The wide subjects of Religion and Superstition are naturally represented in a fragmentary way in the few cases devoted to them in this collection. They are roughly classified in the following description, into groups, viz.:—
Fig. 29.—Altar Dedicated for the Safe Return of Septimius Severus and his Family (No. 84). Ht. 2 ft. 7 in.
Altars, etc.—The larger altars (and sepulchral chests of altar form) will be found in the sculpture galleries. Here we have (No. 83) a small altar, from Dodona, inscribed as belonging to all the gods,17 and various model altars, probably used in some cases for the burning of incense.
An interesting example (No. 84) of the practice of dedicating altars to members of Roman Imperial houses is furnished by the inscription (fig. 29) in the lower part of Case 98. It formed the front of a marble altar, and is dedicated to the Imperial Fortune by a freedman named Antonius, who was in charge of the "Department of Petitions," for the safe return of the Emperor Septimius Severus, his wife Julia Domna, and his sons Caracalla and Geta. But so far as Geta was concerned, the Imperial Fortune was not propitious. He was murdered by his brother Caracalla, and his name was erased from this, as from all other inscriptions throughout the Roman Empire, by Caracalla's edict. The date of the inscription is about 200 A.D.
In Case 102 is an altar (No. 85) dedicated to the Bona Dea of Anneanum (a town in Etruria) by C. Tullius Hesper and Tullia Restituta. The Bona Dea was a goddess specially invoked by women. Hence we may suppose that it was Tullia Restituta more particularly who showed her thankfulness by this dedication.
In Case 98 are two examples (Nos. 86, 87) of a combined lamp and altar, for use in domestic shrines, probably of late Roman date.18 In one of these the basin for libations is supported on a pine-cone. Akin to these is the small limestone cone and altar from the Cyrenaica.
No. 88 (fig. 30) is a bronze representing an attendant leading a pig to sacrifice. The pig (as well as the sheep and the bull) was a favourite sacrificial animal among the Romans. At the lustral ceremony of the suovetaurilia, the bull, sheep, and pig were driven round the farmer's fields to keep them free from blight and disease. Certain deities, notably Persephone and the Bona Dea, had swine as their special victims. In Case 105 will be seen a terracotta votive pig (No. 89) found in the precinct of Demeter and Persephone at Knidos.
In Case 98 is an elaborate model in terracotta of a temple laver from Cyprus (No. 90). In Case 100 is a terracotta model of a sacred table (No. 91, fig. 31), set with a service of vessels for the sanctuary.
Bronze Implements.—A series of early Italic bronze implements (No. 92), may have been used in sacrifice. Those with the curved claws were probably used for taking boiled meats out of a caldron. They remind us of the five-pronged sacrificial forks mentioned in Homer, and of the custom of the Jewish priests' servants as described in the Book of Samuel: "The priest's servant came, while the flesh was in seething, with a fleshhook of three teeth in his hand; and he struck it into the pan, or kettle, or caldron, or pot; all that the fleshhook brought up the priest took therewith."19 On the right are three bronze gridirons. These, like the fleshhooks, originally had wooden handles inserted into their sockets. The meat was spitted upon hooks, which only remain in one instance.
A series of implements terminating in a hand bent at the knuckles (No. 93), and a pair of tongs on wheels (No. 94), are probably meant for manipulating embers.
Miscellaneous.—A small silver model of a temple key is shown in Case 100. The small alabaster statuette of a goddess with turreted crown (No. 95) is of special interest from the fact that her mouth and breasts are pierced, evidently with the object of allowing some fluid, such as milk or wine, to flow from them for the edification of her votaries. A jar (No. 96) contained perhaps the honey syrup, used in Egypt for feeding the sacred crocodiles.
Religious Rites.—Prayer.—The fifth century kylix (No. 97) shows the gesture of the raised right hand, often used in prayer. The young athlete, whose oil-flask hangs behind him, is probably praying before the altar. That athletes entered upon their tasks with extreme seriousness is clear from the oath taken by them before the image of Zeus in the Council House at Olympia, when they swore upon the cut pieces of a boar that they would be guilty of no foul play. In the Greek view athletics and religion were very closely connected.
