Trade and Sacred Places: Fairs, Markets and cultural Exchange in Ancient Italic Sanctuaries, in M....

Studien zur Alten Geschichte BAND 17

Herausgegeben von

Ernst Baltrusch, Kai Brodersen, Peter Funke,Stefan Rebenich und Uwe Walter

Herausgegeben von Martin Jehne,Bernhard Linke und Jörg Rüpke

Religiöse Vielfalt und soziale Integration

DIE BEDEUTUNG DER RELIGION FÜR DIE KULTURELLE IDENTITÄT UND POLITISCHESTABILITÄT IM REPUBLIKANISCHEN ITALIEN

VerlagAntike

Sonderdruck

www.verlag-antike.de

Bibliografische Information der Deutschen Nationalbibliothek

Die Deutsche Nationalbibliothek verzeichnet diese Publikation in der

Deutschen Nationalbibliografie; detaillierte bibliografische Daten sind

im Internet über http://dnb.d-nb.de abrufbar.

© 2013 Verlag Antike e.K., Heidelberg

Satz Nils Jäger für Verlag Antike

Einbandgestaltung disegno visuelle kommunikation, Wuppertal

Druck und Bindung AZ Druck und Datentechnik GmbH, Kempten

Gedruckt auf säurefreiem und alterungsbeständigem Papier

Printed in Germany

ISBN 978-3-938032-58-9

Sonderdruck

Sonderdruck © Verlag Antike

Inhalt

Martin Jehne / Bernhard Linke / Jörg RüpkeEinleitung . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 7

John ScheidRom und die großen Kultorte Italiens . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25

Nicola TerrenatoPatterns of cultural change in Roman ItalyNon-elite religion and the defense of cultural self-consistency . . . . . . . . 43

Neville MorleyReligion, Urbanisation and Social Change . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 61

Bernhard LinkeDie Einheit nach der VielfaltDie religiöse Dimension des römischen Hegemonialanspruchesin Latium (5. – 3. Jahrhundert v.Chr.) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 69

Veit RosenbergerRom und Italien:Religiöse Kommunikation und die Aufnahme neuer Gottheiten . . . . . . 95

Olivier de CazanoveUn sanctuaire de Grande Grèce dans une colonie romaine:l’Héraion du Lacinion après la 2ème Guerre Punique. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .111

Tesse D. StekQuestions of cult and continuity in late Republican Roman Italy:‘Italic’ or ‘Roman’ sanctuaries and the so-calledpagus-vicus system . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 137

Eva-Maria LacknerArx und Capitolinischer Kult in den Latinischen undBürgerkolonien Italiens als Spiegel römischer Religionspolitik. . . . . . .163


6 Inhalt

Daniel J. GargolaRome, its Colonies and the Maintenance of a Larger Identity. . . . . . .202

Marta García MorcilloTrade and Sacred Places:Fairs, Markets and Exchange in Ancient Italic Sanctuaries . . . . . . . . . 236

Jörg RüpkeRegulating and Conceptualizing Religious Plurality:Italian Experiences and Roman Solutions . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 275

AnhangStellenregister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 299Sachregister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 313Personenregister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 326Ortsregister . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 329


Trade and Sacred Places:Fairs, Markets and Exchange in Ancient Italic Sanctuaries∗

Marta García Morcillo

Introduction

The association between ancient cult places and trade activities is a pheno-menon persistently attested in Antiquity1. Key factors for understanding thisinterplay are no doubt the frequent geographically advantageous locations ofsacred places, as well as their links with regional and interregional commu-nities. Beyond their essential role as centres of worship and religious peregri-nation, ancient sanctuaries could eventually be places of asylum and refuge,cultural and political meeting points and, of course, seats of markets and fairsgenerally attached to religious festivals2. The life and use of a sanctuary depen-ded on the changing dynamics of their territorial, administrative and cultural

∗ I would like to thank Martin Jehne, Jörg Rüpke, David N. Edwards and JamesRichardson for reading the manuscript and providing valuable feedback and usefulcomments.

1 Fairs are usually linked with the celebration of religious festivals, as in the case ofthe panegyreis attested in Greek sanctuaries See L. De Ligt /P.W. De Neeve,Ancient Periodic Markets: Festivals and Fairs, Athenaeum 66 (1988), 391-416,and below.

2 Location, structure and function are usually identified as the main criteria forestablishing different categories of cult places, see in particular I.E.M. Edlund,The Gods and the Place. Location and Function of Sanctuaries in the Countrysideof Etruria and Magna Graecia (700-400 B.C.), Stockholm 1987, 42 ff.; F. Glinis-ter, What is a sanctuary?, CCGG 8 (1997), 61-80; J. Scheid, Comment identifierun lieu de culte? CCGG 8 (1997), 50-59; R. Leone, Luoghi di culto extraurbanid’età arcaica in Magna Grecia, Torino 1998, 9 ff. On the functionality of ancientItalic sanctuaries in connection with their geographic and cultural context, seefor instance Edlund, 83 ff; C. Cerreti, Assetto territoriale e religione nel La-zio protostorico: note preliminari per una ricerca, Rivista Geografica Italiana 94(1987), 1-29, and more recently T.D. Stek, Cult Places and Cultural Change inRepublican Italy: A Contextual Approach to Religious Aspects of Rural Societyafter the Roman Conquest, Amsterdam 2010, in particular chapter 4, and in thisvolume. On the importance of the concept of frontier-sanctuary for understandingthe links between sacred places as seats of commercial exchange, see for instanceAndrea Zifferero’s contribution on the concept of frontier-sanctuary in SouthEtruria: Economia, divinità e frontiera: sul ruolo di alcuni santuari di confine inEtruria meridionale, Ostraka 4 (1995), 333-350 and J. Scheid, Les sanctuaires deconfins dans la Rome antique. Réalité et permanence d’une représentation idéale


Trade and Sacred Places 237

context. The complex question of the interrelationship between sacred placesand trade and, further, the idea of the multifunctional role of sanctuaries crosstraditional frontiers of economic, geographical, social and religious studies anddemand a fluid comparative approach3. A wide-ranging study of the embed-dedness of ancient cult places and markets still remains however a challengefor scholarship4.

Accordingly, given that a comprehensive study of the evidence for tradein the ancient sanctuaries of central Italy would require a deeper and moreextensive frame of analysis which would go beyond the thematic and spatiallimits of the present volume, my contribution will merely attempt to outlinecertain market dynamics in connection with well-known sacred places in Lati-um, Etruria, Northern Campania and Samnium. The central argument of myinquiry will be that the location of important sanctuaries situated on ethnical

de l’espace romain, in: L’Urbs: Espace urbain et histoire (Ier siècle av. J.-C. – IIIesiècle ap. J.-C.), Actes du colloque international organisé par le Centre Nationalde la Recherche Scientifique et l’École Française de Rome (Rome, 8-12 mai 1985),Rome 1987, 583-595.

3 The fact that market activities were only occassionaly recorded and were of-ten ephemeral makes it difficult to interpret their material traces. In general,on the complexity and difficulties in identifying market places in diverse histori-cal contexts, see B.L. Stark / C.P. Garraty, Detecting Marketplace Exchangein Archaeology: A Methodological Review, in: C.P. Garraty /B.L. Stark (eds.),Archaeological Approaches to Market Exchange in Ancient Societies, Boulder(Colorado) 2010, 33-58.

4 In this regard, a recent contribution by G.M. Feinman and C.P. Garraty, Prein-dustrial Markets and Marketing: Archaeological Perspectives, in Annual Reviewof Anthropology 39 (2010), 167-191, shows the limits of ancient economic theo-ries for comprehending the complexity of pre-industrial markets. The exampleof sanctuaries and cult places linked with markets and trade activities, even ifnot mentioned by the authors, emerges as a powerful example of the need for anintegrative approach in the study of any economic exchange. The importance ofreligion for the understanding of the location of certain market places has beenrecently addressed by Elizabeth Fentress regarding the Roman provinces of Nu-midia and Africa Proconsularis: Where were North African nundinae held?, in: G.Gosden /H. Hamerow /P. de Jersey /G. Lock (eds.), Communities and Connec-tions: Essays in Honour of Barry Cunliffe, Oxford 2007, 125-140. Making use ofsupporting evidence, the author formulates the plausible thesis that temporarymarkets or nundinae were frequently held in extramural and extraurban areaswhich were mostly attached to protective divinities such as Saturn or Mercuryand connected with important roads and axes of communication. See for instance,AE 1913, 226 (Phosphorus); CIL VIII 6355 = 19336 (Castellum Mastarensis).The presence of temples and shrines in these areas was thus indicative of theexistence of enduringly protected sacred spaces that made economic transactionspossible.


238 Marta García Morcillo

boundaries and natural communication axes favoured trade and markets thatmight predate or grow parallel to the establishment of the cult. In the sameway, I will examine whether or not endurance of markets and fairs should beconsidered as an essential feature that contributed to the cultural interacti-on and integration of different Italic communities. Finally, I will argue thatfairs, markets and economic exchange represented key factors for understan-ding the decline or the survival of extra-urban sanctuaries rather than otherexternal circumstances, such as the political and territorial transformationsthat followed the Roman acculturation of Italy.

In contrast to some of the well-known Greek sanctuaries that were asso-ciated with fairs5, direct evidence for such practices in Ancient Italy is sparse.This impels caution when transferring the particular status and autonomousfunctions of certain Greek sacred places to the pre-Roman and Roman Italiccontext, since these were subject to heterogeneous geographic realities and todifferent cultural and political influences and developments. The fragmenta-ry and ambivalent material available makes it difficult to provide a completeoverview of the interlinks between Italic sanctuaries and trade dynamics fromthe sixth century BC to the early Principate.

After a necessary toponymic and philological overview and a general discus-sion of the material traces of economic activities at cult places, we will look atsome examples of religious sites in central Italy that hosted fairs and markets.I will follow – where possible – a geographic order that is indicative of tradetendencies, routes and directions. Starting with the Etruscan-Sabine region,the paper will cover the Tyrrhenian coast and some relevant Latin sanctuaries.The particular case of Rome and its connections with the upper Tiber and withtranshumance will be followed by a scrutiny of the impact of the Roman road

5 For instance, in the sanctuary of Apollo on Delos, fairs and temporary marketswere usually associated with religious festivals. Economic activites are also ge-nerally mentioned in regulations affecting the administration of sacred places. Afamous example of such regulations is an inscription from Messenia concerningthe Mysteries of Andania and the related agora, celebrated every year, Syll.3 736l. 99-103. Some recent works on ancient Greek sanctuaries have focused particu-larly on their importance as economic centres, cf. S. Alcock (ed.), Placing theGods: Sanctuaries and Sacred Space in Ancient Greece, Oxford 1996; B. Dignas,Economy of the Sacred in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, Oxford 2002; J.Pedley, Sanctuaries and the Sacred in the Ancient Greek World, Cambridge2005. For panegyreis and the links with markets, see below.



system and its compatibility with other, pre-existing communication routes inthe religious landscape of Latium vetus and adiectum.

Festivals, fairs and markets:terminological uses and material evidence

Literary and epigraphic sources contain explicit references to economic activi-ties that were associated with sacred places. The Greek idea of an emporion,defined as an intermediary place in which exchange took place as a secure andfree activity, was intimately associated with the adoption and transmissionof protective gods and supranational cults6. Concepts such as mercatus, nun-dinae, agora and panegyris – terms referring to market-days and fairs whichtook place more or less regularly – might also have religious associations. Par-ticularly in the Hellenistic world, panegyreis are documented as festivals linkedwith religious rituals held in sanctuaries7. Following Louis Robert, we could –at least partially – define the panegyris as “la partie profane d’une fête grec-que”8; markets happening during the days of the panegyreis were also referredto as agorai9. The commercial character of the panegyris is evoked in Strabo’sGeographika regarding the famous festival of Apollo at the emporion of De-los: ¡ te pan guric âmporikìn ti pr�gm� âsti10. Strabo’s report of the Delian

6 Cf. M.H. Hansen, Emporion. A Study of the Use and Meaning of the Term inthe Archaic and Classical periods, in: T.H. Nielsen (ed.), Yet More Studies inthe Ancient Greek Polis, Stuttgart 1997, 83-105; A.J. Domínguez Monedero,La religión en el emporion, Gerión 19 (2001), 221-257.

7 The terminus is described by the second century author Pollux in his Onomasti-con, A34.

8 L. Robert, Compte rendu de P.M. Fraser, Samothrace, II.1, The Inscriptions onStone, Gnomon 35 (1963), 69.

9 On the commercial attribution of agorai during the panegyreis, see for instancethe description of the meeting of the Aetolian league in Thermus by Polybius5,8,5: �ll� kaÈ kataskeu¨c diaferoÔshc tÀn par´ AÊtwlÀn. kaj´ ékaston g�rêtoc �gor�c te kaÈ panhgÔreic âpifanest�tac, êti dà kaÈ t�c tÀn �rqairesÐwn ka-tast�seic. On panegyreis, see further De Ligt /De Neeve (n. 1); L. De Ligt,Fairs and markets in the Roman Empire. Economic and Social Aspects of Pe-riodic Trade in a Pre-industrial Society, Amsterdam 1993, 35 ff.; Ch. Chande-zon, Foires et panégyries dans le monde grec classique et hellénistique, REG 113(2000), 70-100.

10 Str. 10,5,4: t�n màn oÞn D¨lon êndoxon genomènhn oÕtwc êti m�llon hÖxhse kata-skafeØsa Ípä <RwmaÐwn Kìrinjoc; âkeØse g�r meteq¸rhsan oÉ êmporoi, kaÈ t¨c �te-leÐac toÜ ÉeroÜ prokaloumènhc aÎtoÌc kaÈ t¨c eÎkairÐac toÜ limènoc; ân kalÄ g�rkeØtai toØc âk t¨c >ItalÐac kaÈ t¨c <Ell�doc eÊc t�n >AsÐan plèousin; ¡ te pan guric



panegyris mentions also the existence of fiscal privileges or ateleia – exemp-tions that enabled economic exchange during festival days11. Along with fiscalprivileges, the special status attributed to sanctuaries during the celebration offestivals might also include the granting of asylum rights. These measures wereintended to encourage visitors to attend the festival as well as to facilitate thearrival of traders and commodities imported from remote places12. Preciousdetails on such commercial activities held during the panegyris are provided byPausanias’ Periegesis regarding the popular Isis festival in Thithorea (Phocis).According to Pausanias, this panegyris was held twice a year – in spring andin autumn – and lasted three days13. On the second day, traders built standsor cubicles (skene) made of reed and other materials, and on the last day afair took place in which slaves, cattle of all kind, clothes, silver and gold weresold14. Beyond sacred objects, the commodities named by Pausanias includedhigh value imports15. Significantly, the provisional nature of this trade wasreflected in the temporary character of the market and this helps to explainwhy these activities did not leave significant archaeological traces.

