Hellenistic Religion

The Agathos Daimon, or 'Good Spirit', was a multifaceted deity of ancient Mediterranean religion, usually depicted as a serpent, having its origins in the notion of the household god. The Good Spirit was honoured in both Greek and Roman religions, depicted as a serpent on Roman shrines and lararia, and revered as a harbinger of luck among the Greeks. However, his most developed form flourished in Ptolemaic and Roman Egypt, where the Agathos Daimon became an exalted deity, far beyond the status of a household god, becoming associated with Shai and Kematef, the Egyptian creator gods, who were similarly depicted as serpents in the extant iconography, as well as taking on solar attributes and becoming conflated with Prê and Helios as a result of late Egyptian theological innovations. This new syncretistic deity is a central figure of the Greek Magical Papyri, wherein numerous rituals, prayers, and theological material directly related to the Agathos Daimon abound.

The present study investigates questions of religious syncretism and household cult through an interdisciplinary study of terracotta figurines of Egyptian deities found at Delos, an important Hellenistic Greek port of trade. A comparison of the figurines’ iconography to parallels in Egyptian religious texts, temple reliefs, and ritual objects reveals that many of the figurines depict deities or rituals associated with the festival of the Inundation. Furthermore, an analysis of the figurines’ clay fabrics and manufacturing techniques suggests that the vast majority of the Egyptianizing terracottas on Delos were locally made, so the figurines’ allusions to Egyptian religion accurately reflect the theological knowledge of craftsmen on Delos. Finally, the use of unpublished excavation notes from the late 19th and early 20th centuries enables a reconstruction of the figurines’ previously-lost archaeological contexts, shedding light on their roles and significance in both domestic and temple cults.

This monograph investigates the spread of Egyptian religion into the Greek world through an interdisciplinary study of the iconography, archaeological contexts, clay fabric, and manufacturing techniques of terracotta figurines of Egyptian deities found at the important Hellenistic Greek trading port of Delos. Extant studies of Hellenistic terracotta figurines often take an art-historical approach, rather than considering the webs of social relations and practices surrounding these artifacts. However, when examined in their proper archaeological context, these figurines can shed light on many issues important to anthropologists as well as Classicists and Egyptologists. In particular, the presence of themes from so-called “official” religion in mass-produced, widely accessible objects such as terracotta figurines suggests a closer, more complex relationship between “popular” and “official” cults than is often acknowledged.

Throughout history, the Seleucid military might demonstrated
many times its importance for the maintenance, expansion and defense of the Empire. Rarely the Seleucid army was defeated in a campaign and it happened in front of the almighty Rome. After the defeat at Thermopylae and Magnesia, and following the imminent withdrawal must conquer the Ptolemaic Empire, the new king Antiochus IV Epiphanes held a military parade as never been done before, its real purpose is unknown, but the Seleucids showed the world the power that still had the Empire. Through the stories of several classic sources, we can come closer to this event and what
it could entail.

The aim of the paper is to reanimate the discussion on Thessalian rites of passage, in the light of supplementary epigraphic evidence, directly or indirectly related to local age-classes and pertinent ritualized attitudes. Archaeological evidence will be taken into consideration as well, in particular groups of votives from Thessalian sanctuaries dedicated to kourotrophic deities, who presided over the passage between the various stages of the human biological and social life. Lastly, attention will be paid to legendary narrations, which recount attitudes as well as feats of young Thessalian heroic figures.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 658573.

cf. https://history-bookstore.eie.gr/en/section-greek-roman-antiquity/a010780/

"This paper further develops the hypothesis that was first put forward in my PhD thesis The Hellenistic Royal Courts (2007) pp. 309-313, that the festival celebrated by Antiochos IV Epiphanes at Daphne near Antioch somewhere in the 160s BCE was a New Year Festival. Basically, three things are argued:

1. There are several indications that the cult and sanctuary at Daphne had pre-Hellenistic roots. Specifically the festival celebrated by Antiochos IV may go back to a local Syrian new year celebration; for instance the fact that "all the gods" in the form of statues went in procession to Daphne to attend the festival points in this direction.

2. The strange behavior of the "mad king" Antiochos, who according to Polybios and Diodoros behaved in a distinctly un-kingly (!) fashion, becomes more intelligible when interpreted as a ritual of reversal, which in the Near East was traditionally performed by the king during new year celebrations.

3. A Hellenic feature that perhaps was added, was the fact that the king may have been impersonating Dionysos, the Hellenistic royal god "par excellence" who as the harbinger of an age of light and joy, and who was also connected with the New Year.

