Cook, Arthur B.: Zeus: a study in ancient religion (Band 1): Zeus god of the bright sky (Cambridge, 1914)

Zeus Dolichaios and Iupiter Dolichenus 609

of Tettia Pannuchia his daughter, of his household, of Aurelius Lampadius his
well-loved brother, and the safety of the priests, the candidates, and the
worshippers of this place, presented and dedicated the marble tablet with the
proscaenium1 and columns.

Those, whom Jupiter Dolichenus, Best and Greatest, has chosen to serve him:
M. Aurelius Oenopio Onesimus {by the sign of Acacius) notary, and Septimius
Antonius {by the sign of Olynipius) father1, candidates, patrons, well-loved
brothers and most honoured colleagues; Aurelius Magjteshts, Aurelius
Serapiacus, Antonius Marianus, M. Iulius Florentinus, chief persons^ of this
place j and Aurelms Severus the veteran, curator of the temple; and Aurelius
Antiochus, priest j Geminus Felix and Vibius Eutychianus, litter-bearers of the
ood^: Co......centianus

From this it appears that at Rome Iupiter Dolichemis was
regarded as a sky-god ('Preserver of the Whole Sky'), whose
principal priests—like the high officials of the Eleusinian mysteries5
—exchanged their old names for new and sacred titles. The title
' Provider Invincible' suggests that he was, on the one hand, a god
who fertilised the earth for the benefit of men, on the other hand,
a being comparable with various semi-barbaric deities described by
the Greeks as ' Zeus the Unconquered Sun6.' It was probably as
a solar power that he ordered the erection of a statue of Apollo in
his precinct7; for two inscriptions found at Rome link his name in
close and yet closer connexion with that of the sun-god. One8 is
a dedication—

To Iupiter Doliche7itis, Best and Greatest, the Eternal, and to the Sun, the
Worthy, the Pre-eminent—

the other9 a similar dedication—

To Iupiter Dolichenus, the Best, the Sun Pre-eminent, and to luno the Holy
Mistress, the Castors and Apollo the Preservers.

1 The word proscaenium is used of a facade or porch in front of the temple (De Vit
Lat. Lex. s.v. 'proscenium' § 3).

2 An inscription on a statue of Apollo, now at Charlottenhof near Potsdam but doubt-
less derived from the precinct of Iupiter Dolichenus on the Aventine, mentions the same
two persons by their ritual names only: ex prae|cepto | I. o. m. D. | per | Acacijum j
notari|um | et | Olympijum | patrem, | Antonii Mariani pater et Alius | simulacrum
Apollinis | statuerunt {Corp. inscr. Lat. vi nos. 408, 30759 = Kan op. cit. p. 72 no. 78
= Wilmanns Ex. inscr. Lat. no. 92, i=Dessau Inscr. Lat. set. no. 4318). The title
pater in both inscriptions means pater sacerdotuvi.

3 principe(s) [ huius loci. Cp. the principes sacerdotum of the Jews (De Vit Lat. Lex.
s.v. 'princeps' § 22).

4 lecticari dei. This implies that the image of the god was sometimes paraded in a
litter or ferculum (Smith—Wayte—Marindin Diet. Ant. ii. 824).

5 Frazer Golden Bough9: Taboo p. 382 f.

6 Supra pp. 190, 193. 7 Supra n. 2.

8 Corp. insc. Lat. vi no. 412 = Kan op. cit. p. 69 no. 72 = Dessau Inscr. Lat. set.
no. 4319: I. o. m. a. D. et | Soli digno pres., | etc. This should be read Iovi Optimo
maximo aeterno (rather than Augusto) Dolicheno et Soli digno prestantissimo, etc. Cp.
Kan op. cit. p. 76 no. 88 I. o. m. D. | et Soli | sacrum.

9 Corp. inscr. Lat. vi no. 4i3 = Kan op. cit. p. 68 f. no. 7i=Dessau Inscr. Lat. set.

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