ISic001282: Epitaph of Agathopous

Apparatus criticus

Text from autopsy;
line.1: Castelli, Franz: Θ Κ; Ferrara: Θ Κ I; Kaibel Θ Κ Σ (i.e. Θ(εοῖς) Κ(αταχθονίοι)ς)
line.4: Franz: ἔζη[σας ἔτη]; Kaibel: ἔζη[σεν ἔτη]; Korhonen: ἔζη[σας ἔτη] (or ἔζη[σες ἔτη], frequent in Centuripe, see IG 14, no.578 = ISic001397, IG 14, no.579 = ISic001398, IG 14, no.581 = ISic001400)

Physical description

Support

Description: Three joining fragments of a marble tablet, damaged upper left and below. The left (a) and right (c) fragments set in plaster in modern times. The rear is smooth. (A) W=28.3, H=17.2 (B) W= 10, H=9 cm; (C) W=27.5, H=22
Object type: plaque
Material: marble
Condition: fragments, contiguous
Dimensions: height: 22 cm, width: 43 cm, depth: 2.8 cm

Inscription

Layout

Remains of four lines of an incomplete Greek text centred on the stone

Text condition

incomplete

Lettering

Letter heights

Line 1: 30mm

Line 2: 25-34mm

Interlinear heights

Line 1-2: 28mm

Line 2-3: 15mm

Line 3-4: 15mm

Provenance

Place of origin: Catina
Provenance found: details of original discovery are not recorded; assumed to be Catania, but possibly Centuripe

Current location

Place: Catania, Italy
Repository: Museo Civico di Catania ,
Autopsy: sotterraneo SB5 + Cassetta EPICUM 1 Sala XXII + 285 in Sala XXV settore A
Map

Date

Second half of 1st century CE or 2nd century CE (AD 50 – AD 200)

Evidence: No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

According to Korhonen, the sequence ΘΚΣ can be a contracted abbreviation for Θεοῖς Κατακθονίοις or a linguistic interference from the Latin formula D(iis) M(anibus) S(acrum) (the Greek translation would be Θ(εοῖς) Κ(αταχθονίοις) ἱ(ερόν), cf. IG 14, no.476 = ISic001299). The deceased's name in vocative, the imperative form χαῖρε and a verb 'to live' in the second-person singular form followed by the age is a formula, which recurs in other inscriptions of Catania, cf. IG 14, no.469 = ISic001293, IG 14, no.493 = ISic001315, IG 14, no.497a = ISic001319 and of the nearby Centuripe (cf. Korhonen 2004: 84-85).

The epithet χρηστός is frequently referred to the deceased in Catania (IG 14, no.482 = ISic001305, IG 14, no.493 = ISic001315), even if the most frequent formula is χρηστὸς καὶ ἄμεμπτος. The proper name Ἀγαθόπους is attested also in inscriptions from Syracuse, Tauromenion and Thermai Himeraiai (LGPN 3A: 5).

The inscription is most likely from Catania, but the formula is also attested at Centuripe, and as Korhonen notes inscriptions from other locations such as Centuripe entered the Biscari collection during the period in which this was apparently found (between the first and second editions of Torremuzza's corpus).

Bibliography

Digital editions

Printed editions

Discussion

Kalle Korhonen, Le iscrizioni del Museo civico di Catania : storia delle collezioni, cultura epigrafica, edizione (Helsinki: Societas Scientiarum Fennica, 2004), at 84-85

Citation and editorial status

Editor

Jonathan Prag

Principal contributor