Shrines, Altars, and Temples
Under Construction! Thank you for your patience.
On the subject of temples of Sabazios, it is important to note that the study of Sabazios academically is hard, because of a major divide in the scholarship, and an unusual amount of bias and opinion by the authors of such, classic and modern. The most worthwhile and accessible (if unaffordable) books on Sabazios (Corpus Cultus Iovis Sabazii, a three volume set put out by Brill) focus only on two relatively constraining and narrow areas: the history of the cult leading up to and throughout its "career" in the Roman world, as attested solely by archeological evidence. The authorship is thorough but incredibly bias (to the point of insult and snideness) against any and all classical literary references, seeming more intent on "debunking" fields of literature and writing in general than usefully referencing them in specific ways. But, I digress: these are the best resources available in the English reading world. (The majority of good Thracian scholarship, including that of Sabazios, is done elsewhere, especially in His homelands in the Balkans. The Institute of Thracology in Bulgaria has published GREAT material, but most of it is written in Bulgarian, French, or German; very little has been released in English, or sections that have been summarized for us are unavailable through non-academic channels. I am seeking to remedy this for myself through Bulgarian friends abroad, and also during an in-the-works trip to Sofia hopefully this year.)
What follows will be a brief introduction to the worship of Sabazios in the ancient world as I understand it at present, with better citations on the way as this page continues to develop. Afterward I include a list of citable, referenced bits directly from the CCIS books mentioned above, which are more bland but far more evidenced (at least in terms of archeology.)
It is important to note that amongst the Thracians, there simply was no concept of "supremacy". Period. Therefore, attributions of Sabazios as the "Thracian Zeus" or the "Phrygian Jupiter" are absurd, in the context of Thracian worship. However, in the Greek and Roman cultures and kingdoms, this was very much the case: Sabazios was syncretized HEAVILY with the "chief" of the Greek and Roman pantheons. However, His earliest (and arguably most intimately bonded) syncretism is to Dionysos; some have even said that the Greek Dionysos might well have been a case of borrowing the religion attached to the Thracian-Phrygian Sabazios and attaching it to what they call an "originally lesser Greek agricultural god". (I dislike this argument because it is ignorant of the uniqueness of gods, syncretism as a mode of mythic paradigm, and a very "mine's bigger/older than yours!" B.S. that doesn't have a place in paganisms or scholarship.)
But, more to the topic: Thracian temples! They DID certainly have them, but NOT as the Greco-Roman world conceived of them, at least not in their pre-Hellenization beginnings. These temples were mountain peaks and caves; the Thracians were at some points entirely nomadic, at other points just very mobile. However, there were dedicated castes of priests and other religious (and oracular!) orders who resided in the Balkan mountain ranges tending to their gods and temples. More than a few scholars suspect that certain famous Dionysian oracle-temples found in these northern mountains -- which some very noteworthy political and military personalities are known to have visited! -- may well have actually been temples and oracles of Sabazios. It is also written that in the story of the Gordian Knot, it was an oracle of Sabazios who had predicted the arrival of Midas' father Gordian, upon an ox-cart, who became a king! The ox cart became a sacred symbol of the god in Phrygia. (Phrygians, though residents of Asia Minor for some time, are a geographically displaced tribe descended from the Thracians.) All of this is to say that, unfortunately, there are no known archeologically supported and documented Sabazian temples in Thrace or Phrygia; but they are spoken of in literature and studies. (Doubly unfortunately, these same are sometimes attributed to other, more popular/known deities, such as Zeus and Dionysos, which causes confusion and syncretic woes!)