There is no exact synonym for panegyris in Latin16. The closest and mostfrequently used equivalent is the term mercatus, which is generally used to

âmporikìn ti pr�gm� âsti, kaÈ sun jeic ªsan aÎt¬ kaÈ <RwmaØoi tÀn �llwn m�lista,kaÈ íte suneist kei � Kìrinjoc.

11 Ateleia generally concerned both the merchandise sold (pentekoste) and othertaxes to be paid by the seller himself. They were part of public regulations affect-ing particular products and their prices during the panegyris, the responsibilitiesascribed to magistrates such as the agoranomoi and epiteretai, or the supervisionof balances and measuring instruments, cf. De Ligt /De Neeve (n. 1).

12 On the inviolability of Greek and Italic sanctuaries during the celebration of fes-tivals and their function as asylia see K. Rigsby, Asylia: Territorial Inviolabilityin the Hellenistic World, Berkeley / Los Angeles / London 1996; M. Dreher (ed.),Das antike Asyl. Kultische Grundlagen, rechtliche Ausgestaltung und politischeFunktion, Cologne 2003; J. Derlien, Asyl: die religiöse und rechtliche Begrün-dung der Flucht zu sakralen Orten in der griechisch-römischen Antike, Marburg2005.

13 Paus. 10,32,14.14 Paus. 10,32,15. The next passage refers to the victims and the different rituals of

sacrifice following Egyptian traditions, 10,32,16-17.15 A third century AD inscription mentions an older disposition on the fiscal bene-

factions during a panegyris which was celebrated every month at the Zeus templeof Baetocaece (Phoenicia). Slaves, cattle and other animals are here also ex-plicitly mentioned among the products sold and included in the tax exemption,OGIS 262.

16 Neither the terms feriae (holidays, festival) nor fasti (calendar) cover the meaningof panegyreis.



refer to fairs. Livy employs this term in association with the famous Isth-mian games, which hosted a popular mercatus attended by people from Asiaand Greece17. In the Tusculanae, Cicero rhetorically alludes to mercatus inorder to differentiate the life of the philosophers from that of the common peo-ple: mercatus (meaning here again panegyris) were held, according to Cicero,outside the cities and were attended by people from all over Greece, someof whom were looking for economic gain by purchasing or selling18. Writingin the first century BC, Dionysius of Halicarnassus described as panegyreisthe religious festivals of the Feriae Latinae, celebrated every year on MonsAlbanus in Latium Vetus19. Symbolising the domination of Rome over theLatins, Diana’s cult on the Aventine hill, said to have been adopted by ServiusTullius, is equally connected with a panegyris by Dionysius20. The commonidentification of both terms seems clear on account of the occurrence of mer-catus that were connected with the ludi Apollinares, Romani and Plebeii inseveral Roman fasti21. It is equally known that the celebration of the Satur-nalia in Rome included a commercial fair during which all kinds of presentsand items of high value could be displayed, sold and purchased22. Even if weshould interpret it foremost as a fictitious metaphor about sacred prostitution,Plautus’ Poenulus mentions the existence of a mercatus meretricius in front ofa temple of Venus23. Tacitus records a celebrated mercatus held in Cremona inthe Po Valley in his account of the struggles of the year AD 69 and the defeat

17 Liv. 33,32,1-3; cf. 2: . . . concilium Asiae Graeciaeque is mercatus erat.18 Cic. Tusc. 5,9. In Suet. Nero 6,28, the emperor is said to have attended circa

conventus mercatusque Graeciae.19 The sacrifice made by Tarquinius to Jupiter Latiaris on mons Albanus certified

the contract of alliance between Romans, Latins, Volscians and Hernicians, cf.Dion.Hal. 4,49.

20 Dion.Hal. 4,26,4.21 Fasti Antiates ministrorum domus Augustae, AD 23-37 (Degrassi, In-

scr. Ital. XIII, 2, l. 201-212), Fasti Fratrum Arvalium, 36-21 BC, Fasti Maffeiani(Degrassi, Inscr. Ital. XIII 2, 377). On fairs and public celebrations in the Romancalender see foremost J. Rüpke, Kalender und Öffentlichkeit. Die Geschichte derRepräsentation und religiösen Qualifikation von Zeit in Rom, Berlin 1995.

22 Connected with the Saturnalia were the Sigillaria, during which sigilla (claystatuettes) and other objects including works of art, were sold; see for instance,Suet. Claud. 16,4; Gell. NA 2,3,5; 5,4,1; Macrob. Sat. 1,10,24; 1,11,50, Cf. J.M.Frayn, Markets and Fairs in Roman Italy. Their Social and Economic Impor-tance from the Second Century BC to the Third Century AD, Oxford 1993,137-139.

23 Plaut. Poen. 339 ff. On mercatus in Plautus see L. Nadjo, L’argent et les affairesà Rome des origines au IIe siècle avant J.-C., Louvain /Paris 1989, 335.



of Vitellius. According to Tacitus, the sack of the city, which had been loyalto Vitellius, took place while magna pars Italiae stato in eosdem dies mercatucongregata, thereby revealing the interregional importance of the fair24. A fairconnected with sheep rearing was also held every year in Campi Macri, closeto modern Modena. This market is recorded both as mercatus and panegyrisby Varro and Strabo, although no evidence exists of religious activities here25.While the term mercatus generally refers to monthly or yearly fairs in ruralcontexts, nundinae were markets which took place every eight or seven days26.According to Macrobius, they were originally conceived as the occasions formeetings between pagani and rustici. Included as dies feriatus in the Romancalendar, the nundinae were also the days commonly chosen for the conclusionof legal business27.

24 Tac. hist. 3,30: Ac rursus nova laborum facies: ardua urbis moenia, saxeae tur-res, ferrati portarum obices, vibrans tela miles, frequens obstrictusque Vitellianispartibus Cremonensis populus, magna pars Italiae stato in eosdem dies mercatucongregata, quod defensoribus auxilium ob multitudinem, obpugnantibus incita-mentum ob praedam erat.

25 Varro, RR 2, praef. 6: E quis quoniam de agri cultura librum Fundaniae uxoripropter eius fundum feci, tibi, Niger Turrani noster, qui vehementer delectarispecore, propterea quod te empturientem in campos Macros ad mercatum adducuntcrebro pedes, quo facilius sumptibus multa poscentibus ministres, quod eo faciliusfaciam, quod et ipse pecuarias habui grandes. . . ; Str. 5,1,11. It is also mentionedin the Senatus Consultum Volusianum (AD 56), cf. S. Riccobono, FIRA I, 1941,n. 45, 288-290.

26 On the nundinae and their functions in Roman Italy, see in particular R. Mac-Mullen, Market-days in the Roman Empire, Phoenix 24 (1970), 4, 333-341; E.Gabba, Mercati e fiere nell’Italia romana, SCO 24 (1975), 141-163; J. Andreau,Les marchés hebdomadaires du Latium et de Campanie au Ier siècle ap. J.-C., in:E. Lo Cascio (ed.), Mercati permanenti e mercati periodici nel mondo Romano,Atti degli incontri capresi di storia dell’economia antica (Capri 13-15 ottobre1997), Bari 2000, 69-91; A. Storchi Marino, Reti interregionali integrate e cir-cuiti di mercato periodico negli indices nundinarii del Lazio e della Campania,in:idem, 93-130; A. Ziccardi, Il ruolo dei circuiti di mercati periodici nell’ambitodel sistema di scambio, in: idem, 131-148.

27 Macrob. Sat. 1,16,6: Nundinae sunt paganorum itemque rusticorum, quibus con-veniunt negotiis propriis vel mercibus provisuri. 1,16,33: Sed Cassius ServiumTullium fecisse nundinas dicit, ut in urbem ex agris convenirent urbanas rusti-casque res ordinaturi. Plutarch, Mor. 42 (275 B), evokes the origin of the nund-inae as a celebration in honour of the god Chronos. On the multifunctional roleof the nundinae as dies feriati, cf. Fest. p. 176, lin. 24; Colum. praef. 18; VarroRR pr. On the integration of the nundinae in the Roman calendar see exten-sively Rüpke (n. 21), 227 ff., 451 ff., 582 ff. On the different organization andfrequency of the nundinae in North Africa see J. Nollé, Nundinas Instituere etHabere. Epigraphische Zeugnisse zur Einrichtung und Gestaltung von ländlichen



Rural fairs might eventually come to be described as conventus, as inthe case of an interregional market of livestock, textile products and slaveswhich still existed in Lucania near Consilinum in the fifth century AD28. Thispopular fair, extensively described by Cassiodorus, was held on the day of St.Cyprian’s martyrdom, which was also linked with an ancient cult of the seagoddess Leucothea. Among the precious details provided by this source is thefact that, despite its rural location and the temporal nature of its facilities, thefestival was frequented not only by local rustici but also by foreign negotiatoresand that products from Campania, Bruttium, Calabria, Apulia, as well asLucania, were sold there29. Particularly symptomatic are here Athalaric’swords insisting on the fact that although no public buildings stood on the site,the place still looked like a splendid civitas30.

Märkten in Africa und in der Provinz Asia, Hildesheim 1982; B.D. Shaw, RuralMarkets in North Africa and the Political Economy of the Roman empire, An-tiquités Africaines 17 (1981), 37-83; L. Meloni, Le nundinae nel Nord Africa:produzione, merci e scambi nell’economia dei vici, L’Africa Romana 17, Roma2008, 2533-2546; Fentress (n. 4), 125-140, see above.

28 The focus of the source, a letter by king Athalaric, was the serious damage doneby the local rustici to merchands (negotiatores) coming from other regions, whatdemanded the intervention of the authorities. Cass. Var. 8,33,1: Sicut incognitavelle nosse prudentis est, ita comperta dissimulare dementia est, eo praesertimtempore, cum noxia res ad correctionem possit celerrimam pervenire. Frequentisiquidem probatione didicimus Lucaniae conventu qui prisca superstitione Leu-cothea nomen accepit, quod ibi sit aqua nimio candore perspicua, praesumption-ibus illicitis rusticorum facultates negotiantium hostili direptione saepe laceratas,ut qui ad natale sancti Cypriani religiosissime venerant peragendum mercimoni-isque suis faciem civilitatis ornare, egentes turpiter inanesque discederent.

29 Cass.Var. 8,33,3: Est enim conventus iste et nimia celebritate festivus et circum-iectis provinciis valde proficuus. Quicquid enim praecipuum aut industriosa mit-tit Campania aut opulenti Bruttii aut Calabri peculiosi aut Apuli idonei vel ipsapotest habere provincia, in ornatum pulcherrimae illius venalitatis exponitur, utmerito tam ingentem copiam iudices de multis regionibus aggregatam. Videasenim illic conlucere pulcherrimis stationibus latissimos campos et de amoenisfrondibus intextas subito momentaneas domos, populorum cantantium laetan-tiumque discursum. On the probable location of this market in S. Giovanni allaFonte and its economic importance for several South Italian regions, see aboveall G. Volpe, Contadini, pastori e mercanti nell’Apulia tardoantica, Bari 1996,336-339, 337.

30 Cass.Var. 8,33,4: Ubi licet non conspicias operam moenium, videas tamenopinatissimae civitatis ornatum. praesto sunt pueri ac puellae diverso sexu atqueaetate conspicui, quos non fecit captivitas esse sub pretio, sed libertas: hos meritoparentes vendunt, quoniam de ipsa famulatione proficiunt...



Beyond explicit references to fairs and markets, commercial activities at,or connected with, cult centres are indicated by other sorts of evidence. Theso-called lex aedis Furfensis (58 BC) contains the dedicatio by a magistrate tothe sanctuary of Jupiter Liber in the vicus of Furfo, which was located in theterritory of the Vestini (modern Abruzzo). The law explicitly regulates the useof the religious donations that could be sold (venditio) or rented (locatio) by theaedile of the vicus31. In adition, the law (ll. 11-12) specifies that the monetarybenefits of these activities could be used to purchase (emere), as well as to rent(conducere), let (locare) or grant (dare) what was necessary in order to makethe temple melius and honestius. The lex also states (ll. 12-14) that pecuniaused for this purpose should be profana in order to avoid dolo, but that theobjects in bronze or silver acquired with this money would have the same statusas if they had been dedicated32. The licit commercialization of objects soldby the sanctuary and the management of these practices by the authorities ofthe vicus demonstrate the capacity of sacred places to generate and encouragetrade and economic exchange. We can also assume that the case of Furfowas not exceptional and that these sorts of practices were frequent also inother sanctuaries of similar status33. The law does not reveal, unfortunately, ifdeconsecrated objects from the sanctuary were commercialised on the occasionof a mercatus held at the cult centre or if these operations would have involvedthe participation of intermediaries such as mercatores or negotiatores.

31 Cf. CIL IX 3513 (= I2 756; ILLRP 508; Bruns7, 105); and U. Laffi, La lexaedis Furfensis, in: Studi di storia romana e di diritto, Roma 2001, 515-544,whose transcription of the relevant part of the text I reproduce here, lin. 7-14:Sei quod ad eam aedem donum datum, donatum dedicatum/que erit, utei liceatoeti, venum dare; ubei venum datum erit, id profanum esto. Venditio, / locatioaedilis esto, quemquomque veicus Furfens(is) fecerint, quod se sentiunt eam rem/ sine scelere, sine piaculo; alis ne potesto. Quae pequnia recepta erit, ea pequniaemere, / conducere, locare, dare, quod id templum melius, honestius seit, liceto;quae pequnia ad eas / res data erit, profana esto, quod d(olo) m(alo) non eritfactum. Quod emptum erit aere aut argento / ea pequnia, quae pequnia ad idtemplum data erit, quod emptum erit, eis rebus eadem / lex esto, quaesei seidedicatum sit.

