The site of Pietrabbondante, in modern Molise, is well known to scholars of Roman Italy as the location of the famous Pentrian Samnite sanctuary that functioned until the time of the Social War. Its theater, dating to between 120 and 110 BCE and used for religious festivals and political occasions, is one of the best-known monuments from the site (106). Despite the impressive architecture and undeniable importance of Pietrabbondante, very few book-length scholarly works treating it have been published. The majority of the previous publications are in Italian, as is the work currently under review, and many erroneously associate the site with the name of Bovianum Vetus,Footnote 1 a connection initially proposed by Theodor Mommsen but now dismissed (1).Footnote 2 These and other works discussing the site were published before the most recent excavations took place, from 1998 to 2022 (55, 261).Footnote 3 The volume under review treats these recent excavations and the associated discoveries. The discussion of the numismatic material has since been expanded by a volume published in 2023 discussing the coins found between 1959 and 2019.Footnote 4
This brief summary of previous scholarship makes it clear that this volume fills a large gap in the extant literature. Unfortunately, it only discusses the monuments on the western side of the sanctuary, but Adriano La Regina notes that a second volume focusing on the eastern side will be given to the press in 2023 (xiii). At the time of this review, this highly awaited second volume has not yet been published. The only items from the eastern sector that have been included in this work are some new Oscan inscriptions (xiii).
This book more than compensates for the previous scarcity of scholarship. It provides the most thorough overview of the western part of the sanctuary of Pietrabbondante currently available in print, all together in one place. It is fitting that the largest volume on Pietrabbondante to date is edited by La Regina, who began overseeing excavations at the site in 1959 (1). La Regina has put together a volume designed for specialists, with a brief overview of the site and its history provided only in the “Introduction” (xiii–xiv) and the discussion of the “historical and cultural aspects of the Samnite and Roman settlement of Pietrabbondante” (1–53, especially 1–4, 12, and 15–16). The only other general discussion appears in a subsection entitled “Pietrabbondante 1959–2009: A half century of archaeological research” (112–14).
Following the historical and cultural discussion, the next major section contains excavation reports for 1998, 2002–2003, and 2005–2013 (55–144). La Regina explains that he has included them in their original form because they provide important first impressions and show the excavators’ progress in understanding the site (xiii). Since the more recent, longer assessments of the various areas of the site in the later sections of the book (domus publica (147–307), stonemasons’ worksite (311–58), zone located east of Temple B (361–96), Temple A and the tabernae (399–417), and zone located northeast of Temple A (421–44)) supersede some of this information, however, readers will likely find the reports repetitive. While, given the difficulty of locating field reports, specialists with a particular interest in seeing these notes will be glad to have them, many readers could skip this section without losing large quantities of information. After discussing the various sectors of the site, the volume concludes with a discussion of individual classes of materials: numismatic finds, glass, bone, and 14th–16th c. CE ceramics.
The above discussion about the excavation reports raises an important point: in addition to being designed for specialists, this volume is not meant to be read from cover to cover. Although it is written in straightforward Italian with very few typographical errors, it lacks any kind of cohesive narrative. Rather, it reads as a series of papers on individual topics. This leads to significant repetition if it is read from beginning to end. The addition of a section in English (405–17) and one in German (483–90) adds to the overall disjointed nature of the volume and confirms its intended use by specialists who are able to read all three languages.
Although the repetition present in many contributions could have been removed, it appears that the editor preferred not to do so. Indeed, despite the drawbacks mentioned above, the advantages of arranging the work in this way are clear for readers who dip in and out of the separate sections of the book, as many likely will. Those who explore only a few sections will no doubt be grateful to have the background information repeated at the beginning of each contribution, rather than having to go back to an earlier section to find it. For the most part, the sections stand well on their own, although readers who engage with the final chapters on artifact classes might find it useful to delve into earlier sections to better understand the architecture in which the objects were found. The absence of an index prevents readers from homing in on specific topics or jumping from place to place in the work easily, though. It also means that those who engage with only one section could miss other mentions of a building, topic, or artifact class if they ignore the rest of the volume.
Finally, the format of the volume is somewhat unwieldy, consisting of 600 pages of heavy paper stock measuring 21 by 29.7 cm and weighing 2.53 kg. The volume is better suited to consultation in a library than to being carried around. The tradeoff, however, is that the volume has many large images: over 490 grayscale figures, many of which are full-page plates, and 26 color plates. Twenty-one figures from the excavations conducted in the 1800s are included. The color images are particularly appreciated for the glass objects, the medieval pottery, and the two bronze statuettes, one of Minerva and one of a Lar. The high-quality images provide a wonderful visual accompaniment to the text.
