Temples and shrines
The main deity worshipped in Antium was Fortuna, in two forms, as in Praeneste: as mother goddess and as warrior goddess (Horatius, Carmina I,35; Macrobius, Saturnalia I,23,13). In 41 BC Octavianus, the later Emperor Augustus, "borrowed" money from a temple in Antium, presumably the Temple of Fortuna:
But war was raging in all the provinces that had fallen to the lot of Octavian except Sardinia, for which reason he borrowed money from the temples, promising to return it with thanks - from the Capitoline temple at Rome, from those of Antium, of Lanuvium, of Nemus, and of Tibur, in which cities there are today the most abundant stores of consecrated money. Appianus, Civil Wars V,24,97. Translation Horace White. In 63 AD Poppaea, Nero's wife, gave birth to a daughter in Antium, and statues of the two Fortunae of Antium were taken to Rome:
Memmio Regulo et Verginio Rufo consulibus natam sibi ex Poppaea filiam Nero ultra mortale gaudium accepit appellavitque Augustam dato et Poppaeae eodem cognomento. locus puerperio colonia Antium fuit, ubi ipse generatus erat. Iam senatus uterum Poppaeae commendaverat dis votaque publice susceperat, quae multiplicata exolutaque. Et additae supplicationes templumque fecunditatis et certamen ad exemplar Actiacae religionis decretum, utque Fortunarum effigies aureae in solio Capitolini Iovis locarentur, ludicrum circense, ut Iuliae genti apud Bovillas, ita Claudiae Domitiaeque apud Antium ederetur. Quae fluxa fuere, quartum intra mensem defuncta infante. Rursusque exortae adulationes censentium honorem divae et pulvinar aedemque et sacerdotem. Atque ipse ut laetitiae, ita maeroris immodicus egit. Adnotatum est, omni senatu Antium sub recentem partum effuso, Thraseam prohibitum immoto animo praenuntiam imminentis caedis contumeliam excepisse. Secutam dehinc vocem Caesaris ferunt qua reconciliatum se Thraseae apud Senecam iactaverit ac Senecam Caesari gratulatum: unde gloria egregiis viris et pericula gliscebant. During the consulship of Memmius Regulus and Verginius Rufus, Nero welcomed with something more than mortal joy the birth of a daughter by Poppaea, whom he called Augusta, the same title having also been given to Poppaea. The place of her confinement was the colony of Antium, where the emperor himself was born. Already had the Senate commended Poppaea's safety to the gods, and had made vows in the State's name, which were repeated again and again and duly discharged. To these was added a public thanksgiving, and a temple was decreed to the goddess of fecundity, as well as games and contests after the type of the ceremonies commemorative of Actium, and golden images of the two Fortunes were to be set up on the throne of Jupiter of the Capitol. Shows too of the circus were to be exhibited in honour of the Claudian and Domitian families at Antium, like those at Bovillae in commemoration of the Julii. Transient distinctions all of them, as within four months the infant died. Again there was an outburst of flattery, men voting the honours of deification, of a shrine, a temple, and a priest. The emperor, too, was as excessive in his grief as he had been in his joy. It was observed that when all the Senate rushed out to Antium to honour the recent birth, Thrasea was forbidden to go, and received with fearless spirit an affront which foreboded his doom. Then followed, as rumour says, an expression from the emperor, in which he boasted to Seneca of his reconciliation with Thrasea, on which Seneca congratulated him. And now henceforth the glory and the peril of these illustrious men grew greater. Tacitus, Annals 15,23. Translation A.J. Church and W.J. Brodribb. The remains of the temple have not yet been found. It was probably near the Imperial villa, because a freedman of the Julio-Claudian family, Philetus, was aedituus Fortunarum, guardian of the temple (EDR180920).
In the Palazzo Massimo alle Terme in Rome is a mosaic of glass paste, found in a niche hacked out in the rock, discovered in 1931 in the Villa Sarsina. It has a depiction of a seated Hercules holding a cup and a club, crowned with ivy. To his left is a naked young man, to his right a pig destined for sacrifice. On either side of the niche are panels with marine creatures. This must have been a little shrine (sacellum) of Hercules. It has been dated to the reign of Nero.
The mosaic with Hercules from a niche. Photo: Wikimedia, Lalupa.
