The ''Puteal Scribonianum'' (Scribonian
Puteal) or ''Puteal Libonis'' (Puteal of Libo) was a structure in the
Forum Romanum
The Roman Forum, also known by its Latin name Forum Romanum ( it, Foro Romano), is a rectangular forum (plaza) surrounded by the ruins of several important ancient government buildings at the center of the city of Rome. Citizens of the ancient ...
in
Ancient Rome.
[ p. 434] A
puteal was a classical
wellhead, round or sometimes square, placed atop a well opening to keep people from falling in.
The Scribonian Puteal was dedicated or restored by
a member of the Libo family, perhaps the
praetor of 204 BC, or the
tribune of the people in 149 BC. The praetor's
tribunal was convened nearby, having been removed from the ''
comitium'' in the 2nd century BC. It thus became a place where litigants, money-lenders and business people congregated.
According to ancient sources, the Scribonian Puteal was a
bidental
]
In Religion in ancient Rome, ancient Roman religion, a Bidental was a sacred shrine erected on the spot where lightning had struck.
Creation
Any remains and scorched earth at the spot were to be burned in a hole at the location by priests cal ...
—a spot that had been struck by
lightning. It took its name from its resemblance to the stone curb or low enclosure around a well (''puteus'') that was between the
Temple of Castor and Pollux and the
Temple of Vesta, near the
Porticus Julia and the
Arcus Fabiorum (arch of the
Fabii). No remains of this puteal, however, have been discovered. It was once thought that an irregular circle of
travertine blocks found near the Temple of Castor formed part of the puteal, but this idea was abandoned in the early 20th century.
A coin issued in 62 BC by
Lucius Scribonius Libo (
praetor 80 BC) depicts this puteal, which he had renovated. It resembles a ''
cippus'' (sepulchral monument) or an
altar, with
laurel wreaths, two
lyre
The lyre () is a stringed musical instrument that is classified by Hornbostel–Sachs as a member of the lute-family of instruments. In organology, a lyre is considered a yoke lute, since it is a lute in which the strings are attached to a yoke ...
s and a pair of
pincers or tongs below the wreaths. The tongs may be those of
Vulcan, emblematic of him as a forger of lightning.
[C. Hulsen, ''The Roman Forum'' (Eng. trans. by J. B. Carter, 1906), p. 150, where a marble imitation found at Ubii is also given.]
References
*
External links
* Denarius of L. Scribonius Libo (issued 62 BC), a
Coin Archives
{{coord, 41.8917, N, 12.4857, E, source:wikidata, display=title
Scribonii
Roman Forum
Ancient Roman buildings and structures in Rome