Another and equally important bit is Sabazios' presence outside of Thrace, which was immensely far reaching by the height of His cult's popularity in the early centuries AD. (See the lists below for examples of just how much so!) However, much of His worship "abroad" (such as in Germania Superior) was amongst the ranks and camps of the Roman military. These altars and sacred places were mobile and temporary (despite leaving permanent archeological evidence and attestation!) and so they could hardy be considered proper "temples". Within the more centralized hubs of civilization (again, refer below for the full scope of this) there were certainly temples, but it become a challenge to decipher which could be considered "Temples of Sabazios" and which were "Temples of ____ in whom Sabazios was also honored", or even more confusingly, in temples where forms or figures of Sabazios were presented as an offering to the patron deities, not receiving worship Himself. It's enough to make the mind melt! We DO know, however, that in MANY areas -- Athens, Rhodes, Rome, Teos, Tlos, Pergamum, etc etc etc -- there existed exclusive fraternal orders of priests and adherents to Sabazios, called the Sabaziastai, who worked as funerary cults in their respective cities. These were generally considered to be restricted to men -- in STARK contrast to the cultus' popularity almost exclusively with women in the earlier Phrygian references and commentaries! -- who had funerary "club houses" and tombs and crypts, which are dripping with references, seals, inscriptions, statuary and reliefs marking dedication to Sabazios. It could be easily argued that in these cases, such "cultus headquarters" took the place of more traditionally envisioned temples.
Throughout the Greco-Roman world, though, worship of Sabazios was frowned upon for centuries. During this period, His worship was held in secret, frequently amongst women alone, although it is likely that there were also initiated men who shared in their carnal and ecstatic rites. It was not until a somewhat "official" patronage began with a certain ruler in Pergamum that Sabazios simultaneously gained social acceptance, strictly (or mostly) fraternal (male) associations, and also a dynamic syncretism with Zeus/Jupiter/Iovis. After this point it is impossible in most cases to tell which were His temples, and which were temples He was honored at alongside Zeus or Jupiter, and so forth. He was the co-habitant at the Temple of Athena Nikephoros at Pergamum, paired strangely (and to my knowledge only this one time) with this goddess. He is more generally associated with other foreign goddesses, mainly Bendis, Kotys, Kybele, and Hipta. (Undoubtedly anywhere that a temple or worship place dedicated to these goddesses is to be found, likewise Sabazios would have been honored as a patron, ancestor, and divine co-conspirator.)
Of note is a single initiatory-style temple in Ostia, called the Sabazeium, which is sometimes referred to as a Mithraeum, in which Sabazios was paired with Caelestis, a lesser know sky goddess.
Below are list-form attributions of archeological nature, which show the breadth and scope of Sabazios' influence in the Roman world. The top portion includes a list of places where his worship is known without doubt, via inscriptions, beautifully dedicated altars, panels or plaques, reliefs, statues, etc, with geographic notes for a mental map. I have not listed each find (that would take pages and pages) and instead limit my list to the geographical areas; in other words, though I list Thracia only once, there is obviously an endless supply of attestations to Sabazios in his homeland of Thrace, and so forth. Lastly of note is that I didn't have time to write up the geographic spread of where each of his hundreds of "votive hands", which are His most numerous and memorable archeological evidences! Here you are:
Regions where altars, dedicated inscriptions, steles and reliefs have been found (not counting "hands" or actual temple spaces):
Note: Many of these are attached to structures and places later modified; fountains that were perhaps once in courtyards of other structures, left standing even after their structures were replaced; sacred worship places that became churches, cathedrals, and mosques. Some may have once been temples, and in all likelihood were, but these cannot be attested with academic accuracy as being solely dedicated to Sabazios at this stage.
Note: also that this immediate list does NOT include temple ruins, such as the initiatory site called the Sabazeium, which is listed further below, nor any of the theorized ruins in Bulgaria which are still being studied.
Using the Roman place names:
- Thracia (THROUGHOUT modern Bulgaria, Southern Romania; specifics available in about a dozen cases, notably including Sofia)
- Moesia Superior (Timacum Minus: Ravan) [Southern Serbia, today.]
- Moesia Inferior (Munucipium Montanesium, Kutlovica (Mikhalovgrad), Nicopolis ad Istrum) [Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, Budjak today)
- Dacia Superior Potasissa: Turda, Apulum: Alba Iulia [Romania, Eastern and South Eastern Transylvania, the Banat, Oltenia today]
- Provinciae Asiae Minoris (Karamanli, Camiir, Bithynia, Isakcilar, Nicomeda, and more -- many in Asia Minor) [Anatolia, West Turkey, today.]
