Summary/Synthesis

The Find Material

The above catalogue comprises a total of 85 entries. The finds from the colonial town of Augusta Raurica and the Castrum Rauracense are predominantely of a light-coloured limestone which was reasonably priced and good to work with; a few pieces are sculpted from sandstone (39.44.61.65.68.70) (plates 23; 32; 46; 52-53; 55; 57). These works were produced on site. The pieces worked from precious marble (Carrara?) (32.50.51.81) (plates 14-18; 35-39; 61) were possibly imported. Several finds come from the fort wall of Kaiseraugst where they had been reused as building material. A large part of the classical find material may have been plundered or made into lime in lime-kilns. It is striking that gravestones and sculptures with military associations are so far lacking.

The spectrum ranges from good quality reliefs and sculpture through average quality to some pieces of so-called folk-art. The works made from precious marble (Lunensian?) can in the majority of cases be assigned to prestigious building ensembles (32.50.51.81).

The find material generally displays typological and stylistic features in common with works from Tres Galliae. In comparison with Aventicum, however, it is clear that Augst was politically and culturally less important and that the structure of the population was different; contacts with the mother country seem to have been less intensive. The majority of finds may have been commissioned by the middle classes. These were made up of craftsmen, traders and freed slaves who had achieved respect and wealth through their own efforts.

Dating by Relative Chronology

The chronological framework is provided by historical events, epigraphical and archaeological evidence. Dating the find material proves to be difficult, as it is mostly of average quality and the criteria which would allow an objective assessment are lacking. Some pieces of good quality can be dated stylistically (38.44.50-51.64), others through their find context (19.56.58) or with the help of antiquarian details (69).

The lack of very early local works may have to do with the fact that Celtic craftsmen only took over the techniques of Roman sculpture with the process of becoming romanized themselves. The local population may in any case have held onto their traditions for longer.

The earliest finds come from the 1st half of the 1st century A.D. (19.56.58) (plates 11; 42; 44-45); the fragments of the forum altar 32 (plates 14-18), dating from the middle of the 1st century A.D., belong to the stone forum complex. From the time of Nero to the early Flavian period a "building boom" seems to have taken place. Evidence of this are the marble friezes which are probably part of doorframes from the Schönbühl Temple (51) (plates 38-39) and from the Grienmatt cult area (50) (plates 35-38). These monumental pieces may have been made by foreign (Italian?) sculptors working together with local ones. Also from these grand structures are the pillar with a representation of Victoria (40) (plates 24-26) and the fragments of two weapon friezes (41-42) (plates 27-30). The gravestone of an iron merchant(?) (64) (plates 48-51), made in the 3rd quarter of the 1st century, originally stood in the cemetery to the north-west of Augst (Area 15,A).

In the 1st century we can only pinpoint a few marble imports (19.21.32) (plates 11; 14-18). This may be due in part to the current state of research.

The limestone heads 38 (plate 22) and 9 (plate 8) were sculpted in the Trajan period. Several finds, predominantely of red sandstone, are datable to the Antonine to Severian period (44.61.69.39[?]) (plates 32; 46; 56; 23). The latest find to have been recovered so far, the relief of a centurio and his wife(?) (65) (plates 52-53), belongs to the 1st half of the 3rd century.

So far traces are lacking of any production of figure sculpture or reliefs in the Castrum Rauracense, built around 300 AD.

Aspects of Display and Cultural History

For the majority of material, as mentioned above, the find context is unknown.

The Public Places

We can identify as being from the forum several fragments of the monumental marble altar 32 (plates 14-18), the limestone pillar with Victoria 40 (plates 24-26) from the entrance area and remains of facing panels(?) (74) (plate 58).

Fragments of a marble door frame 51 (plates 38-39) and weapon frieze 42 (plate 30) can be assigned to the Schönbühl Temple. The frieze possibly comes from a portico or entrance door and is associated - like the pillar with Victoria 40 (plates 24-26) - with the romanizing of the northern provinces. The fragment which perhaps, when complete, showed a capricorn with scales 49 (plate 34) may have emphasized the sacred aspect of the Schönbühl site.

