THE ITALIAN CONNECTION: AN ASPECT OF THE CULT OF MEN

BY

EUGENE N. LANE Columbia, Mo. U.S.A

In 1937, C. W. M. Cox and A. Cameron published the following inscription, 1) discovered at Avdan, near Eski§ehir (ancient Dory- laeum), :

Myvi

They cornment: "The god's title is surprising. The known geo- graphical titles of Men are not derived from outside Minor." As far as I know, no scholarly attempt has been made to elucidate this inscription. The present article will be an attempt to show that the unusual epithet for Men is not an isolated phenomenon, but fits into a consistent pattern within the known evidence concerning this cult.

I. One of the most widespread epithets borne by the moon-god Men is Askaenos. It is recorded on of , 2) and on inscrip- tions from many sites in , Phrygia, and Pisidia, 3) being the epithet with which Men was regularly worshipped at the great cult- center of Pisidian . Two inscriptions of Antioch, 4) both ir1

1) Monunienta Asiae Minoris Antiqua, V, no. 150. Reprinted E. N. Lane Corpus Monumentorum Religionis Dei Menis (CMRDM), I, Leiden 1971, no. 93. 2) CMRDM, II, Leiden, 1974, Sardis 1-4. 3) CMRDM, I, 87 (near Alia), 101 (), 105 (Appola), 106 (near Laodiceia Combusta), 107 (Selmea), 118-120 (), 130 ( Pisi- diae), 131 (Anaboura), and 181, 183, 184, 186, 191, 194, 196, 198, 199, 201-203, 209 219, 221, 228, 233, 235, 238-241, 243, 245, 246, 252, 253, 258-260, 262, 264, 267, 273-275, 278, 281, 283, 286, 287, 289, 291-294 (Antioch). 4) CMRDM, I, nos. 162-163. The first of these calls Men the second 236 verse, inform us that this epithet was considered to be connected with a place-name, Askaie. In general, this has been held to be a particular locality which gave rise to the epithet. 5) At the same time, however, scholars have recognized the connection of the name with a much wider range of mythological and geographical nomenclature. The most obvious example is that of Aeneas' son Ascanius 6) in Vergil's Aeneid, as well as a host of Illythlcal7) and real place names in , of which the most significant are perhaps the two lakes, that of and that of Burdur, both of which went by the name Askania LÏ1nne in antiquity. 8) 1 submit, therefore, that it is futile to look for a specific place or places to connect with the epithet Askaeno.s, but that in Roman times, at least, Men Askaenos could be viewed as meaning simply the Anatolian Men. Furthermore, since the publication of the Aeneid, at any rate, the name had Roman overtones: the Ana- tolian Men with strong emphasis on the supposed racial connection between Anatolians and Romans. Now, although it cannot be said that the worship of Men Askaenos was a Roman invention or in- troduction at Antioch in Pisidia, it is reasonable to suppose that the cult found official Roman favor by reason of the supposed Italian connection outlined above, and that that may even have been a factor in the selection of the site for a Roman colony in the time of . 10 )

5) E.g., W. M. Calder, JRS, 2, 1912, p. 95, who connects it with the Antioch Valley. Typical are the remarks of Drexler, writing before the discovery of nos. 162-163in W. H. Roscher, Ausführliches Lexikon der griechischen und röntischen Mythologie, II, 2, col. 2749: "Der Beiname (ist) von einer oder, wie ich glauhe, von mehreren bcstimmten Ortschaften herzuleiten ..." 6) It seems clear that Vergil deliberately used this name to underscore the old connection of Aeneas with Anatolia, and that is why so much is made of the change of the boy's name to Iulus while on the way to Italy. Significantly, one of the dedicators of CMRDM, I, 214, bcars the name Askanios. Cf. my obser- vations ad loc. 7) , 2, 863; 13, 793. 8) For other connected place-names see Pape-Benseler, Wörterbuch der grie- chischen Eigennamen, Braunschweig, 1911 (repr. Graz, 1954) s.v. Lower into regular period. 9) The evidence of Strabo, XII, 577, is against that, as well as the pre-Roman coinage of Antioch. 10) For Men-worship in other Roman colonies, see the coins of and , listed in CMRDM, II.