The argument is not so much based on a comparison with the Babylonian Akitu Festival but endeavors to adduce Syrian and other closer-by Levantine parallels. On the other hand, invention of tradition can not be excluded: it seems clear that King Antiochos transformed this local festival into an imperial festival, in which case influence from Babylonia becomes a possibility.
"

English: How can a new deity, with her/his specific attributes, timai and epiphanies, be created? By whom? And for what purposes? Who will her/his priests and believers be? Hellenistic documentation brings an historical perspective to the cultic, social and ideological aspects of religious phenomena, and ruler cults are a particular case of establishing/accepting new gods. Female ruler cults have only recently received specific attention. The paper examines the cases of Berenike I, Arsinoe II, and Laodike V in order to provide new interpretations of some dynastic festivalsand to study the relationship between ruler cults and the legitimation of female power. The discussion relies mostly on papyri and inscriptions, but the final analysis of Theocritus XVII argues that the poetic logic of power legitimation is consistent with the one displayed in non-literary sources.

Français: Comment une nouvelle divinité, munie de ses attributs spécifiques, ses timai et ses épiphanies, peut-elle être créée ? Par qui ? Et à quelles fins ? Qui seront ses prêtres et ses fidèles ? La documentation hellénistique confère une perspective historique aux aspects cultuels, sociaux et idéologiques de ces phénomènes religieux et les cultes des souverains sont un cas particulier de l’établissement et de l’acceptation de nouveaux dieux. Les cultes de souveraines n’ont que très récemment reçu l’attention qu’ils méritent. L’article étudie les cas de Bérénice Ire, Arsinoé II et Laodice V afin de fournir de nouvelles interprétations de quelques fêtes dynastiques et d’étudier la relation entre les cultes de souverains et la légitima­tion du pouvoir féminin. La discussion repose surtout sur des papyrus et des inscriptions, mais l’analyse conclusive de l’Idylle XVII de Théocrite montre que la logique poétique de la légitimation du pouvoir entre en résonance avec celle qu’attestent les sources non littéraires.

Classical Greek, Hellenistic and Roman sculpture was a rare find at Naukratis, comprising mainly small statuettes and a few fragments of full or half-life-sized statues. There are also a small number of relief sculptures from temples and grave monuments. Some Greek and Roman-style sculpture was also created from Egyptian raw materials, using Egyptian tools and techniques and sometimes displaying Egyptian subjects. An unusual group of 22 marble and limestone cats, a rare subject in Greek art, were dedicated to a 3rd-century BC temple of Boubastis in Naukratis. Parallels from a contemporary Boubasteion in Alexandria shed light on how the Greek elite at Naukratis participated in the cult of this Egyptian goddess. Her worship was associated with the dynastic cults of the deified Ptolemaic queens Arsinoe II and Berenike II, which integrated Greek and Egyptian religious practices as an expression of Ptolemaic dynastic propaganda.

R. Strootman, ‘The introduction of Hellenic cults in Seleukid Syria: Colonial appropriation and transcultural exchange in the creation of an imperial landscape’, forthcoming in: H. Bru and A. Dumitru eds., Colonial Geopolitics and Local Cultures in the Hellenistic and Roman East (IIIrd Century B.C.–IIIrd century A.D.).

In this paper is presented the presence of Apollo in Macedonia and its meaning for the population. With the chause Macedonia is specified the Department of Greece, in it's modern boundaries, except from the island of Thasos. In the beginning we exam the references of the ancient sources about the worship of Apollo in Macedonia and also the sanctuaries of god, that were discovered by the archaeological research. Further more, we speak about the presence of Apollo at the coins of the cities and the Kings of Macedonia and are being examed the informations that we take, ritual or political. Finally, are presented the statues, the reliefs, the terracotta figurines, the inscriptions and all the objects that were found in region of Macedonia and represent the god, except from the imported pottery.

Sanctuaries were typically the locus where social identities at different levels were negotiated by the communities to which they were common. The shrine of the local Karian god Sinuri, some 15 km southeast of Mylasa, is an excellent example of this. The sanctuary dates from the Archaic period and by the late Classical period was the center of the local Pelekos syngeneia (kinship group); syngeneiai were frequent in Karia and were the base unit of communal identity. This particular community must have had strong ties to the Hekatomnids, the satraps of Karia, since this was one of only three sanctuaries in Karia which was monumentalized by the dynasty. At some time between the Late Classical and Hellenistic periods an unusual transition took place when the Pelekos syngeneia was supplanted by the Pormounou syngeneia, which was clearly subordinate to the polis of Mylasa.
The sanctuary of Sinuri was discovered in the 1930’s by Louis Robert and was excavated shortly thereafter. The nearly 80-plus inscriptions that came to light during the excavations show how strongly this local community had embraced the ‘epigraphic habit’, lacing the walls of their shrine with their decrees and especially with the lease contracts of land, scattered across the territory of Mylasa, which they acquired for the god. They also made architectural modifications of their own to the shrine, which had already been transformed by the Hekatomnids. Although the sanctuary was later destroyed by the construction of a basilica, inscriptions and the traces that are left nonetheless allow for a provisional reconstruction of what the sanctuary meant to the Pormounou, both economically and socially as they used it to come to terms with their own communal identity under the aegis of the Hellenistic polis.

