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Inscribed Plaque Fragments (©Archaeological Exploration of Sardis/President and Fellows of Harvard College)
Inscribed Plaque Fragments: Bilingual Building Inscription Honoring Emperor Tiberius
- Date
- 17–37 AD., Roman
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- IN63.A09
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Architecture, Inscription
- Inscription Type
- Building Inscription
- Inscription language
- Greek, Latin, Bilingual Greek and Latin
- Inscription Text
1 Ti. Caesar, [divi Augusti f(ilius), divi Iuli n(epos), Augustus, pont. max., trib. pot. … ] 2 v imp. VIII, c[os. … ] 3 [Τ]ιβέρ̣[ιος Καῖσαρ, Θεοῦ Σεβαστοῦ υἱός, Θεοῦ Ἰουλίου υἱωνός, Σεβαστός, ἀρχιερεὺς μέγιστος], 4 v δημ[αρχικῆς ἐξουσίας …, αὐτοκράτωρ η´, ὕπατος …,- Inscription Translation
- “Tiberius Caesar, [son of deified Augustus, grandson of deified Iulius. Augustus, pontifex maximus, tribunicia potestate…], imperator eight times, consul […, - - -].”
- Inscription Comment
- Site
- Sardis
- Sector
- RT
- Trench
- Syn 63
- Locus
- Monumental Arch (area of)
- B-Grid Coordinates
- E115 / S5.75 *98
- Findspot
- Road Trench, Monumental Arch, (b)–(e) among collapsed blocks.
- Description
Four joining fragments of white marble (a–d), plus a fifth (e) and a sixth (f) whose positions in the inscription are uncertain. The fragments (a–e) are broken on all sides and belonged to a building of considerable size. The bilingual Greek and Latin inscription (H. of letters 0.09–0.10) was probably ca. 8 m in length.
- Dimensions
- [a] H. 0.32, W. 0.32, Th. ca. 0.04; [b] H. 0.33, W. 0.37, Th. ca. 0.04; [c] H. 0.33, W. 0.66, Th. ca. 0.09; [d] H. 0.26, W. 0.33, Th. ca. 0.09; [e] H. 0.15, W. 0.22, Th. ca. 0.03; [f] H. 0.13, W. 0.16.
- Comments
In the above reconstruction no account is taken of fragments (e): ]ΟΣ[ / ]Ο̣[ and (f): ]Ι̣Ε[. If the latter fragment is part of the Latin text, it may have belonged to (unabbreviated) ]Ν̣Ε[POS; if of the Greek text, to [ἀρχ]ι̣ε[ρεύς], μ̣έ[γιστος], or [ἀποκα]τ̣έ[στησεν] (assuming that the restitutions are correct).
Summary of Herrmann’s detailed commentary:
Tiberius was honored for the financial support he had offered to the twelve cities struck by the earthquake of 17 AD (cf. nos. 333 and 440), see Sardis VII 1, no. 9 comm.; for the monument from Puteoli representing them, see IGSK 5 (Kyme), T 152 and p. 222 (drawing); TAM V 3, p. x n. 4. Herrmann quotes the following parallels: OGI 471 (Mostene?), CIL III 7096 (Aigai), and IGSK 5 (Kyme), nos. 20–21. These documents could suggest as dates for the present inscription either 31 or 34 AD, but Herrmann stresses that the Sardis text may belong to another year.
N. Cahill wonders whether the inscription belongs to an early Roman version of the later arch, or whether these blocks were reused in the later arch.
1 Augusti f(ilius), divi Iuli n(epos): ed. pr.; Augusti filius, divi Iuli nepos, Herrmann, ms. - [trib. pot. …]: Herrmann, ms.; [trib. pot. XXXVI ?] ed. pr.
2 imp. VIII: since the late summer 16 AD. - c[os. .. ]: Herrmann, ms.; c[os. V] ed. pr. - Herrmann considers the end of the line to have been something like restituit.
3 [μέγιστος] AE and Kearsley.
4 δημ[αρχικῆς ἐξουσίας ..]: Herrmann, ms.; δημ[αρχικῆς ἐξουσίας λς´] ed. pr. - [ὕπατος .]: Herrmann, ms.; [ὕπατος ε´] ed. pr. - Herrmann considers the end of the line to have been something like ἀποκατέστησεν.
- See Also
- Bibliography
- The isolated fragment IN15.010 (f), showing a portion of the right edge of the plaque, probably belongs to the present inscription. - Editions of the inscription (except for fragment [f], which was discovered in 2015): P. Herrmann, “Sardeis zur Zeit der iulisch-claudischen Kaiser” (in Forschungen in Lydien, ed. E. Schwertheim [1995 = AMS 17], pp. 21–36 = Herrmann, Ausgew. Schriften, pp. 147–68), pp. 27–29 (Ausgew. Schriften, pp. 154–57), with drawing (p. 28 [p. 155]) and photograph pl. 2, 2 (Ausgew. Schriften, p. 166, fig. 4) (SEG 45, 1644; AE 1995, 1458; Kearsley, Mixed Lang. Inscr., no. 164); Herrmann, ms.
- Author
- GP