Graeco-Roman Religion

Organizations specializing in the art of telling Bible stories are flourishing. Some methods being promoted, however, are falling into the same legalistic trap that has plagued other good methods of evangelism. Disregarding sound hermeneutical principles in favor of "just telling the story," these storytellers have reduced the art to a formula. Insisting that the trainee dig for “nuggets of gold” in biblical stories, they nevertheless deny the trainee access to the rich storehouses of the Church’s knowledge and spurn the God-ordained role of teacher, thereby creating a danger that the “nuggets of gold” will turn out in the end to be nothing but fool’s gold.

La letteratura greca e latina è ricca di figure femminili che, nel ruolo di incantatrici, streghe e necromanti, spiccano per il loro fascino e carisma, o per il timore che incutono in coloro, in genere uomini, che hanno a che fare con loro. Guardando al racconto del mito e alla poesia, figure come Circe e Medea, o, per la letteratura ellenistica e imperiale, Simeta, Canidia ed Erittò, sono l'archetipo di tutte le rappresentazioni della 'strega' comparse successivamente nella letteratura occidentale. Eppure, allontanandosi dalla letteratura e avvicinandosi alla magia 'pratica', quella effettivamente prodotta all'interno del mondo greco e romano, ci si accorge di quanto poco sappiamo, escludendo l'invenzione letteraria, del reale apporto del mondo femminile alla magia e di quale fosse il suo rapporto con essa al di là degli stereotipi. Obiettivo di questo lavoro è analizzare il ruolo giocato da figure femminili all'interno dei testi magici pervenuti. Si eviterà, quindi, volutamente, di basare l'analisi su descrizioni fornite da opere letterarie (anche quelle celeberrime), per concentrarsi, invece, sulle testimonianze della magia effettivamente praticata nel mondo greco e romano. Tali testimonianze sono contenute prevalentemente nel corpus dei cosiddetti Papiri Greci Magici (spesso abbreviati in PGM), raccolta eterogenea e diacronica di testi, in gran parte trascritti su papiro, ma non solo, provenienti dall'Egitto e diffusi su un ampio arco di tempo, dall'inizio del III secolo a.C.

https://journals.openedition.org/mefra/19234

Lavinium e Lanuvium sono due antichissimi centri appartenenti all’ethnos latino, il primo dei quali (Lavinio) universalmente noto per essere identificato quale “approdo” di Enea nel Lazio e dunque fulcro delle origini troiane di Roma, il secondo (Lanuvio) pur non essendo del tutto estraneo alla saga troiana, è ricordato maggiormente per il suo venerando santuario dedicato alla divinità poliade Iuno Sospita Mater Regina il cui culto fu condiviso dal popolo romano a partire dal 338 a.C. La confusione tra i due centri, dilagante in età moderna, esisteva anche in antico: il presente contributo intende indagare a fondo le ragioni di quello che, solo in apparenza, pare configurarsi come un mero interscambio tra poleonimi, ma che in realtà, come si tenterà di dimostrare, deriva da ben altre cause.

The birth of a wild ass was completely described and photographed in the wild for the first time. It happened in the daytime, in the open desert, and in the vicinity of other wild asses. The mother isolated her foal afterwards for an entire day. After birthing she drove away her male yearling, which did not join her any longer from this moment on

The birth of a Wild Ass was completely described and photographed in the wild for the first time. It happened in the daytime, in the open desert, and in the vicinity of other Wild Asses. The mother isolated her foal afterwards for an entire day. After birthing she drove away her male yearling, which did not join her any longer from this moment on.

This essay takes as its starting point a piece of stage business in Thomas Tomkis' university comedy 'Albumazar' (1615), in which the clown Trincalo demands a suspected thief show him the hands he is concealing behind his back: he asks first one hand and then the other, and, discovering both empty, his "other hand". The episode comes from Tomkis' most direct source -- Giambattista Della Porta's 'Lo Astrologo' -- but academic audiences would likely have recognised an echo of Plautus' 'Aulularia', which contains a similar scene with a hand-hiding theif. Plautus was no stranger to the Cambridge University stage: notwithstanding incomplete or missing records, there are more than twenty identifiable performances of Plautus at Cambridge in the sixteenth century, with many more academic plays carrying traces of Plautine influence. Using episodes from 'Albumazar' and George Ruggle's 'Ignoramus' as key examples, this essay explores how Plautus' presence was felt on the English academic stage, not just through textual allusions but through stage action, hinting at the varied ways by which Plautus influenced the composition of university comedies.

This paper examines a newly discovered votive altar dedicated to the goddess Terra Mater, from Ratarska Ulica (Ratarska Street) in Sremska Mitrovica (ancient Sirmium). This is the first recorded evidence of this deity in Sirmium. The analysed monument, an accidental find, was donated to the National Museum of Serbia in Belgrade. This paper will describe the monument and interpret its inscription. It will also attempt to understand the monument within its micro- and macro-regional contexts, examining its similarities and differences compared to monuments mentioning the same deity in Pannonia and other neighbouring provinces (Dacian provinces, Dalmatia, and Moesia Superior).

