Nicola Barbagli
I was trained at the University of Florence, where I earned a BA in Roman History (2012), then at the Scuola Normale Superiore di Pisa and at the University of Pisa, where I earned a "diploma" in Archaeology and Art History and a MA in Egyptology (2015) respectively. I received a PhD in Classics from the Scuola Normale Superiore in 2022, defending a dissertation entitled "Faraoni romani: rappresentazioni del potere imperiale in Egitto da Augusto a Domiziano'. In 2020-2022 I was also research fellow at the Istituto Italiano per gli Studi Storici in Naples. In the spring and summer 2023 I was editorial collaborator at the Museo Egizio in Turin, where I had already been an intern in the first three months of 2015, during the last stage of preparation of the new permanent exhibition. In autumn 2023 I have been recipient of a Franco Zeffirelli Italian Fellow at the American Academy in Rome (Sept-Oct.) and a Linguistic Fellowship of the Alexander von Humboldt Stfitung (Nov-Dec.). Starting from January 2024, I am Alexander von Humboldt postdoctoral fellow at Trier University, with a project on the hieroglyphic titularies of the Roman emperors. The outcome of this research is meant to be a monograph which addresses the conceptualisation of the Roman rulers as pharaoh on one side, and the priestly milieus which have been responsible for that; it will also be included a new catalogue of the hieroglyphic titularies. In addition to it, I am also working on a number of sides projects, the main of them being the study of imperial portraiture from Egypt.
My interests lie generally in the history and culture of the Greek East, during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. My research mainly focuses on the representation of the Roman emperors in Egypt as conveyed both by texts and images; it also comprises the effects that imperial images and, more generally, the Graeco-Roman visual language, had on the development of the local visual culture.
Address: Universität Trier, Fachbereich III - Ägyptologie, Universitätsring 15, D-54296 Trier
My interests lie generally in the history and culture of the Greek East, during the Hellenistic and Roman periods. My research mainly focuses on the representation of the Roman emperors in Egypt as conveyed both by texts and images; it also comprises the effects that imperial images and, more generally, the Graeco-Roman visual language, had on the development of the local visual culture.
Address: Universität Trier, Fachbereich III - Ägyptologie, Universitätsring 15, D-54296 Trier
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Thanks to the restoration led by the American Research Center in Egypt in 2005-2008 and the subsequent publication of a detailed monograph, new materials are available for analysis. The aim of this chapter is to place the temple and its paintings in the framework of late antique visual culture, on both a regional and an empire-wide scale. The new architectural arrangement of the complex is compared to other buildings of the tetrarchic period (fortresses, military camps, palaces) in order to outline a clearer picture of what Luxor would have looked like after the late antique interventions. The analysis of the paintings is focused on the images of the emperors, comparing them to other official representations in an empire-wide perspective in order to highlight the peculiarities of the Luxor frescoes and their meaning. Much emphasis is placed on the reception of imperial images in the Egyptian context, as well as on the interaction between these and local visual traditions, with the aim of defining how much the formal arrangement and iconography of the paintings owes to the temple’s (old and new) functions and the local artistic milieu, and how many features they share with other imperial images in non-Egyptian contexts. Analysis of this unique evidence contributes to understanding the visual culture of the late Roman provinces, as well as visual manifestations of imperial ideology.
Bibliography of the late Guido Clemente, with corrections and updates (17.06.2022)
The current view is that changes in its content attest a direct intervention of Augustus aimed at ‘Romanising’ the royal titulary. According to this interpretation, the onomastic element autokrator, which formed the usual content of the Augustan Throne name, marked a dramatic break with traditional kingship: it allegedly substituted the Egyptian gods with the Roman institutions, which granted to Augustus his imperium.
This interpretation heavily depends on the view of Romanisation as an entirely top-down process, and considers neither the authors and the audience of the titulary nor the historical context where it was created and used. Comparing the evidence of the Roman titulary with that of the Late and Ptolemaic periods I challenge this view, arguing that the peculiarity of the Throne name of Augustus is strictly related to inner developments of the hieroglyphic titulary, especially those of the first century BC. In conclusion, Augustus’ reign marked the transition to a new and long-lasting phase of the history of Egyptian kingship.
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Thanks to the restoration led by the American Research Center in Egypt in 2005-2008 and the subsequent publication of a detailed monograph, new materials are available for analysis. The aim of this chapter is to place the temple and its paintings in the framework of late antique visual culture, on both a regional and an empire-wide scale. The new architectural arrangement of the complex is compared to other buildings of the tetrarchic period (fortresses, military camps, palaces) in order to outline a clearer picture of what Luxor would have looked like after the late antique interventions. The analysis of the paintings is focused on the images of the emperors, comparing them to other official representations in an empire-wide perspective in order to highlight the peculiarities of the Luxor frescoes and their meaning. Much emphasis is placed on the reception of imperial images in the Egyptian context, as well as on the interaction between these and local visual traditions, with the aim of defining how much the formal arrangement and iconography of the paintings owes to the temple’s (old and new) functions and the local artistic milieu, and how many features they share with other imperial images in non-Egyptian contexts. Analysis of this unique evidence contributes to understanding the visual culture of the late Roman provinces, as well as visual manifestations of imperial ideology.
Bibliography of the late Guido Clemente, with corrections and updates (17.06.2022)
The current view is that changes in its content attest a direct intervention of Augustus aimed at ‘Romanising’ the royal titulary. According to this interpretation, the onomastic element autokrator, which formed the usual content of the Augustan Throne name, marked a dramatic break with traditional kingship: it allegedly substituted the Egyptian gods with the Roman institutions, which granted to Augustus his imperium.
This interpretation heavily depends on the view of Romanisation as an entirely top-down process, and considers neither the authors and the audience of the titulary nor the historical context where it was created and used. Comparing the evidence of the Roman titulary with that of the Late and Ptolemaic periods I challenge this view, arguing that the peculiarity of the Throne name of Augustus is strictly related to inner developments of the hieroglyphic titulary, especially those of the first century BC. In conclusion, Augustus’ reign marked the transition to a new and long-lasting phase of the history of Egyptian kingship.