- Insulae Maris Aegaei (Rhodes, Greece; Santorini, Necropolis at Kizil Tepe (place of Sabaziastai graves!, Delos, Agora of Thephrastus [Aegean Islands, today]
- Aegyptyus Oxyrrhynchus (El Behnesa) [Modern & Ancient Egypt, today]
- Graecia (Epidaurus, Santuary of Asclepius, Asklepieion, Argos) [Modern Mainland Greece, today]
- Dalmatia (Aenona, Nin)
- Italia (Rome -- LOTS in Rome -- Ostia, Suessula, Carvignano hil, Casinum, Fiono Romano (ancient Capena), Iterbo (ancient Sorrina), Luna/Luni) [Modern Italy, today]
- Africa Belalis Major: Henchir el-Fouar
- Gallia (Aquae Calidae: Vichy)
- Germania Superior (Mogontiacum: Mainz)
Specific places of worship, established/document cult presence, temples, and more. Incomplete, but illustrative:
- Co-Habitant of the Temple of Athena Nikephoros at Pergamum, in the Acropolis (It is here that Sabazios is, archeologically speaking, first attested as relating to Zeus. The authors of CCIS would say that this is where His cultus "began", as it marks a measured shift from reviled god of lecherous acts and unsavory social suggestions from Asia Minor (amongst the Phrygians) to a supreme and elite god of the nobility. Marks first archeologically attested hereditary priests of Sabazios)
- Tlos (Lycian region of Turkey) has documented presence of hereditary priests of Sabazios, and significantly influential pace of the cultus, but no known temples (at this time). These inscriptions lack the references to Zeus. Whether or not He had large public temples, it is certain that He had private (and quite secret) temples and sanctuaries, if only within the homes and offices of His adherents.
- Likewise in Rhodes, there is an attested funerary cult of Sabazios, apparently limited to male initiates, which concerned themselves with graves, tombs and the like. The priesthood and cultus were alive here, although as with Tlos, lack the references to Zeus. As with Tlos as well, there are no known public temples, but at the very least Sabazios had spaces and sanctuaries dedicated to Him in the funerary "club houses" of His followers. Of note here is the presence of a foreigner in the cult, a man from Syracuse.
- A similar funerary cult is found in Teos on the Ionian coast, though little is left to show for it archeologically, beyond their presence in certain female burial rites of important (noble and noteworthy, at the time) family members.
- In Athens, Sabazios had 51 dedicated followers (34 of which were known Athenian citizens) in 103-100 BCE.
- The Aegean Islands held his worship as well, as attested in Thera and Sikinos. Cyprus, as well, in the Mediterranean!
- Alexander Polyhistor tells us of a dedicated Temple of Sabazius in Thrace (circa 50 BC) which marks the archeological start of His presence in His own homeland of Thrace (!!!)
- There were bronze hands found throughout much of the Roman world, including Switzerland (used in worship from 15 to 9 BC at least). Other early hands were found in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and from this we know that His worship was "well ensconced in Campania".
- There are records of portable votive altars (sort of battle-field temples!) in the Roman Army in 241 AD, and to "Sabasios Conservator" in Germania Superior from the same era.
- A statue of "Sabazios of Nea Aule", a place apparently unattested, is dedicated to "Koryphaios", a god of the mountain peaks syncretized to Zeus. (This marks a time where Sabazios' image is given and inscribed as an offering on behalf of Zeus, to "another Zeus", e.g. a deity that through interpretatio graeca is assumed to be a foreign Zeus.) This statue was found in Philadelphia (modern Turkey, Aegean region.)
- In an inscription from 101 AD, Hermes/Mercury is shown leading Sabazios to "the community", marking the conception of a new cultus of Sabazios in Kula (modern Turkey).
- There are numerous altars associating Him with both Zeus/Jupiter and Dionysos, respectively.
- There is an initiatory temple called the Sabazeium found at Ostia, sometimes referred to as a Mithraeum, wherein Sabazios was worshipped alongside the goddess Caelestis, who takes the place here of Sabazios' more frequent archeologically attested counterpart, Kybele (or Hipta).
