Resumen de Phrygian for Phrygians: semiotics of "exotic" local marble
Scholars have long taken the import and display of exotic marbles in Rome to Symbolize Rome's dominance over the varied peoples of her empire. But few have investigated what the use of colored marble meant to those in the provinces where it was quarried. Did their perceptions echo Roman views, or did they see something different in their stones? This paper contrasts the semiotics of colored marbles as they were used in Rome with that of the province Asisa, homeland of Phrygian (pavonazzetto) marble. The very terminology used to describe variegated marble in Greek or Latin may have affected its reception, and there were distinct regional differences in how it was used. The same stone that evoked the captive "other" in Rome often stood in eastern contexts expressing civic pride and intellectual excellence
