Ornamenta e urbanitas. I viri triumphales e la distribuzione del bottino in Italia nel II secolo a.C.

This paper focuses on the practice of sending Greek artworks that are part of looting to either the allied cities or the Roman colonies and vici. In the first part, the use of the Kunstbeute as ornamenta in Roman politics is scrutinized, starting from the example of M. Fulvius Nobilior, as well as the tensions that this looting created with the Greeks. The second part concerns the concrete use of the praeda and its distribution in Italy. The Roman colony of Luna has been analyzed as a case study. The management of the Kunstbeute engaged a large number of viri triumphales during the first half of the second century BCE. If a careful selection of the locations is observed in Rome, often relating to the subject of the work of art, it is more difficult to assess the shipping of these ornamenta to places far from Rome. There, they could probably serve to extend the memory of the res gestae of the triumphator, as well as to reward the cities that had provided military contingents for his campaigns, through the updating of their urbanitas as an imitation of Rome itself. Eventually, the ornamenta became a powerful symbol of urbanitas and their dedication often followed the completion of relevant building programs. Later, during the Imperial period, the care in preserving and restoring these statues proves their effectiveness in establishing the civic identity.