On the subject of temples of Sabazios, it is important to note that the study of Sabazios academically is hard, because of a major divide in the scholarship, and an unusual amount of bias and opinion by the authors of such, classic and modern. The most worthwhile and accessible (if unaffordable) books on Sabazios (Corpus Cultus Iovis Sabazii, a three volume set put out by Brill) focus only on two relatively constraining and narrow areas: the history of the cult leading up to and throughout its "career" in the Roman world, as attested solely by archeological evidence. The authorship is thorough but incredibly bias (to the point of insult and snideness) against any and all classical literary references, seeming more intent on "debunking" fields of literature and writing in general than usefully referencing them in specific ways. But, I digress: these are the best resources available in the English reading world. (The majority of good Thracian scholarship, including that of Sabazios, is done elsewhere, especially in His homelands in the Balkans. The Institute of Thracology in Bulgaria has published GREAT material, but most of it is written in Bulgarian, French, or German; very little has been released in English, or sections that have been summarized for us are unavailable through non-academic channels. I am seeking to remedy this for myself through Bulgarian friends abroad, and also during an in-the-works trip to Sofia hopefully this year.)
What follows will be a brief introduction to the worship of Sabazios in the ancient world as I understand it at present, with better citations on the way as this page continues to develop. Afterward I include a list of citable, referenced bits directly from the CCIS books mentioned above, which are more bland but far more evidenced (at least in terms of archeology.)
It is important to note that amongst the Thracians, there simply was no concept of "supremacy". Period. Therefore, attributions of Sabazios as the "Thracian Zeus" or the "Phrygian Jupiter" are absurd, in the context of Thracian worship. However, in the Greek and Roman cultures and kingdoms, this was very much the case: Sabazios was syncretized HEAVILY with the "chief" of the Greek and Roman pantheons. However, His earliest (and arguably most intimately bonded) syncretism is to Dionysos; some have even said that the Greek Dionysos might well have been a case of borrowing the religion attached to the Thracian-Phrygian Sabazios and attaching it to what they call an "originally lesser Greek agricultural god". (I dislike this argument because it is ignorant of the uniqueness of gods, syncretism as a mode of mythic paradigm, and a very "mine's bigger/older than yours!" B.S. that doesn't have a place in paganisms or scholarship.)
But, more to the topic: Thracian temples! They DID certainly have them, but NOT as the Greco-Roman world conceived of them, at least not in their pre-Hellenization beginnings. These temples were mountain peaks and caves; the Thracians were at some points entirely nomadic, at other points just very mobile. However, there were dedicated castes of priests and other religious (and oracular!) orders who resided in the Balkan mountain ranges tending to their gods and temples. More than a few scholars suspect that certain famous Dionysian oracle-temples found in these northern mountains -- which some very noteworthy political and military personalities are known to have visited! -- may well have actually been temples and oracles of Sabazios. It is also written that in the story of the Gordian Knot, it was an oracle of Sabazios who had predicted the arrival of Midas' father Gordian, upon an ox-cart, who became a king! The ox cart became a sacred symbol of the god in Phrygia. (Phrygians, though residents of Asia Minor for some time, are a geographically displaced tribe descended from the Thracians.) All of this is to say that, unfortunately, there are no known archeologically supported and documented Sabazian temples in Thrace or Phrygia; but they are spoken of in literature and studies. (Doubly unfortunately, these same are sometimes attributed to other, more popular/known deities, such as Zeus and Dionysos, which causes confusion and syncretic woes!)
