Fragmentary Greek inscription just possibly mentioning Euarestos, one of the *Ten Martyrs of Crete (S00823). Found at the village of Agioi Deka, close to ancient Gortyna (southern Crete). Probably 5th/6th c.
Evidence ID
E01387
Type of Evidence
Inscriptions - Formal inscriptions (stone, mosaic, etc.)
Inscriptions - Inscribed architectural elements
Fragment A:
[- - -]μι Εὐαρέσ̣τ[- - -]
[- - -]ι Εὐαρέστου κ[- - -] Xanthoudides
Fragments B + C:
[- - - ἐπι]σκό̣που κα[- - -]
κα[ὶ] Gerola
Fragment A: '[- - -] Euarest[os (?) - - -]'
Fragment B: '[- - - of bi]shop [- - -]'
Text: Bandy 1971, no. 29.
Cult PlacesEcclesiastics - bishops
Cult building - independent (church)
Non Liturgical ActivityBequests, donations, gifts and offerings
Protagonists in Cult and NarrativesEcclesiastics - bishops
Ecclesiastics - lesser clergy
Other lay individuals/ people
Source
Three fragments of marble blocks, almost certainly from a cymatium molding. Two of them conjoin.Fragment A: L. 0.36 m.
Fragments B + C: L. 0.47 m.
Letter height 0.025 m.
Found in 1901 buried near the church of Saint Titus in the village of Agioi Deka, during the excavations supervised by Stephanos Xanthoudides. First published by him in 1903.
Xanthoudies implausibly joined Fragment A with Fragment C, and therefore his reading differs from that of later editors. Interestingly, though Margheritta Guarducci correctly arranged the fragments on the drawing, she retained the implausible reading by Xanthoudides for Fragment A. For the correct reading and arrangement of fragments, see: Bandy 1971, no. 29.
Discussion
The inscription is very fragmentarily preserved, so all conclusions drawn from its contents are highly hypothetical. Anastasios Bandy identified it as either a sepulchral or a dedicatory text.Fragment A bears only one understandable word, which is the name 'Euaristos'. The name was borne by one of the Ten Martyrs of Crete, put to death under the emperor Decius (249-251), and venerated on the island. Given the fact that the inscription was found at the village of Agioi Deka, named after these Ten Martyrs, we can suppose that the martyr Euaristos might be mentioned here (as argued by Xanthoudides), or that a bishop (of Gortyna, as suggested by Guarducci and Bandy) or a lesser ecclesiastic, called after that saint, is referred to. Another possibility is that the inscription refers to a church dedicated to the saint.
Fragments B and C offer us just the word 'bishop' in the genitive case, proving, however, that the inscription dealt with ecclesiastical issues.
Dating: Bandy dates the inscription to the 5th/6th c., based on the form of letters and contents.
Bibliography
Edition:Bandy, A.C., (ed.), The Greek Christian Inscriptions of Crete (Athens: Christian Archaeological Society, 1971), no. 29.
Guarducci, M., Inscriptiones Creticae, vol. 4: Tituli Gortynii (Rome: Libreria dello Stato, 1950), no. 464.
Gerola, G., Monumenti veneti nell'isola di Creta, vol. 4 (Venice 1932), 549, no. 24.
Xanthoudides, S., “Χριστιανικαί επιγραφαί Κρήτης”, Ἀθηνᾶ 15 (1903), 127.
Further reading:
Halkin, F., "L'Egypte, Chypre, la Crète et les autres îles grecques. La Grèce continentale et les pays balkaniques. L'Italie et la Sycylie", Analecta Bollandiana 70 (1952), 120.
Record Created By
Paweł Nowakowski
Date of Entry
19/05/2016
| ID | Name | Name in Source | Identity | S00823 | Ten Martyrs of Crete | Εὐαρέστ[ος] | Uncertain |
|---|
Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL:
Paweł Nowakowski, Cult of Saints, E01387 - http://csla.history.ox.ac.uk/record.php?recid=E01387