Giallo Antico Research Paper

Giallo antico, literally meaning 'ancient yellow' due to the yellow colouring of the marble, was the name used to refer to the marble by the scalpellini, who re-used the ancient marble to adorn churches and Renaissance structures, such as the Lateran Basilica. The yellow stone was used throughout ancient Rome in decorative buildings as wall revetments, flooring, and columns. Pliny the Elder, writing in the 70s CE, refers to giallo antico as marmor Numidicum (Numidian marble), indicating its origin in the Roman province of Numidia. It was quarried in the hills of ancient Simitthus, modern Chemtou in northwest Tunisia. The quarries were found along the Djebel Chemtou hill range on three peaks: Stadtberg, Gelber Berg and Templberg. Initially
in the first century BCE there was intense quarrying at Tempelberg, which later extended to Gelben Berg [I will expand on this, I'm working through the German Survey]. The quarries lay inland, some 50 km from the sea. There were two possible methods of transporting the marble: by the Bagradas river, modern Mejerda river, to the town of Utica on the coast. The second transport route was via a road transport from Simitthus to Thabraka, another port west of Utica (fig. map?). The Bagradas river would seem to have been the easier transportation option of the two, as the Bagradas river linked to the port of Utica. This route, however, may have only been reliable for part of the year, due to low water levels. By the early second century CE, on account of silting, the river was no longer a viable transport option. The road between Simitthus and Thabraka seems to have been built specifically for the transportation of marble; column shafts were discovered in 1895 along this route. The earliest date assigned to the construction of the road, based on the earliest mile stone found, is to the Emperor Hadrian (129 CE). Even before the silting of the Bagradas, transportation by this river was not always available, thus an alternate route would have been needed far before the second century. The dating of the road could be attributed to a rebuilding of the road by Hadrian.
The yellow shade of giallo antico varies from ivory to golden yellow, to a deep orange and often has a brecciated appearance and is crossed by purple, or sometimes brown veins or violet breccia; a dark violet vein was rare but highly valued (fig.).
Giallo antico was first quarried by the local kings of Numidia in the late second century BCE and it was used for the first time in ca. 138 BCE in the sanctuary of Messinissa, on the Tempelberg peak. As an ally of Rome, Massinissa had fought in the Punic Wars against the Carthaginians and united the Numidian tribes under one kingdom. Micipsa of Numidia, the son and successor of Massinissa, built a royal shrine made of the local yellow stone at Simitthus for his father, after his death in 148 BCE. The architectural fragments from the Numidian altar display Hellenistic style 'arms reliefs' in a pale yellow giallo antico. The monument and its reliefs symbolized Massinissa's victory and the foundation of the Numidian Kingdom. Since the initial quarrying which was commenced by the King of Numidia, giallo antico developed a royal association, as the quarries were thought to have been property of the Numidian kings, before becoming Roman
property.
According to Pliny, giallo antico was first brought to Rome in 78 BCE by Marcus Lepidus. Lepidus imported the marble in large blocks and used the stone as door-sills, Pliny says for this Lepidus was sharply criticized (Pliny NH 36.7.49). This leads to the possible conclusion that in the early first century BCE giallo antico was a highly prized marble, perhaps due to the royal association from the kings of Numidia, or Pliny could merely be projecting the first century CE disdain of using giallo antico for door-sills. The giallo antico quarries may have first belonged to the Numidian royals but were taken by Roman command in 46 BCE when Julius Caesar had fought and defeated Pompeian supporters, including the Numidian King Juba, at Thapsus. Giallo antico then became associated with Julius Caesar after his most recent conquest and annexation of parts of North Africa to the empire, before his death in 44 BCE. Suetonius reports this association when the Roman people erected a twenty-foot pillar made of giallo antico in memory of Caesar at the site of his funeral pyre in the Roman Forum, which supposedly was inscribed 'To the Father of his Country' (Seut., Julius Caesar, 85). Schneider suggests that the stone, with its deep red and orange veining, would represent the flames of Caesar's pyre and his apotheosis. Schneider supports this symbolism by using the examples of the ancient writers Statius, Martial and Plutarch, who in their writing connected other stones with material things. All of the examples Schnieder uses were written in the later first century CE, a century after Caesar's death. Giallo antico symbolizing the flames of the pyre of Julius Caesar may be less likely, at this time in the Late Republic, as coloured stone had a closer relation with political exploits than with materiality. The giallo antico column became the mark of Caesar's political and military career, and a visual reminder of what he contributed to the Roman state. There are no archaeological remains of the column, as it was removed by Dolobella shortly after, and some years later on that site the Temple of the Deified Julius was built (Cic. to Att. 15).
Giallo antico was used throughout Rome, especially under Augustus.
Propertius, writing in ca. 30-16 BCE , describes the 'golden' porticoes of Apollo on the Palatine with its 'Punic columns' (Prop. 2.31). The Temple of Apollo on the Palatine was dedicated in 28 BCE by Augustus and had a connecting portico of the Danaids. The golden colour described in the literature adds to the visual perception and association of the stone with Apollo and the sun in this context. The Temple of Apollo Sosianus in the Forum Boarium, dates to around the same time, between 32 and 28 BCE. Remains of giallo antico columns were found that are from the cella, and excavations have also uncovered opus sectile floors, which features giallo antico, in conjunction with pavonazzetto, africano, portasanta and cipollino. In the Basilica Aemilia, there is a preserved Augustan dated floor, which includes giallo antico in a multi-coloured marble pattern. Giallo antico was not restricted only to columns and slabs but in the Basilica Aemilia, perhaps from the construction of 22 CE, fragments from statues of Parthian prisoners made from giallo antico were found, which would have decorated the attic area. In Rome today, one of the most important and magnificent ancient buildings is the Pantheon in Rome, which is still adorned by many of the ancient marbles and is an example of Roman architectural genius. The Pantheon, built by Hadrian in 125 CE, has (eight) fluted monolithic columns (in front of the
rectangular niches), as well as giallo antico in the floor pavements. Although it is a late monument in Rome, the Arch of Constantine, 315-316 CE, still has seven of its original eight giallo antico columns; one was removed and placed in the Lateran Basilica in the sixteenth century and replaced with Luna marble. Giallo antico was still being used by Constantine, however these columns were most likely salvaged or spoila from other buildings or monuments. Giallo antico was scarcely use outside of Rome, except for in large public buildings. In Carthage, the capital of the North African province and only 165 km from Simitthus, monolithic giallo antico columns were used in the theater and the Forum. In the theatre in Orange where columns of giallo antico have been identified from the Augustan period. At Sardis in Asia Minor, in the Bath-Gymnasium complex there are a number of monolithic giallo antico columns. In these examples from around the Empire, the relative distance to the coast or water is a major factor. In the Price Edict of Diocletian, the stone is listed at 200 denarii [will expand].
Giallo Antico was coveted for both its range of yellow, and its yellow colour. This was one of the only sources of such a strong yellow colour. In art and architecture, yellow stands out, and is first to catch the eye. The Romans, clearly, knew this and it became an aesthetic