ISic000711: I.Sicily inscription 000711

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 2015-10-20
ID
ISic000711
Language
Latin
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy;
  • 1: Manganaro 1988+1989: [--- dedicatione statuae suae C]n Seius Agatho; Ferrua: [--- marit]us eius Agatho
  • 2: Manganaro: [municipibus ----- HS ---]LMN etc.; Ferrua: [vixit annis] L m(e)n. II semis, de-
  • 3: Manganaro: [dit ut quotannis ex us(uris) epulentur ter]tio die m(ensis) Ianuarii; Ferrua: [-posit(us) deci]mo die m(ensis) Ianuari i[nd.]
  • 4: Manganaro, Ferrua: not observed

Physical description

Support

Description
Fragment of a thick slab of a fine dense grey stone. Lower edge intact. Possibly part of the right edge also intact. Broken left and above, and at the extreme lower right corner; however the cut-away lower right appears to be respected by the text, and the edge has the same finish as the other edges, so may be original. Edges and rear finished roughly. Some mortar preserved on right edge. Original width was greater than 30 cm.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
fragment
Dimensions
height: 22.5 cm, width: 26 cm, depth: 4.6-5.4 cm

Inscription

Layout
Four lines of Latin letters, with vacat below; the trace of a letter below line 3 respects the exact distances between the other lines. Text runs at a slightly offset angle to the two edges.
Text condition
incomplete
Lettering

Letter heights
Line 1-3: 32mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: 9mm
Interlineation line 2 to 3: 9mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Catina
Provenance found
From the necropolis excavated c.1960 on via Dottor Consoli / via Androne
Map

Current location

Place
Catania, Italy
Repository
Museo Regionale Archeologico di Catania
Autopsy
2015.20.10

Date

Letter types, esp. the G, sugg. c. 200 CE (so Manganaro; Ferrua dates later) (AD 100 – AD 300)
Evidence
lettering

Text type

funerary

commentary

Ferrua records the result of a rapid transcription made in 1951 (and the apograph in fig.3e is accurate). Manganaro resolves the fragment as recording an act of euergetism, in the form of a funerary donation, while Ferrua attempts to resolve as a later Roman funerary inscription. The difficulty lies in the abbreviation or numeral in line 2 (contra Ferrua, the supraline extends across the whole of the initial LMN), and whether supralines are here being used for both numerals and abbreviations (clearly for an abbreviation in line 3, but in line 2 the numeral II is not so marked. Manganaro's proposed resolution of "LMN II semis" is followed here, but with reservations. The style of the lettering seems marginally more in keeping with a high quality later Roman funerary inscription (i.e. later than Manganaro's suggested 200 CE). Neither scholar noted the trace of a fourth line. Ferrua's proposal to resolve the final I for I[nd(ictio)] seems unlikely given the form of the letters and the seeming originality of the lower right cutting of the stone.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
1/23/2025