Naming the Gods in Roman Sicily: The Case of Enguium (original) (raw)

2022, C. BONNET, T. GALOPPIN, E. GUILLON, M. LUACES, A. LÄTZER-LASAR, S. LEBRETON, F. PORZIA, J. RÜPKE, E. URCIUOLI (dir.), Naming and Mapping the Gods in the Ancient Mediterranean: Spaces, Mobilities, Imaginaries, Acte du colloque (Toulouse, 10-12 Février 2021), Berlin, Boston : De Gruyter, 2022

https://doi.org/10.1515/9783110798432-018

Abstract

While studying the archaeological record, scholars are often left puzzled by the attribution of cult places to the divine powers they were dedicated to. The question can be difficult to answer, sometimes even impossible, especially in the absence of written sources. But it is not entirely a modern one. Ancient worshippers could in fact have faced very similar struggles when having to identify a divine power associated with a given place to address it in cult. This was especially true in mixed cultural contexts, when said divine power could already have received a name in a different language. Sometimes, a widely recognized interpretatio provided an easy solution. That was the case, for instance, for the major deities of the Greek and Roman pantheon. But when dealing with less renowned powers, a more creative approach was needed. 1 To illustrate this process, I will analyse a case study from Roman Sicily during the Republic: a place of wide cultural interactions, too often dismissed by scholars due to the widespread misconception that the Roman conquest could only have brought decline in a world of Greek cities. On the contrary, I hope to show that the Romans played an active role in the religious life of the island, putting themselves in a direct relationship with its gods in a way that was specific to their culture and independent from the patterns already established by local worshippers. Thus, far from causing the decline of an immovable Greek culture, they added their own contribution to an already rich mix of various cultural influences. The sanctuary I will focus on belonged to a small inland city, called Enguium, and seems to have been fairly important, at least at a local level, in late Hellenistic times. There is no archaeological record for it, and the city itself has not yet been identified clearly: it could have been modern Troina, as most scholars agree, but definitive proof has yet to be found (Fig. 1). 2 On the other hand, the sanctuary is well known from three literary sources, two in Greek and one in Latin, all originating from the late Republic: Plutarch, who wrote in the 1 st Century AD but derives here explicitly from Posidonius of Apamea (2 nd-1 st Centuries BC); Diodorus of Sicily (1 st Century BC), and Cicero in his speeches against Verres (70 BC).

Loading...

Loading Preview

Sorry, preview is currently unavailable. You can download the paper by clicking the button above.

References (26)

