07-24-2014, 05:21 PM
I posted something yesterday but it got swallowed/I messed up submitting so I'll quickly try again.
Composition is obviously late so 3rd/4th century A.D and western. Not mythological/literary but not quite literal either, figure of power might be the villa's owner or ancestor or patron.
It's not a religious rite. Not in the full on proper sense. Everything is wrong about that with regards to state of dress, body posture, absence of proper paraphernalia and personal. So it's everyday piety. So probably the beginning of a meal or something given the preparation of meat is involved. That's supported by them being unbelted, it's meant to convey a state of repose contra the earlier action - in this case a successful hunt. I wouldn't read too much into it.
You're familiar with word "princeps" - we gloss it to mean prince but it really has its origins in being the first chooser/taker/capturer: the best of the group who represents that group to the gods. I guess that's the guy in the wonderful ornate red robes. Your power figure.
Aside: Unlike Greece, the near east, central Asia, India etc hunting didn't actually form a large part of Roman elite behaviour. Roman generals like Scipio picking up the behaviour during their time abroad was considered odd in the republican era. They didn't have either the military training angle classical Greeks did nor the elite behaviour model shared by Hellenistic Macedonian monarchs and Persian satraps alike. It's a later behaviour that by the Byzantine period became pretty important as a sign of prowess. Not wholly relevant but I think it rather cool.
Composition is obviously late so 3rd/4th century A.D and western. Not mythological/literary but not quite literal either, figure of power might be the villa's owner or ancestor or patron.
It's not a religious rite. Not in the full on proper sense. Everything is wrong about that with regards to state of dress, body posture, absence of proper paraphernalia and personal. So it's everyday piety. So probably the beginning of a meal or something given the preparation of meat is involved. That's supported by them being unbelted, it's meant to convey a state of repose contra the earlier action - in this case a successful hunt. I wouldn't read too much into it.
You're familiar with word "princeps" - we gloss it to mean prince but it really has its origins in being the first chooser/taker/capturer: the best of the group who represents that group to the gods. I guess that's the guy in the wonderful ornate red robes. Your power figure.
Aside: Unlike Greece, the near east, central Asia, India etc hunting didn't actually form a large part of Roman elite behaviour. Roman generals like Scipio picking up the behaviour during their time abroad was considered odd in the republican era. They didn't have either the military training angle classical Greeks did nor the elite behaviour model shared by Hellenistic Macedonian monarchs and Persian satraps alike. It's a later behaviour that by the Byzantine period became pretty important as a sign of prowess. Not wholly relevant but I think it rather cool.
Jass