Throughout the Ptolemaic era, the Greek rulers of Egypt had to tackle complex issues pertaining to the nature of their dominion over peoples who were in many ways culturally, socially, and politically distinct. This paper examines how, despite these differences, Ptolemy II Philadelphus found a way to connect with both the Greek and Egyptian segments of his population by identifying himself with the god
Dionysus. Although a Greek deity, Dionysus possessed specific associations that would have resonated with elements of Egyptian religion and culture. These connotations would have promoted the perception of Philadelphus as a legitimate and benevolent ruler capable of transcending cultural boundaries. The grand procession in the Ptolemaia festival has been characterized by Dorothy J. Thompson as a form of propaganda for the ruling family. Similarly, the various forms of evidence presented in this paper suggest that Dionysus would have been a convenient
political vehicle in this syncretic environment. Such an approach on the part of Philadelphus was highly innovative and effective, and influenced the political identity assumed by later Ptolemaic rulers.

Ce texte dresse le bilan des recherches menées depuis 2004 dans l’Aphrodision de Stèsileôs. L’étude des vestiges architecturaux du sanctuaire, celle des inventaires déliens et les résultats des fouilles menées depuis 2005 conduisent à proposer une nouvelle interprétation de la puissance attribuée à la divinité par ses fidèles, et de la variation au cours de l’époque hellénistique de la personnalité divine honorée dans le sanctuaire. Les implications sociales de la fondation et du culte sont prises en compte aussi bien que la dimension politique et locale du culte. Un aperçu de l’évolution du site entre sa première occupation à la fin du IVe siècle et son abandon définitif est proposé.

This article aims to discuss two hypothesis recently made by H.-P. Francfort : that the temples of Ai Khanoum and of Takht-i Sangin were both consecrated to the Oxus river god and that the best equivalent
to this deity was the Greek Cybele. We will argue here that the personality of the Oxus deity was too complex for allowing the Greek inhabitants of Bactria to conceptualise it clearly. We will also show that neither sanctuaries were consecrated to Cybele, and that different rituals were celebrated in them.

Die zahlreichen privaten Vereine, die im Mittelmeerraum existierten – Berufsvereine,
Diaspora-Gruppen, kultische Vereinigungen, Nachbarschaftsgemeinschaften und
collegia domestica –, bildeten soziale Netzwerke, die soziales Kapital für ihre Mitglieder generierten und ihnen Möglichkeiten und Kontakte verschafften, welche
ohne die Mitgliedschaft nicht erreichbar waren. Entsprechend lassen sich die Mitglieder als „Knotenpunkte“ betrachten, die miteinander verbunden sind, und zwar
üblicherweise in mehrfacher Hinsicht – durch Verwandtschaft, Herkunft, Beruf,
Nachbarschaft, kultische Praxis, Patronatsverhältnisse, materielle Verbindungen usw.
Auf dieser suburbanen, lokalen Ebene verbreiteten sich auch Kultvereine (elective
cults). Der Mechanismus, der zu dieser Verbreitung führte, ist Gegenstand dieses
Beitrags. Die Verbreitung beruhte auf der Schaffung von Netzwerkverbindungen
zwischen verschiedenen Vereinen, die den Austausch von Informationen, Einfluss,
sozialer Macht erlaubten und die die Ausbreitung von Kultvereinen begünstigten.
Der Beitrag schlägt vor, theoretische Modelle für die Verbreitung von Infektionen aus
der Epidemiologie heranzuziehen, um über die Dynamik von Kultvereinen in städtischen sozialen Netzwerken nachzudenken.

This paper offers an alternative view on  Plutarch' Moralia 360c on Antigonos Gonatas, king of Macedonians.The poet Hermodotos declares the king a God and addresses him as the son of the Sun. To that, the old king sarcastically retorts  that “the servant who carries my night pot knows I am not a god”. I argue that Gonatas does not reject divine honours, but only his supposed godlike nature in a different context, where a king ought to exhibit humility. Plutarch builds a case against a very common practice, divine honours for mortal kings, not against the very existence of this practice. He lists examples and on the most crucial turn of his argument he adds the anecdote about Antognos Gonatas. If Antigonos had never been worshipped as a god, this example would have been meaningless. There would be no better argument than citing a king’s disapproval of this practice, but a king who - like all those listed before and after him - had indeed received divine honours
.
This different interpretation and contextualisation adds a literary source to the inscriptional evidence at hand which indicate that Antigonos Gonatas had been indeed honoured with divine honours.

