convegno internazionale in ricordo di John A. Lloyd
Life
on the “edge”: a view from Libya and the Abruzzo
Recent
studies of two areas of the ancient Mediterranean world—the Cyrenaica and the
Abruzzo—share certain commonalities.
Both areas traditionally have been considered culturally marginal in the
mainstream study of the Graeco-Roman world.
Yet, as scholars such as John Lloyd have conclusively shown, there is
much to be learned from study of these cultures “on the edge.” The high
level of interaction and interdependence between native and “mainstream”
cultures in both these areas force us to rethink traditional concepts such as
‘Hellenisation’ and ‘Romanisation.’ It is not a one-way process of
assimilation, but a complex “give and take” that is almost unique to each
local social context.
My
work on the sculptures dedicated in the extra-mural Sanctuary to Demeter and
Kore/Persephone at Cyrene underscores how interactive social relationships can
be in the Cyrenaica.
The early history of Cyrene, documented by Herodotus, describes the
complex and not always peaceable (despite early intermarriage) dynamic between
the desire of the Greek colonists for more arable land and the pasturing needs
of the neighboring semi-nomadic and nomadic Libyan tribes. As the city’s
population grew, so did the pressure to hold a stable agricultural territory, a
situation not always to the liking of the native Libyans.
An extra-urban sanctuary dedicated to Demeter—a goddess who was
important to both urban and rural constituencies—could play an important role
for the polis and, through the rituals practised within it, help to unite
various social groups.
The
relationship between town and territory was often delicate in Greek colonies and
Cyrene appears to have been no exception. A sanctuary in an extra-urban setting
such as the one at Cyrene has a dual nature.
It is first an exclusive space—the embodiment of the sacred in the
countryside—a space that marks off the city from the “untamed” world of
nature or from the space of other communities. It is also an inclusive space
which serves, through its festivals, cult forms, and ritual practices, as a
center for civic expression and for mediating contact with the peoples of the
surrounding area.
Native
wives were often instrumental in shaping the religious rituals of a new polis.
The worship of chthonic deities, especially the goddess Demeter, was an
important part of this societal melding.
The wide-range of chthonic divinities’ agrarian and funerary interests
and the openness of their sanctuaries to various types of practices made them
congenial to indigenous customs and beliefs.
The native women of Cyrenaica who married the Greek colonists influenced
Cyrene’s religious habits from the start and their beliefs underlie the
region’s continuing predilection for syncretism of deities.
The
sculptures found in the Sanctuary reflect this local interest in syncretism and
in chthonic deities.
Demeter—under her local guise ‘Libyssa’—shares agrarian and
kourotrophic functions with a number of other goddesses popular in the Cyrenaica,
among them Kybele and Isis.
In particular, Demeter, along with her daughter, Kore/Persephone, is
associated with the native Libyan chthonic goddess—ta thea—whose aniconic image was exhibited on many local tombs.
Chthonic deities often preside over the dead in a protective capacity.
The number of images of children and heroized ephebes dedicated in the
Sanctuary may be connected to the chthonic activities of these deities and their
influence in the area.
Monte
Pallano in the Abruzzo, like the Cyrenaica, is a region notable for its high
level of interacting cultures. The mountain is a prominent natural feature,
located in a liminal zone between the territories of the major tribes of the
area. Its monumental walls are visible from a distance in both the Sangro and
Sinello valleys. The monumental wall with its three preserved narrow gateways is
not a fortification in the traditional sense—symbolically it serves as much to
enclose what is within than to exclude what is outside, in a manner similar to
the Great Wall of China.
Walls
and gateways like those of Monte Pallano can be read in a way that deepens the
symbolic meaning of the cultural landscape they create. Such symbolic readings
are reinforced by other recent scholarship documenting the rich sacred landscape
of the area, such as the monograph I
luoghi degli dei: sacro e natura nell’abruzzo italico, and the article by
Bell, Wilson, and Wickham (“Tracking the Samnites: Landscape and
Communications Routes in the Sangro Valley, Italy” American
Journal of Archaeology 106 (2002) 169-186) where the authors analyse the
placement of sites and how people moved between them. This work enhances our
understanding of the cultural complexity of this important region of Samnium.
Monte
Pallano’s regional importance is also shown by the growing evidence for one or
more sanctuaries on the top of mountain, dedicated to as yet unknown divinities.
