I Culti Orientali in Sicilia (Etudes Preliminaires Aux Religions Orientales Dans L'empire Romain) (Etudes Preliminaires Aux Religions Orientales Dans L'empire Romain)

Oriental cults here discussed–the Alexandrian, the Phrygian, and the Neo-Persian–are prominent in the Roman Empire, and for their diffusion Sicily geographically and historically has particular importance. Some decades ago pioneer studies were undertaken by Ciaceri and Pace. These are now supplemented and superseded by a punctiliously documented and profusely illustrated monograph, welcome as a systematic analysis of all the current evidence. The bulk of the book naturally deals with the Egyptian gods. Out of 358 catalogued items 304 are Egyptian-and of the twenty-three additions in the Appendix almost all relate to Ptah, an obvious favourite in the countryside around Etna as the Nilotic counterpart of Vulcan. About one-third of the Introduction (Chapters I-IV) and Plates LXI-CXXII are devoted to Cybele and Attis, Sabazius, Mithras, and Dea Syria. The central interest is indicated by the frontispiece, a bas-relief of Isis and Serapis, hitherto unpublished.