THE ROMAN PANTHEON OF SİDE

Side is situated in the south of Turkey on the eastern end of the fertile Pamphylian plain. The harbour of Side was the most important naval facility in Pamphylia in antiquity and the city served as the provincial capital during the Roman period. In this study we shall evaluate the Sidetan Pantheon in Roman period through archaeological and epigraphic sources. Athena was the major deity or state deity of the city. In one of the inscriptions she is called as “προκαθεζομένη θεός” (Prokatheksomene Theos). She was the protector of naval trade and she was celebrated in the city with έπιβατήριος (Epibaterios) Festival (the opening of the harbour). In Side, Apollo was called with the epithet Apollo Sidetes. This epithet may well imply that he was the god of Side, the founder and father of the state. Inscriptions name him specifically as the founder with his other epithet of “θεόκτιστης” (Theoktistes). Demeter and Zeus were the agricultural deities of the city. An “Agon Mystikos” festival was celebrated in Side for Demeter. In this festival Dionysus was also honoured. Artemis was also worshipped in Side. Although Artemis was not particularly important in Side, she gained a place in Sidetan Pantheon as the sister of Apollo. Poseidon was also honoured in Side. The existence of Cybele and Men is also known in Sidetan Pantheon. There is a circular temple of Tyche in the middle of the agora. Although quite a number of sculptural works depicting Hermes were found in Side, Mansel and Nollé note that there is no evidence of Hermes worship on local coins and inscriptions yet. The theatre of Side plays an important role for Sidetan Pantheon and shows us that although the Hellenization and Romanization processes the city went through, most of the cultural elements were preserved with local affinities of which roots go back into the earliest fundaments of Anatolian religion.