32 For this interpretation and the linguistic difficultties of the text, see Laffi (n. 31),515-544. The author further proposes that the sanctuary, managed by the au-thorities of the vicus of Furfo, would have been integrated in a pagus structure.See also Stek (n. 2), 71-74.

33 On this issue, see M.Aberson, Le statut de l’offrande: entre pratiques “gauloises”et “romaines” de dédicace des objets, in: J. Dalaison (ed.), Espaces et Pouvoirsdans l’Antiquité. De l’Anatolie à la Gaule. Hommages à Bernard Rémi, Grenoble2007, 35-47.



The deposition of votive objects at rural sanctuaries can shed some lightnot only on the nature of the cult and rituals taking place at the site andon patterns of continuity and change in the worship itself, but also on thedistribution and availability of local and imported products34. In this regard,we should take into account the possibility that votive items might have alsobeen regularly manufactured and sold at the sanctuaries themselves35. Thismight have been the case at highly frequented rural sanctuaries located onestablished trade routes. One example of this – although outside the contextof the present inquiry – is the case of the sanctuary of Isis in Industria onthe river Padus (Monteu da Po, Turin). Founded in the first century AD,the sanctuary of Isis probably replaced an earlier market place that had beenassociated both with the rich mineral resources of the region and with the useof the Po for the transport and exchange of goods from the Aosta Valley to theAdriatic coast. The identification of local and imported bronze statuettes andof possible areas dedicated to metal working at the sanctuary, together withthe epigraphic testimony of the descendants of the Avilii and Lolii in Industria– both nomina are also attested in Delos and Puteoli – suggest that this sacredplace was an important trade centre on this route36.

While Isis and the Po marked a trade and transport route connecting north-ern Italy with the Adriatic, and if the late antique fair reported by Cassiodorussurvived across the centuries as a key station on a road between Campaniaand Lucania, the location and character of rural cult places in central Italyprovide evidence for diverse patterns of interregional communication (such as

34 For instance, J.-M. Demarolle, Artisanat et sacré en Gaule romaine: demodestes jalons, in: M. Polfer (ed.), Artisanat et économie romaine: Italieet provinces occidentales de l’Empire, Actes du 3e colloque internationald’Erpeldange (Luxembourg) sur l’artisanat romain (14-16 octobre 2004), Mon-tagnac 2005, 39-54.

35 As is known in the case of Greek sanctuaries which hosted manufacturing centres;cf. C. Feyel, Les artisans dans les sanctuaires grecs aux époques classique ethellénistique: à travers la documentation financière en Grèce, Rome 2006.

36 Cf. L. Mercando /E. Zanda, Il santuario isiaco di Industria, in: L. Mercando(ed.), Archeologia in Piemonte, II. L’età romana, Torino 1998, 181-187. Onthe nomina, see CIL V 7488; 7464; 7486; 7472. A parallel example from adifferent context was the famous sanctuary of Hera Lacinia in Croton, seat of theItaliots that was also an important market place and manufacturing centre inlater periods, see also Cic. Att. 9,19,6, Liv. 24,3,3-7; Ps. Arist. De mir. Ausc. 96.and the contribution by De Cazanove in this volume.



the important transhumant tracks) which linked the Tyrrhenian regions, thecentral Appenines, Picenum and Latium with Campania and the South.

Sanctuaries in Central Italy: Economic Patterns and Dynamics

Certain sanctuaries in central Italy, such as those frequented by the LatinLeague and the Fanum Voltumnae in Etruria, have been identified as politicaland cultural seats of federal ethnic communities. The interregional statusand the potential role of asylum have also been proposed for those sanctuarieswhich adopted foreign cults and were linked with overseas trade, such as Pyrgiand Gravisca37. In inland regions, sanctuaries were set up for regional deitieswho were usually associated with fertility and agriculture, such as Bona Dea,Fors Fortuna, Feronia, Diana, Ceres and Marica38, and for gods like Mercuryand Hercules, who were patrons of trade and pastoral activities39.

Traditional views have conveyed “Romano-centric” interpretations of theencounter between Italic peoples and the conquering Rome. According to theseviews, the Roman occupation and the progressive process of municipalizationled to severe levels of destruction which afflicted many sanctuaries as well asthe subsequent abandonment of many of these sites. Recent revisionist contri-butions have revealed, on the contrary, the continuity of cult activity in manyrural sanctuaries of central Italy at least until the Social War and probablyuntil the early Principate. This seems, for instance, to have been the caseof representative cult places in Samnium, such as Pietrabbondante or Schiavi

37 Cf. M. Torelli, Il santuario greco di Gravisca, PP 32 (1977), 398-458; G.Colonna, L’Apollo di Pyrgi, in A. Stazio / S. Ceccoli (eds.), Magna Grecia, Etr-uschi e Fenici, Atti del XXXIII Convegno di Studi sulla Magna Grecia, Napoli1996, 345-375; Edlund (n. 2), 72 ff.

38 Also connected with the agriculture and the harvest were the Ambarvalia, Ter-minalia and the rituals held by the Fratres Arvales, see further C.R. Martin,Agriculture et religion: le témoignage des Agronomes latins, in: Hommages àHenri Le Bonniec, Bruxelles 1988, 294-305; C. Lega, Topografia dei culti delledivinità protettrici dell’agricoltura e del lavoro dei campi nel suburbio di Roma,in: L. Quilici / S. Quilici Gigli (eds.), Agricoltora e commerci nell’Italia antica,Roma 1995, 115-125; J. Scheid, Commentarii fratrum arvalium qui supersunt,Rome 1998.

39 F. Van Wonterghem, Le culte d’Hercule chez les Paeligni. Documents anciens etnouveaux, AC 42 (1973), 36-48; B. Combet-Farnoux, Mercure Romain. Le cultepublic de Mercure et la fonction mercantile à Rome de la République archaïqueà l’époque augustéenne, Rome 1980, 227-229.



d’Abruzzo40. The Samnite sanctuaries provide information that attests to theendurance of their popularity as central places of the region thoughout the2nd and 1st century BC41. Despite the lack of conclusive data that allow us toobtain a general view on this phenomenon, we should reject the idea of a sin-gle explanation pattern for the survival or decline of cult places in the centralregions of ancient Italy. Instead, a number of interrelated factors should betaken into consideration. These include the interregional status of some archaicsanctuaries and their wider relevance as central places for the evolving organi-zation of territory by the local communities. In this regard, some santuaries ofimportance were attached for instance to the structure of pagi and vici42. Suchrelationship with the territorial environment was possibly compatible with theadministrative influence of urban centres43. Livestock trade and transhumantstockraising were frequently associated with rural sanctuaries44. The continu-ity of so-called horizontal and vertical transhumance ‘systems’ throughout theRoman period – from the Appenines, Sabina and Samnium to the wide plainsof Latium, Campania and Apulia, on the one hand, and from the Adriatic

40 On the debate about the continuity of Italic sanctuaries beyond the Roman con-quest, see most recently Stek (n. 2), 17-34 with bibliography. The authorprovides valuable archaeological evidence for the continuous use of sacred placesafter the Social War and the subsequent municipalization process, such as thecase of the sanctuary of Hercules Curinus in Sulmo in Abruzzo.

41 On the possible use of Pietrabbondante and other rural sanctuaries in Samnium ascentres of manufacture, see J.-P.Morel, Artisanat, importations et romanizationdans le Samnium aux IIe et Ier siècles av. J.-C., in: La Romanisation du Samniumaux IIe et Ier siècles av. J.-C. (Naples, Centre Jean Bérard, 4-5 Novembre 1988),Naples 1991, 187-203.

42 As shown for instance in the lex aedis Furfensis (see below). On the intercon-nections between the pagi and vici and the Roman municipal system in centralItaly, see for instance U. Laffi, Problemi dell’organizzazione paganico-vicananelle aree abruzzesi e molisane, Athenaeum 52 (1974), 336-339. On the role ofItalic sanctuaries in the pagus-vicus system and their function, see also C. Letta,I santuari rurali nell’Italia centro-appenninica: valori religiosi e funzione aggrega-tiva, MEFRA 104 (1992-1), 112-115; and most recently Stek (n. 2) 71-74, andin this volume. In general, on the controversy about the persistence of Italic ter-ritorial patterns, see L. Capogrossi Colognesi, Persistenza e innovazione nellestrutture territoriali dell’Italia romana, Naples 2002.

43 The commercial persistence of cult places in central Italy beyond the disappear-ance of political structures previously linked with the organization of the territoryhas been analysed by Letta (n. 42), 122-124.

44 J.-P. Morel, L’Économie des peuples latins et latinisés avant la seconde guerrepunique, Eutopia 4 (1995), 213-232, scrutinizes the material traces of early pas-toral activities and their associated cults in Latium.



coast to the Tyrrhenian sea, on the other – can be traced through the distri-bution of religious material culture, epigraphic testimonies and archaeologicalevidence45. As we will see, a further important aspect to consider is the factthat ancient Italy temporary market systems such as the mercatus attached totranshumant routes and to sanctuaries appear to have been compatible withother forms of commercial exchange and with traditional market structuresand networks, such as the nundinae or the urban macella46. Although sanc-tuaries which hosted markets and interregional pilgrimage did not depend onurban centres for their survival, the material and economic evidence show thatneither could they exist in complete isolation.

Fanum Voltumnae

Ancient sources evoke the splendour of the Etruscan Fanum Voltumnae47.Its almost legendary fame contrasts with the vague indications of its exactlocation, presumably somewhere in the territory of Volsinii48, perhaps in an

45 On the economic importance of transhumance in ancient Italy, see in particularM. Corbier, La transhumance entre le Samnium et l’Apulie: continuités entrel’époque républicaine et l’époque impériale, in: La Romanisation du Samniumaux IIe et Ier siècles av. J.C., Naples 1991, 149-176; G. Barker /A.Grant (eds.),Ancient and Modern Pastoralism in Central Italy: An Interdisciplinary Study inthe Cicolano mountains, PBSR 59, 1991, 15-88; M.H. Crawford, Transhumancein Italy: its History and its Historians, in: W.V. Harris /E. Lo Cascio (eds.),Noctes Campanae. Studi di storia antica ed archeologica dell’Italia preromana eromana in memoria di Martin W. Frederiksen, Napoli 2005, 159-179.

46 On the networks of nundinae in Roman Italy and their existence compatible tourban markets, see in particular Storchi Marino (n. 26), 93-130 and Ziccardi(n. 26),131-148. The conflicting case of Benicius Sollers, who was granted by theemperor Claudius an extraordinary permission to hold nundinae on his privateproperties in North Italy, reveals the extent to which Roman authorities tried toavoid collision and conflicts of interest with other forms of markets, Plin. ep 5,4and 5,13; cf. L. Cracco Ruggini, Plinio il Giovane a proposito di “nundinae” pri-vate inter-cittadine: dispositivi giuridici e collusioni di fatto tra centro e periferia,in: Lo Cascio (ed.) (n. 26), 161-175.

47 On the sanctuary and its historical importance, see in particular Edlund (n. 2), 85ff.

48 As suggested by a late Roman inscription from Spello, CIL XI 5265 = ILS 705,ll. 19-21. On the theories about the location, see J. Macintosh Turfa, EtruscanReligion at the Watershed: Before and After the Fourth Century BCE, in: C.E.Schultz /P.B. Harvey jr. (eds.), Religion in Republican Italy, Cambridge 2006,62-89.



area close to modern Orvieto called Campo della Fiera49. Livy mentions thesanctuary as the seat of a concilium principum Etruriae already by 434 BC,when a meeting of the twelve cities of Etruria was arranged at the shrine afterthe conquest of Fidenae and the threats made against Veii by the Romans50.The author further reports that the Romans were informed by mercatoresof the Etruscan decision to refuse to give help to the Veientines, who hadinitiated the war51. The national council of Etruria at the temple of Voltumnais further mentioned when the Etruscans met again to decide on a commonplan of action to raise the siege of Veii in 396 BC52. The mobility and freedomof Roman traders in Etruscan territory suggested in the sources highlightsthe economic importance of the Fanum as an interregional market place, whatcould have contributed to the establishment and consolidation of the sanctuaryas a ‘supranational’ political centre. A late Roman inscription from Spellorefers to the celebration of ludi scaenici and a gladiatorum munus by sacerdotesin the civitas of Volsinii, perhaps evoking the famous Fanum53. Even if itis not possible at this point to propose a sure identification of the Fanum

49 Recent excavations by the Sopraintendenza Archaeologica di Umbria and the Uni-versity of Macerata have identified at the place of Campo della Fiera the existenceof a large sacred area containing Etruscan and Roman architectural structuresand terracottas, inscriptions and funerary monuments, as well as hydraulic in-frastructures and a relatively well preserved road. Although not conclusive, theattractive hypothesis that this site could be identified with the famous Fanum,already suggested in the 19th century, appears plausible, cf. S. Stopponi, RecentiIndagini Archaeologiche in Loc. Campo della Fiera di Orvieto (TR), EtruscanStudies. Journal of the Etruscan Foundation 9.1 (2002), 109-121.

50 Liv. 4,23,4-5: Trepidatum in Etruria est post Fidenas captas, non Veientibussolum exterritis metu similis excidii, sed etiam Faliscis memoria initi primo cumiis belli, quamquam rebellantibus non adfuerant. Igitur cum duae civitates legatiscirca duodecim populos missis impetrassent ut ad Voltumnae fanum indicereturomni Etruriae concilium, velut magno inde tumultu imminente, senatus Mam.Aemilium dictatorem iterum dici iussit.

51 Liv. 4,24,1: Ea res aliquanto exspectatione omnium tranquillior fuit. Itaque cumrenuntiatum a mercatoribus esset negata Veientibus auxilia, . . . The event ismentioned again in a further passage, 6,2,2: hinc Etruriae principum ex om-nibus populis coniurationem de bello ad fanum Voltumnae factam mercatoresadferebant.

52 Liv. 5,17,6-7: Quae dum aguntur, concilia Etruriae ad fanum Voltumnae habita,postulantibusque Capenatibus ac Faliscis ut Veios communi animo consilioqueomnes Etruriae populi ex obsidione eriperent, responsum est antea se id Veien-tibus negasse quia unde consilium non petissent super tanta re auxilium peterenon deberent.

