Associations in the Greco-Roman World (AGRW)

An expanding collection of inscriptions, papyri, and other sources in translation (run by Philip A. Harland)

Grave of a Boy with Protection by Accountants (150-200 CE) Ephesos - Ionia


Ephesos (Ionia, Asia Minor — Pleiades map), 150-200 CE
Kearsley, Greeks and Romans in Imperial Asia (IGSK, 59; Bonn: Habelt, 2001), 54-55 (no. 75) = IEph 2103 = PHI 249810 = AGRW ID# 8585


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Block of marble with acroteria and moulding at the top and a bilingual inscription in Greek and Latin beneath (148 x 59 x 57 cm; letter height: 2 cm). The deceased father was an employee in the accounting or record-keeping office (tabularium) at Ephesos, and the guild of accountants is assigned protection of the tomb.

(Greek:) . . . To the divine spirits (?) . . . most sweet child, Philoumene (?) . . . and Marcellus, freedman of Augustus from the accounting office (tablarion).  This is the tomb of a seven year old child and his father with him.  Marcellinus was the name for them both.  Others with wreaths, libations, tears, and songs honored your tomb, Marcellinus.  But instead of libations, your father offered his own life, wanting to have a common name and a common death. (Latin:)  If anyone tries to move this altar or erase a word or mark it in any way, that one will pay a fine to the treasury in the amount of 10000 sesterces.  This altar will be protected by those who are in the accountants’ office (tabularium) at Ephesos.  (Greek:) Philoumene set this up from her own resources for her own husband and for her child.

Translation by: Harland



[Θ — — κ] | [τέκνω γλυκυτάτω] | [Φιλουμένη . c. 3. .] | [. .]ι̣ου Παν[. . . . c.8 . . . . καὶ Μαρκέλ]|λος Σεβ(αστοῦ) ἀπελεύθερος ἀπὸ ταβλαρί(ων) | ἑπταέτους ὁ τάφος παιδὸς | πατρός τε σὺν αὐτῷ· || Μαρκελλεῖνος ἔην ἀμφοτέροι[ς] | ὄνομα· | ἄλλοι μὲν στεφάνοισι, χοαῖς, | δακρύοις τε καὶ ᾠδαῖς | τειμῶσιν τὸν σόν, Μαρκελλεῖνε, || τάφον· | ἀντὶ χοῶν δ’ ὁ πατὴρ ψυχὴν | ἰδίαν ἐπέδωκεν, | κοινὸν ἔχειν ἐθέλων οὔνομ[α] |καὶ θάνατον· || hanc aran si quis temptaverit trans|ferre aut lịṭṭeram excidere aut aliạ | aliqua figura fecerit, dabet fisco poena[e] | nominae (sestertium) X m(ilia) n(ummum), haec ara defend[e]|tur ab iis qui sunt in tabulario Ephes[i·] || Φιλουμένη ἀνδρὶ ἰδίῳ καὶ τέκν[ῳ] | ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων.

Item added: December 21, 2012
Item modified: December 17, 2015
ID number: 8585
Short link address:
http://www.philipharland.com/greco-roman-associations/?p=8585

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