Korbine Posted January 23, 2009 Report Share Posted January 23, 2009 Hello, Roman forum I wonder if anybody could help me translate a quote in Italian regarding something I assume is Roman Empire-related. The exact quote is: "Domizia / Trovata presso la Via Cassia non lungi dol / luogo detto il Sepolcro di Nerone." Somebody had previously translated it as: "On her way home she found/discovered the tomb of Nerone." My modest translation skills found that translation to be about accurate. "Sepolcro di Nerone" appears to refer to the tomb of Nero, and "somebody" does find it, apparently along the Via Cassia road. What I haven't figured out is WHO is doing the finding. "Domizia" may or may not refer to Domitia Lepida, Nero's aunt. I don't know enough about Roman history to say either way, though. The Italian quote is located on the back of a picture of a Romanesque statue of a woman, holding a scroll upraised in her right hand, and what looks like a snake coiling about her left wrist, its head in a bowl she's holding in her left hand. I know next to nothing about this period or Roman artwork, so I don't know if it's significant at all. Google hasn't been able to tell me what I want to know. Can you? =O Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hello, Roman forum I wonder if anybody could help me translate a quote in Italian regarding something I assume is Roman Empire-related. The exact quote is: "Domizia / Trovata presso la Via Cassia non lungi dol / luogo detto il Sepolcro di Nerone." Somebody had previously translated it as: "On her way home she found/discovered the tomb of Nerone." My modest translation skills found that translation to be about accurate. "Sepolcro di Nerone" appears to refer to the tomb of Nero, and "somebody" does find it, apparently along the Via Cassia road. What I haven't figured out is WHO is doing the finding. "Domizia" may or may not refer to Domitia Lepida, Nero's aunt. I don't know enough about Roman history to say either way, though. The Italian quote is located on the back of a picture of a Romanesque statue of a woman, holding a scroll upraised in her right hand, and what looks like a snake coiling about her left wrist, its head in a bowl she's holding in her left hand. I know next to nothing about this period or Roman artwork, so I don't know if it's significant at all. Google hasn't been able to tell me what I want to know. Can you? =O I'm not very good with monuments, but is it perhaps a reference to the real tomb of nero... I believe it was in fact on the Via Cassia rather than the Via Flaminia where the monument is. Domizia refers to the tomb of Domitia on which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo is built. I think. Maybe this gives a start to others better schooled in this... http://hyderome.blogspot.com/2005/08/walnu...ee-of-nero.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_del_Popolo Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maladict Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hello, Roman forum I wonder if anybody could help me translate a quote in Italian regarding something I assume is Roman Empire-related. The exact quote is: "Domizia / Trovata presso la Via Cassia non lungi dol / luogo detto il Sepolcro di Nerone." Somebody had previously translated it as: "On her way home she found/discovered the tomb of Nerone." My modest translation skills found that translation to be about accurate. "Sepolcro di Nerone" appears to refer to the tomb of Nero, and "somebody" does find it, apparently along the Via Cassia road. What I haven't figured out is WHO is doing the finding. "Domizia" may or may not refer to Domitia Lepida, Nero's aunt. I don't know enough about Roman history to say either way, though. The Italian quote is located on the back of a picture of a Romanesque statue of a woman, holding a scroll upraised in her right hand, and what looks like a snake coiling about her left wrist, its head in a bowl she's holding in her left hand. I know next to nothing about this period or Roman artwork, so I don't know if it's significant at all. Google hasn't been able to tell me what I want to know. Can you? =O I'd translate it as "Domizia, found near the Via Cassia not far from the location known as Nero's Tomb." In medieval times a large tomb along the via Cassia was believed to be Nero's tomb. The statue was found near it, and given the name Domitia perhaps because of that reason (Nero descended from the Domitii)? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maladict Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 I'm not very good with monuments, but is it perhaps a reference to the real tomb of nero... I believe it was in fact on the Via Cassia rather than the Via Flaminia where the monument is. Domizia refers to the tomb of Domitia on which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo is built. I think. Maybe this gives a start to others better schooled in this... http://hyderome.blogspot.com/2005/08/walnu...ee-of-nero.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_del_Popolo Both locations are largely based on medieval myths, although the Domitii did have a family mausoleum on the Pincio near S. Maria del Popolo. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Primus Pilus Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 I'm not very good with monuments, but is it perhaps a reference to the real tomb of nero... I believe it was in fact on the Via Cassia rather than the Via Flaminia where the monument is. Domizia refers to the tomb of Domitia on which the church of Santa Maria del Popolo is built. I think. Maybe this gives a start to others better schooled in this... http://hyderome.blogspot.com/2005/08/walnu...ee-of-nero.html http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Santa_Maria_del_Popolo Both locations are largely based on medieval myths, although the Domitii did have a family mausoleum on the Pincio near S. Maria del Popolo. Agreed, but I was thinking that was what the quote in the original post may have been referring to? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maladict Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) Agreed, but I was thinking that was what the quote in the original post may have been referring to? I'm thinking the Domizia part refers to the statue, note that trovata (found) is in the feminine form, referring to Domizia. Maybe we can have a picture of the statue? Edited January 24, 2009 by Maladict Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korbine Posted January 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Agreed, but I was thinking that was what the quote in the original post may have been referring to? I'm thinking the Domizia part refers to the statue, note that trovata (found) is in the feminine form, referring to Domizia. Maybe we can have a picture of the statue? Sure. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maladict Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 (edited) Sure. That does not look familiar at all, I'm afraid. The snake feeding from the patera indicates health and is a common theme in numismatics, but I'm not sure I've ever seen it in a statue. Edited January 24, 2009 by Maladict Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Korbine Posted January 24, 2009 Author Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hmm. I was hoping there would be some obvious way to identify the statue and quote through ancient Roman history or mythology. Now I'm just confused Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Maladict Posted January 24, 2009 Report Share Posted January 24, 2009 Hmm. I was hoping there would be some obvious way to identify the statue and quote through ancient Roman history or mythology. Now I'm just confused Well, going by the snake and patera I'd go for Hygieia, goddess of Health. But the scroll the seems to be out of place, as well as the whole Domitia story. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
caesar novus Posted January 25, 2009 Report Share Posted January 25, 2009 Might not be all authentic. There is a small museum in Rome that opens your eyes to a lot of mischief that has been done to Roman statues. I don't know how widespread it was, but they show many examples of statues that were revised due to the fashion of the times a few hundred years ago. They show shaded areas where perhaps 20% of it was altered so that a rich owner could upgrade his marble to the contemporary idea of the most prized god or whatever. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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