53 CIL XI 5265 = ILS 705 ll. 19-21: sacerdotes creentur, / qui aput Vulsinios Tusciaecivitate(m) ludos / schenicos et gladiatorum munus exhibeant, / sed propter



Voltumnae in the site of Campo della Fiera, it is symptomatic that the latterplace, previously known as campus fori and campus nundinarius and the seatof fairs and ongoing cattle markets until the early 20th century, has revealedthe existence of an ancient extra urban sanctuary and of religious structurescontinuously used from the Etruscan period to Medieval times54.

Lucus Feroniae, the Tiber valley and Umbria

Lucus Feroniae was located in the Tiber valley, where the Via Tiberina wouldlater be, within a marginal area bordering Sabina, Latium and the land of theFalisci, in the region of Capena in south Etruria55. An emporic character hasbeen generally attributed to the sanctuary, and this has also been supported bythe identity of the Sabine Feronia, a salutary goddess associated with fertilityand agriculture56. Her profile as a protective divinity is linked with the natureof the lucus itself, originally probably a grove used as an asylum for fugitivesand possibly also a safe place for exchange, as has been similarly attestedin Terracina, Gravisca and Pyrgi57. The sources report the fame and theproverbial wealth of the sanctuary, and this is also witnessed by the deposits ofgold placed there over the ages58. Dionysius of Halicarnassus provides evidence

ardua montium et difficultates iti/nerum saltuosa inpendio posceretis. . . . Cf.Edlund (n. 2), 86.

54 See Stopponi (n. 49), 109-121. The author refers to the recent re-discovery of thechurch of San Pietro in Vetere that is associated in documents of the 13th centurywith a campus fori and a campus nundinarius, to be identified with Campo dellaFiera and that was probably abandoned after the effects of the Black Death in1348. The foundations of the church sit on Etruscan structures of tuffa blocks.

55 On the sanctuary and its location, see F. Coarelli, Lucus Feroniae, SCO 24(1975), 164-166; M. Torelli, Colonizzazione etrusche e latine d’epoca arcaica:un esempio, in: AA. VV., Gli Etruschi e Roma. Incontro di studio in onore diM. Pallotino. Roma 11-13 dicembre 1979, Roma 1982, 71-83; Edlund (n. 2), 87.

56 Cf. G.C. Susini, Il santuario di Feronia, Studi Romagnoli 11 (1960), 197-212.See M. Torelli, Gli aromi e il sale. Afrodite ed Eracle nell’Emporia arcaicadell’Italia, in: A. Mastrocinque (ed.), Ercole in Occidente, Trento 1993, 100.The author points out the connections between Feronia’s cults in Terracina andTrebula Mutuesa which were also settled in territories connecting the Sabinawith the Apennines. On Feronia, see further G. Radke, Die Götter Altitaliens,Münster 1965, 124-127.

57 Servius 7,695-697, following Cato, reports the foundation of Capenas by youngmen from Veii. See also Torelli (n. 55), 77-78.

58 For instance, Sil. It. 13,82-92: His fractus ductor conuelli signa maniples optatolaetis abitu iubet. Itur in agros diues ubi ante omnis colitur Feronia luco etsacer umectat Flauinia rura Capenas. Fama est intactas longaeui ab origine



for the existence of a panegyris at the sanctuary of Feronia, a goddess who wasworshipped by both Sabines and Latins59. Strabo states that the festival tookplace once a year while Livy and Dionysius report the economic dimension ofthe panegyris and link the event with the causes of the conflict between theRomans and the Sabines in the times of Tullus Hostilius. Livy conveys theiniuria of the Sabines who had captured Roman negotiatores that frequentedthe mercatus ad Feroniae fanum. This action was intended to be a replyto a previous provocation by the Romans in detaining fugitive Sabines inRome60. More detailed is the account of the episode by Dionysius61, whonarrates that the panegyris at Lucus Feroniae was attended by inhabitantsof neighbouring cities (âk tÀn perioÐkwn pìlewn), who came to worship thegoddess and undertake sacrifices (dà qrhmatioÔmenoi di� t�n pan gurin). Theaccount equally confirms the presence of traders, artisans and farmers (êmporoÐte kaÈ qeirotèqnai kaÈ gewrgoÐ) in the sanctuary, and also claims that the

fani creuisse, in medium congestis undique donis, immensum per tempus opes,lustrisque relictum innumeris aurum solo seruante pauore. Hac auidas mentesac barbara corda rapina polluit atque armat contemptu pectora diuum.

59 Dion.Hal. 4,49.60 Liv. 1,30,5: Hac fiducia virium Tullus Sabinis bellum indicit, genti ea tempes-

tate secundum Etruscos opulentissimae viris armisque. Utrimque iniuriae fac-tae ac res nequiquam errant repetitae. Tullus ad Feroniae fanum mercatu fre-quenti negotiatores Romanos comprehensos querebatur, Sabini suos prius in lu-cum confugisse ac Romae retentos. Haec causae belli ferebantur .

61 Dion.Hal. 3,32: Met� dà toÜton tän pìlemon éteroc �nèsth <RwmaÐoic âk toÜSabÐnwn êjnouc, �rq� dà aÎtoÜ kaÈ prìfasic âgèneto toi�de; Éerìn âsti koin¬tim¸menon Ípä SabÐnwn te kaÈ LatÐnwn �gion ân toØc p�nu je�c FerwneÐac ænoma-zomènhc, £n oÉ metafr�zontec eÊc t�n <Ell�da glÀssan oÉ màn >Anjofìron, oÉ dàFilostèfanon, oÉ dà Fersefìnhn kaloÜsin; eÊc d� tä Éerän toÜto sun¤esan âk tÀnperioÐkwn pìlewn kat� t�c �podedeigmènac áort�c polloÈ màn eÎq�c �podidìnteckaÈ jusÐac t¬ jeÄ, polloÈ dà qrhmatioÔmenoi di� t�n pan gurin êmporoÐ te kaÈ qei-rotèqnai kaÈ gewrgoÐ, �goraÐ te aÎtìji lamprìtatai tÀn ân �lloic tisÈ tìpoic t¨c>ItalÐac �gomènwn âgÐnonto. eÊc taÔthn dà t�n pan gurin âljìntac potà <RwmaÐwn�ndrac oÎk �faneØc SabØnoÐ tinec {�ndrec} sunarp�santec êdhsan kaÈ t� qr mata�feÐlonto, presbeÐac te perÈ aÎtÀn �fikomènhc oÎdàn âboÔlonto tÀn dikaÐwn poieØn,�ll� kaÈ t� s¸mata kaÈ t� qr mata tÀn sullhfjèntwn kateØqon âgkaloÜnteckaÈ aÎtoÈ <RwmaÐoic, íti toÌc SabÐnwn fug�dac Ípedèqonto kataskeu�santec �su-lon Éerìn, Ípàr Án ân tÄ prä toÔtou lìgú ded lwtaÐ moi. âk toÔtwn d� tÀnâgklhm�twn eÊc pìlemon katast�ntec âx¤esan eÊc Õpaijron �mfìteroi dun�mesi pol-laØc, gÐnetaÐ te aÎtÀn âk parat�xewc �g¸n; dièmenon g�r �gqwm�lwc �gwnizìmenoikaÈ dielÔjhsan Ípä t¨c nuktäc �mfÐlogon katalipìntec tä nÐkhma. taØc d´ áx¨c�mèraic majìntec �mfìteroi tÀn te �polwlìtwn kaÈ tÀn traumatiÀn tä pl¨jocoÎkèti peØran âboÔlonto átèrou labeØn �gÀnoc, �ll´ âklipìntec toÌc q�rakac�p¤esan.



markets (agorai) at the Lucus were the most celebrated in Italy. Dionysiusaccount thus highlights the interregional dimension of the sanctuary, whichwould explain its status as a place of refuge or asylum62.

The economic and political relevance of the lucus was strengthened by itslocation at the fluvial crossroad of the Tiber and the Capena, on the archaictranshumance route followed by the Via Salaria63. This topographic promi-nence was surely reinforced by the construction of the Via Flaminia in thethird century BC. As the alleged causa belli between the Romans and theSabines, Lucus Feroniae was a central intercultural meeting place common toSabines, Etruscans, Latins and Romans. The question of the anecdote’s reli-ability aside, both accounts provide evidence for the commercial importanceof the sanctuary. The trade activities regularly held at the sanctuary weremerely interrupted by conflicts of a political and military nature. Indeed thesanctuary does not seem to have lost its economic dimension in later periods.The treasure of the temple, which included the harvest from local communitiesamong other gifts, as well as gold and silver, is said to have been plunderedby Hannibal in 211 BC64. The archaeological data from the site suggest acertain decline of the sacred area after this period, although it continued tobe frequented, being the object of several reforms during the second and firstcenturies BC65. Strabo refers to the enduring popularity of the panegyris in

62 In this regard, Torelli (n. 56), 100.63 Gabba (n. 26), 155; Coarelli, I santuari, il fiume, gli empori, in: Storia di Roma

I, Torino 1988, 127-151; idem, Vie e mercati del Lazio antico, Eutopia 4.1 (1995),202-204; Frayn (n. 22), 135

64 As narrated by Livy, 26,11,8: Inde ad lucum Feroniae pergit ire, templum eatempestate inclutum diuitiis. Capenates aliique qui accolae eius erant primitiasfrugum eo donaque alia pro copia portantes multo auro argentoque id exornatumhabebant. Iis omnibus donis tum spoliatum templum. The author further reportsthat Hannibal’s soldiers left behind big quantities of rude brass because of reli-gious fear; 26,2,8; Sil. Ital. 13,83-91 (n. 58). Most of the votive terracottas indeeddate to the third century BC and even earlier, and this fits with the destruc-tion caused by the Carthaginians; cf. A.M. Sgubini Moretti /G. BordenacheBattaglia, Materiali archeologici scoperti a lucus Feroniae (vetrine 18-24), in:M. Moretti (ed.), Nuove scoperte e acquisitioni in Etruria meridionale, Rome1975, 93-175; G. Gazzetti, Il territorio Capenate, Roma 1992, 22-38.

65 On the archaeological surveys and findings at Lucus Feroniae, see A.M. SgubiniMoretti, s.v. Lucus Feroniae, Enciclopedia dell’Arte Antica Classica e Orientale3, 1971-1994, Roma 1995, 473-475 (with earlier bibliography). The surveys haverevealed the reuse of building material from the sanctuary for the constructionof the forum of the colony, cf. also Gazzetti (n. 64), 22-38.



his times, which still attracted many visitors66. The foundation of a Romancolony close to the sacred site by Augustan veterans is documented by an in-scription mentioning the colonia Iulia Felix Lucus Feroniae67. The continuedworship of Feronia at Lucus during the imperial period is also attested byseveral votive inscriptions68. Such evidence serves to make clear the enduringimportance of the site itself, now close to a colony and surrounded by privateproperties69.

The radical territorial changes visible in the region of Capena and Fa-lerii from the second century BC and the increasing establishment of privatelatifundia along the Tiber valley in the late Republic, affecting the old pagistructures, would have surely had some impact on the accessibility and fre-quentation of the sacred place. In the first century BC, the sanctuary seemsto have been under the territorial influence of the immense villa of the power-ful Volusii Saturnini family on the Via Tiberina70. Some scholars have even

66 Although he erroneously conflates the Lucus with a sanctuary at the foot ofMount Soracte, Str. 5,2,9: Ípä dà tÄ Swr�ktú îrei FerwnÐa pìlic âstÐn, åm¸numocâpiqwrÐø tinÈ daÐmoni timwmènù sfìdra Ípä tÀn perioÐkwn, ©c tèmenìc âstin ân tÄtìpú jaumast�n ÉeropoiÐan êqon; gumnoØc g�r pocÈ diexÐasin �njraki�n kaÈ spodi�nmeg�lhn oÉ kateqìmenoi Ípä t¨c daÐmonoc taÔthc �pajeØc, kaÈ sunèrqetai pl¨joc�njr¸pwn �ma t¨c te panhgÔrewc q�rin, £ sunteleØtai kat> êtoc, kaÈ t¨c leqjeÐshcjèac. Cf. N. Biffi, L’Italia di Strabone. Testo, traduzione e commento dei libriV e VI della Geografia, Genova 1988, 260f.

67 Orelli 4099 = CIL XI 1, 3938. Lucus Feronia is equally referred to as a colonyby Pliny the Elder, Nat. 3,51, who includes it among the colonies of the regio VIIAugusta. See also R. Bartoccini, Colonia Iulia Felix Lucus Feroniae, Atti delVII Congresso Internazionale di Archeologia Classica 2, Roma 1961, 249-256.

68 See for instance CIL I2 2867-2869 = AE 1953, 195-197; CIL I2 2910 = AE 1953198; CIL XI 3199; AE 1954, 162; AE 1955, 884, which was found in the colonyand dated between the 1st century BC and the 2nd century AD. See furtherSgubini Moretti /Bordenache Battaglia (n. 64). Particularly interesting isCIL VI 37422, attesting a donation dedicated to an exactor operis from theLucus: Epigonio Volusiano / operi(s) exactori /ab Luco Feroniae / P(ublius)Numitorius / [. . . ] Hilarus / clienti locum / ollae donavit.

69 F. Cambi, Le campagne di Falerii e di Capena dopo la romanizzazione, in: H.Patterson (ed.), Bridging the Tiber. Approaches to Regional Archaeology in theMiddle Tiber Valley, London 2004, 87, observes that this territory was particu-larly subject to land distributions to veterans and public building programmes.The integration of rural Italic sanctuaries into urban territories is also observedin other cases, such as in the municipium of Cupra Marittima close to the oldsanctuary of the Sabine goddess, see J. Scheid, Rome et les grands lieux de culted’Italie, in: A. Vigourt /X. Loriot /A. Berenger-Badel /B. Klein (eds.), Pouvoiret religion dans le monde romain, Paris 2006, 80-84.

