The Triumph and Trade of Egyptian Objects in Rome by Stephanie Pearson

Author:Stephanie Pearson
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: De Gruyter
Published: 2021-02-16T14:44:25.506000+00:00

Fig. 83: Frescoes depicting doors inlaid with tortoiseshell, framed by columns with Alexandrian capitals. Cubiculum M, Villa of P. Fannius Synistor, Boscoreale. 50-40 BC. New York, The Metropolitan Museum of Art.

Pearls are also noted among Cleopatra’s riches, and like tortoiseshell are a product of both the Red Sea and India. Mummy portraits from Egypt show such an abundance of pearl jewelry that it must have been readily available, at least to these relatively well-to-do individuals (Fig. 81). The import of pearls to Roman Italy is attested most spectacularly for Pompey. In his triumph over Mithridates, Armenia, Pompey processed a number of monuments made of pearls: thirty-three pearl crowns, a grotto made of pearls, and a pearl portrait of himself.25 This seems to contradict Fenestella’s claim that Augustus’ conquest of Alexandria led to the importation of pearls to Rome, since Pompey’s triumph took place in 61 BC.26 But Fenestella’s statement should not be taken to mean that there had previously been no pearls whatsoever imported to Rome. Rather, it typifies the Roman view of Egypt as the home of luxury, and of the impact of Augustus’ conquest in the eyes of contemporary authors. It also suggests that the importation of pearls increased dramatically after the conquest. Certainly this is seen in the first century BC and AD in the fairly modest city of Pompeii, where forty-eight pairs of pearl earrings have been discovered. At the same period, eight different funerary inscriptions from Rome’s Via Sacra name individuals and families as margaritarii, pearl traders.27

Silk almost certainly came not from India but through it, from China. Before the imperial period, silk was produced on the island of Cos by Asia Minor; the fabric was apparently so well-known that Augustan poets refer to it by the name coae vestes. But China surpassed Cos as the primary producer during the imperial period. Chinese silks reached Rome through the Indian harbors named in the Periplus; perhaps India even made its own silk, but in any case seems to have been a minor player compared to China.28 Silk threads were used as the base for silver- and gold-wrapped threads that were then woven into spectacular textiles.29 For the games that Julius Caesar held in conjunction with his quadruple triumph, he apparently had awnings made out of silk.30

It is worth noting that the Romans in Italy eagerly acquired costly goods from India, but mostly do not seem to have sought out Indian art. The ivory furnishing just mentioned in the shape of an Indian goddess found in Pompeii is a great rarity as a piece of identifiably Indian art imported to Roman Italy.31 This is a stark contrast to the Roman acquisition of Egyptian art. Clearly the trade routes would have allowed the Romans to have acquired Indian goods beyond simply pepper and pearls, but there seems to have been little desire to. Roman authors may rail against the abundant import of Indian spices and pearls, but Indian cloth, art, and jewelry do not feature in Roman markets the way Egyptian ones do.

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