Neue Grabepigramme aus Bilecik

Abstract

This article is a continuation of the articles we published in the previous issues of Gephyra (23, 2022 and 24, 2022). The article analyses three inscriptions found in various villages of Bilecik. On the second artefact there is both an epigram (no. 2a) and a grave inscription in prose (no. 2b). Of these inscriptions, only the stele described in no. 3 is today in the Bilecik Museum. The other two inscriptions are probably still in the field. We read the first inscription from a photograph given to us by the museum authorities, but we did not see the inscription itself. We read the second inscription from a photograph given to us by a person in Bozüyük, but we did not see the stone itself either. The first inscription found in the village of Danışment in Yenipazar is a funerary epigram written for an old man named Antonius. It appears that one of his sons, Maximus, was a gerusiastes who ruled the gerusia. The second inscription found during the construction of the major intercity road in Bozüyük consists of two separate inscriptions carved on stone in different periods. Inscription A is a funerary epigram for a man named Gaius and his family. Inscription B was carved later and the Gaianus mentioned in the inscription is probably the grandson of the Gaius mentioned in inscription A. Inscription B is not an epigram, although it contains poetic words. Although the right half of the last epigram, no. 3, is missing, the inscription could be restored to a large extent. The grave owner, a farmer, probably died at the age of 70, leaving behind a young wife and three small children as orphans.