DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.15095#0117
PLATE XXXVIII.
A circular votive patera, engraved on both sides. On one side of
it, and encircled by a wreath of ivy, is an eagle securing a hare
with its talons. On the other side is Cupid sacrificing before a
lighted altar to the god of Lampsacus. The statue of Priapus is
placed, as usual, upon a pile of stones ; he holds in his right hand
a branch of the vine, and behind him is the Bacchanalian symbol,
the syrinx. The votary bears a lighted torch in his right hand,
and a patera filled with the accustomed offerings in the other hand.
Over these figures a canopy is suspended, one side of which is
supported by the branches of a tree.
A great number of these votive patera must have been offered
in the ancient temples. Sometimes they were of gold, and Pliny
mentions that Camillus offered three paterae made of this precious
metal, each inscribed with his own name, and that he placed them
at the feet of the statue of Juno, in the Capitol.(1)
This patera was found in the neighbourhood of Rome. Diameter,
10§ inches.
1 Camillus in urbem triumphans rediit, trium simul bellorum victor. Longe plurimos
captivos ex Etruscis ante currum duxit; quibus sub hasta venumdatis, tantum aeris
redactum est, ut pretio pro auro matronis persoluto, ex eo quod supererat tres paterae
aurea? factae sint: quas cum titulo nominis Camilli, ante Capitolium incensum, in Jovis
cella constat ante pedes Junonis positas fuisse.
Liv. lib. vi. c. 4.
A circular votive patera, engraved on both sides. On one side of
it, and encircled by a wreath of ivy, is an eagle securing a hare
with its talons. On the other side is Cupid sacrificing before a
lighted altar to the god of Lampsacus. The statue of Priapus is
placed, as usual, upon a pile of stones ; he holds in his right hand
a branch of the vine, and behind him is the Bacchanalian symbol,
the syrinx. The votary bears a lighted torch in his right hand,
and a patera filled with the accustomed offerings in the other hand.
Over these figures a canopy is suspended, one side of which is
supported by the branches of a tree.
A great number of these votive patera must have been offered
in the ancient temples. Sometimes they were of gold, and Pliny
mentions that Camillus offered three paterae made of this precious
metal, each inscribed with his own name, and that he placed them
at the feet of the statue of Juno, in the Capitol.(1)
This patera was found in the neighbourhood of Rome. Diameter,
10§ inches.
1 Camillus in urbem triumphans rediit, trium simul bellorum victor. Longe plurimos
captivos ex Etruscis ante currum duxit; quibus sub hasta venumdatis, tantum aeris
redactum est, ut pretio pro auro matronis persoluto, ex eo quod supererat tres paterae
aurea? factae sint: quas cum titulo nominis Camilli, ante Capitolium incensum, in Jovis
cella constat ante pedes Junonis positas fuisse.
Liv. lib. vi. c. 4.