon plain bases); andgroup III at the southern entrance (displayed onbases made of spoliated architraves) In addition tothese, four oversized inscribed pedestals of variousshapeswere interspersedthroughout the room andfound in disturbed contexts: the hexagonal base(6) west of pilaster C; one round base (14) nearpilasterP; a second round base (15) perhapsfoundnear pilaster P; and the massive inscribed base forCaracalla's tatue (16), which wasfound at a higherlevel but is thought to have been displayed some-where within the hall. It is these variouslyshapedbases found not in situ and throughout the roomthat carrythe majorityof the inscribed dedicationsand certainlythe most detailed ones.It is not entirely clear that the three installationscorrespondto the datesof construction of the NorthHall, the dates of sculptural elaboration of theNorth Hall, the patrons of the statues, the honor-ees, or the subjects;however, this hodge-podge af-fect does not necessarilymean that the statuarywasdedicated at widelydifferent times, nor does it pre-clude an overallplan for the sculpturalinstallation.

Dates for these three installations, though not de-finitive, are suggested by the style of the statues,the styleof the bases, and the inscriptions.The dis-play outside the western entrance may date to themiddle of the second century A.D., based on thestylisticdate of the togatus (fig. 4, cat. 4) and thestyle of the four molded bases, which are typicalofthose of the middle empire (i.e., the second centu-ry A.D.), with their "strongly projecting mouldedplinths above and below the shaft that gave thewhole pedestal a tall but stronglywaistedoutline."70The only datable evidence from the installationonthe northern wall is the lower portion of the toga-tus,which maydate stylisticallyo the second half ofsecond century A.D. If the Apollo or Muse (fig. 3,cat. 3) was displayed here, the inscription on itsbase provides yet more evidence for this date ofA.D. 150-200. The installation at the southern en-trance is difficultto date, because none of the basessecurely associated with this area of the hall haveinscriptions and because the one sculpture foundhere is not datable stylistically.Based on the com-mon use of spolia for statue bases during the laterempire, this group may date to the second half ofthe second century A.D. or later.71Finally,thoughwe do not know where it wasfound within the hall,the base with the dedication to Caracalladates tothe earlythird centuryA.D. sometime between 211and 217, a date that matches that of the pilaster

70Smith 1999, 165. 71Smith 1999, 171.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLESCULPTURESFROM GERASA 431

Fig. 14. Statue base 10, 11, or 12, an example of aplainbasefromGroupIIcapitalsthat once elaborated the hall.72The bulk ofthe evidence for sculptural dedications in theNorth Hall, then, dates to the middle to late sec-ond century A.D., with only one dedication thatmust be dated to the early third century A.D. Al-though this later dedication, the statue base of Ca-racalla,comes from a disturbed context, it must betaken into account in any discussion of the sculp-tural installation,particularlybecause its date coin-cides with the architectural embellishment of thebuilding.Twointerpretationsof the chronology of the con-struction and sculptural elaboration of the NorthHall are therefore plausible. First, the North Hallcould have been constructed in the second half ofthe second centuryA.D. and renovated in the earlythird centuryA.D. by refurbishingthe pilaster andcolumn capitalsand erecting the dedication to theemperor Caracalla. Construction, during the sec-ond century, of a major public building like theEast Baths and the dedication of public statuary ikethat found in the North Hall correspond to the in-creasing urbanization known to have taken place

in Roman Arabia following Hadrian's journeythrough the Near East (which included a stop atGerasa in A.D. 129-130).73This trend was contin-ued well into the Severan period. Alternately,theNorth Hall could have been built in the earlythirdcentury A.D. and appointed with reused statuebases and statuary.This scenario seems less proba-ble, however, for two reasons. First, it would haverequired a building with statuaryand statue basesavailablefor denuding. Second, the practice of re-using statuarydoes not come into vogue until themiddle or late third centuryA.D. and is more com-mon in the fourth century A.D. and later.74n thefollowing discussion, the patronage, honorees, ar-rangement, and subject matter of the sculpturalinstallation are analyzed within the chronologicalframeworkof the more likely of these two options,that the building and sculptural installation werecreated in the second half of the second centuryA.D. and renovated in the early third centuryA.D.In both the second and third centuries A.D., thecity of Gerasapaid for all of the dedications erect-ed inside the North Hall for which we have evi-dence of patronage (bases 10-12 and 14-16). Theonly evidence for privatepatronagecomes from two

Fig. 15. Statue base 1, an example of a base made of aspoliatedarchitraveblock fromGroupIII

72Thesecapitals reclearly ssociatedwith hehall,becausetheywerediscovered catteredthroughout he hall on its loor.

