Angela Sutherland – AncientPages.com – The Thraco-Phrygian deity known as Sabazius has been frequently identified with Dionysus and had a small and yet persistent presence in the Roman Empire and Greece. It seems, however, this god was also revered in some other places in ancient Europe.
Hand of Sabazios – View from various angles. Source – Unknown author – Public Domain
Sabazius – Unwillingly Tolerated Deity
Sabazius (Sabazios) was a “Phrygian and Thracian savior-god whose cult spread throughout the Mediterranean during the classical and Hellenistic period. He was unwillingly tolerated at Athens as a newcomer and received much the same treatment in Rome, though never attaining the notoriety of his more popular Phrygian relative – Cybele.” 1