The Lectisternium, or Theoxenia, was the ceremony in which a banquet was set, and the gods were invited to attend. It is illustrated by the drawing of a lekythos (No. 98) from Kameiros in Rhodes (about 500 B.C.), which represents the two gods Castor and Pollux descending from heaven on horseback to take part in the festival of the Theoxenia (fig. 32). This feast, indicated by the couch on which they were to recline, was given in honour of the twin gods. Such a festival well illustrates the perfectly human interests which the Greeks attributed to their deities.
Compare with this vase the cast (No. 99) of a relief in the Louvre, from Larissa. A man and his wife, the dedicators of the relief, are represented as having set out a couch, a banquet of cakes, and an altar. The Twins descend, heralded by Victory. Beside the relief is a fragment of a lamp (No. 100) incised with a dedication to the Dioscuri, that is, to Castor and Pollux. Here also is the inscribed base (No. 101) of a statuette dedicated to the Dioscuri by Euarchos (sixth century B.C.).
Augury.—Passing now to Italic religious ceremonies, we may notice the archaic bronze statuette of an augur (No. 102), whose function it was to draw omens from the aspect of the heavens or the flight and cries of birds. He wears a cloak drawn veil-wise over his head, a common religious garb, and in his right hand holds the lituus or curved wand used for the ceremonial dividing of the heavens into quarters. In connection with this statuette mention should be made of an early Greek inscription (No. 103) in the bottom of Cases 95-96. It was found at Ephesus, and is probably of about the same period as the statuette, the sixth century B.C. It gives rules for drawing lucky or unlucky omens from the flight of birds. The principal signs are the flight from right to left or vice versa, and the raising or lowering of the bird's wing.
Shrines.—In Cases 100, 101 a series of terracotta shrines is exhibited. They were doubtless for household use, employed in much the same way as modern images of the Madonna. No. 104 (fig. 33), from the early Greek settlement of Naukratis, in the Nile Delta, shows Aphrodite within a shrine supported by figures of the Egyptian god Bes, a characteristic combination of Greek and Egyptian elements. No. 105, from Amathus, in Cyprus, is also semi-Egyptian in character, and shows a deity surmounted by a winged solar disk. Another shrine from Naukratis (No. 106) contains the sacred Apis-bull of the Egyptians. No. 107 is an example of a shrine containing a baetylic image, that is, a stone worshipped as sacred. A cone resembling the one here shown was worshipped in the temple of Aphrodite at Paphos in Cyprus. In front, a small lead model shrine (No. 108) of later date, from Sardinia, represents Aphrodite just risen from the sea-foam and wringing out her hair. The circular shrine (No. 109; fig. 34) is of Roman date, from Eretria in Euboea. Its form and more especially the indication of overlapping scale-plates on the roof remind us strongly of the famous temple of Vesta at Rome.
In Case 101 is a bronze tablet with an iron chain and staple (No. 110). The tablet, apparently of about 200 B.C., is inscribed on both sides, and seems to give a list of statues of deities, some, such as Vezkei, peculiar to the Samnites, others, such as Ceres and Hermes, of widely spread worship. It is a most important monument of the Oscan dialect, a language spoken by the early Italic tribes whose chief centre was the mountainous country above Campania. It was found at Agnone (Bovianum Vetus) in the Samnite territory.
A votive offering is a present made to a deity, in order to secure some favour for the future, to avert anger for a past offence, or to express gratitude for a favour received. This last purpose includes offerings made in fulfilment of a vow, the vow being a kind of contract between the individual and the god. This comes out most clearly in the Roman expression voti reus—"condemned to pay a vow"—applied to those whose prayer had been granted, and who now had to fulfil their promise made in time of stress and difficulty. Votive offerings cover the whole field of life, and may include persons, lands, buildings, or objects specially appropriate either to the god or to the person who makes the dedication.
Very frequently the vow was made by some person stricken with disease, and it is to such a cause that we owe the numerous votive offerings representing some part of the human body.
The constant streams of these offerings made the ancient temples depositories of all kinds of objects, ranging from jewels of great price and high artistic merit to the roughest terracotta figure. In the Gold Ornament Room (Case 19) is a magnificent gold pin of the Ptolemaic period inscribed with a dedication to Aphrodite of Paphos, showing that the offering was the result of a vow made by Eubule, the wife of Aratos, and one Tamisa. Overcrowding led to periodical clearances of objects of the least intrinsic value. To prevent things dedicated returning to the uses of common life, they were frequently broken and thrown into heaps. This accounts for the masses of débris, consisting chiefly of terracottas and vases, which have been found within the precincts of great sanctuaries.
