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Public and Private Places of Worship in the Cult of Asclepius at Rome

Author(s): Gil H. RenbergSource: Memoirs of the American Academy in Rome, Vol. 51/52 (2006/2007), pp. 87-172Published by: University of Michigan Press for the American Academy in Rome

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PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OF WORSHIP

IN THE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME

Gil H. Renberg, Case Western Reserve University

For Lawrence Richardson, jr., and Jerzy inderski,

and inmemory ofRobert E. A. Palmer

1. Introduction

Studies ofAsclepius invariably focus on his role as theGreeks' god ofmedicine, a divine healer

who had followed inhis fatherApollo's footsteps by practicing themedical arts and, having been

established at sanctuaries throughoutGreece, came tobe consultedroutinelyby

individualssufferingphysical afflictions.1 he overwhelming majority of sources for the cult ofAsclepius come from the

Greek East, and furthermorethese sources?consisting ofworks of literature, inscriptions, sculpted

objects, archaeological remains, and even papyri?are considerably more illuminating than those

pertaining to thegod's worship in theLatin West. There are threemain reasons for this: in theWest

The subject ofAsclepius's cult inRome was firstdrawn tomyattention by the late Robert E. A. Palmer inhis final Latin

epigraphy course, inwhich I had the privilege of participat

ing during my year in theUniversity of Pennsylvania's post

baccalaureate program. Prof. Palmer, who belonged to the

school of thought that itwas better tomandate the subjectsof termpapers than to let students flailabout in an unfamiliar

area and risk choosing an unproductive topic, knew that this

subject deserved further attention and directed me to studyand write about the epigraphical evidence for the cult. I am

grateful to him for the initial inspiration towork on this

subject, as well as for the basic training he provided me in

both epigraphy and Roman topography. Itwas with greatsadness that I learned of Prof. Palmer's recent passing and

with great regret that I realized hewould not see this article,which might not have been written ifnot for his suggestiona decade ago.

Since undertaking towrite this article, I have benefitedtremendously frommy repeated consultations with JerzyLinderski and Lawrence Richardson, jr., oth ofwhom added

immeasurably not only to the article itself (which theywere

kind enough to read indraft form) but tomy understandingofRoman religion and culture in general. Since this article

deals with somany of the areas of ancient scholarship about

which they taughtme both in and out of the classroom, it is

fitting that itbe dedicated to them.

Imust also thank: Rebecca Benefiel, John Bodel, Harriet

Flower, Fritz Graf, Paul B. Harvey, Jr.,David Koller, Silvio

Panciera, Sara Saba, Celia Schultz, and Bronwen Wickkiser

forgivingme input on specific issues addressed in this article;Kent Rigsby both forhis input on particular issues and for

reading a discussion ofAsclepius inRome intended formydissertation and thenwisely suggesting that itbe removed and

discussed elsewhere; Ivan Di Stefano Manzella andWilliam

E. Metcalf for providing me with information necessary for

my research; Maria Letizia Caldelli for sending me the rel

evant portion ofher then-unpublished article inDaidalos; and

Lisa Mignone forbailing me out of not one bind but two. In

addition, I am grateful toEugenio La Rocca forpermission to

reprintpart ofCarettoni's edition of theForma Urbis Romae,and toMarc Levoy and Jennifer Trimble for permission to

reproduce a photo from the Forma Urbis Romae Project'sWeb site. I am also grateful to theDepartment ofClassics at

Johns Hopkins University and theDepartment ofGreek &

Latin atOhio State University for covering part of the cost

of the illustrations accompanying this article.

1In literature, the standard spelling of the god's name was

Aesculapius and 'AaxkY\ni?c;. In the Latin inscriptions of

Rome, as elsewhere, the god's name was most commonly

spelled Aesculapius (or else variants were employed, e.g.,

Aesclapius, Aisclapius, Aescolapius, Esculapius), while in the

Greek inscriptions itwas spelled AaxXy]7uog. According to

a survey, in theLatin West the spelling Aesculapius isused in

53 percent of inscriptions pertaining to the cult ofAsclepius,

Asclepius in 16 percent, Aaxkr\ni6Q, or anotherGreek spellingin 10 percent, and the remaining inscriptions employ either

theGreek nociav or one of theLatin variants ofAesculapius(Tassini 1995-1996, 214-219). Instead of opting forAes

culapius, I am employing the Latinized spelling Asclepius,found occasionally in literature as well as inscriptions. For

the different spellings of the god's name, see RE 2:2 (1896)

1642-1643, s.v. "Asklepios" (R.Pietschmann); for the Latin

variants, see also Diz. Ep. 1 (1895) 314, s.v. "Aesculapius"(D. Vaglieri) and Degrassi 1986, 145, and Georgiev 1977

for theGreek.

MAAR 51/52, 006/2007







88 GIL H. RENBERG

therewere no sanctuaries comparable in importance to themajor Asklepieia atTricca, Pergamon,

Epidauros, Cos, andAthens;2 the fewprominent sanctuaries identified in Italy, acia, North Africa,and elsewhere have not yielded inscriptions orworks of art comparable to those of the eastern sites

in termsof quantity or quality; and Asclepius drew little attention fromLatin authors, only a fewofwhom made more than a passing reference tohis cult or cult sites.Even thoughAsclepius was

worshiped throughout thewestern provinces, as is attested by abundant epigraphical and sculptural evidence, his cult in theLatinWest has been all but neglected by scholars,who instead have

returned repeatedly to themore ample and intriguingsources from theGreek East.3 But Asclepius's

worship in theWest deserves to be studied in itsown right: as can be seen from a study of the

cult ofAsclepius inRome, where he gained his firstknown foothold in theRoman world andwas

worshiped for at least six centuries, the god retained his role as healer but also aided his devotees

inother capacities aswell, becoming a popular recipient of private cult because of his tendency to

take a direct interest inhisworshipers' lives.Asclepius's cult inRome therefore evolved over time:initiallyworshiped as a god whose presence was essential to the state,during the republican period

Asclepius quickly came tobe worshiped privately aswell, and in the imperial period he primarily

belonged to the spheres of private religion andmilitary religion, though his importance inpublicaffairscontinued tobe manifest inhis role of protector of the emperors' well-being.

Introduced toRome fromEpidauros in response to thedevastating plague of 293 B.c. and givena permanent home in a temple at the southern end of theTiber Island twoyears later,Asclepius was

among the firstgods tobe officially imported from theEast and subsequently at timesworshiped

alongwith Roman gods.4Tradition held thathewas conducted toRome by an ambassador, Quintus

2But see the emperor Julian's inclusion of the Tarentum

sanctuary in a list of prominent Asklepieia (Jul.Gal. 198.2,

ed. Neumann). On this site, seeRiethm?ller 2005,2:426-427,

no. 566.

3This attitude of neglect is exemplified by R. Pietschmann's

express decision to omit fromhis survey ofAsklepieia those

in the cities of theLatin West, with the exceptions ofRome

and the reek colonies f Italy ndSicily RE2:2 [1896],1662, s.v. "Asklepios"). For more than a century, the only

list ofwestern sanctuaries ofAsclepius was tobe found inA.

Walton's study ofhis cult (Walton 1894,118-121), but J?rgenW. Riethm?ller has recently provided a full catalogue of cult

sites associated with Asclepius inboth theEast and theWest

(Riethm?ller 2005, 2:409^60). Even Riethm?ller, however,

does not explore the cult in thewestern provinces in any de

tail, just providing a brief survey in addition tohis catalogue

(Riethm?ller 2005, 1:85-90). The only study devoted to this

subject isDanuta Musial's monograph, which surveys a sig

nificant amount of the evidence for the cult inRome, the rest

of Italy, and theotherwestern provinces (Musial 1992a). This

work does make a valuable contribution but does not repre

sent a detailed study ofAsclepius in theWest and neglects

most topographical issues. Fora rare

example ofdetailed

scholarship regarding the cult ofAsclepius at a particular site

in theLatinWest, see Cristiano Tiussi's study ofAsclepius in

Aquileia and the north Adriatic (Tiussi 1999).

Also of note is an unpublished doctoral thesis written

by Paola Tassini on the cult ofAsclepius in the Latin West

(Tassini 1995-1996). This important work, which consists

of a catalogue of 238 inscriptions (mostly dedicatory) from

all of thewestern provinces except those of North Africa,

is unavailable outside of a few libraries in Italy, but I had

the good fortune to be able to consult it during a visit.

Tassini's thesis,while broadly focused on thegod's cult in the

western half of the Roman Empire, provides an invaluable

contribution to the study of Asclepius's worship inRome,not least because of her autopsy-based readings of several of

the inscriptions, and thereforemy own work has benefited

greatly from hers. In general, I have not sought to argue with

Tassini on our few points of disagreement, since her work is

unpublished: rather, I have used herwork to supplement my

own (as is especially evident inmy own catalogue), aswell asto save myself frommaking mistakes Imight not otherwise

have caught. Overall, Tassini's work represents an excellent

start to the study ofAsclepius in the Latin West, and one

hopes that shewill complete the task or that someone else

will continue her work.

4From Rome, Asclepius's cult spread toother parts of central

Italy during the third and second centuries B.c. (seeDegrassi

1986; Coarelli 1987, 23-33; Musial 1990, 236-238; Musial

1992a, 60-71; Riethm?ller 2005, 1:86-87). Several problemsare associated with this development, since the god's spread

fromRome may have been facilitated by his prior arrivalin

Magna Graecia and Sicily,which perhaps occurred as farback

as thefifthcentury B.c. (seeCornelia 1982-1983,228-232 and

Tiussi 1999,15-16). The earliest evidence forAsclepius's wor

ship in Italymight be a bronze statuetteof a youth fromFelsina

innorth central Italy thatbears aGreek dedicatory inscription

written with Corinthian letter forms that date it to roughly

450-425 B.c. {SEG 35, 1029; cf.Riethm?ller 2005,2:438, no.







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OF WORSHIP INTHE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 89

Ogulnius Gallus, who was sent by the senate after a consultation of the Sibylline Oracles in 292

B.c. revealed that thegod must be enlisted inending a plague thatwas devastating thepopulation.5Soon thereafter, public sanctuarywas established forAsclepius by the senate and honored with a

dies natalis on 1January,and thegod was believed tobe on call for futureemergencies.6 A century

later, in 180 B.c., just such an emergency occurred, leading theRomans to call on Asclepius, alongwith his companion Salus andApollo, to lift n epidemic thatwas afflicting he army.7 comparable

situation, though one forwhich the evidence ismore ambiguous, may have occurred in 87 B.c.,

when the forces ofMarius and Cinna were besieging Rome and plague broke out among both the

attackers and defenders?perhaps leading to an officialappeal toAsclepius fordivine aid, accordingto an interpretation of three coins probably representing the god as a serpent thatwere issued bythemonetalis Lucius Rubrius Dossenus.8 But after 180 B.c. there isno clear indication that hewas

613). However, it is uncertain whether itoriginated in Italyorwas brought there later; and, even iforiginally from Italy, it

need not have been erected at a sanctuary ofAsclepius rather

than one ofApollo or some other Greek god. This Felsina

inscription and theuse ofLatin and Etruscan transliterationsof

the oric spellingAloxXamoc, in third-centuryB.c. inscriptionsfromcentral Italy, including an inscribed poculum thatpossibly

originated inRome (cat. no. 40), does seem to suggest that

Asclepius had some degree of presence in the region before

his formal introduction toRome (see Cornelia 1982-1983,

232-235, 242, omitting mention of the Felsina statuette; cf.

Musial 1992a, 1^4). (The spellingAisclapi on thepoculum may

not be relevant to the issue ofDoric influences in central Italysince, as suggested byD. Nonnis, this object may have been

prepared by a foreignworkman or scribe operating near the

Roman Asklepieion: see D. Nonnis inCifarelli, Ambrosini,and Nonnis 2002-2003,292-293; on linguistic aspects of this

spelling, seeW?chter 1987,467-468.)

Further clouding the issue, Valerius Maximus and the

anonymous De viris illustribus claim that an aedes Aesculapii

already existed atAntium andwas visited by thegod's serpenton theway toRome, whereas Ovid states that the serpentvisited a sanctuary ofApollo (Val.Max. 1.8.2; [Aur. Viet.],De vir. ill. 22.2; Ov. Met. 15.722; on the site, see Riethm?ller

2005,2:429, no. 575). Even though Livy indicates that therewas a temple ofAsclepius inAntium by 170 B.c. (Livy 43.4.7),it isdoubtful thatAsclepius was worshiped there before be

ing introduced toRome: thusOvid seems more reliable (see

Wissowa 1912,307, n. 4 andMusial 1992a, 60-61; cf.Brucia

1990, 93-101), though his version has not been accepted

by all (see Cornelia 1982-1983, 233; Degrassi 1986, 150).

Overall, the issue of how and when Asclepius's cult spreadin Italy isnot yet settled and may never be.

5On Quintus Ogulnius Gallus, see RE 17:2, "Ogulnius 5";cf.Degrassi 1986,145-146. The main sources forAsclepius'sarrival from

Epidaurosare:

Livy 10.47.6-7 and Per. 11;Ov.Met. 15.622-744; Val. Max. 1.8.2; and [Aur. Viet.], De vir.

ill. 22.1-3. For additional references, seeD. Degrassi, LTUR,

"Aesculapius, Aedes, Templum (Insula Tiberina)," 1:21. The

sources themselves are collected inLugli, Fontes 2:144-148,nos. 9-25 and Torelli, Fontes, 27-36, nos. 3-24. Asclepius'sarrival atRome and thehistory of theTiber Island sanctuaryhave been discussed by numerous scholars: Becher 1970,

217-228, 235-244 et passim; Besnier 1902, 152-183; Brucia 1990, 63-113; Degrassi 1986, 145-149; Degrassi 1987;

de Filippis Cappai 1991; Graf 1992, 160-167 et passim;

Guarducci 1971; Guarducci 1978, 158-165; Musial 1990,

232-234; Musial 1992a, 13-59 (with an important discussion

of thepolitical background to thegod's introduction); Musial

1992b; Pensabene 1980,17-20 etpassim; Radke 1987,38-41;

Riethm?ller 2005,1:233-236 and2:431-432, no. 586; Roesch

1982; Schmidt 1909, 31^6; Steger 2004, 91-93 et passim;Tiussi 1999, 15-22; Ziolkowski 1992, 17-18 et passim.

The arrival of the god in serpentine form was com

memorated on the reverse of amedallion struckbyAntoninus

Pius, which portrays the emperor on the obverse (Gnecchi,Medaglioni romani, 3:9, Antoninus Pius nos. 1-3 + pi. 43,1-2 = LIMC 8, "Tiberis, Tiberinus," no. 23 + pi.; see Van

Buren 1911). His arrivalmay also have been commemorated

in a first-century relief from thePalazzo Rondinini featuringa scene thathas been interpreted as the river-god Tiberinus

welcoming Asclepius's serpent by offering himwater from a

spring (Palazzo Rondinini, 211, no. 25 + fig. 120 = LIMC 8,

"Tiberis, Tiberinus," no. 13 + pi.; cf.von Duhn 1886, Besnier

1902, 181-183, and Le Gall 1953, 26-27).

6Seen. 17.

7Livy 40.37.2-3: Postremo prodigii loco ea clades haberi

coepta est. C. Servilius pontifex maximus piacula irae deum

conquirere iussus, decemviri libros inspicere, consul Apollini

Aesculapio Saluti dona vovere etdare signa inaurata; quae vovit

deditque. Decemviri supplicationem in biduum valetudinis

causa in urbe et per omnia fora conciliabulaque edixerunt;maiores duodecim annis omnes coronati et lauream inmanu

tenentes supplicaverunt. ("Finally, this scourge began to be

seen as a portent. Gaius Servilius, thepontifex maximus, was

instructed to seek amanner of appeasing thegods' wrath, the

decemviri to inspect the (Sibylline) Books, and the consul to

vowgifts and give gilden statues toApollo, Asclepius and

Salus, which he vowed and gave. The decemviri proclaimeda two-day period of supplication forhealth in the city and

throughout all themarket towns and centers. All thosewho

were older than twelve took part in this supplication, wearingwreaths and bearing laurel branches.")

8See appendix.







90 GIL H. RENBERG

called on by the senate to rescue thepeople ofRome: evidently,never again would his assistance

be considered crucial tomaintaining or restoring the health of that city's populace.9 Instead, his

chief role inRome's religious lifewas tobe the restorer and preserver of thehealth of individual

devotees, aswell as theirgeneral benefactor. In these capacities he was worshiped not only at theTiber Island sanctuary but at numerous other public and private sites aswell.

The evidence forAsclepius's widespread worship in the city isprimarily epigraphical and has

been overlooked bymany of those discussing his cult inRome, who generally focus on hismain

sanctuary and even attribute to itdedications that almost certainlydid not originate there.A topo

graphical studyof thegod's places ofworship inRome has not previously been undertaken: aswill

be seen, such analysis reveals the prominent role the god played inpersonal religion throughoutthe city,not just at his healing shrines.10Asclepius's role of healer has been the sole focus of those

who have studied his cult inRome, andmuch has been written about thepresumed presence of an

incubation facilityat hismain sanctuary.But a careful evaluation of both epigraphical and literarysources calls into question the reliability ofmuch of the evidence cited as proof thatAsclepius's

ailingworshipers underwent therapeutic incubation at that site and shows that relatively few of his

cult sites inRome can be linked tohealing. The present study, therefore, attempts to establish not

onlywhere inRome Asclepius was worshiped but also thenature of thatworship and thevarious

ways inwhich Asclepius was believed tohave served his devotees. In theLatinWest, no other cityhas produced asmany inscriptions pertaining to theworship ofAsclepius, let alone inscriptions so

richlyvaried in content, and thereforeunderstanding the sources on this cult inRome is essential

to appreciating the god's cult in theLatinWest.11

2. The Topography of theCult ofAsclepius inRome and Its Environs

Among themost significant questions regarding theworship ofAsclepius in Rome is the num

ber and location of the god's cult sites (fig. 1). Since no structures dedicated toAsclepius have

survived intact, this issuemust be investigated by means of other sources of information. The

only public sanctuary of Asclepius that can be documented with absolute certainty, throughmore than a dozen literary references aswell as several inscriptions and other artifacts, is the

complex on theTiber Island. There is also convincing evidence that another sanctuary existed

on the Esquiline near theBaths of Trajan during the imperial period, and this conclusion has

9After 180 B.c. there are no recorded instances of theRoman

government calling upon Asclepius toward off a plague. Even

during the great epidemic ofMarcus Aurelius's reign there is

no evidence thatAsclepius's aid was officially sought by the

senate, though admittedly the contemporary sources for this

period are relatively sparse (on theplague, seeGilliam 1961;

forAsclepius's apparent lack of an official role in combating

it, see Beaujeu 1955, 366). Asclepius's alleged inability to

protectthe citizens of Rome from

subsequent plagueswas

even fodder for at least two Christian polemicists (August.

De civ. D. 3.17, p. 125 ed. Dombart and Kalb; Arnob. Adv.

nat. 7.47). However, though perhaps not actively involved

in defending the Romans from subsequent plagues, dur

ing the imperial period Asclepius did assume the role of

conservator Augustorum in at least one inscription (cat. no.

23; see p. 135-136).

10Though not intended as a topographical study, Tassini's

doctoral thesis takes note of several of the pertinent issues

regarding the cult ofAsclepius inRome (Tassini 1995-1996).

Riethm?ller, on the other hand, includes the various sites

linked toAsclepius in his catalogue of the god's cult sites

but provides no topographical analysis (Riethm?ller 2005,

2:431-434, nos. 586-598).

11All of the

inscriptions

related toAsclepius's cult inRome

and its immediate vicinity are collected in the catalogue at

the end of this study,with the exception of two funerary in

scriptions (see nn. 152,153) and a small lead seal bearing the

word AaxX|y]7cio) about which nothing is known other than

the editor's brief description ("Tessera o bollo di piombo, dal

rovescio convesso e traforato") {IG 14:2416, 2).







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OFWORSHIP IN THE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 91

gained general acceptance.12 In addition, epigraphical evidence attests to the existence of other,

less important, sites associated with Asclepius. One of thesehas been identifiedfromarchaeologicaltraces aswell as an inscription as a funeraryassociation's schola dedicated toAsclepius and Salus

in an area between the Aventine andMonte Testaccio,13 and there is also epigraphical evidencefor a shrine associated with a funeraryassociation ofAsclepius andHygieia just outside thePorta

Appia at either its schola or the burial site of one of itsmembers. Other inscriptions suggest the

existence of at least one cult site outside thePorta Flaminia and another, possibly anAsklepieion,in thenorthern suburbs beyond thePons Milvius.14 Perhaps the latter site, like theTiber Island and

Esquiline sanctuaries,was associated with healing, but this role cannot be ascribed to thegod's other

sites.15 urthermore, theworship ofAsclepius was not limited to his own cult sites: like any god,

Asclepius could receive offerings at the sanctuaries and shrines of other gods instead of his own,

and this is attested by epigraphical evidence. So, too, isAsclepius's worship at theheadquarters of

professional associations and commercial complexes. It also appears thatAsclepius was worshipedat various military sites, as is indicated by dedications linked to specificmilitary complexes aswell

as the general preponderance ofmilitary personnel among those erecting dedications to him. In

addition to thisepigraphical evidence, thediscovery of several anepigraphical statues and reliefs of

Asclepius throughout the citymay reveal other sites atwhich Asclepius was worshiped. However,the fame of theTiber Island temple has often obscured the fact thatAsclepius's cult inRome was

so diverse in termsof places ofworship. This diversitybecomes apparent when the topographicalevidence for the cult is thoroughly surveyed.

Healing Sanctuaries

Tiber Island. The location ofAsclepius's firstcult site inRome, according to legend,was determined

by thegod himselfwhen, arrivingon Quintus Ogulnius Gallus's ship, the sacred serpent broughtfrom theEpidauros Asklepieion suddenly slithered off the ship and swam to theTiber Island.16

12An apparently spurious tradition preserved by theMira

bilia Romae concerning a templum ofAsclepius at the Baths

ofDiocletian ismore likely to refer to the temple near the

Baths of Trajan, as was first suggested by A. Maiuri (see

Maiuri 1912,244-245, onMir. 27; cf.G. De Spirito, LTUR,

"Mars,templum,"

3:226). WhereasH.Jordan

hadpreviously

accepted the claim of theMirabilia and concluded that the

primary literary source for the site at the Baths of Trajanhad named thewrong bath complex (Jordan 1871-1907,

2:524-526; Jordan 1877,356), Maiuri employed epigraphicalevidence to argue that theMirabilia was inerror.His conclu

sion is supported by the sequence ofmonuments listed in

theMirabilia passage itself.

13As early as themid-republic Hygieia was recognized as

Salus 'sGreek counterpart, as is indicated by two references

inTerence (Ter.Hec. 338 and Ad. 761). On the relationshipbetween Hygieia and Salus, seeMarwood 1988, 150-151.

14One of these sites is proposed, and another briefly dis

cussed, byGuiseppe Cordiano (Cordiano and Gregori 1993,

156). Cordiano is the only scholar to have emphasized the

multiplicity of Asclepius's cult sites inRome indicated bythe epigraphical evidence, though Tassini identifies six sites

associated with the god in her unpublished thesis (Tassini

1995-1996,253-256), Tiussi briefly recapitulates others' ar

guments regardingAsclepius's other cult sites inRome (Tiussi

1999,22-24), and Riethm?ller includes all of the previouslyidentified or proposed sites in his catalogue but providesno discussion of them (Riethm?ller 2005, 2:431^34, nos.

586-598). (Butsee also Roesch

1982,177, citingthe

famousstatues ofAsclepius erected in theTemple of Concord and

Porticus Octaviae (see p. 115) as evidence of the god's

"presence" elsewhere inRome.)

15It isnot surprising thatRome had so fewAsklepieia: after

all,Athens, a city comparable toRome in terms of its largesize and the amount of information available regarding its

religious topography, is known to have had only a single

Asklepieion, away from which few dedications toAsclepiushave been found (e.g., 7G22:4417,4492-4493,4516). For the

Athenian Asklepieion and lesser sites inAttica, seeRiethm?l

ler 2005, 2:10-22, nos. 2-7.(Asclepius

was also honored in

IG 22:4457, a joint dedication toAmynos, Asclepius, and

Hygieia from theAmyneion: see Kearns 1989, 147; Vikela

2006; and Riethm?ller 2005, 1:12-17, no. 4.)

16For references to this event, see n. 5. On the history and

topography of theTiber Island, see the fundamental thoughsomewhat obsolete studybyMaurice Besnier (Besnier 1902)







92 GIL H. RENBERG

LEGEND

inscription xcavated or found at (ornear)inscription o

marked site

36] inscription irstrecorded atmarked site

inscriptions provenience uncertain or un

s^/ known but tentativelyinked tomarked site

Fig. 1. Sites associated with theworship ofAsclepius inRome (drawing Catherine Weaver).







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OFWORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 93

Key toFigure 1

List of Buildings and Sites (shown inboldface)

1 Tiber Island Asklepieion/S. Bartolomeo allTsola2 S. Cecilia inTrastevere

3 S. Maria dell' Orto

4 Castra Ravennatium?

5 S. Crisogono6 Circus Flaminius

7 Stadium ofDomitian

8 Direction of theVia Cassia (find spot of cat. no. 29)

9 Shrine at "fons aquae perennis Hygiae"10 S. Vitale

11 Baths ofDiocletian

12 Unidentified temple and shrine off theVia Goito

13 Campus Cohortium Praetoriarum14 Castra Praetoria

15 Late antique walls inwhich Praetorian dedications were

reused

16 Direction of Tor Pignattara (site associated with the

equites singulares)17 S. Giovanni inLaterano

18 S. Martino aiMonti (approximate location of Esquiline

Asklepieion)19 Possible location of theHorti Maecenatis

20 Baths of Trajan21 Approximate site of the Curia Athletarum

22 Baths of Titus23 S. Pietro inVincoli

24 Flavian Amphitheater25 S. Giovanni a Porta Latina

26 Sites located along Via Appia south of Rome: vineyardnear Domine Quo Vadis? (find spot of cat. no. 12);shrine at the "Villa dei Quintilii"; Catacombs of Prae

textatus; Catacombs ofDomitilla

27 Baths ofCaracalla

28 Horrea Seiana

29 Porticus Aemilia

30 Horrea Galbana

31 Schola of thePraedia Galbana collegium salutare32 Schola of theCollegium fabrum tignariorum33 Circus Maximus

List of Catalogued Inscriptions and Associated Cult Sites

Tiber Island Asklepieion and Adjacent SitesI, 2,3,4,5

Unknown Provenience, probably Tiber Island Asklepieion

6,7

Esquiline Asklepieion

8,9

Esquiline Asklepieion?10

Area of the Via Appia and Via Latina

II, 12 (not shown on map), 13(?)

Schola at Praedia Galbana (Testaccio area)

14

"Caeliolus"

15, 16

Shrine at "fons aquae perennis Hygiae"

17, 18, 19

Area of Via Flaminia?

20

Horrea Seiana (Emporium District)

21

Unknown Shrine of Silvanus (inCircus Flaminius?)

22

Schola of the Collegium fabrum tignariorum (Forum

Boarium)

23Castra Praetoria and Campus Cohortium Praetoriarum

24(?), 25,26 (frag.A), 26 (frag.B)

Castra Praetoria and Campus Cohortium Praetoriarum?

27

Castra Ravennatium or unidentified military installation

(Trastevere)

28

Via Cassia, northwest of Rome

29 (not shown on map)Unknown Provenience

30, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, 36 (seemap), 37, 38, 39

Roman Origin Uncertain

40,41

Possible Forgery42

The Romans viewed this as an unmistakable sign thatAsclepius wished to be worshiped on theisland rather thanwithin the city, nd a templewas built for him by the senate and dedicated on 1

January 291 B.c. or a subsequent year, according toboth Ovid and thefasti magistrorum vici,Fasti

Antiates Maiores, and Fasti Praenestini (fig.2).17 Soon after the god's installation on the island, the

and Rodolfo Lanciani's map (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 28), aswellas D. Degrassi, LTUR, "Insula Tiberina," 3:99-101 + add.

4:269 and Richardson, NTDAR, "Insula Tiberina," 209-210;cf.G. De Spirito, LTUR, "Insula Lycaonia," 3:97-98. The

island todaymeasures roughly 270 meters in length and 70

meters inwidth.

17For the island's dies natalis, seeOv. Fast. 1.290-294; Inscrlt

13.1, 1, p. 280; Inscrlt 13.2, 1, p. 388. There is no directevidence for the year that the temple was dedicated. The

earliest that this could have occurred would have been 291

B.c., since the Sibylline Oracles were consulted and Quintus

Ogulnius Gallus sent on his mission in292 B.c., but as therewas often a significant period of time between the decision

to erect a temple and itsdedication, itmay be wrong to as

sume, as some have, thatAsclepius's temple was dedicated







94 GILH. RENBERG

Fig. 2: Rodolfo Lanciani's map of the Tiber Island and its surroundings, showing structures

dating from the classical through themodern period (detail from Forma Urbis Romae, pi. 28.)

plague ended, and his temple subsequently gained prominence as a healing shrine. This function

is attested by literary, rchaeological, and possibly epigraphical evidence: Suetonius records that

Claudius issued an edict forbidding the abandonment of "sick andworn-out slaves" (aegra et adfecta

mancipid) on the Tiber Island by owners who wished to avoid the expense of caring for them;18

Festus states thatAsclepius's templewas built on the island because of the importance ofwater for

healing the sick;19hundreds of anatomical votives attesting to thepresence of a healing cult, along

less than a year after the embassy left forEpidauros and the

god arrived inRome. On the establishment of this sanctu

ary, see Ziolkowski 1992,17-18; for the sources, see Torelli,

Fontes, 41-42, nos. 1-15. All of the literary, pigraphical, andnumismatic evidence pertaining toAsclepius's sanctuary has

been collected inLugli, Fontes 2:143-152, nos. 5-54. On this

site, seeD. Degrassi, LTUR, "Aesculapius, Aedes, Templum

(Insula Tiberina)," 1:21-22; D. Degrassi, LTUR, "Insula

Tiberina," 3:99-101; Girone, Iamata, 151-153; Platner and

Ashby, TDAR, "Aesculapius, Aedes," 2-3; Richardson,

NTDAR, "Aesculapius, Aedes," 3^4; and Riethm?ller 2005,

2:431^32, no. 586. The fullest discussion of the sanctuary

remains that of Besnier, still essential more than a century

after itspublication (Besnier 1902, 137-244).

18Suet. Claud. 25.2. See Fratto 1970; Schmitt and R?del 1974;

cf.Besnier 1902, 207-208; Musial 1992a, 55-57. The edict's

date, A.D. 46, isprovided byCassius Dio, who does not referto

theTiber Island in citing it (Cass. Dio 60.29, ed. Boissevain).According to the edict,which subsequendy was discussed byRoman jurists, these slaves were freed and did not have to

return to theirmasters upon recovering. Since many Roman

slaveswere Greeks, itcan be safely assumed that a significantnumber of those who were abandoned on the island were

favorably inclined toward Asclepius andmight not have been

altogether unwilling to convalesce at his sanctuary.

19Festus, De sign, verb., 110 M (= p. 98 Lindsay). See p.

99.







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OF WORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 95

with statue fragments,have been discovered in the Tiber's riverbed near the island, a significantnumber ofwhich probably originated at this sanctuary;20an uninscribed cylindrical altar from the

Antonine period representing thehealing deityTelesphorus in reliefwas found at S. Cecilia inTraste

vere and is likely tohave originated on the island,while a statuetteof a hooded boy thought tobe

Telesphorus was dredged up fromtheTiber and could have been a dedication from the sanctuary;21and a lengthyGreek inscription that isprobably from the site records fourmiraculous recoveries

attributed to thegod (cat. no. 6).22Rather notably, all of thededicatory inscriptions from theTiber

Island sanctuary address Asclepius alone (cat. nos. 1, 2, 3, 5, 7), and no evidence survives for the

worship ofAsclepius's medical partner Hygieia at the site, even though the two were addressed

jointly nfourdedicatory inscriptions fromRome thatcannot be assigned to this sanctuary (cat.nos.

12,15,27,35; cf.30)P Although several other gods were worshiped on theTiber Island, Asclepiuswas considered thepreeminent divinity,and so, even though the islandwas generally referred to as

the Insula, Insula Tiberina, Insula interduos pontes, or by similarnames, italso was known as theInsula Aesculapi because of theprominence of the god's sanctuary.24

The reason forestablishing Asclepius on theTiber Island rather thanwithin the citywas alreadylost tohistory in the imperial period, and thus conflicting explanations have been proposed both

20Nearly 500 terracotta anatomical dedications and statue

fragments dating to the third and second centuries B.c. have

been found either at the Tiber Island or nearby: 352 alone

come from a cache at the foundation of thePons Fabricius

and 7 from the riverbed beneath the bridge, 51 more from

themodern Ponte Garibaldi and the small island that used

to bejust

north ofthe Tiber Island, 39 from the Ponte

Rotto, 27 from the area of the Pons Cestius, 13 from the

Via di Ponte Rotto, 11 from the modern Ponte Palatino,and just 4 from the Tiber Island itself (see Pensabene 1980,

5-21, 25-31, et passim; cf. Besnier 1902, 230-238). These

dedications, which date to roughly the same period as the

four small republican-era bases linked to the temple (cat.nos. 1-3,7), appear to testifyto thepopularity ofAsclepius'scult during themid-republic, but itmust be recognizedthat a number of the terracottas may have originated at

the sanctuaries of other gods in the area, Apollo Medicus

in particular (see Pensabene 1980, 19-20). For the use of

anatomicaldedications

athealing sanctuaries

inGreece,

see

van Straten 1981, 100-101, 105-151 and Forsen 1996; cf.

ThesCRA 1 (2004) 311-313 s.v. "Greek Dedications: Vo

tiveObjects: Models of Body Parts" (B. Forsen). For Italy,see Schultz 2006, 95-120 and ThesCRA 1 (2004) 359-368,s.v. "Weihgeschenke, Altitalien und Imperium Romanum:

Italien: Anatomical votives" (J.M. Turfa), as well as the

forthcoming articles by Ingrid Edlund-Berry, Fay Glinister,and Jean Turfa inArchiv f?r Religionsgeschichte 2006 and

Glinister's "Reconsidering 'Religious Romanization'" in

Religion inRepublican Italy, ed. P. Harvey and C. Schultz

(Cambridge 2006) (Yale Classical Studies 33).

21Relief: LIMC 7, "Telesphoros," no. 21; see Giglioli 1951.

Statuette: Rome, Mus. Naz. Rom. 125587: Mus. Naz. Rom.,Sculture 1.1,no. 23 (=LIMCl, "Telesphoros," no. 93).While

Telesphorus was closely associated with Asclepius's cult, the

discovery of a statuette ofTelesphorus in theMithraeum at S.

Stefano Rotondo inRome shows that he could be worshipedat other gods' cult sites (Rome, Mus. Naz. Rom. 205835:

LIMC 7, "Telesphoros," no. 13; cf. Lissi-Carona 1986, 40

+ pis. 36-37).

22See p. 127.

23The lack of such evidence forHygieia's presence at the site

is at least partly attributable to the fact thatHygieia did notappear in the Latin West until the imperial period (but see

n. 13), and four of the five dedicatory inscriptions assignedto this sanctuary are republican. Donatella Degrassi's claim

that inscriptions attest to theworship of Hygieia on the

Tiber Island appears to have been based on an assumptionthat the five dedications from Rome thatname or representher originated there (D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 1:21). For

two funerary collegia associated with Asclepius andHygieia,see pp. 109-111.

24Insula, Insula Tiberina, Insula inter duos pontes, etc.: see

D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 3:99 and Richardson, NTDAR,op. cit., 210. On the Severan Marble Plan, the island is

labeled Inter duos pontes (frags. 32bcdef; see Rodriguez

Almeida, Forma Urbis, pi. 24 and the online database of

the Stanford Digital Forma Urbis Romae Project, http://

formaurbis.stanford.edu) (fig. 3a). Insula Aesculapi: Suet.

Claud. 25.2; cf. Dion. Hal. 5.13.4, vrjaoc,. . .

?axA.r]7Uo?

Isqcc. For the other gods worshiped on the island, none of

whom?with the obvious exception of Tiberinus?ever

appears in literature as the island's eponymous divinity,see Le Gall 1953, 105-109; Guarducci 1971, 271-272;Palmer 1974, 145-149; Brucia 1990, 44-62; cf. Lugli,

Fontes 2:152-156, nos. 56-82 and D. Degrassi, LTUR, op.cit., 3:99-101. Attilio Degrassi's argument that Coroniswas worshiped alongside her son Asclepius, at least for a

time, isbased solely on an uncertain restoration of theFasti

Antiates Maiores and indirect literaryevidence (seeDegrassi1960 and Inscrlt 13.2, 1, p. 388; cf. Latte 1967, 225, n. 5

and Musial 1992a, 47-48).







96 GIL H. RENBERG

Fig. 3a. Gianfilippo Carettoni's reconstruction of part of the Tiber Island in the Severan Marble Flan ofRome (Forma Urbis

Romae), combining the survivingfragments 32c, 32d, 32e, and 32fwith Cod. Vat. hat. 3439, theRenaissance sketch of the

lost 32b. Note that themap was oriented toward the southeast and therefore theTemple ofAsclepius would have been located

above thewords Inter duos pontes, which appear tobe inscribed in a broad, colonnaded piazza or thoroughfare thatwas most

likely the vicus Censori. // s impossible todetermine whether the buildings shown in this surviving portion of themap were

related to the temple complex (detail from Carettoni, La pianta marmorea di Roma antica: Forma urbis Romae, pi. 30).

