ISic000330: Funerary inscription for Aphrodito, a mime actress

Photograph by Liceo Artistico Statale "M. M. Lazzaro" di Catania
ID
ISic000330
Language
Latin
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
Links
View in current site

Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text based on autopsy

Physical description

Support

Description
A white marble plaque, apparently complete: the upper and lower edges are regular, the left and right sides irregular. The rear is finished and smooth.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 29 cmwidth: 33.5 cmdepth: 2.1 cm

Inscription

Layout
Latin text over six lines, roughly centred on the plaque. Lines 1-3 are more widely spaced and better centred; lines 4-6 are more compressed in the lower right.
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Lines 1-6: 15-22mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: Not measuredmm

Provenance

Place of origin
Catina
Provenance found
Found c.1731 in the foundations of the Church of S.Caterina da Siena (known as S. Caterina del Rosario), previously attached to the convent of the Dominican Fathers, today seat of the Archivio di Stato, at via S.Agata 2.
Map

Current location

Place
Catania, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico di Catania , 390
Autopsy
Display, Voci di pietra no.18
Map

Date

2nd century CE or beginning of 3rd century CE (AD 101 – AD 225)
Evidence
No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

Aphrodito (LGPN V3A: 37802) is a rare female name, most commonly found in northern Greece / Macedonia. Mimas copies the Greek word μιμάς designating a mime actor. Mime, a highly successful form of popular, comic drama, had its first real success in fifth-century BC Sicily, and was very popular in Rome and Italy throughout the later Republic and Imperial period. Ancient mime has however only come down to us in fragments. The genre flourished in the Hellenistic east also, and Aphrodito’s name suggests that she may have come from the eastern Mediterranean to practice her art in Sicily and Italy.

For online Italian edition see EpiCUM420

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
7/24/2025