Ovaj članak se usredsređuje na novopronađeni votivni oltar iz Ratarske ulice u Sremskoj Mitrovici (antički Sirmium) posvećen boginji Teri Mater (Terra Mater). Ovo je prvi zabeleženi primer posvete toj boginji u Sirmijumu. Krečnjački spomenik koji pominje ovu boginju je slučajan nalaz i darovan je Narodnom muzeju Srbije u Beogradu. Terra Mater, boginja koja se dovodi u vezu sa podzemljem, je zbog svojih osobina povezivana sa rudarstvom i poljoprivredom. Ciljevi ovoga rada jesu da se opiše spomenik, interpretira njegov natpis, da se taj spomenik razume u svojim mikroregionalnim i makroregionalnim kontekstima i da se njegova sadržnina uporedi sa spomenicima na kojima su prisutne posvete ovoj boginji u panonskim i drugim susednim provincijama (dačke provincije, Dalmacija [Dalmatia] i Gornja Mezija [Moesia Superior]).

The paper investigates Xenophon’s corpus as an important source for
understanding the political and cultural changes in the Greek world during the early 4th century, also reflected in the vocabulary employed by the author. This analysis specifically examines the nuances found in references to the concept of philotimia, shedding light on its ambiguous meaning. While this term is frequently used in Xenophon’s works, it does not always seem to carry the same value, showing some flexibility in emphasizing either positive aspects, aligned with an increasingly individual-centred ethical perspective, or its more controversial and disruptive dimensions within the civic community. A glance at earlier authors provides a better understanding of the semantic development of this word.

El material epigráfico referido a Hércules y su culto encontrado hasta el momento en la P. Ibérica es relativamente abundante. Hace pocos años se realizaron dos recopilaciones de este material 1 , pero el trabajo se limitó a un catálogo de inscripciones (veinticinco en total) y a unos apuntes muy breves sobre fórmulas de dedicación más frecuentes, epítetos que acompañan al nombre de Hércules y posibles asociaciones con otros dioses, número de dedicantes en las lápidas y su oficio y posición socioeconómica (cuando es posible obtener el dato), escasas noticias sobre cronología, sobre los objetos que se dedican al dios y sobre los lugares de culto constatados en las inscripciones. Posteriormente se han ido publicando nuevos testimonios, que obligaban a actualizar el catálogo. Por otra parte, es interesante analizar este material desde el punto de vista de su distribución geográfica, puesto que los lugares de aparición de los epígrafes marcan con bastante aproximación las áreas donde se concentra el culto. Definir estas áreas y analizar el por qué de esta distribución es el objetivo que se plantea este trabajo, que se presenta como avance de una investigación actualmente en curso.

Two stone panels with images of Silvanus and a female deity -
usually recognised as an indigenous interpretation of Diana - were discovered by chance in what seems to be an original context, together with a pot, an inscription and two coins. Unfortunately, some panels of the original assemblage, such as the inscription and one of the coins, did not make it to the museum in Sarajevo and are forever lost for scholarship. Earlier scholarship focused exclusively on the typology of the images and their place in the cult of the Dalmatian Silvanus. However, this discovery in a dear indigenous context still provides a unique opportunity to get an insight into some theoretical aspects of indigenous spiritual life in early Roman Dalmatia, which will be explored in this paper. This, in particular, refers to the issues of ritual, indigenous literacy and knowledge of Latin, the adaptation of Mediterranean and Roman imperial religious templates, the function and meaning of artifacts and assemblages in religious worship, etc.

Pérez Yarza, Lorena and Bonnet, Corinne (2024), “Divine Names and Bilingualism in Rome: Religious Dynamics in Multilingual Spaces”, in Alaya Palamidis and Corinne Bonnet (eds.) Julie Bernini, Enrique Nieto Izquierdo and Lorena Pérez Yarza (colls.), What's in a divine name? Religious systems and human agency. De Gruyter, 759-780.

Ancient inscriptions commemorate and perpetuate ritual interaction by fixing different forms of communication between divine recipients and human agents using specific names appropriate to the occasion and intentions. The testimonies of bilingual divine names in Rome bear witness to social strategies for invoking and representing single gods or divine configurations. As a multilingual space, Rome offers a wide range of instances where uses or needs model the divine naming process. Bilingual scenarios constitute challenging cases because the context urges human agents to elaborate valid onomastic alternatives according to their cultural understanding and repertoire. In cultic communication, divine onomastic sequences articulate various facets of a given puissance that is ritually activated. Accordingly, the use of Greek and/or Latin constitutes a pragmatic resource and stimulates divine conceptualisation in both multicultural and "multicultual" settings.

