Prophecy in its multifaceted aspects will be the topic of the 2024 Symposium in Capua
In the ancient Greek and Roman world prophecies influenced the course of history or failed to be influential and
at least in historical and political discourses
or not believing prophecy recurs as a theme in many famous literary and historical accounts
ranging from Cassandra in the Trojan War and in Aeschylus’s Agamemnon
Croesus causing a mighty empire to fall when he made war on the Persians
the foretold death of Cambyses in Ecbatana (Syria
the Theban quest for revenge on Athens (Hdt
Athenians trusting in wooden walls against Xerxes (while a few fortified the Acropolis with a wooden wall)
the people of Velletrae receiving an oracle that one of their citizens would rule the world
so they repeatedly fought Rome and lost centuries before Augustus was born (Suet
Father Liber and Nigidius Figulus on separate occasions telling Gaius Octavius (pr
62) that his son would rule the world (Suet
Celaeno foretelling to the Trojans that hunger would force them to devour their very tables in Italy (Aen
Delphi warning Nero to beware of the 73rd year (Suet
to the false and real prophecies of Alexander the Quack-Prophet in Lucian of Samosata and so on. The emotional and tragic style in history writing delighted in exploiting prophecies and in the expectation of their fulfillment. Thucydides and Polybius argued against such an historical style
although it was extremely popular among readers and had its first great model in the Histories of Herodotus (see Croesus
but also how the Heraclids should have vengeance on the Mermnadae in five generations in Lydia
Chilon of Lacedaemon warning Peisistratus’s father not to have a son
The Delphic Oracle (1978) says that most surviving Delphic oracles were straightforward
but Herodotus has distorted how we think of them. Many true prophecies are known
and numerous historians concocted detailed prophecies pretending that they were uttered before the events
such as the many signs pointing to Augustus and later to Vespasian as rulers of Rome
The stories of vague and ambiguous prophecies
open to different or even antithetic interpretations are better known. And some were unclear in order to give the oracle an escapeway in case of a mistake.
and literature generously deal with prophecies at some turning points of history or literary plots
The Roman authors followed both the Greek model of “dramatic historiography” and that of “factual historiography” by giving different roles to prophecies
The Romans and Italic peoples had a different approach to prophecy
They resorted rarely to famous Greek oracles
based on lot by means of knucklebones and collection of short oracular texts just called sortes
The libri Sibyllini were often consulted in Rome to obtain pieces of advice by Apollo
The sortes Praenestinae were extremely famous but almost every city in Italy had its own collection of sortes
We know little of the content of these little prophetic texts and the few preserved sortes are mostly ambiguous and simple pieces of advice
The task of interpreting these divine answers fell on experts and priests such as the Roman decemviri sacris faciundis.
unveiled the process of creation of an oracle by a clever man
which investigates the creation and spreading of fictitious oracles
The Roman government once organized a meticulous study of the Sybilline Books to cast out spurious prophecies. Phlegon of Tralles collected oracles and prophecies set up in the Hadrianic period when the reliability of oracles was discussed and questioned
tried to restore the status of many of the oracles of polytheist Greece and Rome
which had been persecuted under his immediate predecessors.
Prophecy was a major attribute of the god Apollo in both Greece and Italy. Many events in history
and mythology hinged upon a consultation with the gods to obtain a favorable prophecy governing personal or political decisions. In the Iliad
many characters are able to prophesy the destruction of Troy or
but several fail to foretell their own deaths in the Trojan War
even as they warn their comrades of their demise (starting with Merops and his sons Adrastus and Amphius
2.830 ff.). Some prophecies fail to come true. Cornelius Lentulus heard that three Cornelii would rule Rome and expected to be the third
Hadrian executed two possible rivals “fated to be emperor” (HSA Hadr
23.2). Was Apollo at fault here for failing to prophesy the future correctly
or did mankind find a way to foil destiny? Some other unlikely individuals rose to power
such as Agathocles tyrant of Syracuse (a penniless but talented wretch)
and Vespasian (both younger brothers). Hermes first told Circe that Odysseus would prove immune to her magic tricks and then
intervened to give his great-grandson moly (mandrake) with which he invalidated Circe’s spells. Tiberius had heard the prophecy that Galba would rule Rome in his old age
but decided not to execute him because it would happen long after Tiberius had died. Did Apollo change Tiberius’s mind to ensure the validity of his own prophecy
In many stories in epic literature and mythology
hearing a prophecy about parricide or an overthrow
an individual tried to change the future by exposing an infant. The child always survives to fulfill the prophecy (Acrisius
and these prophecies changed history every time. In literature
exposing a newborn never works; in real life
a bear or wolf almost always eats the baby. How do infants of prophecy beat the odds? We are curious to hear your thoughts on prophecies that changed the story (mythological or literary) if fictional or history if it was real. This year we will entertain topics pertinent only to the Greeks
and peoples that have important relationships with them. The conference proceedings will be published
hopefully in 2025. For those who are unable to come to Italy
The Symposium 2024 will meet in Santa Maria Capua Vetere at L'Università degli Studi della Campania Luigi Vanvitelli and may include one session in Caserta
either in the royal palace or in a seat of the University. Excursions will be organized to visit sites in and near Santa Maria Capua Vetere. Capua is an important archaeological and historical site where an amphitheater
and an ancient gate (the Arch of Hadrian) are located
An interesting museum is in Caserta and another two in Capua
Very near are a large range of other Roman sites: Nola is 29 km away; Herculaneum 40 km away
15 April 2024 midnight CA time. Please send abstracts in English by 31 March so that we can figure out if we have enough participants to add June 10 for more papers
All conference papers will be read in English. If you need help translating into English
Gaius and Patricia will help you translate (for free) before the conference. Please do not wait until the last minute to take advantage of this offer. Publications in English now reach a wider audience than in any other language. Therefore
it is wise to publish in English. Please feel free to contact the organizers with questions.
You can fly into Naples or Rome and take a bus or train to a SMCV. Trains from the Naples airport are about 1 hr 10 min with one change of lines. From the Fiumicino airport
one must ride to Termini and change trains to go to SMCV
the journey is about 2 ½ hrs if one takes the faster train to Termini
and many of the collected papers have been published by Acta Antiqua in Hungary. Before that
they were "Symposia Cumana--held at the Villa Vergiliana for the Vergilian Society. Now we move around Europe--hence the name "Peregrina." Many of the earlier collections were also published in Acta Antiqua
2. Davide S. Amore, “The Origins of the Norsemen According to the Graeco-RomanSources”davideamore@icsdannunziomotta.it I.C
D'Annunzio" SISRThe Norsemen have been a source of fascination and mystery for centuries
Their origins and early history have been the subject of much debate
and numerous theories attempt to explain their cultural and ethnic roots
one of the most influential sources of information on the Norsemen
provides valuable insights into the perceptions and attitudes of these seafaring warriors in the ancient world
Greek and Roman sources regarded the Norsemen as a mysterious and terrifying people
known for their brutal raids and conquests along the coastlines of Europe and the Mediterranean
these sources also provide valuable information on the cultural and ethnic origins of the Norsemen
One of the earliest accounts of the Norsemen comes from Herodotus
a group of nomadic warriors who inhabited the region near the Black Sea
Although the identity of the Scythians and the Norsemen is still a matter of debate
some scholars believe they have found many similarities between the two groups
Tacitus also wrote about the Germanic tribes in his famous Germania
He provides a comprehensive overview of the customs and beliefs of the Germanic tribes
and offers valuable insights into their cultural and ethnic origins
and mentions the importance of shipbuilding and seafaring in their lives
While much of the information contained in Greek and Roman sources must be approached with caution
they remain an important part of the historical record
providing valuable insights into one of the most fascinating and mysterious peoples of the ancient world
3. Vincenzo Bellelli – Carmine Pellegrino, “To be Etruscan in Campania”vincenzo.bellelli@cultura.gov.it; cpellegrino@unisa.it Parco Archeologico di Cerveteri e Tarquinia ZoomThe written sources record the domination of the Etruscans over a large part of Campania
the area between the Campanian plain and the Sarno river Valley
and the Agro Picentino in the Gulf of Salerno
Ancient authors refer to the period between the sixth and the first half of the fifth century BCE
as also suggested by the diffusion of Etruscan writing and bucchero pottery in this phase.Our lecture intends to verify origin and nature of this Etruscan presence in the region
Recent studies have reduced the importance of migratory and colonization movements in the “Etruscanization” of the archaic period (the so-called “second colonization”)
They have enhanced the political and cultural dimension of the phenomenon and the relationship with the urban structuring process of the local communities
the Etruscan paradigm has characterized Pontecagnano since the restructuring of the settlement in the last quarter of the eighth century BCE