The small head of a Venus or Diana 4 as well as that of an Apollo(?) 8 (plate 6; 8) may once have been positioned in the theatre. Statues of Apollo especially were extremely popular there.

Coming from the south forum, one reaches the Grienmatt Shrine through a grand doorway. Here stood statues of gods (9.12.12.33) (plates 8; 9; 19-20) and men (38), altars consecrated to Apollo, Ascaepalus and Sucellus; also to be found here was an omphalos-type votive object. The finds testify to lively cult worship of Roman and local gods, above all gods of healing. Hercules 33 may also have fulfilled this function here - as parallels in Deneuvre (Baccarat, Meurthe-et-Moselle), Glanum and Thil make clear.

To the furnishings of this important cult area belong the precious marble frieze 50 (plates 35-38), the panther head 81 (plate 61) which belongs to a table, the capital 53 (plate 39), a fragment of a marble basin, several bronze finds of good quality, as well as fragments of wall paintings and mosaic tesserae recovered by A. Parent. Fragments of a weapon frieze (43) (plate 31) are known to have come from the nearby bath.

From the Gallo-Roman shrine on the Flühweghalde, a little outside the town, comes the less than life-sized goddess with cornucopia and mural crown (1) (plates 2-4). This figure is not a kybele or a genius, rather a mother- or guardian-goddess, possibly in the interpretatio romana. Apart from the small head 45 (plate 33), possibly from a doorway, we can identify from this shrine, which was frequented in the 2nd and 3rd centuries, simple votive offerings (24.25.26) (plate 12) and altars made of various materials and of varying quality. We can conclude from these that a large part of the native population worshipped the goddess. Works in marble are not to be expected. This is related to the fact that the less romanized native population held on to their trusted cults for longer and moreover lacked the financial means to erect expensive devotionary objects. Besides, works in marble reflect the pantheon of Italian gods. The veneration of a protecting mothergoddess may be connected with the imperial crisis under Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus.

The Diana torso 5 (plate 7), which was found in the Gallo-Roman temple Sichelen 2, may conceal a local goddess which took on the form of Diana (Diana Abnoba?); she may have been venerated together with Apollo or Mars. Her cult is widespread mainly in Gallia Belgica and Germania Superior as far as Raetia. It is conceivable that the shrine formed the religious centre of the civitas Rauracorum and a counterbalance to the romanized Schönbühl enclave. We may find a similar situation in Avenches with the temples of La Grange-des-Dîmes and Cigognier. Research still needs to be done on the time sequencing of the square temple on the Schönbühl and Sichelen 2. According to the studies by H. Bögli, the pottery and coins indicate the Gallo-Roman temple being used from the middle of the 1st to the middle of the 3rd century. This means that with the introduction of Italian cults local ones were pushed to the periphery, but that the temple nevertheless continued to be well visited.

The Hercules in clipeus 44 (plate 32) may once have been set in a spandrel of a gateway's archivolt - as the tondi on the Arch of Caracalla in Tebessa, on the Triumphal Arch of Augustus in Rimini or the "porte de Mars" in Reims indicate.

The Private Sphere

Only in a few cases can we gain an impression of how the Augst pieces were once positioned by comparison with finds from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The torso of a Venus statue (3) (plate 6), the finger fragment from a statue (19) (plate 11) and a right foot (21) (plate 11), the marble relief of Pan (56) (plate 42) and the table foot with an animal paw (59) (plate 43) come from the building complex in Insula 30, a mixed residential and craftsmen's quarter of the 1st and 2nd century.

The phallus 47 (plate 34) and the sea creature 57 (plate 42) came to light in neighbouring Insula 31, the table foot 58 (plates 44-45) in Insula 24. The pinax 57 bears a strong similarity to the Pan relief 56 (plate 42). Both decorative reliefs were probably mounted on pillars, as apparent in a fresco from Pompeii (Area VI 12,20) in Naples. The phallus, which brought luck and kept away evil, may have been built into one of the courtyard walls, although an original use as a shop sign cannot be ruled out.

