The Cult of Isis in ancient Fiesole

Many myths are linked with the name of Egyptian goddess Isis; she was the wife of Osiris, she composed the god’s remains when he was killed and she was the mather of Horo. She was also assimilated with the goddess Hathor, the star Sirius and in Ptolomaic times, when Osiris became Dionysus, she became Demeter. The cult celebrate motherhood and life, the wisdom and justice.
Her cult was also brought to Rome during Caligola’s reign (37-41 A.D.) and there it became very popular in spite of the opposition of the Senate.

The penetration of cult in Florence and Fiesole was due to veterans of roman army came back from oriental campaigns at the beginning of II century.
In the first time the Isis religion devoloped in Italy assume a voluptuary form and was followed by prostitutes, but when arrived in Fiesole it was already more chasten. The cult rapidly spread all over the Roman Empire, so that we could even consider it to be the first universal religion. The area around File in Egypt was the last bulwark of heathenism against Christianity but even there eventually the temples dedicated to Isis were, for the most part, transformed into Coptic churches.

Few people know that the cult of Isis in Roman dominated Fiesole (which consequently had to worship the same gods) became very popular and there was even a temple dedicated to the goddess of the Nile, built in the II century A.D., halfway up the Acropolis hillside of San Francesco.