ISic001277: Fragmentary funerary inscription
No image available
Edition
Apparatus criticus
line.1: θήκη Franz (ap. CIG III 5572), Sandberg, IGMusPalermo 6; Ferrua; ΘΗ Torremuzza; ΘΜ Schiavo; Θε(οῖς πᾶσι) Kaibel (ap. IG XIV 452)
line.2: Ἀρτεμ[- - ? - -] IGMusPalermo 6 (fortasse Ἀρτέμ[ονος, Ferrua); Ἀρτέμ[ωνος Franz (ap. CIG III 5572), SEG 14.597; Ἀρτεμ[ισίου Sandberg
lines.3-4: καὶ τοῦ[- - ? - -]-|ου IGMusPalermo 6 (fortasse καὶ τοῦ [υἱων|οῦ); καὶ τοῦ [υἱ|οῦ Franz (ap. CIG III 5572); καὶ τοῦ [ἀδελφ|οῦ ? Sandberg; καῖ τοῦ [υεἵ|ου Ferrua
line.4: αὐτο[ῦ Franz (ap. CIG III 5572), Sandberg; αὐτο[ῦ οὐκ IGMusPalermo 6
line.5: εὐπλ[- - ? - -] IGMusPalermo 6 (fortasse εὐπλ[όων); Εὐπλ[--- Franz (ap. CIG III 5572); εὐπλοίας ἔνεκα Kaibel (ap. IG XIV 452); εὔπλ[οει vel εὐπλ[οεῖτε Sandberg; Εὔπλ[ους vel Εὐπλ[ία Alföldi; Εὔπλ[ου Ferrua
Physical description
Support
- Description
- Fragment of a limestone slab, fragmentary on the right.
- Object type
- plaque
- Object condition
- No data
- Dimensions
- height: 18 cm, width: 14.5 cm, depth: 2.5 cm
Material
- Description
- limestone
- Type > subtype
- inorganic.stone > unverified
Inscription
- Layout
- No data
- Text condition
- No data
- Technique
- chiselled
- Pigment
- No data
- Lettering
- No data
- Letter heights
- Line 1: 15-30mm
- Interlinear heights
- Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm
Provenance
- Place of origin
- Catina
- Provenance found
- First recorded by Gualtherus 1624 as being in the 'foro Trissini', in the possession of Fancisca Caruso.
Current location
- Place
- Palermo, Sicilia
- Repository
- Museo Archeologico Regionale Antonino Salinas
- 8725
- Autopsy
- None
- Map
Date
Late 2nd century CE or early 3rd century CE (CE 151 - CE 250)- Evidence
- No data
Text type
commentary
This inscription is highly fragmentary: most editors have interpreted it as a funerary inscription. Torremuzza’s reading (1784 cl. XVIII no. 33) of l. 1 ΘΗ, together with the presence of two genitives in ll. 3–4, leaves no room for alternative interpretations: θήκη is also used in other funerary inscriptions in the sense of “tomb” (e.g. IG XIV 633, 783). Ferrua (1989, 113–114 no. 428) identifies this term as a Christian word and integrates a christogram at the end of the inscription. Kaibel’s reading (ap. IG XIV 452) of l. 1 Θε[οῖς πᾶσι, besides being erroneous, is at the root of an incorrect interpretation of the document’s typology, which the scholar considered to be a dedicatory epigraph; this interpretation, however, conflicts with the genitives at ll. 3–4. It is therefore preferable to understand the text as an epitaph, for a deceased individual whose name is only partially preserved and which scholars have variously restored as Ἀρτέμων (Franz ap. CIG III 5572; Manni Piraino ap. IGMusPalermo 6) or Ἀρτεμίσιος (Sandberg 1954, 41), and for one of his relatives (the son according to Franz ap. CIG III 5572; the brother according to Sandberg 1954, 41; or the grandson according to Manni Piraino ap. IGMusPalermo 6). The last line has received several readings: Kaibel (ap. IG XIV 452), assuming it to be a dedication, read εὐπλοίας ἔνεκα, the expression used to thank the gods for a safe voyage, whereas Alföldi (1976, 511), although agreeing on the funerary destination of the text, was perhaps influenced by Kaibel’s interpretation and read a proper name (Εὔπλους or Εὐπλία), understood as the dedicant. For Ferrua (1989, 113–114 no. 428), this was the proper name of the deceased’s son, Εὔπλου. Sandberg (1954, 41–42), supported by Manni Piraino (ap. IGMusPalermo 6), read the imperative εὔπλοει or εὐπλοεῖτε as a wish addressed to the passer-by, similar to εὐτύχει or εὐτυχεῖτε: the plural form is also found in IG XIV 933 l. 11 (Portus, 1st–2nd century AD), while in the singular the contracted form εὐπλόι is more common (IG XIV 2409, 8; SEG 42.942 l. 2; IG XIV 2472 l. 9 = CIL XII 758).