73On Hadrian'sjourney,see Boatwright 000.74See Smith 1999, 160;Yegiil 1992, 322.



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432 ELISEA. FRIEDLAND [AJA107donations that were discovered on the outside ofthe hall at the western entrance: one by the eques-trian (base 6) and the other by a donor who dedi-cated his or her monument to the "motherland"(base 5). Thus, the sculpturalgroup outside of thewestern entrance differs from the two inside thehall, not only in the styleof its sculpturalbases, butin its patronage.This difference in patronage, how-ever,seems less tied to chronology than to location.The inscriptionson the statue bases, then, suggestthatalthough some membersof the local elite spon-sored individual sculptural dedications at one ofthe main entrances to the North Hall, the city ofGerasa erected most of the sculptural decorationwithin the hall itself.75Accordingto Fagan,this typeof civic patronagewas common; city councils were"by arthe most active arm of the local authorities incarryingout bath benefactions."76 ll of the dedica-tions are in Greek,a trend commensuratewith theGreek identity of Gerasa noted above and foundthroughout its corpus of inscriptions.Few honorees are preserved. For the portion ofthe installation erected during the second centu-ry A.D., the only certain honoree is "the mother-land" of one of the patrons (base 5), and this ded-ication is erected outside of the hall.77If in factthe statue of Gaius Carbonius Statilius SeverusHadrianus (base 15) was erected in the secondcentury, then at least a portion of the installationinside the hall must also have honored the Ro-man administrative presence of the later secondcenturyA.D. The fact that the only other honoreepreserved, the emperor Caracalla (base 16),78wasadded to the sculptural program in the earlythirdcentury suggests that perhaps the focus and main

honoree of the sculptural display was altered inthis period (see below).The arrangement of the middle to late second-centuryA.D. installation s fairlycommon for a bathbuilding, especiallysince extensive sculpturaldeco-ration is expected in a basilicalstructuresuch as theNorth Hall.79The sculptureswere displayedon baseslargelyarrayedagainstwallsand screening passage-ways,ascan be seen in the frigidariumof the bathsatLepcis Magna,which has a comparableinstallationof sculptureson statuebasessituated n frontof largesquare column bases.80The melange of mythologi-cal figuresand non-imperialportraits81edicated inthe North Hall during the second centuryA.D. de-pictstraditionalbathtopoi thatwereinstalled n majorbath buildingsthroughoutthe Roman empire.82Forexample,of the six or sevenknownsubjects rom thesecond-centurydedication, four represent gods ortheir entourages,a number that parallelsMandersc-heid's conclusion that over half of the sculpturesfound in bath buildings represent these subjects.83Furthermore,the mythologicalsculpturesfound inthe North Hallconstitutetwo of the six subjectsmostcommonly represented in baths: Dionysos and hisretinue (foundbyManderscheid o be the most com-mon) and Apollo/Muses.84The dedicationof a satyrin the NorthHall sexpected,since"satyrsccurmuchmore often than the god [Dionysos]himself."85 er-maphrodites, though not mentioned as a commonsubjectby Manderscheid,are found in severalbathsincluding the Zeuxippos Baths in Constantinople,the Bathsof Caracalla n Rome,and the WestBathsatCherchel.86 A hermaphrodite is also mentionedstandingin a bath in one of the epigramson bathsfrom Book 9 of the Anthologiaalatina(783) 87

75Forthe civicorganizationand autonomyof the cityofGerasa, speciallyrom themiddleof the secondcenturyA.D.onward, ee Bowsher1992,278.76Faran 999, 149.77Thisinscriptionsunpublished.78This nscriptionsunpublished.79Marvin1983,378.80Manderscheid1981,fig. 12.81None of the sculpturesdiscovered n the North Hallrep-resent the thirdmajor categoryof statuary rected in bathcomplexes:athletesand othermythologicalgroups.Accord-ing to Manderscheid 1981,28), thisgroup playsanancillaryrole n the decorativeprograms fbaths,and thusthe absenceof suchsubjectswouldnot be unusual.82Thefollowinganalysiss basedon the twomostsyntheticand recentanalyses f sculpturalprogramsn bathbuildings(Manderscheid1981;Marvin1983) and takes nto accountMarvin'scritiques fManderscheidseeesp.377-8 andnotes)Marvin otes hat"thesampleavailabletoday fsculpturesrombaths ssimplynot good enough to permit he kindsof statis-ticalmanipulationso whichManderscheidsubjectst" 1981