coming above all from the Hirpinian hinterland
were integrated into the new political community
the inscriptions testify to the use of the Etruscan language
and the most important aristocratic group gets its gentilic name (Rasunie) from the Etruscan autonym Rasna.The development of Pontecagnano in the Orientalizing and Archaic Periods allows us to go back to the “Villanovan” origin of the center
and more generally to reflect on the presence of the Villanovan facies in the region
4. Ennio Biondi, “Origines Scythorum, the Origin of the Scythians”enniobiondi@hotmail.it Università di Catania ZoomHerodotus 4.5-7 discusses the Origines Scythorum
relating a tale with very complex features
Our paper aims to search for meanings in the light of the Scytho- Iranian origin of the tale
but also according to the perception that Herodotus
had about these traditions with which he came into contact while studying the Scythian civilization
has various parallels in the Indo-European world
probably connected with the Indo-Iranian trifunctional division of the society into sacred priests
Other symbols of the story recall Iranian royal ideology
It is also uncertain whether there is a link between the three lineages and the geographical division of the Scythians into farmers
The story told by Herodotus reflects the dynamics between the various Scythian tribes in the moment in which struggles took place for the domination of large regions around the Dnieper River
5. Alain Blomart, “Origins of Rome and Republican Religious Topography: Palatine versusAventine”alaingfb@blanquerna.url.edu Ramon Llull University (Blanquerna – FPCEE)
SpainI will reflect on the symbolism of their topography of the temples of the Palatine and Aventine - two hills related to the origins of Rome
and I will explore the ideology that can be identified behind the divinities of these temples
Identifying values divinised or personified by these cults will allow us to understand the Roman ideology
because they refer to the earliest times in Rome
to its struggles of power (social conflicts of the beginning of the Republic
political conflicts with peripheral people [Latin
to its ideology of people coming from abroad and of conquering people
etc).I will conduct a historical and anthropological analysis of the Republican temples
classified chronologically: on the one hand
aristocratic hill in contrast to the southern
were the Palatine and the Aventine metaphors for conflict between city and periphery (which would explain the exclusion of Aventine out of the pomerium [the religious border of central Rome] at the Republic time
but also an opposition between aristocratic and plebeian power
6. Lorenzo Boragno, “Origins (and teleology) of a Troublemaker: Maximinus Thrax.”lorenzo.boragno@gmail.com École Française de RomeThe emperor Maximinus Thrax reigned in a turbulent era
at the beginning of a complex and rather obscure period
He rose through the ranks under Septimius Severus to usurp the imperial power by killing the last member of the dynasty of which he was for long a stalwart champion
His three-year reign (235-38 AD) began troublesome age: after his and his son’s tragic death
the empire plunged in a period of difficult wars and military defeats
From a contemporary perspective the problems that plagued the Empire during the 3 rd century AD were rooted in Rome’s golden past
Maximinus represented a true turning point
and the cause of a true crisis.Ancient historiography investigated causes and consequences seeking to understand from where or when evil entered the scene
while moderns might examine the ethnic origins of Maximinus
some ancient historians neglected completely the topic or rather focused on his social background.I will examine these ancient historiographical narratives
highlighting in particular their deep teleological structures
As facts were carefully chosen and interpreted under the light of a moment in the “future past,” the ethnic element assumed dramatic role in historiographical narratives
Ethnic or social origins were therefore presented both to explains a series of events
as positive or negative stereotypes provided interpretative coordinates to shed light on personal or political motivations
even as foreshadowing of much larger phenomena
Focusing simultaneously on the teleological structures of ancient narratives and on the intertextual dialogue between authors from different times and with different agendas
the present contribution aims to shed light on how causes
origins and the “future past” were intertwined in ancient historiography.Maximinus “Thrax” stands therefore as a perfect case study
or cause the “Military Anarchy?” Looking more closely at the origins of Maximinus may perhaps help to understand the origins of this historiographic problem
7. Nicoletta Bruno, “Archaiologíai, Origines, Antiquitates: Ancient History andAntiquarian Literature”nicoletta.bruno@wiko-greifswald.de Alfried Krupp Wissenschaftskolleg Greifswald
GermanyArchaiología was the Greek term for ‘antiquarian lore’ as distinguished from political and military ‘history’
Varro’s Latin translation Antiquitates became the familiar expression for this branch of indispensable knowledge
depreciated or overestimated at later times
Archaiología and antiquitas both mean ‘knowledge concerning the very ancient past.’ Arnaldo Momigliano pointed out that the main difference between historiographical work and antiquarian work was the diachronic vs
This clear-cut distinction between the ancient antiquary
is substantially correct but oversimplifies it
Varro’s Antiquitates rerum divinarum et humanarum
was considered a work of antiquarian literature
but too little is known of this highly fragmentary work for us to determine Varro’s diachronic approach to history (Herklotz 2007)
scarcely used in Republican and early Imperial Latin
means ‘one who appreciates archaic style and language’ (Tac
a meaning curiously similar to the verb ἀρχαιολογέω
Origines also can be associated with the Greek archaiologiai: linear chronological history
and a description of customs and institutions can be encountered in Cato’s Origines.Clarke 2008 and Thomas 2019 have substantially revisited Felix Jacoby’s reconstruction of the development of historiography
Chaniotis 1988 and Thomas 2019 compiled substantial evidence from the 4th and 3rd centuries BCE about honors (honorary inscriptions) for historiographers
as they performed accounts of local history (often at festivals)
an example of the local history of Rome that has come down to us intact and complete is Dionysius of Halicarnassus’ Ῥωμαικὴ Ἀρχαιολογία
Can we deduce that the antiquitates and the origines
are local histories of Rome which contain chronological elements
and what connects it with the Greek politeiai
A lexicographical analysis together with a close reading of selected passage will be a starting point for a new assessment on the subject and on the definition of Archaiologíai
8. Helena Catania, “Ethnos Makedonon and Hellenikón. A Reflection on MacedonianIdentity, Self-Perception, and the Greek Point of View”helena.catane@gmail.com Università di Messina ZoomThe concept of ethnicity is a particularly difficult issue: scholars have exploreddifferent areas to trace the specific characteristics of ancient ethnic groups and have been given different definitions
including one that understands ethnic identity as the sense of belonging to a specific group within a representation built on difference
on distinctive traits used to distinguish themselves
the intention is to conduct a reflection on the Macedonian ethnical
religious and cultural identity and the Macedonian people’s self-perception as well as the way the Macedonians were perceived by other Greeks.For this research there are many difficulties
literary and epigraphic data will be necessary to shed light on the perception that the Macedonians had of themselves and in their relationship with the Hellenikòn
Of the latter Herodotus 8.144.2 gives us a precise definition
identifying in the commonality of language
the general criteria of the Hellenism: it will be important
to try to understand if the inhabitants of Macedonia met these criteria – or tried to - or
if they chose others,what they actually were.The reading of the sources on the origins of the kingdom of Macedonia and its perception in the eyes of the Greeks will also allow us to better understand the royal dynasty that will give birth to the figure of Alexander the Great
bringing it to the borders of the ancient world
9. Francesca Ceci – host and co-organizerCapitoline Museumsfrancesca.ceci@comune.roma.it (See the paper of Martini)
10. Altay Coşkun, “Aia – Dioskurias – Sebastopolis – Sukhumi: On the Foundation, Re-Foundation, and Relocation of Greek Cities in Kolchis”altay.coskun@uwaterloo.ca Waterloo University
Ontario Canada ZoomConnecting a city’s origin with a glorious past
or a mythical tradition were typical ways of bragging of certain qualities and
It was not rare for the ancient Greeks to claim descent from a hero to underpin their pre-eminence among neighboring communities or to allege kinship (syngeneia) with a more powerful people whose alliance might be sought
The land of ancient Kolchis along the eastern Black Sea hosted various cities that competed for the rank of successor to Aia
Its famous king Aietes was the father of Medea
the wife of Jason the Argonaut.The city most commonly accepted nowadays as ancient Aia is Kutaisi
But I have recently tried to show that the location of mythical Aia began to be envisioned in the eastern Black Sea region as a result of the Milesian colonization of the area in the 6 th century BCE
The first Greek city or emporion bragging its settlement in or by Aia was likely Dioskurias; Strabo 11.2.16.497–98C situates this ‘in the recess of the Euxine,’ which I identify with the Ochamchire area
Roman Sebastopolis claimed to be the successor to Dioskurias
Since Pliny NH 6.5.14–15 locates it at a distance of some 75 miles from Dioskurias
Sebastopolis was likely to be found at Skurcha by the Kodori river.This contradicts the common opinion
which locates Dioskurias and Sebastopolis at Sukhumi further to the West
The earliest evidence for this is that the bishop of Sukhumi called himself “the bishop of Sebastopolis” by the 13 th century
