Versione classicaVersione mobile

L'épigramme dans tous ses états : épigraphiques, littéraires, historiques

 | 
Eleonora Santin
, 
Laurence Foschia

« EPIGRAMMATIZÔ, EPIGRAMMATIZEIS, EPIGRAMMATIZEI... » « Je, tu, il épigrammatise … »

Variation of Supports for Verse Inscriptions in Roman Greece

Erkki Sironen

Abstract

The material for this paper is provided by my research project on ca. 1,500 verse inscriptions from imperial times between the Emperor Augustus and the end of the 6th century A.D., from the area of modern Greece. Setting aside around 20 hymns and oracles and concentrating on the more certain cases of surviving monuments, where the support type can be verified more or less plausibly, the results are as follows. In sepulchral epigrams, the largest class, there are nearly 20 different types of supports, of which the stele and the plate are the most usual ones; northern Greece seems to favour sarcophagi and grave altars. In contrast, honorific epigrams have more often been cut on bases or herms, the latter being characteristic of Attica. As regards dedicatory epigrams, however, the supports are disturbingly variable. The majority of cases are represented by bases of various types, followed by stelai, mosaics (usually Christian), altars and plates, but natural rocks and many other supports are also found. Finally, building epigrams are too rare for any clear patterns for their supports to be drawn out.
It must be remembered that many support types overlap with each other in the various inscriptional classes mentioned above. Only in some cases can the monument type corroborate the interpretation of a fragmentary epigram.
A few of the epigrams are illustrated with a photo, the Greek text and an English translation.

Termini per la ricerca

Testo integrale

Abbreviations

AM = Acropolis Museum, Athens.

Achaïe II = Rizakis Athanase, Achaïe II. La cite de Patras: Épigraphie et histoire, Athens, KERA, Paris, De Boccard, 1998.

Bandy = Bandy Anastasius C., The Greek Christian Inscriptions of Crete, Athens, Christian Archaeological Society, 1970.

Corinth VIII 1 = Meritt Benjamin D., Corinth, Volume VIII, Part I. Greek Inscriptions 1896-1927, Cambridge, Mass., Harvard University Press, 1931.

Corinth VIII 3 = Kent John H., Corinth, Volume VIII, Part III. The Inscriptions 1926-1950, Princeton, American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 1966.

EAM = Ριζάκης Ἀθανάσιος et Τουράτσογλου Ἰωάννης,Ἐπιγραφὲς Ἄνω Μακεδονίας, Athens, Ekdosi Tameiou Archaiologikôn Porôn kai Apallotrioseôn, 1985.

Feissel, Macédoine = Feissel Denis, Recueil des inscriptions chrétiennes de Macédoine, Paris, De Boccard, 1983.

GVI = Peek Werner, Griechiche Vers-Inschriften. Band Ι: Grabepigramme, Berlin, Akademie Verlag, 1955.

GVI Thessalien = Peek Werner, Griechische Vers-Inschriften aus Thessalien, Heidelberg, C. Winter Universität, 1974.

Hellenica IV = Robert Louis, Épigrammes du Bas-Empire. Hellenica IV, Paris, Librairie d’Amérique et d’Orient, Adrien-Maisonneuve, 1948.

IBeroia = Γουναροπούλου Λουκρητία et Χατζοπούλου Μιλτιάδης, Ἐπιγραφὲς Κάτω Μακεδονίας. Τεῦχος α΄, Ἐπιγραφὲς Βεροίας, Athens, EIE, 1998.

IC = Guarducci Margherita, Inscriptiones Creticae I-IV, Rome, Libreria dello Stato, 1935-1950.

ICos = Segre Mario, Iscrizioni di Cos, Volume II, Rome, Quasar, 2007.

IEleusis = Clinton Kevin, Eleusis. The Inscriptions on Stone, Athens, Archaeological Society at Athens, 2005.

IG = Inscriptiones Graecae, Berlin.

IPhilippoi = Pilhofer Peter, Katalog der Inschriften von Philippi, Band II, Tübingen, Mohr Siebeck, 2000.

Lindos II = Blinkenberg Christian, Lindos. II. Inscriptions, Berlin, de Gruyter, Copenhagen, Gad, 1941.

Loukopoulou = Λουκοπούλου Λουϊζα Δ., Ἐπιγραφὲς τῆς Θράκης τοῦ Αἰγαίου, Athens, KERA, Paris, De Boccard, 2005.

Olympia = Dittenberger Wilhelm and Purgold Karl, Die Inschriften von Olympia, Berlin, Asher, 1895.

SEG = Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, 1923-

SEMA = Μμαρδάνη Βούλα Ν. and Παπαδοπούλου Γεώργιος Κ, Συμπλήρωμα τῶν Ἐπιτυμβίων Μνημείων τῆς Ἀττικῆς, Athens, Archaiologiki Etaireia, 2006.

SIG = Dittenberger Wilhelm, Sylloge inscriptionum Graecarum, Leipzig, Hirzel, 1915-19243.

Thasos II = Dunant Christiane and Pouilloux Jean, Recherches sur l´histoire et les cultes de Thasos. II. De 196 avant J.-C. jusqu´à la fin de l´Antiquité, Paris, De Boccard, 1958.

 

1The material for this paper comes from an on-going research project on verse inscriptions from imperial times from the area of modern Greece, numbering now up to 1,500 – roughly from the time of the Emperor Augustus down to the end of antiquity and the traditional versification towards the end of the 6th century A.D. The field trips all around Greece, commencing in 2003, have been completed, except for a few Cycladic islands, especially Paros, Syros and Amorgos.

  • 1 Epigraphical hymns and oracles are usually very long inscriptions: I am quite sure that for their (...)

2In an endeavour to establish monument types supporting epigrams (I have excluded around 20 hymns and oracles from this survey1) one faces several kinds of obstacles:
1. loss of monuments (ca. 1/3 have been lost);
2. the inadequate or contradictory descriptions by previous scholars, with variable grade of accuracy;
3. the fragmentariness of the monuments (e.g. a thin plate may be part of a sarcophagus, a thicker slab could be part of a very large stele or a smaller base, etc.).

