The Bronze Liver of Piacenza: Analysis of a Polytheistic Structure 9004528946, 9789004528949, 9789004525498, 9789070265410, 9070265419

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THE BRONZE LIVER OF PIACENZA

DUTCH MONOGRAPHS ON ANCIENT HISTORY AND ARCHAEOLOGY EDITORS

P.W. DE NEEVE

-

H.W. PLEKET

VOLUME 11 L.B. VAN DER MEER

THE BRONZE LIVER OF PIACENZA

THE BRONZE LIVER OF PIACENZA ANALYSIS OF A POLYTHEISTIC STRUCTURE

BY

L.B. V AN DER MEER

J.C. GIEBEN, PUBLISHER AMSTERDAM 1987

This paperback was originally published as volume II in the series Dutch Monographs in Ancient History by J.C. Gieben, Amsterdam, 1987 ISBN 978-90-04-52894-9 (paperback reprint, 2022) ISBN 978-90-04-52549-8 (e-book, 2022) ISBN 978-90-70-26541-0 (hardback, 1987)

No part of this book may be translated or reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm, ‫ס‬r any other means, without written permission from the publisher. @ 1987, by J .C. Gieben ISBN 90 70265 41 9 Printed in The Netherlands

uxori meae, Lily

CONTENTS Preface Abbreviatio11s

2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

lntroduction The history of tl‫ד‬e discovcry Description Tl‫ד‬c regio11s and the inscriptions Date and prove11ance Tl1c current statc of affairs Tl‫ד‬c sixteen rcgions and Martianus Capella Tl‫ד‬e origin of tl1e sixteen-partite l‫ד‬cavcn Tl‫ו‬e inscriptions 9.1 Tin 9.2 Neth 9.3 Uni 9.4 Mae 9.5 Tccvn‫ו‬ 9.6 Lvsa 9.7 Catha 9.8 Ft1flu11s 9.9 Sclva 9.10 Letha111 9.11 Tluscv 9.12 Cel 9.13 Cvl 9.14 Alp 9.15 Vctis 9.16 Cilens 9.17 Thufltha 9.18 Tul 9.19 Lasa 9.20 Tvat!1 9.21 Maris 9.22 Lar 9.23 Hercle

2

3 5 9 13 17 19 22 27 30 30 37 40 41 43 46 48 53 58 66 70 73 75 82 88 90 96 107 109 112 114 120 122

10 11 12 13 14

9.24 9.25 9.26 9.27 9.28

Velch Satre Metlvmth Tiv Usil The gods and their context Chronological aspects Pars familiaris and pars hostilis Chaldean influences? The origin of Etruscan liver consulting

Sum1nary General appendices Notes List of abbreviations (Bibliography) List of Illustrations

124 126 129 133 136 141 145 147 153 157 165 169 179 189 200

Preface This book could not have been written without the financial support of the Netherlands Organization for the Advancement of Pure Research (ZWO), the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche (Rome) and the State University of Leiden. Thanks are due to the Directors of the Soprintendenza Archeologi­ ca di Etruria Settentrionale in Florence, the Soprintendenza Archeologica di Etruria Meridionale in Rome (dott.ssa P. Pelagat­ ti), the Director of the Museo Archeologico of Florence (dott. A. Maggiani), the Directors of the Staatliche Museen in West and East Berlin, of the British Museum, and of the Vatican Museo Etrusco Gregoriano (prof. F. Roncalli). I am also most grateful to dott. F. Arisi, director of the Museo Archeologico in Piacenza who several times allowed me to examine the museum's most precious possession, the Iecur Placentinum. My colleagues H.S. Versnel and R.S.P. Beekes read my manuscript and showed me that a classical archaeologist studying an Etruscan religious document par excellence needs the expertise and counsel of specialists in the history of ancient religion and comparative linguistics. Special thanks are due to Jane Mallinson who with much patience corrected my English text and to Sheila Girardon who checked the last proofs.

1

Abbreviations - appendix app. - British Museum, London BM - bronze br. - chapter ch. - diameter diam. - Etruscan Etr. - f'igure f'ig. - genitive gen. Gen. app. - General appendix - Greek Gr. - height h inventory number inv. - length 1 - Latin Lat. - bronze liver of' Piacenza Liver - Museo Archeologico (Nazionale) MA(N) - Museo Civico MC - Museo Etrusco Gregoriano, Vatican MEG - nominative nom. - number no. priv. coll.- private collection - recent (IV-I B.C.) rec. RMO - Rijksmuseum van Oudheden, Leiden Sopr. Arch. Etr. Mer. - Soprintendenza Archeologica di Etruria Meridionale (Rome) Sopr. Arch. Etr. Sett. - Soprintendenza Archeologica di Etruria Settentrionale (Florence) St. Mus. - Staatliche Museen, Berlin tc - terracotta Umbr. - Umbrian Vat. - Vatican VG - Museo di Villa Giulia, Rome For bibliographical abbreviations (Bibliography). Roman numerals ref'er to centuries.

2

see

List

of'

abbreviations

1 Introduction This book deals with the Iecur Placentinum, the bronze model of a sheep's liver, bearing 42 Etruscan inscriptions. It was found near Piacenza in 1877. Once it was used by an Etruscan haruspex, probably about 100 B.C. The model is a real hapax. No other liver model with inscriptions has been found in Italy. As elsewhere in the Mediterranean world, in the Mesopotamian re­ gions and in the Greek world, the Etruscans used to consult the entrails, in particular the liver, of an animal in order to discover the intentions of the gods and to explore the near or sometimes distant future. These predictions were based upon the shape, anatomical and pathological irregularities and other par­ ticularities of the organ. The Piacenza Liver is a highly interesting document of the utmost importance for the understanding of Etruscan religion, particu­ larly of the modus operandi of haruspices, and of the structure of the world of the gods. It will appear that the network with the inscribed names of divinities ‫ חס‬both sides of the Liver depicts a microcosmos reflecting the macrocosmos, the Etruscan division of heaven. The analysis of the system, the complex of gods, their inter­ relations, their identity and character, and their possible ori­ gin form the scope of this study. The influence of the Italic religion in the Etruscan world receives special attention. The division of the liver into a pars familiaris and pars hosti­ lis, as we know from written sources, is one of the most diffi­ cult questions. These problems have been discussed by Deecke (1880), KGrte (1905), Thulin (1906), Pallottino (1956) and recently by Maggiani (1982). In the older studies many misreadings of the inscriptions contributed to partial or unsatisfactory results. Pallottino and Maggiani tackled many problems, without, however, using all the archaeological, epigrahical and literary information concerning all the names and words inscribed ‫ חס‬the Liver (see ch. 6), and without trying to identify all the divinities. The Iecur Placentinum can be compared to a Hungarian cube; it is always possible to find partial SQlutions, but a complete answer can only be given by paying attention to all the available data. Of course, not all the new solutions presented in this book can be proved with absolute certainty. The combination of information from completely different media, and different places and pe­ riods is, as often in classical archaeology, a hazardous under­ taking. It is to be hoped therefore that future excavations will offer more relevant archaeological and epigraphical evidence.

3

,GJ ¾·I e a‫ח‬a�

/; ·. ‫·ן‬ ‫�ך‬ !

4

• .

�

k:91

' Ouar

.•

.

�

.y

: _

..

‫י‬-

'//�

..

•½ �·.�--.

�

4

‫א‬

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)//

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¾P,ra.,

. /,

.:;-� �

.,

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‫בז‬e1,,� , �

1. Settima, plan .

•

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��f"i.,,_

- ,. _.,.,__. ·' � r· · · · . . .. , - .. ·1--i•1 1 •'

���1•

\>

0 .... 1,‫_ג‬

,..

.. '

... :

"' i.‫"���ד‬t;. �:J .; r::·

‫ל‬--=‫'י‬...:6-=..‫י‬:...

...\

1

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0�-�:, .'if#/

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' ..... �

‫ו‬.'.

,.

•.c,:

--(1'f ([.r -+-

C: 0

(11 C: 0

•n

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+‫נ‬ a

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‫נם‬

10

14

cilensl tlusc

m ar

es

\]eth'1m

‫ו‬

‫פחז‬-r;

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‫ו‬

a:::,____

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tinsth neth

24 /-

cilen

........

10. Liver or Piacenza. Transcription .

\

/ 11erc /

leta

\

thufl thas

19

?:� / ,.J

tin thuf 1

'"+‫נ‬0 '"a. C:

0

L.

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u

111

C:

‫ם‬

L.

‫ו‬-

'"‫ם‬.‫ם‬

‫ם‬ N

C:

r‫ס‬

CD

u

'"> lt-

0 L.

CD

.J

...

N

'"‫סי‬ CD

0 1/)

>

‫ו‬-

. '" 111

‫ייייו‬4

‫ם‬

+‫נ‬ CD

'"‫ם‬.‫ם‬

‫ם ם‬

C:

CD

a.

C:

0

'"a. 111

C:

lt- -�

""

0 +‫נ‬

L.

CD

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L.

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111

C: .J H

......

12

4 The regions and the inscriptions The visceral side of the Liver is divided by engraved lines into regions with one or two inscriptions (fig. 9-10). The margin has sixteen regions of unequal size; when we read in a clockwise direction, the smallest are on the right lobe (from our no. 15 on) and the largest on the left lobe and on the right lobe above the processus pyramidalis (no. 14). The two processus do not show inscriptions. The inner regions of the right lobe are arranged in a gridiron pattern. To the right of the gall-bladder are e ight regions, on the gall-bladder four, and to the left of it two. The left lobe has a wheel-like division with six inner regions. The "whee l" is bound by an oblique line. The line across the centre of the liver between the left and right lobes follows the same direction as the suspensorium on the conve x side of the liver model. This side contains only two inscriptions: tivs or tivr (no.41) to the left, and usils (no. 42) to the right of the suspensorium near the fossa venae umbilicalis (fig. 11-12). Apart from one inscription all have been written from right to left. In region no. 38 the scribe started writing the le tter m to the left of the processus papillaris, was obstructed by the processus, turned the liver model and wrote from right to left: me tlvmth. The inscriptions are presented in the following survey. With few e xceptions Maggiani's version is accepted (1). As for numbering the marginal regions, the order of Thulin is followed, for the inner regions, the order of Maggiani. Visceral side. Marginal regions: 1.

2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8.

tins/thne uni/mae tec/vm lvsl neth cath fuflu/ns selva

(Maggiani's region 3) (M 4) (M 5)

(M (M (M (M (M

6) 7) 8) 9)

10)

9. lethns tluscv 11. cels 12. cvlalp 13. vetisl 14. cilensl 15. tin/cil/en 16. tin/thuf 10.

(M 11)

(M 12)

(M (M (M (M (M (M

13) 14) 15) 16) 1) 2)

Visceral side. Inner regions: 17. 18. 19. 20.

tul (Maggiani: pul) lethn la/sl tins/thuf

21. 22. 23. 24.

thufl/thas tinsth/neth catha fuf/lus

13

Gall-bladder:

To the left of bladder:

25. 26. 27. 28.

29. herc 30. mari

tvath (Maggiani: tvuth) marisl/lar (Maggiani: lath) leta neth

the

gall­

"Wheel• (left lobe):

31. selva 32. letha 33. tlusc

34. lvsl/velch 35. satres 36. cilen

To the right of the "wheel":

To the 1. of the proc. pyr.

37. letham 38. metlvmth

39. mar (Pfiffig: ar/m)(2) 40. tlusc

Parietal side 41. tivs (or tivr) 42. usils

(Colonna suggests: tivrs)

As far as can be seen, the following names are written in the nominative: uni, mae, tecvm, catha, fuflu(n)s, selva (?), tluscv(?), tin, cilen (?), thvf, tul, letham. It should be no­ ticed that there are abbreviated forms: ne(th), cath, lar, tluscv (?), cvlalp, thvf, herc, mar(i), cilen (?), letha, selva (?) and probably velch. Written in the genitive are: tins, lvsl (twice), lethns, cels, vetisl, cilensl, lasl, thuflthas, marisl, satres, tivs and usils. In the locative are written: tinsth, and perhaps tvath and metlvmth. The marginal and inner regions are interrelated, as is shown by the following table: 16. tin THUF

22. tinsth NETH 21. THUFLTHAS

2. uni mae 3. tecvm

20. tins thvf 18. lethn

4. lvsl 5. neth

17. tul (28. neth)

6. CATH 7. FUFLUNS

(42. usils, (41. tivs,

1.

14

tinsthNE

‫חס‬ ‫חס‬

23. CATHA 24. FUFLUS

convex side) convex side)

(28. neth)

8. SELVA 9. LETHNS

31. SELVA 32. LETHA

10. TLUSCV 11. cels

33. TLUSC

12. cvlalp 13. vetisl

34. lvsl velch 38. metlvmth

35. satres

14. CILENSL 15. tin CILEN The interrelations are most conspicuous in the left lobe (regions 8, 9, 10 and adjacent inner regions). The positions of the gods Tin, Ne (th) and Thufltha in the regions 16, 1 and 22, 21 have been ordered in a chiastic way. Other, less obvious relations will be discussed in ch. 9. The sixteen-partite margin can be divided into eight groups of two related regions. It is e vident that Cilens occurs in two successive regions (14-15), Tin in three regions (15-16-1), of which the last two are related with the inner regions 22-21 and that Catha and Fufluns (6-7) belong toge ther. They recur in the inner regions 23-24. Other possible connections between two suc­ cessive marginal regions are dealt with in ch. 9. When we transfer the inscriptions of the margin and adjacent inner regions to a sixteen-partite circle, it appears that Lvsa in region 4 is in diametral position to Lvsa in region 34 (near no. 12) and Cilen in region 36 (near no. 7) likewise to Cilens in region 15 (see fig. 14). These are the e lements which can be de duced in a completely objective way from the Liver itself.