this title was appropriated only after Sebastopolis had ceased to exist and the title could be transferred
in order to convey status within the Christian oikumene
11. Salvatore Costanza, “Polyphemus, Galatea and the Ethnogenesis of the Illyriansand Celts.”salvicost@yahoo.it National and Capodistrian University of Athens
the Sicilian Cyclops Polyphemus and Galatea were the parents of Illyrius
the ancestors of the peoples named after them
This mythical story is related by second century historian Appian of Alexandria
the longest extant Greek source about the Illyrian world and the Roman conquests of the Western Balkans
the main source for Appian´s report is Timaeus of Tauromenium
whose fragment (FGrH 566 F69) is preserved by Etymologicum Magnum
This mythical aition goes back to Syracuse at the time of Dionysius I the Great
it seems useful for expansionist aims of the ambitious tyrant
such as Issa in the island of Lissa (Viš) and supported the Parian colony of Pharos in the island of Lèsina (Hvar) against Illyrians
with the Celts employed as mercenaries by him and by his son Dionysius II the Younger
interested in claiming for the kinship of such peoples with the Hellenic world
Illyrians and Celts would be not merely Barbarians
but they would have a syngeneia with Greeks
given that their progenitors were born from the gamos of the Sicilian Cyclops with his beloved sea-nymph
cultural interaction was to be envisaged on the grounds of Syracusan primacy
while another story lets Illyrios be the son of Cadmus and Harmonia
according to a different account of the Hellenization of the Illyrian world
It is noteworthy to examine which political purposes stay behind the genealogical motif attested by Timaeus and Appian and how the mythical figure of the Cyclops was enacted to serve this claim for the preeminence of Syracuse in the East Mediterranean
as literary sources allow us to understand better
CyprusIn his monumental work on the Etymologiae
Isidore of Seville illustrates the then known disciplines according to the conceptual model that the ultimate meaning of a name encompasses and represents the origin of what is named
Chapter II of Book IX illustrates the origin of peoples’ names
It constitutes a synthesis of Roman thought
which had reworked the Greek concept of genos
Isidore continues with a long list of peoples who would descend from Japheth
he lists the peoples who would descend from the progeny of Japheth
after explaining that the names of the peoples changed rationally
he lists again the same or other peoples whose names clearly show an assonance with those of the mythical founders or progenitors
the focus of this paper is the analysis of the names of eastern populations – such as the Indians
and numerous others – among whom are also included some fabulous communities
13. Marie-Laure Freyberger, “Dio Cassius and the Origins of Rome”marie-laure.freyburger@uha.fr Université de Haute-Alsace
at the beginning of the 3 rd century AD a Roman History which was composed of 80 books
and some of the next books are fragmentary (summaries or quotes of Dio’s writing)
preserved by Johannes Zonaras (11 th century) and to several fragments kept by later grammarians or lawyers
there is absolutely no doubt about the Trojan origins of Latium’s inhabitants.
14. Gerard Freyburger will attend but not presentgfreyb@unistra.fr Université de Strasbourg
RussiaAccording to Quintus Curtius Rufus and Strabo
ancient Greeks settled in Central Asia in the 5th century BC
Greek migrations became more intense and led to significant changes in the ethnic situation and local cultures after Alexander the Great conquered the region (329-327 BC)
Alexander annexed the East Persian satrapies - Parthia
large Greek settlements and cities were founded
These migrations changed the ethnic composition of the population of the region
and the culture brought by the Greek settlers opened a new milestone in the history of Central Asia - Hellenism.After the death of Alexander and the collapse of his empire
the Central Asian satrapies fell under the rule of the Seleucids (about 305 BC)
the Hellenization process reached its culmination
ensuring the dominance of the Hellenic traditions in all areas
By the end of the Seleucid rule in Central Asia
the Greek migrants and descendants of the early settlers have been largely integrated into the local environment
and a significant part of the local population had become adherents of the Hellenic culture
That is why in the middle of the 3rd century BC
when the Seleucids lost most of the Central Asian territories
after the capture of Central Asia by nomadic tribes (Yueji) and Persians
the Hellenistic traditions retained their strength until the Arab conquest of Central Asia in the 7th-8th centuries.Despite significant cultural and religious transformations as a result of the Arab conquest of Central Asia
including materials obtained during my field work in the region indicate that the events of the Hellenistic period deeply influence the ethno-cultural identity of the indigenous Muslim peoples of Central Asia
17. Vicky Győri, “An (Under)Valued Romulean Icon: The Sulcus Primigenius”victoria.gyori@kcl.ac.uk University of Pécs
Hungary ZoomEveryone agrees that the she-wolf with the twins
and the tropaeophorus figure are the most enduring images of them
however – the priestly figure with a plough referring to his ritual ploughing of Rome’s sacred boundary that marked the foundation of Rome (Plutarch
Livy 1.44.4) – became equally prevalent in Romulean mythology
there is to date no artistic example of Romulus ploughing the sulcus primigenius (“original furrow”) and only a few reliefs of a ploughing scene in Roman art
The sulcus primigenius is the most common “Roman” type (other than depictions of the Roman imperial family) found on coinage minted by Roman colonies throughout the provinces
The images of the founder – usually the emperor – driving a yoke of oxen to plough the sulcus primigenius or of a plough were minted by almost every Roman colony from the Late Republic to the third century AD.What was the significance of Romulus’ sulcus primigenius ritual
how and why did it become a crucial rite in the foundation of all Roman colonies
Dionysius of Halicarnassus 1.88 says that Romulus’ act was the model on which Romans founded colonies throughout the provinces
The urbs came into existence when it was encircled by the furrow drawn by a plough
for its foundation was dependent on the plough’s tangible contact with the earth which designated the pomerium (Varro LL 5.143)
the foundation of a city.So the depiction of the sulcus primigenius ritual on Roman provincial coinage is fundamental to the justification and the promotion of the Roman identity of these colonies
the colony demonstrates its foundation according to mythical foundation of Rome by commemorating its “birthday” – it explicitly states it is Roman because the sulcus primigenius is a Roman urban foundation ritual
the colony advertises perhaps the most Roman episode of Romulus’ life - the very moment Rome became the city of Rome when Romulus ploughed the original furrow
possibly used the lost Historia Gothorum (or Historia Getarum) of Cassiodorus and also the oral recordings from living memory of the old Ostrogoth warriors and noblemen from the time and royal court of king Theodoric the Great of the Ostrogoths and ruler of Italy
But Greek and Roman writers from the 4th - 7th centuries AD
roughly from the time of Eutropius to Isidor of Seville
confused (voluntarily or not) the Getae of Classical Antiquity and the Goths in Late Antiquity among.I will uncover and analyze the origin of this confusion between two distinct peoples
The Northern Thracian\ Getae and the Eastern Germanic Goths had a common origin
but they parted probably in the Late Bronze Age or Early Iron Age at the latest
beginning with Eutropius and the panegyrists of Constantine the Great in the 4th century AD
had vanquished the Getae on the Lower Danube
In the first quarter of the 4th century AD
the dominant ethnos north of the Lower Danube were already the Gothic Tervingi
allied with the Sarmatian Roxolani and the Germanic Taifali and Victoali
The free Dacian tribes of the Carpi were also then part of the Gothic confederacy of the Tervingi
Later Roman sources equated the main ancestors of the Visigoths with the Dacian (Northern Thracian) Getae and Daci
Modern historians consider this amalgamation to be largely
I will argue that the idea of a lineage going back to the Daci and Getae legitimizes the Roman identification of the Getae with the Goths
so it was neither pure propaganda nor devoid of any truthful substance
20. Patricia Johnston co-organizer Zoomjohnston@brandeis.edu Brandeis University
21. Fernando Lopez Sanchez & Maria de la luz Triñanes Dieste,“The Two Tyrian Foundation Myths”fernal06@ucm.es Complutense University of Madrid
Spain ZoomTyre had two types of foundation narratives
The first type is recorded in the Dionysiaca 40.467
a late antique epic of the 5th century by Nonnus of Panopolis and relates to Tyre
to Gadir (in south Spain): Ambrosial Rocks and an olive tree originally floated in the sea before they were rooted to the sea floor
Tyrians seem to have adopted this narrative as their principal foundation story
but also present at different times in Tyrian coinage
revolves around the central theme of a swimming bull carrying Europa with her billowing veil or about a bull
dead and cut off in stripes or fully alive
signaling the pomerium of the new city.Tyre seems also to have employed mythical founders of Tyrian overseas settlements (oikistai)
such as Dido in Carthage or Cadmus in Boeotia
in order to bolster its claims as a Phoenician metropolis negotiating with native populations in distant lands
which also appears to be Phoenician in origin
perhaps meaning “wanderer,” Cadmus was the son of king Agenor of Tyre and Telephassa
meaning perhaps “East” from the same word that gave the name of the Saracens.Unlike Tyre
and Thebes each seem to have preferred different versions of the bull foundation myth
followed closely the Ambrosial Rocks prototype
exploring the meaning of this foundation duality is not as straightforward as it looks at first sight
Coupled with literary and archaeological sources
Tyrian and Phoenician coins from Lebanon to Northern Africa
