Vattnet, nymferna och gudinnan - Anna Perennas nymphaeum som en plats för magicae artes

Sammanfattning

The fountain of Anna Perenna and her nymphs was discovered in an excavation around twenty years ago in northern Rome and its cistern was found to house both religious votives and magical objects, such as curse tablets (defixiones). Thus, this water shrine constitutes a unique setting for magical practices, magicae artes, in the city of Rome and ancient Italia, which this essay aims to further examine. Utilizing epigraphical, historical, and archaeological materials, this contextual study investigates why the fons Annae Perennae was an appropriate place for magical activities and for depositing defixiones by searching for connections between magic and nymphs, magic and the deity herself, and, lastly, magic and water. This research is presupposed by the common notion that the efficacy of ancient magic was dependent upon the fact that all components of the ritual were correctly executed, thereby including the choice of place and setting for the cursing ritual. The results of the analysis revealed that there are indeed good reasons for believing that the nymphs of the fountain played a role in the curse rituals as executors or transporters of the curses down to the underworld. Some allusions to Anna Perenna being part of her group of nymphs in this aspect could also be observed. However, the research revealed a new, challenging theory: that the reason for choosing this shrine as a place of magical deposition was the water itself as an element thought to constitute a portal to the underworld.