General summary of the work
Because of the high level of detail in the volume and the limited length of this review, I will endeavor to discuss as many sections as possible, highlighting what I believe to be especially interesting or novel contributions.
After the introduction, La Regina presents a history of excavations, first by the Kingdom of Naples in 1857–1858, then by the Kingdom of Italy from 1870 to 1873. Aside from a brief interlude under the direction of Amedeo Maiuri, the site lay untouched until La Regina began excavating in 1959 (1). These various campaigns uncovered a sizeable Samnite sanctuary, which flourished especially between the 4th c. BCE and the Social War but was active as early as the 5th c. BCE (1). After the Samnites lost political autonomy and the sanctuary ceased to be a public religious center, the area became a rural settlement (2). Private cult practices continued, but it never regained its former prestige (2). The earthquake that struck Samnium in 346 CE affected Pietrabbondante, leading to an abandonment of the site (2). The site was never resettled, but a cult building continued to be used by nearby villages until the 5th c. CE (2). Traces of medieval ceramics dating from the 14th to 16th c. CE found in Temple B, the presence of Renaissance ceramics, and the spoliation of Temple B to build the church of S. Maria in Pietrabbondante also show that sporadic use of the buildings continued into much later periods (16, 523).
Next, La Regina discusses the overall layout and chronology of the main buildings. An Ionic temple associated with a spring was built in the late 4th or 3rd c. BCE in what would become the central area of the later sanctuary. This temple was destroyed during the Hannibalic War in 217 BCE (2–3). At the end of the 2nd c. BCE, the monumental complex that consisted of Temple B, porticoed terraces, and the theater was built over the earlier sanctuary (2). At the same time, a large building for the sanctuary’s official residence was constructed along with a portico attached to the south for votive offerings. The excavators call this complex, located to the southwest, a domus publica (2). They claim that this structure would have housed the leaders and dignitaries of the Samnite tribes when they met in the sanctuary (62). The area between the domus publica and the Temple B-Theater complex contained a kiln in the late 2nd c. BCE that was demolished shortly afterward and covered by a likely administrative building only in the early Imperial period (3). To the northeast of the theater, two additional buildings, known as G and H, were also constructed. Building G has been identified as a small shrine or sacrarium dating to the first half of the 2nd c. BCE, while Building H’s function and size is less certain (406). A cluster of small houses connected to possible tabernae were built on the remains of Buildings G and H in the course of the 1st c. BCE (3). Northeast of Temple B and west of the so-called tabernae was a stonemasons’ worksite, abandoned after the Social War (3). On a terrace higher uphill, west of the worksite and east of Temple B, is a building that has not been fully excavated. Its round central chamber surrounded by a square wall suggests that it could be a heroon (362, 369–70). Finally, another sacred building, named Temple A, was built to the northeast of the so-called tabernae in the 2nd c. BCE (3). A final platform of another sacred building lay northeast of Temple A.
After a discussion of the Samnite-era fortifications built on Monte Saraceno, La Regina presents the Oscan inscriptions from Pietrabbondante. The presentation includes new readings of some previously published texts and new onomastics, including a possible Proto-Germanic origin for the name Detfri on the famous tile inscribed by slaves from Temple B (9). The section on theonyms contains inscriptions showing Oscan forms of Victoria and Honos, as well as Venus Erycina. La Regina recognizes a deity corresponding to Ops Consiva in an inscription from the portico associated with the domus publica and uses this as part of the evidence to support that building’s identification by making a comparison with the Regia in Rome (11–12).
La Regina then presents the Latin inscriptions, with the earliest being the aforementioned tile from Temple B, inscribed by slaves and dated to 95–90 BCE (9). Several funerary inscriptions come from the area around the site, but no Latin inscriptions connected with cults, public works, or honorary monuments were found. Many Latin inscriptions are fragmentary, including one from a funerary monument for the Socellius family, who moved into the domus publica around 30 BCE after being granted the land adjacent to and associated with the former sanctuary (12–15). The family included Sextus Socellius, a veteran who probably fought with Marc Antony in both Greece and Egypt (xiii). He likely received the land of the former Samnite sanctuary as a fundus in the viritane assignments carried out by Octavian after 31 BC (14). This led to the transformation of the sanctuary from a public cult place to a productive rural settlement.