provide also an interesting insight into how different Phoenician communities related to Tyre and defined their mythical past under changing political circumstances
22. Francisco Marco Simón, A Celtic Ver Sacrum: the Bituriges and theFoundation of Mediolanum.marco@unizar.es University of Zaragoza / Research Group Hiberus
34) explains the settlement of the Celts in Cisalpine Gaul through a migratory saga that he places in the time of Tarquinius Priscus
because of the surplus population in his prosperous kingdom sent his nephews Belovesus and Segovesus to lead the contingents they considered appropriate to settle in the places indicated by the gods
Segovesus headed for the forests of Hercynia
while the gods pointed Belovesus in the direction of Italy
Having helped the newly installed Phocaeans of Massilia against the Salians
defeated the Etruscans at the river Ticino and founded Mediolanum
the Vocontian historian Pompeius Trogo (in Justin’s Epitome 24.4.1 ff.) compares the Gallic migration to a “sacred spring;” (velut ver sacrum)
in which one part of the expedition entered Italy and another
which defends the historicity of the information and its consideration within an autochthonous tradition
analyses the cultural keys of this Wandersage carried out by the Gallic iuventus and its specific characteristics in relation to Celtic
23. Annarita Martini and Francesca Ceci, “Images of Mythical Founders Suckled by anAnimal on Ancient Coinage and their Echo in the Carolingian World Symbolizing aNew Dynastic Kingdom”annarita.martinicarbone@gmail.com Capitoline Museums
Rome ItalySeveral humans in Greek and Roman literature and mythology were suckled by animals such as Cyrus the Great (according to Herodotus
Many ancient coins show an image on the reverse referring to a mythical hero
but was first exposed and then suckled by an animal that nourished him
so that he then fulfills the destiny of glory that awaits him
This study focuses on the representation of arguably the most famous animal as a nurse: the she-wolf that suckled Romulus and Remus
This image recurs in Roman art and coinage down to the 4th century AD and even after.The image of Romulus and Remus suckled by the she-wolf became typical on Roman coins
and its iconography conveyed in all the empire a fundamental political message
The importance of this iconography and its value in different media remained over the centuries
In the Middle Ages it was still used to affirm the foundation of a new potentate
With the cultural renaissance linked to the ancient world
the she-wolf experienced a revival as a symbol of power
coins were minted with the image of Romulus and Remus suckled by the she-wolf
and in the court of Charlemagne in Aachen a suckling she wolf dominated
In both cases the suckling she-wolf represented the image of a new foundation of a dynastic kingdom
24. Attilio Mastrocinque, “Hercules, Liber Pater and the Origins of Tyre”attilio.mastrocinque@univr.it Università di Verona
Italy co-organizerHercules and Liber Pater (Herakles and Dionysos) were called dii patrii in Leptis Magna and Cuicul
They also were patron gods of Septimius Severus
They were identified with two Phoenician-Punic gods
The essential Greek origin of these dii patrii has been underlined by Edward Lipiński
who recognized their identification with Punic gods as a secondary feature
The choice of Heracles depended on the traditional identification of this god with Melqart
Milk‘ashtart was probably a different name of Melqart
A clue resides in the myths of Tyre and the mythic relationships between Greeks and Phoenicians
could have been proud for having been homeland of these gods
Herodotus testified to an early cult to Heracles in Tyre; the birthplace of this hero was Thebes
Tyre and Carthage could claim priority in the cult of these outstanding gods thanks to the foundation myths of Tyre and Thebes
Greece ZoomAccording to the literary tradition and iconographic evidence
most heroes who received cult worship on the Acropolis had a primeval origin and were connected with autochthony
The Iliad 2.546-51 attests that Erechtheus was a son of the Earth
while Apollodorus 3.14.1 speaks of the diphyes nature of Kekrops
Erechtheus is depicted in the famous ‘anodoi scenes” — shown delivered by his nurse
and Kekrops also is a hybrid creature
and half snake.Thucydides 1.2.5 ( τὴν γοῦν Ἀττικὴν οὖσαν ἄνθρωποι ᾤκουν οἱ αὐτοὶ αἰεί) claims the Athenians are the only autochthonous Greeks
they and their mythical heroes were autochthonous
Herodotus 5.72 attests that the priestess of Athena Polias told the Spartan king Kleomenes at the entry to the shrine of Athena
and do not enter the holy place since it is not lawful that Dorians should pass in here.” In Herodotus’ testimony the shrine of Athena symbolizes Athenian autochthony and identity.This paper
by employing and interdisciplinary approach
and the identity aspects of the Athenian heroes who received cult on the Acropolis of Athens in close relation to the historical and ideological context with special emphasis on the ideology of autochthony
27. Francesco Mongelli, “The Origins of Rome from Cassius Dio to the SudaLexicon” francesco.mongelli@uniba.it Università di Bari
one relating to the omens that had heralded the advent of Septimius Severus
another relating to the civil wars of the Severan age
Only after this experience the historian began the project of a “universal history” of Rome
in which he started from Rome’s mythical origins
Dio’s initial books are lost and we can only gain an idea of them through the fragments of indirect tradition
or through the works of Byzantine historiography that to a greater or lesser extent used Dio as a source (e.g
This line of the tradition reaches its synthesis in the Suda Lexicon.Among the best-known moments of Rome’s origins there is the account concerning the prodigious survival of Romulus and Remus through the intervention of the she-wolf; thanks to a quotation from Eustatius of Thessalonica
we know that Dio certainly narrated the episode
Byzantine historiography presents versions of the episode that differ in some respects; one of these versions also found its way into the Suda Lexicon
does not present a “monographic” entry devoted to Romulus or Remus (as it does
for Numa Pompilius) but recalls the contours of the episode in entry β 556
in which it discusses Romulus’ institution of the festival of Βρουμάλια
This lecture tests whether the events narrated in Suda β 556 can in any way be traced back to Dio
in an attempt to recover a new fragment to the early books of the historian’s work
an attempt will be made to reflect on the chance that the historian’s recall of the events related to Romulus still had political significance during the Severan age
28. Josh Nudell, “The Worst Free Men in the World: A Herodotean Origin for the IonianReputation for Servitude?”jpnudell@gmail.com Truman State University
MissouriThe perceived servility of Ionians is often taken as an irrefutable fact that shapes modern interpretations of Classical Ionia
this reputation was well established at least by the early second century BCE when the Seleucid King Antiochus III declared to the Romans that the Ionians were accustomed to obedience to barbarian kings
and thus ought to be treated differently from the other Greeks (App
the proverbial prominence of Ionia that belonged sometime in the distant past can be found in the saying “long go the Milesians were powerful” (πάλαι ποτἦσαν ἄλκιμοι Μιλήσιοι
which meant “times have changed.”Herodotus 4.118–43 provides the earliest possible evidence for this reputation in his account of Darius’ Scythian expedition
The Scythians responded to the Ionian decision to stick with Darius by hurling insults against the Ionians
calling them “master- loving slaves” and “the worst and most cowardly” free men (Hdt
Samons declares that “[t]he defense of Miltiades is thus bolstered by confirming the contemporary view that the Ionians were effete and inured to servitude” (2017: 37).In this paper I address two interlocking questions
I will follow in the footsteps of recent scholarship that examines the sources Herodotus drew on for his presentation of individuals and peoples in his history (e.g
Blösel 2007; Irwin 2009; Samons 2017; Thomas 1989)
with special attention to the context of the AthenianEmpire
I will consider the legacy of this passage in subsequent presentations of Ionia
arguing that it played an outsized role in how late Archaic and Classical Ionia was understood
where Samons argues that its inclusion reflects contemporary attitudes
I will argue that it planted a seed that confirmed later prejudices
Czech RepublicVirgil's Aeneid represents perhaps the most famous epic representation of the founding myth in world literature
Vergil created a work that historically justified and consolidated the imperial claim of the Roman state
Vergil's epic soon became a foundational text for generations to come
it was the most unknown work of antiquity; on the other
it suffered the fate of compulsory literature
becoming the target of various intellectual games and jokes
Parodic versions of the Aeneid appear in European literatures from the 16th century onwards
Ivan Kotljarevsky's Aeneid of the early 19th century
although its original role was comparable to that of the "upside-down" Aeneids
has returned in a strange detour to the role of a founding work
namely the founding work of Ukrainian national literature
The aim of this paper is to explore in more depth the features that made the parody a founding work of Ukrainian literature and to find possible elements of a new national identity
31. Carmine Pellegrino, “To be Etruscan in Campania”cpellegrino@unisa.it (see above under co-author Bellini)Università degli Studi di Salerno Zoom
32. Aura Piccioni, “For an Archaeology of the Italic peoples in Sicily: Außenseiter,Migration and Mobility from the Italian Peninsula.”aura.piccioni@gmail.com KU Eichstätt-Ingolstadt
and Università degli Studi di Roma Tor Vergata (Italy) Far from showing a unitarian cultural form
Sicily has always stood out as a cultural melting pot
the result of interactions between indigenous peoples (Elymians
with bibliography) in this sense come from the western part of the island and offer a varied picture
also considering the mythical origins of the indigenous peoples (s.
