ROMAN CULTURE ROOM
AROUND THE MARE NOSTRUM
The exhibition dedicated to the Roman world in the province of Alicante is divided into three blocks:
- Romanisation
- Roman culture during the Roman Empire
- Christianity and the late Roman world
In this room you can enjoy the synchronised projection on two 18-metre screens of an audiovisual that recreates scenes of daily life in the Roman city of Lucentum, today known as Tossal de Manises, Albufereta.
PIECES FROM THE ROMAN CULTURE ROOM
Visigothic reliefs
................................................. Cerro de Las Balsas (Albufereta, Alicante) Sandstone h: 97 cm; w: 46 cm; d: 12 cm h: 66 cm; w: 50 cm; d: 13 cm Roman culture 7th century AD: 46 cm; w: 12 cm h: 66 cm; h: 50 cm; w: 13 cm Roman culture 7th century AD.
Amphora
................................................ Tossal de la Cala (Benidorm) Ceramic h:118 cm; w. 32 cm Roman culture Late 2nd - early 1st century BC: 32 cm Roman culture Late 2nd - early 1st century BC Typology Dressel 1, subtype B.
Ilici Bronze Semis
................................................. Isidro Albert Collection Bronze d: 2'12 cm; w: 4'7 g; d.w.:12 h Roman culture 22-23 A.D. 5th issue
Altar lights
................................................. Lucentum, Tossal de Manises (Alicante) Bronze Plate: h: 21'5 cm; w: 5'7 cm; d: 0'3 cm Bucranes: h: 7-7'7cm; w: 6'2 cm; d: 1-1'6 cm Urceus: h: 8'7 cm ; w : 3'9 cm; e: 0'8 cm Lituus: h: 10'5 cm; a: 3'5 cm; e: 0'4 cm Cornucopia: h: 9'1cm; a: 4 cm; e: 1'5 cm Roman culture 1st century AD.
Guttus
................................................. Necropolis of El Albir (l'Alfaç del Pi) Glass h: 7'5 cm; w: 4'1 cm; d: 3'6 cm Roman culture 5th century AD: 4'1 cm; e: 3'6 cm Roman culture 5th century AD.
Sculpture of a togado
................................................. Lucentum, Tossal de Manises (Alicante) Sandstone h: 42 cm; w: 24.5 cm, d: 12 cm Roman culture Second half of the 1st century BC.
Funerary inscription of Publius Astranius Venustius
................................................. Lucentum (Tossal de Manises, Alicante)White marble with grey veinsh: 31.11cm; h: 28.4cm; w: 2cmRoman culture2nd century AD.
Mosaic
................................................. Baños de la Reina (Calpe, Alicante) Stone tesserae h: 264 cm; w: 288 cm Roman culture 2nd century AD.
Mural painting of the domus of the eastern gate of Lucentum
................................................. Lucentum, Tossal de Manises (Alicante) Painting applied using the fresco technique on a lime mortar base. h: 305 cm; w: 265 cm h: 303 cm; w: 139 cm; d: 8 cm Roman culture First half of the 2nd century AD.
Decorated fountain of South Gallic terra sigillata
................................................. Lucentum (Tossal de Manises, Alicante) Ceramic h: 23.6 cm; w: 8.1 cm; d: 10.1 cm Roman culture Towards the first half of Nero's reign (50-60/65 BC).
Iron window grille
................................................. Illeta dels Banyets (Alicante) Iron h: 72 cm; w: 49 cm; d: 3 cm Roman culture 2nd century AD: 49 cm; e: 3 cm Roman culture 2nd century AD.
AUDIOGUIDES
Welcome to the Roman culture room
Welcome to the Roman Culture Hall
AUDIO GUIDE Introduction Hall of Roman Culture
AUDIOGUIDE P2
AUDIOGUIDE P3
InfoGUIDE Bronze Hand
This sculptural fragment presents details that distinguish it as a unicum, i.e. a piece that presents elements that have not been documented until now. Firstly, the pommel of the hilt consists of two eagle heads facing opposite sides, i.e. two-headed. In Greco-Roman iconography there are known sword hilts topped with the head of this bird, but this is the first time it has appeared double. Secondly, there are loose bronze swords and hands, never in which both elements were united, as occurs in many stone statues. This circumstance has allowed us to propose for some bronze sculptures that the object in the hand (today empty) would be a sword, as we think would be the case in the famous bronze statue of Marcus Aurelius in the Capitoline Museums in Rome.
The ring finger bears a ring decorated with the lituus, the curved staff of the Roman augurs. It is engraved on several rings of bronze sculptures of emperors or members of their families, as an emblem of membership of this priestly college.
Metallographic analysis has revealed a very good bronze alloy, with little lead, suggesting that the workshop was based in Italy or the eastern Mediterranean.
From the formal analysis of the piece and the comparison with other Roman statues, especially marble ones, the statue would be that of an emperor or a prominent family member, dressed in military uniform and holding a sword in his left hand. The size we suppose would be around 2.20 metres and it would be placed on one of the pedestals in the forum of Lucentum. It would be one of the most striking images that the citizens of ancient Alicante would contemplate when they visited the forensic space.
We do not know which emperor or relative the statue would represent. The fragment was found in the destruction levels of the forum in the 3rd century AD. We think, given the history of the Roman city, whose moment of splendour took place in the 1st century, that this period would have seen the installation of the sculpture.
Bibliography:
Olcina Doménech, M. (ed.), 2007, El báculo y la espada. On a fragment of Roman monumental bronze sculpture from Lucentum. Alicante.
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PERMANENT EXHIBITION
The new Provincial Archaeological Museum of Alicante is very interesting from a didactic point of view and at the same time fun, rigorous and spectacular. The Museum also offers the possibility of learning about the archaeological method. In three rooms, the Field Archaeology Room, the Urban Archaeology Room and the Underwater Archaeology Room, you will be able to...
OPENING TIMES
SATURDAYS AND SUNDAYS:
12:00h
FROM TUESDAY TO SATURDAY: From 10:00 to 19:00h
SUNDAYS AND PUBLIC HOLIDAYS: From 10:00 to 14:00h
MONDAY CLOSED
