ISic000155: Fragment recording two freedmen

I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana; photo J. Prag 2023-07-06.
ID
ISic000155
Language
Latin
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy

Physical description

Support

Description
Small rectangular shaped fragment of a thick white marble plaque of a very granular consistency. Seemingly cut down on all sides, although the lower edge could be original, roughly finished. The surface is somewhat eroded, and discoloured by rust stains. The stone is opisthographic, with a later text on the reverse. Same support as .
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 11.5 cm, width: 17.5 cm, depth: 5.0-5.4 cm

Inscription

Layout
Two lines of Latin letters, the first larger than the second.
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Line 1: 41-50mm
Line 2: 28-31mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: 5mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Thermae Himeraeae
Provenance found
The piece was first published by Bivona in 1975-76, with no record of its original discovery (presumably Termini Imerese)

Current location

Place
Termini Imerese, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico Baldassare Romano , 6
Autopsy
Prag 2023-07-06, storeroom of the Museo Civico, room 1, rack 13, shelf 5.
Map

Date

Roman imperial period (AD 1 – AD 250)
Evidence
No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

The surface of the stone makes the reading of line 1 less than transparent, but the S seems certain, and ELPI is unlikely to be anything other than the name (H)Elpis. Colax in line 2 likewise seems clear, even if a poorly attested name. Whether the stone is part of a funerary inscription or records the activities of two liberti (building, dedication, etc.), of whom the first appears to be female, cannot be clarified. Several of the reports of this text appear to unite the obverse with the reverse to produce a single funerary inscription, but the reading of the reverse in published editions is wrong (see ISic001876) and there is clearly no connection at all between the two texts.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
5/8/2024