The domestic dwellings in Insula 24 probably lay to the west, while the business area to the north, east and south housed butchers' shops and workshops for the textile trade. The table foot with Bacchus 58 probably originally stood in the inner courtyard lying to the south-east. Besides its purely practical function, this fashionable table was probably meant to dignify and adorn the courtyard. Table feet (monopods) corresponding to our piece 58 are preserved in situ in Pompeii, for example ones with Bacchus in the Casa del Menandro and the Casa di M. Lucrezio, as well as one with a grieving Attis in the Casa del tramezzo di legno in Herculaneum.

Through these modest "works of art" the owners in Augst expressed their artistic taste, claims to education and membership of the romanized population. Of interest also in this connection are the pottery oscilla from Insula 31, which are cheaper versions of the marble discs known from Pompeii and Herculaneum. The bird 27 (plate 13) and the small marble foot from a statuette 21 (plate 11) were probably likewise placed in a garden. This small group of surviving figure sculptures and reliefs from the private sphere thus also indicates that the Roman lifestyle was emulated in Augst, although in a more modest way than in the Helvetian metropole of Avenches. An overall impression is provided even today by the peristyle gardens of the Casa degli amorini dorati (Area VI 16,7) and the Casa di M. Lucrezio (Area IX 3,5) in Pompeii. Plants and ornamental furnishings formed a counterbalance to the everyday world; they placed the visitor in a world inhabited by gods and demons (cf. Casa degli amorini dorati, Casa di M. Lucrezio).

Concerning the Venus statue 2 (plate 5) recovered from the fort wall of Kaiseraugst, it remains uncertain whether she was placed in a garden or baths. In Pompeii we come across her in numerous statuettes and wall paintings as the protectress of the garden. However, Venus is to be found frequently in bathing places, as for example in the thermal baths of Trajan in Kyrene.

The fountain shafts 61 and 62 (plates 46-47), the latter found in the ditch in Insula 32, may come as well from a public as from a private area. So far nine running fountains are known from the upper town of Augst and besides the fountain shaft 61 one from the lower town in the west.

Burial Monuments

The cemeteries are probably the most striking evidence of romanization north of the Alps, yet up till now - primarily because of little systematic excavation - they are so sparcely in evidence at Augst that a picture can hardly be formed of how they would have looked. As in the cemeteries of Italy, above all northern Italy (Sarsina, Aquileia, Altinum), burial monuments of various sorts may have lined the busy arterial roads. So far burialgrounds in Augst and Kaiseraugst from the early and mid imperial period are known to lie in the north-west (Area 15,A) and on the road running east to north-east (Area 14,B; 14,H/13,G and eastwards) as well as in the Flur Widhag (transition from Area 7 to Area 14). In the early and mid imperial period cremations predominated, mostly in pottery urns, more rarely in glass ones. Several square, enclosed areas were also dug out. Late Roman cemeteries lie in the north-west (Area 10,A; 15,A), the north-east (Area 21,A; 22,A) and the south-east (Area 14,H). The deceased were buried in wooden sarcophagi inside tombs with tiled roofs. We also have a rich female tomb of the 3rd century (Area 11,A), which indicates yet another cemetery, as well as a bustum tomb (i.e. with cremation on site) of an important individual erected, probably in the Flavian period, beside the east gate (Area 14,B).

A stele found in 1803 in the cemetery lying along the arterial road towards Basel (Area 15,A) is of a wealthy merchant (64) and dates to the 3rd quarter of the 1st century (plates 48-51). The deceased in gable 66 (plate 55), possibly a caupo, had also achieved a certain degree of wealth. Since the deceased had been denied political advancement, they documented their - probably mostly hardwon - social advancement on their gravestones.