Fig. 3b. Fragments 32c, 32d, and 32e from Severan Marble Plan ofRome, showing the area just north of the Tiber Island

Asklepieion, apparently the vicus Censori. The enclosed structurejust to the left of the word pontes appears to be the

compital shrine thatwould have served this vicus (photo Forma Urbis Romae Project, Stanford University).

in antiquity andmodern times.25 n explanation accepted by some scholars, though it isnot tobe

found in the ancient sources, is that this sitewas chosen because itwas beyond thepomerium?the

proper location for a foreign cult.26 owever, sinceAsklepieia in theEast were often set outside of

cities, its location relative to thepomerium may not have been a consideration atRome.27 Indeed,

Plutarch, inproposing threepossible explanations for its location,made no reference to thepomerium-. nstead, he suggested that theRomans built the sanctuary on theTiber Island because itwas

a "more healthful" (SyieivoTegog) area, that theyhad followed theprecedent ofEpidauros in choosing an extraurban location, or that theyhad been guided by Asclepius's serpent and interpreted its

interest in the island as a signal that the god wished forhis temple tobe located there.28Pliny the

Elder provided a very different, and unconvincing, explanation: theGreeks' god of healing was

25The most detailed survey of the different theories is that

ofMusial, which includes some not entertained here (Musial

1992a, 28-35).

26See, e.g.,Wissowa 1912, 307 and Le Gall 1953, 103; cf.

Degrassi 1986, 146, recognizingthat therewere other fac

tors aswell. Joel Le Gall, noting that foreign gods who were

excluded from the pomerium were traditionally installed

in the Campus Martius, proposed another explanation:thatAsclepius was deliberately established on the island to

take over from the river-god Tiberinus as a healer (see Le

Gall 1953, 104-105; cf.Guarducci 1971, 270 and Degrassi

1986, 146-147). Against such suppositions, see Graf 1992,

164-166. See also A. Ziolkowski's discussion of the availabil

ity f public space being amore important consideration for

the placement of new temples than whether theywere intra

or extra pomerium (Ziolkowski 1992, 278).

27In addition to the detailed

catalogueof

Asklepieiain

Greece and the Greek islands prepared by Riethmuller

(Riethm?ller 2005), which includes topographical informa

tion, see the survey by A. Semeria (Semeria 1986). Cf. Graf

1992, 168-178.

Plut. Quaest. Rom. 94.







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OF WORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 97

excluded from the citybecause of someRomans' mistrust ofGreek medicine and itspractitioners.29

Festus, on the other hand, attributed the island location to the importance ofwater in conventional

medicine: "A templewas built forAsclepius on the island, since the sick aremost greatly aided

by doctors throughuse ofwater" (In insu aAesculapio facta aedes fuit, quod aegroti amedicis aquamaxime sustententur) .30his opinion on the importance ofwater inhealing is amplifiedbyVitruvius,

who notes thathealing shrineswere usually established at siteswith a supply of freshwater:

Naturalis autem decor sic erit si primum omnibus templis saluberrimae regiones aquarumque

fontes inhis locis doneieligenturnquibusfana constituantur,eindemaximeAesculapio, Salutiet eorum deorum, quorum plurimi medicinis aegri curari videntur. Cum enim ex pestilenti in

salubrem locum corpora aegra translata fuerint et efontibus salubribus aquarum usus subminis

trabuntur, celerius convalescent. Ita efficietur uti ex natura loci maiores auctasque cum dignitate

divinitasexcipiatopiniones?1

There will be anaturalsuitabilityf, irstfall,for ll templesthemost healthful reas arechosen,and intheseplaces, inwhich shrines re tobe erected,there e adequate springs fwater.Thisisespecially thecase forAsclepius, Salus, and theothergods bywhose treatments any of thesickappear tobe cured.Forwhen thesickarebroughtfrom pestilentialto a healthful laceand treatmentsre suppliedfrom ealthful prings fwater, they onvalescemore quickly.Andso ithappens thatfromthenatureof theplace thedivinity eceivesa reputationthat sgreaterand ofhigher standing.

Fresh water was indeed available at theTiber Island site:not onlywas there the riverflowing by on

bothsides,

but amedieval well head

atS. Bartolomeo, the church where the temple isbelieved tohave stood, indicates thepresence of a springorwell thatmay have been a factor in the selection of

theAsklepieions location (fig.4).32Furthermore, the islandwas largelyuninhabited and removed

from theopen sewers and other health hazards of the city,so itwas more conducive to convalescingthanRome's other neighborhoods.33 Therefore, the Tiber Island may have been chosen because

of itshealthful nature and its separation from the contagion and death thatwere commonplace in

the city,while the exact spot on the islandwas determined by thepresence of awater source: thus

the site forAsclepius's first temple inRome was intended to facilitate the god's medical practicerather than to complywith religious scruples over thepomerium?4 (Even after theAsklepieion itselfwas destroyed and built over, theTiber Island continued tobe devoted to

healing:

as farback as

29Plin. HN 29.8.16. As Paul Roesch correctly points out, the

Romans' belief inAsclepius's power was demonstrated by the

fact that theybrought him fromEpidauros, and theywould

not have risked offending the god by barring him from the

city (Roesch 1982,174). Pliny's reference to two temples, one

built "outside the city" (extra urbem) and the other "on the

island" (in insula), was previously taken literally (see Bartoli

1917; cf.Wissowa 1912, 307, n. 7) but is instead thoughtto refer to the temple's initial construction and subsequentreconstruction (see Degrassi 1987, 523).

30Festus, De sign, verb., 110M (= p. 98 Lindsay) (quoted

below, p. 99).

31Vitr. De arch. 1.2.7. On water sources atAsklepieia, see

Cole 1988; Graf 1992,178-181; and,more recently,Boudon

1994 and Ginouves 1994. Cf. Riethm?ller 2005, 1:378-379

et passim.

On thewell head, see n. 35.

33The island had a single vicus, the vicus Censori, which pre

sumably could have included dwellings in addition topublic

buildings (seeD. Degrassi, LTUR, "Vicus Censori," 5:157).A portion of the vicus Censori, including what appears tobe

its compital shrine, is shown on the Severan Marble Plan of

Rome (fig.3b). For some of the unhealthy aspects of livinginRome, seeNutton 2000, 66-67 et passim.

34Roesch

questionedthe

reliabilityof

Festus'sstatement

thatthe Tiber Island was chosen as the site of theAsklepieionbecause of itswater supply, noting the presence ofwater

sources throughout Rome (Roesch 1982,174). However, the

additional requirement identified byVitruvius, that sanctuar

ies ofAsclepius be set in "themost healthful areas," alongwith Plutarch's statement that the islandwas "more healthful"

than other parts ofRome, offsets Roesch's concerns.







98 GIL H. RENBERG

Fig. 4. View ofS. Bartolomeo allTsola, former site of the Tiber Island Asklepieion

(photo Fototeca Unione, AAR, neg. FUN.1669.Nash).

medieval times the aforementioned well at S. Bartolomeo was believed to supply healthful drafts,35

while in the sixteenth century a hospital of theFranciscan Order, theOspedale Fatebenefratelli

(now theOspedale San Giovanni Calibita Fatebenefratelli), was built on the northern half of the

island,where it stands to thisday.)36

35The well bears amedieval inscription thatmay attest the

power of itswater, though theworn condition of the letters

makes this uncertain. F. von Duhn originally read, Qui sitit

ad fontem veniat potumque salubrem [h]auriat ex vena [?]

("Whoever thirsts, lethim come to this fountain and draw a

healthful drink from the channel(?)")(von Duhn 1886,171).

This reading was partly challenged by Carlo Cecchelli, who

examined the inscription and detected no reference to the

"healthful drink" and also noted other problems with von

Duhn's text, though inboth readings the inscription isan invi

tation todrink of thewell (seeCecchelli 1938-1951,2:40-43,

who did not provide a new text).On thewell head and relief,

see Pazzini 1934, 203-208; de Francovich 1936; Cecchelli,

1938-1951,40-46; cf.Guarducci 1971,280-281.

36According to a possibly spurious tradition preserved in

amedieval text, St. Emigdius, bishop of Ascoli Piceno, vis

ited an unspecified templum Aesculapii during the reign of

Diocletian and healed many in thename ofJesus, leading the

crowd to destroy Asclepius's altar and throw his cult statue

into the Tiber River, from which itcan be inferred that the

passage pertains to the Tiber Island Asklepieion [Acta S.

Emygdii 11 (=Acta Sanct., Aug. II, 31, ed. H. Delehaye et

al.); cf. Besnier 1902, 240-241 and Guarducci 1971, 279).

Regardless of whether Emigdius was indeed responsible for

the temple's destruction, the pagan cult sites of the Tiber

Island were eventually replaced by Christian holy sites,

beginning with shrines devoted to relics and culminating in

the erection of churches (see Cecchelli, 1938-1951,29-105;

Guarducci 1971,279-281).

While healing powers may have been attributed to some

of the Christian saints and bishops associated with the island

during themedieval period?far from a unique characteristic

among prominent Christian figures of late antiquity and

later periods?there is little reason to conclude that their

presence on the island represents a deliberate program of

supplanting Asclepius (seeGuarducci, 1938-1951, 280; cf.

Besnier 1902, 242-243 and Pazzini 1934, 201-203, which







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OFWORSHIP INTHE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 99

That Asclepius was worshiped in a proper temple ismade clear by theuse of the termaedes in

three literarysources and AaxXr)7u?iov in another,37rather than themore frequent?and nonspe

cific?alternatives templum and isqov.38 ittle isknown about the sites architectural history,but an

inscription recording theuse of the stipsAesculapi by the aediles forunspecified construction on theisland (cat. no. 4), seen in lightofVarro's statement that thepaintings of light-armed cavalry had

been in "the old temple ofAsclepius" {inAesculapii aede vetere), indicates that the templewas most

likelyrebuilt toward the end of the republic,when the island itself as systematicallymonumental

ized and thePons Fabricius was built (in62 B.C.).39 here is littlequestion that theAsklepieion was

located at the southeastern end of the island,which today is the site of the tenth-centurychurch

of S. Bartolomeo allTsola.40 Because of this,no traces of the sanctuary remain visible, althoughseveral granite andmarble columns and other architectural components employed in the church's

construction?and visible tovisitors?are believed tohave been used in theAsklepieion?1 and, as

noted above, themedieval well head on the chancel stepsmay reveal the site of the spring orwellthatwould have supplied freshwater for the site.42 hile the sanctuary itself is gone, carved into

the southeastern wall of the island,which in antiquitywas revettedwith travertine in the form of

a ship's stern, there can be seen a reliefconsisting of a worn bust assumed tobe that ofAsclepius,between a staff ound with a serpent on the leftand a bucranium on the right (figs.5a-b).43

Literary sources shed littlemore lighton the sanctuary's layout and features.The only discussion

of the sanctuary itself ppears in thepassage by Festus that includes a reference to the importanceofwater forhealing:

In insula Aesculapio facta aedes fuit, quod aegroti a medicis aqua maxime sustententur. Eiusdem

esse tutelae draconem, quod vigilantissimum sit animal; quae res ad tuendam valitudinem aegroti

maxime apta est. Canes adhibentur eius templo, quod is uberibus canis sit nutritus. Bacillum

habet nodosum, quod difficultatem significat artis. Laurea coronatur, quod ea arbor plurimorumsit remediorum. Huic gallinae immolabantur.AA

A templewas built forAsclepius on the island,sincethe sickaremost greatly ided bydoctors

through se ofwater.The serpent sguardianof thistemple, ecause it samost vigilant nimal

greatly overstate the link between Asclepius and his succes

sors). Even iftheworship ofAsclepius on the Tiber Island

was

waning bythe fourth

century,as

MargheritaGuarducci

speculates, theAsklepieion is unlikely to have suffered the

fateof easternAsklepieia thatwere immediately replaced with

churches, since inRome public sanctuaries were spared such

conversions until the seventh century at the earliest (see p.

108; on theChurch's appropriation ofAsklepieia and other

sanctuaries in theEast, see Frantz 1965 and Gregory 1986,

237-239).

31Aedes: Livy, Per. 11;Varro, LL 7.57; Festus, De verb, sign.,110 M (= p. 98 Lindsay). ?axXY]7ueiov: Cass. Dio 47.2.3.

38Templum: Ovi. Fast. 1.290-294; Val. Max. 1.8.2; Plin.

HN 29.8.16; De vir. ill. 22.3; Hist. Misc. 2.11. isqov: Plut.

Quaest. Rom. 94. On the distinction between aedes and

templum, see Richardson, NTDAR, "Aedes, Aedicula,

Templum. . . ,"pp. 1-2.

39Varro, LL 7.57 (dating between 45 and 43 B.c.). On the

monumentalization of the island, see Degrassi 1987; cf.D.

Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 3:99-100. Some pavement found

during excavations beneath theOspedale Fatebenefratelli

represents importantevidence for this

monumentalization(seeM. Conticello de' Spagnolis, Bullettino della Commissio

ne archeologica Comunale diRoma 92 (1987-1988) 372-376;cf.P. di Manzano and R. Giustini, LTUR, op. cit., 5:270).

40See Armellini, Chiese, 2:760-764 + add. p. 1261, s.v. "Ss.

Adalbero e Paolino (S. Bartolomeo allTsola)" and Cecchelli

1938-1951,29-88.

41See Besnier 1902, 185-186 (with fig. 22, a Corinthian

column base); cf.Guarducci 1971, 270.

42See von Duhn

1886,171-172 and Besnier

1902,200-202.

43For the reliefs, seeNash, Viet. Diet. 1:508-509 andHafner

1976, 29-34 (with figs. 12-14); cf. LIMC 2, "Asklepios,"no. 396 + fig.

44Festus, De sign, verb., 110M (= p. 98 Lindsay).







100 GIL H. RENBERG

Fig.5a.Survivingraces ^^mm^^^gm^^gj^mmmmmggmmmofhe ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHj^^^^^^^Halonga

^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^HHH|Hnto^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^||EHHhe ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^KK^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BKBheouthernphoto^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hj^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^BHH^Hototeca ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^Hjj^^^^^HUN.566.Nash).^H^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^H

F/'g Nineteenth-century sketch of same.







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OFWORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 101

?a quality especiallyappropriatefor rotectingthehealth ofa sufferer.ogs aremade presentinhis sanctuary,ecause hewas nourishedby theteats f a dog.He holds a knotty taff,hich

symbolizesthedifficultyf thisart.He is crownedby laurel,because thistree is a sourceof

manyremedies. Hens are sacrificed to him.

This passage indicates that the god's cult statue, aswas typical, represented Asclepius holdinga staff and wearing awreath.45 Also, as at other Asklepieia, sacred serpents and dogs, whose

presence was believed tobe therapeutic, lived within theprecinct.46Nothing else isknown from

literature about the features of Asclepius's sanctuary, other than theminor detail thatVarro

had seen paintings of light-armed cavalry (ferentarii equites) within the "old" temple.47By the

mid-republic, as is revealed by Livy and Plutarch, therewere many "temples and porticoes" on

the Tiber Island, and since porticoes were commonly found atAsklepieia?as at sanctuaries of

numerous other gods?it is reasonable to assume that at least one of those mentioned by the two

authors was located within Asclepius's sanctuary.48Some of these porticoes may have housed

shops atwhich, at least during themid-republic, worshipers could buy the anatomical dedica

tions and other types of thank offerings that have turned up at the bottom of the Tiber in such

profusion.49 These porticoes also may have been used for the display of statues and other works

of art dedicated to the god, such as the colossal statue ofAsclepius found on the Tiber Island in

45On the standard iconography of Asclepius, see LIMC 2

(1984) 863-897, s.v. "Asklepios" (B.Holtzmann) and Edel

stein,Asclepius 2:214-231. The statue also may have been

alludedto

byOvid, who indicated thatwhen Asclepius appeared toQuintus Ogulnius atEpidauros in a dream, he took

"the formwhich he is accustomed to in the temple, holdinga rustic staffwith his left hand and with his rightpulling at

the flowing hair of his long beard" (qualis in aedelesse solet,

baculumque tenens agreste sinistra\caesariem longae dextra

deducerebarbae) (Ov.Met. 15.654-656; seeGuarducci 1971,

270-271). However, there is reason to believe that the pas

sage instead refers toNikeratos's statue of Asclepius from

theTemple of Concord (see Becatti 1973-1974, 18-19, 39;on Nikeratos and this statue, see n. 110). Nothing else is

known concerning Asclepius's cult statue on the island, but it

may be obliquely referredto

by Suetonius, who records thatafter recovering from a serious illness?most likely the one

that struck him in23 B.c. (Cass. Dio 53.30.1-3)?Augustuserected a statue of his physician Antonius Musa (PIR l2,A

853) beside Asclepius's statue (Suet. Aug. 59: statuam . . .

iuxta signum Aesculapi statuerunt). It has been assumed bysome that thiswould be the cult statue on the Tiber Island

(see, e.g., Lugli, Fontes 2:152, no. 52 and D. Degrassi, LTUR,

op. cit., 3:100). While it is indeed possible thatMusa's statue

stood beside Asclepius's in the temple's cella?as may have

been the case with a statue commonly identified as Servius

Tullius's that stood within theTemple of Fortuna (see Rich

ardson, NTDAR, "Fortuna, Aedes," 155)?orelse in the

immediate vicinity of the temple, it is just as possible for the

statue ofAsclepius referred to by Suetonius to have stood

elsewhere inRome, perhaps in the Temple of Concord or

Porticus Octaviae, the site of another famous statue of the

god (see p. 115). On Musa, seeMichler 1993.

See Edelstein, Asclepius 2:167, 227-228 and Girone, la

mata, 91; cf.RE 22 (1896) 1681-1683, s.v. "Asklepios" (R.

Pietschmann) and Wacht (n. 193 below), col. 223.

47

Varro, LL 7.57. Lawrence Richardson, jr.,has proposedthat these paintings may have portrayed amajor battle and

were dedicated inhonor of thevictory (Richardson, NTDAR,

op. cit., p. 3).

48Livy 25 A {ut iam eminens areafirmaque templis quoque ac

porticibus sustinendis esset); Plut. Publ. 8.6 (vfja?g. . .

Uyei8s xou vaouc. 0sc5v xod 7ieQi7T&ToucJ. passage in one of

Ennius's tragedies stating that "the porticoes of the sons of

Asclepius are packed with thewounded" {namque Aesculapiliberorum saucii opplent porticus) inexplicably has been seen

as relevant to the Tiber Island sanctuary byGiuseppe Lugli

(Lugli, Fontes 2:151, no. 83; cf. Besnier 1902,200), but sincetheunidentified play, sometimes thought tobeHectoris Lytra,is set in the Trojan War, this is inconceivable (Enn., seen.,

frag. 171, line 326, ed. Jocelyn).

49See Besnier 1902, 237-238. On anatomical dedications

from the site, see n. 20. The likely presence of these shopsin the immediate vicinity of the sanctuary was suggested by

Lanciani, who instead thought that theywere located on the

road approaching thePons Fabricius, where some of theded

ications were found (Lanciani 1888, 70; Lanciani 1892, 62;cf.Notizie degli scavi di antichit? [1885] 156). But the small

roomsappearing

onthe surviving part of the Severan Marble

Plan that shows theTiber Island could easily have served as

shops for those visiting the sanctuary (figs.3a-b). While the

porticoes seen by Livy might have been constructed duringthemonumentalization of the island that postdated these

mid-republican votives (see p. 99), it isnevertheless probablethatporticoes had already been a feature of the island before

itsfirst-century B.c. makeover.







102 GIL H. RENBERG

Fig. 7. Antonine medallion commemorating the arrival

ofAsclepius inRome. Obverse: bust ofAntoninus Pius.

Reverse: Asclepius, in serpentine form, being welcomed

to the Tiber Island by its eponymous god, Tiberinus.

BritishMuseum 1867.0512.6 (photo BritishMuseum, neg.

124268.). ? Copyright The Trustees ofThe BritishMuseum.

Fig. 6. Sculpture ofAsclepius from Tiber Island Asklepieion.Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Napoli, inv. no. 6360

(Coll. Farnese) (photoM.A.N.).

the sixteenth century (fig.6).50There appears to have been a triangular altar (Tcn?copiocJresent

during the imperial period, assuming that theGreek inscription that twice refers to rituals involv

ing a "triple altar" did originate on the island (cat. no. 6, lines 8, 12).51There may also have been

some trees inor near the sanctuary, since amedallion struckbyAntoninus Pius in commemoration

of the serpent s arrival represents a tree spreading over part of the scene (fig.7).52Another view of

the island is likely featured in a relief that shows a serpent, presumably Quintus Ogulniuss former

passenger, approaching a spring thatgushes from an invertedurn into a patera held by a river-godwho can be identified asTiberinus.53 This relief isofunknown

provenience,but itscontents

suggest50

Naples, Mus. Naz. 6360: LIMC 2, "Asklepios," no. 155

+ pi. On the statue, a Roman copy of aGreek original, see

Besnier 1902, 193-195. There is no reason to consider this

the cult statue that once stood inAsclepius's temple.

31For parallels, seeGirone, Iamata, 163, n. 30.

52See Van Buren 1911,189 onGnecchi, Medaglioni romani,

3:9, Antoninus Pius nos. 1-3 + pi. 43, 1-2 (= LIMC 8, "Ti

beris, Tiberinus," no. 23 + pi.).

See n. 5.







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OFWORSHIP IN THE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 103

that itmay have been displayed at theAsklepieion itself.54he interpretation of the relief,which is

not as clearly communicated as the scene on theAntonine medallion, has been indoubt, especially

regardingwhether the relief does represent thegod's arrival or, aswas originally suggested, shows

the serpent ofAsclepius at a later date, after thegod had become well established on the island.55Ifboth works do showAsclepius's arrival at the island, it seems unlikely that thebuildings shown

in eitherwould belong to anAsklepieion that had not yet been built or that the lone treewould

represent a grove extant in later centuries,56so these cannot be used as evidence for the sanctuary's

appearance.57

Another topographical problem concernswhether Asclepius's precinct abutted or in somewaywas connected to thatof Jupiter, as is seemingly indicated byOvid's statement that "Jupiter is in

part [sc.of the island], a single spot holds both, and the temple of thegrandson is joined to thatof

hismagnificent grandfather" {luppiter inparte est, cepit locus unus utrumqueMunctaque suntmagno

templa nepotis avo).5SHowever, it isunclear whether thispassage referstoJupiter,whose presenceon the island is attested by thediscovery beneath S.Giovanni Calibita of a pavement with amosaic

dedicatory inscription addressed toJupiter Jurarius59 r toVeiovis, who was occasionally confused

with Jupiter byRoman poets and had an aedes somewhere on the island that shared the dies natalis of

Asclepius's temple.60Since themosaic and the siteof the temple ofAsclepius were on opposite sides

of the road thatbisected the island crosswise,which was either thevicusCensori itself r adjacent to

it,any structure joining theprecincts ofAsclepius and thisJupiterwould have had to incorporate

54See von Duhn 1886,170; cf.Besnier 1902,183. This relief

appears relatedto a

relief ofan

unidentified female figure,probably divine, sitting in a small boat {Palazzo Rondinini,

212, no. 26 + fig. 119; cf. von Duhn 1886, 169 + pi. 10).

However, since this scene has no known relevance to the

cult ofAsclepius, itmay argue against assigning the relief of

the serpent to theAsklepieion.

55For the latterview, see von Duhn 1886, 168.

56Fritz Graf, following Besnier and his predecessors,

interprets the tree as symbolic of a grove at the sanctuarysince sacred groves were common toAsklepieia (Graf 1992,

181-183, esp. 183; Besnier 1902, 200). Nonetheless, asVanBuren states, a single tree need not have been a stand-in for

an entire grove (Van Buren 1911, 189).

57Similarly, a series of coins issued under Septimius Severus,

Caracalla, and Geta that represent Asclepius standing in

a temple may depict the Tiber Island temple, as has been

suggested by Lugli (Lugli, Fontes 2:148-149, nos. 32-35).

However, this isunlikely tobe the case for all of them: while

the three coins dating to A.D. 207 probably represent this

temple because they appear to have been struck in com

memoration of its 500th anniversary (see p. 125), a coin

from A.D. 203featuring

a similar scene on the reverse need

not have been linked to the Tiber Island temple {BMCRE

5:338, no. 837 + pi. 50, 7), while the coin of A.D. 215 that

shows Caracalla making an offering in a temple ofAsclepiusismuch more likely to represent the temple at Pergamonbecause the emperor had just sought treatment there, and

coins commemorating the occasion of his visit had also been

minted at Pergamon {BMCRE 5:458, no. 148 + pi. 71, 8,

wrongly associated with the Tiber Island temple by Hill

1989, 38 and Penn 1994, 39; forCaracalla and Pergamon,see n. 179). Itmust be recognized, however, that even if

some of the coins do represent theTiber Island temple and

cult statue, they provide no architectural or iconographical details of value. This is also true of the coin of Lucius

Rubrius Dossenus that shows a serpent within a temple,which would be that temple if the serpent were Asclepius

(see p. 160; cited by Hill 1989, 38). For a useful though

incomplete study of Greek and Roman coins featuring

Asclepius, see Penn 1994, 11-63.

58Ov. Fast. 1.293-294. For an earlier discussion of this

passage's relevance to the island's topography, see Besnier1902, 186-188.

59ILLRP186:C(aius)Volcaci(us) (ai)f(ilius)har(uspex)estipe lovi lurario [? mjonimentom. On this inscription and

the site, see Valvo 1989; cf.D. Degrassi, LTUR, "Iuppiter

Iurarius," 3:143-144 and P. di Manzano and R. Giustini,

LTUR, "Iuppiter (Insula Tiberina)," 5:270. The stips from

which the funds for this dedication were made may have

been that ofAsclepius, referred to in cat. no. 4, though this

isuncertain (seeDegrassi 1987, 526, n. 26 and Valvo 1989,

274-275). There is no need to distinguish between Jupiter

and Jupiter Jurarius and thus conclude that therewere twosites involved.

60See Livy 31.21.12, cf. 34.53.3-7 and, for the dies natalis,

Inscrlt 13.2, 1, p. 388; cf. D. Degrassi, LTUR, "Veiovis,aedes (Insula Tiberina)," 5:101 and Richardson, NTDAR,

"Vediovis, Aedes (1)," 406. On Veiovis, see Palmer 1974,137-146 (esp. 146), 170.







104 GIL H. RENBERG

an archway or gate.61On the other hand, Ovid's statement can be interpreted not as an indication

that the temples of "Jupiter" andAsclepius were physically joined but rather that theywere linked

because they shared the island, so it is impossible to rule out Jupiter even ifhis cult sitewas across

the streetfromAsclepius's. For the same reason,Veiovis can potentially be considered themagnusavus regardless ofwhere on the island his aedes stood. This problem isultimately unresolvable but

may give hints at the topography of the island's southern half.

Despite the clear evidence thatdedications forAsclepius and sculpted representations of the

godwere discovered or firstrecorded atnumerous sites throughout the city,the existence ofminor

shrines ofAsclepius in and around Rome has been largely ignored by scholars, and thus therehas

been a general tendency to assign to theTiber Island Asklepieion nearly every dedicatory inscrip

tion addressed toAsclepius, particularly those composed inLatin.62 This includes not only several

inscriptions found a significantdistance away fromthis sanctuary and, in some cases, linked toother

sites (cat. nos. 12, 13, 15, 16, 17, 18, 19, 20, 24, 26, 28, 33) but also five dedications of unknownprovenience (cat. nos. 31, 32, 33, 34, 35) and two fragmentary inscriptions that are no longer

considered to have been addressed toAsclepius.63 Furthermore, one of theGreek dedications of

unknown provenience has been assigned to the Tiber Island by somewithout a convincing reason

fordoing so (cat. no. 37), and the large tablet recording fourhealing miracles may also have been

assigned to this sanctuary based on speculation misinterpreted as fact (cat. no. 6).64 In fact, only

four dedications can be firmly linked to this temple: three limestone bases from the republican

period found nearby in the riverbed (cat. nos. 1-3)65 and an early imperialmarble altar found on

the island itself (cat. no. 5).66 In addition, another dedicatory inscription should be assigned to the

On the vicus, see n. 33.

62G. Wissowa listedCIL 6:1-20 and 30842-30846 (= cat. nos.

1,2,3,4,5,7,12,13,15-20,24,26,28,31,32,33,34,35,42,

and CIL 6:3 and 15, on which see next note) (Wissowa 1912,

308, n. 4), while Platner and Ashby listed only CIL 6:7-20

and 30842-30846 (= cat. nos. 1, 2,3,4,5, 7,12,15,16, 20,

24, 26, 28, 31, 32, 33, 34, 35, and CIL 6:15) (Platner and

Ashby, TDAR, op. cit., 2-3), as did Luigi Moretti {IGUR 1,

p. 87). In contrast, Richardson, who cites the same inscrip

tions as Platner and Ashby, recognizes that "few seem tohave

been found in the vicinity" of theAsklepieion (Richardson,NTDAR, op. cit., 4), while Jordan was even more cautious in

listingonly those found on the island or almost certain tohave

originated there (Jordan 1871-1907, 1.3:634, n. 30, listingcat. nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7). Besnier, though he recognized

that only cat. nos. 4 and 5 were found on the island itself,

believed it likely that cat. nos. 31 and 35 also came from the

Asklepieion but provided no particular reason for singling

out these two dedications (Besnier 1902, 211-212). Lugli

included not only cat. nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, and 7 but also cat.

no. 28,which may instead be from theCastra Ravennatium or

another military site inTrastevere (Lugli, Fontes 2:150-151,

nos. 43-47, 49, 50). More recently, Degrassihas

correctlyincluded cat. nos. 1, 2, 3,4, 5, and 7 but makes themistake

of assuming that cat. nos. 31, 32, and 33 came from the site

aswell (D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 1:22), while Riethm?l

ler has also listed cat. nos. 1-5 and 7, as well as themore

dubiously assigned 28 and 30 (Riethm?ller 2005, 2:431),

and also claims that several other dedications toAsclepius

of unknown provenience also are most likely from theTiber

Island sanctuary (cat. nos. 31,32,34, and 35) in addition to a

possible forgery (cat. no. 42) and two unrelated inscriptions

{CIL6:3 and 15) (Riethm?ller005,2:434).

63CIL 6:15 has been demonstrated to be a fragment of a

larger inscription that is altogether unrelated to the cult of

Asclepius {CIL 6:36883) but still appears in some scholars'

lists (see previous note). This is also true of CIL 6:3 + add.

p. 3003, an inscribed sculpture fragment fromTor Marancia

on theVia Ardeatina thatHenzen believed was addressed

to [Aesculapi]o deo, no doubt because of the presence of a

serpent enwrappinga

foot.However, the positioning of theserpent isnot typical ofAsclepius's iconography, calling into

question this restoration. More recent scholars have settled

on a restoration of [Liberjo deo, which finds support in the

presence of other traces of Liber Pater s cult in the vicinity

(see Caldelli 2004, 229-237).

64See the catalogue for discussions.

65For these and dedications to other gods recovered from

this part of theTiber, see Pensabene 1980, 16-17; cf.Roma

medio repubblicana, 138-147.

66Cat. nos. 20 and 34 were assigned to theTiber Island by

Lanciani without basis fordoing so, even though the former

is reported to have been seen first at theOrti Giustiniani

north of Rome and most likely originated at a Praetorian

shrine (Lanciani, StSc 3:269 and FUR, pi. 28). Two other

dedications are problematic fordifferent reasons: cat. no. 42

is also of unknown provenience but may be a forgery, and








Tiber Island because itdates to the republican period, when no other cult siteofAsclepius inRome

isknown, and also because of indirect evidence (cat.no. 7). To these can be added thenondedicatory

inscription referringto theuse of the stipsAesculapi forunspecified construction,which was found

at S. Bartolomeo (cat. no. 4). However, the likelypresence of additional sites sacred toAsclepius,aswell as shrines of other gods atwhich Rome's inhabitantsmight also have erected dedications to

him,would suggest that at least some of the unprovenienced inscriptions addressed toAsclepiushave been wrongly attributed to this sanctuary.

Esquiline. Of the other sites atwhich Asclepius was worshiped inRome, only theEsquiline sanctu

ary,the existence ofwhich is suggested by inconclusive but nevertheless persuasive evidence, has

received significantattention.67Although it ismentioned by only one ancient literarysource, this

reference and the epigraphical evidence thathas been linked to the site indicate its importance.

According to the anonymous Passio SS. Quattuor Coronatorum, a Christian martyrology dating tothe late sixth or early seventh century, this templewas restored byDiocletian during his visit to

Rome forhis vicennalia, which occurred inA.D. 303:68

Veniens vero Diocletianus ex Sirmis post menses undecim, ingressus est Romam. Et statim ius

sit in termas raianas templum sclepii aedificari t simulacrumieri ex lapideproconisso [sc.

proconnesio]. Quod cum factum fuisset praecepit omnes curas in eodem templo in praegomas [sc.

praeconias] aeneas cum caracteribus infigi, et iussit ut omnes militiae venientes ad simulacrum

Asclepii sacrificiis et ad turificandum compellerentur, maxime urbanae praefecturae milites.69

Diocletian, coming from Sirmium after eleven months, entered Rome and immediately orderedthatthe templeofAsclepius in theBaths ofTrajan be restoredand a statuebe made fromProconessianmarble. And when thishad been done, he instructed hat ll thecures achievedin thisverytemplebe inscribedpublicly inbronze and posted, and he ordered that ll of the

services, speciallythe soldiersof theurbanprefecture, e compelled toapproach thestatue f

Asclepiuswith sacrifices nd tooffer ncense.

The existence of this sanctuary ofAsclepius, which isnot otherwise attested in surviving literatureor corroborated by archaeological remains, is supported by epigraphical evidence indicating thatthe

Passio correctlyplaces a temple ofAsclepius in thevicinityof theBaths ofTrajan. Two statue bases

featuringGreek dedicatory inscriptions forAsclepius were found close to this complex, one in the

cat. no. 41, a plaque recording the dedication of an imageof a serpent, presumably toAsclepius, has been assigned byone editor toRome but ismore likely tobe fromPuteoli. In

addition, a poculum forAsclepius dating to the early third

century B.c. fromChiusi or itsvicinity is thought tohave been

produced and purchased inRome (cat. no. 40), perhaps even

at the Tiber Island, which would make it the earliest known

artifact pertaining to the cult ofAsclepius inRome, aswell

as evidence for the god's growing popularity in Italy (see

Degrassi 1986, 148-149). (Chiusi appears to have been the

originof the

gensOgulnia,which

suggeststhe

possibilitythat

Quintus Ogulnius, theRoman ambassador who transported

Asclepius back toRome, did not limit his role in spreadingthe god's cult to this city alone: see Tiussi 1999, 18-19.)

67Maiuri first argued for the existence of an Esquiline site,

which has gained general acceptance (seeMaiuri 1912; IGUR

1,p. 84; Guarducci 1978,165; D. Degrassi, LTUR, "Aescu

lapius, Aedes (M?ns Cispius)," 1:22-23; Riethm?ller 2005,

2:432-433, no. 589; cf.G. De Spirito, LTUR, "Aesculapius,

Templum infraThermas Traianas," 1:23 and Lugli, Fontes

3:136-137, nos. 38-40).

68For Diocletian's building program inRome and relation

shipwith the city's residents, see Curran 2000, 43-48.

69Passio SS. Quat. Cor. 22 (=Acta Sanct., Nov. Ill, 778, ed.

H. Delehaye et al.); see also B. Mombrizio, Sanctuarium seu

Vitae Sanctorum l:164v, p. 292 Solesmes ed. Further indicatingDiocletian's reverence forAsclepius, thePassio?the accuracyofwhich, of course, may be questioned?recounts themartyrdom ofPannonian artisans at Sirmium forrefusing iocletian's

request that theyfashion a sculpture ofAsclepius for a temple.For the complicated history of both the textand itsmanuscripttradition aswell as the cult of thesemartyrs, seeGuyon 1975;on thedate of thePassio, seeGuyon 1975,517.







106 GIL H. RENBERG

coenobium of theCarmelite convent at S.Martino aiMonti and theother justbehind the church (cat.

nos. 8-9), while a small altar addressed inGreek to "lord" Asclepius and found near the baths at the

intersection of theVia S. Clemente andVia Labicana can also be assigned to theEsquiline sanctuary

(cat. no. 10). Likewise, a statuettediscovered in amedieval wall nearMadonna deiMonti, a shortdistance down theVia Cavour, was found close enough to S. Martino that itcan be assigned to the

same site as the inscriptions.70 he presence of these dedications and the statuettenear where the

Passio located a templumofAsclepius argues forcefullyfor the existence of the otherwise unattested

site, and since one of thembears thephrase "and in thisvery temple he erected thankofferings for

recovery" (... vrjw8' sv xo)8? Ccoaycua Orjxev), itappears that the templumfeatured an actual temple

(cat.no. 8B, line 7). That two of the inscriptionswere found at or near S.Martino perhaps indicates

thatAsclepius's templewas originally located in thevicinityof this church and the adjoining piazza,on theOppian justoff the clivus SuburanusJ1 Recent work on the Severan Marble Plan shows that

therewas a triple fountain at thepresent site of thePiazza S.Martino aiMonti, and thismay haveserved as the sanctuary's source ofwater; at thevery least, thepresence of this fountain, alongwith

a nearby nymphaeum, demonstrates the availability of awater source in the area.72

The evidence for theEsquiline sanctuary's history is circumstantial and farfromcomplete. The

year of itsfounding isunknown and has been the subject of speculation.While some have cited the

dedication by a Praetorian medicus cohortis inA.D. 82 as evidence that the sitewas extant by the

Flavian period (cat.no. 24), thisdedication ismore likely tohave come fromamilitary site, and thus

it is thepresence of the three second-century A.D.Greek inscriptions that serves as a terminusante

quemP The likelihood that the site already existed by the end of the second centuryA.D. indicates

that thePassios use

of theterm

aedificari refersto a restorationor

expansionunderDiocletian rather

than the establishment of a new templumAsclepii.14 That the sitewas still active in the early fourth

centurymight also be indicated by a Latin inscription that in theDiocletianic period or laterwas

added to the left ide of the statuebase from S. Martino (cat.no. 8), but it isnot certain that the later

inscriptionwas intended fordisplay in the sanctuary.75 he sanctuary's continued existence half a

70Rome, Mus. Nuovo 1448: LIMC2, "Asklepios," no. 172

+ pi.; cf. Visconti 1888, 182-183. The likely connection

between this statue and the putative sanctuary was rightly

recognized by Riethm?ller (Riethm?ller 2005, 2:433) and

provides further support forMaiuri's

proposal.In

addition,a possibly erroneous report published by R de Clarac states

that another statue ofAsclepius was found in 1811 near the

Baths of Titus, which are located on the side of the Baths

ofTrajan opposite S.Martino, but as he points out, there is

reason to believe that the artifact in question was actually

cat. no. 36, found elsewhere inRome (see de Clarac, Musee

de sculpture, 4:9, no. 1157 and IGUR 1,p. 84).

