La prodigiosa fuente de asfalto ardiente en Apolonia, las Ninfas, el oráculo de Pan, y la visita de Cornelio Sila

Abstract

In Apolonia, in the region of Illyria, there is a sacred place that is known since the fourth century B.C. by several ancient sources. This place had a fountain of asphalt that was burning non-stop. In relation to this well, there is a Panic manteion and a Nymphaeum, where pyromaniac forecasts are also made. We analyze the literary and numismatic sources to clarify the sense of the Nymphaeum and the manteion. The latter was visited by Cornelius Sulla in 84 with little success.