Pérez Yarza, Lorena (2025 ), “A la manera siria: asociación divina y expresión religiosa entre los grupos sirios del Occidente latino”. In Francisco Marco Simón, Francisco Pina Polo, José Remesal Rodríguez (eds.), Religión y comunicación: agentes, medios y contextos. Serie instrumenta, 88. Universitat de Barcelona, pp. 217-238.

The phrase "genua incerare deorum" in Iuv. 10. 55 is not related to the practice of attaching wax tablets with vows to statues of gods: (1) this metaphor would be far-fetched; (2) the tablets were attached to thighs, not knees; and (3) the tablets affixed to statues were sealed and contained secret vows, which does not fit Juvenal’s context.
Instead, it refers to the praying gesture of clasping the addressee’s knees: by analogy with waxing techniques, the verb "incerare" functions as a metaphor for rubbing, and with regard to the knees, ‘rubbing’ implies intensive touching: cf. "genua (con)fricare" in Pl. Asin. 670; 678. Prudentius’ "genua incerare Dianae" (Apoth. 447) suggests the same interpretation.
Conversely, waxing images in Prud. c. Symm. 1. 203 and Ham. 404 is unrelated to Iuv. 10. 55, being connected instead to Iuv. 12. 88 (of the images of Lares). Chr. Gnilka’s suspicion that Prudentius was ignorant of pagan cultic practices is unfounded.
"Nuda" in Vitruv. 7. 9. 4 is problematic and, in view of the close lexical parallelism with Plin. NH 33. 122 ("nitescunt"), should be emended to "nitidanda".

I argue that the Scythian custom described at Herodotus IV.7 is related to the horse sacrifices known to have been practised by other ancient Indo-European-speaking groups in India, Italy and Ireland and reconstructed for the culture of Proto-Indo-European speakers, as well as some associated human sacrifices (performed or envisaged). Herodotus outlines the ritual significance of the sacred objects possession of which legitimises Scythian kings, stating that a man who falls asleep during the annual festival held in their honour is said not to live through the year and consequently is given as much land as he can ride around in a day. This description contains several elements mirrored elsewhere, especially in the Indic horse sacrifice (the Aśvamedha). Textually at least, this Indic sacrifice had a counterpart (the Puruṣamedha) in which the victim was a man; Puhvel argues that this peculiarity is paralleled in Roman culture, concluding that '[i]n tradition if not in practice, the aśvamedha could be "upgraded" to a puruṣamedha' in Indo-European culture (1987: 272-273). I suggest that the custom described at Herodotus IV.7 constitutes (at least a relic of) a Puruṣamedha-like rite, since Herodotus explicitly states that the man involved was seen by the Scythians as having been marked for death by the gods, his falling asleep in the open during the festival being perceived as a sign of this fate. I further speculate that the divine recipient of the Scythian sacrifice may have been the Scythian god identified by Herodotus with the Greek Ares.

Among the books of the New Testament, the First Epistle of John may at first appear to treat discerning God's will as the subject of the author's marginal concern. However, this article demonstrates that the explicit references to God's will in 2:17 and 5:14 do not exhaust the topic as presented in the Epistle. The need to do what 'pleases God,' as referred to in 3:22, plays a significant role. This exegetical study of the canonical form of the text, which employs a synchronic approach, involves three stages. The first one aims to identify the terms that express God's will in 1 John. The second defines the actions associated with discerning and fulfilling God's will. Finally, the third stage consists of a pragmatic analysis of the text. In addition to discussing the effects of knowing and fulfilling God's will by the Epistle's addressees; the final part of the study highlights the persuasive function of the Letter, which calls upon its audience to apply the exhortations contained within.

In 2020 Parsons and Prauscello published P. Oxy. 5481, dated to the 1st cen-tury AD, now in the Sackler Library, Oxford. Its plot revolves around the famous myth of Isis and Osiris, known from Plutarch, De Iside et Osiride, and other Greek sources. The Demotic version of the legend is also available from three papyri published by Quack in 2019. The Egyptian texts come from the library of the Temple of Tebtunis and are dated between I BC and I AD. Therefore, at least one of the demotic versions predates the Greek text. In this paper I revise the text of the Greek papyrus and offer the Spanish translation of this new provisional edition. I also comment on those aspects relating to the work of the papyrus scribe whom I consider to be the possible author of the Greek translation. I will also analyse its literary level, paying particular attention to the phenomenon of the hiatus.

Az amulett szövege több szempontból is rendhagyó, de fő szerkezeti és tematikus vonásaiban jól illeszkedik az apotropaikus mágikus hagyományba. Mindenek előtt kiemelendő, hogy a szöveg egésze jól olvasható, latin nyelvű és latin írású – nincsenek benne voces magicae, sem rajzok, sem kharaktérek. A megszólítások, az isteni hatalmak segítségül hívása, az elűző és megkötő formulák, valamint az ártó erők megnevezése mind azt a célt szolgálják, hogy egy konkrét helyet (lásd istic, foras) – a párhuzamok alapján feltehetően egy lakó- vagy gazdasági épületet– megvédjenek a kívülről jövő fenyegetésektől.