This evidence has been amassed through John Lloyd’s work with Amalia
Faustoferri on Monte Pallano (1994-1998) (as seen in the previous papers by
Faustoferri, Lock, and Bispham) and by the excavations conducted there since
1999 by the second phase Anglo-American team (Bispham and Kane) in conjunction
with the Soprintendenza Archeologica dell’Abruzzo. The rationale and date for
the sanctuaries on Monte Pallano can fit neatly into the thesis offered by Lloyd
in his 1991 article “Farming the Highlands” (pp. 184-185), where he
discussed how rural sanctuaries flourished in Samnium, largely through
aristocratic benefaction, in the 3rd and 2nd centuries B.C.
Many, like Pietrabbondante, were a fusion of Hellenistic and Italic
characteristics. Samnite notables were well aware of what was happening beyond
their own front door and, enriched by their participation in Mediterranean
trade, they were responsible for many of these new projects.
In
the process of uncovering the temenos
and periphery of a Hellenistic sanctuary, whose cult building is as yet
unlocated on Monte Pallano, Anglo-American excavations are also unearthing a
large number of architectural terracottas and fragments of draped terracotta
statues. All
these terracottas are of very high quality, possibly from a building dating to
the early – middle second century B.C..
While more than one phase could be represented by these architectural
terracottas, so far, from the over one hundred fragments found to date, there
are no duplicate architectonic elements, e.g.
more than one series of plaques.
As excavation of this area is still in progress, the destruction date of
the building represented by this material is still uncertain, but its
destruction does seems deliberate. It is certain that a new terrace was built
using the mid second century remains; presumably it was intended to house
another public building—a new temple for which evidence is still to be found?
The wave of temple building in Samnium in the generation preceding the Social
War (Schiavi, Pietrabbondante, Vastogiradi) is a likely context for the
reorganisation of the sanctuary.
The
greatest number of architectural terracotta fragments belong to a type of plaque
decorated with a pair of confronting dolphins and floral ornament. Over the past
five years, a growing number of fragments from this series have been found in
the areas being excavated by the Soprintendenza, John Lloyd, and the new
Anglo-American team.
The reconstructed plaque probably measured about 40 cm in length.
The
dolphin depicted on the terracotta plaque is not a real dolphin, but an
artistically enhanced one, as can be seen when compared to the real dolphins
that inhabit the Mediterranean. The dolphin was a beloved and popular animal in
antiquity, associated with many positive symbols and stories.
It was recognised for its near human intelligence and accorded many
virtues and feats of heroism.
Lord of the sea, king of fishes, saviour of the shipwrecked and helper of
fishermen, the dolphin is a symbol of sea-power and is associated with fertility
and the afterlife. Its
depiction is common in Greek and Roman art.
The
Greek poet Oppian of Silicia in A.D. 200 recounts a story that shows how the
dolphin was originally human:
Diviner
than the Dolphin is nothing yet created, for indeed they were aforetime men and
lived in cities along with mortals.
They exchanged the land for the sea and put on the form of fishes.
But, even now, the righteous spirit of men in them preserves human
thought and human deeds
The
dolphin was a popular civic symbol. Over forty ancient cities used the dolphin
on their coins, among them: Corinth, Syrakkuse, Zankle-Messana, Tarentum, and
Crete, as well as the modern state of Italy (5 lire coin).
The
dolphin accompanies a number of divinites, especially those associated with the
sea, such as Neptune.
A dolphin helped Neptune to find his wife Amphitrite. This goddess along
with Neptune’s two sons, Arion and Taras, and the sea nymphs Thetis, Galatea,
and Melantho are often depicted riding dolphins.
Aphrodite,
born from the sea, was brought to land with the aid of dolphins. Her son Eros
often rides a dolphin. In Christian art, Eros becomes a psychopomp, who safely
guides the deceased over the waters of death to the afterlife.
The
god Dionysos is also associated with dolphins and ideas of salvation.
As related in the Hymn to Dionysos,
the young god was captured by pirates, whom he turned into dolphins.
Dolphins were henceforth viewed as repentant pirates who save the
shipwrecked, a role related to that of psychopomp. Ancients called the dolphin
‘simós’ (Latin simo) meaning ‘snub-nose’ or ‘pug-face’ since they
saw a facial resemblance between satyrs and dolphins, both close associates of
the god (and yet another connection between dolphins and humans).
