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In the Phoenician or Carthaginian pantheon the parallel figure to Hercules was
Melqart, for whom there was a cult centre at Tyre dating back to the eighth century. At
Carthage, inscriptions survive that refer to Melqart‟s cremation rites and resurrection
ceremonies; the prestigious nature of the cult is indicated by some officiants being titled
as Sufetes, the senior magistracy at Carthage (CIS I 227, 260-2, 377). 151 In addition,
significant numbers of razors decorated with images of a figure wearing a lion-skin
and/or leaning on a club found in a pre-Roman cemetery at Carthage attest to the
popularity of Hercules/Melqart in the wider community. 152
Hercules was a popular figure at Rome. Roman coins featuring Hercules, assigned by
Mattingly 153 to the period 269-218, indicate that Hercules was a well-established cult
figure at Rome long before the Second Punic War. The ara maxima was an altar to
Hercules in the forum boarium, and a number of texts contain related versions of an
aetiological tale for the foundation of the cult that predates the time of Romulus. 154
Livy, for example, related that a shepherd stole Hercules‟ beautiful cattle from the
pasture near the Tiber where they were grazing, and attempted to hide them in a cave.
Eventually Hercules found them and, during in the ensuing argument with the shepherd,
the local ruler, Evander, arrived and recognised Hercules in accordance with a prophecy
given by his mother. It was agreed to establish the cult and to dedicate an altar to
Hercules (Livy, 1.7.4-12). Subsequently one of Romulus‟ first acts after defeating
Remus was to sacrifice to Hercules:
sacra diis aliis Albano ritu, Graeco Herculi, ut ab Evandro instituta
erant, facit.
Livy, 1.7.3
To other gods he sacrificed after the Alban custom, but employed the
Greek for Hercules, according to the institution of Evander.
Foster, 1925, 27.
Cicero also claims that the cult to Hercules pre-dated the foundation of Rome, and that
Romulus was the first Roman successor of Hercules. Furthermore Cicero believed that
151
Lancel, 1995, 205.
152
Bonnet, 1986, 220-2 Figs. 1, 3 and 4; Lancel, 1995, 207; Rawlings, 2005, 159.
153
Mattingly, 1960, 12.
154
Livy, 1.7.4-12; 9.29.9; Propertius, Elegies, 4.9; Virgil, Aen., 8.185; Macrobius, Sat. 1.12.27; Cicero,
Tusc. Disp., 1.12.28. Tacitus, Annals, 15.41: the altar burned during the great fire.
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