377 n. 185), and indeed, because of the lack of secure find-

spotsof pieces,thereinstallation f statuary uring aterperi-ods ofbuildinguse,and thevaried/disputed dentifications froom unctions,ew ecure onclusions repossible boutwhichsculptural ypesweredisplayed n which rooms of the baths.However,t seemsuseful oconsiderManderscheid'spercent-agesfor the frequencyof appearanceof differentsubjects nbathbuildingsngeneral. t simportanto notefrom he outsetthatManderscheid'sstudyencompassesonlybathcomplexesin aportionof the West(Italy ndNorthAfrica) Greece,andAsiaMinor,perhapsbecause ewsculptural ssemblagesrombaths n Egyptor the RomanNear Easthavebeen published.See belowfor discussionandreferencesregarding culpturalfindsin baths n the Near East.83Manderscheid1981,28.84Manderscheidl981,28.85Marvin1983,379.86Forthe hermaphrodite n the Baths of Zeuxippos,seeBassett1996,501;for the hermaphrodite n the Bathsof Ca-racalla nd thetwo n theWestBathsatCherchel, eeMander-scheid 1981,cat.nos. 47, 520, 521.87Dunbabin 989, 12.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLESCULPTURESFROM GERASA 433In the second centuryA.D., the North Hall dis-playeda relatively arge number of portraits n com-parisonto Manderscheid'sfindings that nearlyonequarter of sculptures in baths were portraits.88At

least two of the six or seven statues were portraits(the two togate statues) and possibly more (if theportraitof the governoris not the same as the toga-tus (fig. 4, cat. 4) and was erected during this peri-od; if a togateman said to come from the EastBathsand now on display in Amman was originally dis-playedin this hall;89 nd if there are other portraitsstill to be discovered in the unexcavated easternportion of the hall). The dedication of portraitsofprominent local citizens,which the two togate menfound in the hall seem most likelyto represent,wasa common means of recording and honoring localbenefactors in the provinces.As noted above, it isparticularly trikingthat these privateportraitswearthe toga ratherthan the Greekhimation and tunic,since togate figures are rare in this period in theEastern empire.90Thus, the patrons of these twotogate portraits were eager to be represented asRoman citizens (signaled by the toga) and in thegarmentof Roman state government (lawrequiredmen to don the toga when conducting state busi-ness).91 n addition to private portraits,representa-tions of public personages, such as consuls or pro-consuls, were occasionallydedicated in bath build-ings, as theywere in other major public venues likefora and basilicas. Such statues were erected large-ly for honorific purposes and did not necessarilyindicate any official patronage of the bath build-ings or their sculpturaldecorations.92THE REGIONAL AND URBAN CONTEXT

The sculptural displayof common bath topoi inthe North Hall is comparable to installations inbath buildings around the empire, but two featuresmake it unusual: first, its Near Eastern context and

second, the addition of a portrait of Caracallabythe city of Gerasa in the early third centuryA.D. Itis important to place the North Hall's sculpturalinstallation in its regional context by comparingthe room's displayto those from other majorbathcomplexes in the Roman Near East.93 n fact, threesites preserve comparable assemblages, but noneof these are, as yet, fully analyzed and published.The largest and best-preserved group of statuaryfrom a bath complex in the Near East was foundrecently at Beth Shean/Scythopolis in the EasternBathhouse. Though the group is still in the pro-cess of being studied and published, it will pro-vide an importantcomparandumfor the North Hallsculptures.94Of the 13 life-sizeor largerpieces thathave been discovered in varioushalls and strata ofthe excavations of the Eastern Bathhouse at BethShean, all represent mythological figures, exceptone cuirassed figure, which is thought to depictone of the emperors of the second half of the sec-ond centuryA.D. In contrast to the group at Gera-sa, no togate figures were discovered in the East-ern Bathhouse at Beth Shean, indicating a notablelackof privateportraiture,a phenomenon commonin the sculpturalcorpus of Palestine.95 n the bathsat Palmyra,fragments of marble statuarywere dis-covered, mostly around the piscina, including aSeveran cuirassedstatue, a large fragment of a Ve-nus, a headless Apollo, and the lower portion of adraped female made of bluish marble and reusedin the foundations of the basin.96In addition, aprivate portrait of one Septimius Severus Stervi-nus was said to have been recovered there.97 AtPhilippopolis/Shahba, large numbers of sculp-tures of white marble dated to the third centuryA.D. were found, chiefly in annexes of the baths,including a portrait of Philip the Arab, a portraitof his wife Otacilia,a portraitof their son, Philip II,a lowerpart of a draped statue, and a lowerportion