70 G.Gazzeti, La villa dei Volusii a Fiano Romano, Roma 1998; M.Moretti /A.M.Sgubini Moretti, La villa dei Volusii a lucus Feroniae, Roma 1977; A.M. Sgubini



proposed that the sanctuary might have been enclosed within this property71.The economic appeal of this region for prosperous Roman landlords can beexplained by the fertile soil (ideal for the production of wine and grain), itsexcellent market networks and transport facilities both by land (including tran-shumance routes) and via the Tiber, and, of course, its proximity to Rome72.Within this landscape, the old sanctuary of Feronia still bordered during theearly empire two economic areas marked by their topography and geography:the agriculturally rich plain of Capena, and the livestock-dominated Sabineterritories on the other side of the Tiber73.

The connections between the popularity of Lucus Feroniae and the im-portance of the Tiber as transport and communication axis are further un-derlined by the establishment of Forum Novum, a municipium located in theAger Faliscus, in an advantageous position close to the Eastern bank of theTiber, between the Via Salaria and the Via Flaminia. Archaeological surveysand excavations indicate an early presence here of a vast market place whichpreceded the existence of a small town. This mercatus was still in use in thelate Roman period, as revealed by the report of a martyrdom ad mercatumpopuli in loco qui appellatur Forum Novum74.

Moretti (ed.), Fastosa rusticatio. La villa dei Volusii a Lucus Feroniae, Roma1998.

71 Moretti / Sgubini Moretti (n. 70); Sgubini Moretti (ed.) (n. 70); J. Bodel,Monumental Villas and Villa Monuments, JRA 10 (1997), 8-35. See also Cambi(n. 69), 83f.

72 On the growing latifundia and the natural and economic conditions of the Tibervalley, see J. R. Patterson, City, Territory and Metropolis: the Case of theTiber valley, in: H. Patterson (ed.) (n. 69), 66 f. The author further emphasisesthe importance of the brick industry in the area during the principate.

73 As Cambi (n. 69), 89-91 points out, the balanced integration of both economictendencies in the territory (pastoral and cereal production) lasted until the impe-rial period. On the other side of the Tiber, at Falerii Veteres (Cività Castellana),a few kms. west of Forum Novum, an inscription dated to the first century ADreports the presence of an argentarius coactor de portu vinario superiori, dealingwith the auctioning of wine and financial intermediation. The existence of a flu-vial harbour regulating the wine trade from the upper Tiber to Rome emphasisesthe commercial importance of Ager Faliscus in the imperial age, and this also ex-plains the peristence of cult places in this area, see CIL XI 3156, cf. J. Andreau,La vie financière dans le monde romain: les métiers de manieurs d’argent (IVesiècle av. J.-C. – IIIe siècle ap. J.-C.), Rome 1987, 116.

74 The Passio sancti Anthimi (11) records the death of Saint Anthimus and hispupils in 305. One of them, Bassus, was arrested and killed by the masses atthe market place, cf. M.G. Mara, I martiri della Via Salaria, Roma 1964, 80,



Archaeological evidence makes it clear that a flourishing amount of votivedepositions at some rural sanctuaries in Ancient Umbria continued after theRoman conquest until the second century BC, but suffered a severe declinefollowing the Social War. Even then, despite a decrease in the quantity ofmaterial finds, some sites, such as Grotta Bella in Monte l’Aiola (AviglianoUmbro), show continued activity until Late Antiquity. As in Sabina, theproximity to Rome and the access to south Umbria provided by the Tiberand the Via Flaminia also favoured the development of the so-called villa-economy in this area75. However, the compatibility of both the continuingexistence of rural sanctuaries and the establishment of Roman properties inUmbria is made clear in a literary testimony of Pliny the Younger. The authordescribes the natural wonders of the spring of the river Clitumnus, betweenSpoletium and Trebia which hosted a templum priscum et religiosum that wasdedicated to the personification of Clitumnus and to other gods, and was alsothe seat of a popular oracle. Pliny further mentions that the sacred place waseven equipped with public baths for visitors, and that he was surprised bythe countless votive inscriptions on pillars and walls found at the site. Thebeauty of the river meanwhile encouraged the building of many villas on its

apud V. Gaffney /H. Patterson /P. Roberts, Forum Novum (Vescovio): ANew Study of the Town and Bishopric, in: H. Patterson (n. 69), 237-251.

75 On Umbrian rural cult places and the radical religious, cultural and territorialtransformation provoked by the Social War, see G. Bradley, Archaic sanctuariesin Umbria, CCGG 8 (1997), 111-129; idem, Ancient Umbria. State, Culture, andIdentity in Central Italy from the Iron Age to the Augustan Era, Oxford 2000,221-245, 263-269. Bradley’s opinion contrasts with Verzar’s inclination to depicta general decline of cult activities in the region primarily as the direct consequenceof the Roman conquest: M. Verzar, Archäologische Zeugnisse aus Umbrien, in:P. Zanker (ed.), Hellenismus in Mittelitalien, I, Göttingen 1976, 119.



banks, as well as the setting up of inscriptions76. Again Pliny refers to theupper Tiber valley in a letter describing an old aedes Cereris within one of hispraedia located close to the river77. Following the advice of the haruspices,Pliny mentions the restoration of the building because of the popularity of thesanctuary, which hosted numerous visitors on the Ides of September: multaeres aguntur, multa vota suscipiuntur, multa redduntur . Alongside the religiousvota, this cult place seems to have been an occasional venue for other relatedactivities. Pliny specifically refers to the embellishment of the temple and theconstruction of a porticus, “the former for god’s use, and the last for the use of

76 Plin. ep 8,8,5-7: Adiacet templum priscum et religiosum. Stat Clitumnus ipseamictus ornatusque praetexta; praesens numen atque etiam fatidicum indicantsortes. Sparsa sunt circa sacella complura, totidemque di. Sua cuique veneratiosuum nomen, quibusdam vero etiam fontes. Nam praeter illum quasi parentemceterorum sunt minores capite discreti; sed flumini miscentur, quod ponte trans-mittitur. Is terminus sacri profanique: in superiore parte navigare tantum, infraetiam natare concessum. Balineum Hispellates, quibus illum locum Divus Au-gustus dono dedit, publice praebent, praebent et hospitium. Nec desunt villaequae secutae fluminis amoenitatem margini insistunt. In summa nihil erit, exquo non capias voluptatem. Nam studebis quoque: leges multa multorum om-nibus columnis omnibus parietibus inscripta, quibus fons ille deusque celebratur.Plura laudabis, non nulla ridebis; quamquam tu vero, quae tua humanitas, nullaridebis. Vale.

77 Plin. ep 9,39: C. Plinius Mustio suo s. Haruspicum monitu reficienda est mihiaedes Cereris in praediis in melius et in maius, vetus sane et angusta, cumsit alioqui stato die frequentissima. Nam idibus Septembribus magnus e regionetota coit populus, multae res aguntur, multa vota suscipiuntur, multa redduntur.Sed nullum in proximo suffugium aut imbris aut solis. Videor ergo munificesimul religioseque facturus, si aedem quam pulcherrimam exstruxero, addideroporticus aedi, illam ad usum deae, has ad hominum. Velim ergo emas quat-tuor marmoreas columnas, cuius tibi videbitur generis, emas Marmora, quibussolum, quibus parietes excolantur. Erit etiam vel faciendum vel emendum ip-sius deae signum, quia antiquum illud e lingo quibusdam sui partibus vetustatetruncatum est. Quantum ad porticus, nihil interim occurrit, quod videatur istincesse repetendum, nisi tamen ur formam secundum rationem loco scribas. Nequeenim possunt circumdari templo, nam solum templi hinc flumine et abruptissimisripis, hinc via cingitur. Est ultra viam latinissimum pratum, in quo satis aptecontra templum ipsum porticus explicabuntur, nisi quid tu melius invenies, quisoles locorum difficultates arte superare. Vale. Both letters are analysed by J.Scheid, Pline le Jeune et les santuaires d’Italie. Observations sur les lettres IV,1,VIII,8 et IX, 39, in: A. Chastagnol / S. Demougin /C. Lepelley (eds.), Splendidis-sima Civitas. Études d’Histoire romaine en hommage à François Jacques, Paris1996, 241-258.



men” (illam ad usum deae, has ad hominum). It is tempting to think of thisbuilding as a place of economic exchange, among other human activities78.

As has been attested in Latium, certain extra-urban Italic sanctuariestogether with small properties were progressively absorbed by the growth oflatifundia towards the end of the Republican period. However, this should notnecessarily be interpreted as a sign of decline. On the contrary, some archaiccult places experienced a revival in their use, some even seeing monumentalrestoration while some became attractive magnets for new landowners andtheir villas79. The increasing territorial dominance of private properties inlate Republican Italy was thus not necessarily incompatible with the survivalof extra-urban sanctuaries.

Tyrrhenian trade, Latin sanctuaries and the Via Appia

The cases of Fanum Voltumnae and Lucus Feroniae represent a contrast withthe evolution of other well-known cult places along the Tyrrhenian coast. Theemporic sanctuary of Hera at Gravisca that was located at the port of Tar-quinia, is a symptomatic case of the economic and religious consequences of

78 Recent archaeological research suggests a possible identification of Pliny’s villaand the sanctuary of Ceres in Tifernum Tiberinum close to the town of SanGiustino (Perugia), cf. P. Braconi / J. Uroz Sáez (eds.), La villa di Plinio ilGiovane a San Giustiniano. Primi risultati di una ricerca in corso, Perugia 1999;id., Il tempio della tenuta di Plinio il Giovane ‘in tuscis’, in: R. Ciardello, Lavilla romana, Napoli 2007, 129-144; P. Braconi, La villa di Plinio a San Giustino,in: ibid. 83-104. This attribution is reinforced by the finding of tegulae stampedwith the letters CPCS. Enclosed within the estates was also the so-called collePlinio, possibly the same as that refered to by Pliny in another letter, 5,6, withthe mention in Tuscis. The temple of Ceres and the festival described by Plinymight have been substituted by the Christian cult of Santa Fiora, honoured herewith a church. Braconi and Uroz also note the nearby location of Pieve di SanCipriano, whose dies natalis is celebrated on September 14, just one day afterCeres’s festival recorded by Pliny; see P. Braconi / J. Uroz Sáez, La villa diPlinio il Giovane a San Giustino, in: F. Coarelli / H. Patterson (eds.), MercatorPlacidissimus. The Tiber Valley in Antiquity. New research in the upper andmiddle river valley, Rome 2008, 105-121. In the same volume, R. Esteve suggeststhe possible existence of a sanctuary linked to ceramic production from the 3rd

century BC in Colle Plinio, see: Le produzioni ceramiche di epoca repubblicanonell’Alta Valle del Tevere, 143-188.

79 See, for instance, Lega (n. 38), 115-125; J.W. Mayer, Imus ad villam. Studienzur Villeggiatur im stadtrömischen Suburbium in der späten Republik und frühenKaiserzeit, Stuttgart 2005, 108.



the fall of Etruscan influence80. Being recorded as a Greek foundation of theseventh century BC, the sanctuary was also frequented by Etruscans and for-eign visitors. In addition to dedications to Aphrodite-Turan, Demeter-Vei andApollo found in the sacred area, the discovery of Greek offerings at the sanctu-ary mirrors the flourishing Tyrrhenian trade with the Greeks81. The progres-sive decline of Etruscan influence from the fifth century BC certainly affectedexchange connections between the sanctuary and the Eastern Mediterranean,as witnessed by the reduction of ex-votos, both local and foreign82. Suchchanges also had an impact upon local manufacturing activity and traders83.Subsequently, the sanctuary was substantially restructured during the fourthcentury and re-oriented towards a rather regional use of the place as part ofthe demos of Tarquinia. The foundation of a Roman colony in Gravisca inthe third century BC only confirmed this development. The fate of Graviscaas an emporic centre, which depended on the sea routes between Etruria andthe Eastern Mediterranean, no doubt suffered as the consequence of the socio-economic and political evolution of the region following the decline of theEtruscans and the rise of Rome.

The location and function of relevant Latial sanctuaries seems to mirrorthe different patterns and factors revealed at Gravisca, Fanum Voltumnae andLucus Feroniae: the dependence on Tyrrhenian trade, the importance of thepolitical and intercultural role attributed to any sanctuary and the location ofsacred places on natural frontiers that were associated with long establishedland and fluvial routes. The endurance or disruption of trade routes, roads andcommunication axes emerges as one key factor in understanding the evolution

80 See Torelli (n. 37), 398-458.81 H. Solin, Sulle dediche greche di Gravisca, PP 36 (1981), 185-187. The most

spectacular example of this is the inscription on a stone anchor, an anathema,dated to the end of the sixth century BC found in Gravisca and attesting anoffering to Apollo by the Greek trader Sostratos, cf. P.A. Gianfrotta, Le an-core di Sostrato di Egina e di Faillo di Crotone, PP 30 (1975), 311-318. Somescholars propose a possible identification of this Sostratos with the famous traderreported by Herodotus 4,152, and even with the Greek amphorae stamped withthe letters SO, cf. S. Hiller, Die Handelsbeziehungen Äginas mit Italien, in:F. Krinzinger (ed.), Die Ägäis und das Westliche Mittelmeer. Beziehungen undWechselwirkungen 8. bis 5. Jh. v. Chr., Wien 2000, 461-469.

82 On the decline of this exchange, Torelli (n. 37), 413-417. Among the importeditems are attested fine objects in bronze and ivory and Greek decorated amphorae.

83 As pointed out by Torelli (n. 37), 452-453 in relation to the production of figurevases, sculpture and wall paintings during the fifth century BC.



of the major Latial sanctuaries after the Roman conquest. Some of the mostsignificant archaic cult places in Latium were located in areas considered to begeographic and ethnic boundaries, as is particularly evident for those sanctu-aries shared by the Latins84. In Lanuvium stood the famous sanctuary of JunoSospita, the seat of an annual festival celebrated by the Latins85. Lanuvium,together with Nemus Aricium, the sanctuary of Fortuna in Antium and thatof Hercules in Tibur are mentioned by Appian as having lent money from theirwealthy deposits to Octavian in 41 BC86. Antium, Ardea, Lavinium, Circeiand Terracina, all on the Tyrrhenian coast, were also included in the firstcontract between Romans and Carthaginians, which mirrored their economicimportance87. The emporic character of Lavinium, Ardea and Circei is un-derlined by the presence in each of a temple dedicated to Aphrodite88. As forNemus Aricium, which was located close to the Mons Albanus, its economicfunction is suggested by literary evidence for commercial exchanges betweenAricia and wealthy Capua from the end of the sixth century BC89. The con-tract established between the Romans and the Latins in 338 BC concerningthe ius commercii inevitably affected the privileged economic exchanges sub-sequently held among the Latins and between Latins and other peoples90.Unfortunately direct material traces of the impact of these measures on therole of Latin sanctuaries as centres of exchange are very sparse.

