ISic001280: Honorary inscription from a gymnasium

I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana
ID
ISic001280
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
honorific
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • line.1: Kaibel, Hermann: .; Korhonen: ψ; the only certain stroke is a vertical, the upward diagonal 'stroke' being damage, followed by a vacat.
  • line.3: Korhonen: [καὶ οἱ ἀλειφό]μενοι; Kaibel, Hermann: ---]μενοι;
  • Korhonen: Ε. or Ε.
  • line.4: Korhonen: ΚΑΣ; Kaibel, Hermann: .ΑΣ.

Physical description

Support

Description
Two joining fragments of limestone, probably intact above, damaged on the left, on the right and below; the rear is smooth.
Object type
plaque
Material
limestone
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 32.5 cm, width: 70 cm, depth: 4.0-7.5 cm

Inscription

Layout
No data
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Lines 1-4: 70-75mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: not recordedmm

Provenance

Place of origin
Catina
Provenance found
Original discovery not recorded; probably from Catania, first seen in the coll. Biscari.

Current location

Place
Catania, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico di Catania , 314
Autopsy
Observed by Kaibel in Collezione Biscari, formerly sala VI.122, now magazzino del cortile.
Map

Date

2nd — 1st century BCE (Korhonen) (200 BC – 1 BC)
Evidence
No data

Text type

honorific

commentary

Korhonen persuasively interprets the inscription as an honorary dedication from a gymnasium (a gymnasium in Catania is testified by Plut. Marc. 30.4, see Delorme 1960: 140) and suggests the integration at l. 3 [καὶ οἱ ἀλειφό]μενοι, through a comparison with some inscriptions from Haluntium (IG 14, no.369 = ISic001192, IG 14, no.370 = ISic001193, IG 14, no.371 = ISic001194), where the dedications have the structure οἱ ἀλειφόμενοι τινα τινος; that further implies the honorand would be named in line 4. If the sons of Nemenios and Orthon were gymnasiarchs, their names could have been introduced through the expression ἐπὶ γυμνασίαρχων, as in MonAnt 41 (1951): 808-811 (see Manganaro 1999: 67). If they were the dedicatees along with οἱ ἀλειφόμενοι, as in ID 1931, the names could have been in nominative.

Νεμήνιος is an epicoric form for Νεομήνιος/Νουμήνιος (LGPN 3A: 312), well attested in Sicily. Ὄρθων is also attested in Sicily (cf. IG 14, no.370 = ISic001193).

Although Korhonen reads Ψ at the start of line 1 (and the same letter could theoretically be read at the start of line 4), this is to be rejected. The traces in line 1 which suggested Ψ (or Κ to other editors) do not appear to be an original stroke; in the case of line 4 the stroke instead reaches up to the full height of the line, more plausibly therefore a kappa. In both cases, the letter is followed by a vacat, which seems to be used consistently in this text to indicate a word-break (unusually). Names ending in Ψ (which would be the only plausible restoration if Ψ were to be read) do exist, but are rare and almost unknown in Sicily.

Bibliography

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Discussion

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
4/21/2022