71This was first suggested by D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit.,

1:22-23 (quoted inn. 78).

72

See Rodriguez-Almeida 1975-1976,265-275. The foun

tain has been tentatively identified as the Lacus Orphei by

Rodriguez-Almeida (see also R Coarelli, LTUR, "Lacus

Orphei," 3:171), while thenymphaeum justeast of S.Martino

isunidentified (see LTUR l:fig. 154). For the importance of

water in the cult ofAsclepius, see p. 97.

Moretti tentatively cites this dedication, which ismore

reasonably assigned to a shrine at or near theCastra Praetoria

(see discussion in catalogue), as evidence that the sanctuary

existed in the first century A.D. [IGUR 1, p. 84), and his

conclusion has been echoed by others (Guarducci 1978,

165;Roesch

1982,177;Cordiano and

Gregori 1993,156).D.

Degrassi rightlyexhibits more caution in treating thededica

tion as evidence for the god's worship on the Esquiline in

the first century A.D.,without assigning it to this temple (D.

Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit, 1:22), while Riethm?ller takes the

proper step of linking itto the Castra Praetoria (Riethm?ller

2005,2:433).

74Though generally employed in reference tonew construc

tion, aedificarewas occasionally used as a term for the recon

struction of damaged structures (see TLL 1.4,923-925 [esp.

924], s.v. "aedifico"). It is, nevertheless, an odd term and

exemplifiesthe bad

Latinityof this

postclassical

text.

75CIL 6:1701b + add. p. 3173: Aurelius\Marinus\v(ir)

p(erfectissimus) rat(ionalis)\s(ummae) r(ei). Moretti cites

this as evidence that the cult ofAsclepius was still flourishing

during theTetrarchic period (see IGUR 1, p. 84), yet it is

unclear whether this inscription represents a reuse of the

base for a new statue or a rededication of the original statue.








century latermay be attested by theFasti Furii Filocali of a.D. 354,which record aN(atalis) Asclepion 11 September that is perhaps better attributed to theEsquiline temple than theTiber Island,

which was originally founded on 1January and thereforewould have had tohave been rededicated

later for that date tobe itsdies natalis.76 If so, theEsquiline temple probably would have remained

open until the law issued byTheodosius I ina.D. 391 that effectivelyclosed thepagan temples.77At some point, probably no earlier than the sixth century a.D., the site of the former

Asklepieion may have been appropriated by theChurch, if the suggestion that today's church

of S.Martino occupies the same space is correct.78The firstChristian congregation at the future

site of S. Martino was a titulus established at the house of a priest named Equitius by St. Silves

ter I, a fourth-century pope famous inChristian legend for ridding Constantine of leprosy and

baptizing him (a.D. 314-335), and when Pope Symmachus (a.D. 498-523) replaced the titulus

with amore expansive complex, theBasilica SS. Silvestri etMartini, he may have deliberately

chosen the siteof the defunctAsklepieion situated nearby inorder to replace a sanctuary devotedto a pagan healing god with a Christian church consecrated to two saints famous as healers.79

If the formerwas the case, the statue probably would have

represented Marinus (= PLRE 1, "Marinus," 5) rather than

Asclepius, since another statue base for this individual was

found elsewhere inRome (see below). Regardless ofwhat sort

of statue stood atop this base in late antiquity, though, it is

highly likely that the base itselfwas reinstalled at the sanctu

ary after the additional textwas added, since if ithad been

hauled away to be inscribed for reuse at any other site, the

odds ofits

being found in close proximityto

another Greekdedication toAsclepius, let alone a sanctuary that the two

inscriptions together appear to reveal,would be small.

Lanciani, preparing his map of Rome before Maiuri first

suggested the existence of a sanctuary ofAsclepius in this

neighborhood, treated this inscription as an indication of the

approximate location ofMarinus's house even though the text

itselfgives no reason fordoing so (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 23), and

his conclusion has gained acceptance (F.Guidobaldi, LTUR,"Domus: Aurelius Marinus," 2:66). However, since amarble

cippus?no doubt a statue base?bearing the same inscriptionwas seen outside theAurelian Walls in theOrti Giustiniani

(CIL 6:1701a+

add. p. 3173), it is clear that statues of thisprominent individual may have stood atmultiple locations

in and around Rome, and therefore there is no reason to

consider the inscription at S.Martino evidence forMarinus's

house. (Three inscriptions from the lararium of a villa of the

Volusii Saturnini at Lucus Feroniae that each provide the

cursus bonorum for amember of this prominent family are

especially pertinent to this issue: one of them records the

precise locations inRome where eight different statues of

Lucius Volusius Saturninus were to be erected [AE 1972,

174], while this and the other two inscriptions demonstrate

that honorary texts could be inscribed in a domestic setting[AE

1972,175-176].)

76Fasti Filocali: Inscrlt 13.2, 1, p. 508. For the document's

relevance to religious practices in fourth-century A.D.Rome,

though not Asclepius's cult inparticular, see the important

study byMichele Salzman (Salzman 1990; cf.Curran 2000,

222). First proposed by Maiuri, the attribution of the 11

September dies natalis to the Esquiline site has gained ac

ceptance (seeMaiuri 1912,246-247; cf.D. Degrassi, LTUR,

op. cit, 1:23), although Lugli instead linked it to the Tiber

Island site (Lugli, Fontes 2:148, no. 30). However, since the

Fasti Praenestini, which record the dies natalis of the Tiber

Island temple, date to theAugustan period (see Inscrlt 13.2,

1, pp. 141-142), and theFasti magistrorum vici date to the

Augustan period {Inscrlt 13.1, 1, pp. 279, 287), there is a

period ofmore than three centuries between these Fasti and

the Fasti Filocali during which a rededication of the templecould have occurred, and thus it ispossible, though unprov

able, that the god's original temple came to celebrate itsdies

natalis inSeptember rather than January. (The Fasti Antiates

Maiores, which also record the 1January date for the Tiber

Island temple, were composed even earlier, between 84 and

55 b.c.: see Inscrlt 13.2, 1,pp. 1, 28.)

77On Theodosius's law, see Curran 2000, 215-216.

78See D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 1:22: "l'ubicazione del

santuario, di cui nessuna traccia monumentale e finora

identificabile, si potrebbe ricercare in corrispondenza dellachiesa di S.Martino aiMonti e della piazza omonima, lungoil latomeridionale del clivus Suburanus."

79Titulus: Lib. Pont. 34.3 and 34.33 (pp. 170-171 and 187,

ed. Duchesne). The same titulus appears tohave been called

the titulusEquitii and, later, the titulus Silvestri; however, the

later source evident in theLiber Pontificalis may have been

referring to the titulus after ithad been relocated in the largeRoman hall justwest of S.Martino. Basilica: Lib. Pont. 53.9

(p. 262, ed. Duchesne). The Fragmentum Laurentianum, partof a series of papal biographies related to theLiber Pontificalis

that datesto a.d.

514-519, instead refers to a church of St.Martin adjacent to

"sanctus Silvester" {Frag. Laur. 52, p. 46,

ed. Duchesne, cf. pp. 267-268, n. 35). It isunclear whether

this later report is correct in identifying two distinct struc

tures and, if so, whether the structure associated with St.

Silvester in the early sixth centurywas the site of the originaltitulus or, as seems more likely, theRoman hall that survives

to thewest of S.Martino. For thehistory ofChristian worship







108 GIL H. RENBERG

However, itmay be wrong to conclude that the basilica was built on ground formerly conse

crated toAsclepius, since emperors and church leaders of the fourth through sixth centuries

would deliberately avoid appropriating public pagan temples inRome's urban center for use

as churches, preferring to convert secular buildings or build new structures adjacent to pagan

temples.80Therefore, theAsklepieion ismore likely tohave stood in theneighborhood of S.Mar

tino than at the church's precise location; however, regardless of which was the case, it is quite

possible that this juxtaposition of sites devoted to pagan and Christian healers was intentional

on the part of Pope Symmachus.

Via Cassia. The Tiber Island and Esquiline temples represent the twomost important cult sites of

Asclepius inRome and are theonly sites clearly linked tohealing. In addition, the recent publication of an inscription from theVia Cassia may reveal another site,one located inRome's northern

suburbs, in thevicinityof thePons Milvius or else a fewmiles down the road. If such a sitedid exist,which depends on the altar having originated in thisarea rather than inRome, itwould have been

visited by those seekingmedical assistance from "Paean of theTiber" and thus served as an alterna

tive to thegod's more prominent sedesmany miles away (cat. no. 29).81 In recording an individual's

recovery from tuberculosis, the altar's dedicatory epigram begins with the adverb svxau?a to specify

that the recoveryhad taken place at thatvery spot:

eviocuO' x??octoAou7io[v] | vXuyQOLip66r|i)(?1(jlo)viouav ?u?g[icj I ?x]axovrjfxaaiv

?cojjLOv? eSeifiai' IAqqiol XaiwviKrj |ii[jLc5a' stouqov Iy? elA.eoufj.evri 6e6v.

Herein Paean of the Tiber cured Lupus of awretched consumption?in winter, within a hun

dred days.Arria thePlatonist prepared thisaltar,honoringher companion and propitiatingthegod.

If this imperial-period altar did originate inRome's northern suburbs, itsuggests that some distance

upstream from theTiber Island Asklepieion therewas a sanctuary atwhich Asclepius's aid could

be sought by those who were inneed of cures but had opted against visiting themore famous site

severalmiles away.The use of the epithet?u?cnc; shows the close association ofAsclepius with the

at this site during late antiquity and the complex problems

provided by the conflicting sources, see Christian Basilicas

3:87-124 (esp. 89-90, 121-124); cf. S. Serra, LTUR, "SS.

Silvester et Equitius, titulus," 4:325-328 and Curran 2000,

118. On theChristianization of this region of theEsquiline

ingeneral, see Reekmans 1989, 886-891.

St. Martin's reputation as a miracle-healer is already

evident in theVita Martini, Sulpicius Severus's late fourth

century biography of him (see Rousselle 1990, 109-122 et

passim). The legend of Silvester curing Constantine first

appears in the romanticized fifth-centuryActa S. Sylvestriand thus predates Symmachus's construction of the basilica

(see Kelly, Popes, 27-28, s.v. "Silvester I, St"; cf.Lib. Pont.

34.2, p. 170, ed. Duchesne). This and other sites inRome

devoted to St. Silvester and their possible links to earlier

pagan worship are discussed by R. E. A. Palmer, who, like

Serra, does not note the potential link between the location

of this saint's church on theEsquiline and the sanctuary of

Asclepius (Palmer 1978,228-230). For the phenomenon of

Christian healing shrines in theEast being built atop earlier

pagan sites that had served worshipers similarly, see n. 36.

80See Salzman 1999, 127-134. The firstpublic temple con

verted into a church was the Pantheon, which became the

church of S.Maria dei Martiri in a.D. 609, although several

basilicas had been built atop or nearMithraea, which were

private sites,beginning in thefifthcentury (p. 129). Even after

a.D. 609 such conversions appear tohave been infrequent.

81The existence of a sanctuary near theVia Cassia, based on

the assumption that the altar originated at or near where it

was unearthed, was proposed by Cordiano (Cordiano and

Gregori 1993,156). The appellation "Paean" was commonly

applied toboth Apollo and Asclepius, but there should be no

doubt that in this inscription, as in three others fromRome

(cat. nos. 8, 38, 39), it represented Asclepius.







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OF WORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 109

riverthatflowed past his original sanctuary inRome aswell as this unidentified sanctuary,probably

built somewhere along theTiber's banks in theneighborhood of thePons Milvius.82

Lesser Shrines

Three tofive other sites, located justoutside the citywalls at thenorthern, southern, and southwest

ern boundaries of the city,can be established on the strengthof epigraphical evidence alone, but

none of these can be identified as a healing shrinewith any certainty. nstead, the inscriptions from

these sites revealAsclepius's involvement inother areas of hisworshipers' lives. Three of these sites,one ofwhich was in an unknown location, belonged toprivate collegia, but it isunclear whether the

other sitewas a neighborhood shrine or even a public sanctuary ofwhich no record remains. The

latter site, located at a spring later named forHygieia near thePorta Flaminia, may well have been

a healing shrine,but there isno reason to conclude that the other twowere. A fifthminor shrine

within the city can be assigned much more tentatively to the area between the southern slopes of

theCaelian and the Baths ofCaracalla, based on the evidence of a single inscription. If this site did

exist, there likewise isno reason to conclude that itwas a healing shrine.

Funerary Collegia. The best documented of these lesser shrines is an aedicula that apparentlywas

erected either at the schola of theCollegium Aesculapi etHygiae or at the burial siteof amember

of this funeraryassociation by his widow ina.d. 153 as part of a donation shemade to thegroup.

Although this shrine and the accompanying structures and statue ofAsclepius arewidely, and with

good reason, held tobe from the association's schola, it is at leastworth considering the alternative,

since the activities described by the lengthydecretum recording the donation might suggest insteadthata site forbanqueting was established on theVia Appia by thiswidow in the immediate vicinityof the tomb of the imperialprocurator under whom her husband had served,where her husband's

own remains also appear tohave been interred (cat. no. 11, lines 1-4):

Lex collegiAesculapi etHygiae:\SalviaC(ai) /(ilia)Marcellina ob memoriamFl(avi) Apolloniproc(uratoris) ug(usti) quifuitapinacothecis tCapitonisAug(usti) l(iberti) diutorisleius aritisuioptimipiisimi onumdeditcollegio esculapi etHygiae locum ediculaecumpergulaetsignummarmoreumAesculapi etsolariumtectumunctumin\quo opulus collegis(upra)s(cripti) puletur,quod estviaAppia ad (aedem)Martis intramilliariumI et II ab urbe euntibus arte laeva inter

adfinesVibiumCalocaerum etpopulumP

Resolution of theAssociation ofAsclepius andHygieia: SalviaMarcellina, daughterofGaius,inmemory of Flavius Apollonius, imperial procurator, who was in charge of the (imperial)

picture galleries, and of his assistant the imperialfreedmanCapito, her excellent andmostdevoted husband, gave as a giftto theAssociation ofAsclepius andHygieia a sitefor shrinewith a pergola, amarble statueofAsclepius, and an adjoining roofed solarium inwhich the

82In his initial publication of this dedication, Cordiano

concluded that IIou&v ?u?^ig was a syncretism ofAsclepiusand the river-god Tiberinus (Cordiano and Gregori 1993,

154-155), but Kent

Rigsby persuasivelyargues that the

unique name "Paean of theTiber" is a poetic creation, not

a theological one (Rigsby 2001, 107).

83On this collegium, see P. Tassini, LTUR Suburbium,

"Aes

culapii etHygiae schola et collegium," 1:26-27 and Boll

mann 1998,50,186,190, and 238-239, no. A2; cf.Flambard

1987,234-239 (with full translation) and Riethm?ller 2005,

2:433-434, no. 595. See also Palmer 1993, 360-361 and

Waltzing 1895-1900, 3:268-271, no. 1083 and pp. 1:213,371-376 et passim. Against the conventional interpretation of lex in line 1 as

"Charter,"see

Tassini 1995-1996,62, following Diz. Ep. 4.25 (1957) 779-780, s.v. "Lex" (G.

Tibiletti and E. De Ruggiero). While it ispossible that the

statue and structures were placed at a tomb belonging to

her husband Capito, the fact that the donation ismade in

thememory ofFlavius Apollonius aswell as Capito suggeststhat the latter's resting place was overshadowed by that of

the former. (See discussion in catalogue.)







110 GIL H. RENBERG

membership of theaforementioned ssociationmay dine, on theVia Appia beside theTempleofMars between thefirst nd secondmilestones, on the left ide forthosedepartingfromthe

city, etween theneighboring (tombof)Vibius Calocaerus and public land (?).84

This gift, fwhich no traces remain,was situated on locusprivatusmore than amile beyond thePorta

Capena, and thuswell beyond the ServianWalls; when the citywas enlarged more than a century

later,thePorta Appia was built justbefore the sanctuary ofMars and these neighboring structures,

leaving themoutside theAurelian Walls aswell.85According to this inscription, Salvia Marcellina's

donation consisted of an aedicula, a pergola, amarble statue ofAsclepius, and an adjoining roofed

solarium used for communal banquets, which would have commemorated the deceased.86 Funer

ary associations, like professional and religious associations, each had a patron divinity, so the link

between this collegium andAsclepius andHygieia isnot particularly noteworthy and certainlydoes

not indicate anemphasis

onmedicine or

healing.87This is equally true of another collegium associated with these two divinities thatmight also

have met periodically in the area of theVia Appia during the second centuryA.D.This professionalassociation of imperialmasons, formallynamed theCollegium Aesculapi etHygiae Structorum

Caesaris nostri, isknown froma single inscription thatwas found being reused as building material

in theCatacombs of Praetextatus on theVia Appia, and, since it records funerary arrangements

for some of the group's members, it indicates that theirburial site?though not necessarily their

schola?was located not too far away.88As was possibly the case with the firstcollegium, this one

might have had a shrine toAsclepius andHygieia present at the sitewhere itsmembers were in

terred,but thiswould not have been a proper cult site, let alone one linked tohealing. Therefore,

the two dedicatory inscriptions by active and retiredmilitary personnel, respectively, thatmight

have originated in the area of theVia Appia cannot be assigned to either site (cat. nos. 12, 13).89

Likewise, a broken relief linked to theAthenian Asklepieion but found on theVia Appia cannot be

84The precise nature of this "public land" is uncertain.

Instead of this traditional reading, it isworth considering

that since streets and neighborhoods were sometimes named

after trees that had served as landmarks?see, e.g.,Mart. Ep.

1.117.6 (adPirum), Suet. Dom. 1.1 {adMalum Punicum), and

Zappata 1996, 90-96, nos. 1-2 (adSalicem)?populum here

could refer to awell-known poplar tree that stood,or

hadstood, in this area. Trees also, it should be noted, sometimes

served as boundary markers (see D?ke 1971, 98, 103).

85Excavations in the area of thePorta Appia (today's Porta

S. Sebastiano) have revealed a monumental structure that

may have been part of the sanctuary complex (see Cecchini,

Pagliardi, and Petrassi 1986, 600). In its immediate vicinitywere found tombs dating to the first entury B.c. through the

second century A.D., showing that this area was indeed partly

devoted to funerary practices.

86

For the relevance of this inscription to collegial banquets,see Tchernia 1982; cf. Scheid 1985,195.

87Collegia were occasionally named for gods, reflecting a

special relationship between these groups and their divine

patrons (seeWaltzing 1895-1900, 4:431^132). On the reli

gious aspects of collegia ingeneral, seeWaltzing 1895-1900,

1:195-255 (esp. 195-208, on theirpatron gods).

88Josi1936, 11:D(is) M(anibus)\fecitlpia Cyne\gis,m

munis, et\donavit Collegio\Aesculapi etHygiae\structorum

Caes(aris) n(ostri), \exceptis llisXII et\sarcophagisduobus\quos

sibi reservavit\et uis ("To theManes: Ulpia Cynegis, immunis,

prepared this and donated it to the Association ofAsclepius

and Hygieia of the Imperial Masons, setting aside twelve

urnsand

twosarcophagi which she reserved

forherself and

her household"). Tassini has proposed a date of theTrajanic

period based on the nomen "Ulpia," and this period or the

years following would appear to be themost likely (Tassini

1995-1996, 60).

89Since, unlike burial sites, the shrines at funerary associa

tions' scholae did receive dedications to their patron gods,

itwould be possible for one or both of these dedications to

have originated at the schola of one of these collegia, one

or both ofwhich were on theVia Appia. This, however, is

unlikely, not only because the dedications in question were

by military personnelrather than

imperial freedmen,but

also because dedications from scholae tend to refer to the

collegium in some manner. (For a partial listof dedications by

collegia or their individual members, seeWaltzing 1895-1900,

4:457^83. It is unclear whether the dedications from col

legial shrines that are silent on thematter were likewise

communal rather than personal.)








assigned to a particular sitebut further ttests thepresence of the cult ofAsclepius in this extramural

part ofRome.90 It appears, therefore, thatnear thePorta Appia therewas at least one minor shrine

ofAsclepius that served a funeraryassociation, but despite thepresence of other evidence for the

god's worship there isno sign of a proper cult site in thevicinity.Another funeraryassociation, which met in the area of the imperial Praedia Galbana district

east of theEmporium, erected a schola that itsmembers dedicated toAsclepius and Salus on land

granted byHadrian's procurator patrimonii Caesaris (cat. no. 14).91The dedicatory plaque lists

fifty-ninemembers of this collegium salutare, many of them imperial freedmen and slaves, aswell

as otherswho worked in thePraedia Galbana. It is likely that this association had a relationshipwith Asclepius and Salus similar to thatof theCollegium Aesculapi etHygiae even though the two

gods are not specifically identified as thegroup's patrons. Regardless ofwhether theywere official

patrons, the chief purpose of thisdedication was to promote not the health of the association's

members but rather thewell-being of the imperial household. This is indicated not only by the factthat itwas dedicated on behalf of the numen domus Augustae/Augusti but also by either the ap

plication of the epithet Augusta to thegoddess Salus or her identification as Salus Augusti, linkingher implicitlyor explicitly to the emperor's health.92

The "Caeliolus" A much more complex problem ispresented by two dedications, both bases, that

appear to come from the area of themodern Parco Egerio, situated between theBaths of Caracalla

and Aurelian Wall, to the east of theVia Druso (cat.nos. 15,16). Since the editors ofCIL assignedone to the "Celiolo" and the other to the "Caeliolus," theyhave been interpreted as evidence for

another cult siteofAsclepiuson

the Caeliolus.93 In antiquity, the term "Caeliolus" was sometimesapplied to an unspecified ridge of theCaelian, but by thenineteenth century the area labeled bymodern Romans as the "Celiolo" was an eminence south of theCaelian, as is indicated byLanciani's

map.94 The dedication assigned to the "Celiolo," addressed to both Asclepius and Hygieia, is

reported tohave been found, though not necessarily in situ, just inside thePorta Metronia at the

base of theCaelian, at a spot thathas been precisely identified.The other dedication, addressed

solely toAsclepius, is supposed tohave been seen firstduring the early eighteenth centuryon the

"Caeliolus," but it is unclear whether Franciscus Ficoronius, who recorded it,had inmind the

"Celiolo" or else part of theCaelian. Therefore, one dedication can be assigned to the area of the

Parco Egerio with greatercertainty

than theother,but bothappear

tohave been discovered some

distance away from theTiber Island, raising thepossibility that therewas a cult site ofAsclepiuson or below theCaelian.

If therewas indeed such a site in theParco Egerio, itshould not be assumed that itwas a healing

See below, p. 120.

91On this collegium, seeWaltzing 1895-1900,3:313-314, no.

1332 and Bollmann 1998,269-270, no. A21; cf.Kolb 1995,201-203 and Riethm?ller 2005, 2:434, no. 596.

92On the association of Salus

Augustaand Salus

Augustiwith

the emperor Augustus and his successors, seeMarwood 1988,

9-10, 148-150, et passim, and see p. 24 for theHadrianic

coinage portraying Salus, including Salus Augusti (BMCRE

3:418, no. 1215 and 440, no. 1348 + pi. 83, 3). Beginningwith Augustus, the epithetAugustus/Augusta was commonly

applied todivinities who looked out for thewell-being of the

Roman state aswell as the emperor (see Lott 1995).

93The Caeliolus was first identified as a potential loca

tion of a cult site of Asclepius by Lugli?who termed it a

donarium?on the strength of these two inscriptions (Lugli,Fontes 3:83, nos. 1-2), and thishas gained some acceptance(see L. Chioffi, LTUR, "Aesculapius etHygia," 1:23 and

Riethm?ller 2005,2:435, no. 590). A lone note of caution is

expressed byG. Giannelli, who ishesitant to assign the twoinscriptions to such a site (G. Giannelli, LTUR, "Caelius

mons [in eta classical," 1:209).

94See Lanciani, FUR, pi. 42. For the current state of theques

tion regarding the location of theCaeliolus, see E. Rodriguez

Almeida, LTUR, "Caeliolus (-urn),Caeliculus (-urn)," 1:208

and Richardson, NTDAR, "Caeliolus," 61.





112 GIL H. RENBERG

shrine. The presence of thenearbyMarana brook aswell as numerous springsmight suggest that

thiswas the case, sincewater sources were important features ofAsklepieia, but the inscriptionsthemselves provide no support for thispossibility.One of them,ambiguously worded, was commis

sioned by two parents on behalf of a female dependent [proSeptimiaMartina alumna) but betraysno indication that itwas prompted by a specific health crisis (cat. no. 16).While theymay have

been thanking the god forbenevolence he had already exhibited toward the girl, their dedication

appears tohave been precautionary, seeking thegod's favor so thatno harm or illhealth would befall

Martina. The other dedication is altogether unrelated toAsclepius's medical practice and instead

reveals that his benevolence could extend beyond health concerns, to the commercial prosperityofworshipers.95Many godswho, unlikeMercury/Hermes, were not primarily associated with com

merce were nevertheless worshiped atRoman workplace shrines, and this appears to explain why

Asclepius and Hygieia received the giftof "twometal tapers in the form of a satyrand Antiope"

(ceriolaria duo Saturi etAntioes) from two individuals, presumably husband and wife, whoselivelihood evidentlywas the bean trade (cat. no. 15).96The dedication states that itwas erected

"with thepermission of those from thebean-selling establishment" {expermissu eorum negotiations

fabariae) and thanks the two gods for their "divine power" and "miraculous deeds" (gratiasagentes

numini et aratis eorum). The circumstances alluded toby the dedicants are unclear and need not

have been health-related.97 Ithas been suggested that theywere thanking these gods for the success

of a bean-selling business situated inor adjacent to theTiber Island Asklepieion, but ifthatwere

the case, itwould have made sense for them to erect the dedication at the sanctuarywhere they

worked. This dedication, however, appears to come from aworkplace shrine in a differentpart of

the city?a site thatmay ormay not have been devoted toAsclepius andHygieia.98If this dedication did, infact,originate at aworkplace shrine in theParco Egerio, itwould reveal

thepresence of a commercial zone there.There has been speculation that thegroup approving this

95A perhaps comparable situation may be revealed in the

dedication toAsclepius by individuals grateful to him "for

their improved lot" (ob Processus suos) (cat. no. 18; see p.

114). See also the dedicatory relief thatmay reveal a link

between Asclepius and a guild of bakers (cat. no. 30).

96For an excellent study of thegods worshiped atworkplace

shrines in stia, see Bakker 1994; fordedications specificallyfrom horrea, including those at Rome, see Rickman 1971,

312-315.

97While the term dgeiiq could indeed be used for healing

miracles (see cat. no. 6, line 5; cf. ICret l:xvii, 19, line 10), it

also appears in several inscriptions that do not pertain?or

cannot be linked?to them (e.g., IG 11.4,1299, line 91; ICret

3:iv, 15; IKyzikos 2:4).

98Guarducci concluded that this dedication was made in

order to thankAsclepius andHygieia both forgranting these

two devotees permission to sell beans at the Tiber Islandsanctuary and for the subsequent success of their business

(Guarducci 1971,278; cf.Latte 1967,227-228, n. 5).While

the second part of this conclusion may be accurate, she is

probably wrong to interpret thephrase expermissu eorum as

recording permission obtained fromAsclepius and Hygieia

(see discussion in catalogue). L. Chioffi, likeGuarducci, also

places thisprivate business at theAsklepieion, citing thepar

allel of an epitaph for a scaphiaria who sold her vessels at an

otherwise unrecorded sanctuary ofBellona on the island (AE

1971,40; seeL. Chioffi, LTUR, "BellonaInsulensis," 1:193).

But this is an unconvincing parallel, since the existence of

merchants on the Tiber Island in general, and the fact that

thiswoman sold oxacpioc there in particular is not a reason

to conclude that these two bean sellers must have worked

there, too.Tassini, who agreeswith the link between the dedicants and theTiber Island sanctuary, has rather ingeniously

proposed that these two individuals perhaps had to receive

special permission tomake a dedication at the site because

theymay have been stigmatized for selling beans, which were

considered impure by Pythagoreans and in certain other

cults, and were in fact specifically mentioned in a lex sacra

from a temple of Asclepius inThuburbo Maius dictating

that, "Whoever wishes to ascend the platform must keep

fromwomen, pork, beans, barbers and thepublic baths fora

three-day period; it isnot permitted to enter the enclosed area

shod" (Quisq(uis) intra\podium ad\scendere vo\let amuli\ere,

a suilla,\a faba,a

ton\sore,a

balAneo commu\necustodi\at

triduo;\cancellos\calciatus\intrare noUito) {ILAfr 225, lines

7-20; see Tassini 1995-1996, 45-46, whose interpretationwas partly anticipated by Kleijwegt 1994, 213, n. 43). Such

a possibility, however, depends on thepermissus having been

obtained from the cult ofAsclepius, which, as noted above,

seems the less likely reading of the inscription.



PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OF WORSHIP INTHE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 113

dedication operated in the "Porticus Fabarius" that theRegionary Catalogues assigned toRegio

XIII, which included theAventine and Emporium district;99more recently, this establishment has

been identifiedwith the one referred to as thePorticus Fabarum in a graffitoepitaph from the

Catacombs of Domitilla stating that "Victoria from theBean Portico was laid to rest" (De[posit]aBictora deporticu fabaru(m)).m But ifthegroup of "those from thebean-selling establishment" was

located inRegio XIII, the dedication would have had tooriginate roughly amile fromwhere itwas

dug up. Therefore, another conclusion appears tobe inorder: these sources refer to two different

establishments. The Regionary Catalogues place thePorticus Fabarius inRegio XIII, but theCata

combs ofDomitilla, located on theVia Appia justover amile from theParco Egerio, are closer to

thisdedication's find spot inRegio I,which suggests thatperhaps thePorticus Fabarum, overlooked

by theRegionary Catalogues or no longer extantwhen theywere compiled, stood somewhere nearby.Warehouses and commercial districtswere scattered throughoutRome instead ofbeing concentrated

entirely in the area along theTiber wharves, and it isquite possible for there tohave been amodestcenter of commerce inRegio I, especially since theVia Appia and othermajor roads enteringRome

from the countryside?roads bringing produce into the city?ran near the sitewhere the inscriptionwas discovered.101 Indeed, thepoint where theVia Appia and Via Latina converged and the

Baths of Caracalla stood was as promising a location as could be found for commerce atRome's

southernmost point. So, just as theVia Ostiensis featured amixture of tombs and commercial sites,this area, known for its tombs,may also have featured structuresdedicated to commerce.102But it

is also possible, since the dedication may have originated atop theCaelian and only descended to

itsfind spot in lateryears, that the Porticus Fabarum may be better situated inRegio II, a part of

Romeinwhich commercial

structureswere moreplentiful thanRegio I. Therefore, it is impossibletodraw any conclusions regarding the location of such an establishment.103

And yet the existence of thePorticus Fabarius inRegio XIII and possible existence of aPorticus

Fabarum inRegio I or IImay be completely irrelevantto theprovenience of thisdedication: thebean

industryatRome was not limited to just one or two locations devoted primarily to this commod

ity, o thegroup that authorized thededication toAsclepius andHygieia could have operated at a

99Valentini and Zucchetti, Codice Topografico 1:143 [Curio

sum), 181 (Notitia). See Lanciani, StSc6:88 and Loane 1938,

120, n. 27. Loane also cites a now discredited emendation

of theFastiOstienses

thatpurportedly referred

toproducesellers (olitores) at the base of the Aventine near the Circus

Maximus, but thisword was later identified as basket weav

ers (vitores) by Edwin Flinck (Flinck 1926, 86-88), and this

reading has been verified by subsequent editors (CIL 14:4535,

line 3; Vidman, Fasti Ostienses, frag.Ch, line 4.) Although"Porticus Fabaria" would be expected?and, indeed, Loane

prefers thisname to "Porticus Fabarius"?it ispossible that

the compilers of these late antique documents opted for

the raremasculine form of porticus (see TLL 10.2:24-25,s.v. "porticus").

100AE

1958,272.In

publishingthe

graffito,A. Ferrua noted

that a Porticus Fabaria inRegio XIII was already known but

did not specifically state that he believed it to be the same

as the Porticus Fabarum (Ferrua 1956, 608); this,however,

appears to have become an accepted conclusion (see M.

Macciocca, LTUR, "Porticus Fabarum," 4:122).

On thedistribution ofwarehouses and markets inRome,

see Loane 1938, 113-121 and Rickman 1971, 87-122; cf.

Richardson, NTDAR, "Horreum, Cella, Portus," 191-192.

For thedata found in theRegionary Catalogues regarding the

distribution of horrea inRome's fourteen Augustan regions,see Rickman 1971, 323-325.

102For the limited evidence of commerce in the general

area of the Baths of Caracalla, see Avetta, Via Imperiale,252-253.

103Support for concluding that a Porticus Fabarum once

stood either on or below the Caelian is to be found in a

situation possibly comparable to that of "Victoria from the

Bean Portico": another graffito epitaph, this one from the

Catacombs ofPraetextatus, records the burial of "Domitius

Taurus Pernarus, from the street by theMarket" {DomitiusTaurus Pernarus de platia Macelli), who evidently once

worked at theMacellum Magnum built byNero on theCae

lian and was buried in the same general area asVictoria (AE

1958, 271; cf.Ferrua 1956, 608-609; on theMacellum, see

G. Pisani Sartorio, LTUR, "Macellum Magnum," 3:204-206).

Quite possibly, both of them lived and worked up theVia

Appia fromwhere theywere interred.







114 GIL H. RENBERG

horreum or some other typeof establishment inor near theParco Egerio or atop theCaelian?and

not necessarily one forwhich we have a record. Regardless ofwhere "those from thebean-sellingestablishment" exercised theirauthority,however, it is ratherdoubtful that thededication on behalf

of SeptimiaMartina originated at the same site.While it is certainlypossible that itwas erected at a

neighborhood sanctuary or shrine ofAsclepius in the area of theParco Egerio, itmust be remem

bered that cult siteswere inclusive in termsof theworship of other divinities, and thus a dedication

toAsclepius need not have originated at one of his own cult sites.Overall, therefore, it ispossiblethat neither dedication found in thispart ofRome originated at a cult siteofAsclepius?and, even

ifsuch a site did exist, itwould only have produced thededication forSeptimiaMartina, while the

other would have been erected at aworkplace shrine or guild headquarters.

'Tons aquae perennis Hygiae." Only one of the extramural locations atwhich Asclepius was wor

shiped seems reasonably likely tohave been devoted to the god's medical powers in some manner.Located near a spring outside and to the east of thePorta Flaminia inwhat was later thevineyardof the Duke ofMelfi, this site has produced three dedications toAsclepius thatwere found and

recorded during theRenaissance:104 an altar dedicated by aman andwoman whose relationship is

unknown butwho were probably fellow freedmen (cat. no. 17), a statue base or altar vowed by an

imperial freedman and his family "for their improved lot" {obProcessus suos) (cat. no. 18),105 nd

an inscribed plaque from the dedication of a husband and wife thanking thegod foran unspecifiedexhibition of his power {gratiasagentes numini tuo) (cat. no. 19).106 n addition, itmay be possibleto assign to this shrine another dedication first recorded in thenearby Orti Giustiniani, though a

Praetorian shrineon theEsquiline is the likelierpoint of origin (cat.no. 20). The springwas labeledfons aquae perennisHygiae by theRenaissance antiquarian Martinus Smetius, but theorigin of this

tradition isunknown?perhaps a statue of the goddess was found there??and no ancient source

linksHygieia to the site.Although there isno clear indication that this site functioned as a heal

ing shrine, its location near a spring suggests that this cult site ofAsclepius may have emphasizedthe god's curative powers;107 and, if the sitewas a healing shrine, it is likely thatAsclepius would

have been joined therebyHygieia, whose association with the sitewas somehow recalled fifteen

hundred years later.

Cult Sites Not Devoted to Asclepius

In addition tobeing worshiped athis own temples and shrines,Asclepius, like any other god, could

receive offerings and dedications at the sanctuaries of other divinities.While it isunclear whether

104The site isdiscussed byCordiano (Cordiano andGregori

1993,156) andmore briefly byG. Messineo, who mistakenly

identifies all three dedications as altars (Messineo 1991,9, n.

4). Riethm?ller confuses thePorta Flaminia with the Porta

Flumentana and therefore suggests that these three inscrip

tions originated at the same site as the dedication from the

schola of the Collegium fabrum

tignariorum (cat.no.

23;Riethm?ller 2005, 2:433, no. 592).

105The precise meaning ofProcessus in this context isunclear,

but itappears topertain to an improvement in thededicants'

lives unrelated to health, such as increased prosperity (see

ILL 10.2, 1523-1527 (esp. col. 1524), s.v. "processus"; cf.

Latte 1967, 227, n. 5 and Guarducci 1971, 278, n. 50).