A significant moment came with the building of the Via Appia in 312BC. The new road, connecting Rome with Terracina and Capua through theAuruncan territory, was a military route used during the Samnite Wars butalready frequented by traders at that time91. The transport and communi-

84 On the particular topography in ethnical boundaries of the sanctuaries used ascommon seat of the Latins, see F. Zevi, I santuari ‘federali’ del Lazio: qualcheappunto, Eutopia 4 (1995), 123-142.

85 Liv. 8,14,2. The sanctuary experienced an architectural renaissance in the firstcentury AD and later under Hadrian, cf. CIL XIV 2088.

86 As reported by Appian, BC 5,24,97; 22,87.87 Polyb. 3,21,11. Even if Antium had no natural port, as claimed to by Strabo,

5,3,5.88 An old road between Praeneste and Satricum, and another between Satricum

and Antium and Astura connected the coast with the interior Latium vetus.89 Liv. 2,14,5-7; Dion. 5,36; 7,6.90 A passage by Livy reports the extent to which Romans tried to appropriate

the former commercial monopolies held by the Latins, ceteris Latinis populisconnubia commerciaque et concilia inter se ademerunt, cf. 8,4,10.

91 This was indeed the route already used by the Roman army after the first SamniteWar, cf. R. Chevallier, Les voies romaines, Paris 1972, 92.



cation benefits of the new road were no doubt key to the enduring affluenceof Lanuvium and Nemus Aricium, while places lying off the road, such as theemporic sanctuaries on the Tyrrhenian coast, were now excluded from the newmaterial and cultural traffic between Latium and wealthy Campania92.

In contrast, Terracina and its extra-urban sanctuary of Feronia (on MonteS. Angelo and probably dating from the Volscian occupation of the city) clearlybenefited from the new land route93. Terracina and its harbour experiencedtheir peak in the second and first centuries BC, as they were associated withflourishing trading activities with Sicily, Delos and the Eastern Mediterranean.Unlike other sanctuaries on the Tyrrhenian coast, the territory of Terracinaalso constituted an almost unavoidable passage in the route towards Campa-nia, if the mountain chain of Lepini, which extended from the coast of southLatium to the Volscian plain, were to be avoided. Yet Terracina was not onlyan important midway between Rome and Capua and the most south-easterlyplace on the Latial coast. It was also the final station of an ancient inlandroute linking the Pontine plain with the Lepini mountains, a route that sur-vived the establishment of the Roman road system. Once again, we meethere a sacred place located at the intersection of two different commercialroutes: the redistribution of goods from maritime trade and the movement oflivestock from internal regions94. As probably happened at Lucus Feroniae,Terracina’s emporic sanctuary of Feronia also enjoyed the status of an asylum.Servius describes in his commentary on Virgil’s Aeneid the popular ritual of

92 M. Fenelli, Lavinium, QuadAEI 8, Archeologia Laziale 6 (1984), 325-344;Morel (n. 44), 226; F. Coarelli, Colonizzazione romana e viabilità, DArch 6.2(1988), 36.

93 On the sanctuary see F. Coarelli, I santuari del Lazio e della Campania trai Gracchi e le Guerre Civili, in: Les bourgeoisies municipales italiennes aux IIeet Ier siècles av. J. C. (Centre Jean Bérard. Institut Français de Naples, 7-10décembre 1981), Paris /Naples 1983, 232-236; idem, I santuari del Lazio in etàrepubblicana, Roma 1987, 113-140; L. Boccali, Esempio di organizzazione dellefonti antiche per la ricostruzione del quadro della vita religiosa di una città e delsuo territorio in età preromana e romana: Terracina, CCGG 8 (1997), 181-222.As seen already, the Sabine Feronia and her worship were associated with theidea of territorial boundaries and also with water sources. Terracina also stoodclose to a sacred spring, Horace, Serm. 1,5,24. Cf. Radke (n. 56), 124-127 andBoccali 186.

94 On the double geographical orientation of the sanctuary, see Torelli (n. 56),101-102.



the manumissio of slaves taking place at Terracina under the patronage of thegoddess95.

Rome, Hercules and the livestock trade

No better place than Rome itself and the ager Romanus illustrate the impor-tance of geographical boundaries and strategic communication routes in theemergence of cult places that were associated with commercial activities. Di-ana on the Aventine hill and Portunus in the Forum Boarium are well-knowncases of temples conceived as emporia96. The temples of Mercury and Cereswere connected with trade imports and the food supply of Rome from the be-ginning of the Republic. In the same way, the ancestral Hercules’ cult at theAra Maxima was linked with the salt supply, and with the archaic transhu-mance route known as Via Salaria, which was used for the transportation andtrade of cattle and which connected Latium with the Sabina and the Adriaticcoast97. The Forum Boarium, situated on the intersection of the Via Salariaand the Tiber, was the principal midpoint of this route98. This junction was

95 Serv.Aen. 8,564: Feronia maternympha Campaniae, quam etiam supra diximus.Haec etiam libertorum dea est, in cuius templo raso capite pilleum accipiebant.cuius rei etiam Plautus in Amphitryone facit mentionem quod utinam ille faxitIuppiter, ut raso capite portem pilleum. In huius templo Tarracinae sedile lapi-deum fuit, in quo hic versus incisus erat bene meriti servi sedeant, surgant liberi.Quam Varro Libertatem deam dicit, Feroniam quasi Fidoniam.

96 Cf. F. Coarelli, Il Foro Boario, Roma 1988, 60-63; 141. See also D. Van Ber-chen, Trois cas d’asyle archaïque, MH 17 (1960), 21-33; Scheid (n. 2), 583-595.

97 The economic relevance of this route, of Hercules and the origins of the ViaSalaria are extensively reported by Pliny the Elder, Nat. 31,88-89. On the ViaSalaria, see also Festus p. 436, lin. 8. On the geographic importance of Romefor the transportation and trade of salt, see further A. Giovannini, Le sel et laFortune de Rome, Athenaeum 63 (1985), 373-386. Coarelli 1988 (n. 63), 134;Torelli (n. 56), 91-117.

98 On the Ara Maxima, see recently M. Torelli, Ara Maxima Herculis: storia diun monumento, MEFRA 118.2 (2006), 573-620. On the mythical origins of theAra Maxima and the Forum Boarium and the traces of the frequentation of thearea by transhumant herders since the Bronze Age, see G. Dumézil, ArchaicRoman Religion, with an appendix on the Religion of the Etruscans, II, Bal-timore / London 19962, 433-435; Coarelli (n. 96), 127-139; idem 1988 (n. 63),127-151; idem 1995 (n. 63), 202. It was in this area at the foot of the Aventine,close to the Porta Trigemina, where the salt markets were located Front. Aqu. 1,5;see also Liv. 35,10,12 and 41,27,8-9, cf. Giovannini (n. 97), 374; Torelli (n. 56),106, Coarelli, Salinae, LTUR 4, 1999, 229. On the portus Tiberinus, see A.Aguilera Martín, El monte Testaccio y la llanura subaventina: topografía ex-tra portam Trigeminam, Roma 2002, 9-13; C. Buzzetti, Portus Tiberinus, LTUR



also the origin of the Via Campana, an extension of the Via Salaria whichterminated at the sea, close to Ostia and the mouth of the Tiber. Accordingto the literary sources and archaeological evidence, the mouth of the Tiber wasone of the most important salt deposits of the Italian peninsula. The relevanceof the Via Salaria and the strategic position of Rome in the control of the saltresources on both sides of the Tiber played an essential part in the famous de-struction of Veii in 396 BC, key for the economic hegemony of central Italy99.Hercules’ cult at the Ara Maxima is referred to in two passages by Macrobiusand by Servius in his commentary on Virgil’s Aeneid. They mention two tem-ples dedicated to Hercules Victor in Rome, one in the Forum Boarium closeto the Ara Maxima, and the other ad Portam Trigeminam. The foundationof this second temple is linked in both sources with the story of the trader M.Octavius Herennius who, thanking Hercules for his fortune, donated to himone tenth of his profits and built an aedes dedicated to the god, because hehad saved both his life and cargo from pirates100. The ritual of donation of thedecuma to Hercules has been linked with the mythical episode of Cacus andEvander101. The decuma had a further commercial character, being generallydonated by traders, artisans and bankers102. Other cult places in central Italyconnect Hercules with the gift of the decuma and assign to the god the role asprotector of herdsmen, traders, trade in meat and livestock103. The functionof the Forum Boarium as cattle market on a transhumant route let also spec-

4, 1999, 155f. On the relationship between harbour structures and religious cultsin the city of Rome, see J.-P. Morel, La topographie de l’artisanat et du com-merce dans la Rome antique, in: L’Urbs. Espace urbain et histoire (Actes ducolloque international, Rome 1985), Rome 1987, 144. Coarelli (n. 96), 109ff.

99 Liv. 5,45,8; 7,17,6; 19,8. Before its destruction, Veii was known as the mostwealthy city in Italy, Liv. 5,22,8; 24,8; Dion.Hal. 2,54,3. See further Giovannini(n. 97), 382f.

100 Macr. Sat. 3,6,10-12; Serv.Aen. 8,363.101 Plut.Quaest. Rom. 18. The different versions of the episode refer either to the

sacrifice of one tenth of Geryon’s flock by Hercules himself in Rome, or to aconsecration made by the Romans.

102 Cf. Andreau (n. 73), 146f. Plautus mentions in Stichus the decuma Herculis asa gift promised by the parasite Gelasimus to Hercules after the parody-sale ofhis logoi, 233; 386; 395. The donation of the tithe was also later associated withmilitary booty; again a passage of Plautus’ Bacchides refers to the one tenthobtained from the praeda that was offered to Hercules at the Ara Maxima, 665f.

103 Hercules was also associated with the official weights at the mensa ponderaria,see for instance: CIL VI 366. On Hercules in central Italy, see Van Wonterghem(n. 39), 36-48; A.Di Niro, Il culto di Ercole fra i Sanniti Pentri e Frentani, Salerno1977.



ulate about the possibility that the importation and sale at this place couldhave been charged with fiscal impositions, as happened along stationes, callesand public viae104.

Tibur and Alba Fucens

The sanctuary of Hercules Victor in Tibur was the most imposing cult placeconsecrated to this god. The archaic settlement of Tibur was located on acattle route that was followed by the ancient Via Tiburtina (and extended inthe fourth century BC by the Via Valeria) which connected Latium Vetus withthe territory of the Aequi and Marsi, the Appenines and the Adriatic Coast105.The sanctuary dominated and delineated the Eastern ethnic and geographicboundary of the Latin plain and the mountainous territory of the Aequi. Theassociation between the sanctuary and commerce is further underlined by therecord of the decuma in several inscriptions106. Its financial importance at theend of the Republic is attested in Appian’s account of the significant sums ofcash ‘borrowed’ in 44 BC by Octavian from the hoards of consecrated money(jhsauroÈ qrhm�twn ÉerÀn) of several important Latial sanctuaries, includingTibur107. An inscription found in Tivoli dating to the time of Antoninus Piusconfirms the continued existence of a thensaurus(sic)Herculis et Augusti and

104 As decreed by the lex agraria of 111 BC regarding the payment of the scriptura,CIL I2 585 = AE 1990, 18 = AE 1998, 58 = AE 2001, 64; 65; 206: vectigalneive sc[ripturam dare de]beto quod quisque pecudes in calleis viasve publicasit[i]neris causa indu[xerit... Cf. M. Pasquinucci, La transumanza nell’Italiaromana, in: E. Gabba /M. Pasquinucci, Strutture agrarie e allevamento tran-sumante nell’Italia romana (III-I sec. a. C.), Pisa 1979, 140-147. Varro furthermentions the leasing of the use of pasturage areas to a publicanus, Varro, RR2,1,16. On the ager scriptuarius and its adjudication to conductores during thePrincipate, see the famous inscription from Saepinum, CIL IX 2438, cf. P. Bot-teri, pecuarius et scriptuarius, REL 55 (1977), 213-324; M. Corbier, Fiscus andPatrimonium: the Saepinum Inscription and Transhumance in the Abruzzi, JRS73 (1983), 126-131; eadem (n. 45), 149-176.

105 On the connections between the sanctuary and transhumance, see J. Bonetto,Ercole e le vie della transumanza: il santuario di Tivoli, Ostraka 8.2 (1999), 291-307. It has been generally assumed that the foundation of the Ara Maxima inRome might have mirrored the archaic cult of Hercules Victor in Tibur.

106 See for instance, a document referring to the gift by the censor Gaius Antestius,CIL I2 1482 = CIL XIV 3541 = ILLRP 134: Herculei / C(aius) Antestius Cn(aei)f(ilius) / cens(or) / decuma facta iterum / dat.

107 Appian, BC 5,3,24. On the proliferation of thesauri in Italic sanctuaries from thesecond century BC, cf. M. Torelli, s.v. Thesaurus, ThesCRA IV, 2005, 354-356.



the possible management of the decuma by the imperial finances108. Furtherpossible evidence for the commercial connections of the sanctuary and Herculesis found in the epigraphic testimony of a coactor argentarius, a private bankerspecialising in auction sales109. In addition, a Greek inscription found in Tiburreveals the presence of two bankers (trapezitai) of Phrygian and Syrian originex agoras romanes110, which suggests that the economic connections betweenthe Latian cities and Eastern Mediterranean trade were under the patronage ofHercules. This link emerges also in the Sabine city of Reate, again on the ViaSalaria, where a second century BC altar was dedicated to Hercules Victor:the votive inscription records a dedication by Lucius Munius and mentions thepayment of the decuma111. Similar votive testimonies of such contributionsare well attested in central Italy during the mid Republic112. The popularity

108 CIL XIV 3679 (p 495), 3679a = InscrIt IV 1,188 = AE 2000, 68. Both thesanctuary and Hercules’ worship were soon associated with the imperial cult; seefor instance CIL XIV 3540; 3601; 3665.