209 ff.).This paper will analyse the archaeological evidence from the 6th-5th century onwards and connect it
in order to understand the coexistence and conflicts of peoples
I will also examine Sicily beyond the indigenous peoples for the Etruscans and Italians as well
33. Jelena Pilipović, “Aeneadum genetrix. Venus as a symbolic origo gentis Romanae inLucretius'; De Rerum Natura, Vergil's Aeneid and Ovid's Ars Amatoria”abaridovastrela@gmail.com University of Belgrade
SerbiaThis contribution explores the idea that these poetic figures have a symbolic and identity value: Aeneadum genetrix is not only the genealogical origin of the Romans
but also the symbolic origin of the Roman collective identity
the three poets present three different visions of the primordial Roman identity that she embodies
Lucretius'; Venus is the source of fertility
beauty of nature and peace in interpersonal relationships (De Rerum Natura 1-46)
Inclination towards harmony and peace is thus represented as an essential feature of the gentis Romanae – inherited from Venus as its genealogical and symbolical origo
Lucretius thus ideologizes the divine figure of Aphrodite as a cosmic force
inherited from the Homeric Hymn 5 and Empedocles'; poem On Nature (Diogenes Laertius 8.77)
The goddess is idealized but also politicized in the Aeneid as well: through her
Vergil seeks to construct a collective identity in which the gens Romana will merge with the gens Iulia
The sublime progenitor of the Julian tribe (Aeneid 1.229-53
Venus embodies not only a personal relationship of motherly love towards Aeneas (1.405-409)
but a superpersonal relationship of parental love to the line of descendants that ends with Marcellus
The figure of Venus as the symbolic origo gentis Romanae
since the Roman collective identity for Ovid is not ethnic
and the meaninglessness of traditional values breaks through
The goddess is conceived as the embodiment of love enjoyment and thus the core of the Roman identity lies in enjoyment – ironically or not
34. Beatrice Poletti, “Lavinium, the Most ‘Greek’ of the Latin Cities”bp72@queensu.ca Queen’s University
Aeneas and other survivors of the Trojan War who fled to Italy to establish a new home for themselves and their posterity founded the city of Lavinium
from the early analysts to the Augustan historians
relate that Aeneas brought with him his household gods
referred to in the Roman tradition as Penates – the gods of the penus
the Romans embraced the cult of his Penates
which became the Penates publici populi Romani
The modes of transfer of these gods to Rome as well as their identity were already matters of debate in antiquity
and Dionysius of Halicarnassus thought that they were to be identified with the Great Gods of Samothrace
Others commonly identified them with the Dioscuri
whose cult is also attested in Lavinium as early as the sixth century BCE
Dionysius 1.67 additionally reports the testimony of Timaeus of Tauromenium (ca
mid-4th to early 3 rd century BCE) on the subject
but it might contain important implications for the adoption
Timaeus would have heard from Lavinians that the sacred objects preserved in their sanctuary were bronze and wooden caducei and Trojan earthenware
While Dionysius disputes that such objects could be the Trojan Penates — which he wanted to associate with Greek deities to support his theory that the Romans were also Greek — the description provided by Timaeus offers a fascinating parallel with bronze caducei found in religious contexts intowns of Magna Graecia and the sanctuary of Olympia
their presence in Lavinium could be explained in the frame of the contemporary efforts by several Latin cities of strengthening their ties with the Greek world and partaking in a broader
together with Lavinium’s foundation legend and its original cult of the Trojan Penates
would single out the Latin town as the core of Greek culture in ancient Latium
Roma dovette impegnarsi in guerra con i suoi vicini
Romolo ei suoi compagni erano giovani bellicosi e poveri; i Sabini erano anziani ma avevano donne e ogni tipo di ricchezza
Questa guerra si concluse senza vincitori né vinti: Romani e Sabini si unirono e formarono una società completa
provvista di tutto il necessario per vivere
Attraverso la comparazione di questo racconto dell’annalistica con la tradizione norrena della guerra tra Asi e Vani
Dumézil ha proposto un’interpretazione di questi racconti come la rielaborazione di un mito di origine indoeuropeo
ci proponiamo di comparare di questi racconti dell’annalistica e della mitologia con il mito della guerra di cui il dio giapponese è protagonista per verificare l’estensione di questo mito di origine della società competa
37. Elena Santagati, “The Origin of Zankle/Messina between Historiography andArchaeology” co-organizerelena.santagati@unime.it Università di Messina
archeological studies in ancient Zankle in Sicily have resulted in remarkable discoveries; moreover
in the light of recent archeological excavations in Cuma Opicia and ancient Pithekusa
a thorough analysis of the main literary works is warranted
The integrated analysis of Realia seems to imply that the very first inhabitants of Zankle were Euboeans of Pithekusa
resettling in Cuma and in Zankle itself. Furthermore
an additional revision of trade relations between Ionian and Tyrrhenic settlements – of which Zankle appears to be the strongest counterpart – is needed
38. Claudia Santi (with Salvati) “The Earliest Roman–Sabine War as an Origin Myth”Claudia.SANTI@unina2.it Università della Campania “Luigi Vanvitelli”
Rome had to engage in war with its neighbors
warlike and not rich; the Sabines were aged but they had women and every kind of wealth
This war ended with no winners or losers: Romans and Sabines joined together and formed a complete society
provided with everything they needed to live
By comparing the annalistic tale with the Old Norse tradition regarding the conflict between Æsir and Vanir
Dumézil proposed an interpretation of these as the reworking of an Indo-European origin myth
we aim to compare these annalistic and mythical tales with the war myth in which the Japanese god Ōkuninushi plays a role in order to verify the extension of this origin myth
39. Ben Scolnic, “Karomemphitai: The Karian Role in the Rise of the Saite Dynasty”rabbi.scolnic@gmail.com Southern Connecticut State University Zoom“Karomemphitai” is not just the name of an area of Memphis in which Carians from southwestern Anatolia settled in the seventh-sixth centuries BCE
The toponym also reflects the pride of Carians in their role in conquering that famous and sacred city and the recognition and gratitude of their Saite patrons
What better way to create a place for your ethnic group than by becoming an indispensable piece of the political puzzle in a foreign land
To refer to the Carians as “mercenaries” ignores their desire to find a new land in which to create families and homes
The military actions of the Carian soldiers were the first essential step in their acceptance by and assimilation into the Egyptian community
Traditions about oracles from the gods about the role of the Carians can be studied for their etiological importance
A historical reconstruction of the rise of the Saite dynasty in Egypt in the seventh-sixth centuries will by contrast
show the skewed picture of the Carian role in these same events
40. Nikki Singhnksingh@colby.edu Colby College panel chair
The heroic cult answers the question of the origins of the polis: the autochthonous heroes
direct descendants of the land of the polis
are those who best personify the rights of citizens over their country
but also the royal origins of the Greek polis
since the first members of the city are also the first kings of this one
The myth and cult of these primordial heroes authenticate the rights of the Greeks over their homeland
The most characteristic example of this idea is that of the partly-snake Cecrops
offspring of Hephaestus (likewise lame in some versions or partly a snake in others)
43. Stev Talarman, “‘Earthborn’ Indians in Nonnos’ Dionysiaka”steventaal@gmail.com Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin
GermanyIn the Dionysiaka of Nonnos of Panopolis
scholars have identified the author’s tendency to designate various actors
as ‘earthborn.’ Taking a small
non-exhaustive selection of the forms in which this epithet appears
γηγενής (‘earthborn’)
πεδοτρεφὲς αἷμα (‘soilbred race’)
αὐτόχθων φύτλη (‘race sprung from the land’)
and χαμαιγενὴς σταχύς (‘earthborn progeny’)
These descriptions are as various and protean as Nonnos’ vast poem itself
in line with the much commented upon aesthetic notion of ποικιλία which is reflected at virtually all levels of the work
Euripides’ portrayal of Pentheus and his father Echion as ‘earthborn’ (Bacc.
