Parthian Monument

Last updated
A part of the monument (Ephesos Museum) Partherdenkmal, Ephesos Museum Wien 1.jpg
A part of the monument (Ephesos Museum)
Detail - Apotheosis of the Emperors (Ephesos Museum) Partherdenkmal, Ephesos Museum Wien 2.jpg
Detail – Apotheosis of the Emperors (Ephesos Museum)

The Parthian Monument was a 2nd-century Roman monument in Ephesus, of which only remnants survive, now housed in the Ephesos Museum, part of the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna. It is named after reliefs discovered in 1903 in front of the Library of Celsus; these reliefs had later been reused as part of a fountain, with the Library's facade used to support the fountain. The monument includes the Great Antonine Altar. [1]

The monument is usually thought to be a monument to a campaign against Parthia on the basis of the reliefs' dating, perhaps that of Lucius Verus in 161–166, which would date the monument to after 169. [2] However, some scholars do not believe their subjects can be securely identified as Parthians. [3]

References

  1. "Adoption der Kaiser Lucius Verus und Marc Aurel". KHM.at. Retrieved 2025-08-15.
  2. (in German) v. Wolfgang Oberleitner: Zum Parthermonument von Ephesos. Anmerkungen zum Artikel A. Landskron Antike Bildsprache und das sog. Partherdenkmal von Ephesos . In: Forum Archaeologiae - Zeitschrift für klassische Archäologie.
  3. (in German) Alice Landskron, zusammenfassend: Ethnikon auf dem Schlachtfries des Partherdenkmals von Ephesos .

Bibliography