109 AE 1983, 141 = AE 1999, 572 (Tibur): D(is) M(anibus) / M(arco) Aveieno Re[---] / Herc(ulaneo) [---] / coactori arg[entario] / et libertis libertab[usque suis].The attribution Herc(---) suggests a possible connection with the collegium Her-culaneorum. The coactores are linked with Hercules in one of the works by Noviusquoted by Festus, p. 512, lin.12, called Hercules coactor , a title which evokes thedecuma accepted by Hercules. The coactores and the coactores argentarii pro-vided financial intermediation to sellers and purchasers and were also involved inthe collection of the taxes resulting from these transactions, cf. Andreau (n. 73),139-141; 161; idem (n. 26), 69-91; M. García Morcillo, Las ventas por subastaen el mundo romano: la esfera privada, Barcelona 2005, 107-136.

110 G. Bevilacqua, Due trapezisti in un’iscrizione a Tivoli, ArchClass 30 (1978),252-254.

111 CIL IX 4672 = AE 1952, 14 and 58: Sancte / de decuma Victor tibei LuciusMunius donum / moribus antiqueis pro usura hoc dare sese / visum animosuo perfecit tua pace rogans te / cogendei dissolvendei tu ut facilia faxseis /perficias decumam ut faciat verae rationis / proque hoc atque alieis donis desdigna merenti. Cf. M. Verzár-Bass, L’Ara di Lucius Munius a Rieti, MEFRA97 (1985), 295-323. The expression pro usura and the verbs cogere and dissolverementioned in the inscription might refer to an interest rate paid as an advanceon the decuma and to the practice of selling and purchasing in which Muniuswould have been involved. This hypothesis was advanced by G. Bodei Giglioni,Pecunia fanatica. L’incidenza economica dei templi laziali, RSI 89 (1977), 53.See also Verzár-Bass 308. On the possible identification of Munius as coactor ,see Andreau (n. 73), 147-152.

112 Another early testimony of the decuma Herculis was a votive inscription foundin Tusculum and dated to the second century BC, cf. J. Núñez /X. Dupré,Un nuevo testimonio de la decuma Herculis procedente de Tusculum, Chiron 30(2000), 333-352. The almost contemporary Vertuleiorum dedicatio from Sora, onthe route connecting the Marsian territory with the Fucino valley through the



of Hercules in Tibur and in central Italy is further reflected in the creation ofnumerous collegia, magistri and cultores dedicated to the god113.

The link between Hercules and the cattle trade is underlined by the pres-ence of Hercules Salarius in Alba Fucens (in Samnium), a Roman colony of303 BC located on the intersection between the Via Valeria and the riverLiris114. The finding here of a small sanctuary of Hercules surrounded byporticos suggests that this place could have been used as a cattle market115.The importance of sheep-rearing activities in Eastern Samnium is further sup-ported by iconographic representations on funerary arae found in Alba Fucensof instruments typically associated with shepherds, such as curved stickheadsand forfices or sheep clippers116. An inscription dated to the first century ADrecording the dedication of a porticus and aedes might concern the temple ofHercules and the architectonical surrounding structures117. The transhumantactivities associated with the Italic Hercules thus represent a clear example ofsurviving interregional cultural and economic connections that were tolerated

river Liris, commemorates the gift of the decuma by the family of the Vertuleii,CIL X 5708. Other inscriptions confirm the existence of magistri Herculanei inthe early principate, see F. Cerrone, I Fasti dei magistri Herculanei di Sora,in: Epigrafia 2006. Atti della XIV Rencontre sur l’Epigraphie in onore di SilvioPanciera con altri contributi di colleghi, allievi e collaboratori, Roma 2008, 831-840. An inscription from Capua, CIL X 3956, attests the gift of the decumaHerculis by a pomarius or fruit trader.

113 Numerous examples are attested alone in Tivoli, as shown by Cerrone (n. 112),831-840.

114 CIL IX 3961.115 On the commercial use of the sanctuary and its surrounding area, see F. De

Visscher / J. Mertens / J.-Ch. Balty, Le santuarie d’Hercules et ses portiquesà Alba Fucens, MonAL 46 (1963), 333-396; J. Mertens, Alba Fucens, Brussels1981; idem., Alba Fucens, DArch 3.6 (1988), 87-104; D. Liberatore, Alba Fu-cens: Studi di storia e di topografia, Bari 2004. Alba Fucens was also equippedwith a macellum, cf. C. De Ruyt, Macellum. Marché alimentaire des romains,Louvain-La-Neuve 1983, 25f.; 254; 335; 347. The identification with a forum pe-cuarium has been suggested by Torelli (n. 56), 91-117; Coarelli 1987 (n. 93),85; idem 1988 (n. 63), 127-151; idem 1995 (n. 63), 202f.

116 For instance: AE 1974, 308; CIL IX 4024, from Alba. A curved stickhead isknown from a funerary monument found in Foruli, in Amiternum, cf. F. van Won-terghem/H. Devijver, “Nuova” testimonianza epigrafica sull’allevamento tran-sumante in territorio albense (AE 1974, 308), Ancient Society 19 (1988), 97-104.Explicit bovine elements also decorated the funerary monument of the libertaHerennia Dorina, also found in the Ager Amiterninus, and today in the MuseoNazionale d’Abruzzo.

117 De Visscher /Mertens /Balty (n. 115), 386 and AE 1964, 205.



by or even integrated into the Roman administrative and territorial organiza-tion.

Praeneste and Gabii

Linked to Rome by the archaic Via Praenestina, Praeneste was located on ahill bordering the land of the Aequi and the Apennines on the North-West,with the Latial plain to the South-West. It occupied a geographic and culturalmidpoint between the Sabines, Latins, Romans, Etruscans, Aequi and Volsci,controlling the Via Latina (founded in the fourth century), that connectedLatium with Campania118. Thanks in part to its privileged position, theLatin colony of Praeneste also played a leading role in the Social War andin the conflict against Sulla. The celebrated sanctuary of Fortuna Primigeniapreserved the old splendour of Praeneste after the loss of its independencein 82 BC119. Its influence following the economic ascendency of the Italiansin the Eastern Mediterranean was mirrored, as in the case of Tibur, by itswealthy thesaurus120. The enormous popularity of the sanctuary during theRepublic and the Principate is shown by the variety and quantity of epigraphictestimonies which record votive offerings made to the goddess, by among othersprofessional associations, bankers and traders121. Particularly remarkable isthe record of a series of dedications by collegia of lanii, fullones and mercatorespequariorum122. The strong bond between Praeneste and the cattle trade

118 These connections are reflected in the vast and heterogeneous material evidencethat included Greek, Oscan and Etruscan ceramic and metal artefacts. On theother hand, locally produced stamped black-gloss pottery has been found in Cales.On the early production and distribution of high quality wares from Praenestesee Morel (n. 44), 224f.

119 On the sanctuary, see Bodei Giglioni (n. 111), 37-76; Gabba (n. 26), 141-163;Coarelli 1987 (n. 93), 35ff.; idem 1995 (n. 63), 204; 207.

120 An inscription of the first century AD attests the existence of a thesaurus in thesanctuary, CIL XIV 2854.

121 For instance: a nummularius (CIL I 3067 = ILLRP 106a (p 319)); a coactorargentarius (CIL XIV 2886); a vascularius (CIL XIV 2887); aurifices de Sacravia (CIL I 3058 = EE 9, 757 = ILLRP 110); and a col(l)egium vitico[l(arum)](ILLRP 106d (p. 319)).

122 CIL XIV 2878 = CIL I 1450 (p 992) = ILLRP 106: Conlegiu(m) mercator(um) /pequarioru(m) mag(istri) coir(averunt) / [L(ucius)] Muuci(us) P(ubli) f(ilius)C(aius) [V]atroni(us) C(ai) l(ibertus) / F(ortunae) P(rimigeniae) d(onum)d(ant) l(ibentes) m(erito); Conlegium fullonum (CIL I 1455 (pp. 991, 993) =ILLRP 107b (p. 319) = EE 9, 759); lanii (CIL XIV 2877 = CIL I 1449 (p. 991);ILLRP 105a (p. 319)); conlegium laniorum (ILLRP 105b). See further L.



is further revealed by the epigraphic evidence of an extra-urban sanctuarydevoted to Hercules which, it has been suggested, may have been a marketplace123. A macellum is attested epigraphically after the foundation of theRoman colony by Sulla (82 BC), and was probably constructed in the lowerpart of the the city124.

The commercial significance of Praeneste was also extended along the ViaPraenestina (former known as Via Gabina). Halfway between Praeneste andRome stood the sanctuary of Gabii. The main building, which consisted of acentral temple and a cavea surrounded by a porticus, had its most importantbuilding phase in the second century BC. Porticus and tabernae equipped withhydraulic infrastructures have also been identified there125. Transformed intoa Roman colony by Sulla, the city of Gabii is viewed as a place in declineby the early Principate126, and yet commercial practices probably linked withthe sanctuary are still attested in the second century AD. An inscription,dated to AD 168, reports benefactions and monetary gifts to the temple andto tabernarii intra murum negotiantibus by a negotiator sericarius named A.Plutius Epaphroditus127. Epaphroditus was thus an importer of silk who sold

Chioffi, Caro: il mercato della carne nell’occidente romano. Riflessi epigraficied iconografici, Roma 1999, n. 56; 57; 58.

123 CIL XIV 2890; 2891; 2892; 2894. Cf. Coarelli 1995 (n. 63), 204f.124 AE 1998, 286; CIL XIV 2937; CIL XIV 2946. De Ruyt (n. 115), 258; Chioffi

(n. 122), 56f.125 The earliest structures date back to the seventh century BC. A foedus between

Gabii and Rome was said to have been concluded in 493 BC. The former cultof Juno most probably turned into a cult of Venus after the foundation of thecolony by Sulla, see Coarelli 1987 (n. 93), 11-21.

126 Juvenal 10,99-102, describes the city as as an unattractive place for magistrates.127 CIL XIV 2793: Veneri Verae felici Gabinae / A(ulus) Plutius Epaphrodi-

tus accens(us) velat(us) negotiator sericarius templum cum / signo aereoeffigie Veneris item signis aereis n(umero) IIII dispositis in zothecis et /BalvBis aereis et aram aeream et omni cultu a solo sua pecunia fecit cuiusob / dedicationem divisit decurionibus sing(ulis) |(denarios) V item VIvir(is)Aug(ustalibus) sing(ulis) |(denarios) III item taber/nari(i)s intra murum ne-gotiantibus |(denarios) I et HS X m(ilia) n(ummum) rei publ(ica) Gabinor(um)intulit ita ut ex / usuris eiusdem summaae quodannis IIII K(alendas) Octobr(es)die natalis Plutiae Verae / filiae suae decur(iones) et VIvir(i) Aug(ustales) pub-lice in triclinis suis epulentur quod si / facere neglexserint(!) tunc ad municipiumTusculanor(um) HS X m(ilia) n(ummum) pertineant / quae confestim exigan-tur loc(o) dato decreto decur(ionum) / dedicata Idibus Mai(i)s L(ucio) VenuleioAproniano II L(ucio) Sergio Paullo II co(n)s(ulibus). On the religious functionof Epaphroditus as accensus velatus and his social role in the sanctuary andin Gabii see in particular J. Rüpke, Religion in der römischen Kaiserzeit, in:



his merchandise to the tabernarii (retail traders) of the city or of the sanctuary.A passage by Dionysius of Halicarnassus confirms the presence of merchantsalong the Via Praenestina, contrasting with the empty image of Gabii in histime128. Despite being eclipsed by the religious and economic magnetism ofPraeneste, and in spite of the decline of many cult places in Latium, Gabiiand its sanctuary seem nevertheless to have preserved a certain commercialrelevance as an intermediate station for traders along the Via Praenestina.

Fregellae, Minturnae, the Liris and the Via Latina

Fregellae was located on the Via Latina, close to the river Liris, in the territoryof the Volsci which bordered Samnium and which was included in so-calledLatium adiectum. Fregellae became a Roman colony as early as 328 BC,but in 125 BC, after an unsuccessfull bid to gain Roman citizenship, the cityrebelled and was completely destroyed by the Romans. Strabo describes thisdramatic event, contrasting it with the former political and economic splendourof the city. Although Fregellae is described as just a village (k¸mh) in histimes, the author underlines the fact that the place was still frequented byvisitors from neighbouring territories for the purpose of attending the markets(agorai) and performing certain sacral rites129. In an earlier passage, Strabomentions the existence of a temple (Éerän tim¸menon) attached to the kóme andworshipped by the inhabitants of Minturnae130. The late Roman historianJulius Obsequens notes the existence of a temple of Neptune in Fregellae inthe year 93 BC131.

H. Piegler / I. Prohl / S. Rademacher (eds.), Gelebte Religionen. Festschrift fürHartmut Zinser, Würzburg 2004, 73-79.

128 Dion.Hal. 4,53,1. See further Frayn (n. 22), 26.129 Str. 5,3,10: êti dà Fregèllai, par´ £n å LeØric ûeØ å eÊc t�c MintoÔrnac âkdidoÔc,

nÜn màn k¸mh, pìlic dè pote gegonuØa �xiìlogoc kaÈ t�c poll�c tÀn �rti leqjeisÀnperioikÐdac prìteron âsqhkuØa, aË nÜn eÊc aÎt�n sunèrqontai �gor�c te poioÔmenaikaÈ ÉeropoiÐac tin�c; katesk�fh d´ Ípä <RwmaÐwn �post�sa. On the destructionof Fregellae, see Rhet. Her. 4,13; 22; 37; Cic. Inv. 1,11; leg. agr. 2,90; fin. 5,62;Phil. 3,17; Liv. epit. 60; Vell. Pat. 2,6,4; Val. Max. 2,8,4; Iul. Obs. 30; Amm.Marc. 25,9,10; Macrob. 3,9,13.

130 Str. 5,3,6: t¨c >OuhstÐnhc par� Fregèllac k¸mhn (prìteron d´ ªn pìlic êndoxoc),âkpÐptei d´ eÊc �lsoc Éerän tim¸menon perittÀc Ípä tÀn ân MintoÔrnaic ÍpokeÐmenont¬ pìlei.

