Simulacra Civitatum at Roman Corinth

by Aileen Ajootian

Hesperia, Volume 83, Issue 2
Page(s): 315-377
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/10.2972/hesperia.83.2.0315
Year: 2014
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ABSTRACT:

In the early A.D. 120s, Hadrian employed the Peloponnesian Achaian League to unify the cities of the province Achaia. Roman Corinth's role as urban leader of the League may have been formalized by the renovation of the Lechaion Road Basilica, embellished with an unusual sculpture program that included heroes, gods, and personifications representing Peloponnesian member cities. The relief figures could even have represented the itinerary of Hadrian's first visit as emperor to Greece in A.D. 124. The sculptures may have adorned the Lechaion Road Basilica and offer a profile of the city and the Achaian koinon just before the initiation of the Panhellenion in Athens.