A Roman funerary aedicula wall with an erotic (?) scene from Porolissum

Abstract

During the archaeological research carried out in 1982 at the Roman auxiliary fort on the Pomăt Hill from Porolissum, in the walls near the area of the porta praetoria, several sculptural fragments belonging to a funerary construction of the aedicula type with two columns in front were reused. Although the fragments have been restored since their discovery, until recently, they were not considered as part of the same monument. The enquiry however clearly shows that the side walls do possess scenes that can be deciphered. On the inside the image of the two servants participating in the funeral banquet is revealed, while on the outside a typical scene of Roman funerary iconography is outlined, the god Attis, but also a special scene, involving two characters engaged in a scene with obvious erotic connotations. This last representation is also the one that raises the most interesting analyzes from the iconographic point of view, that scene being able to have both an erotic character, and a more likely mythological interpretation.