106The phrase gratias agentes numini tuo need not have

alluded toAsclepiuss medical intervention since this and

similar phrases appear in dedications to other gods. The

formula gratias agens was used throughout Thrace and the

eastern Latin-speaking provinces (see Le Glay 1995, 265),

whereas this dedication and the one by thebean sellers (cat.

no.15) represent

itsonly

occurrence inRome. For thepos

sibility that this sitewas frequented by natives of the north

Adriatic regions, see p. 123.

107On the importance of sources of freshwater atAsclepiuss

healing sanctuaries, see p. 97.








the dedication by the bean sellers came from aworkplace shrine of a god other thanAsclepius,this appears tohave been the case at the horrea Seiana in theEmporium district,where a statue of

Asclepius was dedicated to itsgenius, presumably at aworkplace shrine of thatdivinity (cat. no.

21), and another inscription records thatAsclepius's statuewas consecrated to Silvanus at an unknown aedes of thatgod, alongwith statues of Silvanus himself,Jupiter,Vulcan, Apollo, and Diana

(cat. no. 22).108There is also good reason to conclude that a relief ofAsclepius andHygieia that is

of unknown provenience originated at theheadquarters of a corpuspistorum (cat. no. 30). Seven

kilometers down theVia Appia, Asclepius again shared the company of several gods: at theVilla dei

Quintilii, situated between theVia Appia Nuova andVia Appia Antica, an acephalous statuetteof

Asclepius and a smaller statuettewere discovered among the remains of a sacellum?apparently, of

Zeus Bronton?along with statues ofHygieia, Jupiter,Hercules, theDioskouroi, Artemis Ephesia,and the eastern gods Zeus Bronton, Mithras, Astarte, Atargatis, and Neotera.109 Literary evidence,

too, reveals thatAsclepius was honored at other divinities' cult sites: according toPliny theElder,a statue ofAsclepius by Praxiteles's sonKephisodotos stood in theTemple of Juno Regina in the

Porticus Octaviae, while statues ofAsclepius and Hygieia by Nikeratos stood in theTemple of

Concord in the Forum Romanum.110

Just as places of commerce like thehorrea Seiana and aforementioned bean-industry establish

ment aswell as themeeting places of funeraryassociations like theCollegium Aesculapi etHygiaefeatured shrines, theheadquarters of professional collegia also included shrines that could receive

dedications made on behalf of theassociation.111 nRome, Asclepius was among thegods so honored,as isdemonstrated by the erection of a statueofAsclepius Conservator Augustorum at theheadquartersof the

Collegiumfabrum

tignariorum,amajor professional guild with

no overtconnection

to

the cult ofAsclepius, by one of itsmembers (cat.no. 23).112Since both thisprofessional association

and the funeraryassociation based at the imperial estates known as thePraedia Galbana saw fit to

make dedications toAsclepius on behalf of the emperors, it is likely that other such groups did so

aswell. And in lightof thisphenomenon, it seems a virtual certainty thatAsclepius, thepatron of

physicians, was regularlyhonored by the guild whose members met in the scholamedicorum that

is referred to inone inscription.113

Cult Sites atMilitary Complexes

A significantnumber ofAsclepius's worshipers inRome appear to have been associated with themilitary, and in several cases it appears that theirdedications came not frompublic temples but

108Indirect evidence might point to the Circus Flaminius as

the location of this aedes (see discussion in catalogue).

109See Annibaldi 1935, 81, nos. 5-6 + fig. 5 (= LIMC 2,

"Asklepios," no. 305). On this site and the other statues,see Annibaldi 1935 and Paris 2000. For the inscriptionsfrom the site, see IGUR 1:136-139 andAE 1935, 130-131.

Despite the fact that these statuettes were excavated at a

cult site some distance from the Porta

Appia,Riethm?ller

inexplicably associates them with themeeting place of the

Collegium Aesculapi etHygiae (Riethm?ller 2005,2:434; on

theCollegium, see pp. 109-110).

110Temple ofJuno Regina: Plin. HN 36.24; cf.Tert. De anim.

2. Temple ofConcord: Plin. HN 34.80. On thispair of statues,

particularly the influence of Nikeratos's work, see Becatti

1973-1974, 29-30 et passim; on the one at the Temple of

Concord alone, see Riethm?ller 2005, 2:432, no. 588.

111E.g., CIL 14:33,53 (= 7LS4173) and67 (OstiasCollegium

dendrophorum), and CIL 14:5 (= IIS 3776) (Ostias Col

legium fab rum tignariorum). On the scholae of professional

collegia, seeWaltzing 1895-1900, 1:217-221; cf.Diz. Ep. 2

(1900) 360-361, s.v. "Collegium" (J.-P.Waltzing).

112See More 1969,63-65 and Bollmann 1998,250-252, no.

A10; cf.C. Lega, LTUR, "Schola: collegium fabrum tignari

orum," 4:248-249 and Riethm?ller 2005,2:434, no. 597. On

the dedicant, see Royden 1988, 171-172.

113CIL 6:29805. See E. Papi, LTUR, "Schola medicorum,"

4:254 + add. 5:287-288 (G. Spinola). Cf. Nutton 1995, 7.







116 GIL H. RENBERG

from shrines situated in some of the city'smilitary camps and stations.114 ctive and retiredmilitary

personnel, especially members of the Praetorian Guard, constitute the largest identifiable group

among thosewho commissioned inscribed dedications forAsclepius inRome, andwhile four such

dedications cannot be linkedwith certainty to a known site (cat. nos. 12, 13, 20, 32), four others

appear to come either from theCastra Praetoria itselfor the adjacent area between the camp and

ServianWall known as theCampus Cohortium Praetoriarum (cat. nos. 24,25,26,27), and another

comes from a site inTrastevere, perhaps theCastra Ravennatium (cat. no. 28). Two of the dedica

tions of unknown provenience were commissioned by Praetorians and perhaps originated at one

of their shrines on theEsquiline. One of these,by a pair of individuals who had fulfilled their tours

of duty and were discharging theirvows toAsclepius, was first seen at theOrti Giustiniani and

could easily have originated inor near theCastra Praetoria half amile away (cat.no. 20). The other

dedication cannot be assigned to the Praetorians' camp with any certaintybecause the dedicant

was a veteran when he commissioned it, and, moreover, conflicting antiquarian sources make itimpossible to determine inwhich part ofRome the inscription originated (cat. no. 13). The other

two unprovenienced dedications were by personnel from othermilitary services: one, a dedication

toAsclepius andHygieia by a decurion of the equites singulares,was found outside thePorta Appia,

but the attempts to link it toknown sites on theVia Appia or east ofRome are purely speculative

(cat. no. 12);115the other, dedicated toAsclepius for thewell-being of the emperors by a soldier

from the eleventh urban cohort, does not have a recorded find spot (cat. no. 32).

Castra Praetoria and Campus Cohortium Praetoriarum. Although four dedications and a statuette

can be assigned to the general vicinity of theCastra Praetoria, it is unclear whether any of themcame from the camp itself rather than nearby temples or shrines.116 ike somuch concerning the

topography of thepart of theEsquiline dominated by thePraetorians, the full distribution of cult

sites frequented by them isunknown.117Only two communal shrines have been identifiedby name:

the templumMartis Castrorum Praetoriorum,which ismentioned in the funerary inscription of one

of itspriests and possibly represented on a Claudian coin celebrating his accession topower with

the support of thePraetorians, and the shrine of the standards.118Another inscription, found at the

114In addition to the dedicatory inscriptions by military

personnel, one of the fourmiraculously healed individuals

named in the testimonial inscription attributed to theTiberIsland Asklepieion was a soldier (cat. no. 6, lines 15-18; see

pp. 123, 127). No study of Asclepius and military religion

has been undertaken, but see Edelstein, Asclepius 2:253, n.

10 for some scattered references (now dated), and also R.

W. Davies's discussions of several dedications toAsclepius

linked tomedici'm theRoman army (Davies 1969 andDavies

1972; cf.Marwood 1988, 71-73). For additional references

to legionary dedications toAsclepius from northern Britan

nia and Moesia Inferior, see R. Gordon, Journal ofRoman

Studies 93 (2003) 260. For a survey of the evidence for cult

sites at army camps, see Redde 2004, 453-460.

115See discussion in catalogue.

116For the Castra Praetoria and adjoining Campus Cohor

tium Praetoriarum, see E. Lissi Caronna, LTUR, "Castra

Praetoria," 1:251-254 and Richardson, NTDAR, "Castra

Praetoria (Castra Praetorium)," 78-79. On Praetorian dedi

cations toAsclepius, see Durry 1938, 323-324 et passim.

In addition to the epigraphical evidence for theworship of

Asclepius in the Praetorians' neighborhood, a statuette of

Asclepius thatwas found on theVia Marghera, amodernstretch running from the southwest corner of the Castra

Praetoria, may well have originated at a military shrine

(Rome, Mus. Nuovo 2267: LIMC 2, "Asklepios," no. 297

+ pi.), as is true of an acephalous statuette from the area of

theMaccao dei PP. Gesuiti, justwest of the encampment

(Rome, Mus. Naz. Rom. 320: Mus. Naz. Rom., Sculture

1.2, no. 31), both of which might further demonstrate the

importance ofAsclepius to those serving in the Praetorian

Guard.

117On thedifficulties of determining the religious topography

of the Praetorian zone, seeDurry 1938, 307-308.

118Templum Martis: ILS 2090; Cohen, Medailles imperiales

1, "Claudius," 254, nos. 40-46 (= BMCRE 1:165, no. 5 + pi.

31, 4 = RIC 1, "Claudius," nos. 22-25 + pi. V, 88, cf.RIG

1:122, nos. 7-8). The coin, sometimes thought to represent

Mars's shrine, does not identify its subject and merely shows

a soldier standing within a Praetorian camp near amilitary







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OFWORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 117

siteof theCastra Praetoria, records the restorationwith public money of an unnamed association's

schola and aedicula, which were tobe adorned with marble; though not identified, the divinity to'

whom the shrinewas dedicated is believed to have been the genius centuriae.119Archaeologicalevidence has revealed thepresence of twomore unidentified cult sites in theCampus Cohortium

Praetoriarum. Most notably, the remains of a templewere found beneath theVia Gaeta betweentheVia Castelfidardo and Via Goito, while a smaller aedicula was unearthed less than a block away,at the corner of theVia Goito andVia Montebello.120 Furthermore, dedications by Praetorians for

a range of gods?for example, thegenius centuriae,JupiterOptimus Maximus, JupiterDolichenus,

Fortuna, Mithras?have been found in the area, suggesting thatmany more shrines once stood in

theCastra and its immediate vicinity.121hile no cult site ofAsclepius isknown, it isnevertheless

possible that thegod of healthwas venerated athis own shrine or temple; but ifno such site existed,thosewishing tomake dedications or offerings to him could have done so at the shrines of other

gods, so thepresence of dedications toAsclepius in thePraetorians' neighborhood does not provethe existence of a sitededicated to

Asclepius.122Two dedications toAsclepius are generally attributed to theCastra Praetoria because theywere found in its immediate vicinity: an unidentified dedication fromA.D. 82 by a doctor of the

fifthcohort addressed toAsclepius (cat. no. 24) and an altar forAsclepius Sindrinus by natives of

thePhilippopolitan region ofThrace who were serving in the Praetorian Guard inA.D. 241 (cat.no. 26).123However, neither can be assigned to the camp itselfwith any certainty: the dedication

by themedicus cohortiswas firstseen at theHorti Maecenatis, which might place itat the southern

fringesof theCampus Cohortium Praetoriarum,124while the dedication forAsclepius Sindrinuswas

found in two pieces thatwere each several hundred yards from theCastra Praetoria, one havingbeen reused at a church on thewest side of theBaths ofDiocletian and the other

havingturned

up to the east of theBaths in the immediate area of the two cult sites on theVia Goito. The former

dedication, having been erected by amedicus for thewell-being of his cohort,may have come not

froma temple but froma shrine located in thevaletudinarium he oversaw.125 wo other dedications

should also be recognized as having originated inor near theCastra Praetoria. One of these, an altar

forJupiter,Asclepius, andHygieia dedicated by an individual who had recentlybeen dischargedfrommilitary service,was first seen at theBaths ofDiocletian or thenearby Porta Salaria and thus

almost certainly is fromone of the Praetorians' cult sites,most likelyone consecrated to Jupiter(cat. no. 27). The other inscription, a large tablet toAsclepius Zimidrenus dating to A.D. 227 (cat.

standard (seeDurry 1938,321-323). Shrine of the standards:

Hdn. 4.4.5, cf. 5.8.5 (seeDurry 1938, 309-310).

119CIL 6:215, cf. 30717. See Durry 1938,314 et passim. For

the inscription's find spot, see CAR 3 E, no. 94-II(g).

120Temple: CAR 3G, no. 21 (site of CIL 6:31381 + add. p.

3778, 31431, 32625). Aedicula: CAR 3G, no. 7 (site of CIL

6:32524 + add. p. 3832,32622a-k, 32623,32624,37184). The

two sites are shown inLanciani, FUR, pi. 10. For structures

of a nonreligious nature in this area, see E. Lissi Caronna,

LTUR,op. cit.,

1:254.

121For references, see E. Lissi Caronna, LTUR, op. cit.,

1:252; the texts are collected by Lugli, Fontes 4:252-256,nos. 327-345.

122Cordiano, citing some of the Praetorians' dedications

toAsclepius, has suggested the existence of an aedicula of

Asclepius at theCastra Praetoria (Cordiano andGregori 1993,

160, n. 32). Riethm?ller reasonably suggests the presence of

a valetudinarium at the camp but omits cat. no. 25 from his

study altogether while wrongly treating cat. no. 26 as if it

would have come from the same site as cat. no. 24, which is

theonly inscription likely tohave originated at such a structure

(Riethm?ller 2005,2:433, no. 591).

123For the inclusion of these two among dedications from

theCastra Praetoria, see, e.g., E. Lissi Caronna, LTUR, op.

cit., 1:254 and Lugli, Fontes 4:252, nos. 325-326.

124Uncertainty overwhere thisdedication was first een has

led some to conclude that itoriginated not at a Praetorian

site but atAsclepius's Esquiline sanctuary (see p. 106).

125On valetudinaria, seeWilmanns 1995, 103-116 and

Valenti 1998, 89-102.







118 GIL H. RENBERG

no. 25), undoubtedly originated at the same site as the dedication toAsclepius Sindrinus made in

A.D. 241, and not the areawhere itwas found being reused.

This Thracian god,whose name suggests a toponym foran unknown siteor else some association

with a regional hero, isknown tohave been worshiped at a sanctuarynearmodern Batkun (Bulgaria),45 kilometerswest ofPhilippopolis, where, as atRome, his epithetwas subject to spellingvariations.126

The problem of the location of the cult site atwhich Asclepius Zimidrenus/Sindrinus was worshipedinRome ispart of a largerproblem, since the tablet forAsclepius Zimidrenus (cat. no. 25) was one

ofmany dedications commissioned by Thracian members of thePraetorian Guard for their native

divinities, and these could have originated either at a single sanctuary frequented primarilybyThra

cians or, as seemsmore likely, number of cult sites in theCampus Cohortium Praetoriarum.127Quite

possibly, one of these siteswas devoted toAsclepius Zimidrenus/Sindrinus, especially since the later

dedication was commissioned by a priest (cat.no. 26). Itmay well be that thisAsclepius, worshiped

by natives ofThrace, was in someway considered distinct from theAsclepius worshiped elsewhereinRome and thuswould not have been worshiped at the same shrine,but this is far from certain.

Therefore, while it ispossible that the fourPraetorian dedications addressed toAsclepius originatedat a single site, it ismore likelythatthey riginated at twoormore sitesand thatAsclepius Zimidrenus

was worshiped at a cult siteestablished by and for theThracians serving in thePraetorian Guard longafter themedicus cohortishad erected his dedication inA.D. 82 and decades aftertheestablishment of

the cult site atwhich the altar forJupiter,Asclepius, andHygieia was dedicated.

Castra Ravennatiunti The othermilitary complex atwhich Asclepius potentiallywas worshiped layon

theopposite side ofRome,in

Trastevere,where a

dedicationto

Asclepius bymilitary personnel (cat,no.

28) was discovered near thePiazza Mastai, inclose proximity to a dedication toJupiter olichenus.128

It has been argued recendy that these came froma shrinewithin theCastra Ravennatium, but since this

naval installationhas traditionally een placed in thevicinityof S. Crisogono, itmay bemore advisable

to attribute these two dedications to an unknown military site thateither enclosed or stood adjacentto aDolicheneum}29 The jointworship ofAsclepius and JupiterDolichenus by military personnel

(among others)may also have been evident on theTiber Island, since one dedication toDolichenus

by an optio classispraetoriaeRavennatts was found there,130hile another thatwas probably commis

sioned by a sailorwas seen inTrastevere at S. Benedetto inPiscinula, which is situated justbeyond

thePons Cestius.131These two inscriptions could indicate thatJupiterDolichenus was worshiped on

126On the sanctuary and thedozens of inscriptions and reliefs

from the site,presumably located inan unknown place or vicus

named Zim(i)dra, seeTsontchev 1941; cf. IGBulg 3.1:117-118

and nos. 1114-1292. For the epithets, ofwhich Zu[xu8Qr]vog,

Zu[i^8qy]vo(;, and ZuX.|ii>?8QY]vogwere themost common,

aswell as the likelyname of this village, see Tsontchev 1941,

74-75. The reliefs fromBatkun representAsclepius Zimidre

nus/Sindrinus both inthemanner traditional forAsclepius and

as aThracian rider-god: compare, forexample, an acephalousstatuette forAsklepios Zymydrenos that represents the god

using conventional iconographyor a relief of the

godbeside

Hygieia and Telesphorus (IGB?/g 3.1:1133; IGBulg}. 1:1141),

with a relief forAsklepios Zylmyzdrenos that represents a

Thracian rider-god (IGBulg 3.1:1226). Such differences in

iconography, however, do not indicate theological distinctions

and simply reflect differentways of representing the same

god, as isdemonstrated byNora Dimitrova's recent study of

Thracian rider reliefs (seeDimitrova 2002,216-220). For the

iconography ofAsclepius as a rider-god inThrace, seeLIMC2

(1984) 897-901, s.v. "Asklepios (inThracia)" (Z.Goceva).

127See the discussion in the catalogue. On the Thracian

dedications ingeneral, seeDurry 1938, 333-339.

128CIL 6:415 (= Zappata 1996,192-193, no. 45). This dedica

tion toAsclepius has been repeatedly assigned by scholars

to theTiber Island (see n. 62).

129See discussion in

catalogue.

130AE 1971, 28 (= Zappata 1996, 188-191, no. 43).

131CIL 6:418 + add. pp. 3005, 3756 (= Zappata 1996,

191-192, no. 44); cf.Lanciani, FUR, pi. 28. This inscription

has been taken as evidence for aDolicheneum inTrastevere

(L. Chioffi, LTUR, "Iuppiter Dolichenus, aedes (Reg.XIV),"







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OFWORSHIP INTHE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 119

the island, either inhis own shrineor at theAsklepieion itself, ut this is farfromcertain, since not

all inscriptions first een on the island necessarily originated there, and these two could easily have

originated inTrastevere, perhaps even at the same site as the dedication toAsclepius.132

Unknown Cult Sites Linked to Asclepius

As the existence of the various temples and shrines discussed above indicates, the cult ofAsclepiusonce extended throughoutRome. Several of the sitesknown from inscriptions and other findswere

extramural, perhaps because such areas were not so quickly despoiled as the city itself.Asclepius

probably had no more than two temples?only a few gods had three or more?but numerous

shrines thatdid not survive the ravages of thepostclassical eramay once have existed within the

city,as had the god's Tiber and Esquiline sanctuaries before the Christians expunged them from

the landscape. Indeed, since the

fourth-centuryRegionary

Catalogues

show thepresence of dozens

of aediculae within the city?only a small percentage of which have been positively identified, let

alone discovered?it seems highly unlikely thatnone of thesehonored Asclepius. Unfortunately, no

more shrines ofAsclepius are revealed by the remaining epigraphical evidence, although it isquite

likely that at least some of thededications of unknown provenience originated at cult sites of this

god that are completely unknown (cat. nos. 30-39). Similarly, literaryevidence does not indicate

theexistence of additional sites,with one possible exception.133Archaeological evidence, however,

may point to additional sites atwhich Asclepius was worshiped.

Just as thefind spots of certain inscriptions appear to reveal the existence and approximatelocation of otherwise unknown cult sitesofAsclepius, the find spots of anepigraphical statues and

reliefsof thegod may serve the same function.134ozens of such representations ofAsclepius are

preserved atmuseums inRome, and,while theorigins formost of these are unknown and therefore

theycannot even be assigned toRome itself ith confidence, the find spots of severalwere recorded

and thereforemight indicate the formerpresence of a shrine ofAsclepius.135 Unfortunately, these

rarely can be definitively linked to a cult site since both public buildings and thedwellings of the

rich commonly featured sculptures of the gods, many ofwhich had been brought fromGreece or

were copies ofGreek originals, and thus anynumber of sculpted objects could have been displayedin such settingsfordecorative rather than functional purposes. Furthermore, even ifsome of thesestatues and reliefs came from temples or shrines, these sites need not have been consecrated to

Asclepius: as discussed above, Asclepius could be worshiped at other gods' cult sites.136

3:132-133), but also has been speculatively assigned to the

Tiber Island (Coarelli 1996a, 587).

132Filippo Coarelli argues forJupiter Dolichenus's worship

on the island (Coarelli 1996a, 585-587), but D. Degrassi is

rightly skeptical (D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 3:100).

133Lugli suggests that the cryptic reference toAsclepius as one

who "in earlier times having turned into a serpent climbed to

anelevated sanctum

ontheRoman Palatine" {quondam versusin anguem templa Palatinae subiit sublimia Romae) in the late

antique medical writer Marcellus Empiricus's Carmen de

Speciebus may allude to a cult siteon thePalatine (Marc. Carm.

de Spec. 3^4, ed. Niedermann; Lugli, Fontes 8:55, no. 1).

134For the importance of dedicatory reliefs to the topographi

cal study of the cults of Athens, see Vikela 1997. To some

extent, a similar approach can be applied to the dedicatoryreliefs and sculptures found inRome.

135In addition to the anepigraphical materials, three inscribed

statues ofAsclepius survive (cat. nos. 33, 36, 38), aswell as

a single relief (cat. no. 30). There is also an ornate altar that

features reliefs of serpents approaching an offering of two

fruits and a pinecone (cat. no. 31), which were elements of

the cult's iconography (see Ciotti 1943-1945,40-42; see also

CILA 2.2, no. 360 + fig. 197, from Sevilla, a relief of serpentseating pinecones from an altar, and IG 10.2, 2, 58, from

Macedonian Herakleia, a plaque featuring two ears flanking a

pinecone). All five dedications are of unknown provenience,

though there is reason to link the relief to the headquartersof a corpus pistorum (see catalogue discussion).

Seep. 114-115.







120 GIL H. RENBERG

Bearing inmind such considerations, the statues and reliefsofAsclepius uncovered inRome

do furtherdemonstrate his far-reachingpresence in the city. In addition to the colossal statue of

Asclepius found on theTiber Island and the statuette from the area ofMadonna dei Monti,137

both ofwhich can be linked toknown sanctuaries ofAsclepius with varying degrees of certainty,

sculptures ofAsclepius have also been found at other ancient complexes, including theDomus

Tiberiana or an adjacent complex on thePalatine, theBaths ofCaracalla, where a colossal head was

found, and, as noted above, in the immediate vicinityof theCastra Praetoria.138 But most notably, a

large statue ofAsclepius accompanied by a young boy carrying a sacrificial roosterwas unearthed

in theForum Romanum just east of the Lacus Iuturnae and most likely came from this shrine or

the adjacent site often identified as a statio aquarumP9 That Asclepius should be worshiped at or

close to the Lacus Iuturnae is appropriate since thiswater-goddess isbelieved tohave exhibited her

therapeutic powers at this sanctuary;140 owever, it is impossible to conclude from thepresence of

this statue alone thatAsclepius had a shrine in the Forum.141Like the colossal head and statue ofAsclepius standing beside a youngworshiper, a statue that isbelieved tohave been found on the

Quirinal and a colossal head from thePalatine were not found near known cult sites ofAsclepius,

raising the possibility thatAsclepius was worshiped in these neighborhoods as well.142 Outside

the city, broken reliefpossibly representing Asclepius and two other figures that appears tohave

originated inAthens was found in the area of theVia Appia near the tomb of Caecilia Metella and

may have come from the same site as one ormore of the inscriptions from this area thatpertain to

the cult ofAsclepius, though itmight instead have decorated someone's villa.143All other sculpted

representations ofAsclepius fromRome and its suburbs are of unknown provenience.144

137See nn. 50 and 70. There may also have been a statue of

Asclepius found near theBaths ofTitus, in thegeneral vicinity

of theEsquiline sanctuary (see n. 70).

138Palatine: Tomei, Museo Palatino, no. 110. Baths ofCara

calla: Rome, Mus. Naz. Rom. 11614: LIMC2, "Asklepios,"no. 231; cf. Savignoni 1901, 372-381 + fig. 1 + pi. 14 and

Riethm?ller 2005, 2:433, no. 593. Castra Praetoria: see n.

116.

139Rome,Antiquarium Forense 39693: LIMC2, "Asklepios,"

no. 384; see Boni 1901, 114-116 + figs. 13, 74, and 75, andHarri 1989, 202-205, no. 3 + figs. 27-29; cf. Becatti 1973

1974,20 et pasim and Riethm?ller 2005,2:432, no. 587. The

speculation that the young boy represents Ianiskos, a son of

Asclepius according to some traditions, isdifficult to accept

(seeHoll?nder 1912, 153-155). Liisa Harri disputes Boni's

contention that the statue originated in the niche built into

thewest wall of theAtrium Vestae that faces both the "statio

aquarum" and the Lacus Iuturnae, basing her argument on

the dimensions of the niche. The presumed statio aquarum

has been thought to have served as a cult site linked to the

cura aquarum (see Bruun 1989, 145), but there is a good

possibility that the site has been misidentified and wasnot

connected to the city swater supply (see P. Burgers, LTUR,

"Statio aquarum," 4:346-349).

140See Aronen 1989, 60-63; cf.Harri 1989, 205 and E. M.

Steinby, LTUR, "Lacus Iuturnae," 3:170.

The possible existence of an actual cult site ofAsclepius

somewhere in theForum Romanum was proposed byMaiuri,

based on the representation of a statue ofAsclepius in one

of the arches of theColosseum in the "Sacra Via relief" on

theTomb of theHaterii, but this argument isunconvincing

(Maiuri 1912, 244-245, n. 2; on the relief, see Jensen 1978,

88-151, esp. 97 and 137). Even ifMaiuri was correct, this

statue from the Lacus Iuturnae appears unrelated to the

one in theHaterii relief.Moreover, the fragmentaryGreek

inscription apparently referring to a temple of Asclepius

thatwas found in the Forum and cited byMaiuri is now

believed to pertain to a temple inGreece orAsia Minor, not

Rome (IGUR 1:75).

142Quirinal: Rome, Mus. Naz. Rom. 8645: LIMC 2,

"Asklepios," no. 116 + pi. Palatine: Rome, Mus. Naz. Rom.

1115: LIMC 2, "Asklepios," no. 218. Another statue found

on theQuirinal that has been thought by some to represent

a youthful, beardless Asclepius ismore likely a statue of a

human?perhaps a doctor?in the guise of a god (Vatican,

Braccio Nuovo 2288: LIMC 2, "Asklepios," no. 157 + pi.=

Wrede, Consecratio, 195-196, no. 3 + pi. 1,2-A).

143Rome, Mus. Torlonia 433: LIMC2, "Asklepios," no. 101;

cf. Blinkenberg 1904 (with plate)and Besehe

1967-1968,515-517 +fig.2. The reliefwas omitted byRiethm?ller from

his catalogue (see n. 3). For the inscriptions from theVia

Appia that relate toAsclepius, see pp. 109-111.

144The most noteworthy of these is a travertine cippus of

Severan date that represents the Capitoline Triad in relief

on one side and Asclepius, Hygieia, and Telesphorus on the







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OF WORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 121

3.Asclepius andHis Worshipers inRome

Both the inscriptions themselves and theirtopographical distribution reveal thenature ofAsclepius's

cult inRome inways that the literary sources do not.With the exception of the oft-told storyof

Asclepius's introduction toRome and the establishment of his temple on theTiber Island, Roman

authors almost completely neglected thegod and his sanctuary.145s discussed above, the sanctuarywas brieflydescribed by Festus, and Varro noted having seen paintings at the "old" temple.146 he

only other specific references to the templewere made byCassio Dio, who reports that swarms of

bees gathering at its ceiling in 43 b.c. were considered an ill omen,147and by Pliny theElder and

Plutarch, who gave different explanations forwhy theAsklepieion was established on theTiber

Island.148Suetonius's statement that sick slaveswere being abandoned on the insulaAesculapi duringthe reign ofClaudius also appears topertain toAsclepius's temple, the likeliest place for them to

have convalesced.149With so littleattention devoted toAsclepius's foremost cult site inRome, it isno surprise that the lesser siteswere ignored altogether byRoman authors.And, since these literarysources on Asclepius inRome provide virtually nothing of substance regarding the god's cult in

general, thenonliterary evidence must be relied on. These sources reveal a god who played a vital

role inmaintaining and restoringhisworshipers' health?perhaps even visiting them in theirdreamsas theypracticed incubation at one ormore of his sanctuaries?but theyalso reveal a god who was

worshiped by individuals frommany different segments of society for a range of purposes.

Cult Organization andWorshipers

Relatively little sknown about the cult organization atAsclepius's two sanctuaries and the individuals who frequented these sites, though there ismore extensive information regarding Asclepius's

worshipers inRome ingeneral.150As was reported byFestus, Asclepius was worshiped on theTiber

Island according tohis native tradition,fromwhich itcan be inferredthathewas servedby a priesthood and lesser officials, as at Epidauros.151 Evidence for an official priesthood may be supplied

by one or two funerary inscriptions for a sacerdosAesculapi, but both inscriptions are problematic,and neither priest can be assigned to a particular sanctuary. In the case of one inscription, theword

sacerdos has been restored, and toomuch of thename of thedeceased is lost for a restoration tobe

attempted.152Another funerary inscription clearly preserves both the title sacerdosAesculapi and

other (Rome,Mus. Naz. Rom. 534: Mus. Naz. Rom.,Sculture

1.2, no. 16). See also Frankfurt, Liebieghaus 79a: LIMC 2,

"Asklepios," no. 270 + pi.

143For the sources concerning the sanctuary's establishment,

see n. 17.

146Festus,De sign, verb., 110M (= p. 98 Lindsay); Varro, LL

7.57. See pp. 99-101.

147Cass. Dio 47.2.3.

148Plin.NH 29.8.16; Plut. Quaest. Rom. 94 (see pp. 96-97).

149Suet. Claud. 25.2 (seen. 18).

130The only detailed treatmentsof thequestion of cult organiza

tion areMusial 1992a, 43-46 andMusial 1992b (inPolish).

151Festus, De verb, sign., 23>1M (= p. 268 Lindsay) (see

p. 133). Cat. no. 5, an altar forAsclepius from a two-time

minister thatwas preserved on the island, has been cited as

evidence for the cult's hierarchy because of themisconception that this individual served Asclepius (e.g.,Besnier 1902,210 and IIS 3.1:576); however, as Franz B?rner correctly

perceived, this slave was aminister vici (B?rner 1954/1955,cf. Lott 2004, 161-163,203; on ministri inRoman cults, see

RE 15.2 [1932] 1846-1848, s.v. "Ministri" [E. Marbach]).The altarmost likely originated at the island's vicus Censori,not the sanctuary itself (on the vicus, see n. 33).

132CIL 6:2231: D(is) m(anibus)\[?]nus qui etMuner[?J

\[?? sacerd]os\Asculapi se vib[o fecit sibi et]\[libert]is

libertabusqu[e posterisque eorum]. The inscription has been

dated by Tassini to the third or fourth century A.D. because

of the use of the supernomen (indicated by the presence of

quiet), a practice uncommon inLatin inscriptions before the







122 GIL H. RENBERG

the individuals name, but itwas only viewed by a sixteenth-century antiquarian and has been

suspected of being a forgery.153fgenuine, itwould show that an individual whose name, Lucius

Plaetorius Sabinus, suggests a possible familial link to one of the regions along anAdriatic coast,

had functioned asAsclepius's priest somewhere inRome.154This, in turn,could serve as yet furtherevidence for those concluding thatAsclepius inRome was worshiped mostly by foreigners and

those of servile or formerly servile status.155 uch a conclusion isunderstandable since sixteen of

the dedications toAsclepius were either inscribed inGreek or commissioned byGreeks, or both

(cat. nos. 8, 9, 10, 15, 17,18, 19, 21, 24, 29, 31, 32, 35, 36, 37, 38).156Moreover, the only literaryevidence regarding the god's clientele, Suetonius's reference to sick slaves being abandoned on

theTiber Island, might testifytoAsclepius's popularity among Rome's slave population.157 Nu

merous Greeks, including slaves, freedmen, and free-born residents ofRome, bore theophoricnames such asAsclepiades, Asclepiodorus, and Asclepiodotus, aswell asAsclepius itself,signal

ing the importance of this god toRome's Greeks.158 Indeed, there is even reason to think thattheEsquiline sanctuarywas primarily frequented by a local Greek community since the three

dedications linked to the site,one ofwhich was by a physician fromSmyrna,159were all inscribed

late second century A.D., and on the grounds thatAsculapi

and se vibo appear to represent laterLatin spellings (Tassini

1995-1996,58).

153CIL 6:2230+ add.p. 3307:L(ucio)Plaetorio (ucii) (ilio)Claudia (tribu) Sabino, \sacerd(oti)Aesculapi vix(it) ann(os)

LXXV,\M(arcus) Plaetorius Numisianus Sabinus\f(aciundum)

c(uravit). The inscription isdescribed as "valde suspecta" byone editor of CIL without explanation, though the reason

may lie in the fact that a nearly identical inscription from

Tibur was recorded during theRenaissance by the habitual

forgerof antiquities Pirro Ligorio (CIL 14:359* = Inscrlt 4.1,

100*). Ithas been dated no later than the firstcentury A.D. by

Tassini, who treats it s genuine, on the basis of nomenclature

(Tassini 1995-1996, 19-20).

154As pointed out byTassini, the gentilicial Plaetorius ismost

commonly found in Italy'sRegio IV (Samnium), Dalmatia and

Illyricum, and it is also known inRegio X (Venetia and Istria)

and the Brundisium plain (Tassini 1995-1996, 19-20; seeVulpe 1925, 131, n. 1,143 n. 2,208, n. 6 et passim; cf.OPEL

3:145). Both this inscription and theother funerary inscription

have been speculatively linked by Riethm?ller to the Tiber

Island sanctuary, but such a conclusion isproblematic for the

reasons discussed above (Riethm?ller 2005, 1:325, n. 4).

155See Besnier 1902, 205; Musial 1990, 236; Musial 1992a,

51-54.

156Also worth noting is thatUlpia Cynegis, thewoman who

made a donation to the collegium of imperial masons (see p.

110), can be identified as aGreek fromher name (see Solin,Griech. Personennamen, 2:1111, s.v. "Cynegis").

A dedication to an unspecified divinity has been uncon

vincingly associated with Asclepius by Besnier and Tassini

because it as assigned by one antiquarian source to theTiber

Island?even though the other sources said itwas seen in

Trastevere or,more vaguely, "near" theTiber at "S.Maria,"

which could refer to one of several churches on either side

of the river?and also because the dedicant's name, Lucius

Licinius Seleucus, suggests an eastern origin (CIL 6:841 + add.

p. 3007; see Besnier 1902, 210-211 and Tassini 1995-1996,

59, no. 42; cf. Riethm?ller 2005,1:325, n. 4). This proposedlink to the cult ofAsclepius is far from certain, though if the

inscriptionwas indeed seen at S.Maria dell' Orto, itcould be

one of the dedications originally erected at a cult site in this

area, among which was amilitary dedication forAsclepius(cat. no. 28; see pp. 118-119).

157The point is that of Besnier (Besnier 1902, 208).

158See Solin, Griech. Personennamen 3:1636-1637 (index).

Hygieia's name was likewise commonly adopted as a female

name (see Solin, Griech. Personennamen 1:390-392, s.v. "Hy

gia"). Of special interest is a third-century A.D. sarcophagus

ofMarcus Cornelius Hermadio, whose cognomen was Greek,

and hiswife Cornelia Hygia, which appears to represent him

in the guise of Asclepius and her asHygieia (CIL 6:16229;

seeWrede, Consecratio, 197, no. 5 + pi. 2, 4).

159At Rome, the close relationship between physicians and

theirpatron god isexemplified by the two epigrams inscribed

on thisdedication byNikomedes of Smyrna (cat. no. 8) (see

p. 126) and is implicit inPliny's comment thatAsclepius's

temple was placed outside the citybecause of theRomans'

negative view ofGreek medicine and physicians (Plin. HN

29.8.16). It may also be evident in a bilingual inscribed

funerary altar from the Via Aurelia that bears a relief of

Asclepius and Telesphorus in thepediment and was erected

in the second or early third century A.D. by one Greek for

his Greek magis(er/6i^6iayioiXo(;, who, if . Br?hl is correct,taught him themedical arts {IGUR 2:608 + photo

= LIMC

7, "Telesphoros," no. 90; see Br?hl 1956 and BE 1958,552).

Despite the association ofAsclepius and physicians atRome,

there isno evidence thatphysicians active at theTiber Island

Asklepieion had issued themedical prescriptions found in

the inscribed record of the god's miraculous cures (cat. no.

