Original scientific paper

The cult of Janus in Dalmatia

Mirjana Sanader orcid.org/0000-0002-9721-5491 ; Sveučilište u Zagrebu, Filozofski fakultet, Odsjek za arheologiju

Abstract

Theological and philological studies, as well as works on ancient history (including information from epigraphy and numismatics) account for most of the bibliographic units dedicated to Janus. Research has established, among other things, that the cult of Janus was particularly widespread in the Roman province of Dalmatia. In order to shed more light on this hypothesis, made long ago, our research of this Roman deity’s cult was primarily focused on its traces in Dalmatia. Thus, it was established that nineteen (19) monuments, jointly presented to the expert community on a poster, originated from the province. However, information on Janus-related monuments from all over the Roman Empire was gathered at the same time. It was established that nine (9) monuments dedicated to Janus came from North Africa, four (4) from Dacia, two (2) from Italy, and one from Gaul and Noricum, respectively. These interesting results encouraged us to undertake further research in order to define the reasons for this unprecedented worship of the cult of Janus in Dalmatia, from where, as said above, come as many as nineteen (19) out of thirty-six (36) known monuments dedicated to this deity found in the territories of the former Empire.

Keywords

Janus; Roman cults; Dalmatia

Hrčak ID:

176732

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/176732

Publication date:

21.12.2016.

Article data in other languages: croatian

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