puteal
puteal, a kerb-stone of a well
- A stone curb round the mouth of a well: puteal, περιστόμιον φρέατος, Gloss. Philox.: putealia sigillata duo, Cic. Att. 1, 10, 3; Dig. 19, 1, 14.—
- II Transf., a similar curb placed round any spot. Thus, at Rome, the Puteal, erected in the Comitium, to commemorate the cutting of a whetstone with a razor by the augur Attus Navius, near the Arcus Fabianus. It was subsequently restored by Scribonius Libo, and was called also Puteal Libonis. Money matters were here transacted. According to others, the Puteal of Libo was different from that of Attus Navius: impositum, Cic. Div. 1, 17, 33; id. Sest. 8, 18; Ov. R. Am. 561: Libonis, Hor. Ep. 1, 19, 8; id. S. 2, 6, 35; Pers. 4, 49.
exinanitus lacrimis ad ~al exsurgo
mihi nunc primo placere potest ~al quia cum orbe mutate sunt Muse
hoc ~al ‥ i. fossa cloacalis
- 1. muurtje rondom een put;
- 2. het Puteale (plaats die door de bliksem getroffen is en daarna tot heilige grond verklaard en ommuurd); ihb.: ~ Libonis op het Forum Romanum, waar o.a. de geldschieters zaten.
Sedes prætoris. Gloss. Isid. Excerpta :
Præcepit ergo ipse procuratori suo villarum incolas sibi tamquam ad Puteal exhiberi : quos per varia distringens supplicia, sibi bona eorum posset violenter extorquere.Vide Salmasii Exercit. in Plin. pag. 804. edit. Traject.
- putealis, a kerb-stone of a well: putealia sigillata duo.—A puteal, stone enclosure marking a sacred spot; esp., the Puteal in the Comitium: supra impositum puteal accepimus (to mark where Navius cut a whetstone with a razor); here the money-lenders were found; hence, puteali et faeneratorum gregibus inflatus: adesses ad puteal Cras, H.: puteal Libonis (because restored by Scribonius Libo), H.
PU´TEALthe stone kerb round the mouth of a well. This was sometimes nearly flush with the ground, a flat stone with a circular opening, of which there is an example in the Capitol (figured in Baumeister, Denkm. p. 5): it is carved in relief of a late period with scenes from the life of Achilles. But in most cases it was an enclosure surrounding the opening, high enough to protect persons from falling into it, about three or four feet from the ground, and either round or square. There is a round one in the British Museum made of marble, which was found among the ruins of one of Tiberius's villas in Capri; it has five groups of fauns and nymphs, and on the edge at the top may be seen marks of the ropes used for drawing water. Such putealia were no doubt common in Roman villas, and the putealia sigillata, which Cicero (ad Att. 1.10) wanted for his Tusculan villa, must have been of the same kind as the one in the British Museum; the word sigillata refers to its being adorned with figures. From its resemblance to a well-enclosure, that which surrounded a place struck by lightning, and therefore consecrated, was sometimes called puteal [BIDENTAL; PRODIGIUM ]. At Rome we have (without referring to the Lacus Curtius) two sacred putealia, erected over places struck by lightning, one in the Comitium (Cic. de Div. 1.1. 7, 33; Liv. 1.36), another in the Forum, of which the remains are thought to have been discovered between the temples of Vesta and Castor. This was the Puteal Libonis or Puteal Scribonianum, consecrated probably by L. Scribonius Libo, which is often shown on coins of the Scribonian gens, and of which an example is given below. The puteal is on the reverse of the coin, and is adorned with laurel wreaths and two lyres. It must be noticed that the puteal here has taken distinctly an altar shape. Tongs have been traced below the wreaths, and are understood to symbolise Vulcan as the maker of lightning. Libo erected in the neighbourhood of this puteal a tribunal for the praetor, in consequence of which the place was frequented by those who had lawsuits, moneylenders, &c. (Comp. Hor. Sat. 2.6, 35; Ep. 1.19, 8;--Ov. Remed. Amor. 561; Cic. pro Sest. 8, 18; 0. Richter in Baumeister, Denkm. p. 1468; Burn, Rome and Campagna, p. 86; Middleton, Rome, p. 178.)
[W.S] [G.E.M]The Latin term for a circular stone enclosure, consisting of a dwarf wall, surrounding either (1) the mouth of a well (puteus) or
(2) a spot struck by lightning. Italian superstition demanded that every flash of lightning which struck and was buried in the earth should have, as it were, a grave and a propitiatory offering, as in the case of a human being. According to the place where the flash fell, this offering was made, either by the State or by private individuals, in the earlier times according to the directions of the pontifices, at a later date after consultation with the Etruscan haruspices. The earth which was touched by the divine fire was carefully collected (Lucan, i. 606), and enclosed in a coffin constructed out of four side-pieces and without any bottom (this was the burying of the lightning). Then round the coffin a shaft, consisting of four walls and open at the top, was built up to the surface of the ground. A place which had thus been consecrated by the offering which the haruspices made of a sheep fully teethed (bidens) was especially called a bidental, and was not allowed to be desecrated. According to the pontifical rite introduced by Numa, the propitiatory offering consisted of onions, hair, and sardels. If a human being had been struck by lightning, his body was not burnt, but buried on the spot (Pliny , Pliny H. N. ii. 145). Such a spot was called a bidental, and a propitiatory offering was made on his behalf ( Fest. p. 27; Non. pp. 53Non., 26). See bidental.
The puteal, with bay wreaths, lyres, and a pair of pincers, may be seen on coins of the gens Scribonia. The ancient puteal in the Forum, near the Arcus Fabianus, was repaired by Scribonius Libo, whence it was called the Puteal Libonis or Puteal Scribonianum. In its neighbourhood he erected a tribunal for the praetor, which led to its becoming the resort of litigants, money-lenders, etc. (Hor. Sat. ii. 6, 35; Ep. i. 19, 8; Cic. Pro Sestio, 18).