摘要：The Colonia Pola was established in 46 or 45 BC as one of Caesar’s colonies which was intended to serve as a stronghold of Roman conquest of the Adriatic coast all the way down to Greece. Pola was occupied, ravaged and demolished after Octavian’s victory in the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. Octavian Augustus soon restored Pula and transformed it into an imperial city, which was bequeathed with signs of the emperor’s benevolent reign. During the third and second decades BC, the Sergii Arch conceived as triumphal Roman memorial located at a prominent site at the entry and exit to the city, at the axis of the main thoroughfare (decumanus), It emerged through a combination of public (city) and private (familial) representation in the creation of a unique system of urban fortification and decorative functions. The Pula arch was commissioned and constructed by Salvia Postuma Sergi with her own money, which she clearly and unambiguously indicated with an inscription engraved in the middle of the frieze (Salvia Postuma Sergi / de sua pecunia). I. Figural and floral decorations of the arch’s loadbearing structures The pilaster-strips on the arch’s facade are decorated with acanthus leaf. The picturesque wealth of the composition is additionally enhanced by the tendrils which ennoble the entire visual experience. The surfaces of the pylons is decorated with grape bunches and leaves. The central area of one of these is filled in with a bird which gracefully pecks at the grapes . This motif in the form of an acanthus is modelled on the forms of Greek artistic traditions. A large composite flower, was made in the middle of the geometric form. The corners are decorated with a stylized palmette whose archetypes can be found in the Greek artistic world, while in this example it is rendered very sculpturally. A snake can be observed in the quadrilateral in the middle of the vault of the spacious arch. The snake, is engaged in battle with an eagle in frontal stance with wings spread. Typologically, this scene of a snake and eagle has a symbolic tradition in Hellenistic mythology. This is also confirmed by the fact that the Sergii Arch was erected for the express purpose of glorifying the Sergi family. Winged sphinxes resting on their hind paws were later revived with Late Hellenism both in sculpture and pottery, so that it can often be encountered on Roman monuments as well, particularly on sepulchral monuments and sarcophagi. The griffin underwent a long-term and diverse typological metamorphosis both in the Orient and in Greece. In iconographic terms, from the Augustan era to the end of Late Antiquity, the griffin served to decorate honorary reliefs, altars, sarcophagi, tombs, numerous frescoes and mosaics. The hippocampus, with the head and hind of a horse and extended in a long sinusoid fish tail. On the Sergii Arch, the hippocampus has two large fins instead of hind legs, with a third, much smaller fin which curls toward the back. This articulation of the hippocampus, like the griffin, reflects the unrestricted creative imagination of the artist who worked on the reliefs of the panelled vault of Pula’s triumphal arch. Dolphins close the series of “marine animals” so wellknown in Greek art on funereal monuments, on which they always certainly represent the journey of the deceased to some divine islands, while more rarely they exclusively symbolize the sea. Among the many real animals on the arch, there is a bob-tailed dog and two long-tailed cats moving left. Their bodies are rigid in what can be interpreted as an aggressive stance. In typological terms, such images are present in the sculpture and painting of the Roman era, and they are associated with sepulchral monuments with a symbolic character. Spandrels with Winged Victory are motifs which in the figural arts can be found in Greek art. This is a scheme which shows the goddess Nike with wings spread and a crown in her hand, and it symbolizes victory. The Pula example is most similar to the goddess Nike crowning Athena on the frieze of the so-called Gigantomachy from the Great Altar in Pergamum. However, on the Sergi Arch the stylistic interpretation of the figure with a limited baroque accent typical of the Pergamum art style of the second century BC is the most important. Based on these facts, the Pula-type Winged Victory may be strictly associated with the Pergamum world of Asia Minor via Greek iconographic influences. The Corinthian capitals of the Sergii Arch have two specific features. First, the external curls are covered with a long acanthus leaf which passes over the edges, and second, the abacus is composed of thin touching edges and an oval base. There can be no doubt that the cut of the acanthus leaf on the Pula capitals of Corinthian type belong to the pre- Augustan era, while some details of the rendering reflect the Hellenistic influence of Asia Minor, considerably different from the “official” Roman rendering. II. Ornamentation of the trabeation and attic The garlands held up by the Erotes and bucrania on the sides of the frontal frieze of the Pula triumphal arch are presented in the form of flowers and branches which are held at the ends by Putti and by the bucranium in the middle. Such composition is unique among the decorations of the honorary and triumphal arches of the time. Since Pula’s triumphal arch dates to the proto-Augustan period, it constitutes a transition in which the bucrania and Erotes with baroque elements of the Hellenistic sculpture of Asia Minor were simultaneously applied. A composition of Selene enshrouded in a robe which flutters in the wind, riding a biga chariot pulled by two galloping horses. It is precisely such compositions on the Pula triumphal arch which drew their inspiration in the pictorial depictions of the Greek tradition. The position of Selene and as well as the horses pushing forward, the airy quality of the heavy robe fluttering about the body of the goddess, all accentuate the plasticity and tension of the bodies, indicating a quality that expresses the influence of the Hellenistic artistic conceptual sphere of Asia Minor. The motif of the irregularly placed weapons on the surface of the frieze of the triumphal arch also has its precedents and conceptual origins in the Hellenistic world. With regard to the inscription and the dating of the monument, this is the first example of such a composition in the Italic zone of the Roman era. In crafting an architectural creation of the first generation of such Roman triumphal arches in Pula, the builder, notwithstanding any political or social preoccupations, was exclusively consumed with a minutely assigned task within limited urban confines and guided by the spiritual and visual essence of Hellenistic and Oriental architectural expression. The Pula triumphal arch, constructed to commemorate the members of the Sergi family, is a spiritual expression of the Hellenistic influence on construction and artistic decoration. The artistic experience of the triumphal arch indicates the explicit specificity and sublime personality of an engaged architect and artist of Hellenistic provenance. The urge to unite the majesty and power of the Empire in a segment of official special-purpose architecture, in an honorary and memorial stone arch, made it possible for a workshop to evoke the atmosphere of the Graeco-Hellenistic tradition by applying the models and combinations of forms in stone.
