Staging senses: the Catarinella Askos and elite politics in Hellenistic-Republican Canosa

Abstract This paper examines the Catarinella Askos in order to explore the funerary culture and social dynamics of the elite in Hellenistic-Republican Daunia. The vessel, found in Lavello (Basilicata) but produced in the city of Canosa (Apulia) in the late 2nd/early 1st c. BCE, depicts an elaborate funerary ceremony with a procession, music, and mourning rituals. The paper contextualizes the images by linking them to material evidence of Canosan funerary practices. It aims to reconstruct the sensory experiences of those who attended and performed at funerals, including aspects of staging and movement, gesture and utterance, and sensation and emotion. By demonstrating how these multimodal spectacles served as arenas for social distinction, competitive consumption, and political consolidation among elite families during Roman hegemony, the paper argues for the resilience of Italian elite culture and social structures rooted in the pre-Roman period.