The RomanColoniaeof the Near East Berytus. The reflection of the cult in Berytus itself is therefore of crucial
importance, in spite of the relatively small harvest of inscriptions from this
continuously inhabited city. The immensely learned tabulation and analysis
of the relevant inscriptions by Y. Hajjar do indeed offer valuable evidence,
and even at first sight offer some support for the notion of a triad. There are
in fact precisely two known inscriptions from Berytus where Iuppiter Opti-
mus Maximus Heliopolitanus is named along with Venus and Mercurius, and
with these alone.^64 A further inscription (mentioned above) offers only traces
of theMof[I.O.] M [H.], and follows that with Venus and Mercurius, but
also with Apollo, Deana [sic], Mars Sergit(ensis?), or Ceres, Proserpina, the
Fortuna of the Colonia, and the Fata.^65 By contrast, eleven inscriptions from
Berytus and the surrounding area refer toI.O.M.H. alone,^66 one toVenus
Domina,andtwotoMercuriusDominus.^67 An altar from the Museum of Beirut
might at first sight provide evidence for a syncretistic identification of Venus
Heliopolitana with the Syrian Goddess / Atargatis. But in fact, as Hajjar him-
self correctly argues, it shows rather a distinction between the two in the
mind of the worshipper. Two inscriptions appear on two sides of the altar:^68
θεᾷἈταργάτι/[σ]τα(τίωνος)Γεράνων/Ἀρτεμίδι Φωσφόρω...
Veneri He/liopolitanae / et Deae Syriae / Geranensi / Deanae LuciferaeIt seems clear that two deities are mentioned in both inscriptions, the Dea
Syria / Atargatis and Deana Lucifera / Artemis Phosphoros, while the Latin
also names a third, Venus Heliopolitana. Though the description of Berytus
as a ‘‘Latin island in a Semitic ocean’’ (text to n. above) is far too simplis-
tic, these inscriptions do indeed attest the complexities of the cultural and
religious context into which the colonists were settled. But precisely what
is distinctive about this area, marking it out from all other parts of the Ro-
man Near East, is that among the other cultural heritages which were not
only still present, but active and evolving, a very strong Latin and Roman
element was firmly rooted, both on the coast and in the Bekaa valley. What-
ever the nature or antiquity of the Zeus already worshipped at Heliopolis, he
now came to be characterised by appellations drawn from those ofIuppiter
OptimusMaximusin Rome, and came later to become known throughout the
. Hajjar (n. ), I, –, nos. –.
. Hajjar (n. ), I, , no. .
. Hajjar (n. ), I, –, nos. –, , .
. Hajjar (n. ), I, nos. –.
. Hajjar (n. ), I, no. .