538–541) has been identified as an obvious influence in this connexion (to mention merely one aspect of the extensive reception of Euripides’ work to which Nonnos dedicates books 44–46)
Dr Anna Leferatou has contextualised Nonnos’ portrayal of the Indians as ‘earthborn reptiles’ (Leferatou 2016
167) in a syncretic genre of Christian and pagan κατάβασις narration
has identified the episode of ‘earthborn Typhoeus’ at the beginning of the Dionysiaka as the prototypical θεομαχία (viz
and Typhoeus as a prototypical θεομάχος
to whom the enemies of Dionysos are later implicitly or explicitly compared (Hadijittofi 2016
Starting from these and related observations
I will examine several aspects of Nonnos’ portrayal of the Indians as serpentine
earthborn θεομάχοι and place my findings within the context of his literary influences and aims
44. László Takács co-organizerTakacs@vtk.ppke.hu Catholic University of Budapest
following Caesar's death. Varro was most concerned with the political significance of the etymological proposal of certain institutional lemmas and the reconstruction of the origin of certain phenomena. For Varro
the origin of words captures the realities that generated them. The recovery of those aspects of the past can offer a model for dealing with the serious crisis
including the institutional one of the middle of the 1st century BC.In particular
we will focus on the etymology of the institutional words
and censor; in the etymologies/para-etymologies attributed by Varro to these institutional words
we can reflect on the original atmosphere which gave birth to these magistracies
Varro proposes in the period immediately after Caesar’s death a solution to the political and institutional crisis of the time
that is to say a comeback to the original value of these honores
according to his “antiquarian” knowledge
47. Anna Judit Tóth, “The Bald, the Lame and the Stuttering. Foundation andMarginality”tothannajudit@gmail.com National Széchényi Library
HungaryContinuing my theme from the previous year
I will analyze the scapegoat-like physical attributes of the typical heros-ktistes
A set of bodily deficiencies appears both in myth and ritual that are somehow connected with the idea of foundation
Most of these impairments can be described as a defect in the normal binaries of life and so the loss of human integrity and wholeness: asymmetries of the body (lameness
inability for articulated speech (muteness
In this paper I am focusing on the most under- researched issues: stuttering and baldness.This closed set of motifs can be present in different contexts as the foundation of a city
liminality and pollution were overlapping ideas
inasmuch as all implied a separation or even an excommunication from the community
48. Luciano Traversa, “Rome and Capua as loci salubres: the Political Use of Peoples’Origins in the Late Roman Republic”luciano.traversa@uniba.it Università degli Studi di Bari Aldo Moro
ItalyWe will analyze the retrospective reconstruction and origins of two rival peoples
the Romans and the Campanians and the healthy location (loci salubres) of their city states
we will focus our attention on Cicero’s writings
within which the reference to salubritas in the foundation tales of Capua and Rome produces different political judgments.In Cicero’s de lege agraria
delivered at the beginning of his consulate in 63 BC
the healthiness of Capua’s location and its territorial conformation becomes a factor of weakness in Cicero's rhetorical strategy: to prevent any colonial deduction in Campania
the orator insinuated that the environmental benefits of the place would have corrupted the settlers as they had done with the natives
This devaluation of the salubritas as anancestral trait of Capua will be linked not only to its historic dispute with Rome
but also to the negative judgments on luxury and temptations that
a destination for thermal and seaside leisure
Cicero’s late republican perspective on the origins of Capua will be repeated in early Augustan sources (Livy
Velleius Paterculus; see also the contribution of Ettore Lepore’s study onancient Campania
Cicero avoids the more complex issue of the foundation of Rome between history and legend (Mastrocinque 1993): the portrait of Romulus as a forward-looking geolocator in De Re Publica (54-51 BC) acquires rather in De Re Publica (54-51 BC) an anachronistic value
imbued with the late Republican political debate about the role of providentia to ensure long-lasting power
the reference to the geographical morphology
determines instead a positive judgment on the strategic location of Rome which influenced Romulus’s choice: this is what Cicero underlines when he attributes to the first king of Rome the exceptional merit of having selected a healthy place (locus saluber) in an unhealthy context (regio pestilens)
49. Maria de la luz Triñanes Dieste, “The Two Tyrian Foundation Myths”martrina@ucm.es Complutense University of Madrid
SpainSee the paper under “Lopez Sanchez”
50. Roberto Trizio, “The Foundation of the City: Rituals and Meanings”trizioroberto@gmail.com Zoom Gruppo Trizio ConsultingThe ancient Romans had a unique way of establishing their cities
which was called “foundation rituals.” These rituals were performed to create a sacred space that would be protected by the gods and ensure the prosperity of the new city
One of the most important aspects of these rituals was the selection of a site for the city
This process involved a careful examination of the natural features of the area
and the presence of certain plants and animals
would perform a ceremony to determine whether the gods approved of the location.After that
the process of creating the city began with a symbolic plowing of the ground
performed by a team of oxen led by a priest
represented the creation of a new order out of chaos
The plow would trace the boundaries of the city
and the furrows it created were considered sacred
the Romans would perform a series of rituals to ensure its prosperity
These included the founding of temples and the installation of statues of the gods
as well as sacrifices to ensure their favor
The rituals of city foundation were important because the Romans believed that the physical and spiritual aspects of a city were intimately connected
they believed that they could ensure the new city’s prosperity and success
51. Zsuzsanna Turcsán-Tóth, "Is a Cult Statue More than the Sum of its Parts?"toth.zsuzsa@gmail.com Károli Gáspár University of the Reformed Church
HungaryThe founding of the Temple of Artemis in Ephesus has two traditions
Callimachus tells this story: the Amazons erected a statue under a beech tree
around which the sanctuary was later built
the Artemision was rebuilt seven times in the course of its history
We have archaeological evidence for these seven renewals
some researchers doubt that there was only one cult-statue and suppose there were two or three during the cult’s history
Some explain the change on aesthetic grounds -- replacing a more primitive artefact with another more in harmony with the Hellenistic era-- while others claim that the statue(s) were destroyed in disasters (flood
nor unusual to recreate a damaged or destroyed cult statue while preserving its material and shape
Several classical authors wrote about the cult statue of Artemis Ephesia
none of them mentioned that it was replaced for any reason
we find examples of objects related to the cult being copied and taken away to build a new sanctuary for Artemis Ephesia elsewhere
Not only did Pliny report that the statue was unchanged
but he also revealed that it was made up of several pieces
meaning it was not a single object carved from one tree trunk
Some archaeological finds from the Artemision site in Ephesus help us to understand what Pliny meant when he wrote that the statue remained the same all the time and also why the idea that the great goddess of Ephesus may have had several cult statues is correct
I aim to resolve this apparent contradiction
52. Krešimir Vuković, “Animal Origins of the Peoples of Italy: Migrants, Wolves, andBirds”kresovukov@gmail.com Università di Venezia
ItalyBy the time our best sources on Roman religion appear
contained many earlier traditions that reflected the mobility and migrations of peoples on the Apennine peninsula
The rituals of the Lupercalia commemorated the adolescence of Romulus and Remus and can be traced to mobile groups of men that emulated wolves in pursuit of plunder and glory
Similar ritual forms existed in many other Indo-European traditions from India to Italy
The tradition of the Fabian gens preserved memories of Lupercalian mobility in the stories of their origin in hunting expeditions
Other Italic peoples were called after Mars or his animal
and traced their origin to the ritual of ver sacrum
which involved sending young men into new territories
