Gli interventi di età augustea nei complessi architettonici sacri di Cirene. Tra rispetto delle tradizioni, politica monumentale ed eredità tolemaica, in Cirene nell’età di Augusto

Augustan-Age Interventions in the Sacred Architectural Complexes of Cyrene : Between Respect for Tradition, Monumental Policy, and Ptolemaic Heritage · By examining the major sacred architectural complexes of Cyrene, this paper seeks to identify the interventions carried out during the Augustan and Augustan-Tiberian periods, to determine their extent, and to clarify the monumental policy underlying them. The first part of the study focuses on the architectural evidence, taking into consideration the Sanctuary of Zeus, the Sanctuary of Apollo with the Greek Theatre, the sacred buildings of the Agora, and the Sanctuary of Isis and Serapis on the Acropolis. The main cause of the Augus tan-Tiberian restorations and modernisations appears to have been a relatively minor earthquake that nonetheless caused significant damage to the earlier Hellenistic buildings. The second part of the paper examines the evidence from figurative art, focusing in particular on the connection between the pedimental decoration of the Temple of Apollo and the figured frieze of the Portland Vase. The conclusions provide a clear picture of Augustus’ relationship with the polis, his monumental policy – respectful of local traditions – and the emperor’s full appropriation of the Ptolemaic legacy, a trait d’union between the ideology of the Principate and the historical reality of Cyrene.