ISic000674: Fragment of a public inscription (imperial honorific?)

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 2022-07-14
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 2022-07-14
ID
ISic000674
Language
Latin
Text type
honorific
Object type
plaque
Status
edited
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy;
  • 1: The very foot of a letter is visible to the left of the V in line 1, most plausibly an A

Physical description

Support

Description
Fragment of corroded crystalline marble, broken and worn on all sides, with a coarse discoloured surface. The front face appears slight convex, the rear flat (but fixed to a wall).
Object type
plaque
Object condition
fragment
Dimensions
height: 19.7 cm, width: 21.5 cm, depth: 2.9-3.6 cm

Material

Description
marble

Inscription

Layout
Remains of two lines of monumental Latin letters. Traces of guidelines preserved to top and bottom of lines.
Text condition
incomplete
Technique
chiselled
Pigment
No data
Lettering

Neat v-cut letters with serifs, now heavily worn; only line 2 preserved to full height.

Letter heights
Line 2: 108mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Tyndaris
Provenance found
Found on the site, but no further information is available.

Current location

Place
Tindari, Sicilia
Repository
Antiquarium di Tindari , ME 28743
Autopsy
Prag, 2022-07-12, in the antiquarium
Map

Date

Assuming this is the title Parthicus, employed between Trajan and Aurelian, but likely not later than Severus (AD 114 - AD 211)
Evidence
titulature

Text type

honorific

commentary

Manganaro very plausibly suggested that, in the context of a large marble inscription of this sort, ART is most likely from the imperial title 'Parthicus'. However, his attribution to Marcus Aurelius, while attractive is hardly certain, since the title is first accorded to Trajan, and to multiple emperors subsequently up to Aurelian. That said, with the form of the letters, it seems unlikely to be later than Septimius Severus.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
3/5/2026