The fragments 65-69 were in part found reused as building material in the fort wall of Kaiseraugst and on the Kastelen site. 67 and 68 (plates 54; 55) can only be assigned to the sepulchral sphere on the grounds of typological and iconographical criteria. They cannot have been in the possession of the legal successors at the time of their reuse.

The female head 69 (plate 56) which, to judge by the hairstyle, comes from the last third of the 2nd century may be part of a tomb. This could have looked like the tomb reliefs recovered in Arles, Nimes and Saint-Ambroix-sur-Arnon, although a reconstruction in the style of an Augsburg tomb cannot be ruled out.

The frightful medusa head 68 (plate 55) possibly crowned a tomb like the Poblicius tomb in Cologne.

There is a lack so far in Augst of early imperial military gravestones. We cannot tell in what sort of tomb the small late sandstone relief 65 of a centurio and his wife (?) (plates 52-53) was set.

Questions concerning workshops

As would be expected, most of the recovered figure sculpture and reliefs may have been manufactured on site. The evidence in Augst provides too small a basis from which to give details of the organisation of workshops. In individual cases it is possible to attribute finds to one sculptor or workshop group on the grounds of style, material and stone dressing marks.

Limestone Sculptures and Reliefs

At the beginning of the 2nd century one sculptor created both limestone heads 9 and 38 (plates 8; 22) found in the Grienmatt area. They have a broad, angular skull which narrows noticably below the eyes. The skin is stretched taut over the bones, yet the shaping has a carved look about it. Also characteristic are the band-like eyelid and slightly melancholy gaze as well as the ornamental form of the ear.

The fragments 13a-c.17 and 83 (plates 9; 11; 61) - possibly also 15 (plate 10) - are of fine-grained white limestone with fossil inclusions and come from the same shrine. They have clear-cut parts of the body and feature saw and rasp marks on one or both sides.

Finds 33.36 and 12 (plates 19; 9), likewise from the shrine in the Grienmatt, have sturdy forms which seem slightly bloated and clumsy. The stone surface has been smoothed with a coarse rasp (short irregular strokes). The thighs of the Hercules 33 and 36 (plates 19; 21), which merge with the drapery at the back of the leg, noticeably narrow towards the knees. The calves of the lower leg are plump, the shinbone pronounced.

The small heads 4 and 45 (plates 6; 33), both made of fine-grained limestone, were found in the theatre and the Flühweghalde shrine respectively. Plump faces determine the full, rounded heads. Both have a short receding forehead; their brows make a smooth transition to the narrow brigde of the nose. This widens markedly towards the nostrils. In both pieces a short, distinctive, slightly protruding wedge-shaped upper lip forms the transition from the nose to the mouth. The profiles are likewise similarly worked. Both works are convincing in their careful execution, tautness and plasticity.

The right lower leg 20 and the sculpture fragment from Insula 35 (from the Steinler site) (plates 11; 12) are very similar in style. Whether the upper arm 16 (plate 10) is also one of these organically formed extremities is uncertain. It was found together with 20, but it seems less organically modelled.

Sandstone Sculptures and Reliefs

The Hercules in clipeus 44 (plate 32) and the upper part of the fountain shaft 61 (plate 46) are of dark red sandstone. Both gods have large eyes, set close under narrow eyebrows between a band-like upper and a narrow lower lid. They give the impression of having been attached to the surface and the inner corner of the eyes touch the sides of the nose. The short forehead is drawn together, the flat nose broadens gradually towards the mouth. The flat mouth is bordered by a pincer-like moustache and connects up to the ornamentally-formed nostrils. This sculptor used broad, coarse tools (e.g. a broad file). Nevertheless both works are of such good quality that they reflect the "style of the times" and may date from the Antonine to early Severian period.

Marble Sculptures and Reliefs

Currently only a few pieces can be allocated to this group, which were imported or worked by foreign (Italian, southern Gaulish?) sculptors on site. Compared with Avenches, a smaller group of the population in Augst seems to have had the financial means to buy imports for themselves.

