Epigraphic collection

The epigraphic collection of the museum is one of the main ones of its kind, both in terms of the value of the documents it contains and in terms of its importance for the history of epigraphy. The collection includes over two thousand documents, mainly in Latin, about two hundred in Greek and about a hundred in dialects of the Italic peoples.

History and formation The epigraphic collection of the Naples Archaeological Museum is one of the main ones of its kind, both in terms of the value of the documents it contains and in terms of its importance for the history of epigraphy. The collection includes over two thousand documents, mainly in Latin, about two hundred in Greek and about a hundred in dialects of the Italic peoples. It consists of materials of various origin: the oldest part derives from the Farnese Collection with about 240 inscriptions, including the precious collection of Fulvio Orsini, the learned antiquarian and librarian of the Farnese family. The collection, which was inherited by Carlo di Borbone and moved to Naples together with other parts of the Farnese inheritance, grew in size and prestige thanks to the addition of other important corpuses of inscriptions: the collection of Cardinal Stefano Borgia, which was assembled mainly in Lazio and Umbria, consisted of about 260 inscriptions; the collection of Francesco Daniele, the eighteenth century scholar with a passion for numismatics and Campanian inscriptions, who collected numerous documents mainly originating from Capua and surrounding areas; the collection of another great antiquarian, the bishop Carlo Maria Rosini, consisting of inscriptions from the Phlegrean area and kept at the seminary of San Francesco in Pozzuoli until 1856, the year it was sold to the museum of Naples. Other small collections were gradually added either as purchases or donations, increasing the importance of the epigraphic collection: these included the collection bought by canon Andrea de Jorio (1827), the inscriptions donated by Michele Arditi, director of the Naples Museum between 1807 and 1837, the inscriptions donated by the prince of San Giorgio Spinelli in 1853 and the inscriptions from Cuma donated by Emilio Stevens (1882 - 1888). Nevertheless, a significant contribution was made by the numerous occasional finds and excavations carried out from the eighteenth century to the present in Campania and in the regions of southern Italy that formed part of the Kingdom of the two Sicilies. In the original organisation of the museum, the inscriptions were arranged along the wall of the “Sala del Toro Farnese” (where the Farnese Bull was displayed) and the preceding rooms, divided into classes on the basis of the contents; subsequently, with the significant increase in the number of inscriptions, they were arranged in a haphazard manner in the atrium and the gardens. After 1929, the collection was displayed in rooms and along the portico of the new building behind the museum, but the new arrangement proved inadequate and the collection was not visible to visitors for about fifty years. The current display, which was organised recently (1995) in rooms CL - CLVII on the first basement floor, provides a wide-ranging and important selection of inscriptions arranged according to cultural area: Magna Graecia and Sicily, and Neapolis; the documents from central-southern Italy in the Italic dialects, followed by the material regarding laws and Romanisation and the inscriptions of the Roman period from the Vesuvian area and Puteoli.RouteRoom CL, devoted to Greek evidence, contains the Tables of Eraclea, two bronze plates found between Eraclea and Metapontion in Basilicata, with texts in Greek dating from the late fourth century to the beginning of the third century BC regarding the administration of several plots of land owned by the temples of Dionysus and Athena Poliade in the area of Eraclea. Of equal importance are the Orphic sheets found in two fourth century BC burials in the area of Thurii in Calabria; they gave instructions about leading the souls of the deceased, followers of the mystery rites linked to Orpheus, to the final destination of eternal bliss a the end of a cycle of reincarnations. A section of room CLI is devoted to Greek influences on Naples, a city which maintained and defended its links with Greek tradition, culture and language. Among the various inscriptions that provide evidence about the institutions, cults and agons (contests) is an inscription with a dedication of the phatry of the Aristei dating to the late first/early second century AD. Lasting memories of ancient Greek forms of social organisation, the phatries were a sort of association with their own buildings and cults and maybe even burial grounds. Room CLI and the next room CLII contain a precious selection of Italic inscriptions from central-southern Italy. The most important inscriptions include the funerary stele from Bellante, datable to around the mid-sixth century BC with a stylised depiction of the deceased and an