Known as the “school of the Eleatic doctors”, the impressive complex discovered in the southern area of the city of Velia occupied an entire insulaœ. Of the various statues which adorned the building (deities, private citizens and members of the imperial family), one in particular is of a philosopher, identifiable from the Greek inscription on the herm as being Parmenides.
A further two herms, likewise inscribed in Greek but which have lost their heads, were of doctors (hiatroi pholarchoi) ritually associated with the cult of Apollo the Healer. A further three male portraits found near the hermai were also doctors of this kind, two of them bearing a striking resemblance with one another. Their high rank is conveyed by the wreath of berries and laurel leaves they are wearing on their heads. Founded as a Greek colony in 540-535 BCE with the name of Elea, the city of Velia was the birthplace of Parmenides home to his important school of philosophy. Even after becoming a Roman municipality following the Social War, Velia remained a Greek city, continuing to use Greek as the official language in its public deeds. It was therefore not out of context that such a city should be home to a confraternity associated with the cult of a healing deity.
In its building, in fact, alongside the genealogy of doctors and members of the imperial family, is celebrated Parmenides doctor and healer (Ouliades physikòs) – founding hero of ancient knowledge, symbol of a proud collective memory.