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Last Updated on 17 Mar 2017

Author: Loredana Cappelletti

CAPInv. 1099: retiarii

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Southern Italy with Sicily
ii. Region Campania
iii. Site Pozzuoli (anc. Puteoli)

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) retiarii (CIL X 1589, l. 1)
ii. Full name (transliterated) retiarii

III. DATE

i. Date(s) i (?) BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Professional:retiarii: gladiators, net-fighters.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) CIL X 1589 (i BC?)
Note ILLRP 231
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Latin dedication to the god Mercury set up by the retiarii and provided by their magistri, whose names follow.
i.c. Physical format(s) Fragmentary inscription.
ii. Source(s) provenance Found in Pozzuoli, church of S. Francesco.

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership Maybe six magistri (CIL X 1589, ll. 3-5; but the inscription is fragmentary at this point, and probably other names have been lost).
Themagistri provided (curarunt) (CIL X 1589, l. 2) the dedication for the god. Three of them were freedmen.
viii. Obligations The engraving and erection of the inscription may imply that the retiarii either collected money ad hoc or each member had to pay some sum regularly, which went into the (unattested) treasury.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

i. Treasury/Funds The engraving and erection of the inscription may imply that the association had its own funds/treasury.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number Six names attested.
ii. Gender Men
Note Attested individuals are men.
iii. Age Adults
Note Attested individuals are almost surely adults.
iv. Status Three magistri were freedmen (liberti).

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship The dedication to Mercury by the group suggests worship.
Deities worshipped Mercury

XII. NOTES

i. Comments Dubois 1902: 33-4 refers the word retiarii to an association of men engaged in the manufacture and sale of nets (retia).
iii. Bibliography Dubois, Ch.-A. (1902), ‘Cultes et Dieux à Pouzzoles’, MEFRA 22: 23-68.
Peterson, R.M. (1919), The cults of Campania. Rome.
Waltzing, J.P. (1895-1900), Étude historique sur les corporations professionnelles chez les Romains depuis les origines jusqu'à la chute de l'Empire d'Occident, I-IV. Louvain.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note see Waltzing 1895: vol. I, 89; Peterson 1919: 114.