  1. Angelini, Fabio (1992), "Le meteres di Engyon", in: Mythos 4, 5-31 [= "Sicani. Miti e culti", in: Mythos 6 (1994), 5-189].
  2. Belayche, Nicole (2016), "La Mater Magna, Megalè Mètèr ?", in: Corinne Bonnet, Vinciane Pirenne- Delforge, Gabriella Pironti (eds.), Dieux des Grecs -Dieux des Romains. Panthéons en dialogue à travers l'histoire et l'historiographie, Bruxelles, Roma, 45-60.
  3. Bernabò Brea, Luigi (1956), Akrai, Catania.
  4. Bovio Marconi, Jole (1935), "Termini Imerese", in: Notizie degli Scavi s. IV 21, 201-202.
  5. Brugnone, Antonietta (1974), "Iscrizioni greche del museo civico di Termini Imerese", in: Kokalos 20, 218-264.
  6. Chirassi Colombo, Ileana (2006), "La Sicilia e l'immaginario romano", in: Pietrina Anello / Giuseppe Martorana / Roberto Sammartano (eds.), Ethne e religioni nella Sicilia antica. Atti del convegno, Palermo, 6-7 dicembre 2000, Roma, 217-249.
  7. Ciaceri, Emanuele (1911), Culti e miti nella storia dell'antica Sicilia, Catania.
  8. Dubourdieu, Annie / Scheid, John (2000), "Lieux de culte, lieux sacrés : les usages de la langue. L'Italie romaine", in: André Vauchez (ed.), Lieux sacrés, lieux de culte, sanctuaires. Approches terminologiques, méthodologiques, historiques et monographiques, Roma, 59-80.
  9. Giunta, Francesco / Poisson, Jean-Michel (2008), "Gangi (Palermo). Engyon", in: Bollettino d'Arte, 235-236.
  10. Holm, Adolf (1870-1898), Geschichte Siciliens im Altertum, Leipzig [I 1870; II 1874; III 1898]; cited from the it. tr. corrected, revised and enlarged by the author: Storia della Sicilia nell'antichità, Torino [I 1896; II 1901; III 1906].
  11. Manni, Eugenio (1981), Geografia fisica e politica della Sicilia antica, Roma.
  12. Pace, Biagio (1935-1949), Arte e civiltà della Sicilia antica, Milano [I 1958 2 (1935);
  13. Parker, Robert (2017), Greek Gods Abroad. Names, Natures and Transformations, Oakland.
  14. Pedrucci, Giulia (2009), Cibele frigia e la Sicilia. I santuari rupestri nel culto della dea, Roma.
  15. Polacco, Luigi (1996), "Demetra-Cibele tra Sicilia e Anatolia", in Giovanni Rizza (ed.), Sicilia e Anatolia dalla preistoria all'età ellenistica, Roma, 173-180.
  16. Sfameni Gasparro, Giulia (1973), I culti orientali in Sicilia, Leiden.
  17. Sfameni Gasparro, Giulia (2006), "I culti orientali nella Sicilia ellenistico-romana", in: Pietrina Anello, Giuseppe Martorana, Roberto Sammartano (eds.), Ethne e religioni nella Sicilia antica. Atti del convegno, Palermo, 6-7 dicembre 2000, Roma, 251-328.
  18. Stavrianopoulou, Eftychia (1993), "Der ΜΑΤΕΡΕΣ-Kult in Eleutherna und der ΜΗΤΕΡΕΣ-kult in Engyon", in: La Parola del Passato 48, 161-175.
  19. Tzifopoulos, Yannis (2010), Paradise Earned: The Bacchic-Orphic Gold Lamellae of Crete, Washington, DC.
  20. Van Effenterre, Henri / Stavrianopoulou, Eftychia / Kalpaxis, Thanassis E. / Petropoulou, Angeliki (1991), Ελεύθερνα. Τομεας 2. 1, Επιγραφές από το Πυργί και το νησί, Réthymno.
  21. Van Haeperen, Françoise (2016), "Les dieux publics outragés par Verrès", in: Corinne Bonnet, Vinciane Pirenne-Delforge, Gabriella Pironti (eds.), Dieux des Grecs -Dieux des Romains. Panthéons en dialogue à travers l'histoire et l'historiographie, Bruxelles/Roma, 199-210.
  22. Short References BAtlas: Talbert, Richard John Alexander (ed.) (2000), Barrington Atlas of the Greek and Roman World, Princeton.
  23. BMC, Sicily: Poole, Reginald Stuart (1876), A Catalogue of the Greek Coins in the British Museum, Sicily, London.
  24. CIL: Corpus Inscriptionum Latinarum, 1863- DARMC: Digital Atlas of Roman and Medieval Civilizations. DELG:Chantraine, Pierre (1968), Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue grecque, Paris. IACP: Hansen, Mogens Herman / Nielsen, Thomas Heine (eds) (2004), An Inventory of Archaic and Classical Poleis, Oxford.
  25. ILLRP: Degrassi, Attilio (1957-1963), Inscriptiones Latinae Liberae Rei Publicae, Firenze. RE: Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft, 1894-2000.
  26. RPC I: Burnett, Andrew / Amandry, Michel / Ripollès, Père Pau (eds) (1992), Roman Provincial Coinage, Vol. I. From the death of Caesar to the death of Vitellius (44 BC -AD 69), London. Naming the Gods in Roman Sicily: The Case of Enguium