3Thus, I have decided to assess only the more certain cases, so that some credibility could be achieved, even though the number of monuments becomes lower.

4Before going any further, yet another misleading factor could be our modern classification of the epigrams into sepulchral, honorary, dedicatory and building epigrams. Should we rather create a new class (actually the Greek Anthology features it of old) – viz. epideictic epigrams, covering both building and honorary epigrams? My wish for combining building and honorary epigrams under the heading "epideictic" epigram has sprung from wanting to go back to a more "original" point of view: the evolution of epigram collection classification during Hellenism, the Imperial period, and the Byzantine period leading to the Greek Anthology.

5Another example of remodelling the modern classification system back to Byzantine models: separating the (Early) Christian epigrams from the rest of the material.

6In what follows I will go through the principal traditional classes of epigrams, concentrating on the most common supports for each of them, only mentioning the less usual ones. It is fair to confess already here that since the connection between the support and the class of verse inscription would need much more space and time to be elaborated thoroughly, my paper should be taken as a first step.

Sepulchral epigrams on stelai, plates, etc.

  • 2 All dates are meant A.D. unless otherwise mentioned; unless otherwise mentioned, all translations (...)
  • 3 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 11519a, 11587a, 13132, 13136a, 13136b, 13149, 13327, 13 (...)
  • 4 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 5808, 10046a, 12568/9, 13161a, 13451; SEMA nos. 926, 26 (...)
  • 5 For Boeotia, cf. IG VII nos. 2543-2545; for the islands of the Ionian Sea, cf. IG IX (ed. minor) 1 (...)
  • 6 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 10549, 11140, 11627; for Macedonia, cf. IG X 2, 1, nos. (...)
  • 7 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 12664, 13151, 13450; for Argolis, cf. Corinth VIII 3, n (...)
  • 8 For Attica, cf. SEMA no. 2623; for Argolis, cf. IG IV 196; Corinth VIII 3, nos. 300 and 450; SEG 1 (...)
  • 9 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 9713, 10162, 10457a, 11606a, 12701, 13127/8, 13135, and (...)
  • 10 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 9735, 11491, 11552, 12418, 12984, 13136, and 13139/42 a (...)
  • 11 For Boeotia, cf. IG VII no. 455; for Thessaly, cf. IG IX 2, no. 655; SEG 35, 630; GVI no. 1826; fo (...)

7Naturally, the ubiquitous sepulchral epigrams are the most numerous. Numbering up to more than 1,000 altogether, they are divided quite unevenly into nearly 20 different types of supports. By far the most common among these is the simple stele (305)2, followed by its thinner equivalent, the plate (103)3; the heavy base (37)4, the sarcophagus (31)5 and the altar (35)6 are many times scarcer than the stele and the plate. However, the various kinds of slabs (18)7 and blocks (25)8 are more difficult to discern from stelai and bases, respectively, and this disturbs the overall picture somewhat. To reach a full Top Ten of supports for sepulchral epigrams, I also mention the kioniskos (15)9, the naiskos (8)10, and the column (6)11. The least usual supports include herm, pillar, small epistyle, mural stone, tile, trapeza, natural rock, cippus, heroon, disc, and mosaic.

8Interesting geographical fashions may be detected here, especially because the numbers of examples get to be relatively high in sepulchral epigrams: northern Greece seems to favour sarcophagi and grave altars more than anything else, while the handful of small columns (kioniskoi) comes almost exclusively from Attica. Despite their relatively high number, the sepulchral epigrams of the central Aegean islands do not seem to have a special predilection for a particular support.

9For illustrating sepulchral epigrams, I use:

  • 12 IG II/III (ed. minor) no. 13451.

1. A large round base in Athens, set into the outer wall of the church of St. Demetrius, northwest of Lycabettus, commemorating the late Neo-Platonic scholarch Syrianos (early 5th century A.D.), for the particular reason that this object shows that a posthumous epigram may be as large as a statue base:12

[Oὗτος] μὲν Συριανὸς ἔχεν πόλον, εὖτ᾿ ἐπὶ γ[αῖαν]
[‒ ⏑ ]μενος μακάρων ἀρτιτελὴς ἔμολε[ν]·
[‒ ‒ ] δ᾿ ἀνθρώποισιν ὅπως σοφόν ἐστιν [⏑ ‒ ⏑]
[‒ ⏑ ⏑ ἀ]θανάτων ἐς πόλον αὖτις ἔβη.
[This] Syrianus was keeping to the vault (of heaven), when – as being [---] by the blest ones – he came on e[arth]. But [after having ---] to the people, how wisdom can be [---], he returned to the heaven of [--- im]mortals.
  • 13 IG II/III (ed. minor) no. 13473.

2. An example of a stele with pediment and a mystical decoration in its uppermost part; acroteria are not featured in this, obviously recycled, monument for the possibly Christian Athenian Asclepiodote from the 4th or 5th century13; this example was taken to show that the earlier monument could be recycled during the Christian period without destroying the earlier decorative features:

Ἀσκληπιοδότης ἱερόν, φίλε, δέρκεο κάλλος
ψυχῆς ἀθανάτης καὶ σώματος· ἀμφοτέροις γὰρ
ἓν φύσις ὤπασε κάλλος ἀκήρατον· εἰ δέ ἑ Μοῖρα
ἥρπασεν, οὐκ ἐδάμασσε· θανοῦσα γὰρ οὐ θάνε μούνη·
οὐδὲ πόσιν προλέλοιπε, καὶ εἰ λίπε· νῦν δ᾿ ἔτι μᾶλλον 5
οὐρανόθεν μιν ὁρᾶι καὶ τέρπεται ἠδὲ φυλάσσει.
Friend, look at the sacred beauty of the immortal soul and of the body of Asclepiodote, because nature bestowed pure beauty in both. Even though fate snatches her away, it did not overpower her, because when she died, she did not die alone. Neither has she left her husband, though she did leave him; now she watches him all the more from heaven, rejoicing and keeping watch over him.
  • 14 IG X 2, 1, no. 630B.