Die zahlreichen privaten Vereine, die im Mittelmeerraum existierten – Berufsvereine, Diaspora-Gruppen, kultische Vereinigungen, Nachbarschaftsgemeinschaften und collegia domestica –, bildeten soziale Netzwerke, die soziales Kapital für ihre Mitglieder generierten und ihnen Möglichkeiten und Kontakte verschafften, welche ohne die Mitgliedschaft nicht erreichbar waren. Entsprechend lassen sich die Mitglieder als „Knotenpunkte“ betrachten, die miteinander verbunden sind, und zwar üblicherweise in mehrfacher Hinsicht – durch Verwandtschaft, Herkunft, Beruf, Nachbarschaft, kultische Praxis, Patronatsverhältnisse, materielle Verbindungen usw. Auf dieser suburbanen, lokalen Ebene verbreiteten sich auch Kultvereine (elective cults). Der Mechanismus, der zu dieser Verbreitung führte, ist Gegenstand dieses Beitrags. Die Verbreitung beruhte auf der Schaffung von Netzwerkverbindungen zwischen verschiedenen Vereinen, die den Austausch von Informationen, Einfluss, sozialer Macht erlaubten und die die Ausbreitung von Kultvereinen begünstigten. Der Beitrag schlägt vor, theoretische Modelle für die Verbreitung von Infektionen aus der Epidemiologie heranzuziehen, um über die Dynamik von Kultvereinen in städtischen sozialen Netzwerken nachzudenken.

The sanctuary of Apollo Aegileas  is located above the ancient port of the Hellenistic fortified city of Aegilia.
The last decade excavations revealed the foundations of the temple, the altar and a the peribolos (the surrounded yard. Several finds offer clues about the historical and cultural context of the island itself.
The collected assemblage of pottery, coins, sling bullets, bronze and iron arrow heads, small statue fragments, roof tiles, fragments of colored plaster etc. can draw a rough picture of the cult place, its scope, role and cultural connotations. Apollo appears as the god of sea rather than of sun, as well as an archer god of war rather than of music. Apollo is organically adapted in the life and world of a group of people at the margins of the Hellenistic and Roman world, which are integrated neither to the first nor to the second. They are pirates, like the inhabitants of many other Cretan cities of that time and they have their own cultural world which moves parallel to the kingdoms and republics of their time.
On Antikythera, the remote islet at the passage from Aegean to West Mediterranean, myth is transformed through economy and slavery trade and seems to connect the Cretan pirates of the island with Delos itself and the cult of Delios Apollo.

This analytical study aims to show the significance of water in the Ptolemaic city‘s plan through the analysis of several archaeological sites and written sources indicating that the site of Alexandria was not chosen at random by Alexander the Great. There were a deeper view and understanding of the site and what it could offer, which benefited from pre-Hellenistic traditions for the city‘s plan. Alexandria was a huge cosmopolitan and growing city during the Hellenistic era and a very highly populated city like this should have specific resources to provide its inhabitants with all living facilities. One of these major priorities is water which had a great impact on the city‘s richness to launch both commercial and cultural activities. The study is to shed considerable light on how the city overcame the difficulty of freshwater supply despite its distance from the river Nile through digging a canal, Schedia; that survived for centuries. An accurate administrative system was established and developed by Ptolemies to control, guard, and maintain water resources. Furthermore, the study is to analyze the evolutions of water applications in daily life (its functional and symbolic role in both public and private buildings). It is to provide evidence of cultural interaction between the ancient Egyptians and Greeks in Alexandria in this concern, and how the advance of water technology in Ptolemaic Alexandria had an actual influence on other cities elsewhere whether in Egypt such as Fayoum, the Mediterranean such as Cyprus, and the Ptolemaic settlements in Asia Minor.

Parlare di stati alterati di coscienza all'interno della dimensione genericamente religiosa e più specificamente rituale dei cosiddetti "culti orientali" 1 rinvia naturalmente a due momenti di particolare rilevanza quali la di-1 Il Turcan, nel redigere la seconda parte del documento finale del Colloquio Internazionale su" La Soteriologia dei culti orientali nell'Impero romano" organizzato dal Bianchi, a Roma, dal 24 al 28 settembre del 1978, faceva presente che dalle discussioni dei convenuti era stata messa in evidenza l'inadeguatezza degli schemi tradizionali per l'analisi dei differenti "culti orientali" e della relativa connessa documentazione; l'esempio fornito era il mitraismo che si adattava parzialmente, e comunque con difficoltà, alla tipologia dei cosiddetti culti mistici. La conseguenza era che la soteriologia garantita da tali manifestazioni religiose non si limitava all'aldilà ma concerneva la vita intra-mondana dei fedeli, senza contare che le stesse attese soteriologiche potevano variare sia a livello di credenza che di pensiero (Bianchi-Vermaseren 1982, p. XVII). Determinanti per la progressione di tale ripensamento sono state, da una parte, le monografie del Burkert (1990) e del Turcan (2004 3 ), dall'altra, l'attività di ricerca di un atelier italo-franco-tedesco (ma aperto anche a studiosi di altre aree linguistiche) coordinato da Corinne Bonnet (Bonnet-Bendlin 2006; Bonnet-Rüpke-Scarpi 2006; Bonnet-Ribichini-Steuernagel 2008; Bonnet-Pirenne-Delforge-Praet 2009); tanto nelle monografie ricordate che nei lavori di tale gruppo di studio non si è esitato a mettere al centro della riflessione scientifica la categoria cumontiana di "religioni orientali"; cfr. Cumont 1929; Bonnet-Van Haeperen 2006. Il recentissimo volume Bonnet-Sanzi 2018 indaga sulle modalità secondo le quali un tale fenomeno storicoreligioso, còlto nella intrinseca dialettica complessità, si sia affermato proprio a Roma durante i secoli che hanno segnato il passaggio dalla Repubblica all'Impero cristiano.

