Call me Sostratos. “Empori” e “santuari emporici” tra economia e religione nell’Italia antica

The contribution focuses on the question of the emporium, which is considered here not only as a place of trade, but rather as the hub of a network of political, cultural and religious relationships established between different cultures. In the light of this more specific definition, the author attempts to show that the places that can be defined as emporia in ancient Italy are not, in fact, so numerous. They then proceed to consider one specific example, namely that of the sanctuary of the goddess Marica at the mouth of the river Gari‐ gliano, which in the past has often been defined as an emporium in spite of the fact that it did not have the characteristics of such a site. The case of Marica serves not only to better clarify some aspects of the concept of emporia, but also provides an opportunity to develop some more general considerations on the link be‐ tween the economy and religion in pre‐Roman Italy.