3. A shady photo of the right half of a monumental sarcophagus, 2nd century Thessalonica14; note that the verses are divided into two, or even three lines on the object:

Eὐδαίμων Σεκουν-
δίων Θεσσαλονεικεὺ[ς]
ἐνθάδε κεῖμαι
μήτε δίκην εἴπας
μήτε γυναῖκα λαβών·
ἀλλ᾿ ἔθανον τριακοντ[α]-
έτης βιότου μέτρα λεί-
ψας
καὶ φωνῆς ἐπάκουε φίλης· χαίροις, παροδεῖτα.
I, happy Secundion from Thessalonica, rest here, without having taken up a court affair and a wife. Well, I died at the age of 30, after the measure of life. Listen to the dear sound: farewell, wayfarer!
  • 15 IBeroia no 404.

4. A fully used grave altar with complex profile from Beroia, also illustrating 2nd century Macedonia15; the five distichs (i.e. 10 verses) of the rather long epigram itself are divided rather unequally between 24 lines, followed by two lines of prose:

Tὴν περικαλλέα Παρ-
θενόπην κλυτὸν
εἶδος ἔχουσαν
δέξατο Φερσε-
φόνη χῶρον 5
ἐς εὐσεβέων.
ὦ Φθόνε καὶ Πλου-
τεῦ, συλήσας χρύ-
σεον ἄνθος
καὶ κείρας γονέων 10
ἐλπίδας ἐσθλοτάτας.
εἴ τοι καὶ τέθνηκεν,
ἀπιστείη γὰρ ἔχει με,
[π]ῶς θείας μορφῆς
[ἥψ]ατο Μοῖρα πικρά; 15
[εἰ] γὰρ καὶ μέτρον ἡλι-
[κ]ίας ἐπὶ γῆρας ἀνῆλ[θε],
εἶχες ἑλεῖν ψυχὴν
ἥνπερ ἄωρον ἔχεις·
πάντων γὰρ τέκνον ἦν, 20
πάντες φιλέεσκον ὁμοί-
ως
Παρθενόπην, Ἀίδη,
νῦν σὺ μόνος κατέχεις.
Ἀχιλλεὺς Παρθενόπ[ῃ] 25
τῇ θυγατρὶ μνείας [χάριν].
Persephone received the very beautiful Parthenope of famous figure into the place of the blest ones. O Jealousy and Pluteus, you stripped off the golden flower and cut the highest hopes of her parents. Even though she is dead – for disbelief holds me – how did the bitter Moira touch her divine form? Even if she had gone up from adult into old age, you could have taken her soul, the same premature one that you now keep. Parthenope was everybody’s child, everyone loved her equally – Hades, now you only keep her. Achilleus for Parthenope, his own daughter, for remembrance.
  • 16 SEG 47, 737.

5. Last, but not least, down to Thessaly, to prove that kioniskoi are used as epigram supports also outside Athens.16 The fragmentary poem seems to be mostly hexametric, but line 6 is pentametric; especially sepulchral epigrams allow for irregular metric schemes:

[---------------------------]
[------]ΚΑΤΗΜ[------------]
[------]ΑΝΤΑ κλεινὸν ΕΠΙΘ[---]
[------]ΕΙΝ δίκας τ᾿ ἀδίκοις τε δικαίοις
[------]Α καλῶν πρηκτῆρά τε ἔργων· 5
[------]Ν ἴδιον υεἱόν, Ἐλπὶς ἄκοιτις
[------]ΗΝ λυγρ᾿ ὀλοφυρομένη
[----φθ]ιμένοισι παρ᾿ εἰδίαν ἀρετ[ήν (?)]
[------]ΤΟΛΙ[------------]
[---] the famous [---] justice for the unjust and the just [---] and the performer of good deeds [---] his own son, and his wife Elpis [---] mournfully moaning [---] for the dead, against one’s virtue (?) ---.

Honorific epigrams on bases, herms, etc.

  • 17 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 3411, 3553, 3575, 3577, 3632, 3640, 3661, 3662, 3706, 3 (...)
  • 18 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 3740, 3744, 3750, 3752, 3753, 3754, 3755, 3759, 3764, 3 (...)

10Honours in verses are less usual, with roughly six times less examples, than in the previous class. Around 140 such monuments can be classified quite certainly, as regards their support. More than half of them are bases (81)17 of different shapes, the rectangular basic statue base being the most common (67) type. This type of monument is the most natural, for it provides a base, upon which a statue was usually erected. Other base forms are round, half-round, cubic, hexagonal and oblong. Behind the bases, on thein second place, come herms (32)18, mostly due to the numerous Attic ephebic honorific epigrams. The rest of support types (stele, plate, block, altar, column, mural stone, pillar, slab, and abacus, thus overlapping with sepulchral monuments) are represented by only 30 epigrams, so a glance at the two principal supports is more appropriate.

  • 19 IG II/III (ed. minor) 13277.

111. Late 4th-century couplet of epigrams for the Athenian sophist Iamblichus, cut over an erased inscription, probably datable to the second century, as specialists in herm sculpture say – beard and the philosopher´s cloak are visible19:

Tοῦτον καὶ μετὰ πότμον ἀθωπεύτοις γλυφίδεσσ[ι]
ὁ στεγανὸς τῖσεν Πάγος Ἄρεος, οὕνεκα πύργους
τείχεος ἕρκος ἔτευξεν Ἰάμβλιχος ὄλβον ὀπάσσας.
καὶ σοφίῃ κόσμησεν Ἰάμβλιχος οὗτος Ἀθήνας
[καὶ Κρανα]ῇ κρατερὸν τε[ῖχος ἐπ]ῇρε πόλει.
--------------------?-------------------------
The covered hill of Areopagus honoured this man even after his death with carvings which cannot flatter him, Iamblichus, because he built the towers, the defence wall, giving his wealth.
This Iamblichus adorned Athens Athens through his wisdom [and rai]sed a mighty wa[ll] for the city [of Cranaus ---?].
  • 20 IG II/III (ed. minor) 13288.

