The impact of the Roman Empire on the cult of Asclepius

337 Pages·2018·6.337 MB·English

by  van der Ploeg, Ghislaine

The Impact of the Roman Empire on the Cult of Asclepius
Impact of Empire
Roman Empire, c. 200 B.C.–A.D. 476
Edited by
Olivier Hekster
(Radboud University, Nijmegen, The Netherlands)
Editorial Board
Stéphane Benoist
Angelos Chaniotis
Lien Foubert
Anne Kolb
Luuk de Ligt
Elio Lo Cascio
Bernhard Palme
Michael Peachin
Francisco Pina Polo
Rubina Raja
Christian Witschel
Greg Woolf
VOLUME 30
The titles published in this series are listed at brill.com/imem
The Impact of the Roman Empire
on the Cult of Asclepius
By
Ghislaine van der Ploeg
LEIDEN | BOSTON
Cover illustration: Parian marble head of Asclepius from Melos, 325-300 BC, © The Trustees of the British
Museum
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: Ploeg, Ghislaine E. van der, author.
Title: The impact of the Roman Empire on the cult of Asclepius / by Ghislaine
 van der Ploeg.
Description: Leiden ; Boston : Brill, [2018] | Series: Impact of empire, ISSN
 1572-0500; Volume 30 | Includes bibliographical references and index.
Identifiers: LCCN 2018019417 (print) | LCCN 2018028616 (ebook) | ISBN
 9789004372771 (E-book) | ISBN 9789004372528 (hardback : alk. paper)
Subjects: LCSH: Asklepios (Greek deity)—Cult—Rome. | Cults—Rome.
Classification: LCC BL820.A7 (ebook) | LCC BL820.A7 P56 2018 (print) | DDC
 292.2/11—dc23
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018019417
Typeface for the Latin, Greek, and Cyrillic scripts: “Brill”. See and download: brill.com/brill-typeface.
issn 1572-0500
isbn 978-90-04-37252-8 (hardback)
isbn 978-90-04-37277-1 (e-book)
Copyright 2018 by Koninklijke Brill NV, Leiden, The Netherlands.
Koninklijke Brill NV incorporates the imprints Brill, Brill Hes & De Graaf, Brill Nijhoff, Brill Rodopi,
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This book is printed on acid-free paper and produced in a sustainable manner.
Contents
Acknowledgments vii
List of Figures and Tables viiI
List of Abbreviations xi
Introduction 1
1 Mobility and Connectivity in the Cult of Asclepius 6
2 Asclepius before the Roman Imperial Period 46
3 Imperial Relations with Asclepius 83
4 Asclepius and the Army 166
5 The Cult(s) of Asclepius in Roman North Africa 215
6 Conclusions 263
Bibliography 275
Index of Modern Authors 304
Index of Ancient Authors 306
Index of Subjects 307

