Archaeological Museum of Bologna

Museo Civico Archeologico
Via dell'Archiginnasio 2 - 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211

Direzione e Uffici
Via de' Musei 8 – 40124 Bologna
Tel. 051.27.57.211 - Fax 051.26.65.16
mca@comune.bologna.it

MAP

  • banner sezioni

Collections / Sections / The Epigraphic Collection

Well curb

The well curb is well refined and decorated with frames, and an inscription, carved on the middle band, which is a dedication to Apollo and Genius Augusti and suggests thath the monuments was committed by the freedman L. Aposulenus Eros, from an Italic population, who lived in a village where he was magister of the Lari.

More info

This monument, found in the mid-17th century in an area that yielded numerous other sacred epigraphs, must have been part of a territorial sanctuary in antiquity, perhaps tied to a river port. The beautiful inscription, carved on the middle band, notes that, in his capacity as magister or priest, the freedman L. Aposulenus Eros, from an Italic population, had a well (puteum) and well curb (puteal) built at his own expense. He also planted laurels (laurus), the beloved plant of Apollo, dedicating it to this deity, whose connection with water and health cults is well known, and to the Genius Augusti, the expression of the cult of the living emperor.

Provenance: San Pietro in Casale, nearby Maccaretolo (Bologna)
Datation: End of the 1st century AD
Material: Limestone
Dimensions: Height: 88 cm; diameter: 116 cm
Inventory #: 19056

Go back to introduction

Images

Exhibition rooms | Courtyard – Lapidarium