The Torlonia relief

myminifactory

The so-called Torlonia relief was found in 1863 in Portus by Pietro Ercole Visconti. It is part of the private Torlonia collection that will soon be accessible to the public in Rome. The harbour of Portus is depicted. The generally accepted date is the end of the second or early third century. This is deduced from the hair style of the woman at the altar in the left ship: that of Julia Domna, wife of Septimius Severus. The only monographs about the relief are two unpublished theses. The relief is an essential piece of evidence in the discussions about the Forum Vinarium. The relief is generally and with good reason interpreted as a votive gift to Liber Pater, The dedicant must be a shipper of wine (navicularius), not a merchant (negotiator) as is often stated. Many inscriptions from the harbours mention a guild of shippers transporting wine: the shippers of the Adriatic Sea (corpus naviculariorum maris Hadriatici). They came from the shores of that sea, but had their headquarters in Ostia. The relief was originally placed in a temple of Liber Pater. This means that the viewers were familiar with the cult of Liber Pater. And of course they were equally familiar with overseas shipping and the various features in the harbour (the quays, machines, statues and so on).(credit)