The Cult of Azizos in Roman Dacia: New Approaches

Abstract

The spread of the cult of the divinity of Syrian-Arabic origin Azizos from the East to the Danubian provinces and Rome has traditionally been related to its importance in the Syrian city of Edessa and to different Roman military campaigns against the Parthians and the Sassanid Persians in that same area, in the second and third centuries A.D. Through the analysis of the epigraphic repertoire of this divinity in Dacia, as well as with the study of certain monetary emissions of the time of Emperor Elagabalus and with the revision of the ancient literary texts, we present certain results, which can open new perspectives of study. The importance of Edessa as the origin of the spread of the cult of Azizos in Dacia can be generally confirmed, in the cases of some inscriptions of precise dating and by the military character of the dedicants. On the other hand, a new proposal is introduced in relation to the inclusion of the god in the triad of the city of Emesa and with the possible diffusion of the cult jointly or parallel to the Sol Inuictus Elagabal in the time of Emperor Elagabalus, when we refer to inscriptions of imprecise dating at the time of the Severan dynasty and the dedicators are not military and have no direct relationship with any of the campaigns in Parthia.