15

13. Cortona and e nvironments, plan.

16

5 Date and provenance The date of the Bronze Liver is base d on palaeographical grounds. Heurgon has devoted a study to the typical form of the letter m ( /\), which is unjustly calle d the Umbrian m (1). It appears to occur only in the area be tween Cortona, Chiusi and Siena, and at Gubbio. In the latter Umbrian city it did not appear before about 120 B.C. in the Tabula Iguvina V. The Umbrians certainly borrowed letters from the Etruscan alphabet from the fourth century B.C. The oldest inscriptions with the typical m date from about 150 B.C. and the most recent, perhaps, from the end of the first century B.C. A point of reference is offered by the famous bronze boy with a duck from Montecchio ne ar Cortona (fig. 50) with an inscription de dicated to Thufltha. Be cause of its style this statuette is generally dated about 150 B.C. Heurgon suggests that the liver was made at Cortona, because this city was a production centre of bronzes and because the names of gods which occur on the Liver (Tin, Uni, Thufltha, Se lvans} are also to be found on se veral objects from the city and its vicinity. Apart from the typical m, Maggiani has paid attention to the u/v shift and to the fact that only one type of sibilant is used (the s, and not the i)(2). Be cause of similarities with the inscrip­ tion from the Tumulus of the Marcni at Asciano he concludes that the liver has to be dated about 100 B.C. It would have been made to the north-west of Chiusi, in the are a between Montepulciano and Asciano (fig. 13). Colonna notes that the Liver shows the letters of the North Etruscan alphabet, with the exception of the final s (3). Instead of the North Etruscan i a South Etruscan s is used. This letter is rare in the area around the Thrasymene Lake but frequent outside Etruria, in Umbria, on the Adriatic coast zone between Pesaro and Rimini and in the Romagna. The famous bilingual in­ scription of Pesaro, dated c. 50 B.C., offers the best parallel, not only for the final s but for the typical 1 ({) and t ( 1 ) too. Colonn� therefore assumes that the Liver was made outside Etruria, at Piacenza, and suggests that the Liver's having bee n found i n the neighbourhood of that city substantiates his argu­ ment. Moreover, Roman authors mention the presence of Etruscans in the Po valley e ve n after the foundation of Roman colonies (Piacenza in 218 B.C., and Cremona in 188 B.C.). Colonna's hypo­ thesis is suggestive but one can argue that until now few Etrus­ can archaeological (and no epigraphical!) remains have bee n found at Piacenza. The few finds date from before the Celtic invasion. The period after the foundation of Roman Placentia has not yiel-

17

de d any Etruscan object with or without inscription. The e xact place where the Liver was made cannot be established. Most probably it was made in the territory to the north-west of the Thrasymene Lake. In that region votive inscriptions me ntion some rare gods of the Live r (e .g. Tec(vm)) which do not occur elsewhere in Etruria. The terminus post quem is c. 150 B.C., the terminus ante que m c. 30/20 B.C., the pe riod of the latest Etrus­ can inscriptions. A date about 100 B.C. seems most probable. How the object arrived in a fie ld at Gossolengo is unknown. Perhaps an Etruscan haruspex serving a Roman general lost it during a military campaign. The following events, between c. 150 an d 30 B. C. , may be con sidered: a) the defeat of Cn. Papirius Carbo by Sulla's general, M. Aemilius Lucullus in 82 B.C. b) the e xpedition of Pompey against M. Aemilius Lepidus in 77 B.C., or c) the mutiny of Caesar's legions at Piacenza in 49 B.C. But we cannot e xclude the possibility that the Liver was lost at a much later period, even in the first century A.D., since it could be bequeathed by father to son.

18

6 The current state of affairs Soon after the discovery of the Piacenza Liver archaeologists devoted studies to its function, the interpretation of its in­ scriptions, the orientation of the marginal regions, the relation betwee n the marginal and inner regions and the question of pars familiaris and pars hostilis. The anonymous farmer who found the Liver, don Fulcini, don Gazzo­ lo, conte Caracciolo, director Mariotti and capitano Poggi did not recognize the object as a liver model. The same holds good for Deecke (1880) who, following Poggi, considered it a represen­ tation of a templum, a space divided by cardo and decumanus (1): "lch e rkannte alsbald in dem Gernth das Bild e ines etruskischen Templum, geleite t durch die ‫ם‬bereinstimmung de r Sechzehnteilung des Randes mit der Sechzehnteilung des Himmels." He identified a number of gods in the marginal regions with gods in the list of Martianus Capella's De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii I, 41-61 (see next chapter). In his opinion the line be tween the left and right lobes was the de cumanus and the non-continuous line star­ ting between regions 16 and 1 and be tween 10 and 11, along the length of the Liver, was the cardo. Only in 1905 did K‫ם‬rte see in the bronze the model of a sheep's liver (2). Like Deecke he held the line be tween left and right lobe to be the e ast-west line . The right lobe would be the pars familiaris, and the left one the pars hostilis. In view of the direction of writing the haruspe x would have faced west: "Die Leber, der Sitz des Lebens nach antiker Auffassung, e rscheint als e in Abbild des Weltganzen im kleinen. Wie dieses ist sie in e ine rechte und e ine linke Hnlfte, eines Tages- und Nachtse ite ge­ teilt, die Trennungslinie entspricht der Ost-Westlinie des Welt­ alls. Wie das HinmelsgewGlbe ist ihr Rand in 16 Regionen geteilt, in denen G‫ם‬tter walten und Ze ichen geben konnen." The list of Martianus Capella was, according to him, of hardly any use; it was merely of some help in interpreting the marginal regions. The most detailed study, by Thulin, appe ared in 1906 (3). This famous scholar saw in the marginal division a representation of the Etruscan celestial division. The inner regions would refer to liver consultation, the marginal ones to the consultation of lightning. The combination of two divinationsystems was e xplained by the fact that haruspices practised both disciplines. On the grounds of ancient written sources he situated Tin in the north, Vetis (region no. 13) in the west (Underworld) and the gods on the opposite side, the side of the incisura, in the e ast. The caudal half of the left and right lobes would be the pars hosti-

19

lis, the cranial half the pars familiaris. Comparing the Liver margin with Martianus's list and Seneca Q. N. 2, 41 he concluded that the e xact north had to be be tween regions 16 and 1. Pallot­ tino (1956) conclude d like K8rte that the haruspex faced west or north-north-west (4). The scribe started writing at region 15 and, arriving at the end of the margin, he had left space. In his opinion the incisura indicates the e xact south. Pfiffig (1975), in his standard work on Etruscan religion, accep­ ted Thulin's orientation (5). He too believes that the haruspex faced west. The present author (1979) studying representations of haruspices concluded that they turned the incisura side away from them, as is, for e xample, clearly shown by the haruspex Vel Lecu on the lid of a Volterran urn (fig. 75)(6). An orientation toward the east or south (possibly south-east) is therefore likely. Maggiani (1981) discovered that some inscriptions had not bee n read i n the correct way (7). So Ani (judged as the Etruscan Ianus) in region 1 had to be read as Tins. In 1984 Maggiani concluded that the presence of Tin in three successive regions (our nos. 15, 16, and 1) corresponds with a te xt of Pseudo-Acro (see ch. 9. 1) and Martianus's list where, in both cases Iupiter dwells in the first three heavenly regions. Maggiani also accep­ ted Pallottino's argument that the line be tween the smallest and largest region betrays where the scribe started writing. This point would be the e xact north, a view which also e arns credibi­ lity because according to Plautus {see ch. 9. 1) Iupiter lives in the north. The incisura would be the south. Maggiani divided the margin into four sections which comprise the four kinds of Etruscan Penates. The north-eastern sector (Tin) contains the Penates of heaven, the south-eastern (Neth) the Penates of the sea, the south-western {Fufluns, Selva) the Pe­ nates of e arth and the north-western (Cel, Vetis) the Penates of the underworld. The right lobe would, broadly speaking, corre­ spond to the pars familiaris, the left one to the pars hostilis. The "moon" in the wheellike circle of the left lobe and the engraved line next to Letha in region 32 represent, according to Maggiani, the manzazu (Station) and padanu (Path), as do the two engraved lines ‫ חס‬the terracotta liver model from Falerii Ve­ teres. These Mesopotamian liver signs could have bee n introduced by Chaldean see rs after about 300 B.C. The constellation of Tin on the right lobe, Maris ‫ חס‬the gall-bladder and in the centre, and Satre ‫ חס‬the left lobe could be due to external influences too, probably to the doctrines of the Chaldeans. Maggiani identified Tin with Iupiter, Maris with Mars, and Satre with Saturnus who e ach throws a particular kind of lightning: Iupiter lightning from heaven, Mars burning lightning and Sa­ turnus lightning from the e arth.

20

The combination of Letham/Metlvmth (region 37/38) on the left lobe and Lethn/Pul (region 17/18) on the right lobe could testify to opposition between heaven (Pul = Gr. polos) and earth (Metlvmth). This contrast and the opposition of Usil (Sun) and Tiv (Moon) would have been influenced by a cosmological system of Platonic origin, this means by the quadripartition into Aether, Sol, Luna and Terra. Maggiani concluded that the system of the Liver is an amalgama­ tion of Etruscan, Chaldean-astrological and Greek-philosophical doctrines. My objections to his theories are put forward in ch. 12 and 13, after an analysis of all the relevant data. In the next chapter the relation between the margin of the Liver and the 16 regions in the list of Martianus Capella will be discussed.

21

7

The sixtee n regions and Martianus Capella

Martianus Minnaeus Felix Capella was born at Carthage at the end of the fourth century A.D. (1). He wrote, probably between 410 and 439, a curious book which enjoyed a rare popularity in the Middle Ages: De nuptiis Philologiae et Mercurii, an encyclopedic novel, divided into nine books, which offers an enormous quantity of things worth knowing. In the first two books the betrothal and wedding-party of Mercury is described. After some failures in love affairs Mercury consults the oracle of Apollo, who advises him to ask for the hand of Philology. The story has a strong allegorical character. Mercury embodies Eloquence and Philology Learning. Iupiter invites numerous residents of heaven to attend the wedding ceremony. He sends his soldiers through the sixteen regions of heaven. In the following books the seven artes libe­ rales of the trivium and quadrivium, sisters subservient to Philologia, are described in detail. Martianus used many earlier sources, above all Varro's Menippean satires, Antiquities, and Apuleius's Golden Ass. It is not known whether the list of sixteen regions was borrowed from Varro's oeuvre. It has been suggested that Nigidius (c. 50 B.C.) , astrologer and writer of a book De extis, or Cornelius Labeo (III A.D.), who combined e lements of Greek and Italic religion, were the sources. So few fragments of works of both authors have been left that nothing can be said with certainty. It is even possible that Martianus used the Latin translation of an unknown Etruscan work about the ars fulguralis (a liber fulguralis or tonitrualis) . The text of the list of sixteen regions (I, 41-61) and the trans­ lation by W.H. Stahl and R. Johnson can be found in General Appendix no. 5. Pallottino has concluded that Martianus's list has a shift of two regions in comparison to the margin of the Liver (2) . He identi­ fies Tin and Cilen in Liver r�gion 15 (his region 1) with Iupiter and Nocturnus in List region 1, Vetis in Liver region 13 (his region 15) with Veiovis in List region 15, and of course Cilens in Liver region 14 (his region 16) with Nocturnus List region 16. But it is clear that the correspondence between Cath and Celeri­ tas solis filia, and be tween Fufluns and Liber does not suit this sequence (see table at the end of this chapter and fig. 14). Defining the four cardinal points of the Liver margin is there­ fore very problematic. Moreover, the regions have been distri­ buted in an irregular way. Of course, the late date of Martia­ nus's book implies that the original Etruscan order may have been

22

disturbed by omissions and additions. It is striking that in Martianus's region 2 Iuno lives with Iupiter, but that Uni (Iuno) on the Liver dwells in region 2, which means behind the three regions with Tin (= Iupiter). It seems that in Martianus's list the regions of Uni and Te cvm (nos 2 and 3) have been left out and that be tween regions 8 and 14 two regions have been inserted (see table, below). The only fissure in the Liver margin is the incisura umbilicalis which divides the regions of Cath (no. 6) and Fufluns (no. 7). These gods face Usil (no. 42) and Tiv (no. 41) respectively on the convex side. Because Usil (Sun) and Tiv (Moon) rise in the e ast, it is to be assumed that the incisura indicates an e astern point. This e xcludes Pallottino ‫ י‬s theory that the line betwee n regions 14 and 15 shows the e xact north, for in that case the incisura would indicate the south. Sun and Moon, however, never rise in the south. The incisura most probably indicates the south-east: a) because in the list of Martianus the division between Celeritas and Liber indicates this direction, and b) because the division line be­ tween Liver regions 16 and 1, when extended to the left, arrives again between Catha and Fuflus in the inner regions of the right lobe. In this way Liver and Martianus's list show at le ast the following correspondences: Tin (1) - Iupiter (3); Catha (6) Celeritas (6); Fufluns (7) - Liber (7); Selva (8) - Veris fructus (8). In chapter 12, after discussing all the gods of the Liver, I return to the question of the orientation, and the division into pars familiaris and pars hostilis. The text of Martianus Capella has been thoroughly analyse d by S. Weinstock (1946)(3). In as far as his results are relevant to our analysis of the constellation of gods on the Liver, they may be summarized as follows. Weinstock concludes that Platonic theo­ logy, in Roman terms, has been applied to a substratum of Etrus­ can religion. The Etruscan e lements in Martianus's list are: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5.

the the the the the

division presence presence presence presence

into sixteen regions; of Iupiter in the first three regions; of the dii Consentes Penates in region 1; of the dii Novensiles in region 2; of a male Pales in regions 5 and 7.