122. A badly broken monumental statue base honouring a late 5th-century restorer of Athens. This is another support for twin epigrams (the second one in hexameters), but initially the inscription was published as sepulchral epigrams, on the basis of a squeeze; the editor had forgotten the very heavy support behind his squeeze and restored nice sepulchral verses at the broken left and right edges of the base.20

‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑ ⏑ ‒ ⏑

[‒⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑ ⏑ ‒ στ]ῆσεν Ι ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒
[‒ ⏑ ⏑ ‒ ⏑ ⏑ ‒ ⏑ ⏑ ἀν]δρείοιο ⏑ ‒ ⏑
[‒⏑ ⏑ ‒ ⏑ ⏑ ‒ ἔρ]γμασι Κε[κροπίην].
‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ΟΣ ἐσθλὸν ⏑ ‒ ⏑
‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ἄστε[ι] τῶιδε γέρ[ηρεν]
‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑ ἀρηγ[όνα χεῖρα τιταίν[ων]
[‒⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑⏑ ‒ ⏑ ἀπ]ὸ χθο[ν]ὸς αὖθις ἔγειρε[ν].
[--- s]et up the statue of I[ulianus(?) ---] of the [co]urageous [---] At[hens] with (building) wor[ks].
[---] the good [---] he gave as a reward to this city, stretch[ing] out his helpin[g] hand, [---] he raised up once again [fr]om the gr[o]und.

Dedicatory epigrams on bases, in mosaics, altars, plates, etc.

13A third prominent class of verse inscriptions in Greece from the imperial period is the dedication of gifts by (mostly) private persons. Actually, there are more than 200 examples of this inscriptional class in the material, but this relatively high number is partly due to many subclasses (dedications of magistrates, soldiers, game victors, etc.), and some additional ones from Early Christian mosaics – as dedicated decorations of buildings they could also be classified as building epigrams. As in all other classes of epigrams, Attica furnishes the most numerous examples (46), Argolis (29) comes in second place, followed by the eastern Aegean islands; reasons for this are detectable in the cults flourishing in Athens, Epidaurus and Rhodian Lindos.

  • 21 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor), nos. 3007, 3155, 4629, 4743, 4781, 4827; SEG 18, 70, SEG 30 (...)
  • 22 For Arcadia, cf. SEG 34, 327; for Boeotia, cf. SEG 34, 1746; AD 20B, p. 254-255; Spiro p. 219 no. (...)
  • 23 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 3005, 3323, 4717, 4740, 4796, and 13252; SEG 14, 116; f (...)
  • 24 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 4762 and 13251; for Argolis, cf. IG IV (ed. minor) 468; (...)
  • 25 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 4828, 4829, and 4840; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. I (...)
  • 26 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 3116, 3164, 4347, 4792, 4797, 4826; AM 67 (1942) 161 no (...)

14The types of supports are disturbingly variable – there are almost 20 of them – because of the various dedicated gifts encompassing several subclasses such as military, ephebic and agonistic epigrams. The most common supports are bases (37)21 of various forms, mosaics (13)22, altars (13)23, plates (12)24, natural rocks (10)25, and stelai (15)26. Less usual supports include herm, kioniskos, plinth, block, statue, slab, epistyle, sundial, mural stone, tripod and amulet. Once again the obvious overlapping with both sepulchral and honorific epigram supports gives an uncomfortable feeling.

  • 27 Lindos II no. 498.

15The class of dedicatory epigrams is show-cased by another Late Antique inscription, a huge rock-cut dedication by the self-advertising Aglochartos on Rhodian Lindos.27 It has been levelled in the form of a ship, near the entrance to the acropolis proper. The epigram is the largest one within the whole material: half a metre high and almost 3 metres wide. There are five further dedications on Lindian natural rock by the same Aglochartos.

Ὡς Κέλεος σταχύεσσι περιβρείθουσαν ἄρουραν
Δηοῖ γειομόρου ἄνθεμα θῆκε βίου,
ὡς αὐτοῦ δώροισιν ἐρισταφύλου Διονύσου
Εἰκάριος ἐρατὴν εὗρε γεωπονίην,
εἴκελον Ἀγλώχαρτος ἀπημάντοισιν ἐλαίαις 5
στέψεν Ἀθηναίης Λίνδου ὕπερθεν ἄκρην.
As Keleos set the field drooping with ears of corn as a dedication of ploughing life to Demeter, and as Icarius invented lovely tillaging by the gifts of Dionysus rich in grapes, in similar manner Aglochartos crowned the acropolis of Athena of Lindos with intact olive-trees.

Building inscriptions

  • 28 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 5201 and 13291; for Macedonia, cf. IG X 2, 1, no. 42.
  • 29 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 13289 and 13290.
  • 30 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 5185 and 5189.
  • 31 The tile epigram is IG X 2, 1, no. 43.

16The last class of epigrams is quite poorly documented in the material: only 16 examples – or around 30, if the Early Christian mosaic dedications commemorating decorations of churches were included. No very clear patterns can be drawn out with such a low number of epigrams. Half a dozen different supports are met with: blocks (3)28, mural stones (2)29, gates or arches (2)30, a geison, a slab, a plaque and even an epigram lettered with tiles.31

Special cases

17A considerable number of varia (21), and even more numerous fragmentary incerta (83) remain, but for security they are better kept apart from the ones classified above.

  • 32 The catalogues all date basically from the 2nd century A.D.: IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 2021, 2023 (...)
  • 33 IG II/III (ed. minor) no. 1369.

18Before the final chapter, it should be added here that a few cases of only partially metrical inscriptions do exist. They are represented mostly by preambles of a few Attic catalogues32 and a sacred law33. Athens especially, together with Greece proper (i.e. the province of Achaia) were by large the principal area in the Balkans where epigram writing was fervently carried on until Late Antiquity. In this respect the metrical parts in Attic catalogues should be understood as “poetical” outbursts of the Athenian élite.

