ISic001181: Apollonia(?) honours Andron son of Thrasios

Photo J.Prag courtesy Soprintendenza BBCCAA di Messina
ID
ISic001181
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
honorific
Object type
base
Status
No data
Links
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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy;
  • line.1: pietra: ΛΛΒ

Physical description

Support

Description
A large grey-white limestone block, seemingly intact, in re-use in an external corner wall of a mediaeval church.
Object type
base
Material
limestone
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 73 cmwidth: 69 cmdepth: 50 cm

Inscription

Layout
Four lines of Greek text, not quite centred, but lines 2 and 3 fill the width of the face.
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Lines 1-4: 30-35mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation: not measured

Provenance

Place of origin
Apollonia
Provenance found
First recorded, and still visible, in exterior corner wall of Santuario dei Tre Santi Fratelli, Monte Vecchio, San Fratello (ME)
Map

Current location

Place
San Fratello, Italy
Repository
Area Archeologica dell�antica Apollonia
Autopsy
2019-07-23; 2006-04
Map

Date

2nd — 1st century BCE (200 BC – 1 BC)
Evidence
lettering

Text type

honorific

commentary

The text, unusually for Sicily, omits the ethnic of the people erecting the honours for Andron. It is reasonably assumed that the inscription comes from the site of ancient Apollonia, since it has been recorded since the 17th century in re-use in a structural wall of the church of the 'tre santi', which dates back to the 11th/12th century, and within which a number of other pieces of ancient stonework can be seen in re-use also; the church stands within the ancient site. The presence of a demotic abbreviation (to be corrected to 'LAB') finds parallels in a number of other texts from Hellenistic Sicily, and in particular from Halaesa (e.g. ISic000800) and Kaleakte (ISic003628) among nearby sites. The specific abbreviation 'lab' is attested at Halaesa (SEG 59.1100) and in IGDS II.40, a list of names on lead that may come from the area of Siracusa. The presence of identical such abbreviations at, e.g., both Halaesa and Akrai, however, demonstrates that this particular example cannot serve to prove that the text originally came from Halaesa. Dedications 'to all the gods' are also reasonably widespread in Hellenistic Sicily, both at Halaesa and elsewhere. At Halaesa the formula consistently stands at the head of the text, however (e.g. ISic000800); the final position, as here, finds parallels, for instance, at Tauromenion (e.g. ISic003125)

Andron is a reasonably common name, with at least 11 other attestations in Sicily; Thrasios, by contrast, is rare and not attested otherwise in Sicily.

Excavation of ancient Apollonia has to date been limited (see Bonanno 2008), but it is clear that there was a city there in the Hellenistic period and the city is attested in several ancient sources including the Verrines (Cic. 2 Verr. 3.103; 5.86, 90). .

L. D'Amore 2005 provides a detailed antiquarian/editorial history of the stone's publication, demonstrating that IG XIV.613 of Rhegion is in fact a false doublet deriving from a report of this text.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
1/19/2021