O presente estudo, que teve como ponto de partida uma coleta de dados prosopográficos do culto a Ísis, transformou-se em uma pesquisa histórico-religiosa sobre a realidade religiosa envolvida na crença e veneração dos deuses egípcios, Serápis e Ísis, no âmbito romano, analisando-se em especial indícios e manifestações destas crenças na cidade de Roma, onde estes cultos alcançaram seu pleno desenvolvimento no séc. II d.C. O estudo engloba interpretações sobre o perfil dos seguidores e seguidoras destas divindades, evidenciando a singular participação de libertos, escravos e sobretudo de mulheres, além da dimensão étnica presente. Práticas cultuais, expectativas e concepções associadas a estas duas divindades são estudadas, por meio de uma combinação entre fontes coptas, gregas e latinas, aportadas pela tradição literária, papirológica e epigráfica. Articulam-se bilhetes oraculares e papiros mágicos gregos; inscrições isíacas e serápicas e inscrições gregas encontradas em Roma.

Cette étude, ayant pour point de départ un recueil des données prosopographiques du culte d'Isis, s'est transformée en une recherche historico-religieuse sur la réalité religieuse impliquée dans la croyance et dans la vénération des dieux égyptiens Sarapis et Isis en contexte romain. Nous analysons, en particulier, les indices et les manifestations de ces croyances dans la ville de Rome, où ces cultes ont atteint leur plein développement au cours du IIIe siècle après Jésus-Christ. L'étude comprend des interprétations sur le profil des adeptes de ces divinités, mettant en évidence la participation des affranchis, des esclaves et surtout des femmes, au-delà de la dimension ethnique, qui a été également analysée. Les pratiques cultuelles, les attentes et les concepts liés à ces deux divinités sont nos objets d'étude, par le biais d'une combinaison des sources coptes, grecques et latines, transmises par la tradition littéraire, épigraphique et papyrologique. Nous avons associé, d'une part, des billets oraculaires et des papyrus magiques et, de l'autre, des inscriptions isiaques et sérapiques et, encore, des inscriptions grecques trouvées à Rome. Abstract: This study, that had as starting point a recollection of prosopographic data of the Isis cult, has been transformed into a historical-religious research about the religious reality concerned with the belief and veneration of the Egyptian gods, Serapis and Isis, in the Roman context, where their worship reached its apex during the second cent. d.C. Besides ethnic aspects, this study encompasses interpretations on the profile of the followers of these deities, highlighting the participation of freedman, slaves and principally women. One studies here the worship activities, as well as the expectations and conceptions associated with these two deities, through the association of Coptic, Greek and Latin sources, present in literary, papyrologic and epigraphic traditions, using different typologies of documents, as oracular coupons and magical papyri, Serapic and Isiac inscriptions and Greek inscriptions found in Rome.

The connection between belief and healing has featured in almost every human civilization. From its central presence in the narratives of the Abrahamic religions, through to studies of the placebo effect, societies have long been fascinated by the capacity of faith to heal, whether this is treated as a natural phenomenon or a gift from a supernatural or theological realm. This presence is keenly felt in the Ancient realm and particularly in the Graeco- Roman world. For instance, the significance of a hero’s healing miracle is profoundly affected by any likeness it bears to actions of gods or heroes already known to an audience. In principle, any deity or any divinely empowered hero of the Graeco-Roman world could be claimed to have performed a healing miracle. Deities like Heracles, Isis and Asclepius are among those who were regularly attributed with healings.

R. Strootman, ‘Antiochos IV and Rome: The festival at Daphne (Syria), the Treaty of Apameia and the revival of Seleukid expansionism in the West’, in: A. Coşkun and D. Engels eds., Rome and the Seleukid East: Select Papers From Seleukid Study Day V, Université Libre de Bruxelles, 21–23 Aug. 2015 (Brussels: Éditions Latomus, 2018).