6), as has been claimed (seeMusial 1992b; cf.Musial 1992a,







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OF WORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 123

inGreek (cat. nos. 8-10).160 Similarly, the shrine at the ons aquae perennisHygiae may also have

catered to a particular population?not Greeks but rathernatives of the northernAdriatic, where

Asclepius was also popular.161Two of the three dedications from the site appear to reveal such a

link: theuse of the formula gratias agens inone dedication suggests that itwas commissioned by anative of one ofRome's Latin-speaking eastern provinces (cat.no. 19),162 hile thegentilicial name

of theman andwoman making another dedication indicates possible ties tonortheastern Italy,most

likelyAquileia (cat. no. 17).163 f this shrinewas indeed patronized primarily by worshipers from

thenorthernAdriatic, it could well be that thepriest Lucius Plaetorius Sabinus, possibly a native

of this area himself, served at this site rather than theTiber Island sanctuary.The general absence of references to theAsklepieion or thegod's cult inRoman literaturehas

been taken as a sign thatmembers ofRome's upper classes,many ofwhom harbored a suspicion of

Greek medicine, did notworship Asclepius, either at this sanctuary or away from it.164t has even

been argued thatAelius Aristides's failure tomention the site testifiesto itsunimportance forRomanelites.165 hese argumenta ex silentio are by nomeans conclusive since other gods, including native

divinities,who played prominent roles inRoman private cult did not fare considerably better in

the literaryrecord.166Nevertheless, the fact thatnone of those named indedications toAsclepiuscan be identified as amember of the senatorial or equestrian classes does appear to support this

observation.167 In contrast,many of the dedicants were slaves or freedmen (cat. nos. 5, 14, 18, 22,

37) or active and retiredmilitary personnel (cat. nos. 12, 13, 20, 24, 25, 26, 27, 28, 32), suggestingthatAsclepius was especially popular amongmembers of these groups.168However, Asclepius was

43,51-52). For the association of doctors with Asclepius ingeneral, see Samama 2003, 64-66 andWickkiser 2006.

160The presence of a Greek community in this neighbor

hood may also be attested by the discovery of several dozen

Greek inscriptions near the Baths ofTrajan. Most notably, an

association ofGreek athletes (r] lego. ^uaiiKrj auvo?oc,) was

headquartered just east of theBaths ofTrajan and producedmore than a dozen inscriptions found mostly at or near S.

Pietro inVincoli (IGUR 1:235-248, ILS 5164; see L. Chi

offi,LTUR, "Curia Athletarum," 1:330 + add. p. 5:241 and

Richardson, NTDAR, "Curia Athletarum," 102; cf.Newby

2002,185). However, Moretti's hesitant suggestion that alloitheGreek inscriptions associated with Asclepius might have

originated on theEsquiline has littlemerit (IGUR 1, p. 84,on cat. nos. 6,36-39) sinceGreek dedicatory inscriptions in

general, like other types ofGreek inscriptions, were widelydistributed throughout the city.

161For the cult ofAsclepius in thenorth Adriatic, see Tiussi

1999 and Riethm?ller 2005, 2:438^41, nos. 614-625. The

inscriptions recording thepresence of Balkan and Danubian

natives inRome are collected and discussed inRicci 1993.

162On the

geographicaldistribution of

the formula gratiasagens, see n. 106.

163Though individuals named Cantius orCantia are known in

several provinces, Tassini has effectively presented argumentsin favor of associating the dedicants Lucius Cantius Rufinus

and Cantia Euhodia, who may have been colliberti,with the

gens Cantia inAquileia (Tassini 1995-1996, 20-21, relying

partlyon

Leber 1970; cf.Tiussi 1999, 36 and OPEL 2:32).

164See Besnier 1902,204-205. This claim ispartly belied by

the fact thatRomans traveling or stationed in theEast would

visitAsklepieia: see, e.g., the list of senators and equestrianswho show up in the epigraphical record of the Pergamon

Asklepieion (IPergamon 8.3, pp. 193-194).

165See Besnier 1902, 208.

166The best example of this isSilvanus, who isnamed inmore

than 265 inscriptions from Rome but was discussed by few

authors and was of little interest to the upper classes (for theinscriptions, see Panciera 1995; for the literary sources, see

Palmer 1978,241-242 andDorcey 1992,153; on general lack of

interest among the elites, seeDorcey 1992,3,81 et passim).

167This follows amuch larger pattern evident throughout

the Latin West where, as Tassini has found, only 3.5 percentof inscriptions pertaining to the cult ofAsclepius were com

missioned by senators and 4.6 percent by equestrians, in

contrast to 23 percent by freedmen, 21 percent by soldiers

and 10 percent by slaves (Tassini 1995-1996, 277-299). See

also the discussion of Patrizia Calabria regarding the rarity

of republican coins representing Asclepius (Calabria 1992,71). It isworth considering that thepaintings of light-armed

cavalry seen at the temple byVarro, iftheywere indeed givenas dedications in the aftermath of amilitary victory (see n.

47), could reflectupper-class worship by at least one Roman

who was prominent enough to lead armies.

The testimonial inscription assigned to theTiber Island







124 GIL H. RENBERG

by no means shunned byRoman citizens of native birth and ancestry.This isdemonstrated by sev

eral dedications commissioned by individualswhose names appear tobe typicallyRoman (thoughsomemay have Celtic origins): Lucius Albanius (cat. no. 1),Marcus Populicios (sc.Publicius) (cat.

no. 2), Caius Bruttius (cat.no. 7), SeptimiusMartinus and Plaetoria Ianuaria (cat.no. 16),169 uciusValerius Iunianus (cat. no. 23), Marcus Sevius Seneca (cat. no. 27),170Quintus Ennius Sabinianus

(cat.no. 28), Caius Pupius Firminus (cat. no. 30), Caius Celsinius Martinus (cat.no. 33), and Silius

Sabinus (cat. no. 34). A dedication by two recently discharged Praetorians even identifies one,

Quintus Rosinius Severus ofMutina, as a native of Italy,while his comrade, Titus Popilius Broc

chus fromTarraconensis, possessed aRoman name (cat.no. 20). The prevalent view thatAsclepiuswas especially popular among foreigners and the lower classes needs tobe tempered inview of the

epigraphical evidence: there are almost asmany dedications toAsclepius made by those of Italian

heritage as byGreeks and twice asmany as by identifiable slaves or freedmen.

Worship under the Antonines and Severans

The worship ofAsclepius inRome began in themid-republic and continued at least as late as the

third centurya.d., but while it is impossible to determine for certain,Asclepius may have enjoyeda surge?or resurgence??of popularity inRome during theAntonine and Severan periods. This

is evident from themajority of the dedicatory inscriptions,which date to one of these periods or

else are post-Severan, aswell as from the testimonial inscription that refers tohealing miracles ef

fected "during the time of our August emperor Antoninus," most likelyCaracalla (cat. no. 6).171

It isnot all that surprising thatmost of the epigraphical evidence forAsclepius's worship inRome

would come from theAntonine or Severan periods: afterall, theperiod between a.d. 150 and 250saw thegreatest production of inscriptions inRome and the restof theLatinWest.172 But the epi

graphical evidence is complemented by other forms of evidence. The most notable, aswell as the

most easily dated, is themedallion struck under Antoninus Pius in commemoration ofAsclepius'sarrival atRome.173This emperor's reignwitnessed the 450th anniversaries of both his arrival and

his temple's subsequent foundation, and itappears likely that the coin featuringAsclepius thatwas

struck in a.d. 156/157 was specifically intended tohonor the former anniversary.174wo other ar

chaeological finds have been dated to theAntonine period exclusively on iconographical grounds:

provides further evidence for theworship ofAsclepius bymembers of these groups (cat. no. 6). While the first two

individuals named, Gaius and Lucius, cannot be assignedto a particular segment of Roman society, the fourth,

Valerius Aper, is identified as a soldier, and the third

individual's name, Iulianus, was commonly born by slaves

(see Solin, Sklavennamen 1:13). In addition, the two giftsto collegia named forAsclepius and Hygieia both appear

to have been made by freedwomen (cat. no. 11; Josi 1936,

211 [see n. 88]). As discussed in the previous note, this

pattern of freedmen, slaves, and soldiers representing the

three largest groups ofworshipers of Asclepius inRome

matches patterns evident in inscriptions elsewhere in theRoman Empire.

169As discussed above, the gentilicial Plaetorius could indi

cate an origin in Samnium, but itcould also be from one of

the provinces with an Adriatic seacoast (see n. 154).

The cognomen Seneca does raise thepossibility of Spanish

origins (see OPEL 4:65).

171For thedating of this inscription, see thediscussion in the

catalogue. For the interest of emperors of theAntonine and

Severan periods inAsclepius, seeMusial 1992a, 57-59.

172See Mrozek 1973 andMacMullen 1982.

173Seen. 5 and fig. 7.

174BMCRE 4:343, no. 2034 + pi. 49, 8. See Grant 1950,

105-106; cf.Beaujeu 1955, 301, n. 4. Jean Beaujeu accepts

Lugli's unsupported claim thatAntoninus Pius restored thetemple for the anniversary (Lugli,Mon. ant. 3:624), but at

best it is possible to conclude from the evidence that the

emperor commemorated Asclepius's arrival and his temple's

dedication. In both this case and that of the coin issue

celebrating the 500th anniversary (see below), the temple's

foundation was incorrectlydated to293 b.c.,which was when

the plague first struckRome (see n. 17).








Fig. 8. Aureus issued byCaracalla on the 500th anniversary of the

arrival ofAsclepius inRome. Obverse: bust ofCaracalla. Reverse:

Asclepius standing in a distyle temple,flanked by serpents. British

Museum 1867.0101.767 (photo BritishMuseum, neg. 137596).

? Copyright The Trustees ofThe BritishMuseum.

the uninscribed cylindrical altar fromTrastevere thatfeatures a reliefofTelesphorus175 and a statue

that represents either a youthful,beardless Asclepius or a human portrayed so as to resemble the

god.176 n addition, an inscribed funeraryaltar from theVia Aurelia bearing reliefs ofAsclepius and

Telesphorus was erected by one Greek in commemoration of another sometime in the second or

early third century.177n expressing their devotion toAsclepius during theAntonine and Severan

periods, ordinary Romans might have been following their emperors' leads since,most notably,

Antoninus Pius had issued the commemorative medallion and the coin ofa.d.

156/157,MarcusAurelius had visited thePergamon Asklepieion and appears to have been treated by the god,178Caracalla had visited the same sanctuary for treatment ina.d. 214 and subsequently issued a series

of coins representingAsclepius either alone orwith Telesphorus,179 and ina.d. 207 Caracalla and

Septimius Severus had each issued coins for the500th anniversary of thegod's arrival (fig.8).180 It

appears, therefore, thatat theheight of theempire the cult ofAsclepius was embraced by residents

ofRome from all stations, even thehighest.181

Asclepius's Roles and Responsibilities

Maintaining and Restoring Health. That Asclepius's intended function inRome was that of healinggod is likelydemonstrated by the location of his firstsanctuary ina "healthful" extraurban spot that

included a supply of freshwater, which was an important element of the god's healing shrines.182

Likewise, theVia Cassia site, judging from thegod's titleas Paean of theTiber, appears to indicate

proximity to the river and, presumably, springs feeding into it.Such a preference for thepresence

of awater source may also be reflected in the location of the possible healing shrine outside the

175See n.21.

176See n. 142.

177See n. 159. Br?hl and Moretti have dated the funerary

altar to the late second or early third century A.D.,while H.

R?hfel inLIMC prefers a second-century date.

178Fronto, Ep. 3.10.2, p. 43 ed. van den Hout. See also M.

Aur. Med. 1.17.20, commonly believed to refer to therapeuticdreams sent by Asclepius.

179ForCaracalla atPergamon, seeHdn. 4.8.3 and Cass. Dio

77.15.6-7, ed. Boissevain; cf. Johnston 1983, 66 et passim.The most notable coin, from A.D. 215, represents Caracalla

on the reversemaking a sacrifice at an altar before a templeinwhich Asclepius and Telesphorus are standing, almost cer

tainly intended to represent thePergamon temple {BMCRE

5:458, no. 148 + pi. 71,8). A coin from A.D. 214 features both

Asclepius and Telesphorus on the reverse (BMCRE 5:448), as

do others from A.D. 215 (BMCRE 5:485^186, nos. 278-280

+ pi. 76, 7; cf. BMCRE 5:452, no. 105), while some from

that year feature solely Asclepius (BMCRE 5:451-^452, nos.

103-104 and 489-490, nos. 292-297 + pi. 77, 5). For coins

minted atPergamon that show Caracalla and Asclepius, see

BMCMysia, 154-156, nos. 319-326 + pi. 31, 1-6; cf.BMC

Mysia, 156, no. 327 + pi. 32, 1. See also the brief study ofthese commemorative coins by Zolt?n K?d?r (Kad?r 1986;

cf.Penn 1994, 107-115).

180Septimius Severus: BMCRE 5:262; BMCRE 5:348, no.

850 + pi. 51, 7 (= RIC 4:196, 775a-b + pi. 10, 8). Cara

calla: BMCRE 5:267, no. 558 + pi. 42, 2. See Grant 1950,

117-119. The coins show the respective emperor on the

obverse and on the reverse Asclepius leaning against his

serpent-entwined staffwhile standing in a distyle templewith a triangular pediment enclosing awreath, flanked by

rearing serpents.

181For epigraphical evidence linkingAsclepius to theprotec

tion of the emperors, see pp. 135-136.

182For the issues associated with the choice of the Tiber

Island location, see pp. 95-98. For waters role in the cult of

Asclepius, see n. 31.





126 GIL H. RENBERG

Porta Flaminia at the spring later named forHygieia.183While the physical settings of these cult

sites suggest links tohealing, more direct evidence forAsclepius's importance as a healer inRome

is tobe found in inscriptions.Two of theGreek dedications addressed toAsclepius employ epithets

pertaining tohismedical prowess and role as averterof illness: "theonewho drives away diseases andsuffering" (vouacovtcocOsoovs sXaxfjcO none (cat. no. 9), and "releaser from illness" (vouao?,?iy]cJ,"famous for skill" (x?m?fxrjTic;),nd "life-giving" (cpsQsa?iocJ in the other (cat. no. 38).184Private

dedications inboth Latin and Greek creditAsclepius with recoveries: in addition to the epigramfrom theVia Cassia recording Lupus's recovery from tuberculosis (cat. no. 29), a dedication to

Asclepius andHygieia by an eques singulariswas erected "for thewell-being of himself and his and

thatof Lucius Iulius Helix, themedicus who diligently restoredme back to health in accordance

with these gods" [prosalute sua suorumque etL(uci) luli Heitels medici qui cur mmei diligenter egitsecundum deos) (cat.no. 12),185 nd a dedication of unknown provenience claims that thededicant,an

imperial freedman,was cured of a

spleenailment

byAsclepius'sdirect assistance

(cat.no.

37).The latterdedicant, Neochares Iulianus, gave the god a silver anatomical votive in the form of a

spleen, inscribing the base with thegrateful statement thathe had "been saved by your hands from

a swelling of the spleen" (?v%o[v] o7ikr\vdc;co?sic, om? awv %igcov).186In addition to curing thosewho were already sick,Asclepius evidently could dispense advice on

maintaining one's health. The most elaborate dedication forAsclepius fromRome, by thephysicianNikomedes of Smyrna, is a large base from theEsquiline site thatonce supported a statue of the

god as a child thatwas copied from an original by the famed Hellenistic sculptor Boethos.187On

this base were inscribed twoGreek dedicatory epigrams preceded by similarprose statements that

the dedication was made "as a giftfor deliverance and thank offering" (o&otqol xoel^acuaTrjcuoc)

(cat. no. 8A-B). While thefirstepigram vaguely creditsAsclepius with having saved the dedicant

from serious illnesses (line 7), in the second epigram, this doctor relates thathe had placed the

statue in the temple as a thank offering (^coaycHoc,ine 7), telling the god, "many times by your

advice (I have) avoided disease" (noWum gouc,?otAocTg vouaov aXeuapievog, line 8).188The man

ner inwhich this "advice" was communicated isnot revealed, but since so noted a physician as

Galen claimed to have received medical inspiration for an operation in a dream, and was aware

of an individual atPergamon who underwent a similar operation after receiving a dream, this is

the likeliest medium.189While Galen does not attribute these dreams toAsclepius, it ispossible

that the god himselfwas envisioned both times, especially in the case of the incident atPergamon;

183If there was another shrine of Asclepius in the Parco

Egerio, as seems unlikely (see pp. 111-114), itmay have been

located near theMarana brook or else an unknown spring. In

antiquity, this area must have been flushwith water, as was

the area to thewest where theCamenae and other nymphswere believed to dwell.

184In addition, a badly damaged altar addressing "Paean"

features theword vouaoc,, either in reference to a specific

ailment or toAsclepius's talents ingeneral (cat. no. 39).

185For a similar inscription fromLycia, see n. 200.

186On this phrase, see p. 128. In discussing this inscrip

tion, F. T. van Straten has observed that the dedication of

a replica of an internal organ ismuch more typical of Italic

anatomical votives than those found inGreece (van Straten

1981, 142).

187On the lost statue, seeMaiuri 1912, 247-250; on Niko

medes himself, seeRE 17.1 (1936) 500, s.v. "Nikomedes 14."

As was firstsuggested byA. Falconieri during the seventeenth

century, this may have been the same individual whose

epitaph fromRome labels him "the finest doctor" (olqiotoq,

iy]tq6<;), and one who "saved many with his pain-alleviating

drugs" (noXkooq is o(baaq ^olq\l6lkoic, avwSuvoicJ (IGUR

3:1283 = Samama 2003,520-521, no. 476; seeMaiuri 1912,

242-243).

188Maiuri suggested that this verse could be an allusion toone of themajor epidemics of the imperial period (Maiuri

1912,248-249, n. 2).

189Galen, Cur. Rat. Yen. Sect. 23 (ed. K?hn, 11:314-315)

and Hipp. Hum. 2.2 (ed. K?hn, 16:222-223). For Galen's

religious beliefs and the role of dreams in his medical practice,

see Kudlien 1981.

Nikomedes, on the other hand, specifies that the revelations had come fromAsclepius, but not

themedium of communication.

Whereas these dedicatory inscriptions provide tantalizing glimpses intoAsclepius's medical

practice atRome, the lone testimonial inscriptionprovides themost detailed evidence forAsclepiusas a healing god atRome. This inscription, a largemarble tablet suspected to be from the Tiber

Island Asklepieion, preserves four third-person testimonies ofmiraculous recoveries achieved byindividualswho had complied with instructions communicated to themby Asclepius (cat. no. 6):

[?] |a6xalg xaiq rjuigoctc,a(a) tivI TuepXo)xQr\\i(XTioevA,0etvsn[i to] Is|qov ?yjfxa al

Tigoaxuvrjaai, el<x>a ol%6 tou 8s?iou sX.6etv S7ti to ?lqioxsq?v | al OsTvai tou<; 7isvts SaxTuXougS7rava) tou

?^jiaToc, xal d@ai ttjv xbi\qolK0Cl ^7ci6sivat kid Toug i8(oug ocpOaXfxoug- xal ?q??v

dve?Xe^stou

|5 8?]fiou 7iaQ?GTo5Tog xal GUvxoci?Ofxevou, ?tl ^coaai ocQsml sysvovTO stiI |tou

Es?aaTOU rjpLwv vtcovsivou. |

Aoux(q) 7iX,suq?itix(I)xal

dccpy|Ajciapiv(oU7i6

rcavT?g dv0?(O7iou ?XQr\g\i6Lu\osv6

Oe?gsX-Oetv

xal sx tout?i?a)fjiou a?>ai t?cp@av xal jjlst' oYvou dva|cpuQaaai xal ?7u6eivat km to

nXeuQov xal

s?coOy] xal or]u,ooia r]u)(a(XGTy]g?v |10tco 6sa) xal 6 Srjfiog ouveyaQT] auTW.

|

atfxa dvacpsôvTi TouA-iavw dcprjAJUGfiivco U7c6 TiavT?g dv0Qa)7iou ^grja[xa|Tiaev 6 0edg

sX?siv al sx tou T?i?a>fxouoai x?xxougGTOo?iXou al | paysiv tsTa iXiTog nlTQsIg qpiQag*xal ?Gco0r] xal sa-Ocibv8r)u,oGia | r]u)(ag(GTr)Gev s(jl7tqog6sv

touSrjfxou. |15

OuaXsQiw "Ahqu GTQaTicoTr]ucpXw%Q7i(jidTiGev0sdg sX?sivxal Xa?eiv a!fia|&;aA-exTouuvog tauxou p.exa [xeXiTogxal xoXXu(Dio<v> auvTQityai xal kid |Tgetg rjfxsQag dmxQefaaistiI Toug ?cp?a^fxoug- xal dvs?Xe^?sv xal e\r\kude\> \al y]u)(a?)iGT7]g?v ?rjfjioGta

tw ?e?>.190

In those days he issued an oracle to a certain Gaius, a blind man, to approach the sacred

base and prostratehimself, nd thentogo fromtheright o the left nd place his fivefingersatop thebase and lift ishand andplace itoverhis own eyes.And he sawproperlyonce again,with thepeople standing y and rejoicingthat ivingmiracleswere happening during thetimeof our August emperor Antoninus.

To Lucius,who was pleuriticand despaired ofby allmen, thegod issuedan oracle thatheshouldgo and lift shes from hetriple ltar andmix themwithwine andplace this n his side.And hewas saved and publiclygave his thanksto thegod, and thepeople rejoicedwith him.

To Iulianus,who was bringingup blood and despaired ofby allmen, thegod issued anoracle thathe shouldgo and lift inecone seeds fromthetriple ltar and eat themwith honeyforthreedays.And hewas saved and, appearingpublicly,gavehis thanks efore thepeople.

To ValeriusAper, a blind soldier, hegod issuedan oracle that e go and take theblood of

awhite cock alongwith honey andmix them ntoan eye salve,and over threedays anointhiseyeswith this.And he sawonce again, and appeared andpubliclygavehis thanksto thegod.

In each case, the suffererappears tohave received these instructions bymeans of a dream-oraclefromAsclepius, as is indicated by theuse of s^rifiaTiasv, a termoccasionally associated with dream

revelations in literature, inscriptions, and papyri.191Since the top of the inscription isbroken and

190In addition to the commentaries byMoretti in IGUR and

Girone, themost important discussion of this inscription is

Guarducci 1978, 158-165.

191Literature: Joseph. Ant. 11.327 (e^QYjpiaxiaev auxw xaxa

xouc. Devout; 6 6s6g); Ev.Matt. 2.12 (x?r]fjiaxia6evxec, xax'.?vocq) and 2.22 (x?7]piaxia6elc, xax' ?vocq); Aristid. Or. 48.7

(6 EwxrjQ XQy](xaxtCsiv rjgâxo), 50.5 (%?r]pi.axi'?ei? ?s?cj,and 50.70 (IxQâ^sv). Inscriptions: IG 10.2:1, 67 (xax'

?veiQov x?7]fjLaxia6?icJ; RICIS, no. 306/0501 (xQrjpiaxia?eic;xaxa ?vag); JG 11.4:1299, lines 13-14 (s^rifjidxiasv xaxd

x?v U7ivov). Papyri: PCairZen 1:59034, lines 4-5 (x?v

?d?0C7Upi [xoi%QY\\)L(x.[Ti{,ei]\>iXe[o]vdHi[cJ |v zoic, unvoic).

Forms of %Qr\\LOLTiêivlso appear numerous times in the

magical papyri in reference to dreams or visions (PGM

4:951, 2502; PGM 5:444^45; PGM 7:248, 253, 329-330,

369, 709, 713, 744, 1015; PGM 8:108; PGM 12:113, 115,

120, 150; PGM 14:6), while the imperative )(Qy][JLdTiaov

[xoiappears in amagical gem employed to solicit propheticdreams (IG 14:2413,16). The use of ^g^piocTêiv, aswell as

XQr\\ioLTia\i?q, o refer todreams was explored by L. Robert

in a series of brief discussions and footnotes, lastly inRevue

de philologie, de litterature et de d'histoire anciennes 48

(1974) 205, n. 152 (= Robert, OMS 5:292).



128 GIL H. RENBERG

traces of letterson the rightside reveal that at least one column of text ismissing, it is clear that this

ispart of a larger listofmiraculous cures, similar innature both to the famous inscribed steles from

Epidauros and Lebena and to the bronze inscriptions laterordered byDiocletian for theEsquiline

sanctuary.192s atEpidauros and Lebena, themotivation for inscribing these accounts does not ap

pear tohave come from the individuals who were cured but rather frompriests or other authorities

intenton publicizing thegod's remarkable healing powers, and this explains the similar languageof each account. This inscription, therefore, served as an advertisement forAsclepius's successful

medical practice at one of his sanctuaries, quite possibly theTiber Island Asklepieion?and, ifthis

was indeed itspoint of origin, those who posted this tabletmay have been emulating themore

famous steles of theEpidauros Asklepieion inorder tomake the tacit claim that theTiber Island

sanctuarywas aworthy offshoot.

Healing through ncubation? This inscription preserving fourhealing testimonies is routinely citedby thosewho have concluded that therapeutic incubation,which involved sleepingwithin a sacred

precinct in thehope ofbeing cured by a god or receiving a prescription in a dream, was practicedat theTiber Island Asklepieion.193 It has long been assumed that the sick could undergo incubation

there,and thismay well have been the case, but ithas not been recognized that all of theevidence for

thepractice at this site thathas been cited can be called intoquestion.194The best piece of evidence,

this testimonial inscription,does appear to record dream-oracles similar innature to those received

byworshipers atEpidauros and Lebena, and itsspecific references to the cured individuals appearing

publicly seem to imply thatwhile recovering theyhad been secluded in the samemanner as those

engaging in incubation at easternAsklepieia, but itsprovenience isuncertain, and thus itmighthave

originated on theEsquiline or elsewhere.195Among dedicatory inscriptions,one inparticular stands

out as potential evidence for incubation, even though ithas never been cited as such:Neochares

Iulianus's dedication of a silver anatomical votive after "having been saved by your hands from a

swelling of the spleen" (cat no. 37). The phrase "saved by your hands" may be metaphorical?after

all, an armydoctor's dedication from the legionary fortressatDeva inBritain addresses thegod as

"Asclepius ofhealing hand" (r|7ii6)(stQ)?but itcould also indicate thatNeochares believed that the

god had appeared tohim ina dream and directly treatedhim for thismalady by performing surgery

or simply touching his abdomen.196Unfortunately, the inscription's provenience isunknown, so it

192Epidauros: IG 42!:121-124; cf. LiDonnici 1995. The

Epidauros steleswere seen in antiquity by Pausanias, though

not recorded indetail (Paus. 2.27.3; cf. Strabo 8.6.15). Crete:

ICret l:xvii, 8, 9, 10B, IIA, HB (?), 12A, 12B (?), 14A, 15,

19, 20 (?); cf.Girone, lamata, 75-135.

193On incubation in general, see RAC 18 (1997) 179-265,

s.v. "Inkubation" (M.Wacht). On the practice in the cult of

Asclepius, see esp. Edelstein, Asclepius; Girone, Iamata; Graf

1992; Guarducci 1978; Riethm?ller 2005,382-392 etpassim.

Among the studies linking cat. no. 6 to incubation at the

Tiber Island are: RE 2.2 (1896) 1676,1690,s.v.

"Asklepios"(R. Pietschmann); Besnier 1902, 223; Wissowa 1912, 308;

Guarducci 1978, 161; Degrassi 1986, 149, cf.D. Degrassi,

LTUR, op. cit, 1:22; Musial 1990, 233, 235; Musial 1992a,

40^2; Graf 1992,162; Wacht (above), col. 194; Riethm?ller

2005,2:431.

See Renberg 2006 for a brief discussion of thisproblem (at

pp. 110-113), aswell as a discussion of numerous sanctuaries

of other gods in theLatinWest thathave been unconvincingly

associated with incubation.

195Even if the inscription itself did originally greet visitors

to the Tiber Island sanctuary, it isworth considering that it

could be a copy from an eastern sanctuary: perhaps the odd

reference tomiracles occurring under the emperor "Antoni

nus"?probably Caracalla?in thefirsttestimony is a sign that

thesemiracles occurred at thePergamon Asklepieion during

his visit in A.D. 214 (on the visit, see n. 179). The fact that

the inscriptionidentifies the afflicted individuals as

Gaius,Lucius, Julianus, and Valerius Aper does not contradict

this theory, since plenty of Roman names are found in the

inscriptions of thePergamon sanctuary.

196Deva dedication: SEG 50,1086 (= Samama 2003,554-555,

no. 524). Itwas widely believed that, in addition toproviding

prescriptions, Asclepius when appearing to those undergoing







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OFWORSHIP IN THE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 129

is impossible to link it to incubation at a particular sanctuary; but if itwere to come from theTiber

Island Asklepieion, itwould represent evidence that, in addition to possibly giving prescriptionsof the type recorded in the testimonial inscription, Asclepius healed people directly at the site, as

at easternAsklepieiaP1 In contrast, theVia Cassia dedicatory epigram makes clear reference to a

sanctuarywhere a recoveryoccurred but provides no specific language suggesting that incubation

played a role (cat. no. 29).198 Indeed, since it took Lupus 100 days to recover from consumption,one should not conclude automatically that he benefited from the god's nocturnal intervention.

(Admittedly,Aelius Aristides's experiences demonstrate that incubation could be essential to some

long-term treatments and did not always produce immediate results overnight,while a dedication

fromPergamon indicates that an individual received a prescription fromAsclepius and followed it

for 120 days before being cured.)199Therefore, this sitewhere "Paean of theTiber" healed Lupuscannot be identifiedas a shrine atwhich incubation occurred on the strengthof thisone inscription:

instead, it could have functioned like one of themany other healing sanctuaries and health spasthroughout the ancientworld atwhich people convalesced without seeking or receiving therapeuticdreams from the site's resident divinity.200

While Neochares's rather significantGreek dedicatory inscription is ignored indiscussions of

incubation atRome's Asklepieia, threeLatin dedicatory inscriptions referringtodirect communica

tions fromAsclepius are regularly cited as evidence for incubation at theTiber Island Asklepieion,even though all three are of unknown provenience and make no reference tomedical problems

incubation sometimes healed them as theydreamed, either by

merely touching the afflicted individual or by performing anoperation. Such a scene isportrayed in awell-known relief

from the Peiraeus Asklepieion (Peiraeus 405: Mitropoulou,Attic Votive Reliefs, 63-64, no. 126 + fig. 183 = LIMC 2,

"Asklepios," no. 105).

197The earliest evidence from the cult inGreece, especially

atEpidauros, is for such miraculous, quick feats of healingrather than the issuance ofprescriptive dream-oracles, but, as

theEdelsteins rightly argue, itwould be wrong to conclude

from the absence of evidence thatAsclepius was not provid

ing such prescriptions from the very beginning aswell (see

Edelstein, Asclepius 2:151-155; cf.Wacht [n. 193 above],cols. 222-223). Likewise, an unsustainable distinction is to

be found inMoretti's suggestion, made solely on the strengthof cat. no. 6, thatAsclepius had a single modus operandi at

the Tiber Island sanctuary: Sanationes Aesculapii in insula

Tiberina differunt a sanationibus illis notissimis Epidauriis

quod Epidauri deus ipse noctu aegrotanti medetur, Romae

contraAesculapius videturper somnium aegrotantibus remedia

praebere (Moretti, IGUR 1:128-129; contra, see Guarducci

1978, 162, n. 4). Such a sweeping conclusion should not be

based on just four accounts from an incomplete inscriptionand ignores the fact thatby the imperial period therewas a

belief thatAsclepius

atEpidauros both gave out prescriptionsand healed directly (see, e.g., IG 42.1:126 =

Girone, Iamata,

58-70, no. 2.4 + photo). If thededication byNeochares and

the testimonial inscription both originated at the Tiber Island

site, itwould prove that at thisAsklepieion, too, Asclepiusboth healed and gave prescriptions. On direct healing, see

ThesCRA 3 (2005) 330, s.v. "Healing through touch" (V.

Lambrinoudakis with S. Petrounakos).

198For an apparently similar situation, see the epigram

in the Palatine Anthology inwhich an individual namedAeschines?perhaps the famous orator?states that he

had spent three months at Epidauros waiting for a sore on

his head to heal but makes no mention of incubation or a

miraculous cure (Anth. Pal. 6.330; seeWickkiser 2006, 31).

Wickkiser's article explores the evidence forAsclepius'streatment of chronic conditions.

199Without support, this Via Cassia inscription's editor

concludes that, "La nostra epigrafe costituisce quindiun'ulteriore attestazione dell'uso dell'incubatio anche

all'intemo degli Asklepieia romani" (Cordiano and Gregori

1993, 156). Pergamon dedication: SEG 37, 1019.

200For a possible parallel, which attributes recovery from a

persistent illness to therapeutic waters rather than dreams,see the dedication from Ad Mediam inwestern Dacia

inscribed, "To Asclepius and Hygieia, for thewell-beingof Iunia Cyrilla, because they restored her from a long ill

ness by the virtue of the divine power of thesewaters, her

husband(?) T(itus?) B. A. (dedicated this) in fulfillment of a

vow freelyand deservedly" (Aesculap(io)let Hygiaelpro salute

IuniaelCyrillae quod allonga infirmita\te virtute aqua\rumnuminis sui\revocaverunt\T(itus?) B(??) A(??) eius v(otum)

s(olvit) (ibens)m(erito)) (IDR 3.1:55=

ILS 3846).Also ofnote is a Lycian inscription inwhich an individual thanked

both a god, believed to be Asclepius, and the doctor who

had treated him, which again demonstrates thatAsclepius's

healing powers were not manifested solely through incuba

tion (IKibyra 1:83 = Samama 2003, 384-385, no. 274B; see

EBGR 2002,28 on this nd the imilarIKibyra :82).







130 GIL H. RENBERG

or treatments.These three dedications all indicate that theywere prompted by amessage from

Asclepius: one altarwas dedicated "in compliance with a dream" (ex viso) (cat. no. 31), two small

statuetteswere dedicated by an individual after "having been commanded" (iussus) (cat. no. 33),

and an unidentified dedication was made "according to a command from thegod's numen" (ex iussonuminis dei) (cat.no. 32).201The unmistakable claims of divine revelation in these inscriptions have

been assumed by scholars to refer to dreams obtained through incubation.202 Such a conclusion

ignores the fact thatdedicatory inscriptions featuring similar references todivine communications

were by no means limited to the cult ofAsclepius. There are, infact,more than 1,300 known Greek

and Latin dedications thatemploy such formulas as ex viso, ex iussu, expraecepto, somniomonitus,

xoct' ovocq, xa6' utcvov,xax' kmmyyp,nQoom^OLVXoc;xou 6eou, and xocxa %Qy][xocxia|ji6v,nd these

are addressed tomore than a hundred differentgods.203With few exceptions, these gods were not

associated with medicine, let alone incubation: as is clear from literature aswell as this group of

inscriptions, any god could appear to anyworshiper for any of a number of reasons. Therefore, itisdemonstrably wrong to assume that in the case ofAsclepius such dedications recording contact

between god andworshiper necessarily pertain to incubation.204

Unfortunately, as is trueof somany of the 1,300 divinely inspired dedications, these three for

Asclepius provide no information regarding the dedicant's experience, instead relyingon formulaic

language.205While it is clear that the formula ex visowould referto either a dream inwhich thegod

appeared or a symbolic dream thought to contain amessage from the god, the formula ex iusso

201The ex viso dedication of an image of a serpent is omitted

from the following discussion because itsprovenience isin

doubt (cat. no. 41).

202Although this assumption has been common, there has

been some variation in the inscriptions cited. D. Vaglieri had

cited cat. nos. 31-33 (Diz. Ep. 1 (1895) 316, s.v. "Aescula

pius" (D. Vaglieri)), while R. Pietschmann, Ernst Schmidt,

andWissowa cited only cat. no. 31 (RE22 (1896) 1676,1690,

s.v. "Asklepios"; Schmidt 1909, 44;Wissowa 1912, 308, n.

3), and Besnier later included cat. no. 32 in addition to cat.

no. 31 in his discussion of incubation, implying a connec

tion (Besnier 1902, 225). Other than Vaglieri's, these early

discussions excluded cat.no.

33,which hadnot

yet appearedinCIL 6 but was already published elsewhere, thoughmore

obscurely IRNL6752,cf.CIL 10:948*,1;EphEp 4:719).This omission was twice perpetuated by Guarducci, who,

like Besnier, included cat. no. 31 and 32 in a discussion of

incubation at theTiber Island Asklepieion without explicitly

linking them to the practice, thus hedging her bets: instead,

she simply concluded that, "il dio simanifestava ai fedeli

con visioni durante le quali egli dava consigli o impartiva

comandi" (Guarducci 1978, 162; cf.Guarducci 1971, 277).

More recent scholars, however, have included cat. no. 33 in

their lists of Latin inscriptions linked to incubation. Thus,

after stating that incubationwas

practicedat

this site,Musial

claimed of cat. nos. 31-33, "Quelques dedicaces adressees ?

Esculape en temoignage de gratitude pour les guerisons font

allusion ? la revelation par les songes" (Musial 1990,235; cf.

Musial 1992b). The notion that these three dedications are

evidence of incubation at theAsklepieion has most recently

been perpetuated?and thus given further legitimacy?by

M. Wacht in his article on incubation inRAC (Wacht [n.

193 above], col. 194), erroneously quoting cat. no. 31 as

cat. no.32,

as had Becher1970, 220-221,

n.61)

andby

D.

Degrassi inher article on the sanctuary forSteinby's Lexicon

(D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 1:22; cf.Degrassi 1986, 149).

To date, only one scholar, Cordiano, has urged caution in

discussing the background of these inscriptions (Cordiano

and Gregori 1993, 160, n. 26).

