The Torlonia relief

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 The only monographs about the relief are two unpublished theses.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)所谓的托尔洛尼亚浮雕（Torlonia relief）于1863年由彼得罗·埃尔科莱·维斯孔蒂（Pietro Ercole Visconti）在波图斯港（Portus）发现。该浮雕隶属于私人所有的托尔洛尼亚藏品系列，不久将在罗马对公众开放。浮雕描绘的正是波图斯港的景象。学界普遍认可其创作年代为公元2世纪末至3世纪初，这一断代依据左侧船只祭坛上女性的发型——该发型与塞普蒂米乌斯·塞维鲁（Septimius Severus）之妻朱莉娅·多姆娜（Julia Domna）的发型一致。目前仅存两部未刊学位论文以此浮雕为研究主题。该浮雕是学界讨论葡萄酒贸易广场（Forum Vinarium）时的核心实证材料。该浮雕通常被合理地解读为献给利伯尔·帕特（Liber Pater）的还愿祭品，其捐赠者应为葡萄酒货运商（navicularius），而非如常见说法所言的商人（negotiator）。诸多港口出土的铭文均提及一支葡萄酒货运商同业公会：亚得里亚海货运商团体（corpus naviculariorum maris Hadriatici）。该团体成员来自亚得里亚海沿岸，但其总部设于奥斯提亚（Ostia）。该浮雕最初被安置于利伯尔·帕特的神庙中。这表明当时的观者对利伯尔·帕特的崇拜习俗颇为熟悉，自然也深谙海外航运与港口的各类设施（码头、作业机械、雕像等）。(credit)