ISic003577: Dedication to the Genius Augusti

Photo J. Prag courtesy Soprintendenza BBCCAA di Messina
ID
ISic003577
Language
Latin
Text type
dedication
Object type
altar or base
Status
No data
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy

Physical description

Support

Description
A section of moulding, composed of off-white marble. Intact at the left end, with a clean cut or break at the right end (both the inscription and moulding are incomplete). The upper edge is rough chiselled, with metal pegs inserted in the top towards each end (8cm from left end, 5 cm from right end). The moulding is made up of four stepped elements, of which the lower (and larger) two carry the inscribed field.
Object type
altar or base
Material
marble
Condition
No data
Dimensions
height: 11.8 cm, width: 63 cm, depth: 5-5.3 cm

Inscription

Layout
Two lines of Latin text incised on the lower two elements of the moulding
Text condition
No data
Lettering

Letter heights
Lines 1-2: 30-39mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: not measured

Provenance

Place of origin
Halaesa
Provenance found
Excavated in 1971, in taberna 7 of the west portico in the agora
Map

Current location

Place
Halaesa, Italy
Repository
Antiquarium e sito archeologico di Halaesa , 30594
Autopsy
On display in the lapidarium on site
Map

Date

Earlier 1st century CE (?) (AD 1 – AD 50)
Evidence
lettering

Text type

dedication

commentary

Approximately half the text can be assumed to be missing from the right side. Dedications to the Genius of Augustus are commonly paired with dedications to the (Augustan) Lares. Line 1 therefore probably originally read in full: Genio Augusti et Laribus Augustis. Line 2 might have contained the name of a second individual, but the available space is probably not sufficient for this, and it is more likely that the cognomen of Cornelius was followed by an indication of the position he held (sevir or sevir Augustalis) and an abbreviation such as S(ua) P(ecunia) F(ecit) (i.e. set it up at his own expense).

The final letter of line two could be I, L, or possibly H; it is clear that there is no stroke extending to the right from the upper part of the letter, and it seems unlikely that there is one from the mid-point; but it is impossible to be certain about the base of the stroke. Possible names therefore include Euplus (Greek Εὔπλους), which is attested in Sicily, as well as in southern Italy (Campania) and elsewhere, or perhaps Euphraeus (Greek Εὐφραῖος), which is attested in Hellenistic Sicily including at Akrai, Camarina, and Taormina. A number of other names in Euph- are also possible.

It remains a matter of debate when the Genius of Augustus became the subject of recognised official cult (an important question, because it bridges a gap in the development of ruler cult, which Augustus seems to have avoided embracing directly in Italy), but it seems likely that it may have begun during Augustus’ lifetime (see e.g. Letta, C. 2003. Novità epigrafiche sul culto del Genius Augusti in Italia, in M. G. Angeli Bertinelli and A. Donati (eds.), Serta Antiqua et Mediaevalia VI. Usi e abusi epigrafici (Rome), 217-236, at 224-227). A Sicilian example can be found on Lipari (ISic000771), and perhaps also at Centuripe (ISic000699). Consequently, the exact date is uncertain, but as Manganaro ((1989) 191 no.81 fig.87) observes in discussion of the Lipari example, the lack of distinction between C and G may suggest an earlier (i.e. Augustan) date, rather than later in the first century AD.

Bibliography

Digital editions
Printed editions
  • J.R.W. Prag e G. Tigano, Alesa Archonidea: il lapidarium, Introduzione all’archeologia di Halaesa 8 (Palermo: Regione Siciliana, Assessorato beni culturali e identità siciliana, Dipartimento beni culturali e identità siciliana, 2017), at no.14 Zotero FAIR

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Jonathan Prag
Contributors
Last revision
1/19/2021