Wolves played a role in the mobility of these groups because young men identified with wolves in rites of passage based on the fact that wolves are aggressive animals that roam over a large territory
Anthropology offers comparative evidence for this type of mobility: the seminomadic native peoples of Asia and America have revered wolves for their prowess
and mobility and followed the animal on their migrations
The Roman myth of the she-wolf is thus a product of reverence for the mobile predator that can be traced to a time when proto Romans wandered in search of new territory
long before they settled in the eternal city
53. Harry John Walker, “Origins and Original People in Roman and Celtic Myths.”hwalker@bates.edu Bates College
the Hungarian-Jewish-Irish-Catholic Leopold Bloom is asked to define what a nation is
and he replies: “A nation is the same people living in the same place.” This vision of what a nation should be comes from the ancient world
They have myths explaining where they came from
but these myths do not insist on purity or exclusion
The founding myths of Ireland and Rome share this perspective.Irish myths were recorded in the Middle Ages
when Christian scholars had to reconcile them with the Bible
but they still had to explain how their biblical version fit in with old pagan myths
When the Irish descendants of Noah reach Ireland
they defeat and replace an earlier semi-divine people called the Nation of the Goddess Danu (Tuath Dé Danann)
After these magic people of the goddess are defeated
they go underground and live happily in a parallel world called the Land of the Young (Tír na nÓg)
The people of the goddess Danu are happier and simpler than the newcomers
and the two of them must work together in their separate worlds.Ancient Roman scholars similarly had to reconcile their local stories with the prestigious myths of Greece
Homer says that Kronos was imprisoned in Tartarus
and his age was a better one than the world of Aeneas
and its people (Saturni gentem) belonged to Saturn
but he still must make peace with the ancient peoples of Italy
and he himself must change from a Trojan hero (Troius Aeneas) to a native Italian god (Indigetem Aenean)
and Italy became Roman only because the original inhabitants and the newcomers agreed to be the same people and live together in the same place
2022 International Symposium Classicum Peregrinum
The topic: “Superasque Evadere ad Auras
6.128): Improbable/Difficult Journeys Home.” Co-Directors: Patricia A
[to be published in Acta Antiqua Academicae Scientiarum Hungaricae 2023/4] [2021 Cancelled because of COVID.] [2020 Originally planned for Messina
held instead in 2022.] 2019 International Symposium Classicum Peregrinum
The topic: “From Eros to Amor: What Kind of God was Eros and How Did He Compare to Amor?” Co-directors: Patricia A
[to be published in Acta Antiqua Academicae Scientiarum Hungaricae ] 2018 International Symposium Classicum Peregrinum
The topic was “Blessings and Curses in Antiquity.” Co-directors: Patricia A
[to be published in Acta Antiqua Academicae Scientiarum Hungaricae 2017 International Symposium Classicum Peregrinum
The topic was “Eastern and Egyptian Cults (Mithras
Serapis and other foreign gods).” Co-directors Patricia A
Attilio Mastrocinque and László Takács.[not published in Acta Antiqua Academicae Scientiarum Hungaricae] 2016 International Symposium Classicum Peregrinum
The topic was “Mithras and Other Mystic Cults in the Roman World.” Co-directors: Patricia A
in Acta Antiqua Academicae Scientiarum Hungaricae
2015 Co-directors and organizers Patricia A
International Symposium Classicum Peregrinum
The topic was “Hera and Juno: The Functions of the Goddesses in Prehistoric and Historic Greece and Rome.” Published 2018 as Hera and Juno: The Functions of the Goddesses in Prehistoric and Historic Greece and Rome
(Acta Antiqua Academicae Scientiarum Hungaricae LV
2014 Organizer and director of the Symposium Augustum Veronense
an international scholarly symposium held in Verona
“The Age of Augustus,” The topic focused on the rule and accomplishments of the Roman Emperor Augustus (2014 is the 2000th anniversary of his death)
Published as The Age of Augustus (Acta Antiqua Academicae Scientiarum Hungaricae
editors and organizers of the 2012 Symposium Peregrinum
"Idyllic Landscapes in Antiquity: the Golden Age
and the Locus Amoenus." (Published as Acta Antiqua Academicae Scientiarum Hungaricae vol
Vergilian Society’s annual international scholarly Symposia Cumana
Italy; co-sponsored by Brandeis University (see below):
and Related Cults in Ancient Greece and Italy”, Vergilius 58 (2012) 184-190
“Et In Arcadia Ego: Landscapes of The Early Roman Empire,” Vergilius 57 (2011) 179-187
“From Aetas Aurea to Domus Aurea: Roman Life
and Art under the Julio-Claudian Emperors” Vergilius 56 (2010) 121-135
An additional review of this symposium appears in Chronache Ercolanese: Bolletino di Studi Latini, folio II (2011): 735-739
“Poetry or Propaganda: What Was Vergil’s Purpose in Writing the Aeneid?” Vergilius 55 (2009) 176-92
“Greeks in Italy and Romans in Greece.” Vergilius 54 (2008) 228-241
Heroines and Peoples: Authenticating the Early Goddesses and Establishing the Roman Common Identity.” Vergilius 53 (2007): 245-61
““The Vergilian Tradition: Manuscripts
Texts and Reception.” Vergilius 52 (2006): pp
“Early Latin Comedy and Satire in Magna Graecia and Rome,” Vergilius 51 (2005): 142-150
“Interactions of Indigenous and Foreign Cults in Magna Graecia
2004 with Giovanni Casadio. Vergilius 50 (2004): 223-29
“The Etruscan Presence in Magna Graecia,” June 30-July 12
2002: Symposium Cumanum Report: “Balneology and the Art of Healing in Antiquity,” June 20-23
2002: Symposium Cumanum Report: “The Cults of Magna Graecia
2001: Symposium Cumanum Report: “Philodemus and Vergil
Skinner. Vergilius 47 (2001): 219-225
1999: Symposium Cumanum Report: “The Samnites in Campania
1999,” Vergilius 45 (1999): 149-153
1998: Symposium Cumanum Report: “Viticulture in the Ancient Mediterranean World: the Archaeological
1998.” Vergilius 44 (1998): 181-184
1997: Symposium Cumanum Report: “The Flavian Influence in Campania
co-organizers and directors of the Vergilian Society's Symposium Cumanum
an international scholarly symposium held June 5 - June 8
The topic: “The Role of Animals in Ancient Myth and Religion”
published 2021 by Cambridge Scholars’ Press; will be republished in paperback in 2024
[ Co-editors Giovanni Casadio and Patricia A
The Department of Classical and Early Mediterranean Studies is part of the Division of Humanities at Brandeis University.
Division of Humanities
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The publication by newspaper Domani on Wednesday of a surveillance video of the prison of Santa Maria Capua Vetere
showing club-wielding police officers violently beating prison detainees has sparked a huge controversy in Italy
The beatings took place on 6 April,…
Italian Minister of Justice Marta Cartabia in Rome
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Fifty-two prison officers in Italy have been suspended for their alleged involvement in beatings of inmates who had protested the lack of face masks and virus tests during the peak of Italy’s pandemic last year
kicking and punching prisoners in a holding room and as they came up and down a staircase
Some of the prisoners at the Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison in Naples were struck repeatedly while on the floor
or as they walked with their hands behind their bowed heads
None was seen resisting or trying to fight back
Italy’s justice ministry said on Wednesday 52 officers and supervisors had been suspended
pending a criminal investigation into the events of April 6
Justice Minister Marta Cartabia ordered a full internal investigation into what transpired
She called the episode a betrayal of the Italian constitution
“an offense and an outrage to the dignity of prisoners,” as well as to officers who do their jobs well
The public prosecutor's office opened an investigation last year after complaints of violence by prison officers following a protest movement triggered by the announcement of a positive case of COVID-19 among prisoners
The investigation is targeting more than 110 people in total
These include the head of the prison police
The regional director of the prison administration has been suspended
Foundress of the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus (1846-1929)
+ Giulia was born in Santa Maria Capua Vetere, Italy. Educated by the Sisters of Charity, she later became a school teacher and catechist in Casoria.
+ Honored for her personal devotion to the Blessed Virgin and the Sacred Heart of Jesus, Giulia established a new religious community: the Catechetical Sisters of the Sacred Heart of Jesus.
