ProQuest Dissertations - Historia Antigua

to a colony's religious system, but an innovation and, thus, the start of a new fashion incolonial religion. Luna is the first colony in Northern Italy where an identifiablecapitolium is present from the foundation of the colony. 14The three-ce//a temple wasdecorated with architectural elements datable to the second quarter of the second century,i.e. within the first fifteen years of the colony's life. 141It is identifiable as a capitoliumbecause of a pedimental sculpture of Minerva and a second scene depicting the myth ofTelephus, echoing from the Pergamene altar of Zeus. 142Thus, through its artistic scheme,this temple draws together Mediterranean elements with Etruscan and Romangenealogical myths. 14It allowed the colonists to convey not only their worldliness to thetravelers entering the port town, but also their common ties with the Etruscans citizens ofPisa. Despite the presence of the Roman patron deities, the overall message was one ofcommunity, which benefited the colonists first and the citizens of Rome only second, ifthe communal feeling kept the Etruscans pacified.To the Roman magistrates watching from the center, however, the temple toJupiter, Juno Regina, and Minerva might have seemed like a means for Lepidus, one ofthe founders of Luna, to flaunt his new clientele. The colonists' very eagerness to buildtwo large temples to the goddesses that Lepidus chose to venerate with temples in Romedemonstrates how closely tied they were to their patron. The Luna temple to Jupiter,Juno, and Minerva is not the product of an attitude in which it was "unthinkable" not to140 Ibid. Cf. Rossignani (1985), pp. 55-7. Architectural decoration fromthe capitolium: Forte (1992),pp. 195 ff.141 Forte (1992), p. 195.142 Strazzula(1992),pp. 172-183. Rossignani (1985), pp. 55-7.m Strazzula (1992), p. 182. Strazzula attributes the combination of Etruscan and Roman genealogy to theinfluence of Pisa, based on the assumption that Luna was the colony founded on Pisan land. The234