Two cardinal points can be re cognized: the north be twee n regions 16 and 1 (Nocturnus; Iupiter, Nocturnus), and the e ast between regions 4 and 5 (Mulciber = Vulcanus; Vulcanus). The regions 11 to 16 have to be considered as western because only underworld­ gods reside there. Weinstock is sceptical about congruences be­ twee n the gods of the Liver and those of Martianus's list: "The names of gods (sc. of the Liver) tel1 us little"(4). Nevertheless

23

N 2

Iupiter Secundanus Iovis Opu­ lentia

others

Vedius di publici

w

14

and 5

Saturnus Caelestis Iuno Saturni

Tellurus pater

Veris fructus

SE TIV

9

�USIL

�

s 14. Martianus Capella's division of heaven (extern al circle) compared with the margin al an d in ner region s of the Liver of Piacenza (in n er circles) .

24

E

KGrte, Dee cke, Thulin and Pallottino have e stablished a number of correspondences, which are outlined in the following table. Con­ gruences are rendered in capitals, possible associations are indicated by interrupted lines. Some inner regions of the Liver are included because they are adjacent to marginal regions. The nature of the correspondences is dealt with in the chapters about e ach individual divinity. There is no agreement about the identi­ ty of Cilen(s), Thufltha, Tecvm, Tluscv, Le tha and Cvlalp (or Cvl Alp), so there may be more congruences than the following table shows (cf. also fig. 14): MARTIANUS CAPELLA 1, 45-61 Region no. :

LIVER Author no.:

1. IUPITER, dii Consentes Penates, Lares, Ianus, Favores opertanei, Nocturnus

15. TIN, Cilen

1

2. IUPITER, Quirinus Mars Lar militaris, Iuno, Fons, Lymphae, dii Novensiles

16. TIN, Thuf

2

3. IUPITER Secundanus, Iovis Opulentia, Minerva, Discordia, Seditio, Pluton

Maggiani no. :

1. TINsth, Ne

3

2. Uni, Mae

4

3. Tecvm

5

4. LVNS A S ilvestris, Mulciber, -- 4. LVS A Lar caelestis, Lar militaris, Favor

6

5 . Ceres, Tellurus, Terrae pater

7

V ulcanus, Genius

5 . Neth

6 . Iovis filii Pales e t Favor,

- - 6 . CATH ( 42. USILS)

8

7. LIBER, Secundanus Pales, Fraus

- - 7. FUFLUNS ( 41. TIVS)

9

CELERITAS SOLIS F ILIA

8. VERIS FRUCTUS

8. SELVA

10

9. Iunonis Hospitae GENIUS

9. LETH

11

25

10. Neptunus, Lar omnium cunctalis, Neverita, Consus

10. Tluscv

12

11

11. Cel

13

Fortuna, Valitudo, Favor pastor, Manes

12. Sancus 13. Fata, ceteri dii Manium 14. SATURNUS, Caelestis Iuno Saturni

-- 12. Cvlalp (35. SATRE)

14

15. VEIOVIS, DII PUBLICI

13. VETIS (38. METLVMTH) 15

16. Nocturnus, Ianitores

14. Cilens

26

16

8 The origin of the sixteen- partite heaven Ancient writers mention that the division of heaven into sixteen regions is of Etruscan origin. 1) Cicero, de div. 2, 42 Quid est igitur, quod observatum sit in fulgure? Caelum in sedecim partes diviserunt Etrusci. Facile id quidem fuit, quattuor, quas nos habemus, duplicare, post iterum facere, ut ex eo dicerent, fulmen qua ex parte venisset. Cicero supposes that the Etruscans doubled the quadripartition of heaven and that they doubled it again.

Roman

2) Pliny, N.H. 2, 143 In sedecim partes caelum in eo spectu divisere Tusci. Prima est a septentrionibus ad aequinoctialem exortum, secunda ad meridiem, tertia ad aequinoctialem occasum, quarta obtinet quod reliquum est ab occasu ad septentriones. Haec iterum in quaternas divisere partes, ex quibus octo ab exortu sinistras, totidem e contrario appellavere dextras. Pliny too means that the division into sixteen parts derives from the quadripartition. The eight eastern are left (favourable), the eight western are right (unfavourable). In eo spectu refers to the consulting of lightning. Evidently, the haruspex faced south. Two written sources from a late period (the fourth and fifth centuries A.D.) mention the sixteen-partition too, without refer­ ring to the Etruscans. 3) Servius, ad Aen. 8, 427 Facieba t fulmen in eorum similitudinem quae Iupiter iacit toto caelo: hoc est de diversis partibus caeli, scilicet sedecim. 4) Martianus Capella I, 45 Nam in sedecim discerni dicitur caelum omne regiones. The question remains: is the particular partitioning of Etruscan origin or due to exte rnal influences? Outside the Etruscan world no similar system is known.

27

Weinstock, following Thulin and Bouch�-L eclerq (1), concludes: "In Babylonia lightning and other signs coming from the four points, and in the Old Testament the four winds, are divine messengers; and Hellenistic astrologers examined the four points for signs which concerned the four ages of man. The points fur­ ther helped first to demarcate four segments and then to subdi­ vide them into eight, preserved in the ogdoas of the Egyptians and the octotropos of the astrologers. These are the necessary preliminaries of the sixteen Etruscan regions. The sixteen indeed remain unique as before, but still we can assign them their place in the history of divination and can date them. They cannot come from the Romans, who here, as everywhere, ignored theory, nor from the Greeks, who occasionally used the four points but never made a system of them for the sake of divination. In short, it is a system of the east, that is, ulti­ mately, of Babylonia. Its date must be earlier than Hellenism because it presupposes the eight regions and their use for non­ individual divinati‫ס‬n". But elsewhere Weinstock modifies his opi ni on (2 ) : "If it is correct to suggest that the sixteen re­ gions depend ‫ חס‬the eight as do the eight ‫ חס‬the four, then the Etruscan system had in fact its roots in the divination of the ancient East". Weinstock d‫ס‬es not offer any indication of when an eight-parti­ tion of eastern origin was converted into an Etruscan sixteen­ partition. He paid no attention to archaeological data. In this context the famous bronze lamp, found in an shallow fossa about three km. to the west of Cortona in 1840 (3), is very important. The original place of discovery, a tomb or sanctuary, is unknown. This enormous object (diam.: 60 cm.) contains sixteen small basins for the oil. The und er sid e of the lamp is decor ated in low r elief with an interesting iconographic repr esentation. Sixteen heads of Ache­ loos emerge between the basins; in alter nating sequence ‫ חס‬the basins are eight Sirens and eight ithyphallic satyrs of whom four blow a double flute and four a syrinx. The head ‫ס‬f Medusa appears in the centre. Four groups of three fighting beasts form a frieze surrounding it. In the next concentric circle a stylised pattern ‫ס‬f waves with eight dolphins is visible, followed by the circle with the Sirens and satyrs already mentioned. The dates proposed by Bianchi Bandinelli, Bruschetti and others vary from 460 to 350 B.C. Dating is difficult because ‫ס‬f the eclectic character of the style, the combination of archaic and late classical elements. A s for the significance of the representation Bianchi Bandinelli and Bruschetti define it as having "kosmischer Symbolgehalt" (4). Brendel states ( 5 ) : "It is hardly possible to say what all the imagery was about, though it certainly appears well thought out;

28

perhaps we should understand i t as the tri parti te i mage of a world compri si ng earth, sea and an ai ry realm b eyond the sea, at whi ch Etruscan sepulchral symboli sm so frequently hi nted" . Wi thout doub t the numbers 4, 8 and 16 are very conspi cuous. The y do not depend on a mythologi cal context. In anci ent li terature there i s no menti on of 16 Achelooi , 8 Si rens or 8 satyrs. The Si rens, however, are the daughters of Acheloos. Moreover, they are associ ated wi th the celesti al harmony of the e i ght spheres. Plato ( Rep. X 617b) states: " A Si ren i s si tti ng on e ach of the spheres, rotati ng wi th i t and each gi vi ng one si ngle sound i n one si ngle tone. These form, all ei ght toge ther, one si ngle harmony." Although the comple te representati on cannot b e explai ned, i t seems very li k e ly that a cosmi c i mage i s i ntended. The Medusa, the fri eze of be asts, and the dol phi ns are frequent i n tomb decorati on. The lamp may ori gi nally have had a funeral functi on. A small plate wi th an i nscri pti on was later attached to the lamp, probably i n the second century B.C. The text ( TLE 646) reads: thapna : muini : t i nicvi l : athmi c : ialthn Thapna means bowl ( cf. Lat. dapes?). Ti nscvi l: i s dedi cated ( to Tin?). The meani ng of the other words i s unknown. Athmi c and salthn do occur i n funerary i nscripti ons, but ti nscvi l i s used b oth i n funerary and sacral contexts. As for the quadriparti ti on and the system of concentri c ci rcles, Brendel poi nts to the well-k nown fi gured funerary urns from the seventh century B. C. , found i n the vi ci ni ty of Chi usi , whi ch always show four gri ffi n heads wi th one or three mourners between them ( 6). The ori gi n of a si xteen-parti ti on probably dates from a peri od much earli e r than the fourth century B.C. As f‫ם‬r ‫ ם‬s we c‫ם‬n see now, t h e di st r i bu t i o c a eli i nt o sixteen regi ons i s ‫ ם‬local de velopment or i nventi on. Forei gn i nfluence i n i ts genesi s can hard b e proved, although the L amp of Cortona may b etray some i nfluence of Platoni c cosmology. In ci ty-planni ng the four cardinal poi nts play an i mportant role ab out 500 B. C. and i n funerary archi tecture the north-west/south-east axi s already plays an i mportant role duri ng the seventh century B.C. ( se e chapter 12).

29

9 The inscriptions I n the following chapters, 9.1 to 9.28, the inscriptions on the L iver are discussed separate ly, first those of the margin, some of which re cur in the inne r re gions too; se condly the re maining inscriptions of the inner re gions, first on the right lobe and the n on the left lobe; and finally the two of the convex side . The inscriptions appear to re fer to names of gods, possibly with the e xception of Tul (region no. 17) and Me tlvmth (no. 38). With the he lp of epigraphical, archaeological and literary sour­ ces the structur e of the constellation of gods is analysed. Whe n was this " pantheon" formed? Which are the older parts, which the more re cent ones? What are the relations be tween the gods, inside a region, or be twe en adjacent regions? I n short, what are the ideas behind the system or parts of the system? Is the formation of Etruscan origin or due to exte rnal influe nces? Can the question of pars familiaris and pars hostilis be solved? I n other words can some gods be define d as favourable , others as unfavourable? What can be said of the identity and origin of each divinity as far as is relevant to the understanding of the position on the liver? Which gods are Etruscan, which have be en " imported" or borrowed from regions surrounding Etruria and other parts of the Mediter­ ranean world? I n each chapter first the primary sources, the inscriptions and ic on ogr ap hic al represen tation s , then the sec on dary s ources , an ­ cient written texts, gene rally of authors afte r 100 B.C., are used. Attention will only be paid to those aspects which contribute to a solution of the questions raise d above. Some gods will be discusse d ve ry briefly, because they have be en dealt with by A.J. Pfiffig in his book " R e ligio etrusca" (1975). Some chapters are followe d by ‫ חם‬appendix containing the inscrip­ tions mentioning a particular god. Each appendix me ntions the kind of inscribed object, the place in which it was discovered, the possible date, the bibliographical references and the tran­ scribed inscription. 9.1 Tin The name Tin occurs five times on the L iver, always together with the name of another divinity:

30

marginal region 15: tin/cilen marginal region 16: tin/thvf marginal region 1: tins/thne

- inner - inner inner

(-

region region region

22 : tinsth/ne th

21: thufl/thas)

2 0 : tins/thvf

The table shows that the p ositions of Thvf and Ne (th) are arrange d in a chiastic way (cf. fig. 70). It is striking that the gods of the margin occur only once in a region with the e xcep tion of Tin (three times), Cilens (twice), and Ne (th) (twice). It is very p robable that it stresses the p osition of these gods in the hierarchy of heavenly regions. The word Tin is generally considered to be a nominative (1). However, in mythological scenes on Etruscan mirrors only the name Tinia (once: Tina) app ears, a god constantly dep icted as the Greek Zeus. In more recent inscrip tions the name Tin app e ars (vide infra). Therefore the form Tins has to be considered as genitive. The two words Tins Thvf can be translated as "Thvlftha of Tin", a divinity dependent on or in family relation to Tin . Theoretical­ ly, it is p ossible to interp ret Thvf as an abbreviated form of Thvflthas, the genitive of Thufltha (cf. region 21). The two words Tinsth Neth can be interp re ted as Ne th(uns) in the region of Tin. The ending -th, following a genitive case, is used to indicate a locative (cf. unialti (TLE 1)). Ep igrap hical data The oldest votive inscrip tion dedicated to Tin dates from the en d of the sixth century B.C. It is incised as a graffito under the foot of an Attic red-figure kylix, p ainted by Oltos (2). The enormous cup was found at Tarquinia. The inscrip tion (TLE 1 56 ) runs: itun turuce venel atelinas tinas cliniiaras Venel Atelinas to the Sons of Tin." "This gave I t i s very lik e ly that the Dioscur i, the twin sons of Z eus, are meant. The assimilation ‫ס‬f Tin with Zeus was a fact by about 500 B.C. Curiously enough there are few other inscrip tions with a dedication to Tin, unless c. 10 inscrip tions with the word tin­ scvil can be interp re ted as me aning: "de dicate d to Tin"(tins­ cvil). See app . 2. Three inscrip tions howe ver, no. 7, 8 and 9, run: tinia tinscvil. The translation "to Tin, de dicated to Tin" does not make se nse. Moreover the ge nitive ending in -ia occurs in the archaic p eriod but not in later p eriods. Tinia must be a nominative as in mirror scenes. The translation is p roblematic. "Tinscvil atial" (app. 2, 2) must mean: "de dicated to mother" There are no inscrip tions mentioning Tin with Cilen, with Thvfltha, or with Ne th(uns). The p ossible relation of Tin to these gods are discussed in the resp ective chap ters.

