New Light from Ancient Cosa

Sixteen distinguished scholars shed new light on the ancient Roman colony of Cosa. Anna Marguerite McCann surveys the harbor, inspiring Elaine Gazda’s study of hydraulic concrete. The far-flung commercial activities of Cosa’s Sestius family are explored by Lawrence Richardson, jr, and by Elizabeth Lyding Will, the latter documenting Sestius amphoras excavated by Jacques Cousteau. McCann finds similar Sestius amphoras on the ancient sea route from Rome to Africa with the remote robot excavator. Seaman Vincent Bruno describes Cosa’s maritime neighbors. Eric Baade recalls life on the dig, while Russell T. Scott and Portia Paradise focus on the Cosa Museum. Jacquelyn Collins-Clinton’s study of the marble statue of Dionysus, Theodore V. Buttrey’s interpretation of the Cosa coin hoard, and Norma Wynick Goldman’s reading of the New Year’s lamp complete the Cosa offerings. Complementing these are studies by Helen North on mythology, by Anne Laidlaw on Roman painted plaster, by Larissa Bonfante on a Roman relief sculpture, by Lionel Casson on ancient travel, and by Blanche Brown on the city plan of Alexandria. All these studies honor Cleo Rickman Fitch, dedicated cataloger of the Cosa lamps.