ISic004503: Fragments of a large plaque bearing the dedication of a mosaic work

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 2023-05-09
ID
ISic004503
Language
Latin
Text type
building
Object type
plaque
Status
draft
Links
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Edition

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Apparatus criticus

  • Text from autopsy

Physical description

Support

Description
Upper marginal section of a marble slab, composed of four joined contiguous fragments and one non-contiguous fragment. Surface and back smooth and polished. The clean-cut right and left edges of the large section seem to suggest that the slab was either cut or may have originally consisted of multiple separate parts (at least three). The separate smaller fragment is 5.5-10 cm high, 8.5-9 cm wide and 1.5 cm thick. Its exact position on the slab appears to remain uncertain.
Object type
plaque
Material
marble
Object condition
fragments, contiguous
Dimensions
height: 27 cm, width: 62 cm, depth: 1.7-3 cm

Inscription

Layout
Two lines of Latin text, in straight alignment.
Text condition
incomplete
Technique
chiselled
Pigment
No data
Lettering

Elegant square capital letters with serifs. Circular O and C; P with an open loop, R with a closed loop, L with a short arm. Comma-shaped punctuation marks are present.

Letter heights
Line 1-2: 90mm
Interlinear heights
Interlineation line 1 to 2: 30.5-40mm

Provenance

Place of origin
Centuripae
Provenance found
Discovered by Guido Libertini during the excavation campaigns conducted starting in 1925, within the complex of spaces near the so-called former Barbagallo Mill, i.e. the area of the so-called "Edificio degli Augustales" , in a zone overlooking the Vallata Difesa, near the Church of the Crucifix. In particular, the author reports that the mains fragments (only KA0856 is mentioned), as well as others, were found «nelle immediate vicinanze dell'edificio rettangolare» or in small rooms «a sud dell'edificio, tra esso e il mulino».
Map

Current location

Place
Centuripe, Italy
Repository
Museo Archeologico Regionale di Centuripe , KA0856 + KA0840
Autopsy
Prado 2023-05-09
Map

Date

Late first to second century CE (AD 75 - AD 200)
Evidence
lettering

Text type

building

commentary

As Libertini (who did not mention fragment KA840) had already suggested, the fragments formed part of an inscription displayed in a public building, within which the dedicator had very likely commissioned – or perhaps restored – a mosaic. The presence of mosaics in Centuripe is well attested, as is the occurrence of public buildings and works commissioned, restored, or adorned by members of the local elite. It is highly probable that the dedicator, Coellus (Coelius) Lupus (attested without filiation), belonged to, or was related to, the wealthy family of the Pompeii Sosii Prisci Falcones (cf. I.Sicily000655 and I.Sicily000656), most likely of Centuripine origin. The nomen Coelius indeed occurs within the long sequence of names of Q. Roscius Coelius Murena Silius Decianus Vibullius Pius Iulius Eurycles Herculanus Pompeius Falco, consul suffectus in 108 CE, mentioned in I.Sicily000655.

Bibliography

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

Citation and editorial status

Editor
Jonathan Prag
Principal contributor
Francesca Prado
Contributors
Last revision
8/9/2025