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II.11). On this medallion, a personification of the Tiber looks on and stretches out his hand in a
welcoming gesture to the foreign god. 178 This medal shows that the tale of Aesculapius’ arrival
remained popular and was accepted by the Romans well into the Imperial period. Thus the
medal demonstrates that Aesculapius could still be conceived of as a snake god even in the mid
second century CE.
Aesculapius’ entry into Italy was relatively late, but Rome was an important center for
this divinity. 179 The circumstances for this transferal of cult are preserved in a number of literary
sources. 180 Livy records a plague that harried the Romans during the years 295 and 293 BC. In
order to cure this plague, the Romans turned first to the god Apollo, whose oracles had been
recorded in the Sibylline Books. Through this instrument, the god instructed them to bring his
son, Aesculapius, from the great healing sanctuary in Epidaurus to the city of Rome. Livy notes
that the consuls of 293 BCE were unable to act immediately because they were occupied with
wars against the Etruscans and Samnites, but the god was successfully incorporated into the
Roman pantheon in 291 BCE. 181
Livy’s account of the transfer of Aesculapius unfortunately does not survive except in the
Perioichai. Ovid, however, records the transfer and entry of the god into the city of Rome in
Book XV of the Metamorphoses, and the presence of the god in the form of a sacred snake
appears in both accounts, albeit Ovid’s account is more dramatic. In Ovid’s version of the tale,
the Epidaurians were at first reluctant to give up their god to the Romans; Aesculapius appeared
in a dream to Quintus Ogulnius, the leader of the Roman emissaries, and gave his assent to be
transferred to Rome. In the dream, Aesculapius appeared to Ogulnius in anthropomorphic form,
but, when he approached the ship to be transferred to Rome, he took the form of a sacred serpent.
O Roman, when the health-bearing god, seemed to stand in your dreams
Before your bed just as he is wont to in his temple,
Holding a rustic staff in his left hand,
Stroking his long beard with his right,
178 Kerényi (1959, 15) interprets the figure greeting Aesculapius as Faunus, but it seems more likely that this is the
personification of the Tiber River since he rises from the water and the bare chest and wreathed head resemble other
images of river gods. Mambella (1997, 26) includes this medallion in the LIMC catalogue for Tiberis, Tiberinus in
accordance with this interpretation. Turcan (1988, 33) also identifies the reclining god as the Tiber. The Tiber also
carries an object that may be an anchor. Interestingly, this medallion is not included in the LIMC entry for
Asklepios.
179 Schouten (1967, 13) lists the “principal shrines” of the god as Epidauros, Athens, Pergamum, Cos, and Rome.
180 Livy and Ovid’s text are discussed here, but Valerius Maximus (I.8.2) and the anonymous author of De Viris
Illustribus (22, 1-3) also record this event and even add a brief stop at the port of Antium.
181 Livy X.XLVII.7
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