ISic001076: Decree in honour of a gymnasiarch

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 M. Metcalfe, 2016-09-27.
ID
ISic001076
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
decree
Object type
stele
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • text of Feyel 1935 controlled against photographs and corrected (principally the restoration of some letters which Feyel considered lost, but which were read by previous scholars in the 18th or 19th century);
  • 2: Feyel: Ἱστατίου; Dubois: Ἱστ[ια]ίου; but the upper part of quadrate epsilon is clear, meaning only Ἱστιείου is possible, as already LGPN IIIA.
  • 29: Notwithstanding the suggestions of Wilhelm and the objections of Dubois, the stone clearly reads: ΚΑΤΑΝΟΓΡΑΦΗΣΗΙ

Physical description

Support

Description
A slim stele, described as ‘marbre gris’ by Feyel (1935: 372) and as ‘pietra dura grigiastra’ by Carità (1978: 10), but seemingly a soft sedimentary calcareous stone, surmounted by a triangular tympanon (c.0.2m tall) with simple acroteria on the left (broken off) and right corners.
Object type
stele
Material
limestone
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 120 cm, width: 30 cm, depth: cm

Inscription

Layout
The text, occupying 47 lines, fills the upper two-thirds of the main rectangular portion of the stele.,[object Object]
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Line 1-3: 15-20mm
Line 4-47: 10mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Phintias
Provenance found
Found by two members of the Spanish garrison at the fort of Sant'Angelo, 13 April 1660, where it was first preserved.
Map

Current location

Place
Licata, Italy
Repository
Museo Archeologico della Badia
Autopsy
None

Date

(Later) second or first century BCE (Dubois and Cordiano suggest 1st cent. BCE) (200 BC – 50 BC)
Evidence
lettering

Text type

decree

commentary

The text has a curious history, in so far as it was discovered in 1660, and has been on display in church, townhall, or museum, in Licata almost ever since. The published editions of Castelli, Principe di Torremuzza, Franz in CIG, and Kaibel in IG XIV all appear to be based upon comparison of transcriptions which they had been sent, or earlier editions likewise based upon transcriptions (the principal transcriptions are preserved in the manuscripts of D'Orville, in the Bodleian Library). The only modern edition that is based upon autopsy is that of Feyel 1935 (that of Cordiano is based upon Dubois, and it appears that Dubois' text is in turn based upon Feyel). Manganaro appears from his comments to have seen the stone, but never to have published a formal edition, only observations and minor emendations. Manganaro published a black and white photograph (1990 tav. LXXXIII), but this is insufficient to check readings. The stone is currently on display in the Licata museum, having previously been walled into a municipal building. Adamesteanu argued that the text was an antiquarian fake, but many of his concerns (about palaeography and onomastics) appear unfounded, and 1660 is rather too early for the 18th century Sicilian antiquarian and civic competition that led to the production of a number of invented inscriptions on the island in the later 18th and early 19th centuries (the text is also, arguably, much too complex for such a forgery, especially at such an early date). The text currently presented here is an initial control of Feyel's text, based upon the photos here presented. Proper autopsy remains to be carried out.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
11/12/2024