53. Verse honours for Asclepiodotus Charlotte M. Roueché 2003-01-15

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Description of Monument

A re-used white marble block (0.52 × 0.99 × 0.515) originally intended for architectural decoration; the rear face has elaborate mouldings at each side. The stone is broken at the top left corner and the right side, and the surface is worn.

Description of Text

Inscribed on the face, which is very slightly concave as seen from the sides.

Description of Letters

0.03-0.04; slightly elongated, simple: l.1, Κ; l.4, apostrophe after ΤΟΝΔ; between ll. 4 and 5 there is a short horizontal line in the left margin, apparently demarcating the two stanzas.

Date

Late fifth century (prosopography).

Edition Λάμπει καὶ φθιμένοις ἀρετῆς φάος, οἳ περὶ πάτρης πολλὰ πονησάμενοι ξυνὸν ἔθεντ' ὄφελος. Ἀσκληπιοδότωι λόγος ἥρμοσεν, ὧι πόλις ἥδε οἷάπερ οἰκιστῆι τόνδ' ἀνέθηκε τύπον. Τήκει καὶ πέτρην ὁ πολὺς χρόνος: ἀλλ' ἀρετάων Ἀσκληπιοδότου τὸ κλέος ἀθάνατον, ὅσσα καὶ οἷα πόρεν γέρα πατρίδι τοῖς ἐπὶ πᾶσιν καὶ τόδε μετρείσθω ξυνὸν ἔρεισμα θόλου.
Apparatus

There are no significant differences between the modern copies. In line 8, for ξυνὸν, AP has κοῖλον. The Byzantine copyist perhaps chose to ‘improve' the text, and wrote κοινὸν which was subsequently corrupted to κοῖλον (as editors since Boeckh have conjectured); but see commentary, V.8.

Translation The light of virtue shines even for dead men, who, undertaking many labours for their country, established general benefits. The saying fits Asclepiodotus, for whom this city has dedicated this statue as for a founder. Long time wears away even stone; but the fame of Asclepiodotus' virtues is immortal, the number and kind of privileges which he obtained for his country. In addition to all these, let this adjacent structure of the vaulted chamber be counted as well.
Commentary

For Asclepiodotus see also 54; see discussion at V.8 following.

Found

Village: 'In muro apud Turcam domum in orientali pagi parte' (Picenini); 'built into a village house, which has since been demolished' (NYU).

Original Location

Unknown.

Last Recorded Location

Museum.

History of Recording

Apparently copied in the Byzantine period; copied by Picenini (BL Add. 10102, 20v, no. 39) whence Sherard (BL Add. 10101 f. 31); recorded by Gaudin (9); by the MAMA expedition; by J and L. Robert; recorded by the NYU expedition (SBI 70).

Bibliography

Lines 5-8 published in Anthologia Palatina 9.704; the full text published by Boeckh, CIG 2851, from Sherard papers, whence Welcker, 'Inedita et nuper primum edita' RhM 4 (1836), 393-423, 416-418, no. 31, Kaibel EG 889; by Reinach, no. 84, from Gaudin; by Robert, Hellenica 4, 115-126, whence BE 1949:178; by Cormack, MAMA 8, no. 486, from the MAMA records, whence Robert, Hellenica 13, 170-1; by Roueché, Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity no. 53 and plate xiii whence PHI 730, Steinepigramme 02/09/05.

Text Constituted From

Publications; transcription (Roueché).

Photographs

Face and top (1973)

Face and right end (1993)

Underside (1993)

Underside and right end (2004)

Category of Text

verse; honours; funerary

Category of Monument

statue base.