Puteal
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
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Puteal. (Pompeii.)
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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. 53, 26). See
Bidental.
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Puteal enclosing a Tree. (From a Painting found at Herculaneum.)
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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 Ep., 8;
Pro
Sestio, 18).