Rise and Fall of SagalassosIn 189 B.C. Roman armies under the command of Cn. Manlius Vulso marched against the Gauls of Asia Minor. Their journey took them through the territory of the Sagalassians, whose city, Sagalassos, was one of the wealthiest in the region of Pisidia. Located on alpine terraces beneath two mountain peaks known today as the Tekne Tepe and the Cincinkirik Tepe, it was divided into an upper and a lower city, each with an agora surrounded by porticoes and public monuments. Despite its splendor, Sagalassos is rarely mentioned by Roman historians. By the thirteenth century it had disappeared entirely from written records, its ruins and even its name forgotten.
by Marc Waelkens
Last year they discovered a colossal head of Hadrian, now the centerpiece of an exhibition at the British Museum in London through October 28, 2008.
There is no doubt about the identity of the emperor the statue depicted--it's a young Hadrian (r. A.D. 117-138), who introduced the curly hair and beard of the Greek philosophers, breaking with the tradition of his clean shaven predecessors with their short haircuts. The absence of any indication of either iris or pupil is also a sign of an early date. Whereas the beard is still exclusively carved with a chisel, the drill makes its appearance in the curls of the hair. The statue is clearly inspired by one of the eight official statue types of Hadrian, in this case the Chiaramonti type (named for a portrait in the Vatican). The yellowish patina of the white marble seems to point to Dokimeion (Iscehisar near Afyon, some 350 km to the north). There can be no doubt that the sculptor as well came from one of the major sculpture workshops of Anatolia, possibly Dokimeion again.
Quite extraordinary. At the baths they have identified three caldaria, two tepidaria, and two frigidaria so far.
It's great to see work on this wonderful site, since for so many decades, emphasis has been on the coastal sites.