The aim of this article is to highlight the issues concerning the interpretation of documents
referring to 'Attis' and his cult in Aquileia. The author focuses on two of the main
problems in the study of archeological documentation: the over-reading of the image and its function. The analysis of the iconographical components of the figure of 'Attis'
shows the extreme versatility of the image of the oriental sheperd and highlights how
complex it can be to assign a name to that image without any advice provided by the
context. Not each oriental sheperd does represent 'Attis'; moreover, an image of 'Attis' does
not suffice to confirm the practice of his cult in one site.
