Manipulation of memory: Public buildings and decorative programs in Roman cities of Asia Minor.

Abstract

This dissertation investigates sculptural programs that ornamented public buildings in four cities in Asia Minor in the second and third centuries AD. Departing from the Second Sophistic as an interpretive framework, I argue that these programs are expressions of civic identity and demonstrate that because they formed the backdrop for performance and rituals, they actively participated in the formation of civic identity. My study focuses on programmatic sculpture from Perge, Hierapolis, Nysa, and Ephesos. My research demonstrates that in Perge the sculptural decoration of monuments heavily promoted the city's Hellenic foundation in the second century AD, but in the third century the emphases shift away from Greek founders to the renowned local cult of Artemis Pergaia. This shift mirrors Perge's efforts to use its major cult to gain a competitive advantage over Side, the city's regional rival for imperial titles and privileges. Focusing on the theaters at Hierapolis and Nysa, I then explore the theater as a site at which civic history and hierarchies were promoted to audiences. I argue that while the sculptural programs at these two theaters employ locally significant mythology, their primary objective was to advertise the continued vitality of the locally dominant cult. Images of myths of local deities, mixed with scenes from contemporary cultic practice at both sites, take precedence even over representations of the imperial family. Rituals performed in Roman period theaters and recorded in inscriptions attest to the charged atmosphere in which such sculptures were viewed. At Ephesos as at Perge, Hellenic foundation legends were marshaled to highlight the role of civic benefactors in the city's history for a local audience---rather than addressing themselves to the empire at large. In diplomacy with Rome, Ephesos relied on its connection to the famous cult of Artemis Ephesia. I also demonstrate that civic processions at Ephesos took advantage of the city's historical topography to link and activate the depictions of the mythical founder, Androklos. This dissertation concludes that not only did the themes of sculptural programs express civic and elite priorities, but they also played a vital part in the dynamic enactment of civic identity.