Apollo
is called ‘Delphinios’ in the Hymn to
Pythian Apollo, which relates how the god, in the guise of a dolphin, led a
Cretan ship to the harbour of Kirrha to found the sanctuary of Delphi. While the
intent behind the story may be a mainly a punning etymology—delphi=Delphoi—Apollo
and the dolphin share a role as saviour and are connected with light, sun, and
resurrection.
A
leaping dolphin was used to symbolise the connection between sea and land (in
reference to the story that dolphins were originally men?).
Could the dolphin have a special “monte e mare” connection? The
dolphin is found on Monte Pallano, and, curiously, it also appears in the
mountainous region of Arkadia in Greece, where the goddess Demeter was
worshipped in Phigaleia as ‘Melaina’ (Dark), perhaps in conjunction with
Poseidon. Pausanias
describes her cult statue as having a horse’s head and holding a dove in one
hand and a dolphin in the other.
A Late Geometric bronze dolphin was also found in a mountain sanctuary
outside of nearby Tegea.
The
dolphin is associated with Herakles. A bronze votive axe-head, dated to the late
4th or early 3rd century B.C. (now in Basel, but possibly
from Orvieto or Volsinii) is decorated with two small antithetic figures of
diving dolphins. A club on the socket spine may associate the axe with Herakles.
Herakles was the most widely worshipped hero in Italy and was associated with
sacred springs and healing waters, such as those on Monte Pallano (statuettes of
him found on the mountain, too). In Italy, Herakes is sometimes shown sailing,
an allusion to his coming there from Greece.
The dolphins on this axe may refer to this journey, but they could be
general symbols of auspicious, friendly, helpful beings. The floral ornament and
female faces on the axe may hint of the afterlife.
The decoration may be compared to the ornament on Apulian funerary vases
that show flowered scrolls on the neck with a female head emerging. Other
connections of Herakles with dolphins include their depiction on a mosaic found
in the Temple of Herakles in Sulmona.
In
Etruria, the dolphin appears to have a particular chthonic significance, perhaps
one related to Dionysos.
A number of Etruscan tombs show dolphins leaping from the waves, often
below funerary banqueters.
In a recent paper presented at the XXIII
Convegno di Studi Etruschi e Italici (1-6 ottobre 2001), A.E. Philippe,
“Un delfino dionisiaco nella tomba dell’Orco?”considered this motif of
dolphins and the sea to show a dionysiac connection.
The ocean is a cosmic symbol as well as a symbol of the voyage of the
deceased across it to the Elysian Fields.
This positive image was a promise for initiates in the Orphic and
Dionysiac mysteries.
The same idea is probably behind the ocean with dolphins and fish or the
wave pattern often depicted on Etruscan engraved bronze mirrors.
Perhaps
these funerary connotations may have had significance in the Abruzzo. A
Hellenistic wooden funerary couch from the Fossa necropolis had ivory
decorations, including dolphins, male and female faces on hippocampi, lions, and
panthers (excavated by Vincenzo D’Ercole and described in “Newsbriefs” Archaeology 53 (2000)).
As
stated above, the terracotta dolphin plaques found on Monte Pallano appear to be
associated with an archaeological context of the second century B.C.
This date accords well with certain features of the plaques, such as the
kyma moulding which has parallels in
mid 2nd century B.C. Italy, especially Samnium. The floral
motifs are also paralleled on a wide range of other architectural terracottas,
South Apulian vases, and Hellenistic metalwork of this period.
Surprisingly,
the dolphin motif is harder to find on architectural terracottas of the
Hellenistic period. To
date only a few parallels have been found: a mention of a dolphin antefix that
once decorated the cornice of a 1st century B.C. Roman villa (in
alternation with Gorgon and palmette antefixes) from Lugnano in Teverina in
southern Umbria, and three Hellenistic plaques decorated with sea animals from
Bolsena and Orvieto.
Ongoing
research—and excavations—will continue to elucidate this extraordinary
series of architectural terracottas and the building to which they belonged. The
high quality of workmanship and sophisticated iconography of this building can
be compared with the best contemporary examples in both Italy and the
Hellenistic world. The imagery of dolphins confronting a floral ornament—an
iconography perhaps linking mountain and sea and this world to the next—is a
potent cultural symbol, one fitting to the aspirations of the worldly Samnite
patrons who commissioned the building.