Roman Imperial Cult Research Articles

Malleable Masculinity: Rethinking Paul’s Masculinity in Light of Valerius Maximus

Scholarly appraisals of Paul’s masculinity differ widely. Some conclude that Paul is presented (by himself or another author) as an ideal man. Others argue that Paul rejects dominant norms of manliness or that he offers a countercultural alternative. This article draws on the work of Valerius Maximus, whose writing has been neglected in this conversation, to argue that Roman imperial culture offered a variety of measures of elite masculinity. Scholars often mention control of self and others as norms of manliness, and of these Valerius emphasizes practices of self-control. Even with this knowledge, however, evaluating masculinity requires discernment. An individual’s motivations and circumstances are essential factors in Valerius’s application of the social norms. The article encourages scholars to consider this more complex set of cultural norms in assessing the manliness of Paul or other New Testament figures.

Visualization of the Image of the Nile: Cultural and Geographical Environment of Nilotic Scenes fromthe Julio-Claudian Period

This article addresses the problem of the cross-­cultural dialogue between Egypt and Rome on the example of the image of the Nile, visually embodied in the Nilotic scenes. The geographical scope of the research is limited to the territory of Italy, since this region most accurately reflected the Roman perception of Egyptian culture and was least dependent on the historical prejudices of inhabitants of other provinces of the Roman Empire. It is emphasized that the particularity of the Nilotic scenes is that they are based not on a set of predetermined illustrations of the daily life of the Egyptians, but on a stylistic image that unites the themes of the Nile Flood. Simultaneously, the Nilotic scenes under study have several common features. First, there always is an image of the water element, which in most cases is quite accurately identified as a river valley. Second, there is a typical Nilotic flora and fauna. Third, images of river vessels often occur: from single reed shuttles to ships with deck superstructures and a crew of several people. Fourth and finally, the inhabitants of the Nile Valley are represented as dwarfs. The conclusion is that the political component, which was supposed to remind of the events of the late first century BC, was embodied in special ways of artistic expression of Egyptian realities, particularly in the appearance of dwarfs in the Nilotic scenes. In certain cases, the political context could also be highlighted with colour, such as in the frescoes from the cubicula of the House of Livia on the Palatine Hill, where the yellow frame symbolizes the Golden Age and the glory of Augustus, recalling his victory over Egypt. Generally, the given research suggests that, from the reign of the Julio-­Claudians on, the image of the Nile gradually became involved in the process of transformation of the topoi of the Egyptian civilization into symbols of the new Roman imperial culture. Egypt became a part of the Roman world, and the empire accepted and accommodated cultural diversity of the new province.

The Destruction of the Serapeum in 391

This article reconsiders the destruction of the Serapeum in Alexandria by Christian militants in 391 within the context of Christianization in the late fourth century. The attack on the Serapeum was a deliberately staged, high-profile act of religious violence designed to demonstrate to the wider imperial community that the Roman state was no longer interested in protecting targeted cult sites from Christian militants, and that the perpetrators of such violence would suffer no negative consequences for their actions. The Serapeum, dedicated to the worship of the gods Serapis and Isis, was traditionally associated with the Ptolemaic dynasty of Egypt and with the pharaonic and later Roman Imperial cult. The destruction of this religious and cultural complex by a Christian mob, acting under the direction of the local bishop Theophilus, was a deliberate act of vandalism intended to demonstrate the greater power of the Christian God over his spiritual competitors. In addition, the destruction of this famous sanctuary was undertaken with the approval of the reigning emperor, signaling a change in the locus of sacral authority in the Roman world as Roman emperors were now abandoning traditional pharaonic and Hellenistic models of divine kingship by ceding spiritual authority to Christian bishops.

Christ’s Πίστις vs. Caesar’s Fides: Πίστις Χριστοῦ in Galatians and the Roman Imperial Cult

This study examines the meaning of πίστις Χριστοῦ with respect to the political and religious situations of Paul’s Galatian recipients, including the issue of circumcision. When the apostle sent his letter to the Galatian churches, the Gentile believers were returning to the Roman imperial cult; by doing so, they were accepting the emperor as the ultimate authority and benefactor and incorporated into the reciprocity of fides. Through πίστις Χριστοῦ, our apostle criticised and superseded this Roman imperial ideology and the imperial cult. Paul’s πίστις Χριστοῦ was intended to advocate Christ’s faithfulness in opposition to Caesar’s faithfulness. He exhorted the recipients to live in a relationship of πίστις with Christ, not Caesar. Christ’s faithfulness and ‘the believer’s faith in Christ’ are not mutually exclusive. Paul deliberately intended the ambivalence of the Greek phrase to denote the reciprocal πίστις between Christ and the believer. The apostle defined the believer’s relationship with both the Jewish tradition and the Roman Empire concurrently.

