The Nonii Balbi Of Herculaneum

[phil25]

Marcus Nonius Balbus, a former Praetor, was proconsul of Crete and Cyrenacia at some stage in the early C1st AD. He was clearly a man of wealth and preseige and a lavish benefactor of the small seaside town of Herculaneum.

 

We know about him and his family because the eruption of Vesuvius has preserved several statues and inscriptions relative to them. They are now to be seen in the national Museum in Naples, and include a pair of equestrian statues possibly from the steps of a temple, of an older and a younger man. Both wear identical cuirasses.

 

There are life-sized marbles of the older man on foot, togate and statesmen like, and i understand that the head of another statue has been excavated from a site near to the Suburban baths, where a statue of Nonius balbus is known to have stood. Associated with the first standing staue I mentioned, are four statues of women - all, as I recall found near the theatre. One of these is interpreted as his mother (a daunting older woman called Vaciria who was perhaps a freed slave); another which may be the proconsul's wife, and two others supposed to be his daughters. These were both no doubt called Nonia in the Roman fashion, and i always think of them as Prima and Nonina!!

 

My purpose in posting here is firstly to ask whether anyone else has noted or has an interest in this family, which I first encountered years ago in JJ Deiss's wonderful book on Herculaneum.

 

Secondly, and I'll save this until I find another "enthusiast", I'd love to debate the attribution of the statues and the possible details of their residence and life.

 

I'd also like to find out more about the proconsul - not least if anyone has dates for his governorship.

 

I hope someone might find this family as interesting as I do. But I'd also welcome the opportunity just to chat about marvellous Herculaneum - one of my favourite places on earth.

 

Phil

[caldrail]

Oh yes, when this sort of thing happens history gets very real indeed. You can reach out and touch it, admire it, but really you want to walk up to the guy, shake hands, and chat for all you're worth. I last got that feeling in the Auckland Museum, New Zealand, where they have a Mitsubishi Zero and personal effects of the man who flew it.

 

The area where I live was inhabited by romano-brits. They dug sandstone from quarries, farmed, worked iron, and made pottery. A marching fort, vicus, and cemetary are hidden on the edge of town. Some of the finds are in the local museum. There isn't much, but it piques your interest nonetheless. The one thing there that did attract my attention was a saxon sword dug up from Beranburgh Field. The handle was small - too small for an adult. "Here son, now you're 13 years old its time to cast off childhood. Here's your first sword. Tomorrow we go raiding west toward Durocornovium!"

[Pertinax]

excellent Ercolano , Pompeii , Oplontis and Jovis are great loves of mine also. Have you visited these sites often Phil? I regret I didnt make a photo record of my visits as I was too busy studying the mosaic/wall painting details and the Pompeian herbal references .

[Pantagathus]

The only Nonius Balbus I know of was a tribune of the Plebs in 32 BC.

 

Only other thing I know is that the surname of Balbus was originally given to someone who had a speech impediment...

[phil25]

Thanks for the replies so far. I was particularly taken by Caldrail's very insightful and "sympathique" post.

 

Pertinax - I had several holidays in the Bay of Naples area in the mid-80s/early 90s but now want to go back. I have still not seen Oplontis which was not on the "tourist map" back then and i could not find directions to get there!! (Sob, sob!!) However, I have extensive photographic records of both Pompeii and Herculaneum. I might try to post some of these in due course if I can get my scanner working.

 

Back to the Nonii:

 

Deiss suggests that their Herculanean residence was the "House of the Relief of Telephus" - which adjoins the Gymnasium and uses the Suburban baths in part as a foundation.

 

the house has an amazing and, I think unique, audience hall on two levels. It is entirely marble lined inside. For structural reasons it was unsafe whenever I visited the site. Has anyone been able to gain access to the lower level, or seen pictures of it? I have been unable to find any despite much rummaging in archives.

 

One of the aspects of the case I was hoping to discuss was the attribution of the statues of father and son.

 

Deiss assumes that the older, very statesmanlike man is the pro-consul; and the younger man his son and heir. However, I have a problem with this attribution.

 

Does anyone know of a single instance where a Roman of status erected a statue to a son which was not a funeral monument (I except members of the imperial house such as Augustus with Gaius and Lucius)? It seems to me that Romans would have said that it was "un-cool" for a man to be given such status without having earned it.

 

However, i think men did often erect statues to their own forebears, and thus i would suggest the younger man is the pro-consul (shown like Augustus eternally in his prime) and the older man is his father, and thus Vaciria is either his mother or grandmother - we cannot, in my view, be sure we have all the statues in the set.

 

A key factor in this analysis is the head of the statue of the pro-consul found near the baths. Has anyone seen a picture or any articles on this, even in Italian? It is now some years since it was found - but does it depict the older or younger man?

 

Grateful for any suggestions - even rude ones ( )

 

Phil