I 23. Tyras. Building inscription by the Odrysian king Rhoimetalkes , 19-26/38 C.E.
Monument
Type
Block.
Material
Marble.
Dimensions (cm)
H. 28.2, W. 36.6, Th. 15.3-16.7.
Additional description
On the front: Greek inscription; on the back: Latin inscription, signifying secondary usage. The front and back are polished, the rest are broken off. The front is planed. In the center, there is a circular depression (Diam. 10cm) from an object that rested on the base in tertiary usage. The circle damaged the Latin inscription.
Place of Origin
Tyras.
Find place
Belgorod-Dnestrovsky.
Find context
In secondary context; in the first courtyard of the fortress (after the removal of the Turkish {mound?} {sand bank?}, in the area of Pushkin Tower.
Find circumstances
Random find by V.P. Pushkarev in 1982. The latter passed it on to the museum. Field catalogue number БД-82, № 58.
Modern location
Odessa.
Institution and inventory
Odessa Archaeological Museum, 88366.
Autopsy
A.I. Ivantchik, August 2007.
Epigraphic field
Position
On the front. Broken off on all sides except the bottom. Distance from the bottom line of the inscription to the bottom of the block is 10,5cm. H. 14.5, W. 26.8
Lettering
Deeply, evenly and neatly cut letters, adorned with serifs. Sigma with parallel horizontal bars. Average distance between lines: 4,0cm.
Letterheights (cm)
4.0-4.3
Text
Category
Building inscription.
Date
19-26/38 C.E.
Dating criteria
Palaeography, prosopography.
Editions
L1. Karyshkovsky, Kleiman 1985, 87-88, рис. 30; 1.1. Saprykin 1995, 412-425 (= Latyshev 1895d, 46-57); 1.1.1. SEG 45, 1025.
<div type="edition" xml:lang="grc">
<ab>
<lb n="1"/><supplied reason="lost">Ῥοιμητάλκης</supplied> <supplied reason="lost">Θρᾳκῶν
<app type="alternative"><lem>βασιλεὺς</lem><rdg>δυνάστης</rdg></app></supplied> <supplied reason="lost">βασ</supplied>ιλέως
<unclear>Κ</unclear><supplied reason="lost">ότυος</supplied>
<supplied reason="lost">υἱωνὸς καὶ βασιλέως Ῥοιμητάλκου
θυγατριδοῦς</supplied>
<lb n="2"/><supplied reason="lost">Ῥησκουπόρεως δὲ
Θρᾳκῶν δυνάστου</supplied> υἱὸς τὴ<unclear>ν</unclear>
<gap reason="lost" extent="unknown" unit="character"/>
</ab>
</div> Apparatus criticus
[Γάϊος Ἰούλιος βασιλεὺς Θρᾳκῶν Ῥοιμητάλκας βασιλέως Κότυος υἱωνὸς | καὶ βασ]ιλέως Ῥ̣[οιμητάλκου θυγατριδοῦς καὶ Ῥησκουπόρεως δὲ Θρᾳκῶν δυ|νάστου] υἱὸς τῆι̣ [Τυρανῶν πόλει διὰ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν εὔνοιαν τε καὶ τείμην] Saprykin
Translation
[Rhoimetalkes, king and dynast of the Thracians, paternal grandson of king Kotys and maternal grandson of king Rhoimetalkes], son of [Rheskoupores, dynast of the Thracians, this [- - -]
Commentary
The block apparently was part of a Doric architrave and reused multiple times. Karyshkovsky (with Kleiman, 1985, 87) suggested that the text refers to a dedication of some building by a man calling himself a "son of a king," and that the latter was the Odrysian king. S.Yu. Saprykin supports the attribution to one of Thracian kings. Historical data make this supposition most likely.
Saprykin also proposed to attribute the inscription to king Rhoimetalkes II who ruled from 19 C.E. till either 26 or 38 C.E., first with the title of dynast, then of king; this attribution appears to be most probable. At the same time, the restoration of the text, proposed by Saprykin, is doubtful, with the exception of the king's titulature. The titulature is securely restored on the basis of epigraphic comparanda (IGBulg II, 743 and Dawkins, Hasluck 1905, 178, No. 3); additionally, there is no need to restore Γάϊος Ἰούλιος at the beginning. Overall, the text could have fit in two lines, not three, as Saprykin suggests.
In line 2, we may restore the name of the building (e.g. τὴν στοάν, or similar), as well as possibly the recipient, who may well have been other than the poeple of Tyras.
Images
© 2017 Askold Ivantchik (edition), Irene Polinskaya (translation)
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