THE GALLO-ROMAN DODECAHEDRON AND THE RECEPTACLE OF ALL BECOMING

Abstract

Translate Article

Discussions of the Gallo-Roman dodecahedron often note the significance of the dodecahedron in Platonic and Pythagorean philosophy, but they tend not to relate the archaeology to the textual evidence in any detail. We attempt to do that in this paper. We argue that, whilst it remains the case that there is no contemporaneous description of the Gallo-Roman dodecahedron, there are several texts – including an overlooked passage in Iamblichus’ On the Pythagorean Life – that point to its possible inspiration. We relate these texts to the location of dodecahedra in Gaul and Britain and to the interest of the Druids in Pythagoras, which was frequently remarked upon by Roman commentators.