The vast accumulations of treasure in the various temples naturally demanded careful cataloguing, labelling and supervision on the part of the temple officials (see examples of marble labels from the sacred enclosure of Demeter at Cnidos). From time to time elaborate inventories were drawn up, and (after the manner of ancient documents) inscribed on stone. Such inventories have been discovered in large numbers at Delos, Athens, and elsewhere. An example is shown in the lower part of Case 97, being an inventory (No. 111) of various garments dedicated to Artemis Brauronia, who had a shrine upon the acropolis of Athens. We know that it was the custom of women after childbirth to dedicate garments to Artemis, and in particular to Artemis Brauronia. That the garments were often anything but new is shown by the fact that several are described as "in rags." A typical extract from the inscription may be given: "A purple dress, with variegated chequer pattern. Dedicated by Thyaene and Malthake." The entries range in date from 350 to 344 B.C.
The principal objects here exhibited as illustrating the ancient custom of dedication may now be mentioned. In Wall-Case 96 is an inscription of the fifth century B.C. (No. 112) found in the ruins of the temple of Poseidon on Cape Taenaron in Lakonia. It records the dedication by one Theares of a slave named Kleogenes to the temple-service of Poseidon. The names of an ephoros, probably an official of the temple, and of a witness are added. In some cases the dedication of a slave to a god is equivalent to enfranchisement.
Among votive offerings specially appropriate to the god, we have already mentioned the reliefs dedicated for a good voyage (No. 82) and the Theoxenia relief (No. 99). The pedestal (No. 112*), with an inscription that it was restored "whether sacred to god or goddess," is a parallel to the altar inscribed with a dedication "to an unknown god," which caught the eye of St. Paul when he was viewing the antiquities of Athens.
In the bottom of Case 102 is the base of a statuette (No. 113; fig. 35) found at Curium in Cyprus. It bears an inscription, written both in Greek and in the native Cypriote syllabic characters: "Ellooikos, the son of Poteisis, dedicated this as a vow to Demeter and the Maid." The inscription is of the fourth century B.C., and is of special interest on account of its bilingual character. Two other large objects in marble of a votive character are exhibited in the bottom of Cases 103 and 104 respectively. The chest-like stool (No. 114) was offered by a priestess named Philis to Persephone, the basket (No. 115) by one Xeno to Demeter and Persephone. The basket is dedicated with peculiar fitness to the goddesses of corn and fruit, for it was in such woven baskets that the ears of corn were ingathered, while the chest is also closely associated with Demeter and Persephone, who are frequently represented seated on it. Both of these last objects were found by Sir Charles Newton in the precinct of Demeter at Knidos in Asia Minor.
We now turn to the votive offerings personal to the donor, and we find that not infrequently, where the object itself is perishable, or otherwise unsuitable as an offering, a sculptured representation takes its place.
Two curious examples of such dedicatory tablets (Nos. 116, 117) are seen in the casts placed in the upper and lower parts respectively of Case 101. The originals, from Slavochori, probably the site of the ancient Amyklae near Sparta, are in the Hall of Inscriptions. The first was dedicated by Anthusa, daughter of Damaenetos, a ὑποστάτρια or under-tirewoman in the service of a temple, possibly that of Dionysos, for we know that this god had a temple near Amyklae, which none but women might enter. On the relief is a series of objects connected with the toilet, such as a mirror, a comb, a box of cosmetics, a case containing a sponge, a pair of slippers, etc. Possibly the dedicator was in charge of objects of this nature. The other relief, from the same place, was dedicated by a priestess named Claudia Ageta, daughter of Antipater, and shows a very similar series of objects. Both these reliefs are of Imperial date.
