Description of Monument

White marble sarcophagus, with lid, (length 2.10); for full description see Isik 116.

Description of Text

Inscribed on the lid, lines 1-3, on the upper rim, l. 4, on the tabella including its upper and lower mouldings (0.58 x 0.56) lines 5-19, and on the base, lines 20 ff.

Letters

Quite well-designed and cut in the second-to-fourth-century style, l.1, 0.025; ll. 2ff., 0.018-0.02. ll. 2, 3, are interrupted by the projections on the lid. Ligatured ΝΤ (l. 2), ΤΗΝ (l. 3), ΤΕ (l. 16), ΜΗΝ (l.22), ΠΠ (l. 22), ΤΕ (l. 22), ΝΗ (l. 22) Star for denarius; slanting strokes before and after the figures in l. 18, bars above the figures in l. 22.

Date

Probably first half of the third century (lettering, nomenclature).

Edition ἡ σορὸς καὶ αἱ ὑποκείμεναι εἰσωσται εἰσιν Μάρκου Αὐρηλίου Ἀπολλωνίου υἱοῦ Τιβερίου Κλαυδίου Μενεσθέως κηδευθήσονται δὲ εἴσω μὲν τὴν σορὸν ὁ Ἀπολλώνιος καὶ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Πρόκλος καὶ εἴ τινα ἕτερον βουληθῆ ἢ διατάξηται αὐτός τε ὁ Ἀπολλώνιος καὶ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Πρόκλος ὁμοίως καὶ εἰς τὰς εἰσώστας οὓς ἂν αὐτοὶ βουληθῶσιν καὶ διατάξωνται οὐδεὶς δὲ ἕτερος ἕξει ἐξουσίαν κηδευθῆσαί τινα παρ'οὓς ὁ Ἀπολλώνιος ἢ ὁ υἱὸς αὐτοῦ Πρόκλος διατάξωνται ἐπεὶ ὁ ἐπιχειρήσας τοιοῦτό τι ποιῆσαι ἀποτείσει ἱερὰ Ἀφροδείτῃ δηνάρια βφ ὧν τὸ τρίτον ἔσται τοῦ ἐκδικήσαντος τούτου ἀντίγραφον ἀπετέθη εἰς τὸ χρεοφυλάκιον ἐπί στεφανηφόρου Ἑρμολάου γ τοῦ Ποσειδίππου μηνὸς γ

Translation

The sarcophagus and the burial places below it are (the property) of Marcus Aurelius Apollonios son of Tiberius Claudius Menestheus. Within the sarcophagus Apollonios will be buried and his son Proklos and anyone else whom Apollonios or his son Proklos wishes or specifies. No one else shall have the right to bury anyone (here), except those whom Apollonios or his son Proklos specifies, since whoever has undertaken to do such a thing shall pay to Aphrodite as sacred money 2500 denarii, of which one third shall belong to the prosecutor. A copy of this was deposited in the Property-archive in the stephanephorate of Hermolaos son of Poseidippos, in the third month

Commentary

he sarcophagus was found in a chamber-tomb along with 13.111, 13.108, 13.109 and another (13.101) of a different type, all of which should be approximately contemporary. Their setting strongly suggests that their owners were of modest status (note the case for regarding the owner of 13.111 as a tradesman)

Note that while the family has Roman citizenship it has not fully adapted to the Roman onomastic system; so instead of the formula of filiation Apollonios gives his father's full citizen name after υἱοῦ: Aphrodisians liked to spell things out. The owning family seems to have acquired Roman citizenship originally from the emperor Claudius or from Nero, when it was very rare at Aphrodisias; nevertheless the owner refers to no ancestors except his father, which may suggest that he belonged to a subordinate branch, perhaps deriving from a freed slave. His own name suggests that like some others at Aphrodisias and elsewhere he was excited enough by the Edict of Caracalla to take Caracalla's M. Aurelius in preference to the Ti. Claudius of his father (which is perhaps another indication of modest social status); and it should also be observed that he gave his son a Latin name, which is not so common in the city. The tomb consisted of more than the sarcophagus; but the funerary fine is a little below average. This is the first occurrence of the stephanephorus Hermolaos son of Poseidippos, and it is probable that this is a post mortem tenure for him (since his name shoes no signs of the Edict of Caracalla).

Locations

Necropolis, North-east in chamber tomb, with 13.111 (=410), 13.108 (=411), 13.109 (=412), 13.101 (=415). Findspot Museum (1994)

Text Constituted From

Transcription (Reynolds)

History of Recording

Recorded by the NYU expedition (Sarcophagus catalogue 414)

Bibliography

Published by Reynolds and Isik, no. 116

Photographs

Sarcophagus (1994)

Sarcophagus (1994)

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