Egy feltehetőleg észak-afrikai ólom vagy bronz amulett feliratán kétszer is feltűnik a mágikus gemmákról ismert oroszlánfejű Hélióros neve. A lelet azért fontos, mert a teljes névalakot eddig csak K. Preisendanz rekonstrukciójából ismertük (PGM 1, 143–147), amit nem mindenki fogadott el. Az amulett szövegét az A. Audollent hagyatékában talált fénykép alapján nem lehet megnyugtatóan értelmezni, a tárgy jelenlegi őrzési helye pedig nem ismert.

Los astōdān son receptáculos de tamaño variable, cuyo fin era recoger los huesos de los difuntos zoroástricos una vez descarnados y secos tras su exposición a la acción de los elementos naturales y los animales carroñeros. Al estar hechos en piedra o cerámica, estos artefactos cumplen con los requerimientos funerarios estipulados en el Vidēvdād, el texto avéstico que recoge de manera más extensa las doctrinas acerca del tratamiento de los cadáveres de los fieles mazdeos. Si bien los primeros ejemplos en un contexto iranio se datan en torno al s. III a.C. en Corasmia (Asia Central), en Irán occidental aparecen en el período parto-sasánida, alcanzando su apogeo en el período sasánida tardío en el área de Asia Central.
El interés de estas ostotecas reside en dos aspectos principales. Por una parte, la iconografía de muchos ejemplares constituye una importante fuente para el conocimiento de la concepción visual de las divinidades zoroástricas en un período de tiempo que resulta crucial para el desarrollo de la fe mazdea. Por otra parte, los astōdān atestiguan la permanencia de prácticas funerarias acordes con el canon avéstico en el período parto-sasánida, cuando se ha documentado una gran variedad de métodos de tratamiento del cadáver, no siempre afines a las doctrinas zoroástricas. Existen indicios que indican que el término astōdān se aplicó también a las construcciones funerarias aqueménidas, tanto las excavadas en paredes rocosas como las exentas. Este hecho, junto con la existencia de tumbas excavadas en la roca de época post-aqueménida, permiten integrar a las ostotecas parto-sasánidas dentro de una línea evolutiva común que manifiesta la pervivencia de usos funerarios que se remontan, cuanto menos, al período aqueménida.

This study presents a comprehensive multimodal analytical study of an Egyptian ritual Bes-vase, of the 2nd century BCE employing cutting-edge proteomics, metabolomics, genetics techniques, and synchrotron radiation-based Fourier Transformed Infrared microSpectroscopy (SR µ-FTIR) to characterize organic residues of its content. We successfully identified the presence of various functional, bioactive, psychotropic, and medicinal substances, shedding light on the diverse components of a liquid concoction used for ritual practices in Ptolemaic Egypt. Using LC-MS/MS with a new methodological approach, we identified key proteins and metabolites, enabling the identification of botanical sources, confirmed by genetic sequences. Our analyses revealed traces of Peganum harmala, Nimphaea nouchali var. caerulea, and a plant of the Cleome genus, all of which are traditionally proven to have psychotropic and medicinal properties. Additionally, the identification of human fluids suggests their direct involvement in these rituals. Furthermore, metabolomics and SR µ-FTIR analyses also revealed the presence of fermented fruit-based liquid and other ingredients such as honey or royal jelly. The identification of specific chemical compounds, such as alkaloids and flavonoids, provides insight into the psychoactive and therapeutic uses of these in ancient ritual practices. This multidisciplinary study highlights the complexity of ancient cultures and their interactions with psychoactive, medicinal, and bioactive substances. These findings contribute to our understanding of ancient belief systems, cultural practices, and the utilization of natural resources, ultimately enhancing our knowledge of past societies and their connection to the natural world.

Resumen: A menudo se ha dicho que la información que presenta Amiano Marcelino en el llamado "excurso persa" (Amm. 23.6) es sólo un compendio de datos tomado de otros autores griegos y latinos; sin embargo, al contrastar pasajes del excurso con textos iranios, se puede comprobar al mismo tiempo que Amiano presenta información nueva, y que algunos de los tópicos sobre los persas que utiliza, aunque imprecisos debido a la interpretación cultural gre corromana, contienen datos que no se deben catalogar tan fácilmente como falsos. En este artículo lo demostraré analizando el pasaje que habla sobre los magos y sus prácticas religiosas (Amm. 23.6.32-36).

