ISic003331: The Syracusans honour King Gelon, son of Hieron II

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 2016-06-28.
ID
ISic003331
Language
Ancient Greek
Text type
honorific
Object type
base
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy (other editors do not bother to indicate those letters which are reduced to formally ambiguous traces, presumably on the grounds that the restoration is uncontroversial)

Physical description

Support

Description
A large square base of compact grey limestone (similar stone to the base for Hieron II).The base is finished smooth on top, front, left and right, but rough below and broken to the rear. There is some damage to the top left corner, and the rear right corner, as well as across the rear of the block in general. At some point subsequent to original creation, the front face has been roughly cut away to the underside across the third line of text, leaving only the tops of the letters visible (but clear indications visible of vacats at the start and end of the third line). The upper front edge has suffered from abrasion and chipping resulting in some loss of letters. The surviving epigraphic field / front face is max 95.5cm wide and 16cm high. Clamp holes are visible on the upper edges, c.9cm back from the front of the stone (that on the left 8cm W x 5.5 cm deep (i.e. from front to back) x 4 cm high; that on the right (partially preserved) 8cm W x 3.5 cm deep x 3.5 cm high. The upper surface is otherwise entirely smooth. The preserved left side face is max 63.3 cm wide x 23 cm H; the preserved right side face is max 41 cm wide x 23 cm high.
Object type
base
Material
limestone
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 24 cm, width: 96 cm, depth: 65 cm

Inscription

Layout
Three lines of finely carved Greek letters, centred on the stone (line one with short vacats at beginning and end, line 2 fully filling the face of the stone, line 3 centred with substantial vacats before and after.
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Line 1: 26-32mm
Line 2: 27-33 (omicron 22)mm
Line 2: incompletemm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: 18-23mm
Interlineation line 2 to 3: 20mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Syracusae
Provenance found
Found in the final days of 1895 in Ortygia, Siracusa, during work to remove soil and stone from between the Palazzi Italia and Lucchetti, close to the 'porta di terra'.
Map

Current location

Place
Siracusa, Italy
Repository
Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi , 16109
Autopsy
Prag 2013-10-03 and 2016-06-28, magazzino C, Museo Archeologico Regionale Paolo Orsi, Siracusa
Map

Date

Gelon with title of basileus (241/0-216 BCE) (241 BC – 216 BC)
Evidence
office

Text type

honorific

commentary

The base attests to the title basileus for Gelon, son of Hieron, who was co-regent between 241/0 BCE and his death in 216 BCE. Palaeographically it is very similar to that in honour of Hieron II (ISic000823). Zeus Hellanios is otherwise attested on bronze coinage of Hiketas, ruler of Syracuse for some of the period between Agathocles (d.289) and the rise of Hieron II at the end of the 270s (the coinage commonly dated to the period c.287-278 BCE), as e.g. SNG ANS 789.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
4/23/2024