Acknowledgments
First and foremost, thanks go out to Alison Cooley for all her guidance and
comments over the years which greatly helped me improve my work. Thanks
also go to Greg Woolf and Kevin Butcher for their insightful and helpful com-
ments during the viva. Thanks also go to Arja Karivieri, Katariina Mustakallio,
and Marja-Leena Hänninen of the Finnish Ostia project whose support has
been vital for my progress and development as a researcher. I am grateful to
Gil Renberg for sending me advance sections of his work as well as colleagues
at the University of Cologne for creating a stimulating working environment.
Special thanks go to Prof. Dr. Walter Ameling and the Alfried Krupp von Bohlen
und Halbach Stiftung who made turning my PhD thesis into this book possible.
Joanna Kemp, Leah Reynolds, Coralie Acheson, and Jessica Lydon are
thanked for their support and their help in proofreading endless versions
of my work. Richard and Tom Dencer are thanked for always providing me
with perspective and sustenance. Lastly, thanks are given to my family—Lies,
Jeroen, and Casper van der Ploeg, for their help and love over the years.
List of Figures and Tables
Figures
1 The Athenian Asclepieion 54
2 Coan Mosaic showing Asclepius’ Advent 61
3 Wall relief from the Tiber Island Asclepieion 65
4 Temple attributed to Asclepius in Ostia 67
5 Temple of Asclepius in Agrigento 69
6 Asclepius depicted in the Chiaramonti Type, 2nd century AD, Rome 77
7 Plan of the Pergamene Asclepieion, 2nd century AD 116
8 Asclepius Este statue type 122
9 Asclepius Amelung statues 123
10 Asclepius Amelung statues 123
11 Plan of the Asclepieion in Epidaurus in the 3rd century BC 126
12 Plan of the Asclepieion in Epidaurus in the 2nd century AD 129
13 Antinous and the omphalos 130
14 Pentassarion showing bust of Severus and Hygieia feeding a snake
on the obverse and Asclepius on the reverse from Irenopolis in Cilicia,
AD 195–196 135
15 Members of Imperial Household depicted on coins from Pergamum
with Asclepius 139
16 Reverse of bronze coin showing Homonoia scene with Asclepius
standing next to Artemis of Ephesus 140
17 Coin reverse depicting the Emperor on horseback greeting a statue of
Asclepius 144
18 Caracalla on standing on steps in front of Tyche who holds a statue of
Asclepius 144
19 Caracalla on horseback standing in front of a statue of Asclepius 145
20 Asclepius and Caracalla standing with an altar between them 146
21 Asclepius and Caracalla standing facing each other with a sacrificial
animal between them. BMC Mysia 155.323 146
22 Caracalla worshipping in front of a temple in which Asclepius
stands 147
23 Caracalla standing in front of the temple of Asclepius, an attendant
stands between them preparing to sacrifice a bull 147
24 Caracalla standing in front of a tree around which the Asclepieian
snake is coiled, with Telesphorus standing between them 148
List of Figures and Tables ix
25 The three neocorate temples of Pergamum 149
26 Coin from Pergamum showing the seated cult statue of Asclepius 151
27 Severus Alexander depicted as a priest of Asclepius, Aigeai 154
28 Denarius from the Roman mint showing Asclepius with the globe
on the reverse, AD 215 157
29 Bronze coin from Pergamum showing the Asclepieian snake coiled
around the omphalus on reverse 158
30 Caracallan Sestertius showing Asclepius with Telesphorus and
omphalos 160
31 Hadrianic Cistophori from Pergamum depicting Telesphorus 160
32 RIB 1028 182
33 Plan of the hospital at Vetera I 186
34 ILNovae 9 188
35 Plan of the valetudinarium at Novae 191
36 The Thracian rider, IGBulg 5.5806 196
37 Map of Philippopolis 197
38 IGBulg 3.1126 200
39 IGBulg 3.1126 200
40 IGBulg 3.1127 201
41 IGBulg 2.518 203
42 IGBulg 2.521 203
43 Head of Eshmun-Asclepius from Sidon 221
44 Torso of Eshmun-Asclepius 221
45 Map of Roman North Africa 227
46 Evidence for cult from sites in Africa Proconsularis 229
47 Evidence for cult of Asclepius in Numidia 231
48 Tunis type statue of Asclepius from Lambaesis 235
49 Reconstructed drawing of the Asclepieion at Lambaesis 248
50 Temple of Asclepius at Lambaesis 249
Tables
1 Reasons for the dissemination of a cult and its application to the cult of
Asclepius with data from Davies (2005) 34
2 Percentage of ex-votos from Fregellae and Ponte di Nona with data from
Potter (1988) 68
3 Data from the PHI database showing the frequency of occurrence of the
titles utilised in BMusImp 3 (1932) 22.19 99
x List of Figures and Tables
4 Coins depicting Asclepius. From BMC Mysia, Volume 15 137
5 Members of Imperial Household depicted on coins from Pergamum
with Asclepius. From BMC Mysia 138
6 Occurrences of Asclepius on Roman imperial coinage
post-Caracalla 159
7 Evidence for cult from sites in Africa Proconsularis. With data from
Benseddik (2010a) 229
8 Evidence for cult from sites in Numidia. With data from Benseddik
(2010a) 231
9 Inscriptions found in the area of the Asclepieion. With data from
Benseddik (2010) 254