inscription in the Sabellic language; the Tabula Veliterna of the Borgia Collection, the main document in language of the Volsci (fourth century BC); the Tabula Bantina from Oppido Lucano, which on one side contains an oscan law of the first century BC and on the other several passages from a law in Latin. An inscription which is of great importance for the history of Italic epigraphy is the Cippo Abellano, the main text in the Oscan language, found at the end of the seventeenth century and reused as a threshold (the original is in the archbishopric seminary of Nola, while the exhibit in the museum is a plastercast). There are numerous Oscan inscriptions from Pompeii that provide an important contribution to our knowledge of the city’s history, such as the splendid sundial from the Stabian Baths. There is a section of particular interest in room CLIII, devoted to laws, decrees, public and private documents which help to shed light on the history of Rome and the expansion of its state system in ancient Italy. The material on display includes the Tabula Bembina, preserved in eight fragments and originally part of the Farnese Collection. The front side of the Tabula bears the text of a judicial law which was probably issued by the tribunate of Gaius Gracchus (123 - 122 BC) with regard to embezzlement, while on the other side bears an inscription of the lex agraria (agrarian law) of 111 BC. Several texts clarify the relations with the allied cities, such as the Lex Antonia de Termessibus of 71 BC about tax concessions granted to the city of Termessos maior in Asia Minor; other sources provide information about the composition of the Senate, such as the lex Cornelia de XX Quaestoribus of 81 BC. Some of the inscriptions offer interesting glimpses about administrative, political and religious history: these include religious dedications, diplomas regarding military leave such as the Honesta missio from Stabiae of 49 AD and the calendars that regulated all the activities of the city. Other inscriptions provide useful information about regional organisation, such as milestones and centuriation (land division): one example is the boundary marking stone of the colony of Iulia Felix Capua from Santa Maria Capua Vetere. Room CLIV illustrates the wealth of epigraphic evidence from Pompeii and the Vesuvian area in the Roman period. Among the oldest inscriptions is the dedication of the quaestor Vibius Popidius regarding the construction of a part of the porticoes of the Forum. Evidence of the phase of urban renewal of the Augustan age is provided by the documents related to the reconstruction of the Hellenistic theatre promoted by two distinguished characters of the period, Marcus Olconius Rufus and Marcus Olconius Celere. Expressions of devotion include the numerous dedications to Augustus and member of the Imperial family: for example, Eumachia, priestess of Venus, consecrated a building, situated on the eastern side of the forum, to the Concordia Augusta; on the façade there are two inscriptions, one with a eulogy of Romulus, the mythical founder of Rome and the other with a eulogy to Aeneas, the legendary ancestor of the family of Augustus. The considerable number of inscriptions from the Phlegrean area, on display in room CLV, illustrates the golden age of the city and port of Puteoli during the Roman period, which goes from the second century BC to the first century AD, even though the city continued to be prosperous and populous until the fourth century AD. The documents confirm the cosmopolitan character of the trading port which stood on the famous steep bank between Rione Terra and the lake of Avernus, with its lively commercial district, behind the port, where the communities of foreign merchants had established themselves. These merchants continued to observe their own indigenous cults as can be seen from the inscriptions. The Syrian communities followed the cults of Jupiter the Damascene and Jupiter Heliopolitan; the merchants from Tyre, who were of Phoenician origin, worshipped the “holy god”, probably Baal - Melqart, not mentioned directly as stipulated by Phoenician religion. Puteoli has also yielded the richest evidence for emigrant Nabatean communities: the surviving evidence includes the cult altars with a dedication to the Nabatean god Dusares. From the age of Augustus members of aristocratic families from Puteoli adorned the colony with public buildings and monuments, as demonstrated, for example, by the base dedicated to Lucius Calpurnius Capitolinuso, who had the main temple of the colony rebuilt by merchants who traded with Alexandria, Asia and Syria. From the second century AD onwards, the city lost its role as the maritime port of Rome, replaced by the port of Trajan at the mouth of the Tiber; however, it continued to be a lively port city, as indicated by the inscriptions of the third and, in particular, the fourth century AD which show how emperors and high-ranking dignitaries were still careful to look after the fortunes of the city and the efficiency of the port.