Dedication of a statue of Apollo by nomophylakes
created: Read from photograph (Reynolds).
source date: Probably first century BCE
language: ar; en; fr; de; grc; grc-Latn; el; he
availability: Creative Commons licence Attribution UK 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/uk/) All reuse or distribution of this work must contain somewhere a link back to the URL http://inslib.kcl.ac.uk/

Bibliography

[...], 419 and fig 7, whence [...] 9.132, [...] 323985; a fragment of lines 1-4 published as [...], 245; see [...], on which [...], 1988.1011.

Νομοφύλακες οἱ ἐφ’ ἱαρεῦς Ποσειδωνίω Πρατομήδης Φιλάμμονος Εὔκαρπος Αἰγύπτω Ἀριστώνυμος Νικαίω Ῥυθμὸς Ἀρτεμιδώρω Ῥόδων Ἀπολλωνίω Δείναρχος Ἱπποκλεῦς Φιλόξενος Εὐκλεῦς Ἀνάψυξις Πειθαγόρα Ἁγήσαρχος Τιμώνακτος Ἀπόλλωνα Νόμιον ἀνέθηκαν

Translation

The nomophylakes in the time of the priest Posidonios, Pratomedes son of Philammon; Eukarpos son of Aigyptos; Aristonymos son of Nikaios; Rhythmos son of Artemidoros; Rhodon son of Apollonios; Deinarchos son of Hippokles; Philoxenos son of Eukles; Anapyxis son of Peithagoras; Hagesarchos son of Timonax; they set up the image of Apollo of the Law.

Commentary

One of a series of lists recording nomophylakes: C.94, C.96, C.95, C.97, GVCyr 26, all describing a series of dedications, and another list, C.98; cf also C.99. For the institution see the Ptolemaic constitution, IGCyr010800, paragraph 5. In general it is noticeable that the names of nomophylakes recorded here and in similar texts do not normally recur in the lists of Priests of Apollo.

Line 10: These names suggest a family devoted to Pythagoreanism; the only examples of Ἀνάψυξις, 'refreshment, recovery', in LGPN are pre-Roman. In Cyrene it is attested in the late fourth or early third century BCE, IGCyr 102400 and again in about 180 BCE IGCyr 065210, col. II, line 120. For another Cyrenaean use of names to express philosophic interests, see C.217,with C.224.

Line 12: Apollo of the Law: see also GVCyr 26 another dedication by Nomophylakes, and Callimachus, Hymn to Apollo, line 477 - Φοῖβον καὶ νόμιον κικλήσκομεν (available at Perseus). The title must originally have indicated a god of herdsmen but Cicero, de Nat. Deorum II. 23 speaks of an Arcadian cult in which Apollo is called Nomius 'because they say they received their laws from him', 'quod ab eo se leges ferunt accepisse'; The link with Arcadia recalls the activity of the Arcadian lawgiver Demonax in Cyrene, Herodotus, Histories IV, 161 (at Perseus). Connection with laws was presumably what the nomophylakes had in mind.