DEDICATION TO SILVANUS, ROME Alison E. Cooley AEC/ASHL ANChandler.3.14.xml Oxford Ashmolean Museum ANChandler.3.14 AshLI 13

A white marble altar (not basis, as in CIL), with a focus on top (0.65 0.30 0.23). On the left side is a jug, and on the right a patera. The altar’s rear is roughly finished. It is in a fairly good condition, but is damaged on the left at the rear.

Inscribed area on front face, within a moulded frame: 0.31 0.18. Triangular interpuncts occur in the last four lines only. Ligorio and Matal gave accurate transcriptions, but added in more regular interpuncts. In line 9, there is a ligature of NI at the end of the line; the I in Minicio has not been omitted by mistake, as suggested in some earlier editions.

0.08. Outside the porta Flumentana (i.e. beyond the modern piazza del Popolo), between the via Flaminia and the Tiber river 1st August AD 108 (consular date, ll.9-12). This inscription is described as found in a ‘vinea/vineyard’ (i.e., villa – for its meaning, see Coffin 1979: p.viii) just outside the porta Flumentana (i.e. beyond the modern piazza del Popolo), between the via Flaminia and the Tiber river, which belonged to Cardinal Giovanni Ricci of Montepulciano during the years 1547-49 (Coffin 1979: p.174, p.219). This provenance is given by Ligorio (MS. Napoli cod. XIII B.7, with an accurate transcription of the text in MS. Napoli cod. XIII B.10), Matal (=Metellus MS. cod. Vat. Lat. 6039), and Smet. (Naples MS. V E-4) It is more vaguely described by Morillon (MS. OTM Hs I D 27) as found beyond the Porta del Popolo on the via Flaminia. Other sources (Ligorio MS. Turin; Manutius 1566; Prideaux 1676; Gruter 1707; Chandler 1763, Syllabus pars tertia p.xvi) describe it as found beyond the porta Flumentana between the via Flaminia and the Tiber in a vinea belonging to Hieronimo Ceuli [= Cevoli], who belonged to a rich banking family and was active from around 1549 until his death in 1579 (Delumeau 1957-59: vol.1, p.463 + vol. 2, pp.661, 861, 881), probably reflecting the villa’s change of ownership during the second half of the sixteenth century. Cittadini (MS. Bib Marciana), however, recorded its discovery in the vinea Spannocchi outside the Porta del Popolo. Waelscapple (1554) stated that the inscription was currently in the Palazzo Cesi, in error (as noted in CIL), and his edition of the text shows other confusion, since he gives two versions of the text on opposite pages of his folio. It was bought by Thomas Howard, Earl of Arundel, and was initially displayed in his London house (Selden 1629). It belongs to the Arundel Collection, given to the University of Oxford by Henry Howard, Earl of Arundel, in 1667 (Prideaux 1676). The Arundel marbles were first displayed in the ‘Garden of Antiquities’ outside the new Sheldonian Theatre from 1668/9 (Sturdy and Moorcraft 1999), and were subsequently transferred indoors in 1715 to ‘The Marble School’, an upper gallery in the Bodleian quadrangle. In 1749, they were transferred downstairs to the ground floor in the former School of Moral Philosophy, and at some point then ended up in the basement of the (Old) Ashmolean Museum on Broad Street (now the Museum of the History of Science) (Munby 2013). It is included in a list of antique marbles transferred from the Ashmolean Museum basement room to the marble rooms of the Randolph Building in January 1888 (Archive MS. ‘Marbles sent from Ashmolean Museum’ p.28 no.137). The Ashmolean Museum in its current location was built behind the University Galleries, was opened in 1894, and finally the University Galleries and Ashmolean were amalgamated by statute in 1908. The inscription is on display in the Rome Gallery. Photograph: front face Photograph: side
Silvano sacrum sodalicio eius et Larum donum posuitTiberius Claudius Augusti libertus Fortunatus a cura amicorum idemque dedicavit et epulum dedit decuris numero IIII kalendis Augustis Caio Mini cio Fundano et Caio Vettennio Se vero consulibus

Tiberius Claudius Fortunatus, freedman of the emperor, set (this) up sacred to Silvanus, as a gift for the association of Silvanus and the Lares through the agency of his friends and he also dedicated (it) and gave a feast to officials, four in number, on the 1st August in the consulship of Gaius Minicius Fundanus and Gaius Vettennius Severus.