Another and equally important bit is Sabazios' presence outside of Thrace, which was immensely far reaching by the height of His cult's popularity in the early centuries AD. (See the lists below for examples of just how much so!) However, much of His worship "abroad" (such as in Germania Superior) was amongst the ranks and camps of the Roman military. These altars and sacred places were mobile and temporary (despite leaving permanent archeological evidence and attestation!) and so they could hardy be considered proper "temples". Within the more centralized hubs of civilization (again, refer below for the full scope of this) there were certainly temples, but it become a challenge to decipher which could be considered "Temples of Sabazios" and which were "Temples of ____ in whom Sabazios was also honored", or even more confusingly, in temples where forms or figures of Sabazios were presented as an offering to the patron deities, not receiving worship Himself. It's enough to make the mind melt! We DO know, however, that in MANY areas -- Athens, Rhodes, Rome, Teos, Tlos, Pergamum, etc etc etc -- there existed exclusive fraternal orders of priests and adherents to Sabazios, called the Sabaziastai, who worked as funerary cults in their respective cities. These were generally considered to be restricted to men -- in STARK contrast to the cultus' popularity almost exclusively with women in the earlier Phrygian references and commentaries! -- who had funerary "club houses" and tombs and crypts, which are dripping with references, seals, inscriptions, statuary and reliefs marking dedication to Sabazios. It could be easily argued that in these cases, such "cultus headquarters" took the place of more traditionally envisioned temples.
Throughout the Greco-Roman world, though, worship of Sabazios was frowned upon for centuries. During this period, His worship was held in secret, frequently amongst women alone, although it is likely that there were also initiated men who shared in their carnal and ecstatic rites. It was not until a somewhat "official" patronage began with a certain ruler in Pergamum that Sabazios simultaneously gained social acceptance, strictly (or mostly) fraternal (male) associations, and also a dynamic syncretism with Zeus/Jupiter/Iovis. After this point it is impossible in most cases to tell which were His temples, and which were temples He was honored at alongside Zeus or Jupiter, and so forth. He was the co-habitant at the Temple of Athena Nikephoros at Pergamum, paired strangely (and to my knowledge only this one time) with this goddess. He is more generally associated with other foreign goddesses, mainly Bendis, Kotys, Kybele, and Hipta. (Undoubtedly anywhere that a temple or worship place dedicated to these goddesses is to be found, likewise Sabazios would have been honored as a patron, ancestor, and divine co-conspirator.)
Of note is a single initiatory-style temple in Ostia, called the Sabazeium, which is sometimes referred to as a Mithraeum, in which Sabazios was paired with Caelestis, a lesser know sky goddess.
Below are list-form attributions of archeological nature, which show the breadth and scope of Sabazios' influence in the Roman world. The top portion includes a list of places where his worship is known without doubt, via inscriptions, beautifully dedicated altars, panels or plaques, reliefs, statues, etc, with geographic notes for a mental map. I have not listed each find (that would take pages and pages) and instead limit my list to the geographical areas; in other words, though I list Thracia only once, there is obviously an endless supply of attestations to Sabazios in his homeland of Thrace, and so forth. Lastly of note is that I didn't have time to write up the geographic spread of where each of his hundreds of "votive hands", which are His most numerous and memorable archeological evidences! Here you are:
Regions where altars, dedicated inscriptions, steles and reliefs have been found (not counting "hands" or actual temple spaces):
Note: Many of these are attached to structures and places later modified; fountains that were perhaps once in courtyards of other structures, left standing even after their structures were replaced; sacred worship places that became churches, cathedrals, and mosques. Some may have once been temples, and in all likelihood were, but these cannot be attested with academic accuracy as being solely dedicated to Sabazios at this stage.
Note: also that this immediate list does NOT include temple ruins, such as the initiatory site called the Sabazeium, which is listed further below, nor any of the theorized ruins in Bulgaria which are still being studied.
Using the Roman place names:
- Thracia (THROUGHOUT modern Bulgaria, Southern Romania; specifics available in about a dozen cases, notably including Sofia)
- Moesia Superior (Timacum Minus: Ravan) [Southern Serbia, today.]
- Moesia Inferior (Munucipium Montanesium, Kutlovica (Mikhalovgrad), Nicopolis ad Istrum) [Northern Republic of Macedonia, Northern Bulgaria, Romanian Dobrudja, Southern Moldova, Budjak today)
- Dacia Superior Potasissa: Turda, Apulum: Alba Iulia [Romania, Eastern and South Eastern Transylvania, the Banat, Oltenia today]
- Provinciae Asiae Minoris (Karamanli, Camiir, Bithynia, Isakcilar, Nicomeda, and more -- many in Asia Minor) [Anatolia, West Turkey, today.]