The Treaty of Apameia was only a temporary setback for the Seleukid Empire. Antiochos IV Epiphanes (r. 175–164 BCE) aimed at reestablishing Seleukid hegemony in the Aegean, including Greece. He had a realistic assessment of Roman military strength, but he had no reason to consider his own empire secondary to that of the Romans. He introduced an elite unit of 5,000 Roman-style ‘legionaries’ into his army in order to be better prepared for a new military confrontation with Rome. As his propaganda at the Daphne Festival shows, Antiochos IV wished to be seen as the unequaled ruler of a universal empire, just as all Seleukid and Achaemenid emperors before him had done. The Daphne Festival showed the vast extent of Seleukid imperial space, and its huge miitary resources. The military nature and aggressive, expansionist ideology of Seleukid kingship left him no other choice than to be aggressive and expansionist. Of course, the reestablishment of wavering Seleukid hegemony in the Upper Satrapies (Iran and Central Asia)—the military powerhouse of the empire—to him was more important than a renewed confrontation with Rome.

The idea of Roman supremacy before c. 150 BCE is a creation from hindsight, first, and most famously, fabricated by Polybios. Roman influence in the Near East before that date in fact was negligible; Near Eastern sources show no awareness of the existence of a powerful Roman Empire at all. Polybios’ notion of “symploke”, often seen as the first formulation of a theory of globalization, presents a biased and very limited vision, as it does not take into account Mesopotamia, Iran, Central Asia, and the Indian Ocean world—regions that were integral parts of the “Hellenistic World” of cultural, political and economic interactions. Modern historians may debate the question whether the Mediterranean really was the core of the Ancient World, as Polybios posits, or rather its western periphery. Antiochos IV, the ‘King of Asia’ at any rate did not subscribe to Polybios’ view of the world.

""A review of the Greek and Egyptian sources showing the deceased and divinized queen Arsinoe II on the side of the living king Ptolemy II. In addition to the cults of Arsinoe under the kingdom of her brother and husband Ptolemy II, I re-discuss the famous passage of Chremonides' decree where Arsinoe is mentioned among the models of Ptolemy's commitment to Greek freedom.

Analisi delle fonti greche ed egiziane rappresentanti la regina divinizzata Arsinoe II al fianco del re vivente Tolemeo II. Oltre a offrire un contributo allo studio dei culti per Arsinoe durante il regno dello sposo e fratello Tolemeo II, il mio intervento ha l'obiettivo di riconsiderare il celebre passo del decreto di Cremonide nel quale Arsinoe è citata fra i modelli che hanno indotto Tolemeo all'impegno a favore della libertà dei Greci.""

Terracotta figurines represent one of the most fascinating categories of material evidence from Hellenistic (Ptolemaic) and Roman Egypt relating to the domestic aspects of religious life. They include deities, ordinary humans, animals and sacred symbols, represented in exhaustive variety, both in terms of content and form. The group of terracotta figurines presented in this paper are no exception. It is drawn from the collection of the Sacristy of the Greek-Orthodox Patriarchate of Alexandria and All Africa, exhibited in a most impressive Roman cistern, which was discovered during the recent renovation of the Patriarchate premises. The catalogue will be accompanied by a concise overview of the nature and role of the main divine protagonists in comparison to other types of material evidence such as statuary, architecture, coinage and epigraphy, focusing on Alexandria, the capital of Egypt during the Ptolemaic and Roman periods.

Lecture given at the conference "Religious Interactions in the Hellenistic World", Oxford, March 18, 2017.

In the Seleukid Empire, king and court interacted with local communities by protecting local and regional sanctuaries. Moreover, the king and his itinerant court regularly visited cities. During such visits, the king personally participated in local cults, providing offerings and often performing the crucial act of sacrificing to a community’s principal deity. The religious sphere thus became a major contact zone for localized elites and the dynastic court: sanctuaries constituted ‘middle grounds’ where people could interact under the impartial supervision of a collectively recognized divine power, having accepted in advance certain ritualized modes of behavior.

Using globalization theory and a network approach to empire, this paper aims to investigate the impact of these local-imperial interactions on the development of religious cults and beliefs in the Near East, and on the wide distribution of certain deities and cult practices among the culturally diverse populations of the empire.