88Manderscheid 981,28.According o Manderscheid, fthese portraits,more than one quarterrepresented he em-peroror hisfamily,whileprivateportraits ccounted for lessthanone fifth of those displayed n the bathssampled.89Weber1990, 352.l0Smith1998,65.91For he laws egarding equireddress, ee Stone1994,17.92Manderscheid1981, 35;Faran1999, 171,n. 89.93Unfortunately,ew other imperial-type ath complexeshavebeen excavatedn the RomanNearEast, ewerstillhavepreserved ortionsof theirsculptural rograms, nd, or com-plexeswhere tatuaryasbeenrecovered, ublications f thesepieceshavebeen cursory nd havenot considered hestatueswithin heirarchitecturalontextsor asprogrammaticnstalla-tions.There are no significant culpturalindsfromthe West-ern Bathhouseat BethShean/Scythopolis, he Bathsat Ham-matGader,Bath C atAntioch,or the Kom al-DikkaBathsatAlexandria.For a catalogueof 175baths n the Roman Near

Eastdating rom hefourthcenturyB.C. o A.D.750,see Reeves1996,appendixB.ThoughReeves scarefulnot to claim thather catalogue s exhaustive,only34 of the baths n her cata-logue overlapwith those publishedin Nielsen 1990.Of thebathsReevescatalogues, he classifiesonlythreeasimperial:the WesternBathhouseatBethShean/Scythopolis, heWestBathsatGerasa, ndthe BathsatHammatGader.To thisgroupmaybe addedthe Komal-DikkaBathsatAlexandria Nielsen1990,35), Bath C atAntioch (Nielsen 1990,45), the BathsatPhilippopolis Nielsen1990,46) and the EastBathsatGerasa.y4Mazor 999 (for statues ound in the WestWingof theEasternBaths);Tsafrir ndFoerster1997,129 (forfragmentsdeposited nthecaldarium nce the bathbuildingwent out ofuse).95Friedland 997,97-9; Skupinska-L0vset999,231.96Bounni1971, 122.97Syrie, 278.



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434 ELISEA. FRIEDLAND [AJA107of a draped woman.98The group from Philippo-polis/Shahba seems to be the only sculpturalgroupin the Near Eastto preservethe displayof multipleimperial portraits including a portrait head of anemperor. This relatively arge number of portraits,then, makes the Philippopolis/Shahba group animportantcomparandumfor the North Hall sculp-tural installations. Thus, the dedication of a por-traitof Caracalla n the North Hall is noteworthyincontrast with the absence of imperial portraits inother baths in the Roman Near East.

Whywould Caracallabe featured in a major im-perial-typebath complex in the Arabiancityof Gera-sa?The North Hall adds a new example to a groupof at least four other bath complexes in the Romanprovinces that honored Caracallaor were connect-ed to him. Three of these are located in North Afri-ca, the home province of the Severan dynasty.Atthe Large Baths in Madaurus a statue base pre-serves a dedication to Caracalla."Another statue,an over life-sizehead of Caracalla,wasfound in theForum Baths at ThubursicumNumidarum.100 ara-calla himself dedicated the Large North Baths atHippo Regius to the memory of his father,and onescholar has proposed that these baths were a repli-ca of the emperor'slargerbaths at Rome.101 inally,the dedication of the so-called MarbleCourt in theBath-GymnasiumComplex at Sardis may be relat-ed to Caracalla'sourney through the East, whichmight have included a stop at Sardis. Thus each ofthese locales, possibly including Gerasa,has someconnection to Caracalla.The portraitof Caracalla rom the North Hall, infact,is not the onlyhonor paidto Caracalla t Gerasa.Though it is not certain that theyall refer to Caracal-la, if the four other dedications to MarcusAureliusAntoninusfound at Gerasaall do representthe Seve-ran emperor,102hen Caracallaranks in the eyes ofthe Gerasenesalongside only Trajan,who foundedRoman Arabia (honored by seven dedications),Hadrian,who visited the city (honored by six), andMarcusAurelius (honored by five).103 our possiblemotivations or Gerasa'sdedication of a portraithon-oring Caracallacome to mind. First,the city couldsimply have been honoring the current emperor,