ICIOS ET LARVM (Ligorio, Turin ms) on one line (Orelli) POS TI CLAVDIVS AVG (de Winghe MS. 17872-3) IDEMQ (Smet, in Lips) DECVPIS (Manutius); DE. CVPIIS (Ligorio, ms Turin); DE CVRIS (Selden, Maittaire); DECVRÌS (Gruter) AVGVTIS (Maittaire); MIN/CIO (Sirmond; de Winghe MS. 17872-3, Smet, Lips, Morillon); MINI/CIO (with ligatured NI, Manutius and Cittadini in MS Bib Marc); M..N (Selden); MINV (Prideaux, Maittaire); MINI/CÌO (Gruter); MIN/CIO (Orelli, sic for MINVCIO) ; MMI/CIO (Waelscapple) VEITENNIO (Selden, Maittaire, Chandler); VETTENNIO (Sirmond, Cittadini, Morillon, Prideaux)

Along with the Lares and Penates, Silvanus was thought to have a role in protecting the household. Consequently, joint dedications to Silvanus and the Lares are fairly common at Rome, and the combination was especially popular among imperial slaves and freedmen (Dorcey (1992) p.24). Another dedication to Silvanus by an imperial freedman Fortunatus, through the agency of his friends, may be by the same individual (CIL VI 604). The consular date given at the end is AD 108.

Matal {=Metellus} MS. cod. Vat. Lat. 6039 f.263; Smet MS. Naples V E-4 f.92; Ligorio, Napoli, Libri delle Antichità cod. XIII B.7 (1550/60) = book 34 p.67 (following Smet) (= Orlandi 2008: p.66); Ligorio, Napoli, Libri delle Antichità cod. XIII B.10 (1550/60) = book 39 186v (= Orlandi 2009: p.248); Ligorio ms Turin vol. 15 f.111 (following Manutius); Waelscapple (1554) MS. Berlin Staatsbibl. Lat. A61s f.74’ (two versions given of the text on f.73’ and f.74); Manutius (1566) p.458, no.15; Lips [Smet] (1588) f.27 no.8; Morillon, MS. OTM Hs I D 27, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Amsterdam f.43; Pighe Berlin MS. Lat. fol. 61h. f.38/LXXIII; Cittadini MS cod. Bib. Marciana Lat. XIV, 116 (= 4661) f.168; de Winghe Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique MS. 17872, vol. 1 f.77 (= Ciacconio Raff. {i.e. Alfonso Chacón} f.141, according to CIL); Sirmond MS. Paris suppl. Lat. 1419 = Lat. 10808, no. 297; Gude MS. 130, 4, ad Grut. ed. 2 (according to CIL); Selden (1629) p.52 no.6; Prideaux (1676) p.113, no.49; Gruter (1707) p.63 no.1 (following Smet); Maittaire (1732) p.34, no.44 + p.560; Chandler (1763) p.131, no.14; Orelli (1828) I 1588 (following Chandler); CIL VI.1 no.630 [Hübner] (1876); ILS 1699 + 3541 (Dessau 1955)

Online: EDCS-17300773 [accessed 25/08/14]

