Epitaph of Rouphina and Hesychios (ISic003291)

Apparatus criticus

Text based on photograph;
line.1: lapis: ΙΟΥΦΙΝ; Korhonen: ουφῖν[αν]
line.2: Korhonen: ζήσα[ς]; Pleket: ζήσα[σαν]
line.3: Korhonen: [ἠγορ]ήσατο
line.4: Korhonen reads a Σ, but it could also be a Ο
line.5: Korhonen reads a Γ, but it could also be a T

Physical description

Support

Description: Marble plaque damaged on the left and on the right, set in plaster in modern times.
Object type: plaque
Object condition: fragment
Dimensions: height: 27 cm, width: 25.5 cm, depth: 1-5 cm

Material

Description: marble
Type > subtype: stone.unspecified > unspecified

Inscription

Layout: No data
Text condition: No data
Technique: chiselled
Pigment: No data
Lettering: A with broken bar, lunate Ε and Σ, curved Υ, Φ with a small bowl and extended upright.
Letter heights: Lines 1-6: 12-30mm
Interlinear heights: Interlineation line 1 to 2: not recordedmm

Provenance

Place of origin: Catina
Provenance found: Original discovery not recorded, but probably from Catania.

Current location

Place: Catania, Sicilia
Repository: Museo Civico di Catania; 261
Autopsy: Observed by Korhonen in Magazzino del cortile, Museo Civico (formerly sala VI 69).
Map

Date

4th — 5th century CE (AD 301 - AD 500)

Evidence: No data

Text type

funerary

commentary

The epitaph must have been partly metrical (ll. 1-2), as Korhonen pointed out. It can be assumed that Hesychios had acquired the burial place while alive (ζήσας) for his mother Rouphina (for himself and another deceased (?): αὐτοῖς). At l. 4 a supplement could be [πάντα τ]ὸν χρόνον to indicate the permanent possession of the purchase of the tomb or with [πάντα τ]ὸν τόπον to indicate the purchase of the entire place for the burial of the deceased. The names Rouphina and Hesychios recur in Christian epitaphs from Syracuse, see SEG 36.872 = ISic002932, IG 14.164 = ISic000985, Agnello 1950: 60 no.11 = ISic002918.

Bibliography

Digital editions

TM: 645558
EDR: -
EDH: -
EDCS: -
PHI: 316274

Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor

Jonathan Prag

Principal contributor