31

Tin(ia) must have been seen as a protector ‫ס‬f boundaries too. Three boundary stones f‫ס‬und in Tunesia (I B. C. ) were dedicated to him (see ch. 9.18 and ch. 9.19). ‫ חס‬a black varnished sherd found in the sanctuary of the Belvedere at Orvieto is written: tinia calusna. The epithet refers to Calu, a divinity of death (3). This word recurs in two funerary inscriptions ‫ חס‬sarcophagi f‫ס‬und at Musarno (II B.C.): TLE 172: larth alethnas . . . . .. . lupuce munisvleth calusurasi ... .. munisuleth lupuce TLE 173: a[ rnth] alethnas calu/ ...... .. And in a tomb-inscription at Tarquinia: larth . ceisinis . .. . ... calusin . lupu TLE 99: meiani . municleth (probably to be read as: munisuleth) In TLE 172-173 a member of the Alethnas family died (lupuce) munisuleth (loc. ) to calu (sing. ) or calusur- (plur. ) which in free translation reads: died going to the realm(?) of Calu or Calusur- (the god(s) of death). Unfortunately, ‫ חם‬inscription found under a church at Feltre in the Po valley (dated c. III B. C. ?) written in the Etruscan or Rhaetian language is too damaged for us to draw conclusions about a reconstruction ‫ס‬f a triad. The inscription (TLE 718) reads: ki aiser . tinia . ti . . . .. . silnane ... Ki aiser means three gods. It is possible that the first line mentioned Tinia three times and that the second line contains the name ‫ס‬f a dedicant. In that case this would provide a parallel for a constellation of three Tin gods as ‫ חס‬the Liver margin. The word tin is used in the sense of day, in the Liber Linteus of Zagreb (TLE 1), and in two inscriptions, one ‫ חס‬a bronze sheet rrom Pyrgi { TL E 876 , c. 500 B . C. ) and one ‫ חס‬a mirror { IV B. C.){ 4 ). Perhaps the god Tin{ ia) was originally a divinity or daylight. Iconographical aspects Tinia is represented ‫ חס‬eighteen mirrors dating for the most part from the fourth century B.C. (see appendix no. 1). The following mirrors show a close relationship between Tin and gods who appear ‫ חס‬the Liver in Tin's vicinity (app. no. 1): no. 6 : tinia and uni (cf. the sequence tin-uni in regions 1-2) - nos. 7, 8, 9, 10, 14 , 16, 17: tinia and uni, together with other gods; - nos. 11, 18: tinia and lasa, once with maris, and once with achle, and lasa vecuvia (cf. the sequence tin-lasa in regions 20-19).

32

� - · }2? 1,/� (‫ז‬

;/ \

C

, / ��� v

i, � �,;;� �

_J•

(j

-,f/q-

Jff; �J -�v�

_

1

\J

1,

f

�

_) J ' / (\ : -q;: \ ‫ך‬. , , : ; �. ,1' ) _:,_ F - > � ‫ר‬, rfJ {\ JJ f1 J/:- · .r ‫ז‬ i / \ � ;, /1) /;" 1) ;)

.

,

{

, \'-- / :;/;) '//)'\... '/, ‫�\ ו‬ -

JJ_

�( -_ ‫ו‬::-'- '__,, - -_ ',( � � -- i‫ו‬ (d ::::, -�

"_)

�}

�w‫ י‬/,

-- (� �)-‫�ב‬ �('/),J ) / � ;;F;;

./fr-:;;(; \

/

‫ר‬/ )

15. Bronze mirror. West Berlin , St. Mus. 3397.

33

The relationship be tween Tin and Lasa is discussed in chapter 9.19. One of the mirrors clearly shows the close relationship be tween Tinia and Uni (fig. 15). The re is no doubt that at le ast in the fourth ce ntury B. C. Tin and Uni were seen as equivalents of Zeus and He ra, as a married couple . Therefore the se quence in the marginal regions 1 and 2 is not accidental. There are no figured sce nes showing Tin with Cile n, with Thvfltha or with Ne th(uns). Writte n sources I n v i ew of the nature of Tin and his position in regions four texts of R oman authors are rele vant.

the

he avenly

1) Sene ca Q. N. II , 41 writes that according to the E truscans three types of lightning can be attributed to Jupiter. "The first type gives a gentle warning and is se nt by a de cision of Jupiter himself. Jupiter also se nds the second type but in accordance with the advice of his council , for he sur‫ז‬mons the Twelve Gods. Thus lightning occasionally brings about some good , but e ven then it causes some harm. It does not confer benefits without causing damage. Jupiter also sends the third type of lightning but he sur‫ז‬mons into council the gods whom the Etruscans call the Supe­ rior, or Veiled, Gods, be cause the lightning de stroys whate ver it strikes and, more particularly , alters the state of private or public affairs that it finds existing". (F or the original text see General Appe ndix no. 3). 2) Pse udacro, ad Hor. Carm. I 12 , 19 : Secundum aruspicum dicta ve l disputationes, qui Iovi primam sec undam e t ter tiam p artem c aeli solum vo lunt in fulminib us tenere ;

"According to the sayings or considerations of the haruspices, who want I upiter alone to occupy the first , se cond and third parts of heaven to throw lightning. " 3) Martianus Capella I I , three regions of he aven.

45-47 mentions Jupiter in

the

first

4) Servius, ad Aen. 2, 693 : Sinistras autem partes septentrionales esse augurum disciplina consentit, e t ideo ex ipsa parte significatoria esse fulmina, quoniam altiora et viciniora domicilio Iovis . "The disciplina of the augure s agre es that the le ft parts are to the north, and therefore the lightning from that particular part is more significant, be cause it is higher and closer to Jupiter's dwelling. "

34

Pallottino and Maggiani use these texts to demonstrate that the e xact nor th on the Liver margin should be held to be betwee n regions 14 and 15 (their regions 16 and 1) (5) . Moreover, they assume that Cilens (r. 14, 15) is identical to Nocturnus who according to Plautus Amph. 272 resides in the north. In ch. 9.16 I will prove that Cilens can not be Nocturnus. The text ‫ס‬f Ser­ vius (V A.D.) disertis verbis speaks about augures and not about haruspices. The orientation system is not in agreement with the ol d texts of Varro (L.L. 7, 7; Festus ed. Lindsay 339) and Pliny N.H. 2, 143 (see ch. 12 ) who state that the eastern regions were left and favourable (according to the Etruscans, Pliny adds) . Between the positions of Tin ‫ חס‬the Liver margin and in texts nos. 1-3 several discrepancies occur. Pseudacro does not mention the complete partition of heaven. It is not clear whether he meant sixteen or four parts. Moreover, in his system Jupiter is always alone. Seneca's text is more important because it shows three different aspects of the Etruscan Jupiter: favourable, neutral but tending to negative, and negative. If Se neca's Jupiter were imagine d in heaven, he could not have resided only in favourable regions. It is logical that he would occupy one favourable , eastern and two unfavourable, western regions. This must imply that the e xact north on the Margin is be tween two of the Tin regions. Because Iuno in region no. 2, Celeritas solis filia in no. 6 and Liber in no. 7 of Martianus's list are identical with Uni, Cath and Fufluns on the Liver margin, there is no doubt that the dividing line between our regions nos. 16 and 1 indicates the north. As has been said, the positions of Thvf(ltha) and Ne (th) in the marginal and inner regions are arranged in a chiastical way with respect to this axis (cf. fig. 70) . Sur‫ז‬marizing, I conclude that Tin with Cilen (region 15) , and Tin with Thvf (region 16) live in the north-west part, and Tin with Ne (th) (or Ne (th) in Tin's region) in the north-east part of heaven. That Tin was al so assoc iated wit h the regions of death, resul t s fr om the already mentioned Tinia Calusna inscription. The location of the exact north between regions 16 and 1 implies that the regions 1-4 represent the north-east, 5-8 the south-east section, 9-12 the south-west, and 13-16 the north-west section of he aven. In this connection Pliny considers the east as favoura­ ble, the wes t as unfavourable; further, the north-e ast as sunvna prosperitas, the north-west as maxime dirae (cf. fig. 14 and 70); as for the text, see General App endix no. 4. It is interesting to note that Cicero (De haruspicum responso 10, 20) relates that because of a prodigium in 56 B.C. the haruspices advised:

35

postiliones esse Iovi, Saturno, Neptuno, Telluri , di s caelesti bus "Forgotten sacri fi ces had to be made for Iupi ter, Saturnus, Neptunus, Tellus and the Gods of He aven. • The four gods, Iupi ter, Neptunus, Tellus and Saturnus can be traced i n the four Li ver secti ons me nti oned: Ti n (1), Neth(uns) ( 5 ) , Tluscv (10; Tellus, see ch. 9. 11), and Satre ( 3 5 ) (Satur­ nus). Satre seems to have been transferred from the margi nal regi on 12 or 13 to the i nner regi on 35 (see ch. 9. 25).

Appendi x 1 Survey of mi rrors wi th the i nscri pti on ti ni a or ti na Provenance 1. Are zzo 2. Unknown 3 . Unknown 4. Unknown 5 . Unk nown 6 . Tuscani a 7. Unknown 8. Unknown 9 . Unknown 10. Unknown 11. Unknown

1 2 . Praeneste

13. Vulci 14. Unknown 15. Unknown 16. Tarqui ni a 17. Casti gli one Fi orenti no 18. Vetuloni a

36

date

bi bli ography

i nscri pti ons

c. 330 c. 330 c. 470

ES ES ES ES ES ES ES ES

thalna ti na thanr sethlani apulu ti ni a turms thalna ti ni a turms apulu thalna ti ni a me an turan herc l e e p i u r t i n i a thalna ti ni a uni laran thalna menrva ti ni a uni preale

c . 350 c . 350 c . 33 0 c . ‫כ‬OO c . 300 c . 300

c. 470

c . 300

c. 350 c. 350 c. 300 IV

c. 300

IV

c . 300

ES ES ES ES ES ES ES ES

1 ' pl. 6 6 1 ' pl. 74 1 ' pl. 75 1 ' pl. 82

2 , p l . 1 82 4, pl . 282

4, pl. 284 4, p l . 284 , 2 laran thalna manrva ti ni a uni mari stiusta 4, pl. 346 hercle uni tinia v i l e 4, pl. 3 9 6 menrva thesan ti ni a thethi s 5 , pl. 1 mari s ti ni a lasa 5 , pl. 6 thanr ti ni a menerva e thauiva mean turan ti ni a hercle uni merva 5 , pl. 59 5 , pl. 98, 1 ti ni a uni turms menrva 5 , 2 , 222 ti ni a ap(l)u 5 , 1 2 ; 225 laran le tham ti ni a menrva uni

SE 5, 5 1 5

letun ti ni a

uni

ach l e ti ni a turan lasa l a sa vec u v i a

Appendix 2 Su rvey of inscriptions wi th the word tinscvil Object

provenance date

bibl iography

1 . Br. griffin

IV tin.‫ו‬. cvil Cortona TLE 643 tin.‫ו‬. cvil Cortona TLE 643 Cortona II TLE 646 thapna mu.‫ו‬. ni . . . . [ t] in.‫ו‬. cvil : athmic . . . .l. al thn 4 . Br. b a s e Cortona TLE 644 tin.‫ו‬. cvil / mi : unia/1/ curtun tin.‫ו‬. cvil c . 400 TLE 663 5 . Br . chimera Arezzo tin.‫ו‬. cvil atial IV TLE 753 unknown 6 . Br. mirror ES 4, pl . 287 , 3 ; ES 5, 207 ‫ ח‬. 1 tinia tinscvil TLE 258 Orvieto 7 . Al tar tinia : ti[ nscvil ] TLE 259 Orvie to 8. Al tar tinia : tinscvil TLE 205 Bol sena 9 . Al tar sacni s . asil . . . . . [ t] inscvil TLE 2 0 6 Bol sena 10 . Al tar

2 . Br. dog 3 . Br . l amp

9 . 2 Neth The name Ne (th) occurs four time s ‫ חס‬the Live r, in the marginal region 1 (tinsth ne), region 5 (neth), in the inner region 22 (tinsth ne th), and 28 (neth) on the gal l - bl adder . Neth has to be considered as an abbreviation of Ne thuns . Rix and others are con­ vinced that the name of the god devel oped from the Ital ic * Neptu­ nos, for the Latin Neptunus cannot be derived from Etr . Ne thuns (1) . The name indicates the subject with which the god is concer­ ned . The root *‫ח‬ebh- means "to be we t, moist . " The name may have devel oped l ike P ortunus from p ort us, S i l v an us fr om S i lv a, B ellon a from bel l um, Pomona from pomus . Rix suggests that the derivation took pl ace via Umbria as Umbr . screhtu de vel oped from Lat . scrip­ tum, and uhtavis from *‫ס‬htavi = Lat . Octavius . Judging from the remaining inscriptions this coul d have taken pl ace in the fifth century B . C. or earl ier . Al though Nethuns does not occur in votive inscriptions, he is depicted ‫ חס‬a mirror and mentioned in the Liber Linteus of Z agre b . Iconographical aspects ‫ס‬n a mirror with inscriptions from Tuscania (now Vat MEG 12645 ; fig . 16) dated to c . 350 B . C . we see Nethuns with doubl e trident, Usil with bow and nimbus, and the goddess Thesan (2) . The group

37

:, \

\

�. .

