Starinar (Jan 2018)
Sculptures and “the sanctuary of Aesculapius” in Mediana
Abstract
During the excavation in 2002, in trench 24A in Mediana, a head fragment of a sculpture was discovered, belonging to a life-sized, or possibly slightly larger, sculpture. Analysis of this head indicates that it is of Aesculapius. According to its stylistic features, it can be dated into the very end of the 2nd and the early 3rd century. This find raised the question as to whether there could have been a sanctuary dedicated to Aesculapius or Hygieia in Mediana. In this paper, statuettes of these two deities have been reconsidered, all of them unearthed within the “villa with peristyle”. New dating has been suggested and it was concluded that the audience hall (triclinium), being the largest room within the villa, was turned into a sanctuary. Its apsis was turned into the most sacred place, separated from the rest of the hall with a bronze railing. The rest of the villa could have been used for the reception of the sick, just as in any other Asclepaion. At the same time, questions regarding other sculptures discovered within the villa were posed. The appearance of mythological sculptures in other villas throughout the Roman Empire was analysed in detail and it was concluded that the sculptures in Mediana were exclusively regarded as villa decoration and not as part of any cult. All of them were brought here from different places and they are dated differently. One should not discard the possibility that, for a short period of time, some of them, especially those representing deities with possible healing features, were in a sanctuary of Aesculapius. The sanctuary could have been opened during the reign of Julian the Apostate and it operated until his death.
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