- Insulae Maris Aegaei (Rhodes, Greece; Santorini, Necropolis at Kizil Tepe (place of Sabaziastai graves!, Delos, Agora of Thephrastus [Aegean Islands, today]
- Aegyptyus Oxyrrhynchus (El Behnesa) [Modern & Ancient Egypt, today]
- Graecia (Epidaurus, Santuary of Asclepius, Asklepieion, Argos) [Modern Mainland Greece, today]
- Dalmatia (Aenona, Nin)
- Italia (Rome -- LOTS in Rome -- Ostia, Suessula, Carvignano hil, Casinum, Fiono Romano (ancient Capena), Iterbo (ancient Sorrina), Luna/Luni) [Modern Italy, today]
- Africa Belalis Major: Henchir el-Fouar
- Gallia (Aquae Calidae: Vichy)
- Germania Superior (Mogontiacum: Mainz)
Specific places of worship, established/document cult presence, temples, and more. Incomplete, but illustrative:
- Co-Habitant of the Temple of Athena Nikephoros at Pergamum, in the Acropolis (It is here that Sabazios is, archeologically speaking, first attested as relating to Zeus. The authors of CCIS would say that this is where His cultus "began", as it marks a measured shift from reviled god of lecherous acts and unsavory social suggestions from Asia Minor (amongst the Phrygians) to a supreme and elite god of the nobility. Marks first archeologically attested hereditary priests of Sabazios)
- Tlos (Lycian region of Turkey) has documented presence of hereditary priests of Sabazios, and significantly influential pace of the cultus, but no known temples (at this time). These inscriptions lack the references to Zeus. Whether or not He had large public temples, it is certain that He had private (and quite secret) temples and sanctuaries, if only within the homes and offices of His adherents.
- Likewise in Rhodes, there is an attested funerary cult of Sabazios, apparently limited to male initiates, which concerned themselves with graves, tombs and the like. The priesthood and cultus were alive here, although as with Tlos, lack the references to Zeus. As with Tlos as well, there are no known public temples, but at the very least Sabazios had spaces and sanctuaries dedicated to Him in the funerary "club houses" of His followers. Of note here is the presence of a foreigner in the cult, a man from Syracuse.
- A similar funerary cult is found in Teos on the Ionian coast, though little is left to show for it archeologically, beyond their presence in certain female burial rites of important (noble and noteworthy, at the time) family members.
- In Athens, Sabazios had 51 dedicated followers (34 of which were known Athenian citizens) in 103-100 BCE.
- The Aegean Islands held his worship as well, as attested in Thera and Sikinos. Cyprus, as well, in the Mediterranean!
- Alexander Polyhistor tells us of a dedicated Temple of Sabazius in Thrace (circa 50 BC) which marks the archeological start of His presence in His own homeland of Thrace (!!!)
- There were bronze hands found throughout much of the Roman world, including Switzerland (used in worship from 15 to 9 BC at least). Other early hands were found in the ruins of Pompeii and Herculaneum, and from this we know that His worship was "well ensconced in Campania".
- There are records of portable votive altars (sort of battle-field temples!) in the Roman Army in 241 AD, and to "Sabasios Conservator" in Germania Superior from the same era.
- A statue of "Sabazios of Nea Aule", a place apparently unattested, is dedicated to "Koryphaios", a god of the mountain peaks syncretized to Zeus. (This marks a time where Sabazios' image is given and inscribed as an offering on behalf of Zeus, to "another Zeus", e.g. a deity that through interpretatio graeca is assumed to be a foreign Zeus.) This statue was found in Philadelphia (modern Turkey, Aegean region.)
- In an inscription from 101 AD, Hermes/Mercury is shown leading Sabazios to "the community", marking the conception of a new cultus of Sabazios in Kula (modern Turkey).
- There are numerous altars associating Him with both Zeus/Jupiter and Dionysos, respectively.
- There is an initiatory temple called the Sabazeium found at Ostia, sometimes referred to as a Mithraeum, wherein Sabazios was worshipped alongside the goddess Caelestis, who takes the place here of Sabazios' more frequent archeologically attested counterpart, Kybele (or Hipta).