Detail of the mosaic with Hercules from a niche. Photo: Wikimedia, Lalupa.Other cults are documented by literary sources. Ovidius has a story about Apollo and Aesculapius (Ovidius, Metamorphoses XV,718-727), while Tacitus informs us about the cult of Fortuna Equestris during the reign of Tiberius:
Incessit dein religio quonam in templo locandum foret donum quod pro valetudine Augustae equites Romani voverant equestri Fortunae: nam etsi delubra eius deae multa in urbe, nullum tamen tali cognomento erat. Repertum est aedem esse apud Antium quae sic nuncuparetur, cunctasque caerimonias Italicis in oppidis templaque et numinum effigies iuris atque imperii Romani esse. Ita donum apud Antium statuitur. Next came a religious question, as to the temple in which ought to be deposited the offering which the Roman knights had vowed to Fortune of the Knights for the recovery of Augusta. Although that Goddess had several shrines in Rome, there was none with this special designation. It was ascertained that there was a temple so called at Antium, and that all sacred rites in the towns of Italy as well as temples and images of deities were under the jurisdiction and authority of Rome. Accordingly the offering was placed at Antium. Tacitus, Annals 3,71. Translation A.J. Church and W.J. Brodribb. Still more information is provided by inscriptions, for example for the cult of Mercurius (EDR121516), Spes (EDR170816, EDR179999), and Ceres:
CLAVDIA ATTICA
ATTICI AVC(usti) LIB(erti) A RATIONIB(us)
IN SACRARIO CERERIS ANTIATINAE
DEOS SVA IMPENSA POSVIT
SACERDOTE IVLIA PROCVLA
IMP(eratore) CAESAR(e) DOMITIANO
AVG(usto) GERMANIC(o) XI CO(n)S(ule)Claudia Attica, (wife of)
Atticus, Imperial freedman, secretary of finance,
in the shrine of Ceres Antiatina
placed the gods at her own expense,
with Iulia Procula, priestess,
in the 11th consulate of Emperor Caesar Domitianus
Augustus Germanicus.Slab found in Anzio. Verona, Museo Maffeiano. 85 AD. EDR127395. Photo: EDCS-21300926.
Quite remarkable is a group of three altars, dedicated to the Winds, Tranquillity, and Neptunus. They were dredged up from the harbour basin in the late seventeenth century. They are decorated with galley rams, and with a ship or deity. Originally they must have stood close to the water's edge, perhaps on a jetty, to be used by departing or arriving sailors.
Group of three marble altars. Musei Capitolini, Rome. First half of the 1st century AD.
Av. h. 0.62, av. diam. 0.38. EDR171231-3. Photo: Arnaud - Keay 2020, fig. 2.2.With quite some difficulty objects related to the cult of Mithras and of Egyptian deities have been tracked down. Two Mithraic reliefs have been found in Antium. One, known from an engraving, was found in 1699. The other seems to be in the Museo Maffeiano Lapidario in Verona. A painting of Mithras was found in the 19th century, apparently in a mithraeum, but quickly reburied.
Engraving of a Mithraic relief, found in 1699. Image: Palma Venetucci-Cacciotti-Mangiafesta 2018, fig. 10a.
Mithraic relief in the Museo Maffeiano Lapidario in Verona. W. 0.55, h. 0.555.
Second century AD. Photo: Palma Venetucci-Cacciotti-Mangiafesta 2018, fig. 11a.There must have been at least one temple dedicated to Egyptian deities in Antium. In 1749 a statue of Anubis was found. The dog-headed deity is represented as Mercurius. He stands next to a palm tree, and is holding a caduceus and a sistrum. In the first half of the 18th century a votive relief of Anubis was found, with the caduceus and a palm branch. It was dedicated by the freedman Agathemerus. Other finds are a bust of Serapis, a basalt statue of a priest of Isis, and a statue of a priestess of Isis (Palazzo Corsini, Rome).
Marble statue of Anubis. H. 1.55. Vatican Museums, Rome. Photo: Wikimedia, Colin.
Marble votive relief of Anubis. W. 0.32, h. 0.205. EDR157154. Louvre, Paris. Photo: Louvre.
Bust of Serapis. H. 1.43. Museo Torlonia, Rome.
Photo: Palma Venetucci-Cacciotti-Mangiafesta 2018, fig. 7a.
Basalt statue of a priest of Isis. Brockelsby Park, UK.
Photo: Palma Venetucci-Cacciotti-Mangiafesta 2018, fig. 8.
