Sol: Image and Meaning of the Sun in Roman Art and Religion, Volume II: (Sol: Image and Meaning of the Sun in Roman Art and Religion)

With this analysis of Sol images, Steven E. Hijmans paints a new picture of the solar cult in ancient Rome. The paucity of literary evidence led Hijmans to prioritize visual sources, and he opens this study with a thorough discussion of the theoretical and methodological issues involved. Emphasizing the danger of facile equivalencies between visual and verbal meanings, his primary focus is Roman praxis, manifest in, for instance, the strict patterning of Sol imagery. These patterns encode core concepts that Sol imagery evoked when deployed, and in those concepts we recognize the bedrock of Rome’s understandings of the sun and his cult. Case studies illustrate these concepts in action and the final chapter analyzes the historical context in which previous, now discredited views on Sol could arise. This is volume II of a two-volume set.

Table of Contents:
List of Figures Abbreviations Volume I Introduction 1 Art and Sol: Some Parameters for an Analysis of Images of the Roman Sun  1 Two Sun Gods?  2 Reading Roman Art – The Problem of the “Greek Norm”  3 Greek Art and Etruscan Art  4 Greek Art and Good Taste  5 The Iconographic Toolbox  6 The Semantics of Roman Art  7 Matters of Methodology  8 The Interpretative Process – Understanding Manners of Meaning 2 Recognizing Sol: The Three Main Image Types  1 Introduction  2 Criteria  3 Divine Radiance 3 Understanding the Image Types for Sol: Main Definitions  1 Introduction  2 Chronological Evolution and Meaningful Patterns  3 Sol as a Deity  4 Sol in Mythological Scenes  5 Sol as a Minor Figure  6 Sol-and-Luna 1 – Architecture and Liminality  7 Sol-and-Luna 2 – Attributes of Aeternitas  8 Sol-and-Luna 3 – Cultic Reliefs  9 Sol-and-Luna 4 – Sarcophagi  10 Sol-and-Luna 5 – Alone, without Context  11 Sol-and-Luna 6 – Early Middle Ages  12 Sol Alone, as Minor Figure or in Complex Scenes  13 Intaglios 4 Understanding the Image Types for Sol: Specific Cases  1 Sol and Alexander  2 Sol in the Synagogue  3 A Divine Kiss on the Lips  4 Funerary Altar of Julia Victorina  5 Mithras  6 Preliminary Results  7 Sol: The Planet  The Images: Catalogue and Discussion  1 Table of Contents  2 Introduction  3 Catalogue  4 Discussion Volume II 5 Temples and Priests of Sol in Rome  1 The Origins of the Cult of Sol in Rome  2 Early Temples of Sol in Rome: Circus Maximus and Quirinal  3 The Porticus Solis – a Misidentified Temple of Sol  4 Priests and Others Involved in the Cult  5 Sol and the Roman Notions of Divinity  Appendix: Inscriptions Cited by Palmer and Chausson 6 Solar, Divine, or Imperial? Understanding the Radiance of Gods and Emperors in Roman Art  1 Introduction  2 A Hint of Sol  3 A Statue in Raleigh  4 The Sternenstreit  5 Circe  6 The Imperial Radiate Crown 7 The Emperor as Sol?  1 Nero as Sol?  2 Other Depictions of the Emperor as Sol?  3 Constantine as Sol?  4 Conclusions 8 Sol-Luna Symbolism and the Carmen Saeculare of Horace  1 Introduction  2 The Sign Sol-and-Luna  3 Horace’s Carmen Saeculare – Another terminus ante quem  4 Mommsen’s Criticism and Its Aftermath  5 Horace’s Hymn Rehabilitated  6 In Conclusion 9 Image and Word: Christ or Sol in Mausoleum M of the Vatican Necropolis?  1 Introduction  2 Mausoleum M  3 Interpretation and the Diachronic Aspect  4 Parallels  5 With Roman Eyes  6 Visual Impact, Meaning, and Atmosphere  7 Visual Meanings versus Verbal Ones  8 In Conclusion 10 From Aurelian to Julian: Sol in Late Antiquity  1 Sol Invictus and Christmas  2 Pagans, Christians, and Cosmic Divinity  3 Pagans, Christians, and “Solar Theology”  4 Sol as Supreme Deity?  5 Beliefs, Ambiguities, and Imagery  6 Constantine and Purposeful Traditionalism  7 In Conclusion 11 The Invention of Sol Invictus: An Analysis of Previous Research on Sol  1 The Republican Sun God  2 The Orient and the Imperial Sol  3 Classical Studies and the Western Elite  4 The Tenacity of Paradigms and Ideology Conclusions Bibliography Concordances Plates  I Sol: A Viewer’s Typology  II Catalogue Index

About the Author :
Dr. Steven E. Hijmans, Professor of Roman Archaeology at the University of Alberta in Canada, studied Classics and Archaeology at Groningen University. He has published numerous articles on Sol, other aspects of Roman religion, and visual meanings.