The next section of the volume pertains to the domus publica. In the first contribution, E. Corbelli discusses the four main phases of the building. Phase I dates from 120 to 89 BCE and corresponds to the original period of use, during which the building housed the priests working in the sanctuary at Temple B. It was also used to celebrate religious rituals. It had the form of an atrium house with alae, with a portico located to the south (147–48). An adjacent slave quarters consisting of 4 m by 4 m cells situated on a terrace above the domus was the findspot for the bowl with an Oscan graffito translating to “the rue inside me” (108, 148). At the rear of the southern portico was a sacellum with an altar, a small column, and a small pilaster, in addition to an Oscan dedication to Ops Consiva, various aniconic stones, a stone aedicula, a limestone statue of Hercules, and miniature black-gloss vessels. In Phase IIA, dating from about 30 BCE to the end of the 2nd c. CE, the domus served as the residence of the Socellii. At this point it was significantly altered in both function and plan. A bathing complex was inserted into the rooms on the eastern side of the atrium, and a service corridor was created to allow entrance into the frigidarium (149). During Phase IIB, from the first quarter to the second half of the 3rd c. CE, the domus was restructured to reflect the high social status of the owners. Access from the corridor to the frigidarium was closed off, and the frigidarium received a basin. The bath pavements were also repaired (149). Finally, in Phase III, lasting from the end of the 3rd c. to 346 CE, the domus underwent a period of decline and abandonment. The majority of the finds appear in the front rooms on the eastern side of the old domus and the old servants’ corridor (rooms 9, 10, and 17). These finds include a bronze hand of Sabazios and are discussed in more detail later. The discovery of the hand together with lamps suggests that, in Late Antiquity, this part of the domus was used for nocturnal rites associated with the cult of Sabazios (150).
In the next four chapters, various authors provide thorough descriptions of the masonry of the domus publica and the changes in its plan over time, as well as of the restoration work that was carried out. The drainage system located behind the domus-stoa complex, and the ceramic materials found in the drains are also explored. Next, M. Tawfik provides a preliminary report on the excavations of the stoa kitchen, two rectangular rooms between the domus publica and the stoa. Finds include a cooking surface, cookware, animal bones, dining ware, black-gloss, and Terra Sigillata Italica ceramics. Other noteworthy finds include a series of small votive terracotta sculptures, lamp fragments, two iron keys, two iron knives, an iron lance point, bronze bosses, buckles, fibulae, a spatula, and some tintinnabula. Coins that span from the 3rd c. BCE to the 2nd c. CE were also found.
The next two chapters, by D. Galassi and S. Catalano, focus on pavements located in the bathing complex. The documentation and restoration of a stretch of the containment wall near the stoa is then described in another chapter by D. Galassi. The next chapter, by D. Fardella and S. Polvere, on the well of the stoa, discusses its three phases of stratigraphy and finds, including 13 whole, wheel-thrown pots. The anaerobic preservation in the well led to the discovery of wood, seeds, and fruit remains. The ceramic containers with preserved contents are still under analysis (205). The ceramic finds suggest a terminus post quem for the well’s use between the end of the 1st c. BCE and the beginning of the 1st c. CE, although the peak period of use occurred in the late 1st c. CE and the first half of the 2nd c. CE, when the well was first closed. Its final destruction is dated to the 3rd c. CE. The finds chiefly reflect the inhabitation of the domus in this period and the agricultural use of the area.
P. Cerudelli next describes two fragments of what was likely a thesaurus, a limestone container for offerings. The pieces were found in the Troccola locality, outside of the Pietrabbondante sanctuary proper. This artifact is an excellent example of a unique find from this area. The three chapters that follow (by P. D’Amico, V. Esposito, and C. Casale) provide the evidence for the cult of Sabazios in the northeastern part of the domus publica (rooms 9, 10, and 17). The finds date to the 3rd c. CE and the first half of the 4th c. CE and include the aforementioned bronze hand. There are also several lamps, a silver and gold plaque embossed with an image of Dionysus inside a naiskos, a censer, a miniature cup, a miniature terracotta loom weight, two bronze pendants, small pitchers and cups in “ceramica comune,” iron knives, an iron grater, an iron key, a miniature iron sickle, a shearing blade in iron, 50 iron nails, a portion of an axe, and a bronze mouse (231). After describing and discussing the hand and its parallels, D’Amico argues that, in this period, the domus might have functioned as a house for the cult officials or could have been exclusively reserved for ceremonies that involved ritual purification, since the baths were probably still functioning. Esposito and Casale discuss the ceramics and metal objects, respectively, from the rooms associated with the cult of Sabazios. Several objects appear to pertain to rituals, including vessels of reduced (but not fully miniature) dimensions, and lamps. Furthermore, the ceramics share similarities with ones found in graves inserted into the portico of Temple B in the 3rd c. CE. This suggests that some of the cult participants might have been buried in the portico after it went out of use (249–50). Casale argues that the miniature metal objects are apotropaic ones given to newborns to protect them from evil. Casale claims they would have been kept into adulthood and then dedicated to the protecting deities (256). Casale also argues that the key and the shearing blade could have been connected with rites of passage for young women (258).
