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Lot Essay
The inscription on the front of the altar reads, “For Publius Novius Thiasus, freedman of Publius. Publius Novius Callistus made (this) according to the will (and) by order of his patron.”
This altar was the tombstone of Publius Novius Thiasus, “freedman of Publius,” meaning that he was the manumitted slave of a Publius Novius (cognomen unknown). It was erected under the terms of Thiasus’ will by Publius Novius Callistus, who was himself the freed slave of Thiasus, his sometimes owner (dominus) who became his patronus after manumitting him. Dessau, ed., op. cit. records that the altar was discovered in May 1861 when excavating a Roman villa (“palazzetto’”) on the Appian Way. It was found with a cippus inscribed with the name P(ublius) Novius P(ublii) l(ibertus) Symphorus, evidently a member of the same household (op. cit., no. 2359).
The altar was acquired shortly after its discovery by the American painter and sculptor Thomas Shields Clarke (1860-1920), who placed it on the grounds of his estate, Fernbrook, in Lennox, Massachusetts. By 1910 the altar had been transformed into a sundial, with a later Latin inscription added on one short side reading, “The sun comes back. Time never.”
A drawing of the altar by Clarke and a series of photographs of the altar in-situ at Fernbrooke, dating to circa 1910, are preserved in The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.
This altar was the tombstone of Publius Novius Thiasus, “freedman of Publius,” meaning that he was the manumitted slave of a Publius Novius (cognomen unknown). It was erected under the terms of Thiasus’ will by Publius Novius Callistus, who was himself the freed slave of Thiasus, his sometimes owner (dominus) who became his patronus after manumitting him. Dessau, ed., op. cit. records that the altar was discovered in May 1861 when excavating a Roman villa (“palazzetto’”) on the Appian Way. It was found with a cippus inscribed with the name P(ublius) Novius P(ublii) l(ibertus) Symphorus, evidently a member of the same household (op. cit., no. 2359).
The altar was acquired shortly after its discovery by the American painter and sculptor Thomas Shields Clarke (1860-1920), who placed it on the grounds of his estate, Fernbrook, in Lennox, Massachusetts. By 1910 the altar had been transformed into a sundial, with a later Latin inscription added on one short side reading, “The sun comes back. Time never.”
A drawing of the altar by Clarke and a series of photographs of the altar in-situ at Fernbrooke, dating to circa 1910, are preserved in The Pennsylvania Academy of the Fine Arts.