Books by Riccardo Di Cesare
L’inchiesta condotta in questo volume prende in esame un momento di dinamismo e crescita nella st... more L’inchiesta condotta in questo volume prende in esame un momento di dinamismo e crescita nella storia di Atene e del suo volto monumentale: l’età di Cimone (ca. 478-461 a.C.), immediata precorritrice del piu celebre ‘secolo’ di Pericle. Dopo che il sacco persiano nell’anno attico 480/79 ha profondamente scalfito il paesaggio urbano e il suo patrimonio monumentale, Cimone promuove una fervida attività edilizia che tocca i principali luoghi funzionali e simbolici della polis, proponendo un’immagine di Atene adeguata all’inedito scenario internazionale in cui la citta, guidata dal figlio di Milziade nell’ambito della cosiddetta Lega delio-attica, assume una posizione egemone. L’indagine esamina la base documentaria di ogni monumento e ne propone un’interpretazione storica, da cui emergono i tratti peculiari del programma edilizio, i risvolti finanziari, il progetto politico, le affinità e le distanze con la città di Temistocle e quella di Pericle.
Dall’Acropoli trasformata in spettacolo della rovina e museo della guerra, passando per il cuore storico di Atene elevato, con il rimpatrio delle ossa di Teseo, a baricentro del nascente ‘impero’, dall’Agora del Ceramico e dal cimitero di Stato dei caduti in guerra lungo un percorso eroico culminante nel ginnasio dell’Accademia, la città di Cimone, diventata anche una capitale dell’arte, assume una sua identità in bilico tra l’attualità e il passato.
In un momento di rifondazione la città chiama in causa
le figure esemplari della sua tradizione. Teseo, campione nazionale, assurge al rango di eroe per tutti gli alleati; mentre l’antichità primordiale della polis è richiamata dalla figura di Cecrope, il primo re, autoctono figlio della Terra.
Il titolo del libro si ispira a una delle poche voci letterarie contemporanee a Cimone, il poeta del suo circolo, Melanzio, che celebra in versi la bellezza della “piazza cecropia”, ornata in quegli anni di magnifiche pitture.
La citazione è preziosa e metaforica e puòessere estesa
a tutta la città di Cecrope, che nella dialettica tra rovina e ricostruzione riscopre, produce e reinventa la sua memoria storica.
Papers by Riccardo Di Cesare
During 2022, archaeological exploration continued in the area of the Archaic sanctuary of Hephaes... more During 2022, archaeological exploration continued in the area of the Archaic sanctuary of Hephaestia, in the northern sector of the Palaeopolis peninsula. The investigations, in continuity with those of last year, were conducted in the natural valley, adjoining the sanctuary to the W. The oldest idetified levels of frequetation are thick layers containing Proto- geometric ad Geometric pottery, which attest to the extent of the settlement inhabited by the local population in the Early Iron Age, from the 11th to the early 7th cent. B.C., before the life of the sactuary (mid-7th to late 6th cent. B.C.). The most conspicuous phase is from the Classical-Hellenistic period (5th-2nd cent. B.C.), referring to the Athenian cleruchy. Several rooms have been excavated, the largest having a rectagular floor plan, a off-centre entrace and built couches (klinai) along the inner sides, and can be interpreted as a banquet hall (hestiatorion). The finds (both pottery ad coroplastic) hint at the symposium ad cult sphere (terracotta statuettes of deities and small altars). The smaller neighbouring rooms, featuring a recurring plan with a raised platform on four sides and a quadrangular central space, can also be referred to the same function. This complex of hestiatoria could well be connected to a sanctuary, to be found nearby. According to the excavated stratigraphies, the area was abandoned as early as the end of the Hellenistic period.