Further thoughts on the material surveyed

19I would have liked to compare the number of prose inscriptions to that of epigrams within each inscriptional class, but it would have taken a huge amount of work to build up corpora from the imperial period. In the best case scenario, a regional corpus may be recent (e.g. Samos or islands of the Ionian Sea), but in the worst case older than 100 years (e.g. Argolis). However, I would be inclined to believe that the prose inscriptions mainly stuck to the same variety of supports as the metrical ones. I am convinced that the prose inscriptions had roughly the same function as the linguistically more cultivated metric ones: both of them were meant to be seen and to be read (aloud) in a given reception situation. Public honours were probably bestowed on a person in a ceremony, a building was dedicated or inaugurated in another public happening, whereas the commemoration of private dedications and grave inscriptions belonged to a reception situation of more limited nature. By way of expanding the material to include also the prose inscriptions we could be more certain about the locally preferred monument type. For example, so far no sepulchral epigram cut on a sarcophagus south of Thebes from the imperial period has come to my attention. On the other hand, I know of Roman sarcophagi from Attica (e.g. from Eleusis) with inscriptions in prose. Thus the results of my epigrammatical survey may not be used negatively – this is just a reminder.

20It would be easier to give a general picture of the evolution of verse inscriptions in Late Antique Greece: less than 10 per cent of the sepulchral epigrams are Late Antique, less than 20 per cent of the dedications are late, about 25 per cent of the honours are late – only in the class of building epigrams roughly half of the epigrams are late. But it is difficult to assess the drop in number of Late Antique inscriptions, a fact that seems to explain the difference in the number of epigrams during 30 B.C - 250 A.D. and the subsequent Late Antique period until the end of the 6th century: both periods are similar in length but very dissimilar in epigraphic productivity. Much has to be attributed to pure chance survival of epigrams and prose inscriptions from the later period. The classes became less diverse: only honours, dedications (although changed), building inscriptions and sepulchral epigrams continue into Late Antiquity, but subclasses such as ephebic and agonistic epigrams become extinct as the institutions themselves were more or less discontinued.

21The concentration of verse inscriptions into particular sites in Greece is almost self-evident: Athens, Corinth, Epidaurus, Thespiae, Larissa, Thessalonica on the continent represent rather wealthy Roman cities – Thespiae and Epidaurus partly due to their cult status. However, there is a curious profile on the islands: Rhodes, Kos, and Lesbos in the eastern Aegean, Paros and Amorgos in the central Aegean, Thasos in the northern Thracian Sea are the leading exponents of verse inscriptions during the imperial period. Without any knowledge of the Hellenistic patterns on these particular islands, I have played around with an idea that it might not be just a coincidence that most of them were famous for their poets: Apollonius, Theocritus, Sappho, Alcaeus, Archilochus and Semonides. Before reaching such a hurried conclusion, a survey of the total epigraphic output of these islands during classical, Hellenistic and imperial periods has to be carried out.

 

22Finally, it is necessary to assess the usefulness of the preceding survey. In cases where an epigram is too fragmentary for classification, we are inclined to corroborate our interpretation from as many angles as possible. If the philological method is not strong enough (e.g. wordings in sepulchral and honorific epigrams are too similar for reaching an interpretation), the support type of the epigram may gain more weight than anything else. But even then, we must remember that many support types overlap with each other – thus we are talking about only more probable alternatives. For example, blocks are used in almost every epigrammatic class in the surveyed material, but there are reliefs on sepulchral epigrams more often than in any other epigram class. Also the letter height may give an idea of the monumentality of a given epigram. There are very small dedications, but at the other end there are huge dedications (like the one from Lindos presented above). The smallest epigram I have come across has been faintly scribbled on a revetment plate in Corinth, in letters a few mm high and barely visible to the eye.

Figure 1. IG II/III, 13451. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 1. IG II/III, 13451. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 2. IG II/III, 13373. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 2. IG II/III, 13373. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 3. IG X 2, 1, 630B. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 3. IG X 2, 1, 630B. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 4. IBeroia 404. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 4. IBeroia 404. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 5. SEG 47, 737. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 5. SEG 47, 737. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 6. IG II/III, 13277. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 6. IG II/III, 13277. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 7. IG II/III, 13288. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 7. IG II/III, 13288. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 8. Lindos 2, 498. Photo E. Sironen.

Figure 8. Lindos 2, 498. Photo E. Sironen.

Note

1 Epigraphical hymns and oracles are usually very long inscriptions: I am quite sure that for their carving a very different writing material was sought after. As inscriptional classes, hymns and oracles are also far away from epigrams, which are usually short (less than 20 verses).

2 All dates are meant A.D. unless otherwise mentioned; unless otherwise mentioned, all translations are made by the author.

