A trip from East to West: the "Pileus", from the cap of the Dioscuri to the symbol of Freedom

Abstract

The origins of this communication lie in the fundamental conclusions to which Adriano Savio arrived in an article with the title of «Il berretto frigio sulla moneta: un viaggio da est a ovest» (The Phrygian Cap on Coins; a Journey from East to West), published in the 2002 Rivista Italiana di Numismatica. To wit:
a) It is highly probable that the Dioscuri inherited the use of the cap from the Cabiros, extremely powerful oriental divinities already wearing them in the Archaic Era as portrayed on the coins of Samothrace, the venue of an important Cabirion in whose archaeological area the famous Nikè was found, now in the Louvre.
b) The assimilation of Cabiros and Dioscuri probably came about in the iii and iv Centuries B. C. on the island of Samothrace, spreading all round the Greek world with the «diaspora of Samothrace» that took place between the years 260 and 100 B. C.
c) Certain signs allow conjecture that the pilos were used in the initiation ceremonies to the Cabiric mysteries by the laying of hands on the heads of novices, in the same manner as took place in the Late Roman Empire during initiation to the Mithraic mysteries when the pater removed the pileus from the neophyte’s head.
d) As a matter of conjecture, something on these lines may have taken place later at manumission ceremonies in Rome. The word Pileus or pileum means a cap of wool, felt, animal hide or shaved leather. Over time, there were different designs. In Rome they were also the insignia of some priestly colleges.