Martin M. Miles' photos with the keyword: suovetaurilia

Edinburgh has been the capital of Scotland since the 15th century. With a population of around 525,000, it is the second largest city in Scotland after Glasgow. The city is a cultural centre, and is the home of institutions including the National Museum of Scotland, the National Library of Scotland and the Scottish National Gallery. Edinburgh's Old Town and New Town together are listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site. The National Museum of Scotland was formed in 2006 with the merger of the new Museum of Scotland, with collections relating to Scottish antiquities, culture and history, and the adjacent Royal Scottish Museum. Both parts of the museum are located right next to each other on Chambers Street. The Royal Museum is a museum of natural sciences, technology and art. It is housed in a building dating from 1888. The Museum of Scotland deals with Scottish history and culture. It is located in a new building completed in 1998 right next to the 1888 building. Bridgeness Slab The Bridgeness Slab is a Roman distance slab marking a portion of the Antonine Wall built by the Second Legion. The sandstone tablet was found at Bridgeness in Bo'ness, Scotland in 1868. The slab was erected 142 CE to mark the completion of a section of the Antonine Wall. The inscription in the centre panel reads "Imp CaesTito Aelio / Hadri Antonino Aug Pio p p legII Aug / per m p ĪĪĪĪ DCLII / FEC" (= "Imp(eratori) Caes(ari) Tito Aelio Hadri(ano) Antonino/ Aug(usto) Pio p(atri) p(atriae) leg(io) II Aug(usta) per m(ilia) p(assuum) IIII(milia)DCLII fec(it)". This translates as "For the Emperor Caesar Titus Aelius Hadrianus Antoninus Augustus Pius, Father of his Country, the Second Augustan Legion completed [the Wall] over a distance of 4652 paces". On the left is a victorious, Roman cavalryman with four naked Britons. On the right panel is a depiction of the "suovetaurilia", a ceremony undertaken before important campaigns or in this case before the wall was built. The arch top of a temple is depicted. Four soldiers are shown, one carrying the flag. A man in a toga is depicted pouring a libation on an altar as a preliminary to sacrificing a bull, a pig and a sheep. During this a flute is played.

Marcus Julius Cottius was king of the Ligurian tribes inhabiting the region now known as the "Cottian Alps", that became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. Segusio (= Susa) at that time was the capital of "Alpes Cottiae". Cottius had the "Arch of Augustus" built from white marble 9/8 BC to record the renewed alliance between Emperor Augustus and him. A frieze, depicting a suovetaurilia, a kind of ritual offering. Above that is the (very long) dedicatory inscription to ".. Imperator Caesar Augustus son of a god, Pontifex Maximus.." Seen here are two young Vandals, climbing the arch, while their father is capturing the climb on video.

Marcus Julius Cottius was king of the Ligurian tribes inhabiting the region now known as the "Cottian Alps", that became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. Segusio (= Susa) at that time was the capital of "Alpes Cottiae". Cottius had the "Arch of Augustus" built from white marble 9/8 BC to record the renewed alliance between Emperor Augustus and him. There is a (very long) dedicatory inscription to ".. Imperator Caesar Augustus son of a god, Pontifex Maximus.." A frieze runs all around the arch - 33 meters. It depicts a suovetaurilia, a kind of ritual sacrifice of pig (sus), a sheep (ovis) and a bull (taurus). The bull is seen to the left.

Marcus Julius Cottius was king of the Ligurian tribes inhabiting the region now known as the "Cottian Alps", that became part of the Roman Empire in the 1st century BC. Segusio (= Susa) at that time was the capital of "Alpes Cottiae". Cottius had the "Arch of Augustus" built from white marble 9/8 BC to record the renewed alliance between Emperor Augustus and him. A frieze, depicting a suovetaurilia, a ritual sacrifice. Above that is the (very long) dedicatory inscription to ".. Imperator Caesar Augustus son of a god, Pontifex Maximus.." The wall to the right is much younger than the arch. It belongs to the "Castello della marchesa Adelaide" (= Castle of Marquise Adelaide), where Adelaide of Susa (aka Adelaide of Turin), who married Otto of Savoy in 1046, once lived. She had joined Henry IV, later her son in law, on his way to Canossa in 1077.