Support: Right part of a white marble slightly tapering stele recomposed from two adjacent fragments (w: 0.59 × h: 1.06 × d: 0.10).

Layout: Inscribed on the face in two parts by the same hand, the first with larger lettering, the second in verse with smaller lettering.

Letters: Lines 1-14, average height 0.02; lines 15-48, 0.009, carefully cut with marked serifs; alpha with dropped bar, middle sized theta and omicron, mu with the central part coming down low toward the line, oversized xi and sigma, still dissymmetrical pi, widely open upsilon, omega with detached lower part.

Date: Possibly second half of first century BC or first half of first century AD (lettering).

Findspot: Found by G. Caputo in 1935 at Ptolemais ➚: in the area West of the West Church.

Place of origin: Findspot.

Last recorded location: Tolmeita Museum, inv. number unknown. Seen by J.M. Reynolds at an unknown date at Ţulmaythah: Tolmeita Museum. Not seen in 1960 by G. Pugliese Carratelli, who published it from a photograph. Not seen by GVCyr team.

Text constituted from: Transcription from photograph and J.M. Reynolds' notes (CDL).

Apparatus

French translation

[Deinoménès] fils [d'Arist]oboulos, [Untel] fils de [---]kos, [Untel] fils de [---]tias, [Untel] fils de [Sar]apiôn, [Untel] fils d'Arimmas, [Untel] fils de [---]is, [Untel] fils de Dardanos, [Untel] fils de [---]ôn, [Untel] fils d'[Itth]allamôn, (10) [Untel] fils de Lysis, [Untel] fils d'Iasôn, [Deinoménès] fils de Lysimakhos, [Untel] fils de Kallimakhos, [Karnis] fils d'Alexis.

[---] aux valeureux ancêtres a été célébré [---], toi, éminent Deinoménès.

[---] ta patrie non en une seule [---] en raison de ta brillante qualité.

[---] te chante par la présente (20)[---] le premier des jeunes gens.

[---] et la [---] remontant à tes ancêtres [---] les Ouranides.

[---] ce manteau à large bande [---] égales provenant des couronnes.

[---] toujours le [---] par le duvet [---] tout à fait lisse.

[---] augmente la douleur [---] nous faisons l'éloge.

[---] et non de la part des éphèbes (30) [---] la nature t'a fait le plus fort.

[---] à la bande de pourpre à nouveau [---] sur les tempes.

[---] avait le [---] des éphèbes [---] la vie.

[---] la patrie, et parmi les prêtres [---] les ancêtres.

[---] j'ai remarqué autre chose [---], ô Deinoménès.

[---] et né d'un père (40) [---] la cité.

[---] Karnis le plus valeureux [---] a [---]. (vac. 2 lines)

[---] le fils de Karnis [---] s'étant emparé [---].

[---] il consacra cette stèle comme marque d'honneur [---] aux dieux immortels.

[---] il les plaça tous pêle-mêle sur cette pierre [---] ayant recueilli ensemble leurs couronnes.

English translation

[Deinomenes] son [of Arist]oboulos, [So-and-so] son of [---]kos, [So-and-so] son of [---]tias, [So-and-so] son of [Sar]apion, [So-and-so] son of Arimmas, [So-and-so] son of [---]is, [So-and-so] son of Dardanos, [So-and-so] son of [---]on, [So-and-so] son of [Itth]allamon, (10) [So-and-so] son of Lysis, [So-and-so] son of Iason, [Deinomenes] son of Lysimachos, [So-and-so] son of Kallimachos, [Karnis] son of Alexis.

[---] with the best forefathers has been celebrated [---], you, eminent Deinomenes.

[---] your fatherland not on one [---] on behalf of your splendid quality.

[---] sings your praise here (20)[---] the first of the youngsters.

[---] and the [---] coming from your forefathers [---] the Ouranides.

[---] that cloak with broad border [---] equal ones from the garlands.

[---] always the [---] with the downy hairs [---] quite smooth.

[---] increases the grief [---] we are praising.

[---] and not from the ephebes (30) [---] by nature you are the mightiest.

[---] with the purple border again [---] on your temples.

[---] had the [---] of the ephebes [---] the life.

[---] the fatherland, and amongst the priests [---] the forefathers.

[---] I found out another thing [---], o Deinomenes.

[---] and born from a father (40) [---] the city.

