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V.—Notice of a Monument at Pallanza, North Italy, dedicated to the Matronæ; with an attempt to investigate the Origin and Nature of the Cult of the Matronæ, as distinct from that of the Deæ Matres

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  25 January 2012

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Extract

You have made the study of the Deæ Matres and the Matronæ so peculiarly your own, by the notices, in Collectanea Antiqua and Roman London, of the many memorials of these lesser Roman divinities which exist in Britain, Germany, and France, that, in venturing on the same subject, I feel almost like a trespasser. Yet we are all bound to contribute our respective gleanings to the general stock of information. Moreover, the Cisalpine examples of the cult of the Matronæ, which I now propose to consider, though perfectly analogous to those of other countries—the subjects of your studies—yet have their respective points of difference. These, though difficult to explain, should not pass unnoticed, and your labours have lightened my task.

Type
Research Article
Copyright
Copyright © The Society of Antiquaries of London 1880

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References

page 172 note a Corpus Inscriptionum. Tom. iii. p. 1,074.

page 172 note b Antiqua Novariensium Monumenta, Novara, 1612. Jnscr. xlir.

page 172 note c Amoretti, Carlo. “Viaggio da Milano ai tre Laghi,” p. 59.Google Scholar 6ta Edizione corretta e corredata dal Dottore Gio. Labua. Milano. 1824.

page 172 note d Since this was written Dr. Hübner has published the inscription in the Archäologische Zeitung. Jahrgang xxxiv. 1876. p. 66

page 173 note a Sketches of Lago Maggiore and Pallanza, by the Rev. W. Owen, B.A. A brochure, published by G. J. Passmore. London. 1875. 2nd edition. Bickers. London. 1879.

page 173 note b Subsequently, in the autumn of 1876, I had an opportunity of visiting Pallanza, and seeing the monument.

page 174 note a Livy. ix. 30. Ovid. Fast. vi. 657.

page 174 note b See paper on this monument by Herr F. Haug in the Archäologische Zeitung. Jahrgang xxxiv. 1876, p. 61.

page 174 note c Dr. Mommsen, in the second volume (No. 6641) of his “Inscriptiones Gallise Cisalpinæe,” published since this paper was read, gives the Pallanza inscription, and, in lieu of an illustration, thus describes the monument: —

page 175 note a , Horace, De Arte Poet.232.Google Scholar

page 176 note a , Horace, Carm. II. xii. 17.Google Scholar “Dare brachia.” A note in the Orelli edition, Turici, 1850, gives “Hæe maxinie demonstramt matronam Romanam hie significari, quibus solis dueere lieebat sacros Diana; choros, una cum virginibus ingenuis.” Compare also Livy, xxvii. 38.

page 176 note b Proceedings. Second Series. Vol. iv. p. 293.

page 176 note c C.R. Smith's Roman London, p. 36. Idem. Collectanea Antiqua. Vol. i. p. 130.

page 176 note d Virgil, Georgics, i. 21.

page 176 note e This and the following woodcut have been kindly lent by Mr. C. Roach Smith.

page 177 note a Anzeiger für Schweizerische Alterthumskunde. Vol. ii. p. 337. Pl xxxi. Zürich.

page 177 note b Mr. C. R. Smith advances a similaropinion in his Roman London, p. 40, note, though more in application to the Deæ Matres. Also Keller in the Anzeiger, loc. cit.; and Mr. Wright, T. in the “Celt, Roman, and Saxon,” p. 283.Google Scholar Jacob Grimm too in his Deutsche Mythologie, 3rd. ed. p. 388. “Das weben der nornen und die spindel der feen weist uns auf häusliche, mötterliche gottheiten. … Bei den Celten namentlich mögen die fate in den begrif der Matres und Matronæ auslaufen.”

page 178 note a Thes. inscr. tom. i. 93.

page 178 note b Spon, Miscellanea Eruditæ Antiquitatis. Sect. 3, xxv. The AVG. in the second line is simply a title of veneration, which Ovid explains,

“Sancta vocant Augusta patres; Augusta vocantur

Templa sacerdotum rite dicata nianu.”—Fast. i. 609.

page 179 note a Plin. ii. c. 7.

Thus too, Menander, (frag, xviii.)

