Inscription on a Tile From Poetovio

Abstract

The author publishes a votive inscription on a tile found in 1977 during the systematical archaeological rescue survey in Rabelčja vas in Ptuj. In the inscription the cult of Matronae is mentioned for the first time in ancient Poetovio and also on the territory of S. R. Slovenia. The dedicator bears the Celtic name Ovito Condos (possibly also Comos, or Comoso) which confirms the presence of the Celtic ethnic element in Poetovio at the beginning of the 3rd century A. D. The author then tries to establish a link, or better an identity, between the cult of Matronae and the local cult of Nutrices Augustae. In view of the fact that all the known dedicators of the Nutrices Augustae were Roman citizens, of different ethnic origins, belonging to the upper strata of rich citizens, the author suggests that the very name Nutrices Augustae represents an outward aspect of the social differentiation of a certain social class which identifies with Romanisation in its religious outlook as well. This suggestion is further strengthened by the fact that the main function of the cult of the Nutrices Augustae is the protection of children which in many cases also applies to the cult of Matronae.