Online-Only Content

Next article FreeOPEN ACCESS ON AJA ONLINE (www.ajaonline.org)Online-Only ContentPDFPDF PLUSFull Text Add to favoritesDownload CitationTrack CitationsPermissionsReprints Share onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditEmailQR Code SectionsMoreOnline-only content accompanying American Journal of Archaeology Volume 122, Number 3 (July 2018)SUPPLEMENTARY CONTENTImage Gallery: The Functions of Masons' Marks in the Bronze Age Palace at Malia (Crete), by Maud DevolderImage Gallery: A Cultural History of the Cretan Labyrinth: Monument and Memory from Prehistory to the Present, by Antonis KostonasImage Gallery: Urban Images in Glass from the Late Roman Empire: The Souvenir Flasks of Puteoli and Baiae, by Maggie L. PopkinAppendix: Dataset of Minoan Masons' Marks, by Maud DevolderAppendix: Inscriptions and Images That Appear on the Surviving Flasks of the Puteoli-Baiae Group, by Maggie L. PopkinMUSEUM REVIEWPresenting the Warrior? Iron Age Scythian Materials and Gender Identity at the British Museum, by James A. JohnsonREVIEW ARTICLECreating Meaning in Archaeology, by Peter S. AllenBOOK REVIEWSSocial Theory in Archaeology and Ancient History: The Present and Future of Counternarratives, edited by Geoff Emberling. Reviewed by Guy D. MiddletonGendered Labor in Specialized Economies: Archaeological Perspectives on Female and Male Work, edited by Sophia E. Kelly and Traci Ardren. Reviewed by Thomas E. EmersonKataret Es-Samra, Jordan: The 1985 Excavation and Survey, by Albert Leonard, Jr. Reviewed by Alexander AhrensMrs. Naunakhte and Family: The Women of Ramesside Deir al-Medina, by Koenraad Donker van Heel. Reviewed by Margaret Taylor DeaneThe Sunshade Chapel of Meritaten from the House-of-Waenre of Akhenaten, by Josef Wegner. Reviewed by Jacquelyn WilliamsonSummer Farms: Seasonal Exploitation of the Uplands from Prehistory to the Present, edited by John Collis, Mark Pearce, and Franco Nicolis. Reviewed by Emily HoltMaritime Transport Containers in the Bronze-Iron Age Aegean and Eastern Mediterranean, edited by Stella Demesticha and A. Bernard Knapp. Reviewed by Stefano GimatzidisThe Art of Contact: Comparative Approaches to Greek and Phoenician Art, by S. Rebecca Martin. Reviewed by Jeremy TannerA Companion to the Etruscans, edited by Sinclair Bell and Alexandra A. Carpino. Reviewed by Laurel TaylorThe Dancing Lares and the Serpent in the Garden: Religion at the Roman Street Corner, by Harriet I. Flower. Reviewed by David PotterEgypt in Italy: Visions of Egypt in Roman Imperial Culture, by Molly Swetnam-Burland. Reviewed by Arabela BaerVilla Magna: An Imperial Estate and Its Legacies. Excavations 2006–10, edited by Elizabeth Fentress, Caroline Goodson, and Marco Maiuro, with Margaret Andrews and J. Andrew Dufton. Reviewed by Helena FracchiaCaddeddi on the Tellaro: A Late Roman Villa in Sicily and Its Mosaics, by R.J.A. Wilson. Reviewed by Jerrad LancasterVisualizing the Afterlife in the Tombs of Graeco-Roman Egypt, by Marjorie Susan Venit. Reviewed by Christina RiggsThe Mithraeum at Caesarea Maritima: The Joint Expedition to Caesarea Maritima Excavation Reports. Vol. 2, by Robert Jehu Bull, with Jane DeRose Evans, Alexandra L. Ratzlaff, Andrew H. Bobeck, and Robert S. Fritzius. Reviewed by Caroline DowningParadigm and Progeny: Roman Imperial Architecture and Its Legacy. Proceedings of a Conference Held at the American Academy in Rome on 6–7 December, 2011, in Honor of William L. MacDonald, edited by D. Favro, F.K. Yegül, J. Pinto, and G. Métraux. Reviewed by Lynne C. LancasterList of Books Received Next article DetailsFiguresReferencesCited by American Journal of Archaeology Volume 122, Number 3July 2018 The journal of the Archaeological Institute of America Views: 96Total views on this site Article DOIhttps://doi.org/10.3764/aja.122.3.online Copyright © 2018 by the Archaeological Institute of America. All rights reserved.PDF download Crossref reports no articles citing this article.