A similar substitution of a representation for the object is found in the series of offerings which commemorate recovery from disease or bodily injury. The upper part of Cases 103-106 contains a set of marble reliefs (No. 118) found at the foot of the Pnyx at Athens, the rocky semicircular meeting-place of the Athenian people. They are dedicated by women—Eutychis, Isias, Olympias, and others—to Zeus the Highest, and have representations of various parts of the human body, such as eyes, breasts, arms, etc. These reliefs, which are of Roman date, are clearly thank-offerings for recovery from disease. There must have been a regular trade in these models, for Clement of Alexandria, writing about 200 A.D., talks of "those who manufacture ears and eyes of precious wood and dedicate them to the gods, setting them up in their temples."20 No. 119, from a shrine of Asklepios in Melos, is a relief representing a left leg, dedicated, as the inscription shows, by way of thank-offering to the deities of healing, Asklepios and Hygieia. Next it is a small relief from Cyrene (No. 120), showing a right ear. There are several other objects here exhibited which were probably offered by grateful votaries in return for healing mercies. Such are the bronze ticket with a bronze leg suspended from it (No. 121), inscribed with the name of the donor Caledus, and two arms with a chain for suspension. In Cases 105 and 106 a whole series of terracotta votive hands, feet, eyes, breasts, etc., doubtless represents the thank-offerings of the poorer classes. With these is a curious terracotta model (No 122; fig. 36) of the lungs (A), heart (B), liver (C), kidneys (D), spleen (E), and other internal organs of the human body. Though primarily of a votive character, it is of considerable interest to the student of ancient anatomy. A votive relief of rather different character is placed on the upper shelf. It represents two plaited locks of hair dedicated (as the inscription records) by Philombrotos and Aphthonetos, sons of Deinomachos, to Poseidon, god of the sea (No. 123; fig. 37). It was a common custom in Greece to dedicate hair at important crises of life, particularly to deities connected with water. Achilles, on the death of Patroklos, shore off for him the hair he was growing long as an offering to the river Spercheios.21
Other objects illustrating the frequency and variety of Greek and Roman dedications may best be described in approximately chronological order. Two objects, which are more fully dealt with in other sections, may here be mentioned. In the sixth century B.C. the athlete Exoidas dedicated to the Dioscuri, patrons of athletic exercise, the bronze diskos (fig. 50; No. 157) with which he had conquered "the high-souled" Kephallenians in athletic contest. The helmet, dedicated by Hieron after his naval victory off Kyme, has been already described (p. 8). Other votive helmets are shown in Cases 114-5. For the votive spearheads (?) see p. 9. The huntsman, no less than the athlete and the warrior, felt that the gods took an intimate part in his successes. This is illustrated by the inscribed bronze model of a hare in Case 103, with its head thrown back in the death agony (No. 124; fig. 38). The Ionic letters, of about 480 B.C., read: "Hephaestion dedicated me to Apollo of Priene."22 This offering reminds us of another exhibited in the left-hand wall-case in the Greek Ante-Room downstairs. A small limestone statuette, found on the site of the Greek settlement of Naukratis in Egypt, represents a young huntsman with two boars and two hares slung over his shoulders. It is inscribed "A dedication by Kallias"—probably to Aphrodite, since it was found within her precinct (Cat. of Sculpt., I., 118).
Other interesting Greek dedications of an early date are the bronze tablet (Case 105: No. 125; fig. 39) found in Corfu, with an inscription showing it to be an offering by one Lophios23; the silver ingot (No. 126) dedicated to Zeus Lykaeos (Zeus "the wolf-god") by Trygon; and the elaborate axe-head (No. 127; fig. 40), found in Calabria, which bears an inscription recording that it was vowed to Hera of the Plain by Kyniskos, a "cook," as a tenth of his earnings (sixth century B.C.).24
The two bronze bulls (Nos. 128 and 129) are offerings made by Greeks to an Egyptian deity. They were dedicated by Greeks named respectively Sokydes and Theodoros, and represent the sacred bull Apis, worshipped at Memphis in Egypt as an incarnation of the god Ptah. The offering of Sokydes is here illustrated (Fig. 41).25 Notice the elaborate saddle-cloth, and the wings of the Egyptian scarabaeus and hawk engraved on the bull's back. The date of these bronzes is the late sixth or early fifth century B.C. The Greeks must have become acquainted with the worship of Apis in the seventh century B.C., when they served King Psammetichos I. as mercenaries. That monarch was a fervent worshipper of the god, and built a great temple for him at Memphis. Herodotus26 mentions the courts where the bull was kept, and says that the Greeks called him "Epaphos." The bull dedicated by Sokydes was found in the Nile Delta, that dedicated by Theodoros at Athens.