[---] Karnis the most valorous [---] he has [---]. (vac. 2 lines)

[---] Karnis' son [---] having fasten [---].

[---] he dedicated this stele as a gift of honour [---] to the immortal gods.

[---] he placed them all indiscriminately upon this stone [---] having gathered together their garlands.

Italian translation

[Deinomenes] figlio [di Arist]oboulos, [il tale] figlio di [---]kos, [il tale] figlio di [---]tias, [il tale] figlio di [Sar]apion, [il tale] figlio di Arimmas, [il tale] figlio di [---]is, [il tale] figlio di Dardanos, [il tale] figlio di [---]on, [il tale] figlio di [Itth]allamon, (10) [il tale] figlio di Lysis, [il tale] figlio di Iason, [Deinomenes] figlio di Lysimachos, [il tale] figlio di Kallimachos, [Karnis] figlio di Alexis.

[---] dotato dei migliori antenati è stato celebrato [---], tu, eccellente Deinomenes.

[---] la tua patria non in una sola [---] a causa della tua splendidà qualità.

[---] ti loda qui (20)[---] il primo dei giovani.

[---] a la [---] che proviene dai tuoi nonni [---] gli Urani.

[---] questo mantello dal largo orlo [---] uguali provenienti dalle corone.

[---] sempre il [---] con la lanuggine [---] molto liscia.

[---] aumenta il dolore [---] noi facciamo l'elogio.

[---] e non da parte degli efebi (30) [---] per natura sei il più forte.

[---] con largo orlo di porpora di nuovo [---] sulle tempie.

[---] aveva il [---] degli efebi [---] con la vita.

[---] la patria, e tra i sacerdoti [---] gli antenati.

[---] ho scoperto un'altra cosa [---], o Deinomenes.

[---] e nato da un padre (40) [---] la città.

[---] Karnis il più valoroso [---] ha [---]. (vac. 2 lines)

[---] il figlio di Karnis [---] essendosi attaccato [---].

[---] ha dedicato questa stele come dono d'onore [---] agli dèi immortali.

[---] li ha posti tutti disordinatamente su questa pietra [---] dopo aver raccolto insieme le loro corone.

Commentary

J.M. Reynolds once saw the stone and comments: «The stone has been damaged since discovery and the text is partly read from the photograph». Pugliese Carratelli himself knew the stone only from a photograph and added his readings to the publication at the last moment.

At l. 9, J.M. Reynolds preferred to read Ἀλλάμωνος, probably because she identified here the Libyan name Αλαμων, which is known at Ptolemais. However, the omicron is clear in the penultimate syllable and moreover the name should have been very long, as it ends just at the right edge of the stone. We thus prefer to keep Pugliese Carratelli's reading.

Some of the earlier restorations by Gallavotti aimed at completing sepulchral formulas. J. and L. Robert and after them Peek insisted on the honorific aspect of the poem. However all commentators thought of a monument honouring one and the same person and did not explain the list of 14 names (with only the fathers' names preserved) on top. C. Dobias-Lalou considered that verse-lines 1-28 were 14 couplets, each of which was connected with one name in the list, taken in the same order. She thus restored names at lines 1, 12 and 14, taking them from the verse related to each of those young men. This explains the often repeted mentions of the forefathers, of the glory of youngsters. As to the three final couplets (all isolated with a space), their topic is the erection of the momument.

As the Robert wrote, at l. 23 the word πλατύσαμος at this date cannot yet be the translation of the Roman laticlavius and should, like πλατυπόρφυρος at l. 31, point to the ceremonial garment of officers, amongst which the priests mentioned at l. 35. The celebrated young men were high born and valorous.

Nevertheless grief is mentioned at l. 27 and Karnis' son seems to be in charge of the monument. So at least some of them were probably dead. The monument was erected in order to celebrate them, who had deserved garlands. The latter word may be taken at the last line with the double entendre of award obtained in a competition and series of poems 'placed upon the stone'.

Peek restored whole verse lines at 15-32 and 40-48 in a sort of exercice métrique, as he put it. We feel that it is useless to provide them here.

Metrical analysis: a series of elegiac couplets, the vestiges of which are very regular.

CC BY-NC-SA 4.0 Deed Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.

All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain a link back to DOI: https://doi.org/10.60760/unibo/igcyrgvcyr2 and the filename (IGCyr000000 or GVCyr000), as well as the year of consultation.

Images

Maps