ISic001302: Epitaph for Ioulia Galene

Photo by students of Liceo Lazzaro, courtesy Museo Civico di Catania
ID
ISic001302
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque
Status
No data
Links
View in current site

Edition

Loading...

Apparatus criticus

  • Text based on photographs;
  • line.4: In the comment Kaibel cautiously suggests to correct φιλόστολος in φιλόστοργος

Physical description

Support

Description
Marble plaque with irregular sides.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Condition
damaged
Dimensions
height: 21 cm, width: 21 cm, depth: 2.8 cm

Inscription

Layout
No data
Text condition
complete
Lettering

Letter heights
Line 1: 18-28mm
Line 2: 17-21mm
Line 3: 14-18mm
Line 4: 11-22mm
Line 5: 11-14mm
Line 6: 12-18mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation lines 1-2: 6mm
Interlineation lines 2-3: 10mm
Interlineation lines 3-4: 4-8mm
Interlineation lines 4-5: 4-9mm
Interlineation lines 5-6: 3mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Catina
Provenance found
Faint pencil-writing on the reverse states "Rinvenuta a Catania nell'anno 1843 sotto l'orto Manganelli"

Current location

Place
Catania, Italy
Repository
Museo Civico di Catania , 233
Autopsy
Observed by Bertucci and Kaibel in Museo dei Benedettini, later by Korhonen in magazzino del cortile, Collezione dei Benedettini (formerly sala VI.41)
Map

Date

Second half of 1st — first half of 2nd century CE (Korhonen) (AD 50 – AD 150)
Evidence
lettering

Text type

funerary

commentary

The epitaph presents the name of the deceased, an epithet and the indication of her age. The reading of the epithet is certain: for this reason, as Kaibel already noticed, there is no need to amend the text. The epithet φιλόστολος does not seem to be attested elsewhere in Greek texts; it could indicate “the lover of the army or of the fleet (στόλος)” or “the lover of the stola (στολή)”. Rizzone (2009: 202) translates the epithet as “mistress of the fleet”, but already Bertucci (1846: 32) and more recently Korhonen (2004: 213) and Cassia (2020) believe that the epithet refers to στολή and expresses the status of Ioulia Galene as a freeborn Roman matron. As a matter of fact, the deceased was a Roman citizen, as attested by the nomen Ἰουλία. Even though the name Γαλήνη may seem to be a speaking name (“stillness of the sea”) related to the fleet, it seems to have been a female name quite common in the imperial age. Ioulia could have used the epithet as a synonym of the expressions stolata femina or ματρῶνα στολάτα recurring in several inscriptions and papyri, especially from the 2nd-3rd century CE (Cassia 2020: 66-68). The compound would thus be in line with other epithets found in funerary inscriptions and inspired by the family and social virtues of the deceased, such as φιλότεκνος or φίλανδρος. See also EpiCum476.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions
Discussion

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
5/17/2022