31. Verse honours for Oecumenius; 254. Invocation

Description

Monument: A white marble statue, and a rectangular white marble statue base with panels within moulded edges on three sides (1.27 × 0.60 × 0.53).
Text: 31: Inscribed on the central panel of the base; the surface is rough, either because it was badly prepared, or more probably because an earlier inscription had been erased. 254: Inscribed on the head of the statue, behind the front line of hair, to the left of centre.
Letters: 31: Irregular, 0.025-0.04; I. 6. apparently an apostrophe after τῆιδ I. 9, Ω for ω(ν)). 254: Neatly cut.
Date: Later fourth century (style, language).

Text [Font help][Conventions]

	τὸν σὲ νόμων πλή\|θοντα, τὸν Ἰταλι\|ώτιδα Μοῦσαν ^v. \|
	^v. Ἀτθίδος ἡδυεπεῖ \| (5) ^v. κιρνάμενον μέλιτι \|
	τῆιδ' Οἰκουμένιον \| τὸν ἀοίδιμον ἡγεμο\|νῆα ^v.
	στῆσε φίλη \| βουλὴ τῶν Ἀφροδισιέω(ν)· \|
	(10) τῶι γὰρ δὴ καθαρῶι φρέ\|να καὶ χέρα, τί πλέον \| εὑρεῖν ^v.
	μνημοσύ\|νης ἀγαθῆς ἄλλο πά\|ρεστι γέρας; leaf

254

ΧΜΓ

Translation

31: You who are full of (knowledge of) laws, who have blended the Italian Muse with the sweet-voiced honey of the Attic, Oecumenius, the famous governor, the friendly council of the Aphrodisians has set you up here; for what greater reward than that of being well remembered can the man find who is pure in mind and in hand?

254: ?M(ary) b(ore) Ch(rist). God, help.

Photographs

31: Face (1972) 31: Top of base (1994) 31: View (1994)

Representations

31: Squeeze 254: Inscription on head (drawing, 2001) Statue and base: Drawing: K.Gorkay, from Smith (2002)

Commentary

For Oecumenius see List of Governors Oecumenius. For 31, see discussion at III.33. For the statue and the monument as whole, see Smith 'The Statue Monument of Oecumenius: A New Portrait of a Late Antique Governor from Aphrodisias' (JRS, 2002), 134-156. For 254, the inscription on the head, see discussion at VIII.20, and compare 145

Locations

Found: North Agora: standing against the north wall of the north stoa. See plan 1.
Original: Findspot.
Last Recorded: Findspot.

History

Recording: The base and the body of the statue were excavated by the NYU expedition in 1965 (base: 65. 198); see K. T. Erim in Turk Ark. Derg. 15.1 (1966), 61. The head was excavated in 2000.
Bibliography: Published by •Sevcenko (1967), 286, whence BE 1968.508; republished by •Sevcenko (1968) 29, whence BE 1969.543; by •Roueché, Aphrodisias in Late Antiquity, no. 31 and plate ix, whence PHI 724, Steinepigramme 02/09/17. Statue: K.T. Erim, ''Two new early Byzantine statues from Aphrodisias'', DOP 21 (1967), 285-6, no. 2; Smith (2002) 134-156.
Text constituted from: Publication; transcription (Roueché).

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