For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor), nos. 5426, 5796, 6983, 7447, 7857a, 8046a, 8395, 8396, 8955, 9145, 9611, 9898, 10073, 10116, 10118, 10385, 10578a, 10699a, 10826, 10900, 10981, 11040, 11275, 11267, 11374, 11474, 11496, 11589, 11636, 11674, 12044, 12318, 12476/7, 12514, 12617, 12629, 12767, 12794, 12828, 12949, 12960, 13012, 13126, 13133, 13134, 13137, 13138, 13143, 13144, 13145/6, 13147, 13148, 13150, 13152, 13161, 13162, 13164, 13165, 13173, 13175, 13326, 13373, 13374, 13375, 13446, 13454, 13481, 13532, and 13539; furthermore, cf. SEMA nos. 557, 1404, 1900, 1923, 2071, 2143, 2147, 2245, 2364, 2384, 2471, 2498, 2619, 2620, 2622, 2624, 2626, 2637, 2641, 2642, 2643, 2646, 2647, 2649, 2650, 2992; for Argolis, cf. IG IV, nos. 395, 621, 623-624; IG IV (ed. minor), no. 960; Corinth VIII 1, no 133; Corinth VIII 3, no. 658; GVI, nos. 104, 615, 618; SEG 17, 154; for Laconia, cf. IG V 1, nos. 727, 728, 729, 730, 734, 737, 739, 922, 1187, 1222, 1235, 1249ab; SEG 11, 865; for Arcadia, cf. IG V 2, nos.179, 180, 181, 325, 326, 327, 472; GVI nos. 1400, 2056; for Elis and Achaia, cf. BCH 87 (1963), 794 and BCH 88 (1964), 186-187; SEG 42, 372; Achaie II, 195-211 nos. 145, 146, 147, 148, 149, and 162; for Boeotia, cf. IG VII nos. 582-584, 1883/4, 1886, 2539; AE 1937 II 655-667; AD 1983 B2, 123; GVI nos. 959, 1941; SEG 19, 372b, SEG 28, 459; for Phocis and Locris, cf. IG IX 1, no 256 and IG IX (ed. minor) 1, 2, no 431; GVI nos. 766, 1092; for Epirus and the islands of the Ionian Sea, cf. IG IX (ed. minor) 1, 4, nos.1036, 1325; SEG 51, 754; for Thessaly, cf. IG IX 2, nos. 185, 314, 316, 640, 642, 643, 645, 647, 648, 649, 650, 652, 656, 658, 659, 661, 988, 1330; GVI nos. 907, 1071, 1597, 1708; GVI Thessalien, p. 22-23, no. 21 and p. 24-26, no. 23; SEG 28, 507, 512, 514, 515, 521, and 522, SEG 32, 611, SEG 34, 498, SEG 45, 641 and 650, SEG 51, 673; for Macedonia and western Thrace, cf. IG X 2, 1, no. 847; GVI nos. 107, 429, 665, 732, 1063, 1317, 2030; IBeroia, nos. 390, 398, 400, 402, 405; Feissel, Macédoine, nos. 57, 60, 61; Klio 52 (1971) 58-59, no. 10; SEG 26, 727, SEG 38, 605, SEG 49, 686, SEG 51, 824; EAM, nos. 62, 194; Loukopoulou, E no. 466; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 1, nos. 151, 738 and 981; IG XII 2, nos. 372, 459; IG XII 6, nos. 720, 729, 1246, 1253; GVI, nos. 311, 328, 936, 1131, 1142, 1158, 1363, 1455, 1625, 1919, 2039; ICos EF nos. 98, 402, 409, 411, 427, and 753; SEG 45, 1080; for the central Aegean, cf. IG XII 3, nos. 281, 820, 1053, 1188; IG XII 5, nos. 30, 300, 301; IG XII 7, nos. 118, 119, 120, 138, 287, 290, 291, 295, 310, 313, 315, 316, 378, 499, 518; IG XII 9, nos. 1239 and 1240; IG XII Suppl., 89, no. 158 and 101, no. 185; GVI nos. 108, 129, 135, 215, 240, 355, 359, 369, 372, 374, 395, 407, 408, 410, 464, 465, 471, 538, 579, 625, 653, 693, 708, 741, 817, 964, 1005, 1052, 1101 ,1202, 1295, 1423a, 1562, 1660, 1775, 1856, 1904, 2031; SEG 26, 1023, SEG 27, 571 and 615, SEG 45, 1177 and 1178; for Thracian Sea islands, cf. IG XII 8, no. 451; Thasos II, 141, no. 283 and p. 174-175, no. 339; GVI nos. 627, 705, 923; finally, for Crete, cf. IC I, p. 147 no. 50, p. 148 no. 52, p. 224 no. 178; GVI nos. 472, 478, 776, 853, 878, 958, 1553, 1882; SEG 23, 532, SEG 28, 747, 756, and 759.

3 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 11519a, 11587a, 13132, 13136a, 13136b, 13149, 13327, 13338, 13426, 13426, 13440, 13498, 13530, 13531; SEMA nos. 1184, 1621, 1965, 1984, 2510, 2629, 2630, 2631, 2632, 2644, 2651, 2652, 2655, 2991, 3188; GVI no. 1740; for Argolis, cf. IG IV nos. 628 and 802; IG IV (ed. minor) no. 962; Corinth VIII 1, nos. 103 and 135; Corinth VIII 3, nos. 305 and 307; GVI nos. 484 and 1867; SEG 26, 405; SEG 11, 385e; SEG 29, 308, 322, 323, and 372; for Laconia and Messenia, cf. IG V 1, nos. 725, 733, 738, 960, 1188, and 1368; GVI no. 1931; SEG 47, 417A; for Elis and Achaia, cf. AD 23B 164; Achaie II, p. 196, no. 146 and p. 236, no. 196; GVI no. 1091; for Megaris and Boeotia, cf. IG VII nos. 53 and 2249; for the islands of the Ionian Sea, cf. IG IX (ed. minor) 1, 4, nos. 1024, 1123, and 1570; for Thessaly, cf. GVI Thessalien 33-34 nos. 33 and 34; SEG 23, 440; for Macedonia and western Thrace, cf. IG X 2, 1, nos. 284, 299, 368, 428, 436, 588, 719, 758B, 773, 775, 876, 1011, 1019; IBeroia nos. 401, 406, 434; EAM nos. 62,133, and 137; IPhilippoi no. 609; SEG 29, 647, SEG 45, 795B; Loukopoulou E 98, 217, and 220; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 1, nos. 154 and 1037; IG XII 2, no. 466; IG XII Suppl., p. 24 no. 68; GVI nos. 826 und 2086; ICos EF nos. 372 und 760; for central Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 3, nos. 1189, 1191, 1192; IG XII 7, nos. 121, 122, 127, 128, 130, 131, 137, 311, 312, 381, 498; IG XII 9, no. 856; IG XII Suppl. p. 101 no. 185; GVI nos. 467, 938, and 1067; for Thracian Sea islands, cf. IG XII 8, nos. 40 and 41; IG XII Suppl. 148, no. 340; GVI no. 2024; SEG 18, 365 and 366; Thasos II, p. 196 no. 370; for Crete, cf. IC II, p. 80 no. 51, p. 126 no. 21, p. 274 no. 13; IC III, p. 71 no. 51; IC IV p. 413 no. 508; GVI nos. 521, 683; Bandy no. 103; SEG 50, 920.

4 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 5808, 10046a, 12568/9, 13161a, 13451; SEMA nos. 926, 2633, and 2657; for Argolis, cf. GVI no. 1773; for Laconia, cf. IG V 1, nos. 731 and 732; for Megaris and Boeotia, cf. IG VII nos. 115-117 and 2540; BCH 82 (1958) 152, no. 264; for Thessaly, cf. IG IX 2, nos. 582 and 639; GVI Thessalien 37 no. 38; for Macedonia and western Thrace, cf. Oikonomos, p.14-15, nos. 10 and 11, p. 21, no. 28; Loukopoulou E 29 and 219; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 6, no. 1259; GVI nos. 106 and 1003; for central Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 3, no. 870; IG XII 5, nos. 299, 588; GVI nos. 48, 400, 537, 1006, 1156, 1649; SEG 27, 615; for Crete, cf. GVI no. 1852 and SEG 32, 896.