The two bronze wheels in Case 103 each bear a votive inscription. The earlier (No. 130), said to have been found near Argos, was perhaps an offering to the Dioscuri (Castor and Pollux, the divine patrons of athletic contests) by Eudamos, a victor in a chariot race. The other (No. 131; fig. 42) comes from the temple of the Kabeiri at Thebes, and is dedicated by Xenon and Pyrrhippa to Kabeiros and the Child. The bronze bell (No. 132, fig. 43) is from the same temple, and was likewise offered by one Pyrrhias to Kabeiros and the Child. The Kabeiri were deities of a mystic and subterranean character, who at Thebes apparently became closely connected with Dionysos, the wine-god. That a large element of burlesque entered into their worship can be seen from the vases discovered on the site of their shrine (Second Vase Room, B 77 and 78).
Near this tablet are several Roman dedications. Three curious silver-gilt plaques, probably of the second century after Christ (Nos. 133-135), found at Heddernheim, near Frankfurt-on-Main, were dedicated to Jupiter Dolichenus. At first merely a local god, originating in the town of Doliche in Commagene, near the Euphrates, he later acquired considerable popularity throughout the Roman Empire, and his worship was carried far and wide by the Roman legionaries, who were largely instrumental in conveying these Oriental worships to the West. The silver tablet illustrated (No. 133; fig. 44) shows Jupiter Dolichenus in a shrine, holding thunderbolt and sceptre, with the eagle at his feet. The inscription, written in somewhat defective Latin,27 runs: "To Jupiter, best and greatest, of Doliche, where iron has its birth. Dedicated by Flavius Fidelis and Q. Julius Posstimus by command of the god on behalf of themselves and their families." As often in late Latin inscriptions, E is written | |. Another tablet (very fragmentary) shows the god in trappings of war, holding double-axe and thunderbolt, and standing on a bull (No. 135). He is being crowned by Victory. The presence of mines in North Syria will account for the recurring phrase, "Where iron has its birth." A series of similar dedications to Mars and Vulcan, which were found at Barkway in Hertfordshire, is exhibited in the Room of Roman Britain. Examples are shown in Case 104 of a third series (No. 136, fig. 45), part of a great hoard found at Bala Hissar (Pessinus) in Galatia. These have figures of Helios, Selene, and Mithras. The last-named deity was the Persian god of light. He did not thoroughly win his way into the Roman world until the second century after Christ. But, once established, he proved himself of far-reaching power. Mithraism had in its ritual many points of resemblance to that of Christianity, and in the third and fourth centuries after Christ proved a most formidable rival to the spread of Christian doctrines. A memorial of Mithras is seen in the large bronze tablet (No. 137) in Case 105. Its top is decorated with knife and libation-bowl. The inscription, of about the third century after Christ, tells us that it was dedicated to Sextus Pompeius Maximus by priests of Mithras. He had held offices in the Mithraic priesthood.
There are several small bronze tablets in Case 105 with dedicatory or religious inscriptions. Among them may be mentioned No. 138, offered to Juno by a freedman named Q. Valerius Minander, and No. 139, an oval bronze seal with a design representing the Emperor Philip (244-9 A.D.; mentioned above, p. 10, in connection with the bronze diploma), his wife Otacilia, and their son Philip. The inscription shows that the seal belonged to the religious society of the Breisean Mystae, who apparently sealed on behalf of the city of Smyrna, where was a synod of the Mystae of the Breisean Dionysos. No. 140 is the result of a vow made by Hedone, the maid-servant of M. Crassus, to Feronia, a goddess closely connected with freedmen and freedwomen.28 Her temple at Terracina, on the west coast of Italy, was specially associated with the manumission of slaves. It is likely, therefore, that Hedone's vow had something to do with her manumission. Dedications were made for safe journeys by land or by sea. In No. 141, dedicated by P. Blattius Creticus to Jupiter Poeninus, whose sanctuary was at the summit of the Great St. Bernard Pass, we have one of a number of offerings by travellers encountering the dangers of the Alps. In No. 142 we have a votive offering in the shape of a bronze plate, made to the Lares or gods of the house by Q. Carminius Optatus. The Lares are represented in art as youthful male figures, holding a cornucopia or horn of plenty, and a plate (patera) [see Case 52 of the Bronze Room, and No. 143]. The offering of a plate was peculiarly appropriate, for with the Penates these gods were supposed to ensure the food-supply of the family.
