ISic003014: I.Sicily inscription 003014

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 2022-07-14
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 2022-07-14
ID
ISic003014
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
dedication
Object type
plaque
Status
draft
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text based on autopsy, combining suggestions of Manganaro and Robert (BE 1966)

Physical description

Support

Description
A (somewhat coarse, crystalline) white marble plaque, intact along the upper edge, right and below, but broken across the left side. Roughly finished edges and reverse.
Object type
plaque
Object condition
fragment
Dimensions
height: 16.3 cmwidth: 19.8 cmdepth: 2.0-2.6 (left to right) cm

Material

Description
marble

Inscription

Layout
seven lines of Greek, seemingly roughly centered on the stone, but with lines overunning
Text condition
incomplete
Technique
chiselled
Pigment
No data
Lettering

lunate letters (epsilon, sigma and uncial omega), somewhat crudely engraved amnd uneven / irregular in size.

Letter heights
Line 1-6: 10-20mm
Line 7: 10-11mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Tyndaris
Provenance found
Found at Tindari, but no further details recorded

Current location

Place
Tindari, Sicilia
Repository
Antiquarium di Tindari
Autopsy
Prag, 2022-07-14
Map

Date

1st or 2nd century CE (AD 1 - AD 200)
Evidence
lettering

Text type

dedication

commentary

Robert proposed reading the prriestly title in line 3, and challenged various elements of Manganaro's original reading. The resolution of the second half remains far from certain. Manganaro originally dated the inscription to the first or second century CE, but in his final discussion (2011), without comment he redated it to the second century BCE. This seems deeply unlikely on the grounds both of palaeography and the use of a white marble plaque of this sort. At the same time, a cult inscription in Greek in the period of the Roman colonia is somewhat exceptional.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
2/2/2026