ISic001855: Fragment of an epitaph

I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana; photo J. Prag 2014-09-11
I.Sicily with the permission of the Assessorato Regionale dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana - Dipartimento dei Beni Culturali e dell’Identità Siciliana; photo J. Prag 2014-09-11
ID
ISic001855
Language
Ancient Greek
Status
edited
Text type
funerary
Object type
plaque

Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • text from autopsy

Physical description

Support

Description
A fragment of an off-white marble plaque, intact on the left side, broken right and below, possibly only minor damage to upper edge rather than broken. Rear is finished.
Object type
plaque
Object condition
fragment
Dimensions
height: 11.2 cm, width: 12 cm, depth: 4 cm

Material

Description
marble
Type > subtype
stone.marble > unspecified

Inscription

Layout
Start of one line of Greek letters, with a hedera/vacat below. 2 cm empty margin above, letters begin 42mm from the left edge.
Text condition
incomplete
Technique
chiselled
Pigment
No data
Lettering

Heavily v-cut quadrate letters, with small terminal serifs. Faint guidelines top and bottom.

Letter heights
Line 1: 40-41mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Centuripae
Provenance found
One of 8 epigraphic fragments acquired from Centuripe by the museum, 19 February 1914 (and Orsi was unable to confirm more precisely the locale in which they were found). Currently in storage, magazzino B, cassette 13

Current location

Place
Siracusa, Sicilia
Repository
Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi
34733a
Autopsy
Prag 2014-09
Map

Date

1st — 3rd century CE (AD 1 - AD 300)
Evidence
No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

The surviving letters are likely to be the start of the name of the deceased, assuming this to be the upper left corner of the inscription. The slight overlap of the horizontal of the final partially preserved letter, together with context perhaps encourages Π over Γ, with names in Εὐπ[--] more common, such as Εὐπόλεμος, Εὔπλοια, or Εὐπραξία (the last attested at Centuripe in both Latin (ISic000005) and Greek (ISic003476)). Names in Εὐγ[--], such as Εὐγένεια appear less frequent. The fragment is unpublished, as Orsi chose only to publish the three most substantial fragments from the lot of 8 obtained in 1914 (NSA 1915, p.231).

Bibliography

Digital editions
  • TM: -
  • EDR: -
  • EDH: -
  • EDCS: -
  • PHI: -

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
8/13/2025