The next chapter, by S. Franceschin and J. Boschini, offers preliminary notes about two ceramic kilns located between the domus publica and the theater-Temple B complex. Both preserve only the combustion chambers, which were built into the ground. Only some of the contents have been explored, and the finds are still under study (262, 265). S. Boccardi then explores how the 232 coins from the domus publica correspond to the stratigraphic evidence for its entire period of use. Although coins were found in almost every room, their quantities differ throughout the various phases. This entry is followed by an analysis, by D. Ferro and I. A. Rapinesi, of the bronze statuettes of Minerva and a Lar that were found at Pietrabbondante and restored by the Soprintendenza Speciale per i Beni Archeologici di Roma (289). The accompanying color plates are especially nice, since they show the silver inlays in the eyes of Minerva and the gorgon on her aegis, as well as the polychromies on the Lar.
The recent excavations of the domus publica provide important evidence for our understanding of this category of building. Although literary evidence associates the domus publica in Rome with the complicated archaeology of the Regia and the Atrium Vestae, we know nothing of the form of that building in the Late Republican period (11). The archaeological evidence from Pietrabbondante provides a tantalizing example of a structure that appears to match the literary descriptions. The volume under review mentions two archaeological comparisons to the domus publica: The House of Emperor Joseph II at Pompeii, and the Villa of the Auditorium in Rome in its third and fourth phases (300–150 BCE) (113). Another interesting comparandum that is not mentioned is the recently discovered Area F building from Gabii, dated to the middle of the 3rd c. BCE.Footnote 5 The uppermost of three terraces of this building “is most plausibly interpreted as an auguraculum,”Footnote 6 while the rest of the structure includes clear domestic spaces, combined with monumental architecture and an early, Greek-style bathing facility.Footnote 7 Comparing these two buildings raises the question of possible archaeological evidence of a precursor to the thermal complex at Pietrabbondante, similar to the one found at Gabii.
In the next section of the book, “Cantiere degli scalpellini,” A. Dionisio and M. Tawfik explore the zone identified as a stonemasons’ worksite. This area was used for working blocks that probably served the whole sanctuary in the period leading up to the Social War (327, 329). Building NQ6 probably served as a workshop in the first phase but appears to have become a domestic space in the middle of the 1st c. BCE. The following section, with chapters by C. Casale, S. Angelini, and D. Deidda, focuses on the building directly east of Temple B, identified as a possible heroon (370). It contains a circular chamber with a surrounding square wall, as well as other walls. The finds include an 8th- or 7th-c. BCE lance point, the oldest artifact found in the entire sanctuary (367). The lance point comes from a securely dated Late Republican context, implying that it might have been an heirloom that was dedicated to a divinity in that period (372). The ceramics from the building are also discussed in detail.
The volume’s next section, “Tempio A e tabernae,” focuses on Temple A and the nearby so-called tabernae. Temple A, built in the first half of the 2nd c. BCE, was explored by digging three trenches inside its cella. The goal was to gain a better understanding of the situation beneath the podium, as well as to see if traces of a foundation deposit or favissae were present. Trench I yielded disturbed stratigraphy, while Trench II contained a single layer of dirt and stones. Trench III, on the other hand, revealed a recess in a slab of limestone pavement that contained miniature cups, brick fragments, mortar, limestone flakes, and scattered charcoals, in addition to small bronze and iron objects. This recess and its contents had been covered over with paving slabs (400–2). Upon finding a similar recessed slab to the north of the first one, V. Esposito hypothesizes that these may have been worked to hold possible elements on the western side of the building. Esposito also argues for more investigations of the entire Temple A area.
The chapter on the so-called tabernae, by R. Van Dusen, begins by noting that their identification is not fully confirmed. Indeed, only preliminary results are presented since this area is still under excavation. Two of the separate phases are especially noteworthy. The “Samnite” phase is associated with a major destructive event that included a lightning strike. Evidence of a fulgur conditum, a ritual burial of the objects damaged by the lightning strike, was found at the intersection of Buildings G and H (408). The architectural terracottas and ceramic material from this fill date to the second half of the 2nd c. BCE. The “Roman” phase corresponds to the period when production activities were being carried out in the domus publica, as shown by kilns for firing clay and fusing metals (105). Van Dusen dates this to the “end of the 2nd to the second half of the 3rd c. BCE,” but must mean CE (414). In this period, the structures here may have lodged the workers involved in the production and sale of objects.
