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Last Updated on 02 Mar 2017

Author: Maria-Gabriella Parissaki

CAPInv. 708: thiasus Maenad(um) regianarum

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Macedonia
ii. Region Edonis
iii. Site Philippi

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) thiasus Maenad(um) regianarum (An.Ép. 1939: no. 192, ll. 2-3)
ii. Full name (transliterated) thiasus Maenad(um) regianarum

III. DATE

i. Date(s) i - ii AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Cultic:Maenades
Other:regianae: The meaning is not clear. Jaccottet II no. 25 translates as 'royal' and sees a reference to literary tradition (Greek tragedy) and the daughters of Cadmus; GRA I 71 tentatively suggests the translation 'distinguished'; Philhofer 2000: 103, no. 340/L589 omits the term in his translation but wonders if it occurs here in order to differentiate from some other thiasus of Maenads.
iii. Descriptive terms thiasus, thiasus
Note thiasus: An.Ép. 1939: no. 192, l. 2

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) An.Ép. 1939: no. 192 (i - ii AD)
Note See also: Jaccottet II no. 25; GRA I 71
Online Resources An.Ép. 1939: no. 192 and AGRW ID 2251
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Dedication to Liber, Libera and Hercules in Latin
i.c. Physical format(s) Stele
ii. Source(s) provenance Philippi, found in a small building unearthed below the NW corner of the Roman baths.
In BCH 103 (1979): 624 reported as lost during World War II; present whereabouts unknown.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

i. Archaeological remains Inscriptions referring to Liber, Libera and Hercules and found in this same area (for a list of which, see Pilhofer 2009: no. 338/L333) suggest that the structure below the Roman baths may have been a small sanctuary devoted to this cult. The baths were built in the middle of the 3rd cent. AD, thus offering a terminus ante quem for the construction and use of the building below.
ii. References to buildings/objects As indicated by the text, the thiasus provided for the supply of water (ll. 3-4: aq[ua]m induxit, aq[ua]m induxit) to the cult place where the inscription was found, see GRA I 71.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii. Members The members are referred to as Maenades regianae (An.Ép. 1939: no. 192, ll. 2-3).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Women
Note As indicated by the reference to Maenads, the members were women.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship The term Maenades indicate orgiastic rites and suggests worship of Dionysus by the group.
Deities worshipped Dionysos

XII. NOTES

i. Comments Thiasus Maenad(arum) regianar(um), on the stone, according to Collart 1937: 368, no. 1, followed by Jaccottet II no. 25. Thiasus Maenad(um) regianar(um), according to Nigdelis, followed by Philhofer 2000: 103, no. 340/L589 and GRA I 71.
For Jaccottet II no. 25 the use of the term Maenadarum instead of Baccharum and the epithet regianarum, understood as a reference to the daughters of Cadmus, indicate 'a poetic rather than a ritual language'.

The date is tentatively suggested by Jaccottet II no. 25.
iii. Bibliography Collart, P. (1937), Philippes, ville de Macédoine depuis ses origines jusqu’à la fin de l’époque romaine. Paris.
Jaccottet, A.-Fr. (2003), Choisir Dionysos: Les associations dionysiaques ou la face cachée du dionysisme. 2 vols. Zürich.
Pilhofer, P. (2000), Philippi, Band II: Katalog der Inschriften von Philippi. Tübingen: 103, no. 340/L589.
Pilhofer, P. (2009), Philippi, Band II. Katalog der Inschriften von Philippi. 2., überarbeitete und ergänzte Auflage. Tübingen: 404-5, no. 338/L333.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The terminology employed points to a private association.