+ Giulia and her sisters devoted themselves to the ministry of catechesis and she dedicated her life to the formation and education of young people.
+ Saint Giulia Salzano died on May 17, 1929, and was canonized in 2010. Reflecting on her ministry, Pope Saint John Paul II said, “In advance of her time, she was an apostle of the new evangelization in which she combined apostolic activity with prayer, offered ceaselessly, especially for the conversion of the ‘indifferent.’”
“While I have any life left in me, I will continue to teach the catechism. And then, I assure you, I would be very happy to die teaching the catechism.”—Saint Guilia Salzano
On this day, the Church also remembers Saint Peter Lieou. Peter was a married layman and catechist who was persecuted for his commitment to defending missionaries serving in China. He was arrested while serving imprisoned Christians (including his own sons) and was strangled to death on May 17, 1824. He was canonized with other Martyrs of China in 2000.
O God, who raised up blessed Giulia in your Church to show others the way of salvation, grant us, by her example, so to follow Christ the master, that we may come with our neighbor into your presence. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.
(from The Roman Missal: Common of Holy Men and Women—For Educators)
Saint profiles prepared by Brother Silas Henderson, S.D.S.
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Italy’s justice minister orders an investigation after images from the 2020 incident are published
has ordered a report into conditions in the country’s prisons after the release of video footage showing guards brutally beating inmates at a jail near Naples who had demanded better coronavirus protections
Read more“Those images brought a lump to my throat,” Cartabia told La Repubblica. “As well as the thought of a trampled constitution.”
Fifty-two prison guards have since been arrested. The guards, who have also been suspended by the justice ministry, face charges of aggravated torture, aggravated ill-treatment and causing multiple injuries.
A judge in the preliminary investigation, who described the violence as a “horrible massacre”, said the inmates were allegedly made to strip, kneel and be beaten by guards who wore helmets to conceal their identity, Ansa news agency reported.
In the captured surveillance footage, dozens of prison officers can be seen whacking inmates with truncheons, pulling their hair and kneeing them in the stomach. In other scenes, prisoners are beaten as they walk through the corridor or down a stairwell.
The case has caused political divisions in Italy, with Matteo Salvini, the leader of the far-right League and part of the ruling coalition, visiting the prison on Thursday “to bring some solidarity from the League to all prison officers”.
Enrico Letta, the leader of the centre-left Democratic party and also part of the coalition, said the violent scenes were “intolerable”. “They are all the more serious because they are ascribed to those who ought to serve the state with loyalty and honour.”
one of the prisoners allegedly beaten and now completing his sentence under house arrest
The prison scenes recalled the case of Stefano Cucchi
who died after being beaten while in custody in a Rome prison in 2009
Two police officers were found guilty of his murder in 2019
Cucchi was placed in custody after being found in possession of hashish and cocaine in a park in Rome
said of the violence at Santa Maria Capua Vetere prison: “Episodes of this kind have occurred and are occurring too often
and almost always with the general indifference of a society which is used to considering prisons as social dumps.”
a film by Alessio Cremonini that won three David di Donatello awards
Raffaele del Giudice roamed the illegal trash dumps of southern Italy
covering his nose against the stench and exposing what he considers..
Italy — Raffaele del Giudice roamed the illegal trash dumps of southern Italy
covering his nose against the stench and exposing what he considers the ecological crime of the century
Because when you go up against trash here in Campania province
you are going up against a powerful mafia known as the Camorra
The Naples-based Camorra controls the import
transport and disposal of millions of tons of rubbish
a lucrative business in which the group follows its own rules
ignores regulations on toxic waste and contaminates once-fertile farmland
Del Giudice calls it Italy’s Chernobyl
symbols of the mafia’s persistent power in Italy
It’s almost a cliché: Tony Soprano
Campania suffocated under towering mountains of festering
Until cleanup crews finally made their move in July
seas of trash blocked roads and doorways and swallowed sidewalks and parks
The Camorra periodically paid Gypsy boys to set fire to portions of the waste
creating Dantesque scenes of a land ablaze
villages and towns filled with toxic smoke
The blighted condition of southern Italy has earned sanctions from the European Union and condemnation from international health organizations
It ignited violent protests this year and contributed to the downfall of the government of Prime Minister Romano Prodi in the spring
with the government spending more than $2 billion and appointing seven “trash czars,” it hasn’t gone away
It doesn’t get fixed because the mafiosi
This is how the racket works: Hundreds of factories
industrial complexes and businesses of every sort in affluent northern Italy and in other parts of Europe contract with middlemen to have their waste removed
these brokers turn to about 20 disposal companies in Campania
Hundreds of trucks transport the waste to the south day and night
and deposit it in mostly illegal and unregulated landfills
medical waste — a nauseating cesspool of crud
Camorra operatives have gradually driven away farmers and taken control of more and more land
Toxic substances from the waste have seeped into groundwater
polluting the streams that cows and sheep drink from and the grass they forage
More poison is spewed into the air when trash is burned
Public disgust finally rose as high as the rubbish
and with del Giudice and others in the lead
citizens decided to defy the Camorra and put up fences to declare ownership of the countryside and block Camorra takeovers
Farmers set up markets to sell their produce and thousands of residents made a point of frequenting them
Mafia gunmen allegedly began to eliminate several people who were cooperating with prosecutors in criminal cases against the Camorra
Four people were killed in a matter of weeks
Orsi ran a waste disposal company and worked with the Camorra
But after years of having to pay off the mobsters and take orders from them and their political masters
He was killed by a barrage of 18 bullets shortly before he was to testify in court on alleged ties between the Camorra and politicians
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For reprint rights:Times Syndication Service
By DAILY MAIL REPORTER Updated: 10:59 BST
A woman kept prisoner by her family for 18 years for having a baby out of wedlock was last night dramatically freed by Italian police
was found huddled in the corner of her bedroom living in a state of squalor surrounded by filth and excrement
Maria was found by police at Santa Maria Capua Vetere
after an anonymous tip-off and last night her brother and sister were in custody accused of detaining her
Police point at the filthy bed in the room where Maria Monaco was kept prisoner
Footage on Italian TV showed a squalid stained single mattress in her bedroom with dirt and grime on the floor and walls and the bathroom she used was covered in filth
whom they say was suffering from psychological problems
was kept a prisoner shortly after falling pregnant with her child - now a 17-year-old student
The adjoining bathroom was squalid and covered in excrement
a primary school teacher took action after she had an affair with a mystery man and got pregnant
said: 'We received an anonymous tip-off that a woman was being held and we raided the family home in rural land on the outskirts of the town
'Maria was found in her locked bedroom in a confused state and surrounded with filth and excrement - she was living in squalor.'
Ms Monaco's mother Annarosa Golino and her siblings Michelina and Prisco Monaco kept her prisoner to punish her for having a baby out of wedlock
Ms Monaco was kept inside the family's house in Santa Maria Capua Vetere
Last night Maria was in hospital in Naples being treated for her trauma while her mother was bailed but her brother and sister kept in custody
Police were also questioning Maria's 17-year-old son whom they said was living with his grandmother and 'fully aware of the situation'
Attempts were also being made to track the father of the boy who police refused to name but they said it was proving difficult to question Maria
Josef Fritzl kept his daughter Elisabeth prisoner in the basement of their family home in Amstetten
The case was alarmingly similar to that of Austrian man Josef Fritzl who kept his family locked in an underground dungeon for 24 years before being discovered earlier this year
The 73-year-old lured his daugher Elisabeth into the cellar under their house when she was 18
He raped her repeatedly and fathered her seven children,one of which died
In public Mr Fritzl appeared to be a regular man and a pillar of thecommunity
living in Amstetten with his wife Rosemarie
Police say he has confessed to the crimes and that there is DNA evidence to support this
The Mail on Sunday & Metro Media Group
archaeological parks and state galleries will open to the public
After the extraordinary openings of Easter
May XNUMXst will also be a day dedicated to art and culture
with many opportunities to visit the main places of memory and beauty in Italy for free or at the usual costs
Also to Naples and all of Campania dozens of will be accessible State cultural sites
historic villas and archaeological areas of great importance
Here is a list of the main places to visit in the region
All sites will follow the regular opening hours
we recommend consulting the official websites of the museums or the portal of the Ministry of Culture
A perfect opportunity to enjoy the immense artistic and archaeological heritage of Campania even on a holiday
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This commission does not entail any additional price for the user.