La chasse occupe une place importante dans le répertoire visuel de la société étrusque, depuis sa formation au VIIIe siècle av. J.-C. jusqu’à son intégration dans l’orbite politique de Rome dans la deuxième moitié du IVe siècle av. J.-C. Cet ouvrage propose une étude de la signification symbolique, politique et religieuse de la chasse fondée sur les images. Si la chasse aux animaux indigènes, cerfs et sangliers en tête, apparaît dès les premières attestations d’art figuré, sur les armes et les parures des élites villanoviennes, le répertoire cynégétique s’enrichit rapidement des modèles de mise en scène et des motifs animaliers empruntés aux mondes grec, phénicien, ou égyptien, avec lesquels les élites commerçantes étrusques sont en contact. Ces images, représentées en contexte funéraire, sur le mobilier ou dans le décor architectural, semblent ainsi inhérentes à la définition de la société étrusque qui accorde une importance symbolique et idéologique au thème de la chasse et à ses différentes significations. Chasseurs étrusques se propose ainsi d’étudier la formation du répertoire cynégétique et ses liens avec l’auto-représentation des élites, l’interprétation des chasses mythiques, le rôle des métaphores de la prédation animale et le rapport entre chasse et rituels funéraires en Étrurie.

In the framework of the article, the perception of magic in the ancient world, especially in the Hittite environment, has been focused on, considering magic as a phenomenon in comparative parallels with the perceptions of the ancient Egyptians, Jews, Armenians and other ancient Near Eastern peoples. Within the framework of the study, the origin and perception of magic will be presented, considering it from an etymological, ritualistic, operational point of view, as well as the role of magic as a negative and positive phenomenon for ancient societies, etc. will be presented. In addition, in the context of the question, an attempt is made to present the role of the sorcerer in the ancient society.

Autori: Federico De Ponti, Gian Luca Gregori
The contribution aims to investigate the epigraphic presence of local senators, equites and notables in the countryside of the regio XI Transpadana. After the examination of all the inscriptions of the region filed in EDR in search of eminent figures (see Appendix), the authors focus on the cases of Comum, Augusta Taurinorum and Augusta Praetoria, cities that are epigraphically well represented and that share a colonial status. A varied picture emerges, with the reduced but significant presence of senators and knights in contrast to the high frequency of municipal offices and the sevirate. An attempt has been made to reconstruct the economic and holiday reasons that bound these notables to their probable properties (villae rusticae and luxurious residences) in a vast and varied ager, between the plains, high hills, valley floors and Lake Como. Possible correspondence between epigraphic and archaeological evidence has been surveyed.
Keywords: Transpadana, Augusta Praetoria, Augusta Taurinorum, Comum, Nord-italian elites.

Est-ce excès de témérité, ou au contraire illusion routinière, que de prétendre présenter au lecteur d'aujourd'hui, comme historique, le récit des épisodes par lesquels Rome est passée d'une monarchie devenue tyrannie, et sous des rois étrusques, à un gouvernement républicain et à des institutions comme le consulat, valables pour cinq siècles ? --Un (Junius) Brutus, fondant la libertas, inventant en quelque sorte et revêtant le premier cette magistrature nouvelle ; une Lucrèce, jeune femme de l'aristocratie la plus haute, victime d'un viol ; un Valérius Poplicola rejoignant Brutus et apportant au nouvel État la force de cadres militaires préparés, bientôt dirigeant le choix et le comportement des « otages » durant la guerre de Porsenna !... Ces figures sont pour les modernes aussi fami¬ lières et au fond aussi irréelles que les principaux personnages de la tragédie grecque ; tant les scènes où ils agissent, les ser¬ ments qu'ils prêtent, ont de caractère « dramatique » dans les versions anciennes ; le « viol de Lucrèce » comme la « trahison de Coriolan » paraissent prêts chez Tite-Live déjà à des tra¬ gédies classiques ou shakespeariennes. Depuis au moins un siècle, les écoles de critique historique, de mieux en mieux outillées, ont passé au crible ces récits « annalistiques », définitivement constitués avant 1 époque d'Auguste ; elles ont particulièrement regardé les assises de la chronologie : ces Fastes consulaires, qui nous donnent pour la période commençant en 509 av. J.-C. d'imperturbables listes de magistrats éponymes annuels, quelle valeur ont-ils, et comment expliquer que, en un régime de domination patri¬ cienne, quelques noms plébéiens y soient mêlés ? Que valent, k,3bl7* 1. Voir R. Bloch, « Le départ des Étrusques de Rome selon l'annalistique et la dédicace du temple de Jup. Capit. », dans la RHR, ig6i, pp. 141-156, et les pages du même auteur dans son Append. (de 1971) à l'éd. G. Budé de Tite-Live, I (par J. Bayet). 2. Récit très net chez Liv., I, 55 : Tarquin, ayant pris Gabies, conclu la paix et renouvelé traité avec les Étrusques, revient aux negotia urbana, et avant tout au temple capitolin : Tarquinios reges ambos, patrem vovisse (sic), filium perfecisse... l6 ÉLIMINATION DES RITUELS SABINS DU CYCLE « PÉTRONIEN » « stratigraphie », et plus clairement est prouvé que les substructions du temple capitolin remontent à l'époque étrusque de Rome. N'est-ce pas ce test archéologique qui poussait quelques érudits, il y a une vingtaine d'années, à abaisser de presque un demi-siècle, jusqu'à la veille de l'épisode décemviral, la date réelle du « départ des Tarquins » -disons, de la fin d'une domination étrusque ? -Nous ne croyons d'ailleurs pas que cette vue ait été juste, ni qu'elle ait représenté un progrès dans la critique de l'annalistique romaine pour le Ve siècle av. J.-C. 3. Tout se passe comme si, effectivement, un régime étrusque, qui avait modernisé et embelli YUrbs par de grands travaux, avait été remplacé vers la fin du VIe siècle par un régime plus indigène, sans que celui-ci ait eu l'intention ou les moyens de donner aussitôt à l'architecture une forme nouvelle. La République, de quelque façon, a hérité d'un Capitole cons¬ truit par des rois étrusques ; et les Romains ne se trompaient pas dans le souvenir qu'ils avaient, longtemps après, des orne¬ ments tout étrusques de ce premier temple capitolin : pièces de terre-cuite modelées par des coroplastes de l'école de Vulca à Véies, ou toutes semblables. Le problème, pour nous, se pose autrement : il est de savoir si le jeune État républicain, dirigé par une aristocratie patricienne latine et sabine, pouvait se servir, et avec la valeur la plus officielle, d'un sanctuaire construit par des dynastes étrusques. Cette question n'est pas susceptible, on le sait, d'une réponse directe. Sans doute le groupement initial des divinités capito¬ lines en « triade », avec trois cellae solidaires, répondait-il à un schéma connu des Étrusques, et le couple principal, formé par Jupiter et Junon, représentait-il d'abord un Tinia et une Uni étrusques. Qu'y ait été dès le début associée une M(i)nerva, cela a moins d'évidence, pour un culte que les Romains ont surtout positivé plus tard, et au profit d'une déesse falisque. De quelque façon, ce premier Capitole étrusque -où les patri¬ ciens romains pratiqueront longtemps des rites significatifs, tels que la déposition temporaire de leurs fils in gremio Iovis, sur les genoux de Jupiter -ne devait pas reposer sur une théologie entièrement différente de celle de la Préneste étruscolatine : or, là, dans un sanctuaire qui était celui d'une puissante 3-Voir l'opinion exprimée par E. Gjerstad dans son récent exposé, Eavly R°me. V. The written sources (Public, de l'Inst. Suédois à Rome'

