Honorary inscription for Ptolemy IX Soter II, Cleopatra Selene and their son
IGCyr080900
Trismegistos ID: 738381
Source Description
Support
Large limestone block, chipped off at all angles but the right lower one; three holes for attachment of a statue on top; with two similar blocks missing, one on the right (a) and one on the left (c), this block (b) belonged to a larger monument (reconstructed dimensions of the whole base 2; 0.298;0.893).
Layout
Inscribed in five lines on the face of the only preserved block b (0.643; 0.298;0.893).
Letters
At l. 1 0.026, at l. 2 0.027, at ll. 4-5 0.029, whereas l. 3 and beginning of l. 4 were erased; letters with slight serifs, omicron slightly smaller, non-slanting sigma.
Place of Origin
Findspot.
Date
Between the beginning of 108 and the end of 107 B.C. (reign)
Findspot
Found in 1919 at Cyrene pleiades; HGL : agora , behind the rear wall of the cella of the Temple of Zeus on the agora .
Last recorded Location
Studied by G. Paci in 1981 in situ.
Text constituted from
Transcription from previous editor.
Bibliography
Paci, 1989 Paci, G., 1989, Per la storia del dominio tolemaico in Cirenaica: nuovo basamento in onore dei dinasti alessandrini dall’agorà di Cirene, in L. Criscuolo, G. Geraci (eds.), Egitto e storia antica dall’ellenismo all’età araba: bilancio di un confronto. Atti del Colloquio internazionale, Bologna, 31 agosto - 2 settembre 1987, Bologna, 583-593 - see in bibliography , whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 39.1718. Cf. Zimmermann, 1999 Zimmermann, K., 1999, Libyen: Das Land südlich des Mittelmeers im Weltbild der Griechen, Vestigia51, Munich - see in bibliography , p. 163, whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 49.2504; Savalli-Lestrade, 2009 Savalli-Lestrade, I., 2009, Usages civiques et usages dynastiques de la damnatio memoriae dans le monde hellénistique (323-30 av. J.-C.), in S. Benoist, A. Daguet-Gagey, C. Hoët-van Cauwenberghe, S. Lefebvre (eds), Mémoires partagées, mémoires disputées: écriture et réécriture de l'histoire, Metz, 127-158 - see in bibliography , pp. 144, 156, whence SEG Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, Leiden, then Amsterdam, 1923-1971, then 1979- - see in bibliography , 59.1958.
Text
Apparatus
3-4 | [c. 17] | | [c. 4] [τῶν τόπων τῶν κ]α̣τὰ : Paci, 1989 Paci, G., 1989, Per la storia del dominio tolemaico in Cirenaica: nuovo basamento in onore dei dinasti alessandrini dall’agorà di Cirene, in L. Criscuolo, G. Geraci (eds.), Egitto e storia antica dall’ellenismo all’età araba: bilancio di un confronto. Atti del Colloquio internazionale, Bologna, 31 agosto - 2 settembre 1987, Bologna, 583-593 - see in bibliography [---] | [---] [κ]α̣τὰ : Paci, 1989 Paci, G., 1989, Per la storia del dominio tolemaico in Cirenaica: nuovo basamento in onore dei dinasti alessandrini dall’agorà di Cirene, in L. Criscuolo, G. Geraci (eds.), Egitto e storia antica dall’ellenismo all’età araba: bilancio di un confronto. Atti del Colloquio internazionale, Bologna, 31 agosto - 2 settembre 1987, Bologna, 583-593 - see in bibliography (perhaps) [---] [στρατηγὸς τῶν τόπων τῶν κ]α̣τὰ
French translation
(Les statues) [du roi Ptolémée], de la reine Cléopatre [ sa soeur, Dieux Sôtères, et de leur] fils Ptolémée [---] [ont été érigées] 〚par [---] , fils de [---] , exerçant la charge de [---] 〛 [dans les régions?] du côté de la Libye et par les [cités?] [---] [en raison de leur valeur] et de la générosité (qu'ils ont montrée) [à leur égard].
English translation
(The statues) [of king Ptolemy], of queen Cleopatra [ his sister, Gods Soteres, and of their] son Ptolemy [---] [have been erected] 〚by [---] , son of [---] , holding the office of [---] 〛 [in the places?] throughout Libya and by the [cities?] [---] [on behalf of their virtue] and of the kindness (they have shown) [towards themselves].
Italian translation
(Le statue) [del re Tolemeo], della regina Cleopatra [sua sorella, Dèi Soteri, e del loro] figlio Tolemeo [---] [sono state erette] 〚da [---] , figlio di [---] , quando ricopriva l'incarico di [---] 〛 [nelle regioni?] della Libia e dalle [città?] [---] [in considerazione della virtù] e della generosità (che hanno mostrato) [verso di essi].
Commentary
Paci, having discussed the three occasions when a king Ptolemy and a queen Cleopatra with a son Ptolemy might have been mentioned as rulers of Cyrenaica, was able to choose the last one, during a short period of Ptolemy IX Soter II's reign. For a similar titulature, see at IGCyr011100.
The erasure of the whole line 3 and of the beginning of line 4 shows that the main dedicator was an officer of higher rank at the court, who was no longer persona grata after the end of the reign. The idea that the erasure was due to the man who was replaced by Stolos son of Theon (see IGCyr016900 and IGCyr102500) or even to Stolos himself if he changed obedience after the king's flight has been presented as mere possibilities among others by Paci. Savalli-Lestrade is less cautious on that point.
About the administration of a region called τῶν κατὰ Λιβύην τόπων, see also IGCyr033900. If really parallel, the missing office would be στρατηγός. However, this word would be divided in two parts by the line-break, whereas the layout of the rest seems to be very carefully organised. Another office is not excluded.
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