American Journal of Archaeology

This article analyzes the types, locations, and visual characteristics of charcoal graffiti from Herculaneum. This type of ancient inscription has been largely ignored in scholarship since the delicate medium has left many of these charcoal graffiti with uncertain readings, and few remain extant. I show that while charcoal graffiti were produced differently than inscribed graffiti at Herculaneum, the types of messages are similar. Yet the size, paleography, and visual impact differ dramatically between the two production methods. Charcoal graffiti were typically much larger than their inscribed counterparts, which, I suggest, resulted in their being written (or being allowed to be written) in different areas of the city. Using archival research on the field notebooks of Matteo Della Corte, the epigrapher who first documented the graffiti from Herculaneum, I examine the paleography, aesthetics, and visual impact of these charcoal graffiti. His line drawings provide, in many cases, our only glimpse into the layout, handwriting, design, and visual impact of the charcoal graffiti. While few, the charcoal graffiti of Herculaneum illustrate a class of inscriptions that was likely ubiquitous in the ancient world and provide important insights into the epigraphic fabric of the city.

Through an analysis of images of Amazons in their original historical and cultural contexts, this article re-evaluates one of the most iconic subjects in Greek art and its reimagining in Hellenized Anatolia. It argues that in Anatolia, Amazons were regularly depicted not as barbarians from exotic locales but rather as heroes with whom the local population identified. Anatolia was a mythological homeland for the warrior women, and local stories frequently cast the Amazons as an integral part of their histories. The foundation of the Temple of Artemis at Ephesos was attributed to Amazons, and numerous cities, including Smyrna and Kyme, claimed Amazons as eponymous founders and placed their images on coins. In Karia, the axe of the Amazon Hippolyta was a symbol of the region, and on the north frieze of the Temple of Hekate at Lagina, Amazons allegorically represented the people of Karia. For these cities, with their hybridized Greek and Anatolian populations, the Amazons’ gender was integral to their symbolic value, identifying the women as part of a mythical past that played a key role in the formation of civic and regional identities.

The wall decoration of the Tomb of the Bulls (540–520 BCE) at Tarquinia is a well-cited example of Early Archaic Etruscan tomb painting, incorporating imagery from Orientalizing iconography and combining it with a new emphasis on figural representation emanating from the East Greek world. Most previous scholarship has suggested that the tomb’s paintings cannot be read coherently and that they stand alone in the broader, more intelligible, tradition of Etruscan wall painting. This paper offers a fresh reading of the tomb’s imagery through tracing the possible prototypes that the artist and patron used for formulating the iconography. Central to this reading is a consideration of the architecture of the tomb and the design of the imagery in relation to the architecture. New interpretations are proposed for the Achilles and Troilos scene and for the two representations of sexual activity on the rear wall of the tomb’s antechamber. The paintings pertain to broader concerns relating to fertility and fecundity, which were critical issues in an aristocratic society. When the tomb is interpreted considering the influences underpinning its creation, namely vase painting and architectural iconography, it is possible to determine a coherent and rational message.