Support: Two not fully adjacent fragments of a marlacious limestone block, fragment a broken off at left, right, back and above (w: 0.27 × h: 0.082 × d: 0.105); fragment b broken off at left and back (w: 0.13 × h: 0.17 × d: 0.185); due to the geological nature of the stone, the larger fractures at back and also at left of fragment a are curved so regularly that they might seem to have been cut in a workshop.

Layout: Inscribed on the face in five lines, each displayed symmetrically along the vertical axis.

Letters: 0.02 very carefully cut, with slight serifs; dotted theta, very slightly slanting mu and sigma.

Date: Probably between 250 and 220 BC (Rosamilia) (lettering, textual context).

Findspot: Found before 1977 at Cyrene ➚: exact findspot unrecorded.

Place of origin: Findspot.

Last recorded location: Cyrene Museum, 530 (fragm. a) and 558 (fragm. b). Seen by C. Dobias-Lalou in 1977 in Shahat: Cyrene Museum.

Text constituted from: Transcription from stone (CDL).

Apparatus

French translation

[---] []fils de [---]nos, thessalien, commandant de garnison.

English translation

[---] []son of [---]nos, Thessalian, commander of garrison.

Italian translation

[---] []figlio di [---]nos, tessalo, capo di presidio.

Commentary

This inscription has no parallel and raises different questions. As noticed in the first edition, the use of the koine is a clue for an international context, perhaps in relation with the Ptolemaic domination. The layout confirms that Θεσσαλός is here used with its original value of an ethnic and not as a personal name. The latter would have stood at line 3. It is not clear whether line 2 was inscribed or left blank.

Dobias-Lalou's reading of line 5 in the first edition was duly eliminated by Rosamilia who was able to identify the title ἡγεμὼν ἐπ᾿ἀνδρῶν, mainly attested at Cyprus, often associated with φρούραρχος and used for majors commanding a garrison (see Bagnall 1976, pp. 51-54. As shown by Rosamilia, this is the first clear clue for the presence of a Lagid garrison at Cyrene after 250. However, in IGCyr097400² some military Lagid officers of low rank are also attested.

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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

Fig. 1. Squeezes of igcyr130600 Perhaps honours

Maps