SANT'ANGELO IN FORMIS
Italy.
A
sanctuary complex, Fanum Dianae Tifatinae, N of the
Campanian lowlands, on the lower slopes of Mt. Tifata,
not far from the Volturno. The site was inhabited between the end of the Bronze Age and the beginning of
the Iron Age, as is shown by the existence of a cremation necropolis a short distance from the sanctuary.
From literary and epigraphic notices, we learn that
Sulla, following his victory over Norbanus in 83 B.C.,
donated to the precinct a part of the surrounding territory along with its springs. A Benedictine monastery was built on the site of the sanctuary in the 10th c.
Some architectural terracottas of the late 6th c. bear
witness to an archaic phase; the votive material discovered in the second half of the 19th c. is not well
known. We know the plan of a Hellenistic temple which,
to judge from the molding on the lower part of the
podium, must be dated to the 3d c. B.C. The temple is of
the Etruscan-Italic type, with the cella flanked by open
aisles, at least in front, while the flooring, some column
bases, and enlargements date to a restoration that is
recorded on a floor inscription of 74 B.C. The supporting
works of the front terrace are dated by an inscription
to 135 B.C.; the peribolos was restored at the beginning
of the Imperial period. Beyond the enclosure are also
preserved remains of a late Hellenistic bath complex, of
another from the end of the 1st c. or first half of the
2d c. A.D., and various sepulchral monuments, some
from the Republican period.
BIBLIOGRAPHY
J. Beloch,
Campanien (2d ed. 1890)
361ff; A. de Franciscis,
Templum Dianae Tifatinae
(1956).
W. JOHANNOWSKY