The fragments of the monumental marble altar 32 (plates 14-18) belong to the forum complex. A competent group of travelling sculptors may have been entrusted with the design of this complex which evolved in northern Italy and was taken over by the northern provinces. The rendering of the wreaths, bowl, jug and eagle on the forum altar 32 witness to the craftsmanship of the sculptors; in contrast the profiles seem slightly dull and clumsy and these were probably done by another sculptor.

The marble fragments 50 and 51 (plates 35-39), probably from door frames, correspond in composition, decorative patterns, dressing technique and partly in style. The main motive of both friezes is a flowering acanthus scroll inhabited by birds. On the frieze from the Grienmatt 50 the scroll consists of a somewhat angular stem covered with long flat acanthus leaves; secondary shoots are lacking. The leaves, whose veins are indicated by fine lines, gain plasticity in relation to the relief ground through drilling along and under their contours. Four- or five-petalled flowers, accentuated by drilling, are lodged in the spandrels between the scroll waves. Nesting and flying birds, an owl and snails enliven the remaining space.

The marble fragments 51a-g (plates 38; 39), recovered from the temple on the Schönbühl, depict a main tendril scroll with offshoots. Smaller acanthus leaves and sprouts(?) surround the flowers; only here are twisted flowers ("Wirbelblüten").

The frieze from the Schönbühl 51 gives a more lively impression from its composition; the scroll is more freely and organically sculpted, its foliage gaining plasticity through numerous drillholes in the blank spaces, on the outer edge and on the stem, and its leaves partly overlapping the flowers.

Similarly worked in both friezes is the crossed cymatium ("Scherenkymation"); the pearl beading ("Perlstab") from frieze 51 on the other hand seems clumsier and is surrounded by a border. The relief seems in part not to have been quite finished, although this impression may be due to the condition in which it was found. In any case, the birds have more awkward and less varied forms in comparison with the frieze from the Grienmatt 50, where various, strikingly exotic birds appear beside one another, sitting, pecking or resting. The frieze from the Grienmatt is overall of better quality; with the exception of the scroll, the relief decoration gives the impression of being more organic and richly varied than that of the Schönbühl temple.

As set out in the catalogue, both friezes may have been carved in the early Flavian period. Differences in craftsmanship between them are indeed evident, but they are nevertheless close to one another in composition and decoration. It is possible that both originate from the same workshop. The variations in composition and motives speak for different skills and temperaments rather than for a difference in chronology. Due to the fine quality of the building ornamentation and to other noticeable analogies, it is conceivable that the complex building ensembles were created by one large workshop in which foreign sculptors and local craftsmen worked.

The Lesbian arched cymatium is filled with a tripartite element ("Bügelkymation mit dreilappiger Bügelfüllung") and derives from southern Gaulish forms of the Augustian period. M. Trunk has compared this with a fragment in Orange which is astoundingly similar and which lets us suppose there to be influences here from the southern Gaulish region. The tools and workshop waste found in the Claudian forum in Kempten and the forum in Bregenz suggest that travelling craftsmen were active.

Sculptures and Reliefs Produced by Local Sculptors

Both of the fragmented pinakes 56 and 57 (plate 42) prove that Italian furnishings were imitated by local craftsmen: the flat representations, which gain some plasticity through contour and scratch lines, have the appearance of folk-art. Pan is scratched into the relief ground; the craftsman did not manage to portray the god in perspective. The table foot 58 (plates 44-45) may have been worked by a local craftsman who was trained by Roman sculptors and inspired by Italian models; it displays strongly provincial features.

New insights and information about the significance of the colonial town and its influences can only by gained when the architectural ornamentation from Augst and the sculpture material from the other museums in Switzerland have been systematically studied. Of particular interest will be clarification on questions concerning workshops and the influences from northern Italy, the Rhine area and Gallia Narbonnensis. The class of wealthy landowners, which is otherwise widespread in Gaul and along the Rhine, does not seem to have emerged in Augst. The prosperity of inhabitants was modest when measured against the financial means of people there. This obviously hindered a richer independent evolution of regional sculpture.