Puteal
Puteal (from Latin puteus "fountain", Greek περιστόμιον peristomion ) denotes in antiquity the enclosure of a (covered) fountain.
Puteal also describes the round or square borders with which holy lightning marks (Latin bidentalia , singular bidental ) were marked. The daytime lightning strikes were assigned to Jupiter , the nocturnal to a deity closely related to him called Summanus . The inscriptions of the Puteal were accordingly fulgur Dium conditum or fulgur Summanum conditum (for example, “Jupiter / Summanus struck here”). Numerous markings of this kind have been preserved. Such puteals were often decorated with relief sculptures.
The Puteal Scribonianum has stood on the Roman Forum since ancient times . It was renewed by Lucius Scribonius Libo . After the renovation, it was very often seen on coins minted by the Scribonians .
literature
- Christoph Höcker : Metzler Lexicon of Ancient Architecture. 2nd Edition. Metzler, Stuttgart 2008, ISBN 978-3-476-02294-3 , p. 202.