� ·

\ ((\

);

16. Bronze m‫ב‬.' rror

38

,

.

·-

- • . J..

..

Vot. MEG 1 2645.

consists of the god of water, the sun god and the goddess of dawn. Although the sce ne shows a sacred conversation only, Helbig considers the trio as a "kosmischer Dreivere in". The rising of th e sun f rom th e sea may h ave been intended . T h is e xplains why Ne th in region 5 resides close to Cath, and to Usil on the convex side of the Liver. Written sources The Liber Linteus mentions Ne thuns, to whose statue wine had to be offered, e ight times, once clearly ‫ חס‬24th September. Unfortu­ nately his name never occurs with that of another god. A later Roman source, however, sheds some light on the question. Pliny, N. H. X I 195: Taurorum felle aureus ducitur color. Haruspices id Neptuno e t umoris potentiae dicavere geminumque fuit divo Augusto, quo die apud Actium vicit. "The gold colour was taken from the gall-bladder of bulls. The haruspices de dicated this to Neptunus and the Power of the moist, and the divine Augustus had a double gall-bladder on the day he won near Actium." This text makes cle ar why Neth dominate s the top of the gall­ bladder, in region 28 . His position confirms the idea that the liver shows a hierarchy in the sequence of gods. His position in region 1, where is written tinsth ne , "Nethuns in the area of Tin", remains most difficul t to explain. S ome informa­ tion can be found in Arnobius, Adv. Nat. 3, 40 according to whom Nigidius Figulus (writing c . 58 B.C . ) said: Idem rursus in libro sexto exponit et decimo disciplinas Etruscas sequens genera e sse Penatium quattuor et e sse Iovis e x his alios, alios Neptuni, inferorum te rtios, mortalium hominum quartos, inexplic ab ile nesc io q uid dic ens . "In his sixteenth book the same man again explains, following Etruscan teaching, that there are four kinds of Penates, and that some of these belong to Jupiter, oth e rs to Neptune, a third group to the gods of the lower world, a fourth class to mortal men the sort of statement that is unintelligible . " This passage shows at least that Jupiter and Ne ptunus belong to the top of the hierarchy, to the upper-world-half, and the gods of the third and fourth classes to the lower-world-half. According to Maggiani the Liver margin can be divided into four sections, corresponding to the four kinds of Penates (3) . Regions 15-2 (his regions 1-4) would belong to Tin (Jupiter), 3-6 to Neth (Neptunus), 7- 1 0 to the gods of the lowe r world, and 11-14 to the

39

mortal men. It goes wi thout sayi ng that thi s parti ti on is very arbitrary, for Ne th in region 5 is not at the beginning of Mag­ giani's second section, nor can the gods mentioned in regions 710 al l be considered as underworl d gods. Moreover, Ne th al ready finds himsel f in region 1 (tinsth ne). Martianus Capel l a does not mention Neptunus in the first three regions. But the god's name appears in region 10, in al most diametrical position to no. 2 where among others J upiter, Fons and Lymphae occur. I agree with Weinstock that the l atter perso­ nifications of water indicate Neptunus's original position in region 2 of Martianus's l ist (4). Summarizing, I concl ude that both Nigidius and Martianus pl ace the Etruscan Neptunus in the direct vicinity of J upiter. Neth's pl ace near Tin in region 1 is not accidental . But, as in the Liver margin, Tin's pl ace is superior to that of Ne thuns.

9.3 Uni The name Uni occurs once on the Liver, in region 2, toge ther with Mae. Uni is written in the nominative (ge n. un(e)ial ). In general , Uni is supposed to have been borrowe d from the Ital ic rel igion (1). According to Radke Uni is derived from * iunis (iuvenis). According to Rix's very precise research, based on phonol ogical and morphol ogical rul e s, Uni devel oped from Osco-Umbrian * iuni, the ol dest form of Iuno (2). The original meaning is simil ar to that of iuvenis: young (woman). Inscriptions, unfortunatel y, give hardl y any information about rel ations betwee n Uni and other Liver gods. The iconographic rep re se ntations of T in and Uni have been listed in c h. 9 .1 . Uni appears on the chronol ogical horizon in about 500 B.C., in the Etrusco-Punic sanctuary at Pyrgi. The gol d pl ate with the l ong Etruscan inscription mentions that Thefarie Vel ianas, a zil ath (praetor) de di cate d a tmia (house? ) to Uni Astre. This means: to Uni assimil ated with the Carthagian Astarte (3). The Punic inscription mentions Vel ianas king (ml k) of Chisria (Caere). The inscriptions testify not onl y to the pol itical and corrrnercial rel ations between Caere/Pyrgi and Carthago but to Uni being identified with the Punic goddess of heaven and fertil ity. Evidentl y, Uni is a goddess protecting rul ers. She pl ayed an important rol e in Veii too. In 396 B.C. when the Romans captured this city, the goddess was transferred to Rome through e vocatio. Uni as goddess of the city recurs in l ater times, cf. TLE 644a: tinscvil /mi : unia/1/ curtun "I am dedicated to Uni of Curtun (Cortona).•

40

On mirrors of the fourth ce ntury Uni appears in five different contexts : with Tin (see ch. 9. 1), with Hercle , with Se thlans/ He ­ phaistos, in sce nes with the Judgment of Paris, and the Birth of Menrva. The relationship be twe en Uni and Mae is discusse d in the follo­ wing chapter.

9. 4 Mae The name Mae occurs once ‫ חס‬the L iver, in region 2, toge ther with Uni. It does not ap pear in other inscriptions, nor is there any known rep resentation of this divinity. The ending -e is usual in substantives or p rop e r names derive d from Greek ending in -os and those derived from L atin ending in -os or -us (cf. Etr. Cae < L at. Gaius). Most p robably Mae is the Etruscan form of Maius, a male god worship ped at Tusculum in L atium (1). Written source The only information about Maius is given by Macrobius (about 400 A. D. ) in his Saturnalia I 12, 17: sunt qui hunc mense m (sc. Maium) ad nostros fastos a Tuculanis transisse commemorent, apud quos nunc quoque vocatur deus Maius, qui e st Iuppiter, a magnitudine scilice t ac maiestate dictus. "There are those who mention that this month (May) went over from the festival calendar of Tusculum to our fasti. Now too the inhabitants of Tusculum sp eak about a god Maius, who is Jup iter, mentioned for his gre atness and majesty. " The identification of Mae with Maius (Iupiter) e xp lains why region follows the three regions of Tin (15, 16, 1).

his

U ni and Mae The combination of the names of these two gods in one region can be e xplained theore tically ‫ חס‬the basis of two arguments : 1) Mae, a kind of Iupiter, is husband to Uni (Iuno); 2) Mae and U ni are both pe rsonifications of the months May and June. The second argument is certainly not decisive, for none of the other gods on the L iver margin refers to a month, as far as is known. ‫חס‬ the other hand there may have been a chronological relationship be tween both gods. An inscrip tion on a mirror of unknown p rovenance (p erhaps from Orvieto; now Vat. MEG 12265) with the rep resentation of a fron-

41

17. Bronze boy. Vatican MEG.

42

tally rendered head of Medusa dated about 400 B.C. runs (2) : mi : anaias : tites : turnas : secan : men : mamnthi : sal mama : tins . uniapelis It may be thus translated : " I (am) of Anaia daughter of Tite Turna ; brought (given) in the sanctuary ( ? ) as sacred object (sal) as memory (mama) on the day (tins) of Uni Apeli." Now a gloss records that for the Etruscans Ampiles was the month May (3). The translation of the last three words by Roncalli as The inscription shows "die Iunonis Maiae" seems to be correct. that as early as the fourth century B.C. Uni was the name of a month too. The substitution of Mae for the month name Ampile(s) may have taken place at the time when the Liver was made.

9 .5 Tecvm The name Tecvm occurs once on the Liver, in region 3. It is not clear in which case it is written. Probably in the nominative, for other words ending in -um are known, e.g. hetum, leitrum, methlum, some of them borrowed from the Greek language as lechtum, and some from Latin as vinum. Further, the numeral zathrum (twenty) and the adverb ratum (Lat. rite) occur. Finally, - um appears as a suffix meaning : but, however, and. Assuming that Tecvm is the name of a god we can find three points of reference : two inscriptions and one written Etruscan record. Epigraphical data 1) The inscription on the right leg of a seated bronze boy with a bird and a ball found in the neighbourhood of Tuoro to the north ‫ �ס‬the Thr asymene Lake ( now V at. MEG 1210 7 ; �ig. 17) , dated about 150 B.C. runs (1) : �lere& tec s an&l cver which can be translated thus : "A statuette dedicated to Tec Father" The meaning of san& = father is known from �unerary, onomastic formulas. It occurs as epithet of Etruscan gods. A parallel is afforded by an inscription (TLE 476) dedicated "marisl siansl" (to Maris Father, probably comparable to the Roman Mars­ piter). The statuette is not a representation of the god himself, because a very similar one (fig. 28) was consecrated to S elvans (see ch.

43

9 . 9 ) . The form tec i s stran ge because on the an al ogy of the gen i ti ve san s-1 the form tec-s i s expected. I n the fol l owi n g i n scri pti on , however , tec-e is met. 2 ) The i n scri pti on on the famous Arri n gatore , an almost l ifesi ze togatus , foun d i n the same regi on as the bronze boy , an d databl e between c. 1 0 0 an d c. 70 B. C. run s (2 ) : avl e ! i . metel i ! . ve . vesi al . cl en ! i cen . fl ere! . tece . san !l . ten i n e tuthi ne! . chi sul i c! My tran sl ati on reads thus : " By Avl e Mete l e (Lat. Aul us Metel l us ) , son of Vel an d Vesi , thi s statue for Tec Father (i s pl aced? ) of (i n ? ) the area of Chi sul i (c ) . " Cri stofan i tran sl ates the l atter words by pecun i a publ i ca. The i n scri pti on is di ffi cul t to tran sl ate , for ten i n e can be a pas­ si ve form (3rd pers. si n g. ) of the verb ten - but cen i s usual l y the accusati ve of (e) ca mean i n g " thi s" . I n fu nerary on omasti c formul as ten - impl ies havi n g a publ i c-sacral fun cti on . The words tuthi nes chi sul i cs have , as Col on n a poi n ted out , a paral l e l i n an other i n scri pti on dedi cated to Thufltha (TLE 6 5 2 , see ch . 9 . 1 7 ) . The e n d of i t run s thus : . . . . men ache cl en . cecha . tuthi ne! tl en ache i ! " (The statuette ) was brought ‫ חס‬behal f of the son of (i n ? ) the area of Tl en ache (i ) ) . " Now the l ast word can be foun d i n the Lati n area Tl e n n asi s , a the vi ci n i ty of Perugi a. I t seems regi on k n own i n an ti quity i n that Tece i s wr i tten in the gen i t i v e case , although t h i s i s un precedented. Col on n a supposes that both the Arri n gatore an d the bronze boy were ex voto i n the same san ctuary near Tuoro. I t remark abl e that a dedi cati on to Kautha ( Catha ) was foun d to is the east an d statuettes con secrated to Cel were di scovered to the west of the Thrasymen e Lake. Thi s geograph i cal di stri buti on recurs ‫ חס‬the Li ver margi n , but on l y when i t i s assumed that Tecvm bel on gs to the n orth-east secti on of the margi n . I n Pal l ot­ ti n o's an d Maggi an i 's system Tecvm woul d resi de i n regi on 5 , therefore i n the south-east ! I n v i ew of the character of the Arri n gatore , whi ch un doubtedl y represen ts the magi strate Avl e Metel e , i t may be c on c l uded that the cul tus i n honour of Tec Pater had an offi ci al character. Tec must have been a god of the rul i n g cl ass.

