ALTAR TO BELENUS (AQUILEIA) Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL AN2008.46.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum AN2008.46 AshLI 166

An altar, on a pedestal, with inscription on the front face 1.01 0.39 (base), 0.36 (top), 0.285 (die), 0.36 (top) 0.27 (base), 0.21 (die), 0.27 (top) At the top there are built-in acroteria on each side. The top surface has been deeply cut away (0.075), and the top strip is missing at the rear. The moulding only goes around the front and sides. The sides are smooth, the rear rough. It was therefore possibly originally designed to stand up against a wall.

The text is inscribed within a moulded frame. Inscribed campus: 0.558, 0.22. Each line of text is centred.

 0.032 (line 1); 0.028 (line 2); 0.022 (line 3); 0.02 (lines 4-10); 0.017 (line 11-13). Line 7, line above N. San Martino at Beligna, near Aquileia possibly first century AD (Maraspin; Wojciechowski); or second century AD (EDR) This altar was found (perhaps reused) in the medieval Benedictine monastery of San Martino at Beligna, near Aquileia, which was probably built on the site of a temple to the god Belenus. The modern toponym Beligna is derived from that god’s name (Pascal 1964: p.125). The monastery fell into disuse in the mid-15th century, and many inscriptions were found built into its structures. The altar was one of twelve stones relating to the cult of Belenus found during the 16th century, which were sent as a gift by Giovanni Savorgnan of Venice to Giovanni Grimani, patriarch (i.e. bishop) of Aquileia in 1548 who in turn took them to Venice (Pighe 1587: p.266). It was then kept at the Palazzo Grimani in Venice, where it was seen by Pighe, Scoto (1679: p.10 – in the portico of the palazzo) Cicogna and Grisellini, and A’ Turre (1700) (CIL V p.1024), until the 19th century. It was then last seen by Mommsen in Venice, in 1867, in the possession of an antiquities’ dealer by the name of Righetti, and it then disappeared from record. The editor of Aquileia’s modern epigraphic corpus, Brusin, could not track it down in more recent times. It was accepted by HM government in lieu of tax on the estate of Sir Howard Colvin. It is currently in a storeroom. Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph Photograph
Beleno Augusto sacrum Lucius Cornelius Lucii filius Vellina Secundinus Aquileia evocatus Augusti nostri quod in urbe donum vovit Aquileiam perlatum libens posuit loco dato decreto decurionum

Sacred to Belenus Augustus. Lucius Cornelius Secundinus, son of Lucius, of the Velina voting-tribe, from Aquileia, evocatus of our Augustus. The gift which he vowed at Rome, brought to Aquileia, he willingly set up in a place given by decree of the local councillors.

BILENO (Ligorio, MS. Taur.) SAC (Capodaglio, Zandonati); SACRVM (Ligorio, MS Turin) L F VELL (Ligorio, MS Turin); VELL lapis; VEL (Asquini) QVOO (Scoto); VRBE (Capodaglio)

The worship of Belenus, a Celtic sun-god sometimes assimilated with Apollo, was prominent in the region around Aquileia (Pascal 1964: pp.123-28; see also Brusin 1991: vol. 1, pp.51-77; Wojciechowski 2001: pp.29-57). Belenus was believed to have helped the people of Aquileia in AD 238, whilst they were being besieged by Maximinus Thrax (Herodian 8.3.8; SHA Maximini 22). As well as watching over the city, the god was considered to show an interest in protecting the welfare of individuals too. This altar was set up by an individual, Secundinus, who was an Aquileian by origin, enrolled in the town’s voting-tribe Velina, but who had served in the army at Rome in the praetorian or urban cohort (Maraspin 1967-68: p.160). The formula LDDD indicates that he received permission from the local council to set up the altar on public space. In this way, he was honouring the local god after safely returning home on his retirement from active service.

Panvinius, MS. cod. Vat. 6035 f. 107 (according to CIL, but Vatican MS. did not correspond to this reference); Ligorio, Napoli, Libri delle Antichità MS. Neapol. bibl. V. E. 5, XXV, lib. VI (III, XIII bis) (according to Brusin); Ligorio MS. Turin vol. 3 ‘A’, 17 s.v. ‘Aquileia’ (indicates altar shape as context for the inscription); Pighe MS. cod. bibl. Berol. A 61 h, f. 10 (according to Brusin); Pighe (1587) p.265; Gruter (1616) p.36 no.15; Capodaglio, bibl. mun. Utin., MS. 312 fondo Joppi, f. 71, n.97  (according to Brusin); Henricus Palladio, De Olivis rerum Foroiuliensium libri undecim (Utini 1659) p.83 (according to Brusin); Scoto [Scotus] (1679) p.12; A’ Turre (1700) pp.263, 268; Bertoli (1739) p.87.no.55 (following A’ Turre); Asquini (1827) p.48 no.v (following Bertoli and A’ Turre); Zandonati (1849) p.222 no.. XCIII (following Bertoli); CIL V 742 (Mommsen, 1872); CIL V p.1024 (Mommsen, 1877); ILS 4870 (1955); Brusin (1991) vol. 1, no. 141; Wojciechowski (2001) p. 142 no.15; Ashmolean Museum Department of Antiquities MS. Accession Register 2008.46

Online: EDCS -01600018 [accessed 11/04/14]; EDR 116831 [last updated 28/07/15, Mainardis] [accessed 16/06/16]

Asquini G. 1827 Del Forogiulio dei carni e di quello d’altru popoli traspadani lettera del conte Girolamo Asquini Verona Pietro Bisesti A’ Turre P. 1700 Monumenta veteris Antii hoc est inscriptio M. Aquilii et tabula solis Mithrae variis figuris & symbolis exsculpta quae nuper inibi reperta, nunc prodeunt commentario illustrata & accurate explicata. Accedunt dissertationes de Beleno et aliis quibusdam Aquileiensium diis et de colonia Forojuliensi Rome Novis Typis Cajetani Zenobii, & Georgii Plachi Bertoli G. 1739 Le antichtià d’Aquileia profane e sacre Venice G. Albrizzi BrusinJ.B. 1991 Inscriptiones Aquileiae I 1 Pubblicazioni della Deputazione di Storia Patria per il Friuli 20 Udine GruterJ. 1616 Inscriptionum Romanarum corpus absolutissimum Amsterdam Ligorio P. Antichità romane Vol. 3. (Archivio di Stato, Torino: Warburg photocopy, 19/5/1975) Maraspin F. 1967-68 Il culto di Beleno-Apollo ad Aquileia Atti, Centro studi e documentazioni sull’Italia romana I 147-61 Pascal C.B. 1964 The Cults of Cisalpine Gaul Brussels Collection Latomus 75 Pighe S. [Pighius] 1587 Hercules Prodicius, seu principis iuventutis vita et peregrinatio Antverpiae Christopher Plantinus Scoto F. 1679 Itinerario overo nuova descrittione de’viaggi principali Venice Presso il Brigonci Wojciechowski P. 2001 Untersuchungen zu den Lokalkulten im römischen Aquileia. Herkunft, Funktion und Anhängerschaft Toruń Wydawnictwo Uniwersytetu Mikołaja Kopernika Zandonati V. 1849 Guida storica dell’antica Aquileja ColiziaG.B. Seitz