Michigan (2020) h/b 257pp £98.50 (ISBN 9780472131594)
Soon after the end of World War II the American Academy in Rome initiated an excavation of the coastal site of Cosa which lies 125 km to the north-west of Rome where the Romans had founded a Latin colony on Etruscan territory in 273 BC. After many years of work during which the entire town was excavated, the evidence revealed a well-preserved site and a clear understanding of its plan on the rocky promontory, with strong town walls and towers, an orthagonal grid of streets and houses, a capitol on the southern hill and a forum comprising a comitium and basilica. The results of the archaeological work have led to the site being described as ‘the very paradigm of a Latin colony’ (Scullard).
The scholar best known for his association with the site is Frank Brown, but there have naturally been many others connected with the excavations. Of these, a major figure is that of Jacquelyn Collins-Clinton whose work on Cosa has spanned the last 50 years, beginning with her 1970s Columbia dissertation on the marble sculptures. The remarkable volume under review presents a comprehensive catalogue of the stone and marble remains that stretch over the centuries of habitation. There are two introductory chapters, one dealing with the Archaeological Context (pp. 1-14) and the other with the Historical Context (pp. 15-41), marking the rise and fall of different areas of the site, with two centuries of success followed by destruction in the 60s BC and modest rebuilding to follow.
These two chapters are followed by a massive and detailed catalogue of over 200 pages, mainly of objects from the private sphere, carefully divided by materials and shapes across 74 plates. There is little of marble (with a few imported from Greece); the materials are mainly limestone and travertine. There are few public statues preserved, and they are for the most part broken and fragmentary. The catalogue of other shapes comprises domestic objects—table supports, altars, basins, wellheads, sundials, etc.—all objects for private use. The largest category consists of tables—tops, supports, bases and plinths, and amongst these there is a support that carries an inscribed dedication DRUSO CAESARI, to Augustus’ grandson who died in AD 23. Ironically, this slab which was found in 1949, had disappeared by 1965 and has never been recovered!
Altogether, one is presented with an amazing record of a small town through its chequered history. The author is to be congratulated for her detailed and painstaking study of Roman life at its roots.
Brian A. Sparkes