Pedestals as ‘altars’ in Roman Asia Minor

Abstract

AbstractThe Greek word bomos usually means ‘altar’, but in inscriptions of the Roman period it sometimes refers to statue bases and other forms of support, where the meaning ‘altar’ is not appropriate. Many scholars believe that in addition to its normal meaning of cult or votive altar and (by extension) funerary altar, bomos could also mean a pedestal, socle or platform in general. This paper examines the use of the term bomos in Roman Asia Minor for statue bases, for pedestals for sarcophagi, ash chests and columns, and for other structures which are not altars, concentrating particularly on their shapes. It concludes that in all these cases the element called bomos had the shape of a normal type of altar, and that in many cases (but not all) it also carried some of the symbolic value of an altar.