IRCyr   Inscriptions of Roman Cyrenaica

C.292. Building inscription for the restoration of the temple of Hekate

Description: Fragment of a panel of coloured marble (w: 0.32 x h: 0.47 x d: 0.035).
Text: Inscribed on one face.
Letters: Second century: line 1, 0.04; line 2, 0.03; line 3, 0.06; lines4-12, 0.03.

Date: CE 118-138

Findspot: Cyrene: Found in 1927 in the Temple of Hekate.
Original location: Unknown.
Last recorded location: Cyrene Museum.

Interpretive

[Imp(erator) Caesar diui Traiani Parthici filius]
[diui Nervae nepos Traianus Hadrianus]
[Aug(ustus) pontif(ex) max(imus) trib(unicia) pot(estate) III co(n)s(ul) III templum ]
[restitui iussit Cyr]⟦enen⟧siụ[m ciuitati quod]
5[tumulto Iudaico di]rutum et e[xustum erat]

[Αὐτοκράτω]ρ Καῖσ[αρ]
[θεοῦ Τραιανοῦ Παρθικ]οῦ υἱὸς θε̣[οῦ Νέρβα υἱ-
ωνὸς Τραιανὸς Ἁδριαν]ὸς Σεβαστ[ὸς ἀρχιερε-]
[ὺς μέγιστος δημαρ]χ̣ικῆς ἐξου̣[σίας? τὸ ---]
10[ὕπατος τὸ? τῆι Κ]υρηναίων π[όλει τοῦ]
[ναοῦ ἐν τῶι ταράχωι Ἰ]ουδαικῶι κεκ̣[αυμένου]
[καὶ πεπορθημένου τὴ]ν ἀποκατάσ[τασιν προσέταξε]

Diplomatic

[...................................]
[................................]
[....................................]
[.................]⟦ENEN⟧SI.[.............]
5[................]RUTUMETE[..........]

[.........]ΡΚΑΙΣ[..]
[..................]ΟΥΥΙΟΣΘ.[...........................]ΟΣΣΕΒΑΣΤ[.........-]
[...............].ΙΚΗΣΕΞΟ.[......---]
10[............]ΥΡΗΝΑΙΩΝΠ[.......]
[.................]ΟΥΔΑΙΚΩΙΚΕ.[.......]
[.................]ΝΑΠΟΚΑΤΑΣ[..............]

English translation

Translation by: Charlotte Roueché

(Latin)[Emperor Caesar, son of deified Trajan, victor in Parthia, grandson of deified Nerva, Trajan Hadrian Augustus pontifex maximus, holding tribunician power for the ?3rd time, consul for the ?3rd time, ordered that the temple which had been] destroyed and [burnt in the Jewish riot should be restored for the city] of the Cyrenaeans.

(Greek)[Emperor] Caesar, son [of deified Trajan, victor in Parthia, grandson of] deified [Nerva, Trajan Hadrian] Augustus [pontifex maximus, holding] tribunician power [for the ?3rd time, consul for the ?3rd time, ordered] the reconstruction [of the temple which had been destroyed and] burnt in the Jewish [riot for the city] of the Cyrenaeans.

Commentary

For the excavation, see Oliverio, loc. cit.

The date must be left open. Oliverio restored it as 118, by analogy with C.5 and C.281, but of these the former comes from the Caesareum, an essential administrative building, and the letter from the Baths, which provided an essential public service. Moreover C.251suggests that it was only later in his reign that Hadrian gave particular attention to the restoration of temples. It is curious that in the religious sphere his work, as far as is known, was confined to comparatively minor structures, as here; the major structures such as the Temples of Apollo and of Zeus were left to local initiative.

See further the discussion by Blanco Pérez, loc.cit.

Bibliography: Oliverio, 1929, 3, 118f., whence SEG 9.168, PHI 324019, AE 1929.9, whence EDH 024268, listed Applebaum, 1950, C.1; Lüderitz-Reynolds, 1983 21; Gasperini, 2007 fig. 4, whence A. Blanco Pérez in Berthelot, 2018. Discussed, Boatwright, 2000, 180, Serafini, 2014, 109-10; mentioned Kenrick, 2013, 207.
Text constituted from: Transcription (Reynolds).

Images

   Fig. 1. Face (Department of Antiquities, E.943)


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