Book Review of Egypt in Italy: Visions of Egypt in Roman Imperial Culture, by Molly Swetnam-Burland

Book Review of Egypt in Italy: Visions of Egypt in Roman Imperial Culture, by Molly Swetnam-Burland

Spaces of Memory. Architecture by Aleksandar Kadijević and Milan Popadić

Reviewed by: Spaces of Memory. Architecture by Aleksandar Kadijević and Milan Popadić Jelena Bogdanović Aleksandar Kadijević and Milan Popadić. Prostori Pamćenja. Arhitektura [ Spaces of Memory. Architecture.] In Serbian, English, Russian, and French. Belgrade: Odeljenje za istoriju umetnosti Filozofskog fakulteta Univerziteta u Beogradu. 2013. 456 pp. 34 essays with 182 black-and-white figures and line drawings, 3 tables, and selected bibliographical references. ISBN 978-8-68880-333-5. Following an international symposium held in Belgrade in 2011, Aleksandar Kadijević and Milan Popadić coedited a sizable and important collection of essays on the spaces of memory with a particular focus on architecture. This volume, Prostori Pamćenja. Arhitektura [Spaces of Memory. Architecture.] consists of 34 essays written by Serbian and international scholars trained in various disciplines—from architecture to psychology—each asking critical questions with respect to the role that architecture plays in shaping individual and collective memory. The majority of the texts deal with the complex formations of the spaces of memory in the territories of Serbia and former Yugoslavia since late antiquity to recent times. Closely intertwined with the questions of personal and collective identity embodied in architecture, most of the essays examine war memorials and various other types of architectural and urban compounds specifically designed for the display of societal values and aspirations in a given time and region. A few essays provide valuable comparative case studies of the memorials in 20th-century Russia, Poland, Scotland, Italy, Germany, and the United States. Written in Serbian, English, Russian, and French and generously illustrated with more than 180 images in order to access the largest readership, all the chapters are thematically intertwined and presented chronologically. [End Page 167] The first essay is by Olga Špehar, who examines imperial palaces—which were built in the territories of modern day Croatia and Serbia during the late 3rd and early 4th centuries—through the lenses of their importance in the promotion of the Roman imperial cult. Several case studies examine the role of Byzantine and Serbian medieval and Renaissance churches and their performativity aspects for creating memory landscapes, closely linked with religious ethos and the memory of specific historical events of the past. Jasmina Ćirić writes thoughtfully on the Old Testament motif of the Tree of Life, whose expanded meaning came to be the prefiguration of Christ and is evidenced in Byzantine and Serbian medieval churches. Branislav Cvetković examines medieval churches and their furnishing built to commemorate specific historical events such as military victories. Saša Brajović highlights the role of the Mother of God and Marian ceremonies and processions in the formation of the civic identity of Perast and the bay of Kotor, during the periods of the Venetian Republic, Ottoman, and Austro-Hungarian Empires. The majority of the texts focus on the architectural and urban designs that highlight societal values or commemorate historical events from the more recent past. Branko Čolović considers chapels and tombs as the expression of Serbian identity values in 19th-century Dalmatia. Ljubodrag P. Ristić highlights the role of the British diplomatic and travel documents in the international promotion of Serbian architectural heritage in the 19th century. Milan Prosen and Viktor I. Kosik examine Russian émigré architecture in 19th-century Serbia and the Balkans as peculiar identity spaces that canvassed vast geographical distances. Igor Borozan highlights the creation of Serbian national visual culture based on the legendary battle on Mišarsko polje of 1806, where, as he successfully argues, the field (polje) over time became a memory space itself. Then again, Haris Dajč showcases how the actual space of the Sava slope in Belgrade provided an urban topography for the historical development of Belgrade in the 19th and early 20th centuries. In their texts, Miloš Stanković, Dragana Ružić, Dimitrije Lj. Marinković, Dušica Živanović, Violeta Obrenović, Vuk Nedeljković, Sladjana Žunjić, Aleksandra Ilijevski, Aleksandar Kadijević, Magdalena Pokrzyńska, Nenad Lajbenšperger, Vladana Putnik, Paolo Tomasella, Ivan R. Marković, and Dijana Milašinović Marić examine specific case studies of memorials built in honor of military heroes and victims of war as architectural solutions for expressing respect for historical individuals that continue to inspire the collective ethos and identity in a given region. These case studies include the...

