Chapter 5 The Cult(s) of Asclepius in Roman North Africa Introduction Worship of Asclepius was spread to the provinces via a variety of methods which boosted and altered his cult. Asclepius’ popularity with the army caused the spread of his worship to most of the provinces with even some scarce trac- es of cult in Syria and Arabia.1 In Africa legionaries played an important role in the cult, as Asclepius was so popular with the Third Augustan Legion that it built and dedicated the temple at Lambaesis to him. Originally there had been a small cult here but the legion’s involvement advanced it as the soldiers con- structed a temple on site. This temple was built in the name of Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus and was called an Asclepieion.2 This dedication, thus, had a dual purpose. On the one hand the legionaries wished to honour Asclepius for their own health and safety. On the other, they also wished him to bestow good health upon the emperors as the fate of the empire was dependant on their well-being. Dedications from this site show that worship took place until the 4th century AD.3 Most inscriptions were erected in Latin with the most common spelling of the god’s name being Aesculapius but other forms such as Escolapius also occurred. The Greek spelling Asklepios, which does occur in other Latin provinces, is rarely found in Africa. It is not clear why this was the case but is especially striking as Epidaurus was claimed to be the cult site from which the cults in Africa originated, which would make it logical for the Epidaurian and Greek spelling of Asclepius’ name also to be transferred across. The majority of Asclepius’ worshippers in Africa were officials and admin- istrators. In fact, Benseddik has singled out certain groups of supplicants in Roman Africa, the most important of which are government officials and military men.4 This category is dominated by the governors and forms a kind of official and elitist group, especially in Numidia, where the Third Augustan Legion worshipped Asclepius (see below).5 The second group is the local aris- tocracy who served as priests of the god; many of the Asclepieian priests were 1 Davies (2005) 62; Benseddik (2010a) 1.49. 2 CIL 8.2579a-c (p 954); Benseddik (2010a) 1.93. 3 Benseddik (2010a) 1.148. 4 Benseddik (2010a) 1.138. 5 This illustrates the top-down spread of cults as argued by Davies (2005) 62 no. 1/Table 1. © koninklijke brill nv, leiden, 2018 | doi:10.1163/9789004372771_007 216 Chapter 5 also priests of the cults of the emperor.6 A more modest group of worship- pers were slaves and freedmen who would have aided in the cult’s diffusion.7 Connections with the imperial household were also present in Africa as three cities dedicated to Asclepius for the emperor’s good health; Musti dedicated statues to Asclepius for Hadrian’s well-being; Thibicaae dedicated a temple for Antoninus and his heirs; Caesarea offered land for the Severan dynasty’s health.8 As well as being an indication of the cities’ concerns, this is also a sign of the political role which the cult of Asclepius played in Africa, as a method by which a city could honour an emperor and seek his favour. The final group of influential supplicants were the legionaries of the Third Augustan Legion, whose worship of Asclepius will be examined extensively here. Benseddik has argued that the evidence indicates that the cult of Asclepius and Hygieia spread from east to west: there were eighteen temples dedicated to the gods in Africa Proconsularis and three in Numidia, three in Mauretania Caesariensis, but none in Mauretania Tingitana. It also seems that Asclepius was mostly worshipped alone in Africa Proconsularis but was often suppli- cated in conjunction with Hygieia in Numidia. According to her, sixty-eight inscriptions relating directly to the cult were found in Africa and twenty-nine in Numidia.9 Benseddik states that there is a clearly decreasing number of testimonies moving from east to west, indicating the popularity of the cult in the provinces, and that it was likely that the army was one of the main fac- tors behind the dissemination. As the legio III Augusta moved from east to west, so did the god.10 This is an important point as whoever introduced the cult strongly influenced its nature. However, this statement will be explored in this chapter and it will aim to show that this was not completely the case as Benseddik passes over regional differences which occurred within the cult in the various provinces. It will be examined here how the cult of Asclepius in Numidia varied in nature from that in Proconsularis. This chapter will look at different groups of supplicants as it will examine the ways in which the military and officials worshipped Asclepius, but also how civilians such as merchants supplicated a version of the god here. This chapter aims to look at how the increased mobility which occurred as a result of the Roman Empire allowed for increased religious diversity in an area. This will be done via the case study of Asclepius: analysis of the various cult paraphernalia, such as iconography 6 Benseddik (2010a) 1.196. 7 Following Davies (2005) 62 no. 7/Table 1. 8 Benseddik (2010a) 1.194; Musti: AE 1968 586; Thibicaae CIL 8.765; Caesarea: CIL 8.9320. 9 Benseddik (2010a) 1.120. 10 Benseddik (2010a) 1.120–1, 123..