The shrine inside the cella of the temple A of Agrigento, generically assigned to the Roman age, is a structure largely ignored by the modern scientific literature. It belongs with the deep transformations which, since the First Punic War, have concerned some of the great temples of Agrigento, from the so-called Olympieion to the temple A. The article illustrates a history of the investigations on the shrine, outlining the main issues which emerged, such as its dating or the typological problem, settled by the division into three parts of the end of the naos. Other important questions are to be added, such as the reconstruction of the worship practices connected with the small building, their relationship with the surviving structures of temple A. As a contribute to the interpretation of the whole area around the so-called lower agorà on the eve of the Roman siege of the city, the article identifies a reuse of the temple A within the fortification built in a state of emergency in 255-254 b.C. in order to defend the natural passage at the South-West part of the city, and links it to the similar and already known use of the Olympieion. This occasion probably constitutes a terminus post quem for the construction of the shrine and the reorganisation of the worship, while it is possible to identify a terminus ante quem in the statue of Asclepius of Augustan age, found in one of the two rooms flanking the naiskos.
Il sacello all'interno del tempio A di Agrigento, genericamente datato ad età romana, è una struttura rimasta largamente ignorata dalla moderna letteratura scientifica e si inscrive nel quadro delle profonde trasformazioni che, a partire dalla Prima Guerra Punica, interessarono alcuni dei grandi templi agrigentini, dal cd. Olympieion al cd. tempio di Eracle, appunto. L'articolo presenta una storia delle ricerche intorno al sacello, enucleando le principali questioni emerse, quali il problema cronologico o quello tipologico innescato dalla tripartizione del fondo della cella del tempio A, cui si aggiungono altri interrogativi essenziali, quali la ricostruzione delle pratiche rituali connesse al piccolo edificio, la loro relazione con le strutture superstiti del tempio A e la presumibile consistenza di queste ultime. Quale contributo ad una revisione generale dell'interpretazione di tutta l'area prossima alla cd. agorà bassa alla vigilia dell'occupazione romana della città, l'articolo inquadra un riuso del Tempio A nella fortificazione d'emergenza (255-254 a.C.) a difesa della sella naturale a Sud-Ovest della città, riconnettendolo al caso analogo e già noto dell'Olympieion. L'episodio costituisce verosimilmente un terminus post quem per la costruzione del sacello e la riorganizzazione del culto, mentre un terminus ante quem può essere ravvisato nella statua di Asclepio di periodo augusteo, rinvenuta in una degli ambienti a lato del naiskos stesso.
Per un contributo al tema della trasformazioni post-classiche dei grandi templi di Agrigento: il Tempio A e il suo sacello, in Thiasos, 6, 2016, pp. 33-52
Francesca Buscemi
2016
Abstract
The shrine inside the cella of the temple A of Agrigento, generically assigned to the Roman age, is a structure largely ignored by the modern scientific literature. It belongs with the deep transformations which, since the First Punic War, have concerned some of the great temples of Agrigento, from the so-called Olympieion to the temple A. The article illustrates a history of the investigations on the shrine, outlining the main issues which emerged, such as its dating or the typological problem, settled by the division into three parts of the end of the naos. Other important questions are to be added, such as the reconstruction of the worship practices connected with the small building, their relationship with the surviving structures of temple A. As a contribute to the interpretation of the whole area around the so-called lower agorà on the eve of the Roman siege of the city, the article identifies a reuse of the temple A within the fortification built in a state of emergency in 255-254 b.C. in order to defend the natural passage at the South-West part of the city, and links it to the similar and already known use of the Olympieion. This occasion probably constitutes a terminus post quem for the construction of the shrine and the reorganisation of the worship, while it is possible to identify a terminus ante quem in the statue of Asclepius of Augustan age, found in one of the two rooms flanking the naiskos.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
