Authors: C. Colelli, G. Vallarino

Download article as .pdf: Il cosiddetto Altare di Dioniso a Herakleia Lucana

In the Vallata mediana at Herakleia, in the southern part of the so-called Agora, there once stood a sacred area enclosed by a temenos. Within this area, a small altar was discovered in a very poor state of preservation. The presence of a fragmentary inscription reading Διο[νύσ]ου on one of the altar blocks led to the entire sacred area being attributed to the cult of Dionysos. However, a recent review of published and archival documentation, combined with a direct examination of epigraphic and archaeological data, demonstrates that this attribution is far from certain. Nevertheless, the cult of Dionysos at Herakleia is well attested, primarily thanks to the god’s lands being mentioned in the famous Tavole di Eraclea, as well as other archaeological documentation, including unpublished material, which is reconsidered in its entirety in the second part of this paper. While the presence of Dionysos in the Heraclean pantheon is certain, the available documentation is sparse in terms of detail. A new reading of the inscription on the so-called Altar of Dionysos, together with a reexamination of its archaeological context, suggests that the actual extent of his cult and the location of his sanctuary remain open questions.