American Journal of Archaeology

A large mosaic pavement excavated in 2007 at ancient Daphne, a suburb of Antioch-on-the-Orontes, includes four figured panels representing scenes from comedies by Menander. Inscribed with the name of the play and the number of the act, the panels depict Perikeiromene, act 1; Philadelphoi, act 1; Synaristosai, act 1; and Theophoroumene, act 3. This article integrates archaeological, iconographical, and literary approaches in order to evaluate the contribution of the mosaics to our knowledge of Menander’s plays, ancient comic illustration, and the rich cultural life of imperial Antioch.

This article presents an analytical study of the Late Antique sculptural relief program at the Roman villa of Chiragan (Martres-Tolosane, Haute-Garonne), which includes a series of mythological panels and a portrait in relief. Although Chiragan’s reliefs have long been associated with Aphrodisian workshops, this study marks them as products of a local workshop, based on stylistic traits and recent scientific analyses of the marble. Using comparanda found in a series of Late Antique portraits from Chiragan, I date the reliefs to the later fourth or early fifth century CE. I also consider evidence for an honorific relief portrait at the villa that, together with the program of architectural relief sculpture, makes explicit reference to a distinctly urban visual rhetoric. In conclusion, I argue that Chiragan’s reliefs actively court association with the urban sphere, which in turn suggests the increasing importance of the villa as a sociopolitical locus in the Late Roman West.