203See, most recently,G. Renberg, "'Commanded by the

Gods': An Epigraphical Study of Dreams and Visions in

Greek and Roman Religious Life" (Ph.D. diss., Duke Uni

versity 2003), which isbeing revised forpublication. All state

ments regarding thisgroup of 1,300 divinely inspired dedica

tionsare based on thatwork and

subsequentresearch.

204Yhis js a Common misperception: see, e.g., D. Vaglieri's

claim that, in addition to cat. nos. 31-33, all such dedications

prompted by Asclepius are evidence for incubation (see n.

202). There are indeed many dedications from themajor

Greek Asklepieia that refer or allude to dreams, but only a

small percentage are unambiguously related to incubation.

Asclepius is just one of several gods whose dedications cit

ing dreams have been ill-advisedly treated as evidence for

incubation (see Renberg 2006).

205This is the case with the two other dedications toAscle

pius erected in Italy following the god's communications:

CIL 5:2034 (monitus; Pagus Laebactium, Cisalpine Gaul)

and cat. no. 41 (ex viso; Puteoli? Rome?). Another, possibly

fromPraeneste, features the unique phrase dictu etfactu, an

apparent reference to the god's word and deed, rather than

thededicant's (ILS 3838 = ILMN 1:513; for an opposing view,

see deMarchi 1896-1903, 2:260, n. 4).





and participle iussus cannot even be linked to dreams with any certainty since divine commands

could also be imparted through a range of other divinatorymedia. For this reason, aswell as the

fact that itprovides no information about the circumstances leading to itsdedication, theplinth

with statuettes inscribed IussusAsculapio C(aius) Cel\siniusMartinus ("ForAsclepius, having been

commanded, Caius Celsinius Martinus (dedicated this)") should not be linked to incubation (cat.no. 33). Similarly, the dedication employing thephrase ex iusso numinis dei cannot be conclusivelyattributed to a god-sent dream, and the fact that it is concerned notwith the dedicant's health but

with the emperors' eliminates the likelihood thatAsclepius's message was received during incuba

tion even if twas transmitted through a dream (cat. no. 32):

Salvs Augustis\sancto esculapio\ex iusso\numinisdei\posuit\Mustius(iti) f(ilius) Fab(ia

tribu)\Olympusoma\milescoh(ortis) I\urb(anae) (centurid) ituli.

With theAugustuses being safe,toholyAsclepius, according to a command from hegod's nu

men,Mustius Olympus, sonofTitus, of theFabian tribe,from ome, a soldier of theeleventhurban cohort in the century of Vitulus, erected this.

Such dedications made for the health andwell-being of the emperor or emperors were quite com

mon during the imperial period andwere often commissioned bymilitary personnel who sought to

enlist theblessings of thegods.206Several dozen of these dedications were set up following divine

commands, as is indicated by theuse of such formulas as ex imperio207ex iussu 208ex viso209 and

somnio admonitus210 and innone of these cases can any link to incubation be established. Therefore,

this dedication is indistinguishable from a larger group bearing comparable texts, and there isnoreason forconcluding that this soldier had undergone incubation. Of these threeLatin dedications

forAsclepius, only the altar featuring the formula ex visomight plausibly be linked to incubation

(cat. no. 31). The inscription, however, makes not even an oblique reference to health or healing,or any other personal crisis:

T(itus) Flavius Antyll\us ex viso Ascl\epio aram\consecravit.

Titus Flavius Antyllus, in reaction to a dream, consecrated this altar forAsclepius.

This altar,which features a finely carved reliefof four serpents partaking of an offeringof fruits

and a pinecone, is larger andmore ornately decorated thanmost other altars fromRome, and it is

tempting to identify tnot as yet another unexceptional offeringdestined to clutter a donarium butrather as themain altar at a public or private shrine?certainly not the typical dedication made in

compliance with or response to a dream obtained through incubation.

For these reasons, one should not be overly hasty to assume that the three Latin dedicationsmust referto an incubatory experience simplybecause theyallude to a communication fromAscle

pius. After all, in addition to being one of the few gods who was believed to come toworshipersundergoing incubation, Asclepius, like any other divinity,could appear to individuals indreams or

206For Asclepius's role of protector of the emperors, see

pp. 135-136.

207ILS 3807 (Bellona), IDR 3.5:253 (Mater Deum Magna).

208CIL 11:2 Qupiter Dolichenus).

209CIL 5:1870 + add.p. 1053 (Jupiterolichenus),CIL3:8082 (Hercules Invictus), CIL 6:659 (Silvanus).

ILS" 2088 (Nemesis Campestris).



132 GIL H. RENBERG

visionswhenever he pleased: his inclination to appear tohisworshipers was by no means limited to

those undergoing incubation, and his presence could be sensed by those nowhere near his healingsanctuaries.As isdemonstrated by theseLatin inscriptions,particularly if ussus and ex iussohere refer

todreams, aswell as theGreek inscriptions recording or alluding todreams, Asclepius was thoughtto take an interest inhisworshipers' lives and occasionally demonstrated thisby appearing to them

directly or sendingmessages thatwere unmistakably from him.Divinely inspired dedications from

throughout theEast andWest indicate thatAsclepius appeared to hisworshipers in theirdreams

with greater relativefrequency than all but a fewof theother gods. These other divinities,particularly

Silvanus, thenymphs, and differentLares, were primarily associated with specific locations where

theymight be encountered, such as groves, streams, and crossroads, and thus theirvisible epiphanieswere unsurprising because of their immediate proximity.But theirunusually frequent appearancesindreams may also have been a product of their importance inprivate cult, especially in the case of

Silvanus and thenymphs, and thismay explain Asclepius's propensity forappearing toworshiperswhose ensuing dedicatory inscriptionsbetrayno signof illnessor recovery.In otherwords, Asclepiuswas a godwhose chief role inancient religion lay inprotecting individuals, and his regular appearancesindreams unrelated to incubation isa functionofhis prominence inprivateworship. The bulk of the

epigraphical evidence for this is tobe found outside ofRome, but theRoman inscriptions recording

Asclepius's communications indicate that inRome, too,Asclepius's worshipers felt close enough to

thegod tobelieve that he sufficiently ared about them to communicate his concerns.

Overall, then, the epigraphical evidence for incubation in the cult ofAsclepius inRome

proves tobe ambiguous. This is also trueof the literarysources thathave been repeatedly quoted

as proof that incubation was practiced by the god's worshipers at his urban sanctuaries, withoutanyone noting the circumstantial and unsubstantial nature of thisevidence. Some of the claims that

have been made in this regard can hardly be supported: forexample, the statements by Livy and

Plutarch that theTiber Island had many "temples and porticoes" have been interpreted as evidence

for incubation at theAsklepieion, even though neither passage specifically refers toAsclepius's

sanctuary, and porticoes were common features at countless sanctuaries thatdid not employ them

as incubation dormitories.211Two other passages that have been taken as evidence for incubation

at the Tiber Island sanctuary, inworks ofPlautus and Cicero, atmost prove that the role of incu

bation inAsclepius's cultwas known to theRomans by themid-republic.212 In Plautus's Curculio,

set inEpidauros

butmomentarily shifting

its frame of reference toRome,

the characters who are

conversing outside theAsklepieion twice referto incubation: early in theplay,Phaedromus mentions

that a leno isundergoing incubation in the shrine ofAsclepius (hie leno, hie qui aegrotus incubat in

Aesculapi fand), and a little aterPalinurus, theCook, and Cappadox discuss the latter'sdream-vision

ofAsclepius from thenightbefore.213 lautus's Epidaurian comedy indicates thatby the turnof the

second centuryB.c.Rome's citizenswere sufficiently amiliarwith incubation for theplaywright to

expect them to understand his references, but his conflation of Epidauros and Rome should not

be taken as definitive proof that incubation was also practiced atRome's Asklepieion, even ifthere

exists thepossibility thatPlautus's characterswere acting out a scene familiar toRomans who had

211

Livy 2.5.4 and Plut. Publ. 8.6 (see n. 48), cited by Besnier1902, 200; D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 3:99; Tiussi 1999,

15-16, n. 3; Riethm?ller2005,1:325, n. 3 (Livy only). Musial

is the only scholar tohave cast doubt on this claim regarding

porticoes and incubation (Musial 1992a, 36).

212The only reliable evidence for incubation in republican

Italy is limited to shrines of Calchas and Podalirius atMt.

Drion inApulia, though archaeological evidence from theHellenistic Asklepieion atAgrigentum suggests that incuba

tionwas practiced there before Roman times, and there is

indirect evidence for the practice at certain other Asklepieia

inMagna Graecia (see Renberg 2006, 113-114).

Plaut. Cure. 61-62,216-273.







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OFWORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 133

visited the Tiber Island.214By Cicero's time, thepractice of incubation was noteworthy enough to

merit consideration inhisDe Divinatione. At one point, as thephilosophical debate between the

twobrothers progresses, Cicero criticizes thenotion thatAsclepius or Serapis could impartmedical

knowledge throughdreams:

Qui igitur convenit aegros a coniectore somniorum potius quam a medico petere medicinam? An

Aesculapius an Serapis potest nobis praescribere per somnium curationem valetudinis, Neptunus

gubernantibus non potest?215

Who therefore oncludes thatthe sick should seek treatment roman interpreterf dreamsratherthana doctor?Or can eitherAsclepius or Serapis reallyprescribe tous inour sleep a

remedyforhealth,butNeptune isnot able todo so forhelmsmen?

This passage might have been targeting theTiber Island Asklepieion, but inCicero's day there doesnot yet appear tohave been an Egyptian sanctuary inRome atwhich incubation could be under

taken, suggesting thatCicero's philosophical persona in thiswork was speaking about the two cults

ingeneralities rather than alluding to specific sites inRome.216

Another author, Festus, presents better?albeit likewise indirect?evidence than Plautus and

Cicero that incubationwas indeed practiced on the island.According toFestus, Asclepius was one

of just threeforeigngodswhose traditionalworship was preciselymaintained afterbeing introduced

toRome, all during the third century b.c.:

Peregrinasacra

appellantur, quaeaut evocatis dis in

oppugnandis urbibusRomam sunt

fconatafaut quae ob quasdam religiones per pacem sunt petita, ut ex Phrygia Matris Magnae, ex Graecia

Cereris, Epidauro Aesculapi: quae coluntur eorum more, a quibus sunt accepta.217

Rites arecalled foreign hich eitherby thegodshavingbeen summonedtoRome frombesiegedcities were undertaken (?)... or which were sought during peacetime because of a certain rever

ence, as were the rites f theGreatMother fromPhrygia,ofCeres from reece, ofAsclepiusfromEpidauros, whichwere maintained according to thecustomsof those fromwhom they

were received.

In the case of the two goddesses, other sources reveal tousways inwhich theirworship remained

unchanged: theMagna Mater's priests and priestesses were brought fromAsia Minor,218while

Ceres's priestesses were drawn from theGreek populations of southern Italy,219nd so both cults

inRome were overseen by cult leaders familiarwith their traditionalworship. Furthermore, the

Greek-oriented cult of Ceres thatbegan in the late third century b.c., joining a preexisting cult of

the Italian Ceres present inRome since the fifthcentury b.c., featured expiatory processions of

214For this unproven link between the Curculio and Tiber

Island sanctuary, see Besnier 1902,205-207 and Guarducci

1978, 161-162; cf.Degrassi 1986, 149.

215CicDw. 2.59.123.

216A. S. Pease speculated, perhaps erroneously, thatCicero

was referring to the Tiber Island sanctuary "because of its

nearness" (Pease 1920-1923, 2:367 [repr. ed., p. 549]).Besnier was more convinced that the passage pertained to

this site (Besnier 1902, 224-225). But Cicero could just as

easily have been alluding to thewell-known Asklepieia in the

East, aswell as Sarapis's Canopus sanctuary,which during the

Hellenistic period had become famous formiraculous cures

(see Strabo 17.1.17, p. 801; cf.Diog. Laert. 5.76).

217Festus, De verb, sign., 237 M (= p. 268 Lindsay).

218Dion. Hal. 2.19.4-5.

Cic.Mb. 55. See Le Bonniec 1958, 381^00.







134 GIL H. RENBERG

matrons and maidens derived from those forDemeter.220 So it appears possible thatAsclepius'sTiber Island sanctuarywas overseen byGreeks, who introduced his peregrina sacra, and theymayhave also introduced the practice of incubation.221 It can be inferred, then, thatwhen Asclepius

was brought toRome by the embassy sent toEpidauros, the siteof themost important incubationshrine ofAsclepius inmainland Greece, the Romans did notmodify his cult to follow traditional

Roman religious practices but insteadworshiped him according to tradition?an important ele

ment of which was incubation.222Therefore, incubation may have been an early,or even original,

aspect of the cult ofAsclepius inRome. Later in the imperial period, itmay have been practiced at

theEsquiline sanctuary aswell, since the Passio SS Quattuor Coronatorum reports thatDiocletian

had ordered that a list of cures effectedbyAsclepius be inscribed on bronze tablets at the temple

(Diocletianus . . .praecepit omnes curas in eodem templo inpraeconias aeneas cum caracteribus in

figi),223 nd since the survivingtestimoniesofEpidauros and Lebena mostly pertain to cures achieved

through incubation, itappears that some of these cures recorded atDiocletian's command wouldhave been achieved through incubation.

The literarysources for the cult ofAsclepius inRome leave open thepossibility of incubation

being practiced at one or more of his sanctuaries, but none of these scattered passages represents

conclusive proof. Indeed, the evidence for incubation inAsclepius's cult atRome ismuch more

limited than has been recognized by thosewho have treated the subject, and only theunprovenienced

inscription preserving testimonies ofmiraculous recoveries and the likewise unprovenienced Greek

dedicatory inscription referring o a cure obtained at thegod's hands might constitute reliable proof.

Beyond Rome, however, there is a complete lack of direct evidence for incubation inAsclepius's

cult elsewhere in the Latin West, where the god was worshiped in nearly every province.224Asnoted in the introduction,duringRoman times nowhere in Italyor anyotherwestern province does

there appear tohave been anAsklepieion on parwith those of theEast in termsof itsprominence,

with thepossible exception ofTarentum.225 If incubation was indeed practiced somewhere in the

Latin West, our lack of awareness would be due inpart to such factors as the tendency of Latin

dedicatory inscriptions tobe less detailed than comparable Greek texts and the tendency ofLatin

authorswho discussed religious practices to focus on Rome and the rest of Italy. In lightof the

lack of any sortof evidence for incubation atAsklepieia located somewhere other thanRome, it is

at best possible to conclude thatAsclepius in theLatin West was a healer?a healer whose modus

operandi

was not recorded.

Asclepius's Other Functions. As is indicated by the threeLatin dedications made in compliance

with the god's commands, aswell as similar divinely inspired inscriptions from other sites,Ascle

pius took an immediate interest in the lives of hisworshipers?even when theyweren't ailing. In

220Jul.Obs. 43,46,53; cf.Jul.Obs. 34,36 and Livy 27.37.7.

See Le Bonniec 1958, 451-455 and Spaeth 1996, 11-12,

103-104.

221For what little is known of the cult's hierarchy, see pp.

121-122. The possibility that Festuswas

referringto

theEsquiline Asklepieion, which evidently was frequented by

Greeks, cannot be excluded, but the passage does seem to

indicate the Tiber Island site instead.

222D. Degrassi cites Festus in addition to epigraphical

evidence in concluding that at the Tiber Island Asklepieion,

"molto praticata doveva esservi Vincubatio, come ad Epid

auro" (D. Degrassi, LTUR, op. cit., 1:22; cf.Degrassi 1986,

149). The same conclusion was reached byMusial indepen

dently (Musial 1992a, 39; Musial 1992b, 77).

223Passio SS. Quat. Cor. 22 (see n. 69).

224See Renberg 2006. The well-preserved Asklepieion

at Agrigentum features a structure that has reasonably

been identified as an abaton, but the site appears to have

stopped functioning by the Roman period (see De Miro

2003,73-88).

On Tarentum, see n. 2.








the case of the dedication made ex iusso numinis dei for the emperors' health (cat. no. 32), it is

clear thatAsclepius was thought to have contacted a soldier on amatter altogether unrelated to

his personal health, and it isquite possible that the other two dedications prompted byAsclepius

could have been associated with issues that likewise had nothing todo with any health problems.The Epidaurian steles, among the earliest inscribed documents fromAsclepius's cult, reveal the

god not only to have miraculously healed afflicted individuals who visited his sanctuary but to

have repaired a broken cup, found a lost child, taught awinning wrestling move, and revealed the

location of buried treasure.226Literary and epigraphical sources echo the testimonies, assigningtoAsclepius a number of other responsibilities quite unrelated to his medical practice. In Rome,this ismost strikingly emonstrated by thededication toAsclepius andHygieia thanking them for

blessing a couple sbean business in an unspecified manner (cat. no. 15), aswell as thededication

by an imperial freedman and his family "for their improved lot" (obProcessus suos) (cat. no. 18), a

phrase perhaps suggesting some sortof commercial or professional success. Further evidence of thegod's role inpromoting prosperity is represented by thededication of a statue ofAsclepius to the

genius horreorum Seianorum by a father and sonwho presumablyworked at thiswarehouse complex(cat.no. 21) and possibly by a relief linked to theheadquarters of an imperial corpuspistorum (cat.no. 30). As thededication by the freedman and his familydemonstrates, Asclepius was a god who

cared forfamilies aswell as individuals: it isno surprise, then, thatAsclepius was among the gods

worshiped at domestic shrines excavated inPompeii andHerculaneum.227 Thus Asclepius, a god

primarily associated with maintaining and restoringpersonal health, could serve as theprotectorand benefactor of an entire household. Asclepius's role of guardian of thehousehold had itsroots

inGreece but appears tohave become especially importantbyRoman times,as isdemonstrated bythewealth of dedications erected on behalf of thewell-being of entire families.228

Asclepius's role of protector extended beyond theprivate individual and household, to the

emperor and imperial household and those serving in themilitary. In addition to the dedication

made by a soldier "with theAugustuses being safe" (salvisAugustis) (cat.no. 32), Asclepius is seen

as protector of the emperors' welfare in threeother dedications fromRome: the statue ofAsclepiusConservator Augustorum erected at theheadquarters of theCollegium fabrum tignariorum (cat.no.

23);229 the dedication toAsclepius and Salus Aug(ustaAusti) commissioned for the numen domus

AugustaelAugusti by themembers of the funerary association at thePraedia Galbana, many of

whom were

imperialfreedmen or slaves

(cat.no.

14);and the altar found inTrastevere that

possiblyoriginated at theCastra Ravennatium or some othermilitary site and appears tohave been commis

sioned bymilitary personnel for thehealth and well-being (pro salute) ofAlexander Severus and

Iulia Mamaea (cat. no. 28). Certain emperors were especially devoted toAsclepius, among them

Antoninus Pius, duringwhose reignAsclepius's cult appears tohave been verymuch invogue at

226IG 42.1:121, lines 79-89 (cup); IG 42.1:122, lines 19-26

(child), 50-55 (wrestling move); IG 42.1:123, lines 8-21

(treasure).

227

See Bakker 1994, 41,n.

90 and Catalano 2002, 165,176.

228For Asclepius's role as protector of families and his

involvement in various aspects of daily life in theGreek

East, see Edelstein, Asclepius 2:104; for his specific role of

preserver?as opposed to restorer?of health, see Edelstein,

Asclepius 2:182. Exemplifying a flaw found throughout

their impressive study, the Edelsteins overlooked much of

the epigraphical evidence in theirbrief discussions of these

issues, since they preferred to draw on the relatively small

group of lengthy and descriptive texts rather than themore

numerous dedications toAsclepius that are terse and lessinformative. But even short texts, especially when studied

collectively, can be quite revealing.

229The role of conservator Augustorum was more commonly

assigned to Jupiter (see Diz. Ep. 2.1 (1961) 607-608, s.v.

"Conservator").







136 GIL H. RENBERG

Rome.230The importance ofAsclepius to this emperor is indicated indirectlyby the profusion of

dedications and other cult-related objects during his reign,but is also evident in theLex collegi

Aesculapi etHygiae inscribed inA.D. 153 (cat. no. 11). According to thisdocument, the association

held themost important of itsannual feastdays on 19 September, the emperor's birthday, and didso not at its schola but at theTemplum Divorum in theCampus Martius?a clear sign that the col

legium,which included imperial freedmen of previous emperors among itsmembers, was dedicated

to the ruler cult aswell as the cult ofAsclepius andHygieia.231As noted above, military personnel represent the largest identifiable group ofAsclepius 's

worshipers in termsof vocation.232Some of theirdedications were made primarily for theirpersonal

benefit, as was the casewith the dedication toAsclepius made by a veteran of thePraetorian Guard

for an unspecified reason (cat. no. 13) and the dedication of thedecurio equitum singulariumwho

sought his own well-being aswell as that of his household and the armydoctor who helped him

regain his health (cat. no. 12). Those serving in themilitary also made dedications collectively, asis seen in the two dedications toAsclepius Zimidrenus commissioned by Thracians serving in the

Praetorian Guard (cat.nos. 25,26). The dedication toAsclepius fromTrastevere, which appears to

have been for thewell-being ofAlexander Severus and IuliaMamaea, likewisewas commissioned

by a group thatwas possibly led by an optio convalescentium (cat. no. 28), whereas the one made

"with theAugustuses being safe"was dedicated by a lone, lowlymiles in the eleventh urban cohort

(cat. no. 32). That Asclepius was sought as a protector of soldiers' well-being is demonstrated in

particular by three dedications. One of these,by themedicus of aPraetorian cohort,was dedicated

toAsclepius expressly for "thewell-being ofhis comrades" {salus commilitonum) (cat.no. 24). The

other two dedications were made by individualswho had justbeen honorably discharged from theirunits (missi honesta missione), both in fulfillmentof vows: evidently these soldiers had promised

Asclepius that theywould honor him with giftsand offerings ifhe ensured that they survived their

toursofduty (cat.nos. 20,27). Asclepius's worship by soldiers inRome isalso indicated by thePassio

SS. Quattuor Coronatorum, which records the tradition that iocletian restored theEsquiline temple

ofAsclepius and then "ordered that all of the services, especially the soldiers of theurban prefecture,

be compelled to approach the statue ofAsclepius with sacrifices and to offer incense."233

4. Conclusion

As is indicated by literary, pigraphical, and archaeological evidence, Asclepius inRome was a god

who took a close interest inpeople's welfare andwas the subject ofwidespread veneration among

both foreign-born and native-born individuals.Heretofore the focus on his cult has centered on his

Tiber Island sanctuary,but it is clear that thosewho wished toworship himwere never too faraway

froman alternative shrineor sanctuary.The god's original sanctuary inRome undoubtedly retained

itspreeminence, particularly as ahealing shrine,until theRoman godswere no longerworshiped and

Asclepius was ousted from theTiber Island by the Christians. Though we lack direct evidence for

it,Asclepius, who interactedwith hisworshipers with relativelygreat frequency compared tomost

other gods,may well have been thought topay nocturnal visits to thosewho soughthismedical aid

See pp. 124-125.

231On the link between this collegium and ruler cult, see

Palmer 1993,560-561.

232See pp. 115-119, 123.

233Passio SS. Quat. Cor. 22 (see p. 105).








at this site. But as isdemonstrated by the existence of the dedications recording or alluding to the

gods communications with individuals,Asclepius did not limit his appearances to thisone site: in

addition to the doctor who received advice fromAsclepius?advice unlikely tohave been received

at a sanctuary since it involvedwarding off illness rather than treating it?worshipers could receive

messages fromAsclepius thatwere unrelated to theirhealth, as appears tohave been the casewhen

the soldier serving in the eleventh urban cohort received a command tomake a dedication for the

well-being of the emperors. Such inscriptions reveal thatAsclepius was thought to be in direct

contactwith at least some ofhisworshipers, while the inscriptions referringtohis various remark

able feats and positive impacts on his worshipers' lives indicate thathis presence was felt even

when he had not communicated a specificmessage. Asclepius's cult inRome, therefore, isnot just

noteworthy because he was installed thereby the senate for the immediate benefit of theRoman

state and eventual benefit of generations of ailing inhabitants, but also because hewas installed by

military personnel at their shrines and by privateworshipers at theirworkplaces, guild headquarters,funeraryassociations, and,most likely,neighborhood and household shrines. As a god worshiped

throughoutRome by groups and individuals seeking a range of benefactions, Asclepius played an

important role inRoman religion?a much greater role thanhas previously been recognized.

5. Catalogue of InscriptionsRelating to theWorship ofAsclepius inRome

Note: As discussed above (see n. 3), Paola Tassini has previously produced a catalogue ofAsclepius

inscriptions rom theLatin West, includingRome, in her unpublished doctoral thesis. This work isespecially valuable because shepersonally examined all of the inscriptions romRome thatare available

for studyand in several cases produced new readings orprovided other informationnot previously in

print. Since her work is unpublished, I have decided to base my own textsonly on available editions

and studies, but have noted all of her autopsy-basedfindings. Furthermore, I have not attempted to

provide afull bibliographyfor these inscriptions (as does Tassini and aswill thenextfascicle o/CIL 6

currentlywnder preparation bySilvio Panciera), preferringto cite only those studies directly relevant

tomy discussions in thepresentwork.

Tiber Island Asklepieion and Adjacent Sites

Cat. No. 1ate: Late III b.c.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Found inTiber riverbed

Topographical Analysis: The inscription's discovery in the riverbed and its republican date all but

assure that itoriginated at theTiber Island sanctuary.Editions: CIL 12:26+ add. p. 862 (=CIL 6:30842 + add. p. 3758 = ILS 3833 =

ILLRP36, cf.ILLRP,

Imagines 21 = F. Coarelli inRoma medio repubblicana, 145, no. 180 + pi. 32)

Object: Small limestone base

Text: Aiscolapio donofm?] | (ucius) Albanius K(aesonis) f(ilius) dedit.

Cat. No. 2ate: Late III b.c.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Found inTiber riverbed near thePons Cestius

Topographical Analysis: See cat. no. 1.

Editions: CIL 12:28+ add. p. 862 (=CIL 6:30845 + add. p. 3758 = JLJ3834 =ILLRP35, cf.ILLRP,

Imagines 22A = F. Coarelli inRoma medio repubblicana, 145-146, no. 181)







138 GIL H. RENBERG


Text: Aescolapio | onom dat | ubens merito | (arcus) Populicio(s) M(arci) f(ilius).

Cat. No. 3ate: Late III or early II B.c.Provenience or Secondary Context: Found inTiber riverbed near S. Paolo fuori leMura


Editions: CIL 12:29+ add. p. 862 (=CIL 6:30846 = ILLRP 37 + add. p. 2:380, cf.ILLRP, Imagines 22)


Text: [?]nus VLL[ c. 1-2? ] | onum dat | iscolapio merito | ubens.

Note: There has been disagreement overwhether the letters in line 1 should be read as VEL orV.

LI., neither ofwhich is ideal.While A. Degrassi preferred the latter (ILLRP, p. 2:380 and CJL

12:2,4, p. 862), Tassini recently examined the inscription and determined that the line reads

f?Jnus Vel[?] (Tassini 1995-1996, 14). This problem, which may be insoluble, ismade morecomplex by thepossibility?but by no means certainty?that lettersaremissing from the end

of the line.

Cat. No. 4Date: 66 B.c.? (see note)

Provenience or Secondary Context: Seen at S. Bartolomeo on Tiber Island (Lanciani, StSc 1:16)

Topographical Analysis: While this inscriptionwas found at S. Bartolomeo, themedieval church

believed tooccupy the site of theAsklepieion, itcould have originated somewhere on the island

beyond the sanctuary's perimeter,where money from thegod's stipsmight also have been used

for construction (see nn. 39,59).Editions: CIL 12:800 + add. p. 953 (= CIL 6:7 + add pp. 3003, 3755 = ILS 3836 = ILLRP 39 = AE

1987,53)

Object: Unknown

Text: [?-]|A.L[?]S L(uci) f(ilius) Flaccus | id(iles) d[e] stipeAesculapi |faciundum

locavere, | idem(que) pr(aetores) probavere.Notes: If this inscription is indeed linked to themonumentalization of theTiber Island (seeDegrassi

1987, 525-526), itwould date to the late republic. In his discussion of this inscription (CIL

1:1105), Theodore Mommsen proposed that thename in line 1be restored [V]al[eriu]s, which

would make this aedilis amember of thepowerful

Valerii Flaccifamily

(seeRE 8A.1 [1955]

4-39, s.v. "Valerius 162-82"; cf.Hayne 1978). As was suggested byD. Degrassi, hemay have

been theLucius Valerius Flaccus defended by Cicero, perhaps serving as aedile in 66 B.c., a

year forwhich no curule aedile isknown (seeDegrassi 1987,526). This date, however, needs to

be reconciled with Leonie Hayne's earlier suggestion thatFlaccus spent theyear 66 B.c. serving

underMetellus Creticus and then joiningPompey in theEast (Hayne 1978, 230).

Cat. No. 5 Date: A.D. 24 (see note)

Provenience or Secondary Context: Seen at S. Bartolomeo on Tiber Island (Lanciani, StSc 5:277)

Topographical Analysis:This dedication to

Asclepius Augustus

was commissioned by aminister

vici and provides a compital year, and therefore itmost likelywas erected at a shrine in thevicus

Censori (see n. 33), the island's lone vicus, located just north of the sanctuary (see Lanciani,

FUR, pi. 28, reproduced above as fig. 2). (This compital shrinemay be the one shown on the

surviving fragmentof the SeveranMarble Plan ofRome, shown infig. 3b.)

Editions: CIL 6:12 + add p. 3755, cf. 30684 (= ILS 3837 = Lott 2004, 203, no. 32) (photos: Diehl,

Inscr.Lat., pi. 12;Di Stefano, Galleria Lapidaria, 260)







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OF WORSHIP IN THE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 139

Fig. 9. Greek inscription preserving testimonies ofmiraculous cures (cat. no. 6).

Museo Archeologico Nazionale diNapoli, inv. no. 4577 (Coll. Farnese) (photoM.A.N.).

Object: Large marble altar

Text: Aisculapio | ugusto sacrum | robus M(arci) Fictori Fausti (servus), | inister iterum anni

XXXI.

Note: The compital year permits the dedication to be dated to a.d. 24, thirty-oneyears after theestablishment of the cult of theLares Augusti inRome's vici in 7 b.c. (see B?rner 1954/1955;cf.Musial 1992b, 81).

Unknown Provenience, probably Tiber Island Asklepieion

Cat. No. 6 (fig. 9) Date: Early III a.D. (reignofCaracalla?)

Provenience or Secondary Context: First seen at an unknown location on theTiber Island (see

Lanciani, StSc 2:278)

Topographical Analysis: The Renaissance antiquarianMetellus associated this inscriptionwith the

Tiber IslandAsklepieion, but it isnot clear thathe had firsthandknowledge of this andwas not

simplyexpressing an assumption thathas subsequendy been treatedas factbymost scholars. (Therare exception isMoretti, who termedMetellus's statement a possible "auioa)(e8taafjia.")

Editions: IGUR 1:148 + photo (= IG 14:966 =Syll? 1173 = Girone, lamata, 157-168, nos.

V.2a-d)

Object: Large marble tablet





140 GIL H. RENBERG

Text: [?]|auiaTg tocTc,[idgaig Taico nvi xucpAxo%@r]fjidxia?v kQeiv sti[i xo] ie|g?v ?rjjxa xai

TiQoaxuvrjaai, ?i<x>a and xou Ssîou sXOstvS7iixo dcQiaxsQOv ai OsTvaixouq 7i?vx?SaxiuXougS7idvcoxou ?rj{iaiog xai aQai xrjvX?^l9a K0Cl 7ii6stvai S7il xoug ISioug ocpOafyxouc/ ai ?gO?v

dvs?Xs^s xou 15 rj[xou 7iaQsaxd)Tog xai auvâiQouivoo, on ?ooaai dgexai sysvovio enl |xou

Es?aaio? rjpLwvvxcovsivou. |Aouxta) 7iXsuQ?inx(p ai dcpr]>.7iia(jL?va)tio 7iavx6c; v6(3a)7i:ou?^@y]G|Jidxi|a?v 6sog sXOsiv

xai sx too xcn?cofjiou gai xdcpgav ai |jlst'oYvou dva|cpuQaaat xai STCt?sTvai mto tiKsuqov xai

sacoOr]xai 8r][xoaia y]u)(acuaxy]a?v |10 w 0sa) xai 6 Srjfxoc, uve%agr] auxw. |

aijxa dvacfsgovTi ToiAiavw dtprjXTuauivco 716 7tavxoc, vOQco7i;ou %Qr]a|jid | iqsv 6 Osog?A,6sfv ai sx xou TQt?o)[xoudâi x?xxoug axQo?&ou xai | cpayeiv xsmuiîxoq S7iit^sTg rjuicâc/xai sacoOr]xai s^?cov 8r][jLoaia |y]u)(aQ{axy]a?vs[X7iQoa6sv xou 8t|[jiou. |

15Ouatacnco 'A7iQ(paTQaTicoTT]xucp^co ?)(Qy][xdxta?v6 ?sog sXOsiv xai â??iv ai[xa |

dtaxxguwvoc; auxou [xsxd iXixog xai xoAlucno<v> auvxgityaixai stiI |TQ?igTquigac, 7ri)(Q?Taai?7uixouc;6cp6aX|jiouc/xai dv??^?^?v xai s^rjXu6?v | ai r]u)(aQiGxy]a?v r]fjioma xco6?w.

Notes: These four testimonies once belonged to amuch larger document, as is indicated by the

tablet being broken at the top and the ends of lines 11 and 13 being followed by letters that

represent traces of a second column of text.The date of the inscription can be surmised from

internal and paleographical evidence. The firstsurviving testimony refersto a recovery thatoc

curred "during the time of ourAugust emperorAntoninus" (lines 5-6, S7ilto? X??aaxou rjfxcov

?vto)V?ivo?), either the reign ofAntoninus Pius (a.D. 138-161) or Caracalla (a.D. 211-217).

The inscriptionwas almost certainly commissioned during the reignof this "Antoninus," since

the effusive claim that "livingmiracles were occurring" (line5, ^coaai aQ?xal ?y?vovxo) undera

certain emperor is less likely tohave been made once thatemperor had been replaced.Moretti

dates the inscription to the third century on paleographical grounds, and Guarducci concurs

with this assessment, assigning the inscription to the reign ofCaracalla, whose veneration for

the god was well known (Guarducci 1978, 161; forCaracalla and Asclepius, see n. 179).

Cat. No. 7ate: Late III or early II B.c.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Unknown

Topographical Analysis: This dedication can be assigned to theTiber Island sanctuary based on

both the lack of evidence forany

other cult sites ofAsclepius

inRome before theimperial

pe

riod and the similarityof the inscription to those on the threebases known tohave been found

in theTiber (cat. nos. 1-3). Furthermore, as noted by Tassini, when seen byD. Vaglieri itwas

in thepossession ofDr. Luigi Sambon, who also owned numerous terracota votives from the

Tiber (Tassini 1995-1996, 13-14; on Dr. Sambon, see Pensabene 1980, 6, n. 7).

Editions: CIL 12:27 + add. p. 862 (=CIL 6:30843 + add p. 3758 = ILS 3835 = ILLRP 38)

Object: Small base

Text: C(aius) Bruttius Aescolapioldono deditlmeritod.

ESQUILINE?SKLEPIEION

Cat. No. 8 ate: Late II a.D.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Found in the coenobium of theCarmelite convent at S.Martino

aiMonti (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 23 (as "CIL 1701"); cf.Lanciani, &fc 5:210)

Topographical Analysis: It isfarfromunusual for inscriptions thatfirstturnedup in the collections

of churches inRome tohave come from ancient sites some distance away, butMaiuri's use of

PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OFWORSHIP INTHE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 141

thePassio SS. Quattuor Coronatorum to argue for a sanctuary in this area convincingly shows

that this inscription and cat. no. 9 come from thevicinityof S.Martino (see pp. 105-106).

Editions: IGUR l:102a-b + photos (= IG 14:967= Samama 2003,521-522, no. 477)

Object: Large marble statuebaseText A: On front: ito [acoxJrjQiax^rjmtp acoaiQa xod | acuairjcua Ntxo[xrj8r]g 6 laig?c/ |

xdv 7iai86g xaMaaiav sixto idvSs 6soio,

riaiavog xouQou [loltqoc, arc' dcmToxou,5 8ai8dXXcovMsq?tlsooiv sptrjaao, crelo,B?rj?s,

su7iaXd(jLO? ocpirjg ptvapiaxod sooo\xev[oi<;]'

Orjxs 8' 6{jlo? vouatov is xaxtov CtodygiaNixo

pr[8r]Cj ai xsiQ&v oeiY[Jia7iaXoayeve?)v.Text B: On right ide: ito?aaiXsTAcodr]7Ucp coaiga xal [^a]cHOT7]QiaNixo|ji7)8y]c; fiuQvoaog Ioctqoc/1

otov spatcoaavio veov xoxov EiXsiOuiaiexOXeyuou xouquc;Oof?o) dxeiQsx?pir],

5 xoT?v xoi, Ilaidv AaxXr]7iis, oeio B6r]0og

%?iqoc; ayaXu.' dya?yjg xs?^sv sale; hqcltiigw

vr]a)8' ev tcoSs ^todycua OrjxsvogaaOai,noXkaxLaalg ?otAalg vouaov dXsodpisvoc;,

ode, OeQdftcov,u^fjc,6Myr][v]Soatv, ota OsoTaiv10

avSgec; scpr](jLSQiottovf?s] qjsgouai %dcuv.Note: Paleographical evidence indicates thatText A slightlyprecedes Text B indate. The earlier

epigram, composedin oric

dialect, mayhave

beenaconscious imitationof thededicatory poem

accompanying theoriginal statue by theHellenistic sculptorBoethos, which Nikomedes could

have seen at one of themajor Asklepieia in theEast, perhaps Cos (see IGUR 1,p. 86; cf.Maiuri

1912,247-250). An unrelated Latin inscriptionwas later added to the leftside (see p. 106).