Archaeological research in 2021 on the archaic acropolis of Hephaestia and in the quarter located... more Archaeological research in 2021 on the archaic acropolis of Hephaestia and in the quarter located W of it, in the adjoining natural valley, led to the acquisition of new data on the settlement history from the Early Iron Age to the Late Roman period. The activities focused on three areas. 1) On the acropolis plateau an open-air area between the Building with votive deposit and the central complex of the sanctuary (7th-6th centuries BC) was newly excavated. Remais of archaic walls ad a large terracotta pithos embedded in the rocky bank have been documented. The archaeological data indicate that this area was already settled before the sanctuary was built. 2) In the Building with votive deposit, room H, an uncovered space joined to the lower rooms of the building, was Iinvestigated. Inside this space, a thick layer of earth ad rubbish was excavated down to the steeply sloping rocky bank, attesting to a settlement phase of the Early Iron Age (second half of the 11th to the end of the 8th/beginning of the 7th centuries BC) preceding the construction of the Building with votive deposit. The large amount of fragmentary pottery includes protogeometric amphoras and three most represented ceramic classes: grey ware (with beige and brown/red variant), geometric and coarse ware. In the same layers millstoes ad pestles, animal bones ad malacological finds related to meal remains were also found. The source of this material is probably a settlement located uphill. 3) In the area to the W of the Building with votive deposit, an area of more than 600 mq was excavated and a new quarter of the city from the classical ad Hellenistic period (5th-1st centuries BC) was discovered. Beneath the thick modern arable soil, an extendssive layer of debris with stoes, bricks ad fragmentary pottery covers a series of structures ad corresponds to a phase of spoliation and abandonment, after the last sporadic frequentation of the area in the 4th-7th centuries AD.
Nei 15643 esametri dattilici dell'Iliade e nei 12109 dell'Odissea, Lemno è menzionata 15 volte (u... more Nei 15643 esametri dattilici dell'Iliade e nei 12109 dell'Odissea, Lemno è menzionata 15 volte (una volta solo implicitamente). Inclu dendo un minimo di contesto, riguardano l'isola un centinaio di versi, distribuiti tra più canti dell'Iliade e il solo racconto odissiaco di Efesto e degli amori di Ares e Afrodite. Non c'è da stupirsi: la geografia del primo poema è reale, quella del secondo largamente fantastica, proiet tata nel mare degli eroi e dei Greci «dalle odysseiai alle apoikiai», per dirla con la felice formula di Pugliese Carratelli. Nell'orbita omerica andrà collocato anche un riferimento all'isola nell'Inno ad Apollo. 1 Il caso di Lemno non sfugge al problema generale del rapporto tra i versi omerici e la realtà storica. 2 I due poemi epici sono testi dalla
The aim of this contribution is to discuss some issues of the crucial period between the tyranny ... more The aim of this contribution is to discuss some issues of the crucial period between the tyranny of Hippias in Athens and the early years of the Pentekontaetia (528/7 to c. 470) from the point of view of urban spaces. It is widely acknowledged that the city as a public and social space is produced by the community that shapes, organizes and lives (within) it to meet its political, religious, economic and other needs; on the other hand, urban spaces are symbolic and cognitive constructions that are able to embody and forge collective consciousness, identity and values. In the period under examination, major historical transformations led to the reshaping, reorganization and creation of Athenian public spaces, some of which now acquired strong performative power: they were shaped in order to represent and ‘stage’ the polis, while acting as the operational places of participatory life.
This contribution proposes a new reading of the famous dedicatory inscription engraved on the sty... more This contribution proposes a new reading of the famous dedicatory inscription engraved on the stylobate of the temple of Apollo in Syracuse (590-580 BC). After the review of previous reconstructions of the text, a new reading is suggested for its damaged central part: namely, the adjective ἐντελής (complete, entire, perfect), in the neutral plural form, correlated with the next word: τἐντελε͂ [i.e. τ(ὰ) ἐντελε͂] στύλεια, as the only direct object of the causative verb ἐποίεσε. The text is reconstructed
as follows: “Kleo[…]es, the son of Knidieidas, had the entire colonnades erected for Apollo: well done works!”. The inscription was placed on the stylobate as the base of the dedicated columns, and it would refer not to the temple as such, but to its most innovative, eye-catching and ambitious part, both from a technical and economic point of view: the numerous and massive stone columns. In line with the practice, attested in the archaic Greek world, of funding columns or parts of temples by wealthy donors,
Kleo[…]es, perhaps the contractor or supervisor in the construction of the temple, would have covered at his own expense the cost and setting up of the columns. This achievement was all the more remarkable in light of the complexity of the entire project, which was well accomplished and therefore celebrated as καλὰ ϝέργα.