5 For Boeotia, cf. IG VII nos. 2543-2545; for the islands of the Ionian Sea, cf. IG IX (ed. minor) 1, 4, no. 1546; for Thessaly, cf. IG IX 2, no. 317; AE 1929, p. 144 nos. 13, 14, 15, 16, and p. 145 no 17; GVI no. 628; for Macedonia, cf. IG X 2, 1, nos. 524, 531, 541, 557B, 559, 571, 625, 628B, 630BC, 657, and 848; GVI nos. 253 and 1772; for central Aegean islands, cf. GVI nos. 810 and 1860; for Thracian Sea islands, cf. IG XII 8, no. 452; GVI nos. 248, 314, 790, 2026; SEG 18, 362; for Crete, cf. SEG 28, 748.

6 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 10549, 11140, 11627; for Macedonia, cf. IG X 2, 1, nos. 454, 455, 464, 479, 512, 513, 819, 822; IBeroia nos. 386, 394, 395, 396, 397, 399, 403, 404; Dimitsas p. 157 no. 195; GVI nos. 229, 569, 1482a, and 1972; EAM no. 160; IPhilippoi no. 129; SEG 44, 525, SEG 52, 600; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 1, no. 152; IG XII 3, no. 107; ICos EF 757; GVI nos. 378 and 925; AD 47B 657; for central Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 3, no. 870.

7 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 12664, 13151, 13450; for Argolis, cf. Corinth VIII 3, no. 512; for Arcadia, cf. IG V 2, nos. 178, 182, 184, 185; For Thessaly, cf. IG IX 2, nos. 651 and 991; SEG 26, 645; for Macedonia, cf. SEG 31, 633B; IBeroia no. 407; Feissel, Macédoine, no. 230; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. SEG 42, 762; for central Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 3, no. 1065; AE 1960 Xronika/ 3-4; for Crete, cf. Hesperia 36 (1967) 190-192.

8 For Attica, cf. SEMA no. 2623; for Argolis, cf. IG IV 196; Corinth VIII 3, nos. 300 and 450; SEG 16, 262; for Boeotia, cf. IG VII nos. 1686-1688; for Macedonia, cf. EAM no. 202 and GVI no. 1045; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 2, nos. 383 and 384; IG XII 3, nos. 221; ICos EF no. 346; GVI no. 1011; for central Aegean islands, cf. GVI nos. 116, 389, 434, 1097, 1382, 1383, 2030; BCH 85 (1961) 848; SEG 23, 518, SEG 40, 705; for Thracian Sea islands, cf. IG XII Suppl., p. 170 no. 477; for Crete, cf. GVI 1157.

9 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 9713, 10162, 10457a, 11606a, 12701, 13127/8, 13135, and 13391; SEMA nos. 1206, 2251/2, 2628, and 2653; for Thessaly, cf. SEG 47, 737; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 6, no. 638 and GVI no. 807.

10 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 9735, 11491, 11552, 12418, 12984, 13136, and 13139/42 and SEMA no. 1555.

11 For Boeotia, cf. IG VII no. 455; for Thessaly, cf. IG IX 2, no. 655; SEG 35, 630; GVI no. 1826; for Macedonia, cf. IG X 2, 1, no. 447; for central Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 3, no. 868.

12 IG II/III (ed. minor) no. 13451.

13 IG II/III (ed. minor) no. 13473.

14 IG X 2, 1, no. 630B.

15 IBeroia no 404.

16 SEG 47, 737.

17 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 3411, 3553, 3575, 3577, 3632, 3640, 3661, 3662, 3706, 3709, 3714, 3743, 3756, 3790, 3811, 3879, 3963, 3964, 4058, 4077, 4086, 4211, 4218, 4251/3, 4258, 13262, 13275, 13276, 13280, 13281, 13284, 13288; IEleusis nos. 585 and 657; for Argolis, cf. IG IV nos. 787, 798, and 1608; IG IV (ed. minor) nos. 687 and 692; Corinth VIII 1, nos. 86, 88, and 89; Corinth VIII 3, nos. 118 and 128; SEG 11, 325, SEG 16, 261, SEG 18, 137; for Laconia, cf. IG V 1, nos. 455, 456, 599, and 977; SEG 11, 773; for Arcadia and Elis, cf. IG V 2 no. 153; Olympia nos. 352, 449, 450, 457, and 481; for Megaris and Boeotia, cf. IG VII nos. 94-95, 96, 113, 1855; BCH 26 (1902) 302 no. 25; SEG 15, 322 and SEG 30, 483; for Phocis, cf. SEG 18, 199 and SEG 41, 517; for islands of the Ionian Sea, cf. IG IX 1, 4, no. 1514; for Thessaly, cf. IG IX 2, no 1135; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 1, nos. 44, 806, and 837; Hellenica IV, p. 117; for central Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 5, nos. 291 and 489; IG XII 9 no. 994; for Crete, cf. IC I, p. 256 no. 13B; IC IV, p. 349-351, nos. 323, 324, and 325.

18 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 3740, 3744, 3750, 3752, 3753, 3754, 3755, 3759, 3764, 3765, 3767, 3768, 3769, 3772, 3795, 3819, 3990/1, 3998, 4261, and 13277; SEG 22, 156, SEG 30, 181; for Argolis, cf. IG IV nos. 447 and 448; for Laconia and Messenia, cf. IG V 1, nos. 493, 540, and 1399; for Phocis, cf. SIG (3rd ed.) no 843A; BCH 80 (1956), p. 577-578; for Macedonia, cf. Klio 52 (1970), p. 55 no. 6, SEG 49, 696 and SEG 52, 623.