and, in Caracalla's ase, his declarationof the consti-tutioantoninianamade him particularlyworthy ofadulation. Second, it is possible that the emperorpaid for the constructionor renovationof the NorthHall or the entire East Baths.104 his hypothesis isnot entirely implausible, especially with the otherevidence for Caracalla'sdedication of his massivebaths at Rome and also of a provincialbathcomplexat Hippo Regius (noted above). Such largessusual-ly came in consortwithan imperialvisit,though notalways.There is, however,a third possible explana-tion for the city'shonor of Caracalla.Caracallahaslong been associatedwith Gerasabased on two in-scriptions of the third century A.D. found at thesite.105These two inscriptions are read by some asevidence for the fact that Gerasawasgrantedcolonystatus,adopted the name ColoniaAureliaAntoniniana(one inscriptioncarries he adjectiveAntoniniaewhichhas been interpreted as referring to Gerasa), andtherefore must have been granted this statusby theemperor Caracallahimself.106 s Millarpoints out,however,there is little evidence to support the no-tion that Gerasawaseverelevatedto colonystatus.107The city never produced colonial coins; further-more, it is unclear whetherthe twoinscriptions romGerasarefer to colonial status (they are somewhatrestored), or even whether they refer to the city ofGerasa n particular the name of the city s not men-tioned in either, so that only their reused fmdspotson the site associate these inscriptions with Gera-sa).108t is, admittedly, empting to hypothesizethatthe discoveryof the dedication to Caracalla n theNorth Hall adds plausibilityto this tenuous argu-ment. Such a conclusion would have pleased Krael-ing, who, in his 1938 voluminous work on the his-torical topography of the site, suggested, long be-fore the North Hall wasexcavated,that the construc-tion of the East Baths could have been funded byCaracalla.109It seems more fruitful, however, to consider afourth and final possible connection between Gera-sa and Caracalla, a link through Alexander theGreat.110s noted above,the cityof GerasadeclaredAlexander the Great its founder, and it was in thethird century A.D. that they advertised firm con-

98Syrie,87,318-9. Foran articleon the head ofPhilipandmention of the accompanying ortraits f OtaciliaandPhilipMinor,see Baity1990."Manderscheid1981,cat.454;Yeiml1992,222.100Manderscheid981,cat.460, pl. 47.101Yegul992, 230-1.102Welles1938,nos. 14, 152, 154,155. Caracalla'sitlesaresomewhatambiguousandcan,ifnot qualified,refer to otheremperors,uchasAntoninus ius,Marcus urelius,ndElagabal-us (Welles1938, 591, n.l).103Forhe dedicationshonoringTrajan,Hadrian,and Mar-

cusAurelius, ee the index of Welles (1938,590-1).104Fagan1999,171)notesthat twas armore commonforemperors orestore,renovate,or adornbaths orcities han twas or them to build thesestructures xnihilo.105Welles938, nos. 179, 191.106Kraelinff938, 57.107Millar1990, 55, n. 204.108Millar1990, 55, n. 204.109Kraelin 1938,58.1101thankAndrewM. SmithII forsuggesting hisconnec-

tion.



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2003] ROMAN MARBLESCULPTURES FROM GERASA 435nections with the Macedonian ruler. Caracallatooprofessed connections to Alexander: the Severanruler fancied himself the later embodiment of thegreathero, employingmilitarygearandcupsthoughtto have been used by Alexander,erecting portraitsof the Hellenistic rulerin Rome, and raisinga Mace-donianphalanx.111his connection is not onlyborneout in the literarysources, but in the numismaticrecord as well: coins struck in A.D. 214 by Philip-popolis in Thrace depict Caracallaas Alexander inhonor of the emperor'svisit to the Pythiangames.If,as some have suggested, Caracallawas indeed imi-tating Alexander the Great's route through theEast,112nd if the Gerasenefoundation legend heldany swaywith the Severanemperor, perhaps he didvisitthe cityin order to stayon his hero'scourse,andincidentally, in order to compete with earlier Ro-man emperors (like Trajanand Hadrian) who hadwon significantcivicattention at Gerasa.CONCLUSION

From the perspective of the Roman world, theancientNear Eastwasa place on the culturaledge, aregion originallycharacterizedby Semitic religiousand literary raditionsand, in some areas,by anicon-ic art. Admittedly,beginning in the sixth centuryB.C. and especiallyfollowing the conquest of Alex-anderthe Great,thisregionwasdrawn nto the Clas-sical realm, infiltrated, colonized, and altered

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The Roman Marble Sculptures from the North Hall of the East Baths at Gerasa.pdf