Cat. No. 9 Date: II A.D.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Found in the area of the "Torre dei Capocci" justbehind the

apse of S.Martino aiMonti (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 23)


Editions: GUR 1:103photo

(=IG 14:968^)Object: Marble statue base

Text: six?vocxrjvSs [6sto] |vouacovroxOscov s | Xocirjcuav?saav ?Q^uyioi |5 ptaxd^cov iiovxsg | Qcoy?v.

Notes: The description of thisunnamed god as "the one who drives away diseases and suffering"(vouacov 7ia6scov s stacirjcu) suggests that thededication was intended forAsclepius. The group

responsible for the dedication and the origin of theirname are both unknown: Moretti has

plausibly but inconclusively proposed that itwas aminor medical school (Moretti 1989, 11),while others have sought to link thename to theTripolitanian tribenamed Arzuges, which maybe incorrect (seeKajanto 1966, 46).

ESQUILINEASKLEPIEION?


Provenience or Secondary Context: Found at the intersection of theVia S. Clemente and Via La

bicana, near theBaths ofTrajan



142 GIL H. RENBERG

Topographical Analysis: This dedication was found too farfromS. Martino aiMonti, thepresumedsite of theEsquiline Asklepieion, for it to be attributed to the sanctuarywith certainty,but

nevertheless itwas found close enough that this site represents themost likely point of origin,

especially since theVia Labicana runs at the base of theOppian and thus isdownhill from S.Martino. Moretti was the firstto attribute it to theEsquiline sanctuary, albeit reluctantly,and

unlike cat. nos. 8 and 9 he did not cite it as primary evidence for the site's existence (IGUR

l,p. 84).

Editions: GUR 1:104 photoObject: Marble altar

Text: YIoutzXioc, iXiog | iqi?coqoq | ve6r]xev |5xucug) |ax^r]7U?).Note: The dedicant may be the same individual who isnamed inan epitaph (CIL 6:10647 + add. pp.

3506,3910) and ispossibly named in a damage listofmembers of a collegium (CIL 6:32429d),

as Tassini points out (Tassini 1995-1996,26).

Area of the Via Appia and Via Latina

Cat. No. 11 Date: a d. 153


Topographical Analysis: This inscriptionprobably came fromthe siteon theVia Appia where Salvia

Marcellina donated to theCollegium Aesculapi etHygiae a statue and shrine forAsclepius

alongwith structures for collegial banqueting (see Lanciani, FUR, pi. 46). The land onwhich

thesewere erectedmay well have beenimmediately adjacent

to the scholamentioned at line 11,

as isgenerally held tohave been the case, but it isworth considering that the locum inquestion

may have been at her deceased husband's restingplace ifthis, too,was in the zone referred to

as adMartis. If the latterpossibility was indeed the case, the statue and accompanying struc

tureswould have been erected adjacent to a funerarymonument (attached to a tomb garden?),

probably thatofher husband's superior, the imperialprocuratorFlavius Apollonius (see p. 109).

Either way, the complex in question must have been quite sizeable, since the solarium was

expected tobe used fordining by themembers of the collegium. It is also worth noting that

the known scholaewere, with few exceptions, located in the heart ofRome, but the existence

of a schola of a collegium Silvani a good distance furtherdown theVia Appia from the site in

question shows that the location of the one dedicated toAsclepius andHygieia was not that

unusual (seeBollmann 1994, 224, no. 19).

Editions: CIL 6:10234 + add. pp. 3502, 3908 (= ILS 7213 = Gordon, Album 2, no. 217 + pi. 99)

Object: Large marble plaqueText: Lex collegiAesculapi etHygiae: | alvia C(ai) f(ilia)Marcellina ob memoriam Fl(avi) Apolloni

proc(uratoris) Aug(usti), qui fuit pinacothecis, etCapitonis Aug(usti) l(iberti) adiutoris | ius,

mariti sui optimi piisimi, donum dedit collegio Aesculapi etHygiae locum aediculae cum

pergula et signummarmoreum Aesculapi et solarium rectum iunctum, in | uo populus collegi

s(upra) s(cripti) epuletur, quod est viaAppia ad (aedem)Martis intramilliarium I et II ab urbe

euntibus parte laeva interadfinesVibium Calocaerum et populum. Item |3eadem Marcellina

collegio s(upra) s(cripto) dedit donavitque (sestertium) L m(ilia) n(ummum) hominibus

n(umero) LX sub hac condicione, ut ne plures adlegantur, quam numerus s(upra) s(criptus) et

ut in locum | efunctorum loca veniant (= veneant) et liberiadlegantur, vel siquis locum suum





PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACESOFWORSHIP IN THE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 143

legare volet filio vel fratrivel liberto dumtaxat, ut infer t arkae n(ostrae) partem | imidiam

funeratici; et ne earn pecuniam s(upra) s(criptam) velint in alios usus convertere, sed ut ex

usuris eius summae diebus infra scriptis locum con<f>requentarent; | x reditu eius summae

siquod comparaverint sportulas hominib(us) n(umero) LX ex decreto universorum <q>uod

gestum est in templo divorum in aede divi Titi con | entu pleno, qui dies fuitV id(us)

Mart(ias) Bruttio Praesente et Iunio Rufino co(n)s(ulibus), utiXIII k(alendas) Oct(obres)die felicissimo n(atali) Antonini Aug(usti) n(ostri) Pii p(atris) p(atriae) sportulas dividerent:

in 110 emplo divorum in aede divi Titi C(ai) Ofilio Hermeti q(uin)q(uennali) p(er)p(etuo)vel qui rune erit (denarios) III, Aelio Zenoni patri collegi (denarios) III, Salviae Marcellinae

matri collegi (denarios) III, imm(unibus) | in(gulis) (denarios) II, cur(atoribus) sing(ulis)

(denarios) II, populo sing(ulis) (denarios) I. Item pl(acuit) pr(idie) non(as) Nov(embres)

n(atali) collegi dividerent ex reditu s(upra) s(cripto) ad (aedem) Martis in scholam n(ostram)

praesentibus q(uin)q(uennalibus) (denarios) VI, patri colleg(i) (denarios) VI, | atri collegi

(denarios) VI, imm(unibus) sing(ulis) (denarios) IUI, cur(atoribus) sing(ulis) (denarios)

IUI, pane(m) ?a(ssium) I?III; vinum mensuras q(uin)q(uennali) s(extariorum) VIIII,

patr(i) coll(egi) s(extariorum) VIIII, imm(unibus) sing(ulis) s(extariorum) VI, cur(atoribus)

sing(ulis) s(extariorum) VI, populo sin<g>(ulis) s(extariorum) III. Item pr(idie) non(as)

Ian(uarias) | tren{u}as dividerent sicut s(upra) s(criptum) estXIII k(alendas) Oct(obres). Item

VIII k(alendas) Mart(ias) die kar{a}e cognationis ad (aedem) Martis eodem loco dividerent

sportulas pane(m) etvinum, sicut s(upra) s(criprum) est | rid(ie) non(as) Nov(embres). Item

pr(idie) id(us)Mart(ias) eodem loco cenam, quam Ofilius Hermes q(uin)q(uennalis) omnibus

annis dandam praesentibus promisit, vel sportulas, sicut solitus est dare. Item |15I k(alendas)Apr(iles) die violari eodem loco praesentibus dividerentur sportulae vinu(m) pane sicut diebus

s(upra) s(criptis). Item V id(us) Mai(as) die rosae eodem loco praesentib(us) dividerentur

spor|tulae vinu(m) et pane sicut diebus s(upra) s(criptis) ea condicione, qua in conventu

placuit universis, ut diebus s(upra) s(criptis) iiqui ad epulandum non convenissent, sportulaeet pane et vinu(m) | orum venirent et praesentibus dividere<n>tur, excepto eorum quitransmare erunt vel qui perpetua valetudine detine<n>tur. Item P(ublius) Aelius Aug(usti)

lib(ertus) Zenon|eidem collegio s(upra) s(cripto) ob memoriam M(arci) Ulpi Aug(usti)

lib(erti)Capitonis fratrissuipiisimi dedit donavitque (sestertium)X m(ilia) n(ummum), uti ex

reditu eius summae in contri|utione

sportularum dividerentur. Quod siea

pecunia omnisquae s(upra) s(cripta) est, quam dedit donavit collegio s(upra) s(cripto) |20 alvia C(ai) f(ilia)

Marcellina et P(ublius) Aelius Aug(usti) lib(ertus) Zeno, in alios usus convertere voluerint,

quam in eos usus, qui s(upra) s(cripti) s(unt), quos ordo collegi n(ostri) decrevit et uti | aec

omnia, q(uae) s(upra) s(cripti) s(unt) suis diebus ut ita fiant dividantque, quod si adversusea quid fecerint sive quid ita non fecerint, tune q(uin)q(uennalis) vel curato | es eiusdem

collegi qui tune erunt, si adversus ea quid <f>ecerint, q(uin)q(uennalis) et curatores s(upra)s(cripti) uti poenae nomine arkae n(ostrae) inferant (sestertium)XX m(ilia) n(ummum). | oc

decretum ordini n(ostro) placuit in conventu pleno, quod gestum est in templo divorum in

aede diviTiti V id(us)Mart(ias) C(aio) Bruttio Prae | enteA(ulo) Iunio Rufino

co(n)s(ulibus),q(uin)q(uennali) C(aio) Ofilio Hermete, curatorib(us) P(ublio) Aelio Aug(usti) lib(erto)Onesimo etC(aio) Salvio Seleuco.

Line 7:CONEREQUENTARENT, lapislLinc:OVOD, lapis\Line2:SINC, lapislLine22:EECERINT, lapis



144 GIL H. RENBERG

Cat. No. 12 Date: ca. A.D. 150

Provenience or Secondary Context: Found in a vineyard outside the Porta Appia, near Domine

Quo Vadis?

Topographical Analysis: It is impossible todetermine whether this inscriptionoriginated at a shrineon theVia Appia or a site frequented by the equites singulares atTor Pignattara (see note). Tas

sini has tentatively assigned it to the schola of theCollegium Aesculapi etHygiae, basing her

argument not only on theproximity of its find spot to the site that received thewidow Salvia

Marcellina's gift for the collegium but also the fact that thisdedication was made at roughlythe same time (see P. Tassini, LTUR Suburbium, "Aesculapii etHygiae schola et collegium,"

1:26-27; cf. Tassini 1995-1996, 64 and Riethm?ller 2005, 2:434); however, the traditional

conclusion that the lengthy inscription pertaining to this collegium locates its schola on the

Via Appia might be unfounded (see cat. no. 11).Moreover, the dedicant's status as an eques

singularis calls intoquestion whether he would have belonged to and made a dedication at aprivate funeraryassociation's headquarters, had this collegium's headquarters indeed stood on

theVia Appia. Therefore, this inscription's proximity inboth time and space to the site linked

to theCollegium Aesculapi etHygiae may well be a coincidence. It is considerably more likelythat thededication was erected where thisofficerwas stationed (seeDavies 1972,4), or perhapseven at theTiber Island Asklepieion.

Editions: CIL 6:19 + add. pp. 3003,3755 (= 7LS2194 =Speidel, Kaiserreiter, no. 31 + photo) (photo:

Di Stefano,Galleria Lapidaria, 257)

Object: Marble base or altar

Text: Aesculapioet

Hy|giae M(arcus) UlpiusHo

| oratus, dec(urio) | q(uitum) sing(ularium)imp(eratoris) n(ostri),|5 pro salute sua |suorumque et | (uci) Iuli Helicis me|dici,

qui curam|mei diligenter egit |10 secundum deos, | (otum) s(olvit) l(aetus) l(ibens)

m(erito).Note: This dedication can be approximately dated by the appearance of Honoratus's name in a

dedication to Jupiter fromA.D. 153. That dedication was found at the Catacombs of Saints

Peter andMarcellinus, in an extramural area on theVia Labicana atTor Pignattara where the

equites singulares appear tohave both trained and buried their dead (AE 1951,184=

Speidel,

Kaiserreiter, no. 30).While it is impossible to assign thededication inquestion toTor Pignattarawith any certainty,this remains a distinct possibility.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Possibly first seen at S. Giovanni a Porta Latina or else S.

Giovanni inLaterano

Topographical Analysis: It is rarelyadvisable to conclude that inscriptions first recorded inone of

Rome's churchesmust have originated in thatchurch's vicinity,but especially in the case of this

altar reaching a definite conclusion is impossible because itwas assigned to churches indiffer

ent parts ofRome byRenaissance antiquarians. Since S. Giovanni in Laterano is significantly

closer to theCastra Praetoria, itmay be thatPighi and Smetius were correct in assigning it to

this church, despite the reservations expressed byHenzen inCIL. However, this dedicationwas made by a veteranus,which means that itneed not have been given to thegod at amilitary

shrine. Indeed, it isnot clear whether thiswas even an option for retiredmilitary personnel: see,

forexample, thededication to Silvanus Salutaris by a veteranusAugusti cohortisVI praetoriae

thatwas apparently erected not at amilitary shrinebut at a funeraryassociation's schola located

a shortdistance away from theCastra Praetoria (ILS 3566; seePalmer 1978,234). Furthermore,

Cat. No. 13 Date: III A.D. (first alf)







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OFWORSHIP IN THE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 145

it isunclear whether thededicant's decision to refertohis former cohort is significant:afterall,

itcould indicate thathe made the dedication toAsclepius at the schola of a veteran's collegiumand thusmade a point of identifying is formerunit, but since itwas commonplace forveterans'

tombstones to identifytheircohorts, itmay also have been perfectlyordinary for them todo soindedicatory inscriptions regardless ofwhether theirdedications were made atmilitary shrines

or other cult sites.Unfortunately, there are too fewdedicatory inscriptions by veterans forany

definite patterns tobe detected. This inscription, therefore, cannot be attributed to a typeof

site, let alone a particular site:however, if itwas seen at S. Giovanni a Porta Latina, atRome's

southernmost point, rather than S. Giovanni inLaterano, itmay have originated at a siteon the

Via Appia, where there isother evidence for theworship ofAsclepius (see pp. 109-111). Even

so, there is littlereason to link it to theCollegium Aesculapi etHygiae thatperiodically met on

theVia Appia (see cat. no. 11), as Riethm?ller tentativelydoes (Riethm?ller 2005, 2:434).

Editions: CIL 6:2 + add. p. 3003 (=Ducroux, InscLatLouvre 1)Object: Marble base with sculpted reliefs of two ram's heads with filets and awreath on the front,

and reliefs of two eagles on the back

Text: Aescula|pio deo | (ono/-um) d(edit) | (arcus) Aurelius |5Venustus | eter(anus)

Aug|g(ustorum) nn(ostrorum) ex|coh(orte) Villi pr(aetoria).| |Right side: Coh(ors) VIIII

pr(aetoria).Note: A "M(arcus) Aurel(ius) M(arci) f(ilius) Iul(ia) Venustus Side," undoubtedly the individual

who dedicated this altar, also appears in an inscription from the aedicula in thevicinity of the

Castra Praetoria that listed scores of activemilitary personnel (CIL 6:37184 I, line 25; on the

shrine, at the corner of theVia Goito and Via Montabello, see p. 117). Since that inscriptiondates no earlier than a.d. 204 and possibly postdates the Constitutio Antoniana (see Benefiel

2001, 222-223), this one must be from the first few decades of the third century, as Tassini

previously noted (Tassini 1995-1996,43). This dedication, listed elsewhere as an altar,has been

identified as a base byTassini (Tassini 1995-1996, 43).

Praedia Galbana (Testaccio Area)

Cat. No. 14Date: II a.d. (first alf)Provenience or Secondary Context: Found in the remains of a structure, identified as the associ

ation's schola, at theVia Galvani, between theVia Mastro Giorgio and Via Ginori (Lanciani,

FUR,pi.40)

Topographical Analysis: The funerary ssociation responsible forerecting thisscholamet and worked

in thePraedia Galbana, a large imperial estate located to the east of theEmporium (seeRodri

guez-Almeida 1984,53-65 and E. Papi, LTUR, "Schola (ViaGalvani)," 4:259-260; cf.F. Coarelli,

LTUR, "Praedia Galbana," 4:157 and Richardson, NTDAR, "Praedia Galbana," 321).Editions: CIL 6:30983 + add. p. 3758 (= ILS 3840 =Marwood 1988, 95, no. 4) (photo: Supplltal,

Imagines 1,no. 750)


Text: Numini domus Aug(ustae vel-usti) sacrum | esculapio et SalutiAug(ustae ^/-usti) collegium

salutar(e), | oco adsignato ab proc(uratore) patr(imonii) Cae(saris) n(ostri), a solo | ecerunt:

Felix ver(na), Aspergus Regianus, Vindex|5 ver(na), vilici pr(a)ediorum Galbanorum, et

pieps: I mm(unes) Actalius Ianuarius, Ulpius Sextianus, Clururius Secundus. | Therefollow

five columns of names.] (Column 1)Annius Agathobulus, | ntonius Trophimus, | nnius

Hymnus, | ntonius Trypho, |5Antonius Menander, | ntonius Epaphroditus, | ctalius







146 GIL H. RENBERG

Crescens, I elius Asclepiades, | ttius Logismus, |10Alpinus Felicis, | Column 2) Bassus

Italici, I abullius Telesphor(us), | luturius Pothinus, | luturius Theotimus, |5Claudius

Frugi, I laudius Lamyrus, | lodius Eutychus, | laudia Zoe, | ornelius Euschemus, |10

Claudius Elainus, | laudia Auxesis, | Column 3)Decius Eutyches, | ecidius Stachus, | usebes

Felicis, Iusebes Caes(aris) v(erna),|5 Flavius Alcimus, | elix Anni, | ucundus Caes(aris)

v(erna), I ulius Victor, | ulius Victor iun(ior),|10 Ianuarius Caes(aris) v(erna), | unius

Nemertes, | Column 4) Iulius Corinthus, | ucretius Blastus, | icinius Maritimus, | anlius

Verus, 15 artialis Veri, | nesimus Sextiani, | hiletus Caes(aris), | hiletus Caes(aris)

ver(na), I lanius Maximus, |10Romanus Caes(aris) ver(na), | ecundus Caes(aris)

ver(na), | Column 5) Sempronius Docimus, | erviliusAthenio, | everiusMenander, | erentius

Epap(h)rodit(us), 15 erentius Eleuther(us), | itius Eutychus, | urrania Marcia, | alerius

Agilis, I lpius Eutyches, |10 ettia Eutychia.

Notes: The inscription ismost likely todate to the reign ofHadrian, based on thepresence of thenames Aelius and Ulpius (see Tassini 1995-1996, 36). For Salus Augusta and Salus Augusti,see p. 111.

"Caeliolus"

Cat. No. 15 Date: III a.d.

Provenience or Secondary Context: The inscriptionwas found just inside thePorta Metronia near

theMarana brook, roughlywhere two other inscriptions, a Claudian pomerial marker (CIL

6:123 lb = 31537b =37022?

=Gordon, Album 1,no. 97) and a funerary nscription (CIL 6:2120,

cf. 32398a + add. p. 3826 = ILS 8380), were subsequently discovered (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 42,

showing just the other two inscriptions; cf.Lanciani, StSc 6:88). If itpostdates the Aurelian

Walls, the site atwhich itwas dedicated would have been intramural.

Topographical Analysis: While the spotwhere thisdedication was found has been identifiedboth by

H?lsen inCIL and byLanciani, it isnot recorded tohave been found in situ.Therefore, thoughitmay have originated in thegeneral vicinityof thePorta Metronia, itneed not have come from

thisexact location.Moreover, itcould have been erected atop theCaelian and progressed down

itssouthern slope over time (withsome amount ofhelp). Regardless of thepart ofRome inwhich

itoriginated, this dedication must have been made in aworkplace shrine?dedicated to a genius

loci or some other divinity ifnot toAsclepius andHygieia themselves?or guild headquarterssince itwas erected "with thepermission of those from thebean-selling establishment" (see pp.

111-114). The use of the termpermissus reveals that thisunidentifiedbody had supreme authorityat the site inquestion, and thereforethis site could not have been a public sanctuaryor shrine of

Asclepius. It also indicates that the two dedicants received permission from human rather than

divine authorities since there isno parallel among dedicatory inscriptions forpermissus being ap

plied to thegods, and in literature t as not employed fordivine consent before late antiquity (see

ILL 10.1:1549-1551 [esp. col. 1550], s.v. "permissus"). Therefore,while it ispossible to construe

theawkward grammarof theopening lines as a referenceto "permission" fromthe twogods (see,

e.g.,Guarducci 1971,278), thededicants' particular choice of language suggests otherwise.Editions: CIL 6:18 + add. pp. 831, 3003, 3755, cf. 30686 (= ILS 3851) (photo: Supplltal, Imagines

1,no. 213)

Object: Small base

Text: Domino Aesculapio | t Hygiae, ex permissu | orum negotiationis |fabariae, gratias |5

agentes numini | t aratis eorum, | (itus) Iulius Genesia | us etCaecilia | albilla ceri|10olaria





PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OFWORSHIP IN THE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 147

duo satu|ri etAntioes | ibentes donum | ederunt.

Line 11:ANTIOTES, lapisNotes: The exact meaning of this inscription has been indoubt, inpart because of two possible

stone-cutting or spelling errors,ARATIS (apparently corrected fromASATIS) in line 6 andANTIOTES in line 11.For line 6,Mommsen inCIL proposed the awkward aratis?a vari

ant for themore appropriate dative plural paratibus?in reference to the role played by thegodin thededicants' successful bean business (ut intelleganturopes ex negotiatione fabaria parataededicantibus deorum auxilio). The better interpretationofARATIS is surely that ofF. Buecheler,who recognized theword as a Latinized spelling of (XQsmiq (Buecheler 1909, 1). Buecheler's

conclusion seems especially prescient in lightof thediscovery atLeptis Magna just fouryearslaterof a relief dedicated toAsclepius by a native ofNicomedia aretes causa (IRT 264, cf.BE

1953, 257). The other problematic word, ANTIOTES, was recognized byHenzen inCIL as a

misspelling ofAntiopes, a Latinization of thegenitive ofAntiope (i.e.,AvTio7ir]c;),who inmythwas seduced byZeus in theguise of a satyrand who sometimes appears inDionysiac iconogra

phy (e.g.,LIMC 1, "Antiope I," no. 7). However, since the textwas crudely inscribed and the

stone-cutter's Ts and Ps are similar, it ispossible thatANTIOPES rather thanANTIOTES was

originally inscribed. The crudeness of the hand raises doubt concerning the criteria used byS. Castellani to assign an unusually late fourth-centurydate to this inscription inSupplementa

Italica, and a third-century .d. date appears preferable.


Provenience orSecondary Context: Unknown location

onthe "Caeliolus"

Topographical Analysis: There isnoway todetermine where this inscription originated, especiallysince itcould have come either from themodern Parco Egerio to the south of theCaelian or

theCaelian itself (see p. 111). Since it appears to predate theAurelian Walls, thisdedicationmost likely originated at an extramural site.

Editions: CIL 6:10 + add. p. 3003

Object: Small base

Text: Deo Aescul(apio) | ep(timius) Martinus | t Plaetoria | anuaria |5pro Septimia | artina |alumna.

Notes: Tassini, who examined the inscription,made out faint traces of an

eighth line,which she

restored as v(otum) s(olverunt) fibentes) (erito)?] (Tassini 1995-1996,44). Plaetoria Ianuaria appears tohave been unrelated toLucius Plaetorius Sabinus, a priest ofAsclepius known from

his epitaph, since that inscription appears todate to thefirstcenturya.d. [CIL 6:2230 + add. p.3307; see pp. 121-122). The date of thisdedication can be determined from theuse ofdeus, a

titlefound indedicatory inscriptions inRome beginning at themiddle of the second centurya.d. (seeMancini 1980), and the lack of a praenomen.

Shrine at "fons aquae perennisHygiae" outside the Porta Flaminia

Cat. No. 17Date: Imperial periodProvenience or Secondary Context: Vineyard of theDuke ofMelfi (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 1;CAR 2

A, no. 13; cf.Lanciani, StSc4:38)

Topographical Analysis: The presence of this and two other inscriptions suggests that therewas a

shrineor temple standing at this site, justbeside a brook that in theRenaissance was known as

the ons aquae perennisHygiae (see p. 114).



148 GIL H. RENBERG


Object: Marble altar

Text: Aesculapio | (ucius) Cantius | ufinus | t |5Cantia | uhodia | (ono/-um) d(edit).

Note: The name Cantius/Cantia indicates a probable origin outside of central Italy, perhaps in

Aquileia (see p. 123).

Cat. No. 18Date: II a.d. (second half)

Provenience or Secondary Context: Vineyard of theDuke ofMelfi (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 1;CAR 2

A, no. 13; cf.Lanciani, StSc4'3S)


Editions: CIL 6:5; Di Stefano 1976-1977, 287-288, no. 18 + fig. 33 (photo)

Object: Small marble base

Text: T(itus) Aurelius Aug(usti) lib(ertus) | ioscorus votum | esculapio sane|to ob Processus 15 uos cumValeria | ice coniuge et | urelis Dioscoris | [?] Vittorinae (= Victorinae?)filisI (ono/-urn) (edit).

Note: This objectwas identifiedas a base byDi Stefano and as an altarbyTassini (Tassini 1995-1996,

38). The issue depends onwhether the circular hole at the top served as afocus or a hole for

mounting an object.

Cat. No. 19 Date: Imperial periodProvenience or Secondary Context: Vineyard of theDuke ofMelfi (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 1;CAR 2

A, no. 13; cf.Lanciani, StSc 4:38)


Editions: CIL 6:6

Object: Marble plaqueText: Aesculapio sancto | (ucius) Iunius Agathopus etTerentia Ru|fina gratias agentes numini

tuo d(ono/-um) d(ederunt).

Area of Via Flaminia?

Cat. No. 20 Date: II a.d. (before a.d. 193)

Provenience or Secondary Context: First recorded at theOrti Giustiniani outside the Porta

Flaminia

Topographical Analysis: Since thefons aquae perennis Hygzae site (see cat. nos. 17-19) was not

too far from theOrti Giustiniani, thisdedication may have originated there, as suggested by

Cordiano (Cordiano and Gregori 1993, 160, n. 31). However, itwas commissioned by two

formerPraetorians at the conclusion of their tour of duty, and thus itwould be far better to

assign this to a Praetorian shrine on theEsquiline.

Editions: CIL 6:9 4- dd. p. 3755, cf. 30683 (= ILS 2101)

Object: Unknown (altaror base)

Text: Aesculapio sac(rum) | x voto suscepto |missi honesta miss(ione) | x coh(orte) III

pr(aetoria) centuriae)radivi |5 (uintus)RosiniusQ(uinti) fil(ius) ol(lia tribu) everus

Mutina, I (itus)Popilius (iti) fil(ius) ni(ensis tribu) rocchus | aesaraug(usta).Note: Tassini rightlyargues for a date in the second century a.d. since thePraetorian Guard was

mostly composed of natives of Italy until itwas disbanded by Septimius Severus in a.d. 193







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OF WORSHIP IN THE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 149

(Tassini 1995-1996, 28; for changes in the composition of thePraetorian Guard, see Benefiel

2001,221-223).

HORREA SEIANA (emporiumdistrict)

Cat. No. 21 Date: Early imperial periodProvenience or Secondary Context: Found in theVigna Cesarini (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 40)

Topographical Analysis: The textof the inscription indicates that this dedication was made at the

workplace shrine of the genius of the horrea Seiana, a complex known to have stood a short

distance from this inscription's find spot, just southwest of thePorticus Aemilia (see Rodri

guez-Almeida 1984,45-48; cf.D. Palombi, LTUR, "Horrea Seiana," 3:46-47). (Since Lanciani

prepared hismap before theexcavations of 1911 thatrevealed theprecise location of the horrea

Seiana, he places thiscomplex immediatelywest of thePorticus Aemilia, where this inscriptionwas found, but the horrea instead stood on the far side of theVia Beniamino Franklin near

where it intersectswith theVia Giovanni Branca and Via G. B. Bodoni.)

Editions:CIL 6:238+ add.pp. 3004,3755 (=ILS 3665)

Object: Unidentified (statue base?)

Text: Genio | orreor(um) Seian(orum) | (ucius) Volusius Acindynus p(ater) | tL(ucius) Volusius

Acindynus f(ilius), signumAesculapi| sua p(ecunia) d(ono/-um) d(ederunt).Note: Tassini argues for an early date on the grounds that the dedicants were the freedmen (or

descendants of freedmen) of thegens Volusia (PIR 5:659-668), which owned property in this

part of Rome during the early imperial period (Tassini 1995-1996, 17; seeW. Eck, LTUR,

"Domus: Volusius Saturninus," 2:216-217).

Unknown Shrine of Silvanus (inCircus Flaminius?)

Cat. No. 22 Date: Imperial period (reignofDomitian?)Provenience or Secondary Context: Unknown

Topographical Analysis: R. E. A. Palmer proposed that this large shrine of Silvanus, known

only from this inscription,was located in the Circus Flaminius, where an imperial freedman

named Abascantus served as aedituus aedis Neptuni quae est in circoFlamin(io), accordingto a funerary inscription (ILS 4997). Since a lead pipe fromTusculum identifies him as a

slave ofDomitian (CIL 14:2657), Palmer has linked his construction efforts to the rebuildingprogram undertaken by this emperor in response to the fire that swept throughRegio IX

in a.D. 80 (Palmer 1978, 238-239; cf.L. Chioffi, LTUR, "Silvanus," 4:318). Palmer did not

state that this construction was part of the emperor's own rebuilding program, and he was

correct not to do so: the cult of Silvanus was not one inwhich the emperors are known to

have taken interest, and therefore this inscription appears to record a purely private under

taking. Despite the evidence of theTusculun pipe, the lack of a praenomen might date this

inscription to a laterperiod.Editions: CIL 6:656 + add. p. 3757, cf. 30806 (= ILS 3536)

Object: UnidentifiedText: Sancto Silvano | bascantus Aug(usti) lib(ertus)Atimetianus | mpliato podio marmora(vit)

reliq(uia), quae defuer(ant) | diecit, et aedem opere signin(o) inposuit, inqua |5consacravit

signa Silvani, Iovis, Volcani, | pollinis, Asclepi, Deanae, item typum et | avimentum Graecense ante podium eiusd(em) p(edes) XXIV







150 GIL H. RENBERG

SCHOLAof the collegium fabrum tignariorum (forum boarium)

Cat. No. 23 Date: II a.d. (reignofMarcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus?)

Provenienceor

Secondary Context: Foundnear

S. OmobonoTopographical Analysis: The headquarters of theCollegium fabrum tignariorum isknown tohave

been located at theForum Boarium, where S. Omobono now stands.

Editions: Ambrosino 1939, 94-97 (=AE 1941, 69)


Text: Asclepium Conservatorem Augg(ustorum), | (ucius) Valerius L(ucii) f(ilius) Fab(ia tribu)Iunianus honorat(us) | olleg(ii) fabr(um) tignar(iorum), collegio d(ono/-um) d(edit); | dem,

ob dedicationem eius, divisit |5 q(uin)q(uennalibus) et honoratis singulis (denarios) [

] I ecurion(ibus) et scribis (denarios) [-].Note: The stone-cutter did not include the number of denarii being issued, but perhaps these

amounts were added laterwith paint (as suggested by Tassini 1995-1996, 41). Halsey L.

Royden has speculated that theoccasion of this dedication was either thedeparture ofLucius

Verus forbattle with theParthians ina.d. 162 or the arrival of theAntonine plague inRome

(Royden 1988, 172).

Castra Praetoria and Campus Cohortium Praetoriarum

Cat. No. 24 Date: a.d. 82

Provenience or Secondary Context: Seen in theHorti Maecenatis in theCampus Esquilinus or the

Castra Praetoria itself (CAR 3, app., no. 14)Topographical Analysis: Since the exact boundaries of theHorti Maecenatis are unknown, and it

is likewise unclear justwhere Iacobus Mazochius, who recorded this inscription during the

early sixteenth century,believed them to be located, it is impossible to determine where the

dedication was first een.However, it is clear that itwas seen somewhere on theEsquiline?ifnot at the former site of the Castra Praetoria, then in thevicinity,perhaps near the southern

perimeter of theCampus Cohortium Praetoriarum. It cannot be linked to a particular cult site

butmay have been erected in a valetudinarium (see p. 117).

Editions: CIL 6:20 + add. p. 3755 (= ILS 2092 =Marwood 1988, 72, no. 2)

Object:Unknown (altaror base)

Text: Asclepio et | aluti | ommilitonum | ex(tus) Titius Alexander |5medicus c(o)ho(rtis) V

pr(aetoriae) onumdedit | [imp(eratore)omitiano]] | ug(usto)VIII | (ito) Flavio Sabino

co(n)s(ulibus).


Provenience or Secondary Context: Found reused in a late antique wall at thePiazza Manfredo

Fanti

Topographical Analysis: This dedication, like cat. no. 26 forAsclepius Sindrinus, most likely

originated

either at a cult sitedevoted to a number ofThracian divinities or else one especially

devoted toAsclepius Zimidrenus. Itwas one of dozens of dedicatory and honorary inscriptions

commissioned bymembers of thePraetorian Guard, most ofwhom were natives ofThrace, that

were discovered being reused just southwest of the central trainstation, in two late antiquewalls

beneath thePiazza Fanti and a nearby spot to the east of S. Eusebio, between theVia Principe

Amedeo and Via Filippo Turati (CIL 6:32532-32540, 32542-32544, 32546-32570, 32572








32573,32575-32576,32578-32584, 32587-32590,32591 [= IGUR 1:131],32592-32598,32601-32614). Despite the inclination of some scholars to assign them to a single sanctuaryof theThracian gods in the immediate vicinityof the twowalls, the fact that these inscriptions

and numerous statue fragmentswere used as construction material suggests that theycould

have originated elsewhere in thePraetorians' neighborhood, and not necessarily at a single cult

site (seeH?lsen inCIL 6:3320, 3339 and Durry 1938, 333-334, arguing againstW. Henzen,Bullettino della Commissione archeologica Comunale di Roma 1875, 83-85 andMommsen in

CIL 6:720; cf.Lugli, Fontes, 70-71). This conclusion is supported by thefact that some of these

inscriptionswere commissioned by natives of other provinces besides Thrace?including some

members of the cohort s urbanae, who lived and oftenworshiped with thePraetorians {CIL

6:32601,32616; cf.Benefiel 2001,221-222)?and thededications were not addressed solely to

Thracian gods, suggesting that the artifactsembedded in thesewalls originated at several sites.

This conclusion is also supported by thediscovery of cat. no. 26 in another part of theCampusCohortium Praetoriarum, some distance from thePiazza Fanti, just as other possibly related

inscriptionswere found away from the twowalls (CIL 6:32571 and 32586, found well to the

south, and IGUR 1:132-135, fromunknown sites on theEsquiline; cf.Benefiel 2001). Since

thisdedication and cat. no. 26 were commissioned by Thracians for a god worshiped only at

a sanctuarynear Philippopolis (see p. 118), theyno doubt originated at the same site,perhapsa shrine forAsclepius Zimidrenus situated somewhere in the Praetorians' neighborhood. The

linkbetween the two inscriptions is strengthened by the fact that theMarcus Aurelius Mucianus

named in line 37 participated in the laterdedication aswell (cat.no. 26, line 3), having become

a sacerdos of the god in the interim.Editions: CIL 6:2799 + add. pp. 870,3320,3339, cf.32543 (= 7152094) (photo: Supplltal, Imagines

l,no. 182)


Text: In honore(m) domus divinae | sclepio Zimidreno cives | hilippopolitanorum quorumnomi I a infra scripta sunt: |5 coh(ortis) I praet(oriae) (centuriae) Coccei, | (arcus)

Aur(elius) M(arci) f(ilius) Fl(avia tribu)Diza Philippopoli vico Cuntiegerum; | centuriae)Valentis, | (arcus) Aur(elius)M(arci) f(ilius)Fl(avia tribu) iza Philippopolfi]vicoVevocaseno, | (arcus) Aur(elius)M(arci) f(ilius)Fl(avia tribu)Cresces Philippop(oli)vico Vevocaseno;

|10coh(ortis)II

praet(oriae) | (arcus) Aur(elius) M(arci) f(ilius) Fl(aviatribu) Martinus Philippop(oli) vico Palma; | centuriae) Iuliani pr(aetoriae), M(arcus)

Aur(elius) M(arci) [f(ilius)Fl(avia tribu?)]Bitus Phil(ippopoli) v(ico) Pomp(tina?)Burdap(a), | M(arcus) u]r(elius)M(arci) f(ilius) l(avia tribu) aximus Philipp op] livico

Stelugermme,[M(arcus) ur(elius)]M(arci) f(ilius) l(avia tribu) aximus Philipp op] livico Tiutiameno; |15 oh(ortis) III praet(oriae) | [M(arcus) Aur(elius) M(arci) f(ilius)] Fl(avius)Vitalis Philippopol[i v]ico Cuntiegerum | centuriae) Saturnini, | [M(arcus) Aur(elius) M(arci)]f(ilius) Fl(avius) Apollodorus Philijp]p(opoli) vico Peceto | centuriae)Magni, |20 [M(arcus)Aur(elius)M(arci)] f(ilius) l(avius)VitalisPhilippopol(i)vico Zburulo; | oh(ortis) UI

praet(oriae) (centuriae) Celeris | (aius) Val(erius) C(ai) f(ilius) Flavius Valens Philippopolivic[o]Zburulo, I (arcus) Aur(elius)M(arci) f(ilius) m(avius)Cassius PhilippopolivicoCarbrino; | oh(ortis) VII praet(oriae) (centuriae) Quarti |25 p(eculator) M(arcus) Aur(elius)M(arci) f(ilius)l(avius) iogenes Philippopoli i[c]oC[.]menos; oh(ortis) III praet(oriae)(centuriae) risci | (arcus) Aur(elius)M(arci) f(ilius)Fl(avius)Diza Philippopolivico

Ardileno | centuriae)alventi, (arcus)Aur(elius) (arci) f(ilius)l(avius) iza Philippopoli







152 GIL H. RENBERG

vico Pupeses;|30 coh(ortis) Villi praet(oriae) (centuriae) Z[eno]nis | [M(arcus) Au]r(elius)

M(arci) f(ilius) Fl(avius) Chrestus Philippop[oli vi]co Cuntiegero; | oh(ortis) X praet(oriae)

[(centuriae)]ni, | M(arcus)Aur(elius) M(arci)] f(ilius)Fl(avius)Artila Phi[lippopoli

vico] Stairesis, M(arcus)Aur(elius)M(arci) f(ilius)Fl(avius)]Vitalis Philippo[p(oli)vico] Stairesis, 35centuriae) ugustian[i] M(arcus) ur(elius)]M(arci) f(ilius) l(avius)BithusPhilippopofli ico]Diiesure, | (centuriae)]uintianiM(arcus) Aur(elius)M(arci)f(ilius) l(avius)Mucianu[s Phili]ppopol(i)vico Lisenon. | ed(i)caveruntVI Kal(endas)Iul(ias) I lbino etMaximo co(n)sulibus.