Γεφυρώνοντας τη διαφορετικότητα ή εντείνοντας τις αντιθέσεις μέσα στις ανθρώπινες κοινωνίες; Ο ρόλος της θρησκείας υπήρξε εξίσου αντιφατικός για τη συνύπαρξη ανθρώπων με διαφορετική εθνική και πολιτισμική ταυτότητα ανά τους αιώνες. Σήμερα, στην εποχή της παγκοσμιοποίησης και της προβολής των ανθρώπινων αξιών από κυβερνήσεις και διεθνείς οργανισμούς, όταν η επικοινωνία μεταξύ λαών και πολιτισμών επιτυγχάνεται ευκολότερα από ποτέ, η θρησκευτική ελευθερία αποτελεί θεμελιώδες δικαίωμα του σύγχρονου ανθρώπου. Ταυτόχρονα όμως, συχνές πράξεις βίας που εκτελούνται στο όνομα της θρησκευτικής διαφορετικότητας αποτελούν πλέον συνεχή πρόκληση για την ειρήνη και τη δημοκρατία στις σύγχρονες κοινωνίες.
Τι έχει να μας πει όμως για όλα αυτά το παρελθόν και τι εικόνες μπορούμε να αντλήσουμε από την ιστορική μας μνήμη; Σκοπός της ομιλίας είναι να μας μεταφέρει πολλούς αιώνες πριν, στην ελληνιστική εποχή, όταν μετά τις κατακτήσεις του Μεγάλου Αλεξάνδρου στην Ασία τον 4ο αι. π.Χ., διαμορφώθηκε για πρώτη φορά ένας ενιαίος οικουμενικός κόσμος: αυτός των απέραντων ελληνιστικών βασιλείων που ευνόησαν μεταξύ άλλων – πχ. ελεύθερη διακίνηση αγαθών, διευρυμένες χρηματοπιστωτικές συναλλαγές, κλπ. – την ελεύθερη μετακίνηση ανθρώπων σε διαφορετικά γεωγραφικά μήκη και πλάτη.
Πως διαχειρίστηκαν τα ελληνιστικά βασίλεια τη θρησκευτική διαφορετικότητα μεταξύ των υπηκόων τους; Επίκεντρο της ομιλίας θα αποτελέσει η αρχαία Δημητριάδα, βασιλική πρωτεύουσα της Μακεδονικής δυναστείας των Αντιγονιδών, που ιδρύθηκε στις αρχές του 3ου αι. π.Χ. στην περιοχή του σημερινού Βόλου και του μεγάλου φυσικού λιμανιού της και εξελίχθηκε από στρατιωτικό προπύργιο των Μακεδόνων σε κοσμοπολίτικο λιμάνι του ελληνιστικού κόσμου. Η πόλη συγκέντρωσε πληθυσμό από τη Μαγνησία, τη Θεσσαλία και τη Μακεδονία, αλλά και από τον ευρύτερο ελληνικό χώρο και όλη τη Μεσόγειο. Κατ’αναλογία, το θρησκευτικό της τοπίο συνέθεσαν διάφορες ελληνικές και ξένες λατρείες, με αποτέλεσμα στους επιμέρους χώρους της ιερής τοπογραφίας της να συνυπάρξουν θεοί, ήρωες και άνθρωποι από όλο τον γνωστό τότε κόσμο.
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grant agreement No 658573.

The focus of this paper is to analyze some depictions of divine triad with Kybele, Hermes and Hekate, with the aim to outline the main features, the origins and, at the same time, to show the atypicalness of an iconography with Kybele, Hekate three-formed and the attributes of Attis.

The dating formula of P. Stan. Class. Inv. 2  provides additional information about the development of the Greek dynastic cult in the years 199-193 BC. (1) The Theoi Soteres were officially omitted from the dating formulae of the Greek papyri. (2) Eucharistos remained the official cult epithet in Alexandria till the year 193. (3) The apotheosis of Ptolemy V may probably be dated between 3 August and 11 October 199. (4) Cleopatra was not immediately incorporated in the dynastic cult after her marriage with Ptolemy in winter 194/3.

Abstrakt

Hellenistische Miniaturaltäre von Vis (Issa) und aus Trogir (Tragurion), Dalmatien

Die vorliegende Arbeit bearbeitet sechs Miniaturaltäre der hellenistischen Zeit aus Dalmatien. Fünf Altäre stammen von der Insel Vis (Issa), ein Altar aus Trogir (Tragurion). Alle Altäre sind Altfunde und sind – mit der Ausnahme des Exemplars aus Trogir – bis dato nur kurz publiziert worden.
Zwei Altäre tragen eine vollständig erhaltene, griechische Weihinschrift: Das Altar aus Trogir mit einer Reliefdarstellung Heras, weihte dieser Göttin Lyso, Sosias (Tochter); Das Altar von Vis, mit einem eingeritzten X- Motiv, wurde der Syrischen Göttin von Ktesias errichtet. Von der Inschrift auf einem weiteren, dekorlosen Altar aus Vis, sind nur zwei-drei Buchstaben erhalten (gelesen als Din oder Dim?). Die drei weiteren, anepigraphischen Altäre weisen auf allen vier Seiten eine X-Motiv-Dekoration auf, und kommen somit dem Altar der Syrischen Göttin sehr nahe. Die Altäre zeigen zum Teil sehr aufwändig herausgearbeitete Profile (u. a. den Zahnschnitt und Eierstab), und sind mit einem eingetieften focus ausgestattet.
Wenn es sich auch bei den vorliegenden Funden um Gegenstände von kleinen Dimensionen (H: 11,9–17,6 cm) handelt, die kurze Weihformeln tragen und deren Fundort- bzw. -kontext unsicher oder unbekannt ist, stellen sie dennoch wichtige Sonderfunde dar. Denn sie haben weitgreifende Untersuchungen über die Miniaturaltäre und über den Kult der Syrischen Göttin-Atargatis in der hellenistischen Zeit initiiert. Diesen zwei Themen ist auch der Großteil dieser Abhandlung gewidmet.
Einzelne Kapiteln behandeln folgende Themen: 1) Figürliche und ornamentale Darstellung, und Weihungen an Hera und die Syrische Göttin (Atargatis); 2) Miniaturaltäre: Klassifikation und Formelemente, Opfergaben, Kontext und Funktion; 3) Datierung; 4) Hera und die Syrische Göttin-Atargatis und die Issäische Götterwelt. 
Zur Entstehung dieses Artikels hat der höhere Kustos des Archäologischen Museums in Split und Leiter der Archäologischen Sammlung von Vis Boris Čargo engagiert beigetragen, dem die Autorin an dieser Stelle danken möchte.


