ISic001279: Edict of Flavius Felix Eumathus regarding the Thermae Achillianae

Apparatus criticus

• Text of Korhonen

Physical description

Support

Description

A very wide text laid out across multiple marble slabs of differing widths, of which 8 pieces are preserved (originally 6, but two have become further fragmented over time). The slabs were most likely displayed on the facade of the building to which they relate.

Object type

plaque

Material

marble

Object condition

No data

Dimensions

height: 29.5-30.3 cm, width: greater than 469.1 cm, depth: 2.3-4.9 cm

Inscription

Layout

Greek text over four lines. The fourth line is shorter than the other three and ends with a vacat. The letters are broadly regular and neatly cut, but the sizing and spacing varies considerably across the four lines.

Text condition

No data

Technique

chiselled

Pigment

No data

Lettering

Letters are wide and omicron, phi, sigma, epsilon and theta are, on occasion formed by overlarge circles. Epsilon, sigma and omega are lunate. Xsi is formed in a distinctive, ornate fashion. Interpuncts are used occasionally, and formed of an 's' shape, sometimes forward, sometimes backward facing. Numerals are marked with a supraline.

Letter heights

Line 1-4: 44-62mm

Interlinear heights

Lines 1-4: 9-27mm

Provenance

Place of origin

Catina

Provenance found

Found c.1702 in the remains of the baths situated under the west end of the Duomo of Catania

Map

Current location

Place

Catania, Italy

Repository

Museo Civico di Catania , 265

Autopsy

Display, Voci di pietra no.9

Map

Date

Evidence

internal-date

Text type

building

commentary

The word πήσας is a hapax. It is plausibly explained by Manganaro (1958-1959: 28 n.94) as being a calque in Greek of the Latin word pensum, signifying a weight of a fixed quantity. Manganaro additionally observes that in Sicilian dialect the word 'pisa' signifies a specific weight (4 kg) of flour or salt, and suggests that in this text a 'pesa' would be a cord of wood of approx. 5 kg.

The word εὐκαθωσιώτου is also rare: as demonstrated by Manganaro and Korhonen it appears to be a synonym for καθοσιωμένος equivalent to devotissimus.

Bibliography

Digital editions

• TM: 492884
• EDR: -
• EDH: -
• EDCS: 39101648
• PHI: 140769
• PHI: 316199
• PHI: 332691

Printed editions

• 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 5694
• « L’année épigraphique: revue des publications épigraphiques relatives a l’antiquité romaine. », L’année épigraphique : revue des publications épigraphiques relatives a l’antiquité romaine., 1888, http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/630058599, at 2010.0608
• « L’année épigraphique: revue des publications épigraphiques relatives a l’antiquité romaine. », L’année épigraphique : revue des publications épigraphiques relatives a l’antiquité romaine., 1888, http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/630058599, at 1959.0026
• Association pour l’encouragement des études greques, « Bulletin épigraphique », Revue des études grecques, 1888, http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/797735566, at 2011.0732
• Association pour l’encouragement des études greques, « Bulletin épigraphique », Revue des études grecques, 1888, http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/797735566, at 1959.0541
• 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 455
• ‘Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum’, Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, 1923, http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1607583, at 60.1010
• ‘Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum’, Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, 1923, http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1607583, at 43.0623
• ‘Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum’, Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, 1923, http://www.worldcat.org/oclc/1607583, at 38.0919
• Giacomo Manganaro, «Iscrizioni latine e greche di Catania tardo-imperiale», Archivio Storico per la Sicilia Orientale ser.4 vol.11-12 (1959 1958): 5–30, at 24-30 no.5 fig.7
• Giacomo Manganaro, «Greco nei pagi e latino nelle città della Sicilia romana tra I e VI sec. d.C.», in l’epigrafia del villaggio, a c. di A. Calbi, A. Donati, e G. Poma (Faenza, 1993), 543–94, at 554 n.26
• Kalle Korhonen, Le iscrizioni del Museo civico di Catania : storia delle collezioni, cultura epigrafica, edizione (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 2004), at 11
• Giacomo Manganaro, «Fontane ed edifici termali nella Catina “ bilingue ” tardo-antica e l’editto di Eumathios del 434 d. C.», Travaux et mémoires du Centre de recherches d’histoire et civilisation byzantines 16 (2010): 513–31, at 523-531

Citation and editorial status

Editor

Jonathan Prag

Principal contributor

Jonathan Prag

Contributors

• Jonathan Prag
• James Cummings
• Serena Agodi
• Simona Stoyanova

Last revision

10/10/2025