ProQuest Dissertations - Historia Antigua

The specific deity to whom a cult is dedicated also affects the influences on the cult, e.g.temples decorated with ihepotnia theron motif show eastern influence as importedthrough central Italy. Hercules cults, of course, were strongly tied to Greek myth but thegod could be venerated in a Sabellic or Roman manner.In the colonies planted in Samnium and Campania, the religious influences camefrom Central Italian, Eastern, Greek, Latin, Sabellic, Volscian, Daunian, and Romansources. Some cultic borrowings were very site-specific, such as the Daunian influenceon the cult of Trojan Athena in Luceria, the Greek activity in Paestum, and the matchingitems found in shrines at Sora, Fregellae, and Minturnae, all located on the Liris river. Inthe southern colonies, too, the use of the potnia theron motif and the worship of Herculesbore their own specific influences. Again, the Sabellic influence is prominent in coloniesaround Samnium, but the worship of Hercules in colonies where the Samnites had notbeen as successful against the Romans seems to tend more towards Roman expressions ofworship, such as Cales, Fregellae, Sora, and Paestum. The scarcity of evidence makesthis a tentative conclusion at best, however.In all, there is no denying that Roman cults had some influence on the religion ofthe Roman and Latin colonies. Nonetheless, this influence does not seem to be strongerin small, citizen colonies such as Minturnae, Puteoli, Pisaurum, or Potentia; nor do thesecolonies shun non-Roman forms of cult. Latin colonies also do not avoid strictly Romanforms of worship, such as the pocula deorum, and at the same time they, too, are open toGreek, central Italian, and Sabellic cult practices. Of course, the six gods discussed inthis chapter are just a fraction of the full pantheon worshipped throughout the colonies.231