Note: For the corrected reading ofArdileno (originally inCIL 6:2799) rather thanArdiceno (asper

CIL 6:32543) in line 27, see Tsontchev 1941,57, n. 1 (=AE 1944, 144).


Provenience or Secondary Context: Found as two fragments at differentmodern sites.Frag. A (=CIL 6:30685) was seen in thepavement near the apse of S. Vitale on theQuirinal, justoff the

Via Nazionale between theVia Genova andVia Milano, west of theBaths ofDiocletian (CAR 3

app., no. 10c). Frag. B (=CIL 6:16) was found in the formerarea of theMaccao dei PP. Gesuiti,

between thePiazza dellTndipendenza and Baths ofDiocletian.

Topographical Analysis: Both fragmentswere found several hundred yards to thewest of the

Castra Praetoria and almost certainlyoriginated at the same site as the dedication toAsclepius

Zimidrenus found elsewhere on theEsquiline (cat. no. 25).

Editions: CIL 6:16, cf.30685 (= JLS2095 = Gordon, Album 3, no. 289 + pi. 138) (photos: Supplltal,

Imagines 1,no. 2216

[Frag.A]and Di

Stefano,Galleria

Lapidaria,183

[Frag. B])Object: Marble altar (or stele?)with traces of feetfroman unidentifiable figure represented in relief

above the inscriptionText: Numini sancti dei Aescul[api] | indrinae reg(ionis) Ph[i]lippopolit[a] |nae,Aur(elius)

Mucianus sacerdos, m|[i]l(es) coh(ortis) X pr(aetoriae) P(iae) V(indicis) Gordkanae?

(centuria) S?e?v|5[r]us (= Severi) votum quod [s]usceperat liben|[s] solvit cum civibus

et commil|[i]tonibus suis, V idus Mai(as) imp(eratore) G|[or]diano Aug(usto) II et

Pompe I i] [no] o (n) (ulibus).Note: Arthur E. Gordon expressed uncertainty overwhether thegod s epithetwas Sindrinus, Sindri

nas or Sindrina (Gordon, Album 3, p. 81), but theuse ofZimidrenus incat. no. 25 indicates that

Sindrinus ismost likelycorrect, as isproven by the -oc;endings found in several dedications to

thisgod inhis native Thrace thatwere unknown toGordon (see p. 118). For theorthographical

relationbetween Sindrinus and Zimidrenus, seeDurry 1938,336, n. 7. The reading of lines 4-5

has been the subject of some controversy,owing to thefact thatpart of the text is inscribed over

erasure, and therehave been different suggestions for some of the letter traces (seeGordon,

Album, ibid.). Lines 2-3 are problematic aswell, since the "I" of miles may have been at the

end of line 2 rather than thebeginning of line 3 (seeGordon, Album, ibid.).

Castra Praetoria or Campus Cohortium Praetoriarum?

Cat. No. 27 Date: II a.d.

Provenience or Secondary Context: First seen either in the coenobium of S.Maria degli Angeli (at

theBaths ofDiocletian), at thePorta Salaria, or at an unspecified location inor near theBaths

ofDiocletian

Topographical Analysis: The inscription does not state that thededicant was serving in thePrae





torianGuard, but its apparent origin in thePraetorians' neighborhood suggests that thiswas

the case and thus that itwas erected at one of their temples or shrines.As Tassini rightly oints

out, the fact thatJupiter is addressed firstsuggests that thededication was notmade at a cult

siteprimarily devoted toAsclepius (Tassini 1995-1996, 31).Editions: CIL 6:370 + add. pp. 3005, 3756, cf.Di Stefano 1995, 177 + fig. 14 (photo)

Object: Small marble altar

Text: Iovi|et Asclepio | ygiae | (arcus) Sevius|5 Fab(ia tribu) eneca | x (cohorte)VII

(centuria)gnatimissusvotu(m) | (ibens) (nimo) s(olvit).

Castra Ravennatium or Unidentified Military Installation (Trastevere)


Provenience or Secondary Context: Found between theVia S. Francesco aRipa and Piazza Mastai,near S.Maria deU'Orto (Lanciani, FUR, pi. 34; cf.Lanciani, StSc 6:388)

Topographical Analysis: Since itwas discovered at the same site as a dedication toJupiterDoliche

nus (CIL 6:415 =Zappata 1996,192-193, no. 45), Coarelli concluded that this altar originated

at a shrinewithin theCastra Ravennatium where both Asclepius and JupiterDolichenus were

worshiped (see Coarelli 1996a). For this tobe the case, Coarelli would have tobe correct in

placing this installation between thePiazza Mastai and S. Francesco aRipa, which contradicts

thewidely held belief that theCastra Ravennatium was located in the areawest of S. Crisogono(see C. Lega, LTUR, "Castra Ravennatium," 1:254-255 + add. et corr.5:235). Furthermore,

Coarelli's association of thededications forAsclepius and JupiterDolichenus does not seriously

consider that therewere other sanctuaries or shrines atwhich theymight have originated, even

though three other dedicatory inscriptions?one forBona Dea Oclata (ILS 3508), one for the

imperial cult (CIL 6:881 + add. p. 3070), and one fora god whose name ismissing (CIL 12:807+ add. p. 954)?were unearthed at the same site,alongwith two republican inscriptions record

ing thatmagistri of thepagus laniculensis had installed structures atwhat was clearly a publicsite, all ofwhich indicates that therewere multiple cult sites in theneighborhood (CIL 12:1000+ add. pp. 965, 1001; on thepagus, see Coarelli 1996b, 18-19 and P. Liverani, LTUR, "PagusIanic(ulensis)," 4:10). But, even if oarelli was wrong in associating thisdedication toAsclepiusand the base dedicated toJupiterDolichenus with theCastra Ravennatium, his conclusion that

somewhere inTrastevere Asclepius and JupiterDolichenus were worshiped at the same siteisnot unreasonable since three dedicatory inscriptions show that thiswas the case elsewhere

in the LatinWest (seeCIL 3:8044 [Dacia], AE 1981, 739 [Dalmatia], IIS 4323 [Numidia]; cf.

Coarelli 1996a [Ostia]). And since the three dedications that associate the two gods were all

commissioned bymilitary personnel and at least two appear to have originated within armycamps, Coarelli may be right to conclude that the two dedications fromTrastevere originatedat a shrinewithin amilitary complex?presumably, one devoted toDolichenus?but it is justas possible for them tohave come from aDolicheneum thatwas near such a complex but not

within it. (For a siteatwhich JupiterDolichenus may have been worshiped inTrastevere, thoughnot

necessarily bymilitary personnel,see

p. 118.)Editions: CIL 6:13 + add. p. 3755(?) (=Gordon, Album 3, no. 282 + pi. 134a)


Text: Front:Pro salute| mp(eratoris)aes(aris) | (arci) Aur(eli) | ev(eri)Alex(andri) |5PiiFel(icis) | ug(usti) et|Iul(iae)Ma|meae ma|tri<s> Aug(usti)n(ostri) 10 t castr(orum) bAur(elio) | ilvano | rib(uno) (ono/-um)d(ederunt) (ibentes)| eft ide: ram| eo | anct

154 GIL H. RENBERG

o I sclep(io) 15(uintus) En|nius | abini|anus f(ilius) pt(io?) |10OMVL (seil. onv(a)l(escentium)?), II k(alendas)no(vembres) odes|to II et | robo |15 o(n)s(ulibus),|Rightside: [.] (?) Staberius | agnus, | nnius | ater, |5M(arcus) Aureli|us Optatus, | (ucius) Iuliu

s I rimulus, | (uintus) Baevius |10 espectus, | edius | erecun|dus, | (itus) {vel (ucius)?)Maevius |15uinti|anus, (ui?)h(anc?) a(ram?) [??]].

Notes: A. E. Gordon believed that the dedication on the frontwas different from thaton the left

and rightsides but recognized that at least part of the inscription on the sideswas by the same

hand as the inscription on the front. assini, however, rightly oints out that itwould be highlyunusual forthe sides tobear an unrelated inscription and has demonstrated that the textmakes

perfect sense if ne reads the front and then the left nd rightsides and understands thedate to

have been placed on the leftside because of insufficient pace on the right (Tassini 1995-1996,

52-56). The lettersCOMVL in line 10 on the leftside aremore problematic: Mommsen inCIL

proposed com(mentariensis) v(oto) l(ihens),while M. Torelli suggested that itmay have been astone-cutting error forcornicularius (M. Torelli apud Coarelli 1996a, 586-587), but Coarelli is

probably correct in suggesting that itwas an abbreviation fora class of officer (Coarelli 1996a,

586-587). If so,Durry's suggestion of an opt(io) conu(a)Kescentium) ofRome 'svigiles,unknown

toCoarelli, isbest, although itwould depend on ascribing an error to the stone-cutter (Durry

1938, 103, n. 6). Such medical officers are known tohave served in the classisMisenensis as

well as the vigiles,which may support Coarelli s suggestion about thisdedication's link to the

classisRavennas (see topographical note). Regardless of the typeof unit inwhich he served, an

optio convalescentiumwould have been especially likely tobe incharge of offeringa communal

dedication toAsclepius at amilitary campor a

nearby site. (On optiones convalescentium,see

Wilmanns 1995, 117-124 et passim.)

Via Cassia, Northwest of Rome

Cat. No. 29 Date: II/III a.d.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Unknown; found between thePons Milvius and modern La

Storta near theVia Cassia

Topographical Analysis: This altar is reported tohave been unearthed on theVia Cassia during con

struction,but theprecise spot isunrecorded. If itdid originate along this road?and itssizemakes

itunlikely tohave been brought all theway fromcentralRome?it would reveal theexistence ofa sanctuary ofAsclepius inRome's northern suburbs. Use of the term svtoc??oc o indicate that

Lupus was healed afterconvalescing at the same location fornearly one hundred days indicates

that the sitewas indeed a sizeable sanctuary,not a small-scale shrine.While the sanctuary's pre

cise location isunknown, the reference toAsclepius as "Paean of theTiber" may suggest that

itwas situated beside the riverand that the inscriptionwas subsequently moved furtherup the

Via Cassia, but since "Paean of theTiber" may simplyhave been a poetic way of referringto

Asclepius, this sanctuaryneed not have been located in close proximity to theTiber.

Editions: G. Cordiano inCordiano andGregori 1993, 153-157, no. 1+ figs. 1-2 (=AE 1993, 164

=SEG 43,661

=BE 1997,24),cf.Rigsby 001 (=SEG 51, 1430 AE2001, 212)

Object: Large marble altar

Text: svtocuO'dxeaocio Ao?7co[v] | v Xuygdii<p6?Y]t

XsipLwvi ioudv?6?g[ig] | [exjoa?v 7][iaaiv* |

?cojxov 8' s8e{[xai' | gcua nXaicovixr) |

TijjLtoa' xatQOV | eltaouuivr] 6s6v.




Fig. 10.Dedicatory relief

representingAsclepius and

Hygieia (cat. no. 30). Musee

du Louvre, Ma 602 (Ancienne

Coll. Borghese) (photo Louvre/M. etP. Chuzeville).

Unknown Provenience

Cat. No. 30 (fig. 10) Date: ca. a.d. 144

Provenience or Secondary Context: Unknown (CAR 1.1,no. 66)

Editions: CIL 6:546 + add. p. 835, cf. 30790 (photo: LIMC 2, "Asklepios," no. 252 + pi.)

Object: Finely executed marble reliefrepresentingAsclepius on the left, tanding frontal and feed

ing a large,winding male cockatrice (identifiable by his crest and beard) from a vessel inhis

righthand, andHygieia on the right, standing slightlyturned toward the equally large female

(crestless and beardless) towhich she is feeding fruitsfrom a similar vessel

Text:Numinibus sanctis| (aius) PupiusC(ai) f(ilius) ni(ensi)Firminusd(ono/-um)d(edit).Note: This individual is also known from an inscribed reliefdedicated toVesta thatwas first seen

below theCaelian in theOrto Mattei (CIL 6:787 = ILS 3313 = LIMC 5, "Vesta," no. 30 + pi.)and an inscriptionof unknown provenience identifying im as thequaestor of an imperial corpus

pistorum in a.d. 144 (CIL 6:1002, cf. 31222). The Vesta relief,dedicated with awoman who

was most likelyhiswife (and a fellowpistor), represents thegoddess sittingon a throne,beside

which there is a fullmodius with ears ofwheat hanging down and a round loaf of bread resting

on top,which suggests that thededication was erected at theheadquarters of the bakers' guild(see LIMC 5 [1990], 420, s.v. "Hestia/Vesta" [T. Fischer-Hansen]). The style and quality of

theVesta relief and relief for thenumina sancta are similar, and it isquite likely that theywere

dedicated at the same site?especially since theVesta reliefalso features a large serpent reaching

up for an offering from a patera that the goddess holds inher righthand, creating a thematic

parallel with the relief ofAsclepius andHygieia (and possibly representing one of the two).

Further support for this is to be found in the inscription of a.d. 144, now lost,which had on

its sides reliefs of a round loaf of bread and amodius brimmingwith grain,which more closelylinks theVesta relief, and therefore theAsclepius/Hygieia relief, to the guilds headquarters.

(For the relationship of the threededications, seeGreifenhagen 1967, 17-20 et passim.)


Editions: CIL 6:8 (=Amelung and Lippold, Sculpturen 3.2:393, no. 30 + pi. 170 =Schraudolph,

G?tterweihungen, 217, no. L 1+ pi. 24)

Cat. No. 31 (fig. 11) Date: II a.d.?





156 GIL H. RENBERG

Fig. 11.Altar dedicated toAsclepius (cat, no. 31).

Musei Vaticani, Galleria dei Candelabri, inv. no. 2755

(photoMusei Vaticani, Archivio Fotografico,

neg. XVIII.31.10).

Object: Marble altarwith four serpents, the two largerones amale and female cockatrice, sculptedin reliefso that theywrap around fromthe left nd rightsides, approaching a three-footed small

altarwith an offeringof two unidentifiable fruitsand a pinecone. Surmounted by a pulvinuswith reversing scrolls at top.

Text: T(itus) Flavius Antyll|us (seil. Antullus) ex viso Ascl|epio aram | onsecravit.

Cat. No. 32 Date: A.D. 198-211

Provenience or Secondary Context: UnknownEditions: CIL 6:14 + add. p. 3003

Object: Unknown

Text: [S]alvs Augustis | anctoAesculapio | x iusso | uminis dei |5 osuit | ustius T(iti) f(ilius)

Fab(ia tribu) | lympus Roma | iles coh(ortis) XI | rb(anae) (centuria) Vituli.

Linel: [JALVLS, apis

Cat. No. 33 Date: III A.D.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Found inunspecified cemetery

Editions:CIL 6:30844(=

ILMN 1:1+pi.)Object: Small plinth for two statuettes,both ofwhich are broken above the feet

Text: Iussus Asculapio C(aius) Cel|sinius Martinus.

Note: The pair of feeton the leftis larger and presumably belonged toAsclepius; thebarely extant

feeton the rightare notably smaller and probably belonged toTelesphorus or, as recently sug

gested byA. Parma in LMN, a dog.While dogs did indeed play an important role inAsclepius's




cult (see p. 101), Telesphorus was more commonly represented inAsclepius's company in

statues and reliefs.

Cat. No. 34ate: Late II or early III A.D.Provenience or Secondary Context: Unknown


Object: Small base

Text:Silius | abinus | eoAescu|lapio | (ono/-urn) (edit).Note: For thedate, seeMancini 1980, 175.

Cat. No. 35 Date: Imperial periodProvenience or Secondary Context: Unknown

Editions: CIL 6:17 (photo:Di Stefano, Galleria Lapidaria, 249)Object: Small marble altar

Text:Aesculapio | tYgiae | ominis| (ublius)Aelius |5 hiletus| (otum) s(olvit) (aetus) (ibens)m(erito).


Provenience or Secondary Context: Found in the foundations of a house on theVia dei Liutai, at

thePiazza Pasquino (see Lanciani, StSc 6:205)

Editions: IGUR 1:151 + photo of squeeze (= IG 14:968 =Amelung and Lippold, Sculpturen

1:379-381,no.

113+

pi. 39; d.LIMCl, "Asklepios,"no.

269 andMuseo Chiaramonti3:99+

pi. 1042-1043)

Object: Marble statue ofAsklepios standing on an inscribed plinth, holding a staffenwrapped bya serpent (partlyrestored)

Text: [dfxcfXt?]6to, toxr)g a>dr]7ue, |%gua6v s^susv |

[?]vog U7TSQsxvtovTiXouiou I ?^dfXSVOQ.Note: The name Gilvius isproblematic since it isunattested. Tassini has suggested, not implausibly,

that therewas a stone-cuttingerror that resulted ina gamma rather than a sigmabeing inscribed

at thebeginning of thename Silvius, but since the sigmas are all lunate, this is farfromcertain

(seeTassini 1995-1996, 42-43). The letter in

question,inscribed beside a fissure in the stone,

looks like itcould also be a tau, and thegentilicial Tilvius is indeed attested, though justonce

(Salomies and Solin, Repertorium, 186).However, the letter ismore likely tobe a gamma, and

since both Gillius and Tillius are known gentilicials, thename isprobably Gilvius.

Cat. No. 37 Date: Late II A.D.


Topographical Analysis: In giving a replica of the affectedorgan as a gift toAsclepius, thededicant

of the now-missing silver spleen was following a custom common at numerous Asklepieia,

including theTiber Island sanctuary.Therefore, such a dedication almost certainlywas made

at a sanctuary,not aminor shrine.The dedication was assigned to theTiber Island by itsfirsttwo editors,Giuseppe Gatti and Gaetano Gigli (G.Gatti, Notizie degli scavi di antichi? 1896,392; Gigli 1896, 174-177), and theywere followed in thisbyBesnier and Lugli (Besnier 1902,

213; Lugli, Fontes 2:151, no. 48). Since thededication was donated to theCaelian AntiquariumComunale by Lanciani during a period when dredging projects in theTiber had brought up







158 GIL H. RENBERG

other inscribed dedications toAsclepius (cat. nos. 1-3) aswell as numerous anepigraphicalanatomical votives (see n. 20), Besnier suggests that it, too,was recovered from the riverbed.

Maiuri, on theother hand, assigned itto theEsquiline sanctuarybecause of that site'spresumed

prominence during the second and thirdcenturies (Maiuri 1912,246-247) andwas followed byMoretti in GUR forunstated reasons, though itcan be inferred thatMoretti did sobecause this

cippuswas inscribed inGreek, like the two dedications fromS.Martino aiMonti (cat. nos. 8,

9; see IGUR 1,p. 84). The discovery of anatomical dedications from theTiber Island sanctuary

tips the balance in favor of this site but isnot definitive proof of the inscription's origin.Editions: IGUR 1:105 + photo (=Girone, Iamata, 154-156, no. V.l)


Text: ?axXr]7ii(I) 6s[a>] | [isyiazu [a](0Tfj[cu] usq^stt] ?v)(o[v] | nkr^dc, aco?eic; |5dbtd covxiQ&v | 6

t68s 8iy\iotcqIvuqsov ?)(acHOT[7|]iov OecoNeo)(dc>[y]cJZ]s?aaio[? &tt]s>.[s6]1o[0]sqoc;

TodXiocv[6cJ.

Cat. No. 38 Date: II/III a.d.


Editions: IGUR 1:149 + photo (= IG 14:1015 =Amelung and Lippold, Sculpturen 1:239, no. 100)

(photo: Di Stefano, Galleria Lapidaria, 264)

Object: Base for statue ofAsklepios; since the base has been broken on the right,only the god's

rightfoot,positioned in a frontalpose, and traces of a serpent beside it survive.

Text: NouaoMxoc, yXm6\ir\Ti9peQea?[ie,SecnroTocITaidv,] |

ar] ?uvafjLig ocx?sQyov dvaxQo[??i ?] |&v6c>a)7t(ov, gouiei is 7id^iv[?] I

'AiSrjc,t' euguOsu-iXoc,,xav ?(oak[?] |

dvTav6ar](;, ?io?coxa, yeQeooui6[\>oic; \isQomooi] |vuvouv 7idvxa86[xov ysvsxag [is xat ayXoca xsxva] |

?w(s, [idxaQ rioudv, dx?aco8uv[?, Swtoq uystric;].

riatQwivou.


Provenienceor

Secondary Context: UnknownEditions: GUR 1:150 photo (= IG 14:1016)


Text: [?] Ilocirjov trjis [? v]ouoou \? Ai?]8uu.o(; | [? ?cjexocc; | [??].

Roman Origin Uncertain

Cat. No. 40 ate: Early III b.c.

Provenience or Secondary Context: Found in a tomb in the area ofChiusi

Editions: CIL 12:440 + add. p. 888 (=CIL 11:6708,2= ILS 2958 = ILLRP 40 =

J.-P.Morel inRoma

medio repubblicana, 58-59, no. 13 + fig. 7 = Schmidt 1990, 75, no. 2 + figs. 2-3)

Object: Ceramic patera with Eros portrayed in the center

Text: Aisclapi poco{co}lom.Note: This object found atChiusi isbelieved to have been manufactured inRome, possibly even

having been purchased at theTiber Island as a souvenir (seeF. Coarelli and J.-P.Morel inRoma

medio repubblicana, 57-58; cf.D. Nonnis inCifarelli, Ambrosini, andNonnis 2002-2003,293







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OF WORSHIP IN THE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 159

and app. 11.17). If so, itwould not represent a formal dedication froma sanctuary,even if sed

for cult practices such as libations.

Cat. No. 41 Date: Imperial periodProvenience or Secondary Context: Unknown

Editions:CIL 6:30866, f. LMNhlbis (=CIL 10:1599)

Object: Marble tablet

Text: [Ex] viso draco|[ne]m C(aius) Novius | Her]meros de s|[ua pec]unia| [ded]it.Note: Assigned toRome by C. H?lsen without any stated grounds inCIL 6, this inscription from

theNaples Museum ismore likely tohave originated inPuteoli, asG. Camodeca andH. Solin

suggest in LMN, or elsewhere in theBay ofNaples area. Although the textdoes not state that

the accompanying representation of a serpentwas dedicated toAsclepius, the importance of

serpents inhisworship stronglysuggests that thiswas the case (seep. 101), as does thediscoveryof sculpted serpents dedicated tohim, such as thebronze serpent forAsclepius and Salus that

may have originated atPuteoli (CIL 10:1547).

Probable Forgery

Cat. No. 42 Date: III a.d.?


Editions: CIL 6:1, cf. 30682

Object: Small bronze octagonal lamella with ansa, decorated with figures of Sol, Scorpio, Cancer,

and Pisces

Text: Esculap|io | ac (rum).

6.Appendix: Asclepius and theCoinage o/L. Rubrius Dossenus

Three coins (and one variant) issued by the obscure monetalis Lucius Rubrius Dossenus duringthe late republic have been thoughtby several generations of numismatists to representAsclepiusin serpentine form,but the existence of these coins and theproblems ofwhether theydo indeed

featureAsclepius and why theywould do so have been almost completely overlooked by thosewho have studied the cult ofAsclepius inRome and Roman religion in general.234These coins,

therefore,deserve special attention, especially since the identification of this serpent asAsclepiusis indispute. Furthermore, it isworth examining these coins because of questionable claimsmade

by some regarding theirrepresenting evidence that theRomans had called upon Asclepius ina time

ofplague once again, as isknown tohave happened both when thegod was firstbrought toRome

and again in 180 b.c.235

The date that ossenus, who isotherwise unattested, served asmonetalis isuncertain but is likelytohave been 87 b.c.236Although he issued at least sixother coins, it s the three thatpotentially feature

Asclepius thatare

ofparticular interest, oth because during the republic Roman moneyers so rarelyput thisgod on coins and because therehas been much speculation regarding the circumstances that

ledDossenus todo so and themeaning of their iconography.The three coins inquestion are:

234On Dossenus and his coinage, see Calabria 1992 (with

references to earlier studies). The only study ofAsclepius and

Rome to discuss these coins isMusial 1992a, 35-36.

5See pp. 88-90.

3See RRC 1:78; cf.MRR 2:451 + add. p. 3:183.







160 GIL H. RENBERG

Fig. 12a. Silver quinarius issued byL. Rubrius Dossenus.

Obverse: head of Neptune. Reverse: Victory standing beside

an omphalos-*/?aped altar around which a serpent coils.

American Numismatic Society 1001.1.24897 (photo A.N.S.).

Fig. 12b. Bronze as issued byL. Rubrius Dossenus.

Obverse: Janiform heads ofHercules andMercury.Reverse: serpent coiled around an altar,framed by a

distyle templefrom behind which a warship's prow

emerges. British Museum 1931.0408\4

(photo BritishMuseum).

? Copyright The Trustees ofThe BritishMuseum.

Fig. 12c. Bronze as issued byL. Rubrius

Dossenus. Obverse: head ofJanus with

faces separated by an omphdos-shapedaltar around which a serpent, the erect

head ofwhich is visible, coils. Reverse:

warship's prow. American Numismatic

Society 1969.83.497 (photo A.N.S.).

a silver quinarius, featuring a laureate head ofNeptune on the obverse and, on the reverse,

Victory in an exultant pose beside a garlanded, omphalos-shaped altar around which a serpent

witherect ead iscoiled (RRC348/4 pi.46, 1) (fig. 2a);a bronze aswith Janiformheads ofHercules andMercury on theobverse, and on the reverse

a distyle temple,within which there is a similar altar with serpent and from behind which

protrudes theprow of awarship (RRC 348/6 + pi. 46, 3) (fig. 12b);237a bronze as featuringon the obverse a laureate head ofJanus that has itsfaces separated by the

same omphalos-shaped altarwith serpent, and on the reverse only theprow of awarship (RRC

348/5 pi. 46,2) (fig. 2c).

Though other explanations of the serpentmay be possible, the best interpretation is the tradi

tional one: Asclepius is represented inhis serpentine form coiled around a typeof altar commonlyassociated with this god, which in one case is placed within his temple.238This identification is

preferable to the suggestion that the serpent is a genius, as was argued in themost recent studyof Dossenus s coinage.239

237See also Calabria 1992,68-69, nos. 10-11, an uninscribed

variant that features Roma orMinerva on the obverse but

the same reverse.

238For omphaloi and Asclepius, see Kampmann 1992

1993.

239Calabria 1992. Though correct thatAsclepius was rare

on Roman coins, especially during the republic, Patrizia

Calabria's claim that the serpent on Dossenus's coins does

not resemble other representations of Asclepius overlooks

important parallels fromAsia Minor. Most notably, a lateHel

lenistic coin fromPergamon shows Asclepius on the obverse

and on the reverse a female cockatrice posed atop a netted

omphalos in a manner quite similar to that of the serpent on

the three Dossenus coins, demonstrating that such iconog

raphywas recognized in the cult ofAsclepius byDossenus's

contemporaries even ifthisparticular serpent, being female,

did not representAsclepius himself (BMCMysia, 129, no. 158

+ pi. 27, 4) (fig. 13). Also significant is the discovery inAsia

Minor of imperial-period sculptures of serpents coiled aroundomphaloi thatwere dedicated toAsclepius (e.g., IHadrianoi

14). Furthermore, Calabria ignores the fact that even though

genii were often represented as serpents in paintings and

other media, on Roman coins only their anthropomorphicform ever appears (as is demonstrated by a search of the

on-line curatorial database of the American Numismatic

Society, http://www.numismatics.org/cgi-bin/objsearch); and,







PUBLIC AND PRIVATE PLACES OF WORSHIP IN THE CULT OF ASCLEPIUS ATROME 161

Fig. 13. Bronze coinfrom Pergamon. Obverse:

head ofAsclepius. Reverse: serpent coiled around

a netted omphalos, inscribedAZKAHF1IOY

ZQTHPOZ. American Numismatic Society

1944.100.43256 (photo A.N.S.).

Certain interpretations of the other elements on these coins and theirpurported relevance to

Asclepius's arrival inRome, however, are farmore problematic but have gained general acceptance.240Some scholars go too far in claiming that thewarship's prow thatappears on two of the coins alludes

to themanner ofAsclepius's conveyance fromEpidauros toRome.241 Such a conclusion ignores the

fact that bronze asses with Janus or Janiformheads of other gods on the obverse and awarship's

prow on the reverse were commonplace during the republic, as were coins featuring an ordinary

gods head and a prow on opposite sides.242Similarlywithout merit is the claim that thepresence of

bothNeptune andAsclepius on thequinarius alludes to the sea voyage bywhich Quintus Ogulnius's

embassy traveled to and fromEpidauros?an embassy inwhich an unrecorded ancestor ofDossenus

is thought by some tohave participated.243 Ithas also been speculated that these coinswere intended

to commemorate (belatedly) the bicentennial ofAsclepius's arrival, an event thatmight have been

marked with public celebrations.244While this isby no means certain, it isworth considering that

other issues featuringAsclepius have been plausibly linked to the450th and 500th anniversaries of

thisevent, and therefore it isnot an improbable explanation of thegods otherwisemysterious presence onDossenus's coins. One problem with thisexplanation is that 87 B.C.was not the anniversaryof the god's arrival, though it ispossible that the anniversarywas celebrated late or that the coins

insteadmarked the anniversary of thededication of thegod's temple, the date ofwhich isunknownandmight have been asmany as five years after the returnofOgulnius's embassy.245

The occasion of an anniversary,however, isnot thecommonly accepted context for the issuance

of these coins featuring the serpent: instead, these and Dossenus's other coins are frequently linked

to the epidemic that broke out among Rome's warring factions as the forces ofMarius and Cinna

were tryingtowrest control of the city from Sulla's faction in 87 B.c.246 fDossenus did indeed is

sue these coins in87 B.c., itwould seem an unlikely coincidence for themnot tohave been related

to the outbreak?after all,Asclepius was a remarkably rare subject for coinsminted inRome, and

the other coins that feature him can be linked to noteworthy occasions.247While there is general

moreover, the genii portrayed in their serpentine form tend

to approach altars rather than coil around them.

240These assertions regarding a link between theDossenus

coins and embassy toEpidauros have only been challengedinprint by Calabria (Calabria 1992).

241See BMCRR 1:313, n. 1 and Zehnacker 1964, 744; cf.

Rowland 1966,411.

242SeeLIMC5 (1990) 618-623, s.v. "Ianus" (E. Simon) (esp.

pp. 620-621), and RRC 2:718-719. (I have been unable toconsult Romolo Calciati, "L'asse conGiano bifronte e prora

di nave," La Numismatica: mensile di scienza, storia, arte,

economia delle monete 9.3 [March 1978] 82-86.) Similarly,a lack of awareness of the frequency of Janus coins led one

scholar to suggest that the association of Janus and Asclepiuson the as can be explained by the fact that the dies natalis of

Asclepius's temple was 1 January, a date also significant to

Janus, the god of beginnings (Zehnacker 1964,743, followed

by Rowland 1966,411).

243See Babelon 1885-1886,2:405^*06; BMCRR 1:312, n. 2;

Syndenham, CRR, 109; Zehnacker 1964, 741, 744, 747; cf.

Penn 1994,122. Against this supposition, Musial points out

that the gens Rubria isnot attested until later in the republic

(Musial 1992a, 35-36 n. 18).

244See Zehnacker 1964, 745; cf. Rowland 1966,411.

245For the later anniversary issues, see pp. 124-125; for the

uncertainty surrounding the year of the temple's dedication,see p. 93.

246For theMarian siege ofRome, thebibliography onwhich

is extensive, see Lovano 2002, 3&-A5, esp. 42.

See nn. 179 and 180.







162 GIL H. RENBERG

acceptance that these coins do pertain to theepidemic,248therehas not been a satisfying xplanationof what these coins might signify regarding the role ofAsclepius in the religious reaction to this

crisis.According to one suggestion,Asclepius was not theonly god whose help was sought on this

occasion, but rather the oubreak of disease ledto a

procession honoring thegods of theCapitolineTriad aswell asAsclepius.249 This claim seemswholly based on the fact thatDossenus also issued

threedenarii thateach have thehead ofJupiter,Juno, orMinerva on theobverse and on the reverse

thegoddess Victory and an empty chariot thatwas questionably identified as a tensa (i.e., a typeof

chariot devoted to carrying images of the gods during religious processions).250 Instead, however,

this chariot ismore likely tohave been a triumphal quadriga, which, because it is empty, appears to

symbolize a hoped-for victory over the enemies of theRoman state?in this case,Marius and his

supporters.251Therefore, these Capitoline Triad coins, as is also true of theAsclepius coins, can

not be taken as evidence forpublic prayers or religious processions, as has been claimed, and the

literary

sources

concerning

the events associated with the siege likewise

provide

no evidence that

such ceremonies were held.252

Furthermore, ithas been inferred from these literarysources that the disease spread from the

army to the inhabitants of Rome?which would certainly have justifiedpublic processions and

appeals toAsclepius?but, as has been convincingly argued, this outbreak was limited to the two

rival army camps situated on theJaniculum and should be catalogued among theoutbreaks of dis

ease thathave afflictedarmies throughout history rather than as an actual plague that affected the

civilian population.253 The Asclepius coins, then,do not represent evidence forpublic ceremonies

intended to save the cityofRome from a deadly plague: instead, they aremore likely to refer in

someway to thepestilence that struck the forces of Cnaeus Octavius and Pompeius Strabo as they

sought todrive theMarians away fromRome, and can be interpreted as a sign that the lifting f this

pestilence had been attributed toAsclepius. Overall, it is impossible todetermine who might have

sought to enlistAsclepius's aid and inwhat manner thiswas done: it ispossible thatprayerswere

offered and rituals conducted by thewhole army,a portion of the armyor its leadership, or even a

single commander or soldier.While itwould be wrong to exclude completely the possibility that

therewas amuch more elaborate series of activities performed byRome's religious authorities in a

manner similar to theofficial appeal toAsclepius, Apollo, and Salus to alleviate the army's suffering

in 180 B.c., there is simplyno reliable evidence that thisoccurred. Therefore, thosewho prefer this

explanation should not treat itas fact, since it ismere speculation.254

See RRC 1:78, 363 and others cited below.

249See Foss 1990, 5; cf.Penn 1994, 121 and Lovano 2002,

42, n. 56 (which vaguely states thatDossenus's coin types

"coincide with the literary evidence which tells us of the

superstitious panic gripping the city at that time").

250RRC 348/1-3 + pi. 45,18-20.

251In treating the chariot as a tensa,Clive Foss was following

much earlier scholarship and appears not tohave considered

Michael H. Crawford's important arguments in favorof iden

tifyingitas a quadriga (seeRRC 1:362-363; cf.Lovano 2002,

42, n. 56). The presence ofVictory on theAsclepius quinarius

appears to tie it in to this theme. (For an unconvincing sug

gestion that this goddess alludes toAsclepius's victory over

the plague of 293 B.c., see Zehnacker 1964, 744.)

252The literary sources are: App. BCiv 1.67-70; Gran. Lie.

35.12-45, pp. 14-18, ed. Criniti; Livy, Per. 79-80; Oros. 5.19

(esp. 5.19.18); Plut. Vit. Mar. 42-43; Veil. Pat. 2.21.

253SeeWiseman 1969, 74.

254Another solution worth considering is that ofHubert

Zehnacker, who suggested that the coins were meant to

thank theTiber Island-based god forhelping themen whose

suffering had occurred on the nearby Janiculum, especially

through the agency of his priests (Zehnacker 1964, 747).

While Zehnacker might go too far in proposing that the

priests had formed "une sorte de 'croix rouge'," the active

involvement of cult personnel in aiding the sick, either on the

Janiculum or after theyhad been brought to theAsklepieion,

could well have prompted a coin issue thanking thegod?and

there need not have been any public processions involved.







PUBLIC AND PRIVATEPLACES OF WORSHIP INTHE CULTOF ASCLEPIUS AT ROME 163

Addendum

At the2007 meeting of theArchaeological Institute ofAmerica, a poster presentation displayed byRobert S.

Wagmanand Andrew G. Nichols of the

Universityof Florida andWilliam N. Bruce of

theUniversity ofWisconsin revealed the existence of another Latin inscription thatappears tohave

originated at theTiber IslandAsklepieion. Entitled "Asclepius on theTiber: New InscriptionsfromtheTiber Island"" theposter was devoted to several unpublished, fragmentary inscriptions found

either on or near the island. One of these,which was discovered in 1892 during the dredging of

the riverbed near thePons Cestius, is clearly linked to theworship ofAsclepius by its iconography,

though its text is too damaged to include much useful information (Mus. Naz. Rom. 27667). This

inscriptionwill be published alongwith the others in a report on theUniversity ofFlorida's survey

project on theTiber Island.

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