PRATICHE CLEROMANTICHE A POMPEI? NOTE SU UN SET DI DADI DAL COSIDDETTO SANTUARIO DI ESCULAPIO

Abstract

Currently few doubt that in the small sanctuary located along via Stabiana in Pompeii was worshipped
Esculapius, the Roman god of the medicine, son of Apollo. The present paper aims to focus on
the activities carried out in this place, closely connected with the nearby Iseion. Crucial attention
will be drawn to a set of seven bone dice, found in the so-called ‘stanza dell’addetto’ a small located
just on the right of the entrance to the complex. Collecting together all the available data, it can be
hypothesized that not only surgica, but also cleromantic practices took place in this room, and that
they were performed by a member of the clergy or by a freelance diviner (sortilegus).

Keywords: Pompeii; Esculapius; Iseion; bone dice; cleromantic practices.