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Inscribed Block Fragment (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Inscribed Block Fragment: Honorific Inscription
- Date
- 218 AD until soon after 222 (or after 253 AD; see l. 4 comm.)., Roman
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- IN76.004
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Inscription
- Inscription Type
- Honorific Inscription
- Inscription language
- Greek
- Inscription Text
[ἡ πρωτ]όχθων κ̣[αὶ ἱερὰ] [τῶν θε]ῶν καὶ μ[ητρόπο]- [λις τ]ῆς Ἀσίας κ̣[αὶ Λυδίας] 4 [ἁπά]σ̣ης καὶ Ἑ̣[λλάδος] [καὶ τ]ρὶς νεωκ[όρος τῶν] [Σεβ]α̣στῶν κα̣[τὰ τὰ δόγ]- [μα]τ̣α τῆς ἱ̣[ερᾶς συγκλή]- 8 [του], φ̣ί̣λ̣η̣ [καὶ σύμμαχος, etc.] - - - - - - - -
- Inscription Translation
- “[The city of the Sardians, prot]ochthonous and [sacred to the] gods and m[etropolis] of Asia and [of all Lydia] and [of Hellas, and] keeper of three Koinon temples [of the] Augusti by virtue [of the decrees] of the [sacred Senate], friend [and ally - - -, etc.]”
- Inscription Comment
- Site
- Sardis
- Description
Block of marble; the top is preserved while the back, sides, and bottom are broken.
- Dimensions
- Max. H. 0.46, max. W. 0.40, Th. 0.20, H. of letters 0.027–0.03.
- Comments
Dots: ll. 2 and 4, before KAI; l. 6, before KA[TA]
The fragment probably belonged to an honorific inscription.
1 [πρωτ]όχθων rather than [αὐτ]όχθων (but see nos. 382, 7 and 383, [7]; and Sardis VII 1, nos. 63, b1 and 66). Cf. L. Moretti, RivFil 94 (1966), pp. 300–301 = id., Tra epigrafia e storia (1990), pp. 315–16; see no. 418 comm.
4 This seems to be the only preserved epigraphic testimony of Sardis’s title during her third neokoria, which was bestowed by Elagabalus, withdrawn by Severus Alexander, and restored by Valerianus (see no. 397, 5 comm.). The letter shape seems to point to the earlier of these two periods; P. Herrmann, Chiron 23 (1993), p. 252 n. 63, alluding to the present fragment, cautiously: “Ein noch unveröffentlichtes Inschriftenfragment (IN76.4) enthält die Angabe τ]ρὶς νεωκ[όρος, ohne daß eine zeitliche Zuweisung möglich wäre.” See also Burrell, Neokoroi, p. 114 n. 86. The title is numismatically well attested: “Sardes…reçut une troisième néocorie sous Élagabal, et frappa une bonne série de monnaies avec ce titre aux effigies d’Élagabal, de Julia Maesa et de Julia Soemias,” L. Robert, RN 1976, p. 53 (= id., Op. Min. VI, p. 165; id., Choix, p. 669). Robert points out that the introduction of the Sun-cult in Sardis and the bestowal of the third neokoria by the emperor Elagabalus were only short-lived. After his death “les inscriptions du nouveau culte furent normalement martelées” (op. cit.); this may also be a reason for the scarce epigraphic testimony for the third neokoria.
With the exception of τρίς instead of δίς, the title’s elements are identical with those known from the time of two neokoriai, see Index, “Greek Words” s.v. πόλις, titles (1a).
- See Also
- Bibliography
- Unpublished.
- Author
- GP