Evidence ID
E00976
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
On a boundary stone:
ἐνορία <ἀ>σ<υλ>ίας (?) τῶν ἁγίων
μαρτύρων Σεργίου καὶ Βάκ-
χου φιλοτιμηθέντες ὑπὸ τοῦ
βασιλέως ἡμῶν Ἰουστιν[ιανοῦ]
[1. possibly ἐνορία <ἀ>σ<υλ>ίας Feissel (in a letter dated 17.09.2016), ἐνορίας μιας (?) Studia Pontica]
'Territory of the asylum of the holy martyrs Sergios and Bakchos, granted by our emperor Justinian.'
Text: Studia Pontica II, 120, note 2, modified.
Cult PlacesAwarding privileges to cult centres
Protagonists in Cult and Narratives
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityAwarding privileges to cult centres
Seeking asylum at church/shrine
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesMonarchs and their family
Source
A stone found near Koumenos in the area of Aladjam, near ancient Amaseia (Helenopontus, north-eastern Asia Minor). Its existence was communicated to Franz Cumont by Anthimos Alexoudes, metropolitan bishop of Amaseia. There is no published description.Discussion
The inscription is from a boundary stone of a sanctuary of Saints *Sergios and *Bakchos. According to the original reading, the first line contains an unusual introductory formula ἐνορίας μίας (?) τῶν ἁγίων, normally it should be ὅροι τῶν ἁγίων. However, we cannot be sure if this reading is correct. ἐνορία means 'territory' (see, for example, an inscription from Prokonnesos, published in the Packard Humanities Institute database under no. IMT Kyz PropInseln 1322: ἀπὸ χορίου Νενου ἐνορίας Μίρου πόλε[ως] / 'from the village of Nenos in the territory of the city of Miros'). The meaning of μιας is less clear in this context. Normally, μιᾶς is the feminine genitive of the numeral 'one' (εἷς, μία, ἕν). Perhaps the sanctuary owned several estates which were numbered no. 1, no. 2, etc. Therefore, one could understand the expression ἐνορίας μιᾶς τῶν ἁγίων μαρτύρων Σεργίου καὶ Βάκχου as '(Boundaries) of the estate (territory) no. 1 (of the church) of the holy martyrs Sergios and Bakchos'.The other, more plausible, possibility is that line 1 needs to be emended. Denis Feissel proposed that one could read the first two words as ἐνορία <ἀ>σ<υλ>ίας / 'the territory (site) of the refuge'.
Dating: 527–565, based on a reference to the emperor Justinian.
Bibliography
Edition:Amelotti, M., Migliardi Zingale, L., (eds.), Le costitutioni giustinianee nei papiri e nelle epigrafi (Milan: A. Giuffré, 1985), 133.
Cumont, F., Cumont, E., Studia Pontica, vol. 2: Voyage d'exploration archéologique dans le Pont et la Petite Arménie (Brussels: Lamertin, 1906), 120 note 2.
Further reading:
Anderson, J.G.C., Cumont, F., Grégoire, H., Studia Pontica, vol. 3, part 1: Recueil des inscriptions grecques et latines du Ponte et de l'Arménie (Brussels: Lamertin, 1910), 227.
Amelotti, M., Migliardi Zingale, L., (eds.), Le costitutioni giustinianee nei papiri e nelle epigrafi (Milan: A. Giuffré, 1985), 135.
Destephen, S., "Martyrs locaux et cultes civiques en Asie Mineure", in: J.C. Caillet, S. Destephen, B. Dumézil, H. Inglebert, Des dieux civiques aux saints patrons (IVe-VIIe siècle) (Paris: éditions A. & J. Picard, 2015), 104.
Record Created By
Pawel Nowakowski
Date of Entry
12/12/2015
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00023 | Sergios, soldier and martyr of Rusafa | Σέργιος | Certain | S00079 | Bakchos, soldier and martyr of Barbalissos | Βάκχος | Certain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Pawel Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E00976 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E00976