U članku se obrađuje šest minijaturnih žrtvenika iz helenističkog perioda. Pet žrtvenika potječe sa Visa, a jedan iz Trogira. Radi se o starim, i izuzevši trogirski žrtvenik, tek sumarno objavljenim nalazima. Posvetni natpis na grčkom je u cjelosti očuvan na dva žrtvenika: na žrtveniku iz Trogira s prikazom Here, koji je navedenoj boginji posvetila Lyso, Sosijina (kćer), te na jedom žrtveniku sa Visa sa urezanim X-motivom, koji je Sirijskoj boginji posvetio Ktezija (Ktesias). Od natpisa na jednom daljnjem, neukrašenom primjerku s Visa vidljiva su tek dva-tri slova (Din ili Dim?). Preostala tri anepigrafska žrtvenika s Visa nose na sve četiri strane urezani X-motiv, sličan onome na žrtveniku posvećenom Sirijskoj boginji. Žrtvenici dijelom pokazuju vrlo bogato izrađen profil (između ostaloga zupčanik i jajnicu), a svi imaju udubljeni fokus (gornju, žrtvenu plohu).
Iako se kod svih žrtvenika radi o predmetima malih dimenzija (vis. od 11,9 do 17,6 cm) i kratkih posvetnih formula, te više-manje nepoznate provenijencije i konteksta, riječ je o nesvakidašnjim i značajnim nalazima, koji su inicirali dalekosežna istraživanja o minijaturnim žrtvenicima i o kultu Sirijske boginje-Atargatis u vrijeme helenizma, pa je tim dvama temama i posvećen najveći dio radnje.
Pojedina poglavlja tematiziraju slijedeće sadržaje: 1) Figuralni i ornamentalni prikaz i posvete Heri i Sirijskoj boginji (Atargatis); 2) Minijaturni žrtvenici: klasifikacija i oblikovni elementi, žrtveni dar, kontekst i funkcija; 3) Datiranje; 4) Hera, Sirijska boginja-Atargatis i Issejski panteon.
Nastanak ovog članka svojim je angažmanom omogućio Boris Čargo, viši kustos Arheološkog muzeja u Splitu i voditelj Viške arheološke zbirke, kojem autorica izražava zahvalu. Također se zahvaljuje Jasmini Beneti na izradi crteža.

More Than Men, Less Than Gods is conceived as a demonstration project, with the goal of opening new perspectives in the study of Graeco-Roman ruler worship. A principal emphasis is placed on the effectiveness of a multidisciplinary approach to the subject. The present volume points to some possible forerunners to Hellenistic royal cult and emperor worship, or at least to the concept of the divine king, to supplement the well-studied roots of ruler worship in the cultic life of the Greek polis and in pharaonic Egypt. More than Men... aspires to contribute to the debate relative to divine kingship, royal cult and emperor worship by opening new perspectives or reopening old ones. The focus is in eliciting some audacious and innovative approaches to such a complex phenomenon. All questions are not raised and certainly most of them are not answered here. In abandoning the sterile opposition between “political” and “religious,” the volume’s perspective transcends established notions conditioned by the Judeo-Christian model of western societies and scholarship, to consider the problem under different perspectives: there is no need to oppose “Greek” vs. “oriental,” “rational” vs. “emotional” to understand the birth of the phenomenon.
The diversity of approaches draws attention to the variety of sources that provide evidence relating to ruler worship, or that can enhance our understanding of the broader phenomenon of the divinization of powerful men. These include myth and historical accounts preserved by ancient authors; dedicatory inscriptions; clay tablets; papyri; architectural decoration and other archaeological remains; statuary, cameos, gems and various minor arts; seal impressions; and coins.