44

Written source The word tecum occurs once in the Liber Linteus col umn X II, 5:

of

Zagreb,

in

. . . . muth . hil arthuna . te cum etrinthi . muth . . . . The significance of muth is unknown. Hil ar occurs in inscriptions with tul ar which certainl y means boundary. Pfiffig suggests as transl ation of hil ar: earth (3). Hil arthuna coul d be vases with earth. Hil arthuna . tecum etrinthi may be transl ated: "besprinkl e vases with earth (for/of? ) Te c(um). " At the end of the col umn a l ocal sanctuary of Uni Urmsnei (of the Urmsna famil y) is mentioned (unial ti urmsnal ). A rel ationship between Tecvm and Uni coul d expl ain the seque nce of Uni in region 2 and Tecvm in region 3. The Tabul ae Iguvinae Al most nothing is known about the ide ntity and character of the god. It is, howe ver, ve ry l ikel y that Tecvm is an Etruscan form of the Umbrian god Tikamne Iuvie (written in the dative). In Latin his name woul d probabl y be Dicamnus Iovius. His name ap­ pears on Tabl ets of Gubbio, col umn IIa, 8 : pune purtiius/unu suru pesutru fe tu tikamne iuvie , kapire/ peru preve fe tu ape purtiius suru, erus te tu. Pfiffig transl ates: "When you have done (that), sacrifice onl y the fl owing fat to Dicamnus Iovius. S acrifice drop by drop with the cup to the b ottom. As soon as you have b rought the fl owing fat, divide the e rus. . . . " The preceding passage describes that, in the case of a negative resul t of bird-consul ting, sacrifices had to be brought to Vesti­ cus S acius, to J upiter, to S pe tur and to Jovius. Pfiffig rightl y hol ds Tikamn(os? ) for a hypostasis of J upiter (4). According to Devoto the root di� - coul d be akin to Gr. deik­ and to Umbrian dic-lo which recurs in Lat. de claratio ( 5). Like Ahtu Iuvipatru and Ahtu Marti (Iupite r Responsivus and Mars Responsivus) Tikamn(os) woul d have been a chtonic oracl e god. This is far from certain. That Te cvm originated from Umbrian Tikam- is possibl e be cause the e < i shift is common (cf. Etr. crespe < Lat. crispus; herme < firmus; lecne < licinius). The u
Selans) represents Athena, with helmet and aegis but without Gorgoneion! Unfortunately, Cilens, a woman too, is acephalous, without spe­ cial attributes, but wearing a very destinctive, long, heavy mantle over a chiton. As for the date, Mera doubtless has bee n influenced b y the style and attitude of Athena on the east frieze of the Zeus altar at Pergamon (c. 160 B.C.). Neither can it be doubted that the antefixes belong together, because of the mate­ rial, size, and form of the back, inscribed with numerals. The fundamental question is why Cilens appears as a passive goddess next to a receding, striding Mera. Fragment 2 possibly offers the clue. In Greek mythology and mythological representations it is only the decapitated Gorgo from whose neck something is born, usually a Pegasus, but ancient literature cites other kinds of beasts, and snakes too. The decapitation was e xecuted by Perseus assisted by Athena. A se cond deity who, together with Athena assists the hero, does not e xist in Greek literature and visual arts, but she is present in at least three Etruscan representations. A mirror in Paris (Petit Palais 149; fig. 46) shows a fleeing Perse (Perseus)(10). Menrva tries to stop the aggressive pursuer Purcius (Phorkys). On the right stands the winged Meanpe, who usually called Mean, on Etruscan mirrors plays the role of a Nik�/Victoria. A second mirror in West Berlin (Fr. 140; fig. 47) depicts Pherse marvelling over the decapitated head of Gorgo in the presence of Aplu. Menrva and ‫ חם‬unnamed goddess lay their arms encouragingly on the hero's shoulder (1 1 ) . Finally, a red-figure calyx crater of the Campanizing Group, not inscribed, shows, from left to right, Perseus with harp� and kibisis, Gorgo from whose neck surges the head of a dee r, and a winged goddess with a wreath standing on a base (12). She again gives the impression of a Victoria-like deity. Outside Etruria, a pear-shaped mirror from Praeneste, with Latin inscriptions, depicts ‫ חם‬unique scene (fig. 48): in front of the quadriga of the (triumphant) Iaco (Iacchus, Bacchus) stand Me­ nerva and Fortuna as a couple (13). It is very interesting that Fortuna, just like Mera's partner Cilens, wears a very heavy, long, rough mantle. Etruscan and Italic representations therefore show Menerva only in the company of Victoria or Fortuna. In view of the mythologi-

93

. -------

46 . B ron ze mi r ror . Pa r i s P e t i t Palais Dutuit 1 49 . Design .

/,

47 . B ron ze mi rror . We s t Be rl i n S t . Mu s . F r . 1 4 0 . De s i g n .

/4� i .

‫ו‬,,

� __ ,;J$ t‫ןני‬ • J --·"

f

1

48. B ronze mirror. Palestrina MA (VG 15697).

94

cal meaning of the terracottas, the triumph of Perseus, Cilens is likely to play a similar role. Unfortunately, the antefix with the hero was probably lost. The fact that Mera's aegis does not show a Gorgoneion argues in favour of our interpretation of antefixes 1 and 2. Written source In the Liber Linteus of Zagreb these passages frequently occur: a) iacnicleri b) iacnistrei

cilthl cilthi

ipureri . methlumeri(c) enai ipurestreic enai

Confronting these passages with - supposedly - similar ones in the Tabulae Iguvinae (ukriper, tutaper) Pfiffig translates (14): a) sanctuaries of the people (cilth), of the cities (ipure­ ri), and (-c) their (enai) boroughs/citadels (methlumeri) b) the priest colleges of the people and its civitas It is reasonable to interpret both cilthl and cilthi as genitives of Cilth. The translation of spureri is well founded but the sense of methlum is disputed (see ch. 9. 27). The latter word refers to earth (district) or people (federation), or both. There is not a single indication that Cilth means people. It is more logical to assume that the formulas refer to sanctuaries or priest colleges of Cilth, divinity of cities and their districts. It would be strange if the divinity of these frequently cited sanctuaries were not mentioned. If Cil-th is identical with Cil-ens, her function in the passages is comparable to that of Tyche, the protecting goddess of cities. C�riously enough, a description in Martianus Capella (I, 11) comes very close to the texts in the Liber Linteus: Fortunae urbium nationumque omnium regum ac totius populi. It cannot be excluded that the iacnicler- in the Liber were a local imitation of the Fanum Voltumnae, the sanctuary of the Etruscan p opuli. It should be noted that the magistratal/priestly functions of zilath, ma ru and purth occur both on national and local level. A last confirmation of Cilens's identity can be found in the parallel between the seq uence of the following inner regions of the left lobe, if read anticlockwise, and a seq uence in Martianus Capella's list:

95

Li ver of P i ac e nz a 31. Selva 36. Cilen 35. Satre

Marti anu s Capel l a 12. Sanc u s 13. Fata, c e te ri di Manium 14. Saturnus, Saturni Iuno c ae lestis

In c h. 9.9 the parallel between Selvans Sanc huneta and Sanc us, and in c h. 9. 24 the analogies between Satre and Saturnus have bee n analysed. It seems therefore that the Fata are Martianus's indication of Cilens. On the available e vidence Cilens has be to regarded as the Etrus­ c an goddess of Fate, c omparable with Tych� and Fortuna. Although she appears late and rarely, it c annot be proved that she was "imported". The interpretation of Pall ottino and others that Cilens is Noc ­ turnus should be rejected, bec ause from the ic onographic al point of view Cilens has nothing in c ommon with Nyx or Nox. The latter never occ urs by the side of Athena/Minerva. The positions of Cilens's region 15 and the inner region 36 (adjace nt to 7) are e xac tly opposite eac h other when rendered in a sixteen-partite c irc le (see fig. 14). This leads to the assump­ tion that Cilens in region 15 belongs to the pars hostilis, and in region 36 to the pars familiaris of the Liver.

9. 17 Thufltha The name Thufltha occ urs three ti mes on the Liver: in the margi­ nal region 16 (Thvf) together with Tin, and in the inner regions 2 1 (Thuflthas, gen. of Thufltha) , and 20 (Ti ns Thvf, perhaps the Thvfltha of Tin). Although the name occ urs nine times in votive inscriptions, no agree me nt e xists about the i dentity of Thufltha. Four theories have been put forward: 1) Sittig, Cortsen, Goldmann, Olzsc ha and Pfiffig c onsider Thufltha to be a goddess of punishment, a kind of Erinye (1); 2) Thulin, Clemen and Pallottino are of the opi ni on that Thufltha is a c ollec tivum (2); Thulin holds that the Dei c onsentes in region 1 of the list of Martianus Capella are a late representation of this Etrusc an divine c ollec tive. 3) Colonna assumes that Thufltha is a deity c omparable to Charis or Favor (3). 4) Massa-Pairault (4) suggests that Thufl-tha is related to Fufl­ uns.

96

49. Four bronzes from Montecchio. Leiden RMO CO 4.

97

".c"0

u u Q) +‫ג‬ C: 0 ‫נ‬E

5

1.. '+-

E ‫כ‬ 1.. .‫ם‬ ‫ם‬ r‫ר‬ Q) ‫סי‬ C: ‫ם‬

u

• 0 ‫נ‬E 0::

Q) C: N OI C: ‫סי‬ 0 "" 1.. Q) a‫ נ‬...J

...

1t‫ל‬

"r‫ם"ר‬

"".c0

+‫ג‬ Q) ‫ם‬

.

,

u u Q) +‫ג‬ C:

�

E 0 1.. '+-

O

> 0 ‫נ‬E .‫ ם‬0::

Q) C: N Q) C: ‫סי‬ 0 "" 1.. Q) a‫ נ‬...J 0

1t‫ל‬

Theory 1 Sittig bases the theory that Thufltha is a kind of Fury on one argument. He recognizes in the base of the word Thufl-tha the word tupi. This word is written in a wall-painting of the Tomba dell'Orco II at Tarquinia (c. 325 B.C. ) representing the punish­ ment of Sisyphus (fig. 58). The inscription runs: tupi sispes. Sittig translates: "the Punishment of Sispe • , which would be a didaskalion of the fate of Sisyphos, who is rolling a stone upward in the underworld under the watchful eye s of a winged female demon (probably Vanth) and a Charun-like demon holding a snake. E. Fiesel reje cts this interpretation because the votive inscrip­ tions (see app.) do not re veal that Thufltha is a goddess of re venge. She translates tupi as stone (5). The word would derive from Lat. tofus (tufa stone, stone), in this case the stone of Sisyphos. Fiesel's objection does not settle the matter because the Etr. derivation of Lat. tofus would have been tufe (Gr./Lat. -os> Etr. -e; Lat. -us > Etr. e ). Admittedly, there is no other representa­ tion with a word that serves as title of a (mythological) scene. Olzscha follows Sittig's conception (6) and translates the in­ scription on a bronze statue tte of a woman (app. no. 7; fig. 57) as follows: tite : alpnas turce : aiseras : thuflthicla : trutvecie • ‫ז‬itus : Alpnas gave (this) to Aisera Thuflthica because of a vision ( ? ) . • His literal translation of Aiseras Thuflthicla is: " for these two Re venging (Thufl-thi-cla) Goddesses (Aise ra-s). This interpreta­ tion is based ‫ חס‬a gloss of Hesychius: aisoi . theoi hypo Tyrrhenoon, and the fact that -er, -ar, and -ur used to denote a plural. ‫ס‬n the analogy of aiser = male gods, a i s era would mean g oddesses. F urther, -thi in Thufl-thi-cla (gen. of the deictic -ca) would be a dual. Finally, the revenging furies in Gree ce are thought of as a pair (7). Olzscha's arguments can be rej e cted for two glosses, Suet. Aug. 97 (quod aesar . .. Etrusca lingua deus vocaretur) and Dio Cassius 56, 29, 4 (stating the same ) reveal that the plural form aiser was used as singular too (cf. tular - boundary (stone) and Lat. fines - boundary). Aisera therefore can mean goddess. In ‫ חס‬archaic inscription (TLE 939) we meet: aisera turannuve which is more likely to be translated by the Aisera the Turan­ like (Aphroditic goddess) than by the two Turan-like goddesses because it cannot be proved that the -ve ending indicates a dual or plural. The e xamples of words written in the dual offered by Olzscha are

99

not convincing because their meaning is unknown, or even because the text is uncertain. E. g. he reads thuiurthi (TLE 586; hus­ bands?) which has to be read as thusurthir (TLE 587). Moreover, -thi can be a locative (here). Finally, it cannot be proved that Etruscan furies were imagined as dual. The name Thufltha gives the impression that it is an epithet (like Thuflthica of Aisera) used as a substantive. It can be com­ pared with epithets of male gods, e. g. Selvans sanchune-ta, S. enizpe-ta, Maris meni-ta, M. tius-ta and so ‫ חס‬. In all these cases the genitive is -tla. Thuflthas may be the genitive of the epithet of a female god. Theory 2 Thulin's theory is based ‫ חס‬the assumption that Thufltha derived from thu = one. Comparing region 16 of the Liver and region 1 of Martianus Capella's list, he concludes that the Dei consentes are the Latin equivalents of Thufltha. Arnobius (Adv. Gentes 3, 40) considers the gods, also named Dei complices, as Penates pertai­ ning to the inner circle of Iupiter. These are six male and six female gods who rise and set together, at the same time: Hos (sc. Penates) Consentes et Complices Etrusci aiunt et nomi­ nant, quod una oriantur et occidant una, sex mares et totidem feminas, nominibus ignotis et miserationis parcissimae; sed eos summi Iovis consiliarios ac principes existimari. This hypothesis implies that Thufltha is composed of thu- and f(u)l-tha. Because composita are extemely rare in Etruscan and Thufltha is a singular form, the idea has to be discarded. Moreo­ ver, any identity between the Liver's region 16 and Martianus's region ‫ ו‬is highl y que st io n a bl e . Theory 3 Colonna draws attention to an inscription ‫ חס‬a cup of unknown provenance from the fifth century B. C. which runs: tupunt, which would be an imperative to be translated as "chaire" ‫ חס‬Greek vases, a greeting usual in symposia. The basis of the word, tup-, is recognized by Colonna in Thup/fl-tha. The goddess would the­ refore be a Charis or female Favor. Colonna adduces a correspondence between the Liver's region 16 and Martianus's region 1, where among others the Favores operta­ nei reside. Because no other imperativi ‫ חס‬-unt are known and the basis Thupl- is not completely comparable to tup-, this theory too has to be rejected.