Le paganisme impétial à la recherche d'une théologie vets le milieu du IIF siécle AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN UND DER LITERATUR -MAINZ ] KOMMISSION BEI FRANZ STEINER VERLAG GMBH -WIESBADEN 10. 11. 12. 13. T. 8. ABHANDLUNGEN DER AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTEN UND DER LITERATUR GEISTES-UND SOZIALWISSENSCHAFTLICHE KLASSE Jahrgang 1950 . PAUL DrEPGEN, Zur Frauenheilkunde im byzantinischen Kulturkreis des Mittelalters. 14 S.,

Ces articles sur la religion romaine, réunis grâce à la bienveillance de mon successeur et ami, M. Georges Vallet, témoignent pour elle d'un intérêt qui ne s'est pas démenti de 1925 à ce jour (1). Les sujets vont de leur côté des origines de cette religion à l'époque où elle fait place au christianisme: c'est assez dire que la variété en est le caractère le plus apparent. On constatera peut-être aussi que les points de vue auxquels je me suis placé sont eux-mêmes d'une grande diversité. Ce sont cependant toujours ceux de quelqu'un, qui, comme tous les membres antiquaires de notre Ecole française de Rome, y est venu avec une formation dont la base à été constituée par les oeuvres des littératures anciennes et qui, dans sa carrière universitaire, s'est toujours consacré à l'étude de ces oeuvres. Je n'ai cessé de penser que la philologie doit rester le fondement même de nos recherches sur les religions anciennes. Sans doute nous avons appris au XIXe et peut-être plus encore au XXE siècle à élargir le champ de nos curiosités et, comme le dit M. Paul Veyne dans le livre génial qu'il vient de consacrer aux méthodes (et plutôt, à dire vrai, à l'absence de méthode) de l'histoire, à enrichir notre «topique». Nous ne séparons plus dans notre intérêt la personne et les ouvrages des écrivains de la société où ils ont vécu, se sont formés et dont ils sont, à maints égards, les représentants ou même les porte-paroles. A travers eux, grâce à eux, c'est à cette société que d'aventure nous nous intéressons. Aussi nous recherchons chez eux et à côté d'eux les documents qui nous renseignent sur tout ce que fut la vie d'un peuple. La linguistique, l'épigraphie, l'archéologie, l'ethnographie, d'autres sciences encore viennent à notre secours. J'estime néanmoins que le plus souvent l'art de lire les textes reste le plus court chemin et aussi le plus riche de promesses qui nous permette d'accéder à la connaissance de l'antiquité. Quelques mots précis peuvent suffire à nous assurer d'un fait majeur que les inférences tirées de tonnes de pierres muettes, d'objets et de tessons variés ne permet-(:) J'ai cru devoir dans des notes présentées entre crochets droits et dans de brefs appendices donner quelques adjonctions, rectifications ou même discussions. ee, FGIOE LB < N L F\ PACIFIC SCHOOL | . OF pc en f XII PRÉFACE leur artistique est fort supérieure aux autres, pourrait bien être une partie de ce modèle. Le jour où on trouverait quelque document sur son origine, si cette provenance était la Villa Hadriana de Tivoli, source de tant d'oeuvres d'art conservées dans les collections et les musées de Rome, l'énigme serait résolue. On remarquera que l'attention marquée dans le monnayage d'Hadrien pour l'Aiôn au zodiaque, pour les Génies des quatre saisons va dans le même sens de l'intérêt pour le calendrier dont Fulvius Nobilior déjà le mettait en relation avec le Dieu agissant dans le cosmos et qui donnait à Virgile occasion de témoigner de ce que j'ai appelé son sens cosmique. Les deux derniers articles de ce recueil ont trait à l'antiquité tardive. Tous deux partent de documents récemment découverts et tous deux établissent une conjonction avec des textes littéraires bien déterminés. Le premier commente une épitaphe trouvée en Tunisie par M. Gübert Picard et y trouve non seulement des réminiscences virgiliennes, mais surtout l'écho de l'exégèse symbolique de l'Enéide et du Chant VI, exégèse majorant mais le texte y prêtait -les allusions à l'immortalité céleste de l'âme. Et c'est aussi cette immortalité que met en valeur l'autre document, une des fresques de la nécropole de la Via Latina. Pour celle-ci nous avons la chance rare d'une concordance presque absolue avec un texte qu'on trouve