Jupiter Dolichenus, Heliopolitanus and Ammon

Jupiter could be associated with deities from the east half of the Empire, and in Portus we find a few examples. Jupiter Dolichenus is documented by two inscriptions. The first, incomplete inscription documents a dedication to Jupiter Optimus Maximus Dolichenus during the reign of Commodus, in 186 AD. It was the work of soldiers of a military fleet, probably that of Misenum. They were stationed to the west of Naples, but dedicated when they were at Ostia-Portus.

[Permittent?]E IMP(eratore) CAES(are) COM [modo Antonino] PIO FELICE SACR(um) QV [od? voverant? I(ovi) O(ptimo)] M(aximo) DVLIC(heno) MILIT(es) CL(assis) [pr(aetoriae) Mis(enensis)? cum es]SENT OSTIA SVB [cura ----]TI IVSTI TR(ierarchi) VII ID(us) [--- Com]MODO AVG(usto) V CO(n)S(ule) [curam agente] TER(entio?) PRISCO

Marble slab. From the Episcopium in Portus. Vatican Museums. Date: 186 AD. W. 0.28, h. 0.29. Marchesini 2013, 365-368. EDR146810. Photo: Marchesini 2013, fig. 170.

The second inscription is a dedication to Jupiter Dolichenus for the well-being of Commodus, made in 191-192 AD by Lucius Rubrius Maximus, a military commander who was probably passing through Portus.

IOVI DOLICHENO PRO SALVTE IMP(eratoris) L(uci) AELI AVRELI COMODI PII FELICIS AVG(usti) N(ostri) L(ucius) RVBRIVS MAXIMVS PRAEF(ectus) EQ(uitum) ALAE HISP(aniensis) VOTVM SOLVI	To Jupiter Dolichenus, for the well-being of Emperor Lucius Aelius Aurelius Commodus, pious, happy, our Augustus, Lucius Rubrius Maximus. commander of the Spanish wing of cavalry, fulfilled his vow.
Marble slab. From Portus, seen in 1847. Museo Torlonia. Date: 191-192 AD. Marchesini 2013, 363-365. EDR149965.

A dedication to Jupiter Heliopolitanus for the well-being of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus was made by a man named Gaionas, in the years 176-180 AD. This man must be Marcus Antonius Gaionas, with a Syrian origin and known from Rome, where he was involved with the cult of the deity in a sanctuary on the Ianiculum. He was also responsible for the surveillance of the right bank of the Tiber, which may have brought him to Portus. The deity is called also Angelus, "messenger", which may mean that he was regarded as intermediary between the gods and men.

I(ovi) O(ptimo) M(aximo) ANGELO HELIOP(olitano) PRO SALVTE IMPERATOR(um) ANTONINI ET COMMODI AUGG(ustorum) GAIONAS D(onum) D(edit)	To Jupiter Optimus Maximus Angelus Heliopolitanus, for the well-being of Emperors Antoninus and Commodus, Augusti, Gaionas donated.
Column of granitello. Found in 1865 on the banks of Trajan's hexagonal basin. Disappeared. Date: 176-180 AD. Marchesini 2013, 376-378. EDR149966.

Somewhere in Portus a double herm was found of Jupiter Ammon, described as follows by Carlo Ludovico Visconti: "This work affords an excellent instance of the conventional form under which, whilst retaining all its principal characteristics, the sculptors of ancient Greece were wont to represent this Lybian divinity. The two ram's horns almost uniting with the hair, descend from the temples without altering the outline of the two heads, which are surmounted by a double kalathiskos, below which is a crown of oak leaves of elegant design".

Marble double herm of Jupiter Ammon. H. 0.46. Museo Torlonia, inv. nr. 466A.