ISic000172: Funerary epitaph for Eunus

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 2023-07-07
ID
ISic000172
Language
Latin
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
edited
Links
View in current site

Edition

Loading...

Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy

Physical description

Support

Description
Plaque of yellow/white marble, intact on all sides. Traces of plaster around the outer circumference of the front face, together with discolouration to the epigraphic field suggest the stone was mounted in a wall with only the text exposed for an extended period. Stone is squared, although there is a taper towards the left. The rear is rough but flat.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 24.7 cm, width: 32 cm, depth: 3 cm

Inscription

Layout
Three lines of Latin text maintaining a consistent left margin with initial interpuncts, and irregular right margin. Mixture of different shaped hederae and interpuncts. Most interpuncts are diamond or triangle shaped.
Text condition
No data
Technique
chiselled
Pigment
No data
Lettering

Letters are generally even, tall and well-formed, although not all letters fall on the line in line 2, and the 'S' at the end of line 2 is some distance from the preceeding letter. The top right stem of the first 'X' in line three is curved to the right, and follows the curve of the following hedera. Mason has put 'XV' in ligature in line 3, potentially to save space at the end of the line.

Letter heights
Line 1: 41-45mm
Line 2: 42-44mm
Line 3: 38-43mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Thermae Himeraeae
Provenance found
Found in April 1880 'in un fondo fuori di porta Messina, appartenente al sig. Sinibaldi Oddo', together with and donated to the museum
Map

Current location

Place
Termini Imerese, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico Baldassare Romano , 73
Autopsy
Antoniou, 2023-07-07. In the Depositi of Museo Civico Baldassare Romano, room 1, scaffold 15, shelf 3
Map

Date

Imperial (AD 1 - AD 300)
Evidence
No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

The name Eunus is familiar in Sicily from the name of the leader of the first Sicilian slave revolt (135-132 BCE), but is otherwise unattested on the island.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
8/13/2025