I 19. Tyras. Dedication of Priscus, II century C.E.

Monument

Type

Base. 

Material

Limestone, marble-like, dense. 

Dimensions (cm)

H. 15.0, W. 60.0, Th. 54.7.

Additional description

The front is polished, the left is treated summarily with the use of tooth chisel; the back is also treated summarily. The top is polished, there is a small bowl-shaped depression on it; a significant portion of the top face is chipped and pitted. The right and back are broken off. 

Place of Origin

Tyras. 

Find place

Belgorod-Dnestrovsky. 

Find context

Unknown. 

Find circumstances

Unknown. For a long time, it was sitting in front of a private house in Akkerman (Belgorod Dnestrovsky), near the fortress. In 1900, it was transferred to the Odessa Archaeological Museum. 

Modern location

Odessa, 

Institution and inventory

Odessa Archaeological Museum, 50717. 

Autopsy

A.I. Ivantchik, September 2008. 

Epigraphic field

Position

On the front. The left part is preserved, broken off on the right. Since Latyshev's autopsy, the stone suffered additional slight damage. Margins: left 3,5; top 1,0; bottom 1,5. H. 11.7, W. 40.0

Lettering

Neatly, deeply and evenly cut letters. Epsilon with detached middle bar. Average distance between lines: 1,0cm. 

Letterheights (cm)

4.8-5.0

Text

Category

Dedicatory inscription. 

Date

II century C.E. 

Dating criteria

Palaeography. 

Editions

L1. Stern 1901, 1-2, № 1; 1.1. IOSPE IV, add. n° 453; 1.1.1. IOSPE I2, 7. 

Edition

Πρεῖσκος Φ[---]
vac. 2 litt. ων τὸν ν[αὸν? ---]

Diplomatic

ΠΡΕΙΣΚΟΣΦ[---]
    ΩΝΤΟΝΝ[...---]

EpiDoc (XML)

<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
   <ab>
      		<lb n="1"/>Πρεῖσκος Φ<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/> 
      		<lb n="2"/><space quantity="2" unit="character"/> ων τὸν 
            ν<supplied reason="lost" cert="low">αὸν</supplied> <gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
   </ab>
   </div> 
 
Apparatus criticus

Πρεῖσκος Φ[λάβιος ἄρχ-]|ων τὸν [δεῖνα] Stern ; τὸν μ[- - -] IOSPE; τὸν ν[αὸν? - - -] IOSPE I2

Translation

Priscus, son of F[- - -] the t[emple? - - -]

 

Commentary

1. If we consider the name Priscus as one of Latin trinomina, then it could only be a cognomen, for which reason the restoration of von Stern is impossible. There is no doubt that we are dealing with a Greek name of Latin origin, used in a typical Greek way, "personal name + patronymic", so that the name Πρεῖσκος would have been followed by his father's name, beginning with phi.

2. Latyshev supposed that the fist two letters were the ending of a participle, pointing to some office occupied by Priscus (something like ἀρχοντεύων, ἱερεύων and alike). This is only one of possible restorations (we cannot exclude, e.g. ἐξ ἰδίων, or the ending of a plural form of divine names, whose dedicant Priscus may have been). The restoration τὸν ν[αὸν seems most likely. Since the inscription is made on a statue base, we could envision τὸν ν[αὸν καὶ τὸ ἄγαλμα.

 

Images

(cc) © 2017 Askold Ivantchik (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
You may download this inscription in EpiDoc XML. (This file should validate to the EpiDoc schema.)