131 Iul. Obs. 52: Fregellis aedes Neptuni nocte patefacta.



As a replacement for Fregellae, the Romans built a new city some miles tothe South- West of the Liris, called Fabrateria Nova. Archaeological researchhas confirmed the destruction of the old city as reported in the literary sources.According to Coarelli the temple of Neptune mentioned by Obsequens was infact located not in Fregellae itself but in a northern extra-urban area closeto the river and known as Fregellanum, while outside the city a sanctuarydedicated to Aesculapius has also been identified. On this grounds, Coarellisuggests that the place may have had an emporic function and argues thatStrabo’s kóme may have been located here and not in the former city132. Thishypothesis assumes the important economic role of Fregellae on account ofits agriculture, mining and cattle-raising. Archaeological survey has identifiedhere the existence of fullonicae and then reveal the continued specializationin wool production throughout the Principate, which is also attested in othertowns of the region133. These economic factors, along with the geographicalones, seem thus essential to understanding the continuity of the cult places inFregellae despite the destruction of the city. An insight into the topographicand commercial networks of the site can bring more light to this impression.

The site of Fregellae lay at the junction of two important roads: (i)an ancient transhumance route that started at the Adriatic coast, crossedthe Appenines and finished in Minturnae, following the course of the Liris(Garigliano), and (ii) the Via Latina, which went through a natural passagefrom Latium to Campania (the other important route between both regionswas the itinerary marked by the Via Appia). The economic and political rel-evance of Fregellae during the second century BC was certified by the strongimmigration of Samnites and Paelignians into the town134. For many smallcities and oppida near of the Adriatic the Liris represented an easier route to

132 Gabba (n. 26), 148; 155; Coarelli 1987 (n. 93), 23-33; id., I Sanniti a Fregellae,in: La Romanisation du Samnium aux IIe et Ier siècles av. J.-C., Naples 1991, 184;id., Fregellae, Arpinum, Aquinum: lana et fullonicae nel Lazio meridionale, in: M.Cébeillac-Gervasoni (ed.), Les élites municipales de l’Italie péninsulaire des Grac-ques à Néron (Actes de la table ronde de Clermont-Ferrand 1991), Naples /Rome1996, 202.

133 Cf. Chioffi (n. 122), 58.134 Livy mentions 4000 families, 41,8,8. Though the distance between Fregellae and

the territory of Paeligni, Marrucini and Marsi is relatively large, the migrationcan be explained by the appeal of the city and its favourable communicationnetworks. On the migration movements of Italic peoples throughout the secondcentury BC and the case of Fregellae, see most recently P. Erdkamp, Mobility andMigration in Italy in the second century BC, in: L. de Ligt / S. Northwood (eds.),



the wealthy cities in Latium and the harbours in Tyrrhenum135. The enduringreligious rituals and markets in Fregellae are clear reflections of its attractivestrategic position, best exemplified by the magnetism of its extra-urban cultplaces136. The participation of people from Minturnae in the rituals of theÉerón recalls further the interregional function of the cult. The historical con-nection between Fregellae and the harbour of Minturnae is probably connectedwith the use of the Liris as main communication and transport route. Woolmanufacturing was also a significant commercial activity common to bothtowns137. The relevance of the wool industry in the region is also attestedin Arpinum, some few kilometres north of Fregellae, where a cult of MercuryLanarius has been attested138. Minturnae, together with other cities on theVia Latina not far from Fregellae, such as Aquinum, Casinum, Interamna andFabrateria Nova, Capua and even Rome and a mysterious place named as “invico” are mentioned in the so-called Index nundinarius from Latium139. Thiscalendar which dates to the first century AD and specifies a circuit of marketsconnected with the activities of lanarii and pecuarii140. From the perspectiveof itinerant traders, who were most likely the main users of the calendar, Romeand Capua appear as key stations on the route and as centres of redistribu-tion141. On the other hand, the valuable information provided by the ceramic

People, Land and Politics. Demographic Developments and the Transformationof Roman Italy 300 BC – AD 14, Leiden /Boston 2008, 417-449.

135 The city received significant numbers of immigrants during the mid Republicanperiod, perhaps due to its privileged status as bearer of ius Latii, which auto-matically meant a better commercial network with Rome, cf. Th. Mommsen,Römisches Staatsrecht III 1, Leipzig 31887, 637 n.2. See also Frayn (n. 22), 99.

136 An interesting parallel is the case of Campi Macri mentioned above, where afamous annual mercatus of livestock and wool in an extra-urban location washeld.

137 Cato agr. 135,1, mentions Minturnae for its production of cuculliones. Cf. Coa-relli 1996 (n. 132), 184.

138 CIL X 5678. Plutarch, Cic. 1, on Cicero’s birth “in a fuller’s shop”. Chioffi(n. 122), 132.

139 Degrassi, Inscr. It. 13, n. 49. Like other similar epigraphic testimonies from SouthLatium and Campania, this index, dated to the first century AD, indicated themarket days or nundinae of each town which took place with a frequency of sevenor eight days.

140 Aquinum was known as an important wool manufacturing centre. Fora pecuariahave been found in Atina and Ferentinum while fullonicae have been identifiedin Arpinum, cf. Coarelli 1996 (n. 132), 185.

141 The hypothetical identification of “in vico” with the kóme of Fregellae suggestedby Coarelli 1996 (n. 132), 185, remains an open question, cf. Storchi (n. 26),103. An inscription from the ager Fregellanus (Fabrateria Nova), dated between



ware found in the territory of Fregellae reveal, as Jean-Paul Morel has pointedout, the broad distribution of products from both Rome and Cales (a town onthe Via Latina, not far away from Capua). Ceramic productions from Caleshave also been found in Minturnae. This evidence emphasises the enduringcentral position of Fregellae – first as city and later as kóme – as an importantcommercial intersection between Rome and Capua, and between the Adriaticand the protected port of Minturnae142.

Minturnae’s geographic position on the Via Appia and yet encircled bychains of mountains to the East, North and South left the river Liris and theSavo as almost its sole lines of communication with the interior Volsci regions.The most famous cult place in Minturnae was the archaic emporic sanctuaryof the Auruncan deity of water, Marica. This building was restored by theRomans on account of its continued popularity, following the foundation ofthe Roman colony of Minturnae in 295 BC. The sanctuary was located at themouth of the Liris, overlooking both the river’s course and the coast143. Thecontrol of the traffic on the Liris was one of the reasons for the foundation of themaritime colony144. Alongside wool and cheese145, another important productare known to have been transported along the river was iron. While Minturnaewas known as an important metal-working centre, abundant deposits of iron

the end of the second century BC and the beginnings of the first century AD,mentions a neg(otiator) iuvenc(arius) T. Elvius Fregellanus, CIL X 5585, cf.Chiofi (n. 122), 57f. In any case, vici were eventually seats of festivals, suchas the Compitalia, during which local communities met, made sacrifices, andparticipated in meals and games. On the Compitalia and their social and politicalfunction, see most recently Stek (n. 2), 187-212 with bibliography.

142 See the interpretation by Morel (n. 44), 228f.143 A cult of Hercules has been also attested in this area. On the topography of

Minturnae, the evolution of the settlement and the sanctuary of Marica, see P.Arthur, Romans in Northern Campania, London 1991, 32-46; V. Livi, Reli-gious locales in the territory of Minturnae: aspects of Romanization, in: C. E.Schultz /P.B. Harvey, jr (eds.), Religion in Republican Italy, Cambridge 2006, 90-116. On the sanctuary of Marica: Strabo 5,3,6; Porphyr. In Hor. Carm. 3,17,6-8;Plut. Mar. 40,1; Servius, ad Aen. 7,47; Vib. Seq. 149, 18 R.

144 Cf. Arthur (n. 143), 37.145 On the well-known cheese production in the Liris valley, and the existence

of tabernae casiariae in Minturnae, see Dig. 8,5,8,5: Qui tabernam casiariama Minturnensibus conduxit, a superiore prohiberi posse fumum immittere, sedMinturnenses ei ex conducto teneri.



scoria have also been found at Fregellae146. The discovery in Fregellae of arelatively high number of votive objects produced in the Ausonian town ofCales, which was located on the Via Latina, suggests a commercial trianglestructured along three main vertices: Capua, Minturnae and Fregellae. Thesethree sites were linked by the Via Appia, the Via Latina and the Liris andshared the wool trade as their main economic activity. On the whole, theprivileged trade connexion between Minturnae and Fregellae, exemplified inthe flourishing wool industry and linked with the market networks suggestedby the nundinae, crystallised in the longevity of the interregional cult practicesnoted in the Strabonian anecdote.

Conclusions

Even if the extraordinary complexity of the topic and the obvious gaps in theevidence do not allow us to propose clear explanatory models for the connec-tions between sacred places and economic exchange in ancient Italy, some keyideas and tendencies can be identified from the examples analysed above. Ingeneral terms, it might be stressed that ancient sanctuaries should firstly beregarded as multifaceted entities that were embedded in dynamic social, cul-tural and economic contexts. The fascinating case of the archaic cattle marketat the Forum Boarium, key to understanding the early topography of Romeand the emerging of cults and myths, is also a good example of the compat-ible coexistence of urban economy that looked foremost at sea trade and thetranshumant routes towards interior regions. The chosen case studies, coveringdifferent periods and areas of central Italy, reveal the magnetism, both for localand foreign communities, pilgrims and itinerant traders, of cult centres locatedat interregional crossroads and along land and fluvial routes. The importanceof such locations also explains the role played by certain extra-urban sanctu-aries as cultural meeting points for local and ethnically diverse communities.Archaic sites such as Fanum Voltumnae, the Sabine Lucus Feroniae and thesanctuaries of the Latin league were also chosen as political and administrativecentres. These functions facilitated the consolidation of already existing eco-nomic networks through the celebration of fairs, which were in turn attended

146 Cato recommended the town, along with Cales, as a source for iron tools andparticularly agricultural instrumenta such as scythes, mattocks, axes and smallchains, Cat. agr. 135,1. See Arthur (n. 143), 58.



by itinerant and foreign traders. A related aspect is the function attributed tocertain emporic sanctuaries as places of asylum, a feature strongly connectedto the concept of sanctuaries as secure places halfway between gods and men.The ideas of security and trust conveyed by sacred places equally guaranteedand encouraged economic exchange. Under the umbrella of local communitiesand territorial organizations, such as the vicus and the pagus system, somepreeminent Italic sanctuaries developped in addition an economic function asholders of financially active thesauri or, as revealed by the case of the lex aedisFurfensis, as managers of their own resources.

As we have seen, the political, administrative and territorial changes follow-ing the Roman conquest of Italy, which involved factors such as a progressiveprocess of municipalization and the expansion of private properties from themid Republican period onwards, had a different impact on previously existingItalic cult places. Traditional explanatory theories, such the direct associa-tion of cause and effect between the progress of Roman urban models andthe decline of Italic rural sanctuaries, can hardly fit into the complex terri-torial mosaic of central Italy. The enduring of cult and economic activitiesat significant Latin sanctuaries such as Praeneste’s Fortuna Primigenia andTibur’s Hercules Victor throughout the early imperial period can be largelyexplained by their strategic location on major transhumance routes and intere-gional crossroads. The first one connected Latium with the territory of theAequi and Marsi, while the second was linked with Capua. Both places laterbecame major stations on the Via Latina and the Via Valeria, respectively.In contrast, the building of the Via Appia led to the progressive isolation anddecline of the once flourishing emporic sanctuaries which had depended on theTyrrhenian trade, but which were now bypassed by the new economic linksbetween Rome and Campania opened by the road. The idea of the inexorableadvance of private latifundia from the mid Republican period and the growthof urban centres as factors affecting the religious landscape of Sabina and Um-bria should be equally nuanced and revised, as suggested by the longevity ofthe cults at Lucus Feroniae and at the temple of Ceres in Pliny’s property inUmbria. Both cult places, located in the proximity of the Tiber, were stillfrequented during the Principate due to the popularity of their festivals andfairs and regardless of their legal status or past autonomy. In the same way,the kóme of Fregellae, a previously flourishing Latin colony, survived despitethe total destruction inflicted by the Romans thanks to the continuity of its



popular religious rituals and fairs which attracted visitors from distant regions.In particular, the periodic presence in the village of inhabitants from Mintur-nae demonstrates the commercial connections between both places and theflourishing regional wool industry. The case of Fregellae further shows the co-existence of different commercial patterns and directions, and the integrationof previously existing regional and interregional networks into the new Romancommunication systems. The importance and antiquity of wool productionand trade in the Volsci region and along the Liris were emphasised by the in-sertion of a circuit of nundinae along the Via Latina. These interconnectionsno doubt favoured cultural exchange and the survival of religious festivals be-yond periods of political instability. The survival of trade in Gabii after itsdecline and of the cult and fair of the devastated kóme of Fregellae shouldaccordingly not be regarded as exceptions within the highly urbanised map ofRoman Italy. Like Strabo, Cassiodorus insists in his account of the late antiqueLucanian fair on the fact that the popular fair looked like a civitas, thoughlacking the public buildings that defined a city. The interelation between thecelebration of cults and the holding of fairs emerges thus as an interwovenphenomenon. The indissoluble link between religion and economy suggestedby the available evidence brings us back to the terminological ambivalence ofthe terms panegyris and mercatus in ancient literature.

The different cases analysed throughout this contribution allow us to stresssome conclusions: the endurance of Italic cult places after the Roman conquestof Italy was logically dependent on a series of interconnected factors, above allthe location of rural sanctuaries on nodal communication points. The avail-able evidence tends to underline the extraordinary capacity of these placesto adapt to changing political, administrative, cultural and even religious cir-cumstances. This ability to survive, confirmed not only by literary accounts,but above all by material and archaeological evidence, can be thus explainedby the multifunctional nature and multidirectional orientations of these cen-tres. These sanctuaries looked logically towards their surrounding territoriesand communities, but they were also integrated into different levels of inter-regional networks and routes that coexisted, and were compatible, with newphenomena such as the establishment of roads or the relentless progression ofRoman systems of urbanization and municipalization.

Trade and Sacred Places: Fairs, Markets and cultural Exchange in Ancient Italic Sanctuaries, in M....

Documents

Transcript of Trade and Sacred Places: Fairs, Markets and cultural Exchange in Ancient Italic Sanctuaries, in M....