Captiva sub pede: Iconography of Imperial Power in Roman Crete Articles uri icon

publication date

  • September 2025

start page

  • 137

end page

  • 161

issue

  • 1

volume

  • 51

International Standard Serial Number (ISSN)

  • 0755-7256

Electronic International Standard Serial Number (EISSN)

  • 1955-270X

abstract

  • This article examines the complex relationship between the imperial cult and the religious and political fabric of Roman Crete, with a particular focus on the Hadrianic period. The analysis is based on a comprehensive study of the surviving epigraphic, sculptural, architectural and numismatic evidence. Of particular interest is the iconography associated with the so-called "Hierapytna type", which is proposed as a prime example of Hadrian¿s policy of promoting its dissemination throughout the Panhellenion. Consequently, the paper offers a new explanation for the presence of the majority of these statues in Crete rather than Cyrene¿with which Crete formed a province¿, namely the competition between local oligarchies and the ideological subtext of the synedrion.