A Critical Assessment of Terms Referring to the Roman Imperial Cult(s)

영어권에서 “the imperial cult” 혹은 “imperial cults”라 불리는 역사적 현상을 지칭할 때 국내 고전학계와 신약학계는 “황제 숭배,” “황제 제의,” “황제숭배사상,” “제국 제의” 등 다수의 용어를 혼용하고 있기 때문에 용어 정리가 필요하다. 용어 정리의 핵심은 외국어 용어의 번역이 아니라, 학계의 연구 성과를 고려하여 고대의 현상들을 적절하고 유용하게 범주화하는 용어들을 정립하는 데에 있다. 만일 우리가 하나의 독립적이고 고정된 실체에 이름을 붙이는 것이라면 용어를 하나로 통일하는 것이 타당하겠으나, imperial cult(s)의 경우 학자들의 인식 범위 혹은 연구 대상의 범위가 황제에 대한 (혹은 황제를 위한) 제의인지, 황제에 대한 제의적·비제의적 의례인지, 제국을 대표하는 주체들에 대한 제의 혹은 의례인지에 따라 용어가 달라질 수 있다. 즉, 황제 및 제국을 대표하는 주체들에 대한 숭배를 다양한 방식으로 범주화하는 것이 가능하고, 그에 따라 다수의 용어를 사용할 수 있다. 다른 한편, 일반적으로 사용할 용어를 정할 필요도 있다. 본 논문은 일반적으로 “황제 숭배”를 사용하되, 개별 연구에서는 엄밀하게 정의된 용어들을 선택적으로 사용할 것을 제안한다. 또한, 선택적으로 사용될 용어 중 하나로 필자는 “제국 의례”라는 새로운 용어를 제안한다. 다수의 관점들과 용어들은 imperial cult(s)를 다각적으로 조명하는 데에 이바지할 것이다. 본 논문은 세 단계로 논지를 전개한다. 첫째 부분은 로마 종교의 연구 동향을 개괄한다. 이것을 배경으로 둘째 부분은 imperial cult(s)의 연구 동향을 논의한다. 셋째 부분은 앞서의 논의에 비추어 “황제,” “제국,” “숭배,” “제의,” “의례” 등의 용어들을 검토하고, “제국 의례”라는 용어를 제안한다. 기존에 가장 널리 사용되고 있는 “황제 숭배”는 개별 황제뿐 아니라 왕조, 황제의 가족, 원로원 등도 경외의 대상이었음을 드러내지 못하고, 이들이 했던 역할을 반영하지 못한다는 한계가 있다. 반면, “제국 의례”는 황제를 필두로 하여 로마 제국의 권력을 대표하는 주체들에게 영예를 돌리는 제의적·비제의적 의례들을 총칭한다. 이 용어는 보다 넓은 시각에서 imperial cult(s)의 복잡성과 다층성을 연구할 필요가 있다는 관점을 반영한다.

Molly Swetnam-Burland, Egypt in Italy. Visions of Egypt in Roman Imperial Culture

Ce livre est issu de la these soutenue par M. S.-B. en 2002 a l’universite du Michigan. Ces dernieres annees, certaines parties de sa dissertation ont paru sous la forme d’articles, que l’on retrouve toutefois dans les deuxieme et quatrieme chapitres. Si l’on ajoute a ce constat les nombreux travaux conduits depuis plus d’une decennie sur ces questions, et qui ont profondement fait evoluer ce que l’on pouvait en dire au xxe siecle, le volume objet de la presente recension peut apparaitre en 2...

