Votive relief from the Dolichenum on the Aventine Hill (Rome) with Jupiter Dolichenus, Juno Regina,
Votive relief from the Dolichenum on the Aventine Hill (Rome) with Jupiter Dolichenus, Juno Regina, Isis and Serapis.Jupiter Dolichenus was a Roman god created from the syncretization of Jupiter, the Roman ‘King of the gods’, and a Baal cult of Commagene in Asia Minor. The cult was one of the Mystery Religions that gained popularity in the Roman Empire as an alternative to the open 'public’ religion of mainstream Roman society. As a king deity he required a consort and the natural counterpart was Jupiter’s own wife Juno. Within this cult she takes the name Juno Dolichena. In iconography she always appears on the right of her partner. Isis and Serapis appear with some frequency, perhaps as 'guests’ or as allusions to the royal pair of Doliche.Few of the characteristic attributes of Jupiter appear in the representation of Jupiter Dolichenus, apart from the thunderbolt, a beard, and at times the eagle. In all other respects the god is a new creation which blends oriental and Hellenistic conventions. The god always appears dressed in a military fashion, armed and dressed in a cuirass. This does not necessarily mean that his cult was especially militaristic; rather, the attributes signify power and royalty. The cuirass in particular is a Hellenistic artistic convention to portray divinity. The weapon that the god carries is usually a double-headed axe (a labris), a weapon often associated with the kings of Thrace and Asia Minor and not a common soldier’s weapon. In accordance with Roman oriental convention he also wears the Phrygian cap and trousers, clothing worn by other oriental gods that the Romans invented or adapted, such as Mithras. -- source link