People or Gods? an Alternative Interpretation for Two Statue Bases of the Classical Period from Histria and Olbia.

Abstract

The article discusses two statue bases of the Classical period from Histria and Olbia, which present dedications to Apollo Ietros and similar embedding traces for bronze statues. To the already known hypothesis that these represented the god, an alternative hypothesis is proposed for the identity of the statues, namely that of the dedicator himself. A series of analogies testify to the common practice in the Black Sea cities of erecting a statue of the priest at the end of the service, either by himself or by a family member. The presence of the orifice near the left foot would thus correspond to the staff, an accessory of the citizen’s outfit in the Classical period. But the argument that raises the most questions is the reuse of the base from Olbia a century later, for another statue, reuse which is rather particular to honorary statues.