Bibliography
- Digital editions
- Printed editions
- Gabriello Lancellotto Castelli Principe di Torremuzza, Siciliae et objacentium insularum veterum inscriptionum nova collectio prolegomenis et notis illustrata, et iterum cum emendationibus, & auctariis evulgata, 2nd (1st is 1769) (Palermo: typis regiis, 1784), http://arachne.uni-koeln.de/books/Castelli1784, at cl.XVIII no.33
- A. Boeckh and J. Franz, Corpus inscriptionum Graecarum III. Pars XVII. Inscriptiones Phrygiae. Pars XVIII. Inscriptiones Galatiae. Pars XIX. Inscriptiones Paphlagoniae. Pars XX. Inscriptiones ponticae. Pars XXI. Inscriptiones Cappadociae. Pars XXII. Inscriptiones Lyciae. Pars XXIII. Inscriptiones Pamphyliae. Pars XXIV. Inscriptiones Pisidiae et Isauriae. Pars XXV. Inscriptiones Ciliciae. Pars XXVI. Inscriptiones Syriae. Pars XXVII. Inscriptiones Mesopotamiae et Assyriae. Pars XXVIII. Inscriptiones Mediae et Persidis. Pars XXIX. Inscriptiones Aegypti. Pars XXX. Inscriptiones Aethiopiae supra Aegyptum. Pars XXXI. Inscriptiones Cyrenaicae. Pars XXXII. Inscriptiones Siciliae cum Melita, Lipara, Sardinia.Pars XXXIII. Inscriptiones Italiae. Pars XXXIV. Inscriptiones Galliarum. Pars XXXV. Inscriptiones Hispaniae. Pars XXXVI. Inscriptiones Brittanniae. Pars XXXVII. Inscriptiones Germaniae. Pars XXXVIII. Inscriptiones Pannoniae, Daciae, Illyrici. Addenda et corrigenda (1853), vol. 3, 4 vols, Königlich Preussische Akademie der Wissenschaften zu Berlin (Berlin: Ex Officina Academica, 1853), https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_s5X4lUGIFBkC/page/n3/mode/2up, at 5572
- G. Kaibel, Inscriptiones Graecae Siciliae et Italiae, additis graecis Galliae Hispaniae, Britanniae, Germaniae inscriptionibus, Inscriptiones Graecae consilio et auctoritate Academiae Litterarum Regiae Borussicae Editae. Volumen XIV., XIV (Berlin: Georgius Reimerus, 1890), at 452
- SEG at (1957), 14.0597
- M.T. Manni Piraino, Iscrizioni greche lapidarie del Museo di Palermo, Sikelika 6 (Palermo: S. F. Flaccovio, 1973), at 6
- SEG at (1976-1977), 26.1073
- Discussion
Citation and editorial status
- Editor
- Jonathan Prag
- Principal contributor
- Jonathan Prag
- Contributors
- Last revision
- 8/3/2026