Architectural Terracottas from the Regia

Book excerpt: The Regia was the house of the Pontifex Maximus, Rome's High Priest, who lived in the Forum. The men who held this office played an important role in the life of the Roman state for centuries: the earliest Regia dates to the seventh century B.C.E., and it was rebuilt frequently. Susan B. Downey has extensively studied the sixth-century phase of the building, and in this valuable work she lays out the scheme for the architectural terracottas. These fragments allow the reconstruction of almost the entire decorative system for the building. Art historians and archaeologists will welcome this book. It also contains much of interest for Roman social historians and for students and scholars of early Italy and its communities.