Relief of Jupiter, Juno and Minerva from the Caelian Mithraeum

TNMM 597 ↔ CIMRM 328 & 329

A relief, now lost.

The relief is in white marble and divided into two parts. Above a tabula in which an inscription No. 329, three gods are seated in a row. In the centre Jupiter. with naked torso; in his r.h. he holds a thunderbolt and next to his r, foot an eagle is perched. On his left sits Juno, entirely dressed; she holds a long staff. On the other side Minerva, with the aegis on her breast. In her l.h. a lance and her r.h. touches the helmet. By her side an owl. The upper part of the relief is broken off, so that Minerva has been preserved as far as her neck, Jupiter up to his breast and Juno as far as her hips.

CIMRM 329

Optumus maximus / Caelus aeternus Iup[i]/ter Iunoni Reginae / Minervae iussus liben[s] / dedit pro salutem suam / M(arcus) Modius Agatho et pr[o] / Fausti patroni hominis s(ancti?) / et Helpidis suae s(anctae?) cum s[uis].

Fragmentary marble relief with inscription found in 1555 in the excavation of a vineyard on the Caelius hill, last quarter of the 2nd century CE. Currently lost. This monument survives thanks to two drawings. One is preserved in the codex Pighianus of Berlin (see Vermaseren 1978, planche IV), whereas the second one in a drawing by Dosio in Florence (see Vermaseren 1978, planche V). In the upper part of the relief, three sit deities were represented. We can recognize Jupiter in the center, holding a buldle of lightning bolts and with an eagle beside his feet, Minerva on the left, an owl beside her feet, and Juno on the right. Below this representation, a dedicatory inscription was engraved.