19 IG II/III (ed. minor) 13277.

20 IG II/III (ed. minor) 13288.

21 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor), nos. 3007, 3155, 4629, 4743, 4781, 4827; SEG 18, 70, SEG 30, 173, SEG 48, 259; for Argolis, cf. IG IV nos. 365, 666, and 783; IG IV (ed. minor) nos. 228, 436, 537, 574; Corinth VIII 1, no. 102; Corinth VIII 3, no 64; for Messenia and Arcadia, cf. SEG 23, 220 and IG V 2 no. 287; For Elis, cf. Olympia nos. 225 and 239; for Boeotia, cf. IG VII nos. 1796, 1797, 1798, 1799, 1800, 1801, 1802, 1804, and 1805; SEG 13, 348, SEG 15, 320; AM 66 (1941) 71 no. 18; BCH 50 (1926) 406 no. 21; for islands of the Ionian Sea, cf. IG IX (ed. minor) 1, 4, no. 845; for central Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 3 Suppl. no. 1328.

22 For Arcadia, cf. SEG 34, 327; for Boeotia, cf. SEG 34, 1746; AD 20B, p. 254-255; Spiro p. 219 no. 76; for Epirus, cf. AE 1918, p. 29-33, nos. 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5; for islands of the Ionian Sea, cf. IG IX (ed. minor) 1, 4, nos. 1497, 1498, and 1499; for Thessaly, cf. SEG 37, 501.

23 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 3005, 3323, 4717, 4740, 4796, and 13252; SEG 14, 116; for Argolis, cf. IG IV (ed. minor) nos. 424, 433, 455, 550, and 551; for Crete, cf. IC I, p. 171 no. 24.

24 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 4762 and 13251; for Argolis, cf. IG IV (ed. minor) 468; for Laconia, cf. IG V 1, nos. 257, 259, and 316; for Phocis and Locris, cr. SEG 18, 220 and SEG 28, 502; for Macedonia, cf. IG X 2, 1, nos. 45 and 63; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 6, 584; for central Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 3 Suppl. no. 1329.

25 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 4828, 4829, and 4840; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. IG XII 1, nos. 779, 780, 781, 782, and 783; Lindos II no. 498; for Crete, cf. IC II, p. 301-302, no. 2.

26 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 3116, 3164, 4347, 4792, 4797, 4826; AM 67 (1942) 161 no. 334; SEMA, exclusa no. 127; for Argolis, cf. IG IV 443; for Laconia, cf. IG V 1, nos. 258, 264, 315; for islands of the Ionian Sea, cf. IG IX (ed. minor) 1, 4, no. 846; for Thessaly, cf. SEG 28, 509; for eastern Aegean islands, cf. AM 24 (1899), p. 358.

27 Lindos II no. 498.

28 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 5201 and 13291; for Macedonia, cf. IG X 2, 1, no. 42.

29 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 13289 and 13290.

30 For Attica, cf. IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 5185 and 5189.

31 The tile epigram is IG X 2, 1, no. 43.

32 The catalogues all date basically from the 2nd century A.D.: IG II/III (ed. minor) nos. 2021, 2023, 2037, 2053, 2055, 2105, 2118, 2131+2191+2192, 2193, and 2199.

33 IG II/III (ed. minor) no. 1369.

Indice delle illustrazioni

Titolo Figure 1. IG II/III, 13451. Photo E. Sironen.
URL http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/docannexe/image/5816/img-1.jpg
File image/jpeg, 676k
Titolo Figure 2. IG II/III, 13373. Photo E. Sironen.
URL http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/docannexe/image/5816/img-2.jpg
File image/jpeg, 925k
Titolo Figure 3. IG X 2, 1, 630B. Photo E. Sironen.
URL http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/docannexe/image/5816/img-3.jpg
File image/jpeg, 1001k
Titolo Figure 4. IBeroia 404. Photo E. Sironen.
URL http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/docannexe/image/5816/img-4.jpg
File image/jpeg, 1,9M
Titolo Figure 5. SEG 47, 737. Photo E. Sironen.
URL http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/docannexe/image/5816/img-5.jpg
File image/jpeg, 2,0M
Titolo Figure 6. IG II/III, 13277. Photo E. Sironen.
URL http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/docannexe/image/5816/img-6.jpg
File image/jpeg, 808k
Titolo Figure 7. IG II/III, 13288. Photo E. Sironen.
URL http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/docannexe/image/5816/img-7.jpg
File image/jpeg, 1,1M
Titolo Figure 8. Lindos 2, 498. Photo E. Sironen.
URL http://books.openedition.org/enseditions/docannexe/image/5816/img-8.jpg
File image/jpeg, 1,3M

Autore

Erkki Sironen est professeur (Senior Lecturer) de langue et littérature grecques à l’Institutum Classicum de l’université d’Helsinki (Finlande). Il est également professeur en philologie grecque. Il travaille sur les inscriptions d’époque romaine et byzantine et les épigrammes. Il est aussi l’éditeur de textes humanistes grecs et latins datés de l’empire suédois (XVIe-XVIIIe siècle). Erkki Sironen est notamment l’auteur de : « An Honorary Epigram for Empress Eudocia in the Athenian Agora », Hesperia, n° 59, 1990, p. 371-374 ; « Statue Base Epigrams in Honor of a Restorer from Early Byzantine Athens », Arctos, n° 29, 1995, p. 163-173 ; The Late Roman and Early Byzantine Inscriptions of Athens and Attica, Helsinki, Diss. université d’Helsinki, 1997 ; Johan Paulinus (Lillienstedt), Magnus Principatus Finlandia, Helsinki, 2000 ; « Project on Early Byzantine Non-Funerary Epigrams », dans L’épistolographie et la poésie épigrammatique : projets actuels et questions de méthodologie. Actes de la 16e Table ronde organisée dans le cadre du XXe Congrès international des Études byzantines (Dossiers Byzantins 3), Paris, 2003, p. 233-237 ; Inscriptiones Graecae II/III (editio altera), Pars V. Inscriptiones Atticae aetatis quae est inter Herulorum incursionem et Imp. Mauricii tempora, Berlin - New York, 2008 ; Inscriptiones Gracae IV, Inscriptiones Argolidis (editio altera), Fasc. III. Inscriptiones Corinthiae saeculorum IV. V. VI, Berlin - München - Boston, 2016.

Il testo e gli altri elementi (illustrazioni, file importati) possono essere utilizzati con OpenEdition Books License, se non diversamente specificato.

Acquista

Cerca su OpenEdition Search

Sarai reindirizzato su OpenEdition Search