Greek inscription commemorating the paving of an aisle and the construction of a chancel screen in a church at Bargylia (Caria, western Asia Minor) by a certain Auxibios, probably a member of the city council, giving thanks to *Peter (the Apostle, S00036) and unnamed saints (S00518). Probably late antique (5th-6th c.).
Evidence ID
E00825
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Αὐξίβιος ὁ ἐδεσιμ(ότατος) π(ολιτεύομενος?)
[ὑ]πὲρ σωτηρίας ἑαυτοῦ
καὶ τῶν πεδίων μου
ἔστρωσα τὴν στοὰν
καὶ τοὺς κανκέλλους ἐ-
[ποίη]̣σα ἐκ τῶν τοῦ θ(ε)ο(ῦ) δομάτων
[εὐχ]αριστῶν τῷ ἁγίῳ Πέτρῳ καὶ τοῖς ἁγί-
οις
1. π(ρωτεύων) or π(ολιτευόμενος) Destephen, π(ρεσβύτερος?) Traina
'I, Auxibios, the most respected m(ember of the city council?), having used the gifts of God, paved this stoa (i.e. aisle) and constructed the chancel screen as a vow for delivering me and my children, giving thanks to Saint Peter and the saints.'
Text: Traina 1990, no. 2. Translation: P. Nowakowski.
Non Liturgical ActivityVow
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOfficials
Vow
Bequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Renovation and embellishment of cult buildings
Prayer/supplication/invocation
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesOfficials
Children
Source
Chancel screen slab found in the ruins of Bargylia: H. 0.7 m; W. 0.58 m; Th. 0.33 m. The inscription is written on the side lacking ornament.Discussion
The inscription records a vow of a certain Auxibios (see PCBE 3, Auxibios), giving thanks to *Peter the Apostle and some unnamed saints. Auxibios says that he makes the vow also on behalf of his children but he does not mention his wife. The object of the vow is paving an aisle and constructing a chancel screen in a local church.Auxibios' function is abbreviated as αἰδεσιμ(ώτατος) π(- - -). Giusto Traina, the first editor of the inscription, says that he could be a presbyter, π(ρεσβύτερος), but Sylvain Destephen points out that presbyters were not styled αἰδεσιμώτατοι and one would rather expect a municipal official, e.g. a member of the city council, π(ολιτευόμενος) or a principalis, π(ρωτεύων).
The inscription is dated by Traina to the 5th or 6th c., based on palaeography, a dating which seems entirely plausible.
Bibliography
Edition:Traina, G.,"Iscrizioni bizantine de Bargylia (Caria)", Orientalia Christiana Periodica 56 (1990), no. 2.
Further reading:
Destephen, S., Prosopographie du Diocese d'Asie (325-641) (Prosopographie chrétienne du Bas-Empire 3, Paris: Association des amis du centre d'histoire et civilisation de Byzance, 2008), Auxibios.
Reference works:
Chroniques d'épigraphie byzantine, 305.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum 40, 953.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
31/10/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00036 | Peter, the Apostle | Πέτρος | Certain | S00518 | Saints, unnamed | ἅγιοι | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00825 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00825