100

Theory 4 Massa-Pairault assumes that Thufltha originated from * pupltha or * fufltha. The initial th would be an assimilation caused by the suffix -tha. She translates Tin Thvf (region 16) as Iupiter Populonius comparable to the Roman Iupiter Liber. The god would have been honoured by liberti (cf. app. no. 4: lautni; and no. 3: murila hercnas, a freedman too). The shift of an initial p or f to th, however, is not found else where. More over, it seems from the foregoing that Thufltha is a goddess. Finally, Thufltha can hardly be an epithet of Tin, for in region 20 Tins Thvf is written, that is, the Thufltha of Tin! Therefore Massa's theory is not credible either. Epigraphical data Before gi vi ng my interpretation, some observations have to be made about the votive inscriptions de dicated to Thufltha (app.). The de dicants, usually of bronze objects, be long to both sexes. Vel ia Fanacna (app. no. 1 ), Tha(nia) Ce ncne i (no. 5) are women, A(vle) Vels (no. 2), Murila He rcnas (no. 3; Murila may orignally have been a Greek slave ), Tite Alpnas (no. 7), and possibly lautni (no. 4, libertus) are me n. The de dicators (nos. 3, 4, and possibly 5: suvlu = subulo) be long to the middle class. In two cases a motive is given, in inscr. 1 clen ce cha is written, " because of (her) son" , and in inscr. 7 trutve cie, pe rhaps " on the grounds of a vision or ostentum" . Be cause the statuettes representing women are not ide ntical and at least no. 5 belongs to a series of bronze priestesses, we can reje ct the idea that Thufltha herself is represented. It is very striking that the male Murila Hercnas (no. 3) dedicate d a bronze perfume dipper (fig. 52) to the goddess. It seems likely that this deity must be connected with the mundus muliebris, and possibly with health too (cf. clen ce cha). The identity of Thufltha cannot be easily established. Theory 1 seems most attractive, for there is a se cond inscription with the word thuf used in the se nse of punishme nt. On a mirror from Vulci (Vat. MEG 126 81 ; fig. 59 ) ‫ ס‬youn g m‫ ס‬n in ‫ ס‬chariot drawn by three winged horses is depicted. The inscription in a cartouche runs: achleitruiesithe sthufarce the words have to be separated thus: achlei truiesi thes thuf arce, "Achilles to the Trojans rightly (thes) gave (arce punishment."

=

made)

Interesting but less convincing is Cortsen's interpretation of an

10 1

:, �

....

,r .

-• : • •

t'

....

•

52. Bronze dipp e r.

!

T arqui ni a,

53. Bronze statuette. Florence MA 84407 .

102

1

,,

.

•

, . ' . -. ,,' '' '• \ \/ '{ '( .

' .,

.

.,

MN 2721 .

54. Bronze statuette . Florence MA 84407 .

\ \ \ , t,‫ן‬J ‫•·ן‬

�, I \

1

,

.J

0

. ‫ל‬.‫י‬

.;,J ', J: , ',,,\ .

)'‫ו‬

l,�

:,

‫�ב‬, " , ·\,;,¾_;;;:-��&����# \, � , r� ; \ ( !‫>ב‬J

.

'

,., .:,-"

.

)

�'1.•�.,: ·

68. Bronze mirror. London BM 707. Design. mirrors from the fourth century B.C. Mirror no. 4, now at the Vatican MEG 12645 ( fig. 67), shows ‫ס‬ frontal half-naked Usil in the centre , in front of his throne ( 2). His right hand holds ‫ ס‬bow, a kind of nimbus e ncircles his head. He is involved in a sacred conversation with ‫ ס‬seated Ne thuns with double tri dent to the left and ‫ ס‬fully clothed Thesan standing to the right. Why the gods of water, sun and the A urora-like hav e been combi ned, is not completely cleor. The scene seems to indicate the cycle of the sun ri sing and setting. Thesan, whi ch can si gni fy the morni ng too, personi fi e s the ri­ sing, Nethun s, the se a over whi ch Usi l return s ( cf. the Cathesan mirror, ch. 9.7, fi g. 20). Usil's attri butes re veal that from the iconographical point of view, the representation of a Greek Apollo has been used. The combination of the three gods can be found again ‫ חס‬the Li ver, i f i t i s assumed that Catha has ‫ ס‬similar function to that of Thesan (cf. ch. 9.7). It is striking that Catha's region 6, described by Martianus Capella as Celeritas solis filia, i s bounded by Ne th(uns) in region 5, and by Usil's region ‫ חס‬the convex side. This constel­ lation may have its origins in the fourth century B.C.

1 37

The secon d mirror (n o. 5 ; fig. 68 ) n ow in L on don BM 707, shows an old win ged Usil , with radiate crown , holdin g wreaths in both han ds (3) . He is about to crown a man who wears on ly a chlamys an d holds a bran ch in his right han d. His n ame is Uprium , the Etruscan form of Hyperion , an other n ame for Helios. Accordin g to the gen erally accepted theory of C. Koch , the scen e mean s that Usil as patron of circus games crown s an athlete, who is con sequen tly allowed to n ame himself after the sun . Written sources The L iber L inteus men tion s usil an d usli in rather obscure con ­ texts. The words cisum . thesan e . uslan ec . mlache in column V (n o. 7 ) imply a sacrifice , possibly for Thesan an d Uslan (= U sil? ) . I t can n ot be excluded , howev er , that thesan e and uslan e in dicate moments of a day (morn in g an d n oon ) . The question remain s of why the n ames Tiv an d Usil have been written to the direct left an d right of the in cisura umbilicalis. Some scholars main tain that Tiv in dicates the n ight side , pars hostilis (left lobe ) an d Usil the day side , pars familiaris (right lobe) . This theory is founded ‫ חס‬the assumption that the exact n orth is between our region s 1 4 an d 1 5 , an d that the in ci­ sura (between 6 an d 7 ) therefore in dicates the exact south. Because Sun an d Moon always rise in the east , between n orth-east an d south-east , it is more lik ely that their position s n ear the in cisura mark the begin n in g of the east-west movemen t , ‫ חס‬the L iver alon g the ligamentum hepaticum of the con vex side. Both celestial bodies played a fun damen tal role in the ars haru­ spicin a , as we read in the Corpus Agrimen sorum R oman orum (ed. L achman n 1 66-7 ) : q uod illi (sc. Etruscorum haruspices ) orbem terrarum in duas partes secun dum solis cursum div iserunt , . . . . . . . , ab orien te ad occasum , quod eo sol et lun a spectaret. The implication s of this division will be evaluated in ch. 1 2. Etymological aspects The q uestion of whether Usil is of Etruscan or of I talic origin has n ot been solved in a satisfactory man n er. There are two theories. Some scholars deriv e Usel/Usil from the Sabin e n ame Ausel which also mean s Sun . A well k n own gloss of Festus (L p. 22) states : Aureliam familiam ex Sabin is oriun dam . a sole dictam putan t , q uod ei publice a populo roman o datus sit locus , in q uo sacra

1 38

faceret Soli, qui e x hoc Auseli dicebantur, ut Valesii Papi­ si i pro e o quod e st Valerii Papirii (cf. Quintilianus Inst. Or. 1 1 , 31 , 2). De Simone and others consider Ausel to have de veloped from Usel (4). In addition, it has been suggested that us- il is formed like ar-il, and ac-il (work), a noun derived from a verb. Against De Simone's theory it can be argue d that a de velopment so far from u > au so far is unprecedented. The shift au > u is well known, cf. Etr. raufe > rufe and Etr. lauchme- > Lat. lucumo. If indeed Usel is borrowe d from the Sabine world, the transmission must have take n place in the seventh ce ntury B.C. or earlier.

1 39

Appendix Survey of inscriptions with the name Usil- or UselObject

provenance

date

bibliography

1. Bucchero amphora

Cerveteri

c. 660

SE 40, 421

Cerveteri

VI

SE 33, 534

Orvieto

c. 550

CIE 5003 / 50 1 3

I.V

CII 2097 ( fi g . 67 )

Vulci

IV

CII 2142 (fig.68)

Adria

III/II

TLE 934

Egypt

II/I

TLE 1

mini usile muluvanice 2. Bucchero vase mi larthia usiles 3. Tombs

mi useles apen as mi useles apen as mi larthia purzes 4. Mirror

.

5061

useles

Tuscania

nethuns u.!. il thesan 5. Mirror usil uprium 6. Vase

mi larisal uselnas 7. Liber Linteus (VII,

11)

(V, 21) (VII, 13)

140

...aisna

clevana

..fa.!. ei . cisum ..etnam . thacac

chim

enac

usil/

xerin e

uslanec/ mlache. luri .. . . thesane usli [ .] nechse/ acil . ame .....

10 The gods and their context As we have seen in the preceding chapters, the nature of the sources in which names of Liver gods occur, is he terogene ous. The following gods occur in votive inscriptions, which points to the e xistence of cultus activities (cf. table at the e nd of this chapter):

tin, uni, tecvm, catha, fufluns, selva, ce l, cvl, thvfltha, tva ( ? ) , maris, hercle, me tlvm(th) ( ? ) and tiv. As ‫ ם‬rule the name of the god to whom ‫ חם‬object is dedicated, is written in the genitive. If the name of ‫ ם‬dedicant is mentioned, the verb turce (he, she gave) often follows. Sometimes the object is named, e . g. fleres (statue) to which the word cver(a) (sacred, dedicated) can have been added. In three cases the dedicated object is called: mlach which probably derives from the verb mulu-, cf. muluvanice (he, she has dedicated, given; cf. Gr. anetheken). Sometimes the name of ‫ ם‬god is written in the nomina­ tive, for example tinia tinscvil (unless tinia is ‫ ם‬genitive) and selvans sanchuneta cvera (on ‫ ם‬boundary stone). The terracotta tile of Capua mentions dedications to le tham. The Liber Linteus of Zagreb mentions ‫ ם‬flere for neth, lusa, veive , and perhaps dedications to usil, and to satr.

The following gods do not appe ar in votive inscriptions: mae, tluscv, alpan, cilens, lar, lasa, tul and velch. As for Tul and Metlvmth it is not certain whether names of divi­ ni ties a re i ntended. They m‫ ם‬y respectively be the name s of Boun ­ dary and E arth. For the sake of completeness it should be obser­ ved that the name Velchanu occurs on ‫ ם‬bronze situla in the Rh‫ם‬etian area, but this may be the name of the owner. Related gods in votive inscriptions are: tiiuv(r) - kathuniia (epithet of catha (?), see ch. 9. 7); cautha - maris (possibly, see ch. 9. 7) ; That ‫ ם‬number of gods are not mentioned in votive inscriptions may be accidental. On the other h‫ם‬nd it is possible that some of the gods in question became known in Etruria only at ‫ ם‬late date, e . g. Mae (L‫ ם‬t. Maius).

141

Some gods al so appear i n �unerary i nscriptions: cul su, and catha. In the second century B. C. rel ated gods in this category are : catha and pacha- (cf. cath(a) and fufl u(n)s ‫ חס‬the Liver, ch. 9. 8). In an iconographical context, general l y in mythol ogical r epresentations, the fol l owing Liver gods occur: tin, neth, uni, cathesan, fufl uns, l e tham, cel s cl an (son of cel ), l aran, al pan, cil ens, l asa, maris, hercl e and usil . In scenes borrowed from Greek mythol ogy tin, uni, fufl uns, l etham l aran and hercl e are depicted. In representations with a strong Etruscan character neth, cathe­ san, cel s cl an, l aran, al pan, cil ens, l asa, maris, and usil occur. In the fourth century B. C. rel ations be tween gods, as reveal e d by engraved mirror scenes, are these: tin and uni (see ch. 9. 1); tin, maris and l asa (see ch. 9. 19); neth(uns), thesan and usil (see ch. 9. 2); fufl uns and vesuna (see ch. 9. 8); l etham and l aran (see ch. 9. 10); hercl e and mar(i)i (see ch. 9. 21); The fol l owing setting:

divinities

do not appear

in

an

iconographical

mae, tecvm, l vsa, sel va, tl uscv, vetis, thufl tha, tva( th) , velch , satre, metlvmth and ti v. As has bee n said, this may be accidental . But it is very striking that most of them see m to be of Ital ic origin: mae, tecvm, l vsa, sel va, tl uscv (?), vetis and satre. Evidentl y, they have not bee n represented because the y did not pl ay a rol e in Gre e k or l ocal myths, or because they coul d not be assimil ated with Gree k e q ui­ val ents. A third reason is that some divinities appear very l ate ‫ חס‬the chronol ogical horizon, this means in the period of the second and first centuries B. C. when, for e xampl e , no mirrors with e ngraved scenes (except for some with Lasa and/or Dioscurs) were made. To this category mae, tecvm, l vsa, tl uscv, cvl , vetis, vel ch and satre bel ong. They are not mentioned in inscriptions before the second century B. C. Mae, tl uscv, ve tis, and possibl y vel ch appear onl y ‫ חס‬the Liver of Piacenza. Written

142

sources shed some l ight on combinations or sequences

of

gods. Varro associates Vediovis and Saturnus, who are listed by Martianus Capella in regions 14 and 15 respectively. This sequen­ ce can be recognized in the constellation on the Liver. The inner region 35 (satres) is in line with the marginal region 12 (cvlalp), which precedes no. 13, the region of vetis. Martianus mentions Ve iovis and the dii publici in region 15. If me tlvmth in Liver region 38 indicates the concept of Public Gods, possibly of a low order, there is a strong relationship be twe en the marginal region 13 (vetisl) and the inner region 38 (me tlvmth).

