Modern Research on the Cult of Silvanus in Pannonia and Dalmatia: Accumulation and Analysis of Epigraphic Data
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52575/2687-0967-2026-53-1-51-58Keywords:
inscription, monument, deity, epithet, romanizationAbstract
The article discusses developments in the 21st-century historiography in the sphere of research into epigraphic monuments reflecting the cult of the Roman god Silvanus in Pannonia and Dalmatia. The analysis covers findings of specialists on the social status of his worshippers, interpretations of several inscriptions, identified epithets of the deity, and instances of worshipping him alongside other personas in Roman mythology. The author comes to the conclusion that modern research into the given range of problems distinguishes the following approaches to studying the artefacts and manuscripts: statistical analysis, which provides a variety of qualitative indicators; textual and philological analysis of epigraphic monuments supplemented by the study of the reliefs to which the inscriptions are related, and iconographic analysis of the visual sources. It is noted that major controversy is caused by the results of inscription text reconstruction, as well as the search of answers to the question whether the cult was autochthonous or adventitious to the given territory.
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