A New Star Shining over Bath.

ENGLAND; BATH (England)

The paper is concerned with some previously neglected features of the pediment of the temple of Sulis Minerva. It is argued that the star (related to the sidus Iulium), oak-wreath (corona civica) and armillary globe as well as the victories and tritons were all well-established aspects of Imperial iconography and consequently the work can be regarded as a sort of ' State relief '. The Bath temple appears to be the only major surviving monument concerned with the events of AD 43 and may have been dedicated in the time of the emperor Vespasian by the Great King, Togidubnus, at the western limit of his realm to mark the victory of the Atrebates/Regni and the Romans over a common foe. As such it should be viewed alongside other evidence from Chichester, including a sculptured base, as an indication of his vigorous attachment to the Imperial family and to Roman culture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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