Ashmolean Museum Department of Antiquities Marbles sent from Ashmolean Museum Chandler R. 1763 Marmora Oxoniensia Clarendon Press Oxford Cittadini Celso[Cittadinius] 1553-1627 MS. cod. Bib. Marciana Lat. XIV, 116 (= 4661) ‘Inscriptiones antiquae a Celso Cittadini exscriptae cum annotationibus anno 1604 (from scan kindly provided by Biblioteca Nazionale Marciana). Coffin D.R. 1979 The Villa in the Life of Renaissance Rome Princeton, NJ Princeton University Press Delumeau J> 1957-59 Vie économique et sociale de Rome dans la seconde moitié du XVI siècle Paris Boccard Dorcey P.F. 1992 The Cult of Silvanus. A Study in Roman Folk Religion Leiden Brill GruterJ. 1707 Inscriptiones Antiquae Totius Orbis Romani Amsterdam Ligorio P. Antichità romane vol. 15 ‘R’ Archivio di Stato, Torino Warburg photocopy, 19/5/1975 Lips J.[=Lipsius, I.] [M. Smet] 1588 Inscriptionum antiquarum quae passim per Europam liber accessit auctarium a Iusto Lipsio Lyon Plantiniana Maittaire M. 1732, 2nd edn. Marmorum, Arundellianorum, Seldenianorum, Aliorumque Academiae Oxoniensi Donatorum London William Bowyer ManutiusA. 1566 Orthographiae Ratio Venice Matal J. [Metellus] MS. cod. Vat. Lat. 6039 Morillon Antonius MS. OTM Hs I D 27, Koninklijke Bibliotheek, Amsterdam from scan kindly provided by Universiteit van Amsterdam, Universiteitsbibliotheek, Bibliotheek Bijzondere Collecties Munby J. 2013 A rare collection: Oxford museums past and present Excalibur: Essays on Antiquity and the History of Collecting in Honour of Arthur MacGregor H. Wiegel and M. Vickers Oxford BAR Int. ser. 2512 75-85 Orelli J.C. 1828 Inscriptionum Latinarum Selectarum Amplissima Collectio vols I-II I-II Turici Orlandi S. 2008 Pirro Ligorio. Libri delle iscrizioni latine e greche. Libri delle Antichità Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli. Codici ligoriana Vol. 7 Cod. XIII B.7/ Libri XXXIV-XXXVIII Rome De Luca Editori d'Arte Orladni S. 2009 Pirro Ligorio. Libro delle iscrizioni dei sepolcri antichi. Libri delle Antichità Napoli, Biblioteca Nazionale di Napoli. Codici ligoriana Vol. 8 Cod. XIII B.8/ Libri XXXIX Rome De Luca Editori d’Arte Pighe S.V.[Pighius] Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin - Preußischer Kulturbesitz MS. Lat. fol. 61h. from scan kindly provided by Staatsbibliothek zu Berlin Prideaux H. 1676 Marmora Oxoniensia ex Arundellianis, Seldenianis, aliisque conflata Oxford Sheldonian Theatre Selden J. 1629 Marmora Arundelliana London Sirmond J.[Sirmondus] 1559-1651 Recueil d'inscriptions copiées par Sirmond. Bibliothèque nationale de France, Département des manuscrits, Latin 10808 http://gallica.bnf.fr/ark:/12148/btv1b9077728w [accessed 03/10/2013] Smet M. Inscriptiones antiquae per urbem Romam diligenter collectae atque ex alis cum Italiae tum Hispaniae locis studiose conquisitae fidelissimeque ut in ipsis marmoribus legebantur descriptae, Naples MS. V E-4 Naples: Biblioteca nazionale 1990: Warburg facsimile Sturdy D. and N. Moorcraft 1999 Christopher Wren and Oxford’s garden of antiquities Minerva 10.1 25-28 Waelscapple M. van 1554 Sylloge epigraphica [MS. Berlin Staatsbibl. Lat. A61s] Warburg facsimile Winghe P. de[Winghius] 1560-1592 Inscriptiones Sacrae et Prophanae Collectae Romae et in Aliis Italiae Urbibus, Bibliotheque Royale de Belgique MS. 17872 vol.1 Warburg facsimile