In Case 106 note the series of lead figurines (modelled on both sides). They represent warriors with helmet, cuirass, shield, sword, and greaves. These figurines (No. 144), probably of the seventh to sixth centuries B.C., were found at Amelia (Ameria) in Umbria. It is probable that they are of a votive character, though it has been suggested that they are the prototypes of the modern tin soldier. Very similar figurines have been discovered near Sparta, on the site of the Menelaon, and more recently on the site of the temple of Artemis Orthia by members of the British School at Athens.
Superstition and Magic.—As the simple faith in the gods decayed in the Greek and Roman worlds, compensation was largely sought in the dark rites of superstition and magic. The antiquities in Cases 105, 106, indicate some of the forms which such superstition took. Prominent among them was the practice of writing down curses on lead or talc with a view to the injury of those against whom the writer conceived that he had a grudge. These tablets were called in Latin defixiones, because they were supposed to fix down, as it were, the hated enemy. The imprecations written on them usually run in formulae, and the gods implored to work the ruin are naturally those of the nether regions. In later times especially, all manner of obscure and barbarous demons are introduced. The examples of these tablets here exhibited probably belong to the last three centuries before Christ. They come from various quarters—Knidos, Ephesus, Curium in Cyprus, Kyme in S. Italy, and Athens. Those found by Sir Charles Newton at Knidos may be taken as typical. In one case a certain Antigone, in order to clear herself from the charge of having attempted to poison Asklepiades, invokes curses upon herself if the accusation be true. In another, Artemeis devotes to Demeter, Persephone, and all the gods associated with Demeter, the person who withholds garments entrusted to him. These tablets (No. 145) appear to have been nailed to the walls of the sacred precinct of Demeter, where they were found. In the case of a tablet from Athens, the iron nail, which fastened it to the wall is still preserved.
Nails themselves were highly esteemed as instruments of magic. Ovid, for instance, says that Medea (the typical witch) made waxen effigies of absent foes, and then drove nails into the vital parts.29 Examples of magical nails are seen in the series of bronze nails (No. 146) covered with cabalistic inscriptions and signs, and sometimes showing a strange mixture of Judaism and Paganism, as when Solomon and Artemis are invoked together. They may be attributed to the Gnostics, a sect which arose in the second century after Christ. Their claim was that, by a combination of various religious beliefs, they arrived at the only true knowledge of divine things. The magic nail has in one case (No. 147) been used to fasten a bronze lamp, decorated with a head of Medusa, into a socket.
On the shelf above will be noticed a number of bronze hands (No. 148; fig. 46). They are right hands, represented with the thumb and first two fingers raised. On them are numerous magic symbols in relief, such as the snake, the lizard, and the tortoise. The hand illustrated (fig. 46) is covered with such signs, prominent among which are the serpent with the cock's comb, the pine-cone, the frog, and the winged caduceus. One of the hands bears the inscription "Zougaras dedicated me to Sabazius in fulfilment of a vow"; another "Aristokles, a superintendent, to Zeus Sabazius." Sabazius was a Phrygian and Thracian deity, whose worship was widely spread in the Roman world. There can be no doubt that these hands were intended to avert the evil eye. Sometimes the hands have instruments connected with the ecstatic worships of the East depicted upon them, such as the Phrygian flutes, the cymbals, or the sistrum. Case 106 contains several specimens of the last-named instrument. It was composed of a handle and loop-shaped metal frame, across which passed several movable metal rods. When the sistrum was shaken the curved ends of the rods came into violent contact with the sides of the frame and produced a metallic clang. The sistrum was used by the Egyptians in their religious rites, and particularly in the worship of Isis. With the introduction of that worship into Italy in the first century B.C., the Romans became familiar with it. Apuleius, a writer of the second century after Christ, mentions silver and gold sistra, as well as bronze. A silver example is here shown (No. 149). The decoration is often elaborate, a favourite ornament for the top being the group of the wolf suckling Romulus and Remus, or the recumbent figure of a panther.
To the same class of amulets as the votive hands must be assigned the terracotta model of a mirror, covered over with numerous objects of magical virtue (No. 150). Several of these are well-known attributes of deities, e.g. the thunderbolt, the trident, the club, the crescent, and the caduceus. The object of these amulets seems to have been to propitiate the deities whose symbols are represented on them.