Απαντι δαιμων áνδρì συμπαρíσταται

“Εùθύς γενομÉνω, μυσταγωγòς τοû βíου

ΆΥαθóς.

page 179 note b The absurd multiplication of the genius loci is ridiculed by Prudentius,

“Quamquam cur genium Romæ mihi fingitis unum?

Cum portis, domibus, thermis, stabulis soleatis

Adsignare suos genios; perque omnia membra,

Urbis perque locos, geniorum millia multa

Fingere, ne propria vacet angulus ullus ab umbra.”—Contra Symmach. ii. 445.

page 179 note c Etruscan Researches. London. 1874.

page 180 note a , Amoretti. Viaggio ai tre Laghi, p. 287.Google Scholar

page 181 note a St. Matthew, xviii. 10.

page 182 note a gΜÉγιστον τŵν τύτε άνθρώπων δυνηθεíς. κ. τ. λ.Dion. Cass. Ix. 34.

page 182 note b Professor Hübner considers Narcissus to have been the imperial villicus hero, which is probable enough. Archäologische Zeitung, Jahrgang xxxiv. 1876.

page 182 note c Lib. iv. 14.

page 182 note d Suetonius, iv. 27.

page 183 note a In the Inscriptiones Gall. Cis. No. 6,594, is a dedication—

Matronis

Indvlgentibvs.

page 183 note c The dolphins sculptured on the Rödingen Matronenstein, already referred to, may be symbolical of a belief in their power over the sea as well as land.

page 183 note c Matrib

Italis Ger

Manis

Gal.Brit.

From an altar from Winchester, now in the British Museum. Collectanea Antiqua, vol. iv. pl. 14. Corp. Inscr. Rom. vii. p. 16. No. 5. See also the same work. No. 238.

page 183 note d Matribvs

Omnivm

Gentivm.

From Cumberland. Coll. Ant. vol. iv. p. 42. Corp. Inser. Rom. vii. p. 155. No. 887.

page 183 note e Ausonius, De Tern. Num. Idyl. xi.

page 183 note f British Arch. Association Journ. vol. ii. p. 315.

page 183 note g A rude sculpture on a rock found at Troinex, near Geneva, represents four female figures. It bears the name of “Pierre aux Dames.” Anzeiger für Schweizerische Alterthumskunde, vol. ii. p. 336. It would be of interest to know if any of the small bowl-shaped hollows which obtain for the rocks that bear them the name of pierres à écuelles or schalensteine had ever existed on this stone at Troinex. Such rocks are common in Switzerland, and especially so in Sweden, where theybear the name of elfstenar, or the stones of elfs or fairies. M. Hans Hildebrand informs us that “la population actuelle de la Suède a encore aujourd' hui beaucoup de vénération pour ces pierres, dans les écuelles des quelles les campagnards déposent de petites offrandes, par exemple, des aiguilles, des boutons, &e.” Congrès International d'Anthropologie et d'Archéologie Préhistoriques. vii. Session. Stockholm. 1874. Compte Eendu, p. 487.

On this curious subject also refer to Keller's “Schalensteine der Schweiz,” being the second part of his Helvetische Denkmäler in vol. xvii. of the Mittheilungen der Antiquarischen Gesellschaft in Zürich. 1874.

page 184 note a Lindenschmit's Alterthümer. 2 Band. Heft 1. Tafel 6: also 3 Band. Heft 10. Tafel 3.

page 184 note b Compare the monuments from Rödingen, Embken, Wettweis, and others: also the Suabian example from Zazenhausen, near Cannstadt.

page 184 note c Mittheilungen of the Zürich Society, vol. x. 1854, under “Inscriptiones Confederations Helveticæ Latinæ,” edited by Dr. Mommsen.

page 185 note b , Spon, Miscellanea Eruditæ Antiquitatis, p. 106.Google ScholarDiscubitio is an unusual word, referring to the Roman custom of recliningon a couch at dinner. This term, and the mention of the tabula, show thismonument was inaugurated by a solemn formal feast. The inscription is at Fontaines, canton de Neuvillesur-Saône; see Comarmond, Musée Lapidaire de Lyon, p. 427.

page 185 note b The Aufanian Matronæ seem to have been in repute. Spon, p. 107, gives another inscription in their honour:—

Matronis

Avfaniabvs

T.Albinivs

Ianvarivs

S. L. M.

Ex Antiquit. Neomag.

page 185 note c Archäologische Zeitung, p. 66, Jahrgang xxxiv. 1876.