The penultimate section of the book is dedicated to the area located northeast of Temple A. The early layers here are difficult to understand, and even more importantly, none of them has been securely dated to the pre-Roman period. A building whose rooms have not yet been fully excavated might belong to the Hellenistic or Early Roman period, but the significant disturbances in the stratigraphy of this part of the site mean that much work remains to be done in order to understand it. Even the fragments of archaic maiolica pottery found here probably slid downhill from elsewhere.
The last part of the volume contains contributions pertaining to individual artifact classes. In the numismatic section, S. Boccardi says that 122 coins were found in the excavations from 2002 onward (468). None belonged to a hoard, and many pertained to stratigraphy that has been significantly disturbed by modern agriculture. The finds largely reflect the lifespan of the sanctuary, with the higher number of Republican coins reflecting the great renewal that the sanctuary underwent in the late 2nd c. BCE. There is then a gap in the early 1st c. CE, followed by a rise in the numbers of 2nd- and 3rd-c. CE coins. Like in the domus publica, the latest coins are post-Constantinian and date to the middle of the 4th c. CE, coinciding with the earthquake that led to the abandonment of the site (471–72).
It was disappointing to see that because of the areas explored in the two numismatic contributions, neither dealt with the coins from Temple B. This means that the only mention of the interesting hoard containing denarii coined by Marc Antony between 32 and 31 BCE appears in La Regina’s synthesis of 50 years of excavations at the site from 1959 to 2009 (114). La Regina uses these coins to propose that Sextus Socellius was a veteran of Antony’s from Actium (xiii, 14, 15, 114). A fuller treatment of these coins would have been appreciated and no doubt must appear in the more recent monograph.Footnote 8
The contribution by J.-P. Löbbing on glass is very rich. Due to its fragile nature, glass is not always easily recovered from excavations. The detailed treatment of it here, from vessels to window glass, sheds important light on this material. In particular, the colorless and blue-green glass from Pietrabbondante supports the view that glass windowpanes were an invention of Italian workshops and provides some of the earliest evidence of this phenomenon (488).
The bone artifact section, by S. Catalano, mentions a pin topped by a central band decorated by crosses with both ends marked by two disks that is not attested anywhere else in Italy (493). Catalano also notes that 70 percent of the bone artifacts come from layers dated to between the 3rd and 4th c. CE, highlighting the domestic use of the site in this period (493, 496).
The last section, by G. Bandini, on medieval pottery shows the sporadic use of parts of the site in later periods. It is accompanied by useful color images.
The full story of Pietrabbondante
Throughout this volume, the authors demonstrate that Pietrabbondante was much more than a cult place for dedications of weapons and war trophies to the goddess Victoria. It was tied to the agrarian world through Ops and Copia and served as the meeting place for members of the senate representing the communities of the res publica of the Pentrian Samnites (93). The volume provides a nice, if brief, discussion of the religious activity at the site before the construction of the famous sanctuary. It also takes the reader well beyond the period of disuse of the sanctuary that coincided with the Social War and displays the rich archaeological record of later periods. The full publication of the excavations of the domus publica will no doubt be of great interest to those who study Rome and Italy in the 1st millennium BCE. The evidence of the cult of Sabazios in part of the domus during the 3rd and 4th c. CE is also fascinating. Many readers familiar with Pietrabbondante may not have known of such clear evidence from mystery cults in later periods.
This volume highlights the importance of the sanctuary for religious and political functions from the late 2nd c. BCE to the time of the Social War, before following it through its transition to a domestic and agricultural site, and then to a site used chiefly for mystery cults. The general abandonment after the earthquake of 346 CE is reinforced through almost every line of evidence examined. The convincing, often repeated, narratives tell a very complete story. They bring together many years of fieldwork, with a focus on the most recent decades. The authors should be praised for providing such a thorough publication of an ongoing excavation, something that is not easily accomplished and is unfortunately still lacking for some sites. This book presents a very rich site that has much to teach us about both the Pentrian Samnites and Italian archaeology in general. It expands our understanding of the domus publica and later mystery cults, in addition to many other themes. It will no doubt be used as a point of reference for many years to come. Although it does not provide a thorough overview of the Samnite period of the site, nor of Pentrian Samnium more broadly, it does open up a new window onto the rich later history of Pietrabbondante that may have been unknown to many readers. Certainly, the promised volume on the eastern part of the site will help to complete the picture. It might have been useful to include a concluding chapter to tie together the huge wealth of information provided in this work, but hopefully such a synthesis will appear at the end of the second volume.
