Description

The province group (pls. 2–3, 18) consists of seven females: a front rank of three and a back rank of four in a loose line behind them (see p. 215 n.

16 for damage after 1899). This forms a mass like a rough half-cylinder, tilted to present its flat face/front rank at a three-quarter angle. Formally, this is a typical Roman transformation of a linear Hellenistic composition into a three-dimensional construct possessing spatial logic; contrast the pack of personifications (virtues) who salute an enthroned person (Homer) on the Ptolemaic Archelaos relief (fig. 58), with varied gestures and costume very similar to the BR group, but arranged in two flat, overlapping ranks.^[4]

The outermost figure of the front row is in very high relief. She wears the costume of the non-Romans on the other side of this cup (BR I:2): leggings/trousers, soft boots, a cloak with tufted fringe pinned on the right shoulder, a short tunic (the break in the reflected light on her leg represents the hemline). Her Greek-style chignon designates her as female in spite of the male costume. She stands with feet planted slightly apart, her right arm bent with the forearm raised, the hand held out flat with all four fingers together and the thumb apart.

Next in, the central figure is visible from the chest up, standing with head slightly bowed. Her gown has a distinctive neckline, a wide, shallow curve underlined by catenaries; some kind of mantle falls over the right shoulder (cf. the lower end of the swag, flattened, visible by Mars' cloak). Her thick tresses are bound by a fillet; on it there appears to be mounted a small crescent over the brow. Her right hand is raised before the face and curled around something: the mark just over the hand is the collar of the innermost figure, but there seems to be a little arc marked between hand and profile, probably part of the mantle (no sign of a veil).

The innermost figure in this row is visible as a head wearing an elephant exuvia (the stripped skin of the head)—tusks, raised trunk, and flared, wrinkled ear. She gazes over Mars' shoulder directly at the emperor.

In the back row only the outermost figure is depicted in any detail, but all have long, thick hair, bound and dressed in various ways. The outermost stands with her back partly toward the viewer, her head turned toward Augustus in profile; the face is slightly flattened by wear. Her long mantle (hem visible below) fits closely over an ankle-length gown. In her loose hair is a (crushed) wreath of narrow, pointed leaves.