Cenotaph of Gaius Caesar
The so-called cenotaph of Gaius Caesar is a Roman monument in Limyra in southwest Turkey . It was probably erected in honor of Gaius Caesar , the grandson and designated heir of Emperor Augustus , and is considered his cenotaph .
Historical background
Gaius Caesar was the eldest son of Marcus Vipsanius Agrippa and Iulia , daughter of Augustus, who adopted him after Agrippa's death. With his younger brother Lucius , he was a candidate to succeed Augustus as Princeps . He died on February 21, AD 4, at the age of 22 in Limyra on his return from a campaign in Armenia . His body was transferred to Rome and buried in Augustus' mausoleum .
State of preservation
The square foundation , the side length of which is almost 17 m, and parts of the core made of cast masonry have been preserved from the multi-storey building . The outer masonry was removed in post-ancient times. The building was also badly damaged by the fact that it is largely under water, as the water table in the region is much higher than it was in ancient times due to the steady subsidence of the Lycian coast. The excavations also revealed that grave robbers had tried years before to blast parts of the building with dynamite in order to penetrate the interior of the building. Some panels of the frieze that adorned the lower part of the cenotaph were built into walls in Byzantine times and could be recovered during the excavations. They are kept in the museum in Antalya .
Excavations
The remains of the cenotaph were excavated from 1971 to 1973 under the direction of Jürgen Borchhardt ; The architect Joachim Ganzert was mainly responsible for the start of construction . To make the research possible, a drainage channel had to be built to lower the water table.
identification
The monument is classified as an honorary monument for a deceased person due to parallels to grave monuments such as the pillar tomb in Thugga in Tunisia . The fact that lictors can be seen on the frieze indicates a high dignitary of the Roman Empire. Due to the stylistic features of the frieze, the monument was dated to the time of Augustus. In combination with the tradition of Gaius Caesar's death in Limyra around this time, the excavators concluded that the monument must be a cenotaph for the prince who died young.
literature
- Jürgen Borchhardt: A cenotaph for Gaius Caesar. In: Yearbook of the German Archaeological Institute 89, 1974, pp. 217–241.
- Joachim Ganzert: The cenotaph for Gaius Caesar in Limyra. Architecture and building ornamentation (= Istanbul Research. Volume 35). Tübingen 1984, ISBN 3-803017-56-4 .
- Jürgen Borchhardt: The frieze from the cenotaph for Gaius Caesar in Limyra. Phoibos, Vienna 2002, ISBN 3-901232-25-7 .
Coordinates: 36 ° 20 '30.67 " N , 30 ° 10' 4.44" E