The Dangers of Travel: Invoking the Deities of the Roads in the Roman Empire - Marco Simón előadása

Az ELTE BTK Régészettudományi Intézete szeretettel várja az érdeklődőket május 4-én 15 órakor Prof. Dr. Francisco Marco Simón (University of Zaragoza ) díszdoktori előadására.

The Dangers of Travel: Invoking the Deities of the Roads in the Roman Empire

In an under-policed world, movement away from the usual places of abode provoked anxiety in the traveller, not only because of the perils that could arise, but also because of the precariousness of his/her own social identity in a strange environment. Gods were therefore invoked for protection of the traveller during the journey and to facilitate the return home. Hence the importance of the vows to the divinity at the moment of departure, and their fulfilment after a happy return, through formulas of the pro itu et reditu type. The death or misfortune of the traveller is also recorded in diverse funerary inscriptions. Although there are several specific divinities invoked by travellers in the Roman world (such as Fortuna Redux, Lares Viales, not to mention Hercules or Mercury), this lecture focuses on epigraphic and iconographic evidence of some female divinities always mentioned in the plural as guardians of roads and crossroads in various provinces of the Latin West. An approach is made to the key elements of their divine personality, their cultic geography, their relationship with other deities and the actors involved in their worship.