After the end of the
Second Punic War (212 BC), trade in the Roman world surged, and again after the conquest of Greece (146 BC). Perhaps it is no coincidence that the need to build a huge complex outside the walls of Tibur, compared to the size of the city, was born after these events. More specifically the need, in the second phase of construction (in the first decade of the first century BC), to incorporate a road inside the sanctuary can be correlated with the change in Tibur's political status to a Roman
Municipium in 87 BC at the end of the Social War, but the need was already clear in previous decades: in fact, both when it was an independent city and when, from the 4th century BC, it had become a
Civitas Foederata, Tibur had maintained control of the important trade route and could collect the toll on the bridge (or bridges) of the
Aniene located just before the waterfall. But when Tibur became part of the Republic and started to lose its administrative autonomy, it was no longer possible to exercise this type of control, so it was decided to "sanctify" it, eliminating the toll on the bridges and transferring it downstream along Via Tiburtina which, uniquely for a public road of great importance, was made to pass inside the Sanctuary with the covering of the "via tecta" before 89 BC. Here, the toll, in various forms, would be replaced by an offering to the divinity, with the great flow of "tithes" money. In any case, Tibur was increasingly closely linked to the cult of Hercules.
Relationship of the sanctuary to the strategic position of Tibur Tibur was located at the head of the Aniene valley where the river falls 160 m into the Roman countryside and which was a pass on the main route for trade and human travel between the Apennine plateaux of
Abruzzo and
Apulia, rich in cattle, and the fertile
Roman Campagna. Aided by fortifications on the surrounding ridges, the pass determined the function and prosperity of the city from the 9th century BC. Much of this important route is dotted with places of worship of Hercules: from
Sulmona to
Alba Fucens, from the temples along the upper Aniene valley to those downstream from Tibur at the springs of
Aquae Albulae,
Settecamini, the area of
San Lorenzo, to the Temple of Hercules in
Ostia Antica, the terminal station of the salt trade. This is because Hercules was the patron deity of hard work, of loyalty in trade (as in the
10th labour, the capture of the oxen of Geryon, during which the hero "reclaimed" the
Forum Boarium from Cacus) and of commercial and financial transactions.
The Cult of Hercules Tivoli was identified with the
cult of Hercules by virtue of its strategic position and it venerated him as a warrior god (Hercules Victor or Invictus) for a victory over the
Aequi, as Hercules Saxanus (as protector of
travertine mining), and as protector of trade and of flocks, a fundamental activity for the original city economy. The cult was one of the most important in
Latium and common to many civilisations of the Mediterranean. Unlike the Greek Herakles, revered above all as a semi-god, the Italic Hercules is mainly a deity, protector of all civilising activities related to the centuries of urbanisation (8-7th c. BC), from reclamation to deforestation, regulation of waters, and to businesses with all their implications. He also had the function of
chthonic divinity typical of territories rich in wells, sinkholes, and rising springs, such as near Tibur. As a cult possibly originated in Tivoli, tradition has it that the cult of Hercules Victor was exported to Rome in the late Republican age by the legendary
Marcus Octavius Herennius, a wealthy oil merchant, perhaps identifiable with that Herennius who was a musician (
tibicinus) and then
Magistratus Herculaneus at the Tiburtine sanctuary. He had the circular
Temple of Hercules Victor or Invictus (or to Hercules Olivarius) built in the
Forum Boarium in Rome.
Construction From recent surveys and excavations, the first sanctuary started in the 160's BC had terraces similar to the sanctuary of
Fortuna Primigenia in nearby
Praeneste, with a trapezoidal plan similar to the temple of
Jupiter Anxur in
Terracina. A collapse of the structure led to the interruption of the work, which was resumed a few decades later with a completely different plan. In this second phase, the main modifications were: • The entire rear part of the limestone hill and terrace was levelled by removing an enormous amount of land. In the space created, the theatre was built • A section of the "clivus tiburtinus" (the last stretch of
Via Tiburtina) which, in the original project skirted the side of the complex, was incorporated into a tunnel, the
via tecta, which joins the oldest structure to the majestic second phase complex on the north side, whose structures rise more than 40 m from the banks of the
Aniene and which is the best preserved part of the sanctuary.
Operation and wealth of the Sanctuary In late republican and imperial times the traffic that crossed the city of Tibur (and therefore the sanctuary) had increased to the point that it was necessary to set up rest and sorting camps for wagons and herds, with related assistance and health control services, upstream and downstream of the bridge (the Roman bridge probably fell in the great flood of 105 AD) which crossed the
Aniene near the temples of the Acropolis (also built at the beginning of the splendour of the city, II-I century BC). The rest camps upstream (towards
Abruzzo) were probably in Crocetta, about 2 km from the city; those downstream from the
clivus tiburtinus almost reached the Lucan bridge. These lands were all owned by the sanctuary. The sanctuary was also offered the "
tithe" of every transaction made within it. The exchanges that took place within it and, therefore, the movement of money or flocks within it were huge. The "tithe" was paid in money or in kind (10% of the flocks). In the latter case, the specialised workers kept the flocks or herds in the large rooms on the north side of the via tecta, reselling them as soon as possible at competitive prices. In addition to this commercial part, the heart of the complex was represented by the Temple. After all, one of the reasons for the numerous constructions of sanctuaries in various cities of Lazio (Tibur, Praenestae, Terracina, Gabii, etc.) and other locations in central Italy was, in fact, to attract pilgrims, who also brought wealth. The pilgrims brought offerings in money and in
ex-voto which, often in gold and silver, were periodically removed and melted down, while those in terracotta were crammed into votive pits. Pilgrims needed accommodation and food, or cash loans, and for this the complex offered paid inn services and banking services. Another source of income for the sanctuary was the
thesauri or alms boxes, placed in strategic points at the exits of the city, especially on the paths that allowed travellers not to go through the via tecta to enter or exit Tibur. Moreover, as the wealth and power of the Sanctuary increased, rich merchants or politicians, senators, proconsuls, generals were keen to make donations, to win the benevolence of the priests and the divinity, because they would be counted among the benefactors of the "
fanum", gained prestige, or simply would be remembered. The wealth accumulated in a few decades meant that
Octavian used the treasure of the sanctuary, which was still part of the public treasury, to prepare the army for the
battle of Philippi. Nonetheless, the riches of the Tiburtine sanctuary continued to increase, due also to the functions of lending money (which was reserved to the "curator Fani", the only one who could practice usury without committing sacrilege) and to direct commerce, especially the oil trade with the island of
Delos, one of the most powerful trading centres in the Mediterranean.
Rise and fall The prestige and wealth of the sanctuary reached its peak in the imperial era, probably under
Hadrian (117–138 AD), who had his governing palace nearby. In the 4th century, between the edicts of
Milan (313) and of
Thessalonica (380), the activity of the sanctuary decreased. The raids throughout the Aniene valley aimed at the destruction of pagan temples and shrines by bands organised by
Basilian monks based above the Villa of Nero at
Subiaco also wrought damage. The
Codex Theodosianus (391–2) stopped all pagan religious activities, even if the civil authorities kept social and organisational activities alive in the sanctuary (local festivals, social and recreational activities, sports, etc.) In the 5th century, it is probable that looting began, indicated by many statues being hidden, often far from their original location (for example, in the pit of the auleum of the theatre). During the 5th and 6th centuries, the sanctuary's possessions were taken, usurped, donated, occupied, and eventually became the property of the Tiburtine Church, which, from the 10th century onwards, used the Charta Cornutiana from the 5th century, recently found to be a forgery to claim the right of ownership. ==Layout==