chez les néoplatoniciens et qui à dû, selon toutes vraisemblances, être connu de ce cercle influencé par Porphyre, dont M. Pierre Courcelle, dans ses admirables travaux, aussi solides que nouveaux, sur le néoplatonisme de langue latine, à mis en valeur l'importance. La catacombe de la Via Latina nous fait pénétrer directement dans ce milieu où la spiritualité chrétienne ne craignait pas de se chercher des précédents chez les maîtres païens, chez Platon et chez Aristote, préludant ainsi à la scolastique médiévale. Et l'épitaphe de Julia Modesta, elle aussi, parait être un écho d'un néoplatonisme chrétien, si l'on à égard à l'observation importante que me fit Jérôme Carcopino et que j'ai consignée dans une note. Ainsi, tout au long de ce livre, c'est, on l'aura remarqué, la symbiose de la pensée et de la sensibilité romaine avec la pensée et la sensibilité grecque qui à retenu souvent mon attention. Ainsi suis-je resté fidèle aux leçons que j'avais reçues de Franz Cumont et de Jérôme Carcopino et c'est en prononçant ces deux noms, chers tous deux à l'Ecole française de Rome, dont j'ai eu l'insigne honneur d'être le directeur, que je voudrais achever cette brève introduction, en demandant pardon au souvenir de ces maîtres illustres si je n'ai pu donner par mes travaux qu'un trop médiocre écho à leurs enseignements.

The Isis sanctuary in Savaria probably served for a mid‑Danubian regional sacred centre for the Alexandrian deities. The core of the complex is formed by an enclosed area with the podium temple in the centre. Recent research has shown that the neighbouring buildings were also part of the complex, or at least their functions were complementary.
The building to the north of the sanctuary, which has been partially excavated, may have been a 1st‑century timber‑framed structure that was replaced in the early 2nd century by a stone‑foundation building. Its walls were clearly connected to the walls of the Iseum complex, making the two buildings a single architectural unit. In the building facing the street, a larger room was identified, measuring 9.8 × 10.5 metres. The finds included a large quantity of tableware, which could be related to the preparation and serving of food. Some kind of public facilities (thermopolium? / tabernae?) can be assumed as early as the 1st century AD, and from the 2nd century onwards the large room, which probably served as a community hall, was documented. It is not yet clear whether the building had another function as (one of) the dining rooms of the Iseum, or whether it was used as a community hall by the local Isis worshippers. Examples of both arrangements are known from other
sanctuaries in Alexandria.

The study of ancient divination has increasingly become a focus of research over the past few decades, with both institutionalized and individual (‘lived’) practices attracting scholarly interest. However, it is only in recent years that one fundamental aspect concerning the significance of divination has begun to receive attention: the nature, meaning, and role of authority.

In the view of contemporaries, ancient divination was a form of communication with the divine sphere. It allowed individuals, regardless of their social status, to ascertain the opinion of the supernatural regarding a given situation and, in turn, to communicate this information. As such, divination played a crucial role in Greek and Roman societies, shaping both private life and political affairs. Despite its centrality, divination was neither a fixed and coherent nor a universally valid or universally accepted system but rather a contested space where various specialists and techniques competed for legitimacy. At the heart of this competition was the issue of authority—how it was constructed, recognized, and maintained. While previous scholarship has explored specific divinatory practices and their political uses, the broader relationship between divination and authority remains insufficiently examined. This conference, therefore, seeks to explore both the authority of divination (how divination as a system gained credibility) and the authority in divination (how individual diviners established and maintained their status).

