Dedication to Mercurius Cohortalis

Ara
(small altar) dedicated to Mercurius with the epithet [C]ohortalis, word related with cohort, a subdivision of the legion. As
Mercury
was not a god associated with the military world, but rather the patron of travel and commerce, it may be preferable to interpret this epithet in a civilian context, associated with warehouses and naval establishments of the imperial administration that existed in trading port cities, such as
Felicitas Iulia Olisipo
. The monument's present state of conservation makes it hard to read and obtain any additional information, even about possible dedicants.

Type of inscription

Votive

Language

Latin

Technique

Engraving

Reading

MERCVRIO/ [CO]HORTALI/ SAC(rum)/ [...]

Translation

Consecrated to Mercurius Cohortalis [of the cohorts]...

Present location

Museum of Lisbon | Pimenta Palace

Discovery location

São Jorge Castle, Lisboa

Suggested reading

Baratta, G. (2001) - Il culto di Mercurio nella Penisola Iberica (Collecció Instrumenta; 9). Barcelona: Universitat de Bacelona, pp. 57-58.

Mantas, V. G. (2002) - O mundo religioso dos viajantes e comerciantes. In Ribeiro, J. C., coord. - Religiões da Lusitânia. Loquuntur Saxa. Lisboa: Museu Nacional de Arqueologia, pp. 157-162.

Santos, C. (2011) - Mercurius e o seu culto em território olisiponense. O Arqueólogo Português. Lisboa: Museu Nacional de Arqueologia. Série V. 1, pp. 525-541.

Silva, A. V. (1944) - Epigrafia de Olisipo (subsídios para a história da Lisboa romana). Lisboa: Câmara Municipal de Lisboa, p. 95 (n.º 2).

Useful links

Identification code​

LxRomana1106035