DiscussionBase for gilded bronze statue of Flavius Ulpius Erythrius, governor of Thebais. From Antinoopolis (Thebais). 385-387 INSCRIPTIONThree elegiac distichs, set over nine lines: Ὁ κλύτος ὁ χρύσειος Ἐρύθρ[ιος] / ὁ πρόμος οὗτος ἐν χρυσέῃ στ[ήλῃ] / πουλύ τι παμφανόων. Τοῦ̣[το] / γὰρ ἐκ βασιλῆος ἔχει γέρας ἄξιο[ν] / (5) ἔργων, ὃς Θήβης μὲν ἑμῆς αὐτ[ὸν] / ἔπεμψε πρόμον· τὸν δ’ ἑκυρὸ[ν] / Θεόδωρον ἀριζήλης ἐπ’ ἀπήνη[ς] / Ῥώμης ὁπλοτέρης θήκατο / κηδεμόνα. '[This is] the noble, the golden Erythrius, this governor, shining brightly in a golden statue. For he achieved this as a reward worthy of his deeds from the emperor who sent him as a governor to my Thebes. And his father-in-law, Theodorus, on a conspicuous chariot he (= the emperor) made guardian of the younger Rome (=Constantinople).' This verse celebrates the golden (gilded) statue which the governor (praeses Thebaidos) Erythrius received as an imperial reward for his good governorship. The last distich mentions, in a reference to the noble family of Erythrius, his father-in-law Theodorus who held office as urban prefect of Constantinople. This office is entitled, in poetic language, 'guardian of the younger Rome'. The prefects, both urban and praetorian, were entitled to make use of a four-horse state coach (iudicale carpentum), alluded to in the inscription as a 'conspicuous chariot' (Berger 1981, p. 34 and figs. 1, 46, 48; Weber 1983). Below the inscription is a cross within a wreath, from which emanate two sinuous bands, and which is flanked by two palm branches. Letter height no recorded. DESCRIPTION (from Bernand 1969 and the published photo) Tall limestone base with mouldings at top and bottom: H. 125, W 60, D 60 cm. The epigraphic field is separated by a horizontal line from the top of the base, and (from the photograph) seems to have been lowered somewhat, perhaps a sign of reuse. The base is broken and lost along its right margin below the moulding, destroying the final letters of lines 1-7. The surface is weathered. In the top moulding there is a hole slightly to the right of centre. PROVENANCE AND CURRENT LOCATION The base was recorded in the village of Mellaoui el-Arich on the west bank of the Nile in 1885 by A. H. Sayce, and is recorded to come from the village of Reiramoun, likewise on the west bank, by the Museum-journals (Bernand 1969, 489 with n. 1). However, Bernand believes that it originated from Antinoopolis (Cheikh Abadeh) which lies on the opposite, east bank of the river c. 6 km north of Reiramoun (Bernand 1969, 15). Today in the Cairo Museum, inv. no. 9290. HONORAND, AWARDER, AND DATE Flavius Ulpius Erythrius was governor (praeses) of the Thebaid in 384-5 (PLRE I, 283-4 Flavius Ulpius Erythrius). His full name and title are recorded in two dated papyri in Leipzig (P.Lips. I 62 which consists of two papyri dated to 384 and 385 respectively). He is with all probability the same man as the prefect of Egypt (praefectus Augustalis) mentioned in a law of 388 (Codex Theodosianus IX. 11. 1). State officials at the end of the 4th century received honorific statues only after their time in office (Premerstein 1912, 216 with n. 36). Our inscription is therefore datable between 385 and 387. Erythrius' father-in-law Theodorus, referred to in lines 6-9, was urban prefect of Constantinople (PLRE I, 899 Theodorus 18). His time in office is dated on the basis of our inscription to either 385 or 387 (PLRE I, 1056, fasti of the urban prefects of Constantinople). The emperor referred to in the text is presumably the senior emperor Theodosius I. The singular form βασιλῆος in line 4 is determined by the metre of the verse, but also reflects the dominant position of Theodosius I within the imperial college of these years. In reality the statue was almost certainly decided on, and paid for, by the citizens of Antinoupolis; but, since imperial permission was needed for a gilded bronze statue (see below, 'Further Discussion'), the awarding of the statue is described in the inscription as though it were an imperial decision. FURTHER DISCUSSION The inscription refers to the material of the statue, a motif not uncommon in the Greek honorific verse inscriptions of this time (Bauer 2003, 88; see also LSA-56). From the middle of the 4th century onwards, statues in bronze (and gilded bronze) for non-imperial persons required imperial permission (Premerstein 1912; Feissel 1984). Our inscription refers to both the material and to the imperial approval. Main ReferenceBernand, É., Inscriptions métriques de l'Égypte gréco-romaine, Paris 1969, pp. 489-91 no. 123 pl. 88Discussion ReferencesBauer, F. A., "Virtuelle Statuensammlungen", Bauer, F. A. and Witschel, C., Statuen in der Spätantike, Wiesbaden 2007, p. 88 Berger, P. C., The Insignia of the Notitia Dignitatum, New York and London 1981, Feissel, D. 'Notes d' Épigraphie chrétienne', Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 108, 545-579, Paris 1984, pp. 545-558 Jones, A. H. M. et al., The Prosopography of the Later Roman Empire. Vol. I 260-395, Cambridge et al. 1971 (1975), Premerstein, A. v., 'Griechisch-Römisches aus Arkadien', Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts 15, 197 - 218, Wien 1912, pp. 215-218 Weber, W., Das Ehrenrecht des Wagenfahrens in römischen Städten, Spätantike und frühes Christentum, Ausst.-Kat. Frankfurt/M. 1983/4, pp. 308–311, Frankfurt/ Main, 1983, 310 |
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