Egypt in Italy: Visions of Egypt in Roman Imperial Culture

Book Review| September 01 2017 Egypt in Italy: Visions of Egypt in Roman Imperial Culture Swetnam-Burland, Molly, Egypt in Italy: Visions of Egypt in Roman Imperial Culture. (Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2015), 249 pp. Susan Stephens Susan Stephens Search for other works by this author on: This Site Google Common Knowledge (2017) 23 (3): 531. https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-3988247 Cite Icon Cite Share Icon Share Facebook Twitter LinkedIn MailTo Permissions Search Site Citation Susan Stephens; Egypt in Italy: Visions of Egypt in Roman Imperial Culture. Common Knowledge 1 September 2017; 23 (3): 531. doi: https://doi.org/10.1215/0961754X-3988247 Download citation file: Zotero Reference Manager EasyBib Bookends Mendeley Papers EndNote RefWorks BibTex toolbar search Search Dropdown Menu toolbar search search input Search input auto suggest filter your search Books & JournalsAll JournalsCommon Knowledge Search Advanced Search The text of this article is only available as a PDF. © 2017 by Duke University Press2017 Article PDF first page preview Close Modal Issue Section: LITTLE REVIEWS You do not currently have access to this content.

Book Review of Art of Empire: The Roman Frescoes and Imperial Cult Chamber in Luxor Temple, edited by Michael Jones and Susanna McFadden

Book Review of Art of Empire: The Roman Frescoes and Imperial Cult Chamber in Luxor Temple, edited by Michael Jones and Susanna McFadden

Egypt in Italy: visions of Egypt in Roman imperial culture

This book examines the appetite for Egyptian and Egyptian-looking artwork in Italy during the century following Rome's annexation of Aegyptus as a province. In the early imperial period, Roman interest in Egyptian culture was widespread, as evidenced by works ranging from the monumental obelisks, brought to the capital over the Mediterranean Sea by the emperors, to locally made emulations of Egyptian artifacts found in private homes and in temples to Egyptian gods. Although the foreign appearance of these artworks was central to their appeal, this book situates them within their social, political, and artistic contexts in Roman Italy. Swetnam-Burland focuses on what these works meant to their owners and their viewers in their new settings, by exploring evidence for the artists who produced them and by examining their relationship to the contemporary literature that informed Roman perceptions of Egyptian history, customs, and myths.

Exploring a Strange New World: A Theological Response to Craig R. Koester

Craig A. Koester’s commentary on Revelation seeks after what Karl Barth referred to as the ‘strange new world within the Bible’. He seeks to locate the book fundamentally within the ancient conflict between the confession of Jesus as Lord and the Roman imperial cult. In the process, the reader comes to appreciate where the history of interpretation has detoured from the book’s original purpose. There are throughout the commentary a number of theological issues raised. Noteworthy are soteriology (the triumph of grace) and pneumatology (the meaning of the seven spirits). The essay seeks to explore these themes.

A double-voiced reading of Romans 13:1–7 in light of the imperial cult

Drawing on Mikhail Bakhtin’s theory of double-voicedness and James Scott’s theory of public and hidden transcripts, this essay investigates the colonial context of Romans 13:1–7 with particular attention to the Roman imperial cult. It is my contention that Paul attempts to persuade the audience to resist the imperial cult, whilst negotiating colonial power and authority. It is assumed that colonial discourse is, by nature, a double-voiced discourse in that the public transcript of the dominant and the hidden transcript of the suppressed coexist in a continued state of internal tension and conflict. Seen in this light, Paul as a colonised subject parodies the public transcript of the elites in his own hidden transcript. However, Paul’s doubled-voiced discourse finally turns out to be subversive against the dominant culture by suggesting that ultimate honour, fear, and authority should not be due to the rulers of the Roman Empire but to God.

‘The People to the goddess Livia’

Au Ier siècle de notre ère, une dédicace à Livie divinisée est placée dans le sanctuaire de Némésis à Rhamnonte (Ve siècle av. n.è.). Cet article étudie l’inscription sur l’arrière-plan de l’histoire du sanctuaire, du développement du culte impérial à l’est et de la réception de Némésis à Rome. Il développe des hypothèses antérieures concernant l’asso­ciation du sanctuaire avec l’idée de vengeance contre des ennemis orientaux et révalue les témoignages qui associent la dédicace à Claude. L’inscription implique une identification remarquablement étroite entre une impératrice et une divinité, et elle constitue une contribu­tion importante à la discussion sur l’interaction entre le culte impérial et la religion grecque traditionnelle.

