ANCIENT PROFITEERS.
CONTROL BY THE ROMANS. The remains, of & massive triumphal arch, believed to* have been constructed -in the early part of the first century, A.D., Latin inscriptions of that century and a head of Augustus in white marble, are among archaeological finds which have been unearthed by University of Michigan. •expedition,. which , is excavating under the direction of Professor David M. ■Robinson, of Johns Hopkins University, oh the site of Antioch in Pisidia in Asia Minor. It was this expedition which recently uncovered the foundations of a early Christian church. -
The arch, which was recently discovered, spanned a, road near the base of the large oval hill on which the city stood. The road probably connected witli the highway to Lystra. The arch had a single passageway, with a span of about fourteen feet. The piers contained arched recesses as if. for statues. They were embellished with superimposed pilasters exemplifying two varieties of the Corinthian order. These carried the main entablature, of which the architecture bore an inscription in bronze letters six inches high. Only one of the letters has been found, buried in the earth where it fell, but from the holes in which the letters were fastened it. will' be possible to decipher the inscription.
The head of Augustus, in respect to technical skill and expressiveness, is reported to rival the best of the remarkable series of sculptured portraits of this emperor in European galleries. Another interesting discovery is a long Latin inscription in which are recorded the efforts of Antistius Rusticus, a Roman Governor in office near the end of the first century, to control the price of grain in time of famine sp a$ to prevent profiteering, and also, to provide sufficient food until the next crop. This Antistius diecf in Asia Minor and his ashes were carried by his wife Nigrina in a small urn in her hands all the' tfav to Italy. The ruins of Antiqpb, in Pisidia are near Yalovach, north-west of Eonia, which was the ancient Iconium. Both Antioch and Iconium had much repute in tlie early church because of their association with tlie missonafy work of Paul and Barnabas.
The wages paid to the workmen employed 'in the digging have been a godsend to the natives, nianv of whom were at the point of starvation owing to failure .of crops in the region last season. .
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Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 27 December 1924, Page 3
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395ANCIENT PROFITEERS. Hawera Star, Volume XLVIII, 27 December 1924, Page 3
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