143

Survey of gods occurring in votive inscriptions and in the Liber Linteus of Zagreb Region and name

nom. gen. turce fler- cver cvera mlach

1. Tin(ia)

+

1. Ne th(uns)

+

2. Uni

+

3. Te c(vm)

+

+

4. Lvsa

+

+

6. Catha

+

7. Fufluns

+

8. Selvans

+

+

2

+

+

Total number of votive inscriptions 0

+

6 2

+

0

3

+

4

+

+

11

+

9. Letham

+

1

11.Cel

+

5

+?

1

12.Cvl-

+?

16.Thufltha

+

25.Tva

+

2

26.Maris

+

2

29.Hercle

+

35.Satre

+

0

38.Methlum-

+

1

41.Tivr

+

0

42.Usil

+?

144

+

+

8

+

1

+

0

11 Chronological aspects The appearance of the Liver gods in inscriptions, with or without ‫ חס‬iconographical representation, can be distinguished in the following successive periods: a) c. 500 B.C. At the end of the archaic period the following gods are men­ tioned for the first time: Tin(ia), Uni, Ca(u)tha, Maris, Le tham, Laran (and Laruns), Tva- ( ? ) and Tiv. Only du ring the fifth or even fourth century B.C. are they rendered in figured scenes, with the e xception of Tva-. But it should be noticed that some names do occur e arlier in the sixth century B.C. as family names: Laraniia, Uselna, Culeniie, and Velchanas. These are probably theonymous names revealing that Laran, Usel, Velchan(a)s, and perhaps Cul- were known as gods long before 500 8 .C. b) c. 480-450 B.C. In this period Fufluns, Selva, Cel and Hercle appe ar for the first time in inscriptions. Selva does not occur in figured mythological scenes. c ) c . 350 B . C .

About the middle of the fourth century B.C. Alpan, Lasa, Metlvmth, Nethuns, Thvfltha, Tul, and Usil appear in inscrip­ ti ons . Of these gods Thvfltha, Tul, and Metl vmth d o not occ ur i‫ ח‬figured myth‫ס‬logical scenes. If Cathesan ‫ חס‬a mirror is composed of Catha and Thesan, the Liver god Catha then appears for the first time, at least in a figure d scene. Alpan as adverb (cf. Lat. libens), however, already occurs in inscrip­ tions of the sixth century B.C. At this time t‫ סס‬we see connections between gods, at least in iconographical scenes (see pre ceding chapter: Tin-Uni; Tin­ Maris-Lasa : Nethuns-Thesan-Usil : Fufluns-Vesuna (as Moon­ goddess, cf. Fufluns-Tiv(r)); Letham-Laran; and Hercle-Mar� . d) c. 150 (or 175-150) B.C. During the second century B.C.

Tec,

Cilens,

and Cul (Culsu,

145

and Culsans) appear in inscriptions. Possibly only Cilens depicted in a figured mythological scene.

is

e) c. 100 8 .C. (or later) It is not until the time when the Liver of Piacenza was made that the following gods appear in an epigraphical context : Lvsa, Mae, Satre, Tluscv, Vetis, and Velch. None of these is rendered in figured scenes. Only Lvsa, Satr and Veive (= Veio­ vis, Vediovis, cf. Vetis) are recorded in the Liber Linteus of Zagreb. From this survey it can be deduced that no Liver god is attested to in the earliest periods of the Etruscan culture (c. 700 to 500 8 .C.). Votive inscriptions in that period, however, are very rare. The media representing mythological scenes, for example mirrors, do not occur before c. 500 8 .C. and this fact may also account for our lack of knowledge about the earliest phase of Etruscan religion. As far as can be known from all available sources the most cal Etruscan names of gods are : Tvath, Tiv(r), Cel, Alpan ( ? , see ch. Lasa, Metlvmth, Cilens, Cul(su, or possibly Velch. The last name, however, may Whether Tul and Metlvmth are really names of

Tin,

(?),

typi­

9.14), Thvfltha, Tul Culsans), Laran, and be of Cretan origin. gods is not certain.

About half of the 28 Liver gods appear to be of Italic origin. The "Italisation" of the Etruscan pantheon probably began at an ear ly per iod . Fi r stly, Uni , Hercle (although the ultimate source is the Greek Her akles) and Selva were adopted, then Neth uns, and finally Mae , Tecvm, Vetis and Satre. There ar e strong indications that Usil, Maris, Lusa and Tluscv are of Italic origin too. It is evident that the strongest influence of the Italic world, parti­ cularly of the regions to the south of the Tiber, Umbria and the area of Rome, dates from the final phase. Perhaps the names of Mae , Satre and Vetis testify to the process of Romanisation in the Etruscan religion, about 100 8 .C.

146

12 Pars fami li ari s and pars hosti li s Cicero and Livy write that when consulting a liver the Etruscan haruspices discerned a favourable and an unfavourable part. Maggiani i dentifies the anatomically right lobe as pars familiari s and the left lobe as pars hostilis, for the following reasons (1): a) The i nscription ‫ חס‬the dorsal side of the right lobe mentions: usils, and that ‫ חס‬the convex side of the left lobe: tivs; so there is a day- and a night-side . b) The incisura indicates the south, because Iupiter (Tin) resi­ des in the northe rn regions; Tin occurs in three successive marginal regions which according to Maggiani, correspond to region 1, 2 and 3 of Martianus Capella's list. Followi ng Pallotino's theory he identifies Martianus's Nocturnus, who dwells in region 16 and 1, with the Etruscan Ci lens. According to Plautus, Nocturnus resides in the north. Therefore the marginal regions of the right lobe (Maggiani's regi ons no. 1- 8) are situated in the favourable e ast, and the marginal regions of the left lobe {Maggiani nos. 915), and one {!?) marginal region on the right lobe {Maggiani no. 16), i n the unfavourable west. So the division of the e astern and western regions over both lobes is not regular! These argu ments are not convincing because : a) There is not a single indication that Nocturnus, a male personificati on of the Night, corresponds to the goddess Ci ­ lens ; b) I upi ter i ndeed dwells in the north but this does not i mply that all his regions are situated in the favourable northeast ; according to Sene ca {2) Iupite r throws three kinds of lightning: favourable, ne utral, tending to be unfavourable rather than favourable , and a very unfavourable lightning. Because the ars fulguratoria is of Etruscan origin and because the division of the Liver margin into 16 regions refe rs primarily to this discipli na, it can be assumed that Tin dwells partly in the north-e ast and partly in the north­ west. c) A vital point is the incisura umbilicalis.

To the right

and

147

correleft of this in cision dwell Cath a n d Fuflun s , who spon d to Celeritas solis filia a n d Lib er , who reside in re­ gi on s 6 a n d 7 of Ma rtia n us's list . The division b etween region 6 an d 7 in dicates the south-east . Con sequently , the region s of Tin with Cilen , a n d Tin with Thuf belon g to the n orth-western section ( our n os. 1 5 a n d 1 6 ) , a n d the region Tin sthn e ( our n o. 1 ) to the n orth-eastern section of the ma rgin . d ) On the con vex side , to the left and right of the in cisura , Tiv an d U sil , Moon a n d Sun , reside . These celestial bodies n ever rise in the south but alwa ys in the ea st , between the n orth­ eastern an d south-eastern poin ts . e) U sil an d Tiv a re clearly con n ected with the 1 6 region s of the visceral side , for Cath ( Celeritas solis filia ) resides in region 6 opposite to Usil , a n d Fuflun s ( Lib er ) in region 7 facin g Tiv. As we have seen , Fuflun s occurs ‫ חס‬a n Etruscan mirror ( fig . 21 ) together with his pa rhedra , the moon - a n d vegetation goddess of Vesun a ( Umb r . Vesona ) . f ) The in cisura certain ly in dicates a n ea stern poin t because the risin g of sun a n d moon plays an importa n t role in the a rs haruspicin a , a s may b e clea r from texts of Julius Fron ­ tin us ( De limitibus , in : Corpus Agrimen sorum Roma n orum 1 , 1 p. 1 0- 1 1 (ed. Thulin ) a n d Hygin us ( De limitibus con stituen dis , i n : ib idem ( ed . Lachman n 1 66/7 ) . Frontin us writes : Limi tum a [ d] prima descripsit , Varro origo , sicut di sci plin a [m] etrusca [m] ; quod aruspices orbem terrarum in duas partes < quae> diviserun t , dextram appellaverun t sinistram , septentri on i subia cere< t> , meridia n o qua e a terra< e> esse< t> , < ab ori ente a d > occasum , quo d eo sol et l una specta ret , sicut quidam architect i del ub ra in occid en te< m> recte spectare scripserun t . "The origin of boun da ries , as Varro ex pla in ed , fin ds its startin g-poin t in the disciplin a etrusca ; because the haruspices divided the earth ' s surface in to two part s , callin g t he right side that pa rt facin g n orth, a n d the left that part facin g south ; thus they work ed from east to west b ecause the sun an d the moon looked in tha t direction , as certa in a rchi­ tects wrote that sa n ctuaries should face due west. " The east-west lin e plays a n importan t role in Etrusca n ci ty­ pla n n in g at least from the en d of the sixth cen tury B.C . ( 3) . Marza botto , Casalecchio , Capua an d Spina show a Hippodamic layout "ava n t la lettre". The main streets in these places run east-west a n d n orth-south. Such a rigid system is totally absen t in Greek Hippodamic cities . Etruscan temples , however ,

1 48

have no fixed orientation. This varies from north-east to south-west. The south-east orientation is most frequent. The south-east north-west line must already have played an essential role in arc hitec ture during the se venth c entury B.C., bec ause the entranc es of tomb c hambers in the oldest tumuli at Ce rve te ri and else where in Etruria frequently fac e north-west, whe re the Underworld was probably thought to � e (4). g) The four c ardinal points of the L iver are found between regions 16 and 1 (north), be tween 4 and 5 (e ast), be tween 8 and 9 ( south), and betwe en 12 and 13 (west)(c f. fig. 69). It is remarkable that in the regions 4, 8, 12, and 16 reside gods who have a c onnec tion with the c onc ept of border. In region 12 lives Cvl. Both Cul! u and Culsans are gateway divi­ nities, Cul! u of the Underworld, Culsans a Ianus-fac ed god of c ity gateways. Opposite to Cvl's re gion (12) is L vsa in the internal region 34. This godde ss also live s in marginal region 4! In the c e lestial c irc le of sixte en re gions region 4 is diametric ally opposite region 12. Evidently, L vsa has one region in the pars familiaris (east) and one in the pars hostilis (west). Opposite L vsa's region 4 is the internal region 17 where Tul (Border) is indic ated! In region 8 lives Selva, who, acc ording to a c ippus insc rip­ tion at Bolsena and an inscription ‫ חס‬a bronze statuette (probably from Bolsena too), must be a border divinity. In this respect the Etrusc an Selvans and the Roman Silvanus are muc h alike. As we have seen, in the regions between the remai­ ning c ardinal point 16/1 Tin, a frontier god " par e xc e llenc e " (cf. c h. 9.1) resides. The four c ardinal points have spec ial signific anc e if atten­ tion is paid to Pliny's c e lestial division for the c onsultation of lightning. He writes that the four north-west regions were maxime dirae and that the four north-eastern indic ated the summa felic itas. This implies that the south­ e ast was the sec tion of fe lic itas and the south-west the sec tion of less terrible regions. Tin in region 16 and 1 indic ates the transition of regiones maxime dirae to summa felic itas, L vsa (with Tul) in region 4 the transition of summa felic itas to felic itas, Selva in region 8 the transition of felic itas to regiones dirae and Cvl (with L vsa) in region 12 the transition of regiones dirae to regiones maxime dirae. The pars familiaris is found partly ‫ חס‬the left lobe and partly on the right lobe, in the bottom half, and so is the pars hostilis, in the upper half (c f. fig. 70). The line betwee n the regions 16 and 1 is a c ardinal one, because: a) the dy ad Fuflus-Catha in the internal regions 23 and 24 is to the left and right of it, and b) Neth in region 22 and Thuflthas in region 21 are c hiastic ally related to Ne

149

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