Implements and methods of Worship.—(83) B.M. Inscr., 955; (84) C.I.L., VI., 180; (85) C.I.L., VI., 30689; Mus. Marbles, X., pl. 53, fig. 1; (86-87) Cat. of Lamps, 1407, 1408; (91) Cf. Mazois, Pompei, III., p. 22; Daremberg and Saglio, fig. 5; (92) Helbig, Homerisches Epos, 2nd ed., p. 353; (95) Athen. Mittheilungen, xxvi, p. 325; (96) Class. Rev., II., p. 297; (97) Cat. of Vases, III., E 114; (98) Cat. of Vases, II., B 633; (99) Guide to the Casts, 327; (100) Cat. of Lamps, 159; (101) B.M. Inscr., 1033; (102) Forman Sale Cat., 1899, No. 55, pl. 2.; (103) B.M. Inscr., 678; (105) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 112; (106) Cat. of Terracottas, C 614; (107) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 113; (110) Cat. of Bronzes, 888.
Votive Offerings.—(111) B.M. Inscr., 34; (112) B.M. Inscr., 139; (113) Excavations in Cyprus, p. 64; (114) Cat. of Sculpture, II., 1311; (115) Cat. of Sculpture, II., 1312; (116-120) Cat. of Sculpture, I., 799-812; (121) Cat. of Bronzes, 891; (123) Cat. of Sculpture, I., 798; (124) Cat. of Bronzes, 237; (125) B.M. Inscr., 165; Cat. of Bronzes, 261; (126) B.M. Inscr., 1102; (127) ibid., 1094; (128) Cat. of Bronzes, 3208; (130) ibid., 253; (131) B.M. Inscr., 958; (132) Cat. of Bronzes, 318; (133-135) Bonner Jahrb., CVII (1901), p. 61 ff., pls. 6, 7; (137) Cat. of Bronzes, 904; (138) ibid., 899; (139) ibid., 887; (140) ibid., 897; (141) ibid., 895; (142) ibid., 906; (144) Cf. Tod and Wace, Sparta Mus. Cat., p. 228; B.S.A., XII., p. 322 ff.
On votive offerings generally, cf. Rouse, Greek Votive Offerings, passim.
Superstition and Magic.—(145) Newton, Discoveries at Halicarnassus, Cnidus, and Branchidae, p. 719 ff. On these defixiones generally, see Audollent, Defixionum Tabellae, Paris, 1904; (146) Cat. of Bronzes, 3191-3194; cf. Daremberg and Saglio, Dict. des Ant., s.v. Clavus; (148) Cat. of Bronzes, 874-876; cf. Arch.-ep. Mitt., II., p. 44 ff.; (150) Cat. of Terracottas, E 129; Journ. Hell. Stud., VII., p. 44 ff.
For Greek religion, see Harrison, Prolegomena to the Study of Greek Religion; for Roman, Warde Fowler, The Roman Festivals.
17: Ἱαρὸς πάντων θεῶν ὅδε βωμός.
18: Similar objects have been found in the Catacombs. Cf. Seroux d'Agincourt, Sammlung d. Denkmaeler d. Sculptur, pl. viii., fig 27.
19: Cf. ὀβελὸς τρικώλιος as the measure of a sacrificial perquisite, in the inscriptions of Cos. Paton & Hicks, Inscrr. of Cos, No. 37, l. 53; No. 40b, l. 14.
20: Strom., v. 566.
21: Il. xxiii. 141 f.:
στὰς ἀπάνευθε πυρῆς ξανθὴν ἀπεκείρατο χαίτην,
τήν ῥα Σπερχειῷ ποταμῷ τρέφε τηλεθόωσαν.
22: Τῷ Ἁπόλλωνι τῷ Πριηλῆΐ μ' ἀνέθηκεν Ἡφαιστίων.
23: Λόφιός μ' ἀνέθηκε.
24: Τᾶς Ἥρας ἱαρός|ἐμι τᾶς ἐν πεδί| ωι Ϙυνίσϙο|ς με ἀνέθη|κε ὥρταμο|ς ϝέργων | δεκάταν.
25: Τῷ Πάνεπί μ' ἀνέστασε Σωκύδης.
26: ii. 153.
27:
I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) Dolicheno, u|bi ferrum nascit|ur, Flavius
Fidelis et Q. Iulius Posstim|us ex imperio ipsi|us pro se et suos (sic).
28: Cf. Livy, xxii. 1, 18: ... ut libertinae et ipsae, unde Feroniae donum daretur, pecuniam pro facultatibus suis conferrent.
29: Ov., Her. vi. 91 f.