IRCyr   Inscriptions of Roman Cyrenaica

C.446. Honours for a woman

Description: A re-used rectangular base of medium-grained white marble: w: 0.75 x h: 0.21 x d: 0.55; Two dowel holes containing metal tenons and a third without tenons to secure a bronze statue, are preserved on top surface. The stone is stained brown and damaged at all corners and a piece (w: 0.10 x h: 0.21 x d: 0.065) has been chiselled neatly away at the left-hand front side
Text: Inscribed on the face which is chipped. Lines 1-3 cut in a slightly sunk area and on an erased surface; below, lines 4 and 5 may be the remaining lines of the previous, erased, inscription, IGCyr077100
Letters: 1-4: Letters, probably first century BCE, not unlike those of C.453; ave. 0.025; alpha with a dipped bar.

Date: Probably first century BCE;

Findspot: Cyrene: Excavated in 1971 in the Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore; D12/13, B, 1 and 2 .
Original location: Sanctuary of Demeter and Kore.
Last recorded location: Cyrene Museum, Storeroom of the American excavations (Inv. no. 71.801)

Interpretive

[c. 5]ίαν Λευκίω τὰν Λευ̣κ̣ί̣ω
[c. 3]γοντηίω Λευκίω υἱῶ Ῥούφω
[τῶ] πάτρωνος καὶ εὐεργέτα ματέρα
[ ( vac. 2) Κ]υραναῖοι
5Ἄριστις Ταβάλβιος ἐπόησε

Diplomatic

[·····]ΙΑΝΛΕΥΚΙΩΤΑΝΛΕ...Ω
[···]ΓΟΝΤΗΙΩΛΕΥΚΙΩΥΙΩΡΟΥΦΩ
[..]ΠΑΤΡΩΝΟΣΚΑΙΕΥΕΡΓΕΤΑΜΑΤΕΡΑ
[...]ΥΡΑΝΑΙΟΙ
5ΑΡΙΣΤΙΣΤΑΒΑΛΒΙΟΣΕΠΟΗΣΕ

Apparatus

1: . . . -]ίαν and Λε[υκίω at end White, 1972; [Με] or [Μα]μμίαν, and Λευκίω Gasperini, 1985
2: Φονταίω White, 1972; [Βαρ]γοντηίω Gasperini, 1985
3-5: showing no loss of space at beginnings of lines, White, corrected by Gasperini.

English translation

Translation source: Reynolds, 2012

The Cyrenaeans dedicated the statue of [ . ? . ]ia, daughter of Lucius, mother of Lucius [ . . ]gonteius Rufus son of Lucius, their patron and benefactor.

Aristis son of Tabalbis was the sculptor

English translation

Translation by: Charlotte Roueché

The Cyrenaeans (scil. dedicated) the statue of [ . ? . ]ia, (scil. daughter) of Leukios (i.e. Lucius) mother of Leukios [. . -]gonteios Rouphos (i.e. Lucius [ . . ]gonteius Rufus) son of Leukios (i.e. Lucius), their patron and benefactor.

Aristis (scil. son) of Tabalbis was the sculptor

Commentary

The fact that the Cyrenaeans re-used an older base for this statue is to be related to the fact that all marble used in Cyrenaica had to be imported. If the dedication is rightly dated, long periods of the first century BCE were disrupted by piracy and the Roman Civil Wars and importation of goods from abroad will have been a risky business

It is clear that the son, who takes up the greatest space, is the person who matters most to the Cyrenaeans, but he cannot be identified at present. While he may have been an Italian businessman operating in the province, the presence of his mother with him perhaps suggests that his family were immigrants, (although so far there is no indication of its presence there later), and that the mother had as a result become involved in the cult of Demeter and Kore.

The named sculptor was presumably responsible for this statue, which may therefore have been re-used. It should be noted that his patronymic is not Greek but Libyan: see Masson (1976) 40 for a comment on it.

For honours paid by the city in the Sanctuary see on C.445.

Bibliography: White, 1972, 185, whence SEG 26.1825, PHI 324720; Gasperini, 1985 353-5, whence AE 1985.842, Dobias-Lalou, Bulletin Épigraphique, 1988.1008 SEG 35.1716; Reynolds, 2012, A.19, whence Dobias-Lalou, Bulletin Épigraphique, 2013.480, Rosamilia, 2014, 12.
Text constituted from: Transcription (Reynolds).

Images

None available (2020).