DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.61617#0221
170
POMPEII
symbolic of the listening of the god to the prayers of his wor-
shippers.
Against the west wall of the colonnade, near the corners,
were two pedestals, with statues of female divinities about one
half life size. At the right was Isis, in archaic Greek costume,
with the inscription: L. Caecilius Phoebzts posuit l[ocd] d[ato~\
d\ecurionuin\ d{ecveto~\, ‘Set up by Lucius Caecilius Phoebus,
in a place granted by a decree of the city council ’; the
name indicates that the donor was a freedman. The other
statue, at the left, represents Venus drying her hair after the
bath; it is of a common type and possesses small value as a
work of art, yet is of interest because of the well preserved
painting and gilding. Venus, as many other goddesses, was
identified with Isis.
In the same corner with the statue of Venus, against the
south wall, stood the herm of Gaius Norbanus Sorex, a marble
pillar with a bronze head. According to the inscription, he was
an actor who played the second part (secundarum, sc. partium),
and was also magister of the suburb Pagus Augustus Felix.
He was probably a generous supporter of the temple. A dupli-
cate of the herm is found in the Eumachia building, to which
also he may have made a contribution. The low social stand-
ing of the various benefactors of the temple is noteworthy; it
indicates in what circles the worship of the Egyptian divinities
found its adherents. As yet this was by no means an aristo-
cratic cult, although it became such later, especially after the
time of Hadrian.
While the Greek and Roman gods were honored chiefly at
their festivals, the Egyptian divinities demanded worship every
day, indeed several times a day. The early service, the ‘open-
ing of the temple,’ is described for us by Apuleius, who was ad-
mitted to the college of the Servants of Isis in Rome in the time
of the Antonines, and wrote not far from 160 a.d. Before day-
break the priest went into the temple by the side entrance and
threw back 'the great doors, which were fastened on the inside.
White linen curtains were hung across the doorway, shielding
the interior from view. Now the street gate of the court was
opened; the thronging multitude of the devout streamed in and
POMPEII
symbolic of the listening of the god to the prayers of his wor-
shippers.
Against the west wall of the colonnade, near the corners,
were two pedestals, with statues of female divinities about one
half life size. At the right was Isis, in archaic Greek costume,
with the inscription: L. Caecilius Phoebzts posuit l[ocd] d[ato~\
d\ecurionuin\ d{ecveto~\, ‘Set up by Lucius Caecilius Phoebus,
in a place granted by a decree of the city council ’; the
name indicates that the donor was a freedman. The other
statue, at the left, represents Venus drying her hair after the
bath; it is of a common type and possesses small value as a
work of art, yet is of interest because of the well preserved
painting and gilding. Venus, as many other goddesses, was
identified with Isis.
In the same corner with the statue of Venus, against the
south wall, stood the herm of Gaius Norbanus Sorex, a marble
pillar with a bronze head. According to the inscription, he was
an actor who played the second part (secundarum, sc. partium),
and was also magister of the suburb Pagus Augustus Felix.
He was probably a generous supporter of the temple. A dupli-
cate of the herm is found in the Eumachia building, to which
also he may have made a contribution. The low social stand-
ing of the various benefactors of the temple is noteworthy; it
indicates in what circles the worship of the Egyptian divinities
found its adherents. As yet this was by no means an aristo-
cratic cult, although it became such later, especially after the
time of Hadrian.
While the Greek and Roman gods were honored chiefly at
their festivals, the Egyptian divinities demanded worship every
day, indeed several times a day. The early service, the ‘open-
ing of the temple,’ is described for us by Apuleius, who was ad-
mitted to the college of the Servants of Isis in Rome in the time
of the Antonines, and wrote not far from 160 a.d. Before day-
break the priest went into the temple by the side entrance and
threw back 'the great doors, which were fastened on the inside.
White linen curtains were hung across the doorway, shielding
the interior from view. Now the street gate of the court was
opened; the thronging multitude of the devout streamed in and