I 36. Tyras.Epitaph of Dionysia Pia, wife of Sousos, I-III century C.E.
Monument
Type
Panel.
Material
Marble.
Dimensions (cm)
Unknown.
Additional description
The bottom is broken off. The top part of the front is decorated with a crudely carved relief depicting a seated woman, with a boy in front of her, and a woman - behind. The heads of the figures are damaged.
Place of Origin
Tyras.
Find place
Shabo.
Find context
Unknown.
Find circumstances
Found in 1900 in Shabo, in the courtyard of a house belonging to Andrey Konoplyan.
Modern location
Unknown.
Institution and inventory
Unknown.
Epigraphic field
Position
On the front, below the relief.
Lettering
Unknown. According to von Shtern, "an epitaph, apparently of the Roman imperial date, although the shape of nu might suggest an earlier date."
Letterheights (cm)
Unknown.
Text
Category
Epitaph.
Date
I-III century C.E.
Dating criteria
Prosopography.
Editions
L1. Stern1901, 4, № 4; 1.1. IOSPE, IV, 454; 1.2. Kieseritzky, Watzinger1909, 41-42, n° 238; 1.3. IOSPE I2, 11.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/>Διονυσία Πία
Σούσου γυνὴ χαῖρε
</ab>
</div>
Apparatus criticus
1: ΓΥΗ errore ut videturStern; Διονυσία Πία γυ[ν]ὴ Σούσου χαῖρεWatzinger errore
Translation
Dionysia Pia, wife of Sousos, farewell.
Commentary
The only scholar who had seen this monument is E. von Shtern, who published it without an illustration, providing us only with a verbal description. All subsequent publications are based on his description and reading. In 1900, the stone was in the possession of a peasant, A. Konoplyan, who had found it, but refused to sell to the Odessa Archaeological Museum. The monument never found its way to the museum and was apparently lost. Since von Shtern did not publish any image of the monument, we cannot form an opinion about its relief and lettershapes. Von Shtern dated the inscription to the imperial period on the basis of the name Πία, treating it as a transliteration of the Latin Pia, viewed as a feminine form of the nickname of Antoninus Pius. This connection is highly doubtful. The name is known in the Greek-speaking world prior to the reign of Antoninus, see e.g. an epitaph of a certain Pia from Lydia, dated to 139/140 C.E. (SEG 40.1055) or the mention of the same feminine name in the honorific inscription of the first half of the I century C.E. from Pisidia (SEG 42.1223). Apparently, the name derives from the Latin appelation with its obvious meaning, becoming popular in the Roman period. The deceased had two names, which is not uncommon; the second was probably a nickname. The name of the husband of the deceased, Σοῦσος, is likely Greek (Zgusta 1955, 325, § 743): it is attested in Thrace and Asia Minor.
© 2017 Askold Ivantchik (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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