Trascrizione
Pointed ears and stocky body cast in bronze. The Silenus Màrsyas, divinity of the woods, plays the flute in a remarkable way. The chains on his ankles are broken.
The statue was found by the forum in Paestum. Curiously it is inspired by the concept of another statue in Rome, located near the ruminal fig tree, which legend says is where the she-wolf nursed Romulus and Remus.
Here Màrsyas, feet still shackled but unchained, was the symbol of newly acquired freedom, emblem of a process that paved the way for subsequent laws passed to extend Roman citizenship first to the Latin allies and then to all Italic people.