Il volume, curato da Saverio Russo e Roberta Giuliani, raccoglie la produzione scientifica dei d... more Il volume, curato da Saverio Russo e Roberta Giuliani, raccoglie la produzione scientifica dei docenti di archeologia, storia e storia dell'arte del Dipartimento di studi umanistici nei primi venti anni di vita dell'Università di Foggia. Con l'indice si propone qui la presentazione.
In Greek thought, painting was considered somewhat less banausic among visual crafts. Ordinary cr... more In Greek thought, painting was considered somewhat less banausic among visual crafts. Ordinary craftsmen were paid little or not very much, while renowned artists were very well paid. Literary sources, and especially inscriptions, papyri and archaeological evidence reveal the daily work of the painter-craftsman who produced votive paintings, decorated houses, the scene of theaters or took part in the construction of a temple. From the Archaic Age, and increasingly during the Classical Age, fine paintings, mural or on wooden boards (pinakes), were characterized by very high prices, which corresponded to the social esteem of the painter and the ambitions of the purchaser (public or private). In this case, the value of painting, whose production costs were relatively low, was the result of a socially recognized convention.
During 2019 the excavation of the 8th-6th cent. B.C. "Edificio con stipe" (Building with votive d... more During 2019 the excavation of the 8th-6th cent. B.C. "Edificio con stipe" (Building with votive deposit) at Hephaestia was completed. On the lower level, rooms D7, E, F and G were brought to light. Like those excavated last year (D1-6), these are likely to have served the sanctuary on the acropolis of the archaic settlement, related with rooms A-C on the upper level. Northwest, at a lower level, a long archaic wall, first discovered in 1929, was unearthed again. Next to it were Hellenistic structures (late 4th-3rd cent. B.C.) Among the finds, a misfired fragment of grey ware with decorations in sobgeometric style G 2-3 attests a local production of this ceramic.
Di Cesare R., Sarcone G. 2019, L'Acropoli di Atene: memoria, storia e attualità nel centro di una polis, in G. Cipriani - A. Cagnolati (a cura di), Scienze umane tra ricerca e didattica. Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Foggia, 24-25 settembre 2018), vol. I, VestigiA 8, Foggia, 345-369. VestigiA 8 Dal mondo classico alla modernità: linguaggi, percorsi, storie e luoghi Volume I Atti ... more VestigiA 8 Dal mondo classico alla modernità: linguaggi, percorsi, storie e luoghi Volume I Atti del Convegno Internazionale di Studi (Foggia, 24-26 settembre 2018)
In 2018 the Italian Archaeological School at Athens resumed the study of the archaic sanctuary on... more In 2018 the Italian Archaeological School at Athens resumed the study of the archaic sanctuary on the acropolis of He- phaestia (Lemnos) where work was carried out during the twentieth centur. A building containing a rich votive deposit, the so-called Edificio con stipe, ecavated in 1929-30 and 198-9 and not et full published, has been brought back to light. The building is lo- cated at the south-western edge of the acropolis and it is arranged on two levels: the upper one has three rooms, one of which ielded the deposit the lower one has some smaller rooms. The results of the ecavations and some preliminar observations are presented.
While the old gymnasia (Academy, Lyceum, Kynosarges) were
situated outside the walls of Athens, t... more While the old gymnasia (Academy, Lyceum, Kynosarges) were
situated outside the walls of Athens, two new gymnasia were
built in the city’s heart soon after 229 BC: the Diogeneion and
the Ptolemaion. This paper discusses the history, architecture
and function of these two gymnasia, reviewing both literary
and epigraphic evidence and the archaeological remains in the
area of their probable location. These complexes had a remarkable
urbanistic impact, introducing a touch of modernity into
the chaotic and old-fashioned centre of the town. While their
exact location is still debated, they established a firm topographical
and ideological connection with the older city-centre
(‘Old Agora’) and served the headquarters of ephebic training
and education throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
The paper aims at examining the transformations of the urban landscape of Alba Fucens in a diachr... more The paper aims at examining the transformations of the urban landscape of Alba Fucens in a diachronic perspective, according to recent excavations. The city centre of Alba Fucens, especially the forum, is analyzed from the foundation of the Latin colony at the end of the fourth century B.C., until the Late Antique and High Medieval frequentations. The forum was planned as an open, long rectangular space, without paving stone; a terracotta and ceramic workshop was nearby, before a terracing wall modified its south-eastern edge. During the Late Republican Age shops (tabernae) were added nearby. Only in the Imperial Age, around 40-50 A.D., the forum was paved. One or more disruptive events, among which an earthquake variously dated between 346 and 508 A.D., was responsible for architectural and functional changes. The porch facing the tabernae was closed to obtain rooms. Second-hand material from old buildings, both stones and tiles, was largely used. The earthquake was not the last event in the urban history of Alba Fucens. Life continued, in huts and precarious facilities, at least until the sixth century A.D., when colluvial deposits started infilling the Piano di Civita.
