Palladis Artes: The Frieze of the Forum Transitorium in Rome

The frieze in question decorates the Forum Transitorium in Rome erected by Domitian but dedicated after his death by Nerva in A.D. 97. Without a continuous narrative or a repeated decorative scheme, the frieze's depiction of a mythological centerpiece, the punishment of Arachne, surrounded by genre scenes of women weaving or worshipping deities, has been difficult to explain. In the previous scholarship, the representation of the Arachne myth is subordinated to the theme of Minerva's patronage of the craft of weaving. Yet this cannot be supported because the frieze's figures tend to represent personifications of imperial virtues or allegorical groups representing moralizing exempla. Rather than a depiction of Minerva's patronage of weavers, the Arachne myth evokes the domestic virtues of the Roman matron and the surrounding scenes illustrate other virtues and pietas, the founding principles of the Roman state. Central to a study of the frieze's meaning is its architectural context in an imperial forum in Rome and the topography of its environs, particularly the Quirinal with its Flavian dynastic shrine. These topics as well as that of the frieze's iconography are discussed. A final chapter surveys the official art of the period to indicate the themes and styles represented in other imperial monuments. A clearer picture of Domitian's building program in Rome and its sculptural decoration also emerges from this study.