Non subripiendi causa sed palam mutuandi : Intertextuality and Literary Deviancy between Law, Rhetoric, and Literature in Roman Imperial Culture

This article explores the use of imagery drawn from the legal sphere to describe intertextual relations in Roman culture, drawing attention to the interconnected nature of contemporary debates on ownership and private property in law and literary criticism. Taking as my starting point a remark by Seneca the Elder on Ovid’s “borrowing” of Virgil’s text ( Suas . 3.3), I show how the distinction often invoked between legitimate imitation and literary theft is explained by a deep-seated and multi-faceted analogy between literary and legal judgment. Moreover, I show how the use of legal metaphors derives special meaning from the context of Seneca’s work, in which readers are asked to judge both the legal and the literary merits of the cases presented.

The Roman Imperial Cult in Smyrna

The origins of the imperial cult in Smyrna date back to the Hellenistic period. It is a fact that political concerns were effective in the generation of such cults. Predicting the super power of the future and proving to be a loyal ally whilst acting in satisfactory behaviors were essential factors. The right preference made between two fighting or contending powers ensured that a city would benefit from various privileges in the future. For example, Symrna, which had established a cult in the city previously on behalf of Stratonice, the mother of Antiochus II of Seleucid dynasty, would do the same by building a temple in the name of the dty of Rome for the first time in Asia in 195 BC, after recognizing the rising power. Later on, while giving permission to the provinces that wanted to establish an imperial cult, the Roman emperors and the Senate would consider first, their relationships with Rome in the past and second, their origins. Smyrna, building its relationships with the Roman state on a solid basis, was granted the title of neokoros three times by the Roman Emperors Tiberius, Hadrianus and Caracalla, respectively. In this essay, the development of the Roman imperial cult in Smyrna is discussed within the historical process outlined above. An attempt has been made to put forth new opinions about the issue by discussing the academicians' evaluations on the imperial cult, which apparently was effectively executed in Smyrna between the first and third centuries AD, with the support of epigraphic and numismatic evidences.

Cent ans d’épigraphie à Thasos (1911-2011)

This paper focuses on the history of epigraphic exploration at Thasos, from the edition of a first corpus in 1909 to the most recent excavations led by the French School at Athens, paying special attention to the inscriptions’ main places of discovery (sanctuaries, agora, necropolis). It expounds the editorial principles of a new corpus : more than one thousand Greek inscriptions will be gathered in several volumes, chronologically arranged and by categories of document. For example, the study of the formation of Roman imperial cult in the Julio-Claudian era illustrates some of historical gains we can expect from the gathering of an epigraphic material which up to then was spred in many books and articles.

The Roman Imperial Cult and Revelation

The question of the relationship of the Roman Imperial Cult and Revelation has occupied the attention of scholars throughout the past one hundred years. During this time, major shifts have taken place both in the assessment of the Roman Imperial Cult in the context of the Roman Empire and in the interpretation of its role with respect to the book of Revelation. This article surveys and assesses these trends. It begins with a discussion of studies on the Roman Imperial Cult from the standpoint of classical studies. Next, texts within Revelation typically cited as indicating a response to emperor worship are introduced. The third and final section focuses upon studies on Revelation, with particular focus given to interpretive approaches, Christology, and the question of persecution under Domitian.

Das Heiligtum in Baitokaike (Hössn Soleiman): Chronologie, Funktion und Bedeutung

The sanctuary at Baitokaike is not a specifically Phoenician cult site, but rather a local one whose tradition reaches from the Iron Age into late antiquity. Of decisive importance in the building of the entire complex were the storage, use and distribution of water. In the early Hellenistic period, the sanctuary was enlarged and endowed with monumental stone architecture by the Seleucids, before being granted to the priesthood of Baitokaike in the 1 st century B.C., when the Seleucid Empire was in decline. In its religious, mercantile and therapeutic function, the sanctuary tended to the various needs of the inhabitants and visitors, and functioned as the organic centre of the communities in the region.The local cult continued without interruption independently of the process of Hellenization, which is manifested in the architectural forms and the Greek votive inscriptions. By the 2 nd century A.D. the complex already served the Roman imperial cult, which probably provided the impetus for the construction of a new temple in the large precinct.