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Books by Riccardo Di Cesare
Dall’Acropoli trasformata in spettacolo della rovina e museo della guerra, passando per il cuore storico di Atene elevato, con il rimpatrio delle ossa di Teseo, a baricentro del nascente ‘impero’, dall’Agora del Ceramico e dal cimitero di Stato dei caduti in guerra lungo un percorso eroico culminante nel ginnasio dell’Accademia, la città di Cimone, diventata anche una capitale dell’arte, assume una sua identità in bilico tra l’attualità e il passato.
In un momento di rifondazione la città chiama in causa
le figure esemplari della sua tradizione. Teseo, campione nazionale, assurge al rango di eroe per tutti gli alleati; mentre l’antichità primordiale della polis è richiamata dalla figura di Cecrope, il primo re, autoctono figlio della Terra.
Il titolo del libro si ispira a una delle poche voci letterarie contemporanee a Cimone, il poeta del suo circolo, Melanzio, che celebra in versi la bellezza della “piazza cecropia”, ornata in quegli anni di magnifiche pitture.
La citazione è preziosa e metaforica e puòessere estesa
a tutta la città di Cecrope, che nella dialettica tra rovina e ricostruzione riscopre, produce e reinventa la sua memoria storica.
Papers by Riccardo Di Cesare
as follows: “Kleo[…]es, the son of Knidieidas, had the entire colonnades erected for Apollo: well done works!”. The inscription was placed on the stylobate as the base of the dedicated columns, and it would refer not to the temple as such, but to its most innovative, eye-catching and ambitious part, both from a technical and economic point of view: the numerous and massive stone columns. In line with the practice, attested in the archaic Greek world, of funding columns or parts of temples by wealthy donors,
Kleo[…]es, perhaps the contractor or supervisor in the construction of the temple, would have covered at his own expense the cost and setting up of the columns. This achievement was all the more remarkable in light of the complexity of the entire project, which was well accomplished and therefore celebrated as καλὰ ϝέργα.
situated outside the walls of Athens, two new gymnasia were
built in the city’s heart soon after 229 BC: the Diogeneion and
the Ptolemaion. This paper discusses the history, architecture
and function of these two gymnasia, reviewing both literary
and epigraphic evidence and the archaeological remains in the
area of their probable location. These complexes had a remarkable
urbanistic impact, introducing a touch of modernity into
the chaotic and old-fashioned centre of the town. While their
exact location is still debated, they established a firm topographical
and ideological connection with the older city-centre
(‘Old Agora’) and served the headquarters of ephebic training
and education throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
Dall’Acropoli trasformata in spettacolo della rovina e museo della guerra, passando per il cuore storico di Atene elevato, con il rimpatrio delle ossa di Teseo, a baricentro del nascente ‘impero’, dall’Agora del Ceramico e dal cimitero di Stato dei caduti in guerra lungo un percorso eroico culminante nel ginnasio dell’Accademia, la città di Cimone, diventata anche una capitale dell’arte, assume una sua identità in bilico tra l’attualità e il passato.
In un momento di rifondazione la città chiama in causa
le figure esemplari della sua tradizione. Teseo, campione nazionale, assurge al rango di eroe per tutti gli alleati; mentre l’antichità primordiale della polis è richiamata dalla figura di Cecrope, il primo re, autoctono figlio della Terra.