In what ways was  the authority of the supernatural conveyed through divinatory practices used in different contexts of the Greek and Roman world? How did ancient societies negotiate which individuals could claim divinatory authority? How did divination reinforce the authority of the powerful? How did divination empower marginalized individuals? What role did divinatory rituals, objects, and performances play in asserting authority? What theoretical concepts and methodological approaches enable a better understanding of historical developments related to these questions? By addressing these and similar issues, this conference will contribute to broader discussions on religious expertise, materiality, and ancient Mediterranean belief systems, and ultimately place the still-young study of the significance of authority in the field of divination on a new foundation.

Despite increased interest in dining as part of worship practices, accounts of cult meals often focus primarily on benefaction and consumption, ignoring or downplaying the practices of food preparation in and around sanctuaries. Synthesizing and analyzing kitchen spaces and their assemblages in sanctuaries dedicated to Mithras for the first time, we argue that the labor of foodmaking was also central to group-making in ancient cult. The display of kitchens and cooks, and the entailments of cooking installations, emphasized meat dishes and worked to create vertically stratified worship communities. At the same time, the diversity of food-production practices in Mithraic sanctuaries also suggests significant variety in how practices might have structured cult groups.

In this paper, I discuss Latin cognomina ending in -ianus
derived from cognomina, a formation attested for instance in Priscianus
and Severianus, derived from Priscus and Severus. The main part of the
exposition consists of an inventory of all cognomina of this type known
to me, divided into sections according to the types of cognomina from
which the cognomina in -ianus have been derived. The paper also
includes observations on cognomina in -inus and on agnomina of slaves
and freedmen in -ianus derived from cognomina. I conclude the paper
with observations on the chronology of the cognomina in -ianus. Unlike
cognomina in -ianus derived from nomina (Aemilianus, Fulvianus, etc.),
which are known already from the Republican period, cognomina in
-ianus derived from cognomina seem to be attested only from the about
the middle of first century AD onwards.

Co-organized by Leiden University (Institute for History / Leiden Center for the Study of Ancient Religions) and the University of Potsdam (Department of History / Chair of Ancient History).

Organizers: Kim Beerden, Jens Fischer, Rafal Matuszewski

1. Luciano ALBANESE luciano.albanese@uniroma1.it ―Porfirio, l‘Antro delle ninfe e i misteri di Mithra‖ The aim of this paper is to compare the Porphyry‘s lecture of tauroctony in The Cave of The Nymphs (borrowed from Eubulus and Pallas, maybe also Numenius?) with the mithraic archaelogical finds. 2. José David Mendoza ÁLVAREZ, luckyman76@hotmail.com , ―Mitras y otros cultos orientales en el anfiteatro de Itálica‖, /“Mithras and Other oriental Cults in the Amphitheater of Italica.‖ This research is part of our project Doctoral Thesis that discusses the amphitheater of Italica, which we intend to show the results for the cult practiced therein. Thus, we present a new hypothesis of possible rooms of religion distributed along the annular gallery under the podium. 3. Giovanna BASTIANELLI , gawain@virgilio.it. ―Mithras in Umbria‖ Many finds testify to the cult of Mithras in Regio VI, Umbria. These include inscriptions, two altars, two reliefs, and two Tauroctonies, which were either foun...

The Lebanon mountains were dotted with all kinds of sacred places-temples, shrines, and precincts at any altitude up to the highest peaks in Roman times 1. J. Aliquot in his seminal work on the »vie religieuse au Liban« lists 120 sacred places (fig. 1). Some researchers explain this phenomenon in a pragmatic-economical way by the exploitation of the Roman provincial administration from the 1 st century BCE onwards imposed on the region reaching its peak in the 2 nd century CE 2. Other explanation models draw on the »sacredness« of the mountainous environment as well as a specific religiosity of the population 3 .

In this paper I propose to analyse three passages from the work of Ctesias in which I argue that a Greek of classical times would hardly be able to recognise a religious fact that nevertheless exists and can be deduced from the author’s own fragments. In particular, I will study the fragment describing the enthronement ritual of Artaxerxes II, the bloodiest court intrigues of Queen Parysatis and Ctesias’ reference to Zoroaster as king of Bactria

The article focuses on the famous Boscoreale patera, known as the “Coppa d'Africa”, preserved in the Department of Greek, Etruscan and Roman Antiquities of the Louvre Museum in Paris. The aim of this study is: (1) to review the long and complex debate on the interpretation of the object's decoration; (2) to critically evaluate recent interpretations of the female figure that stands out in the central emblem of the patera; (3) to propose a return to the interpretation put forward by Antoine Héron de Villefosse at the end of the 19th century; and finally (4) to analyse the meaning of the syntax of the attributes surrounding this figure in the broader context of the “pantheistic” images and specific strategies for constructing divine power in antiquity.