Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome
Vol 45 (2000)
Article Abstract

The Neronian Odeum at Cosa and its Sculptural Program: A New Julio-Claudian Dynastic Group

Jacquelyn Collins-Clinton

Epigraphical evidence reveals that between AD 52 and 54 the young Nero gave a sum of money to Cosa to rebuild the basilica, which had collapsed. In the space of its former nave, the new basilica contained a block of seats and a triple-niched scaenae frons with provisions for a temporary wooden stage. In the niches of the scaenae frons stood a group of three marble portrait statues depicting the nuclear family of Nero, the recently deceased Divus Claudius, and Agrippina Minor, mother of Nero, widow of Claudius, and priestess of his cult. This paper examines this unique basilica/odeum complex in the context of its form and meaning in the town life of Cosa under the Empire. It also presents and interprets a new Julio-Claudian dynastic group and its iconographic significance, and it seeks to identify the patron who may have dedicated the statues.