Il titolo del libro si ispira a una delle poche voci letterarie contemporanee a Cimone, il poeta del suo circolo, Melanzio, che celebra in versi la bellezza della “piazza cecropia”, ornata in quegli anni di magnifiche pitture.
La citazione è preziosa e metaforica e puòessere estesa
a tutta la città di Cecrope, che nella dialettica tra rovina e ricostruzione riscopre, produce e reinventa la sua memoria storica.
as follows: “Kleo[…]es, the son of Knidieidas, had the entire colonnades erected for Apollo: well done works!”. The inscription was placed on the stylobate as the base of the dedicated columns, and it would refer not to the temple as such, but to its most innovative, eye-catching and ambitious part, both from a technical and economic point of view: the numerous and massive stone columns. In line with the practice, attested in the archaic Greek world, of funding columns or parts of temples by wealthy donors,
Kleo[…]es, perhaps the contractor or supervisor in the construction of the temple, would have covered at his own expense the cost and setting up of the columns. This achievement was all the more remarkable in light of the complexity of the entire project, which was well accomplished and therefore celebrated as καλὰ ϝέργα.
situated outside the walls of Athens, two new gymnasia were
built in the city’s heart soon after 229 BC: the Diogeneion and
the Ptolemaion. This paper discusses the history, architecture
and function of these two gymnasia, reviewing both literary
and epigraphic evidence and the archaeological remains in the
area of their probable location. These complexes had a remarkable
urbanistic impact, introducing a touch of modernity into
the chaotic and old-fashioned centre of the town. While their
exact location is still debated, they established a firm topographical
and ideological connection with the older city-centre
(‘Old Agora’) and served the headquarters of ephebic training
and education throughout the Hellenistic and Roman periods.
About 510-500 BC the open space at the foot of the Kolonos (later called Agoraios), already used mainly during the city festivals, was formally marked by boundary-stones, so becoming the public square of the city.
The relocation of the civic central place resulted in a divi- sion of the functions of the Old Agora: the administrative centre was fixed at the Kerameikos, while the ekklesiai were held at the Pnyx. The ‘new’ Agora never served as the politi- cal meeting-place of the people, except for the ostrakophoriai.
Between the Agora and the Pnyx was the Areopagus, and one wonders if the location of the assembly-place was not a tribute payed to the most authoritative Council of the polis.
The Kerameikos Agora started serving also like a shop- ping centre: this function extended toward east as far as the open space later occupied by the Roman Agora, land of the kapeloi scattered with houses and shops, where the Tower of the Winds was also built.
In the imperial age both Strabo and Pausanias called ago- ra the main marketplace of their time, that is the square funded by Caesar and Augustus on request of the Athenians, in order to provide the old commercial space with a monu- mental structure.
The so-called Library of Hadrian can be considered the last of the city agorai; it is better understood as an imperial forum, built in the city that, thanks to the Emperor, saw a great political and cultural revival as the centre of the Greek East.
Maria José Strazzulla (1944-2015) è stata funzionario nelle Soprintendenze archeologiche del Veneto e Friuli Venezia Giulia e dell’Umbria, quindi ricercatore nelle Università di Perugia e Roma “Sapienza”.
Già docente di Archeologia classica all’Università dell’Aquila (dal 1993/94), dove si è dedicata a un’appassionata attività didattica e di ricerca, formando una scuola e avviando scavi nel territorio, è diventata professore associato nell’Università di Lecce (1999-2001) poi ordinario nell’Università di Foggia (2002-2009), assumendo la direzione scientifica della Biblioteca della Facoltà di Lettere (poi Dipartimento di Studi Umanistici), che oggi le è intitolata. Direttrice di una missione di scavo archeologico ad Alba Fucens e specialista di terrecotte architettoniche, ha scritto numerosi saggi scientifici e monografie, tra le quali: Il santuario sannitico di Pietrabbondante (1971); Assisi romana (1985); Le terrecotte architettoniche della Venetia romana (1987); Il principato di Apollo (1990); Ancient Lebanon (2004); Fucino. Studi sulla cultura figurativa (2007, in collaborazione).