Arrian and the Gellii of Corinth Oliver, James H Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1970; 11, 4; ProQuest pg. 335 Arrian and the Gellii of Corinth James H. Oliver NEPOS, Atticus lA, speaks of famous condiscipuli of his subject: Quo in numero fuerunt 1. Torquatus, C. Marius filius, M. Cicero. One way of differentiating a homonymous son from a more famous father in Latin was to add the word filius. Similarly the hom­ onymous father of an even more famous son could be distinguished by adding the word pater as in the well known case of Traianus pater in Pliny's Panegyric. There is nothing surprising in the discovery that this Roman or Latin custom is carried over into Greek in the Roman colony of Corinth, where the official language was originally Latin. One case occurs in the inscription published by William R. Biers and Daniel J. Geagan, "A New List of Victors in the Caesarea at Isthmia," Hesperia 39 (1970) 79-93, which is dated as follows: 2 M. Taf3tep [L'KovtA]A<;x TaM'Kcx vcjJ, T. 'AT[,Atcp fP]OVcpcp TtTta ~ .'[ ]'" e ' vep V1Ta TOtC , €1Tt aywv < 0> €TOV 5 A. T€M{o[v M€va]vDpov viofi Alf1-( t/d<;x) 'lovc[ TOV, f EA ]A7JVOStKWV D[ €] A. T €Mtov ['I OVCTO]V v( iofi ), M. lPovAf3tov 'IovAta:vo[fi, Ttf3. K]AavDtov Magt - - f1-ov, A. L'TCX[TtOV ll]ovAXpov, T. 'Af3t 10 olav <1>'\a[KKov, T.] fl!tov fIK€cLOV 1T( aTpoc), - - A. MCXtKtoV [lPavcT{]voV, T. KAwDtov L'€Kovv[Dov, M. 'A]VTwvlov T€p Tlov, T.llo[ ..... ]ov L'KI.1TTOV A.D. 127 I have omitred dots. The restorations are by Biers and Geagan except for line 10: tPA&[KKOV Oliver, and r.] f1!{OV Geagan on corrected offprint. As the editors point out, L. Gellius Justus filiUS in line 7 is the son of L. Gellius Justus Menandri filius in lines 5 and 6. 6* 335 336 ARRIAN AND THE GELLII OF CORINTH A second case occurs in Corinth Vill.3.124, in which G. W. Bower­ sock, GRBS 8 (1967) 279-80, recognized a new inscription in honor of Arrian. It should read somewhat as follows: [- - - - - - - - - - - - --] [~'A]6co~[ov - - - - - - - - -] ['7TP€c1B€t1'T'1)v [AV'TOKpchopoc] Kat[ca]poc Tpa,a[vov ..ov or even '7Ta'Tpwva would be too short. The original Latin filius occurs at Corinth in elL ill 7269 of A.D. 139: Imp· Caesari . divi· Hadr iani f, divi Traiani Parthici nepoti, divi Ner vae pronepoti, T. Aelio Hadriano Antonino Aug. Pio pontif. max., trib. potest. II, cos II, 5 desig. ill, p. p. L. Gellius Menander et L. Gellius Iustusf It is apparent that there are not one but two L. Gellii Iusti, and that the L. Gellius Menander frequently associated with Iustus filius is not the latter's grandfather but his brother. The family tree of the Gellii seems to be as in Figure 1. Arrian's account of the Discourses of Epictetus begins with a letter addressed as follows: 'A \ A I 1"1\\1 I pp,avoc OVKUfJ.L EIV\LCP Xa'PEW Before the publication by Biers and Geagan in Hesperia 39 it was tempting (see BEpigr 1968 [REG 81] no.253) to identify the L. Gellius to whom Arrian dedicated his account with a L. Gellius Menander at JAMES H. OLIVER L. GELLIUS MENANDER (Corinth VII1.2.93 and Hesperia 39) I L. GELLIUS IUSTUS Arrian's friend (Corinth VITI.2.93 and Hesperia 39) 337 L. GELLIUS MENANDER (Corinth VIII.3.124 and 125, also ClL III 7269) L. GELLIUS IUSTUS FILIUS (Corinth VIII. 3. 124 and 125, also CIL III 7269) Figure 1. THE GELLlI OF CORINTH Corinth, but since the publication it becomes, at least for the present writer, much more likely that the friend was the elder L. Gellius Justus, whose fame overshadowed that of a homonym in the next generation. AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS September, 1970 ApPENDIX Arrian as Archon at Athens The Athenian archonship of the historian Arrian is attested securely by lG IT2 2055 and less securely by a new inscription which M. Mitsos, Deltion 25 (1970) 29£, no.1 (with photograph) meritoriously put to­ gether from scattered fragments in the Epigraphical Museum a Athens. The latter reads: On raking cornice [AthoK]pcfTopoc . [T . AlAtav . TJf3]o, Mitsos. 3 Mitsos. 5 Oliver (cf L. Moretti, Iscrizioni agonistiche greche no.44). 6 Mitsos except for E7Tt (Oliver). 7 [llaLaVtEWC, KOCfLTJT}:VOV[TOC] Mitsos. 8 [,AOTJvalov 'PafLvovdov] Kat lEp['WC] Mitsos. 9-10 ol ErpTJf30L] 'TOV £a[V'Twv I KocfLTJTT1v Mitsos. The restoration [Eq>'rlfJ]oL in line 2 seems to me excluded because "the ephebes of the emperor Antoninus Pius" is an unintelligible phrase and because it would make the boys in line 4 ephebes of the year of Arrian's archonship. IG IJ:2 2052 preserves the complete panel of the tribe Ptolemais for that year and the name mentioned in line 4 does not appear on it. Rather, the inscription on the cornice records the names of two victors who were the first Olympic victors from Athens in the reign of Antoninus Pius. It refers, then, to the Olympic Games of A.D. 145, since Arrian, whose name Mitsos attractively re­ stored in line 6, was archon in 145/6. It is not a herm as you might expect it to be, if the monument were one erected by ephebes in honor of the cosmete. Arrian's Praenomen The Athenian inscription published with photograph and good commentary by D. Peppas-Delmouzou, AAA 3 (1970) 377-80, pro­ vides the praenomen in abbreviation. I read it from the stone as lambda rather than alpha : A . CPA • 'AppLavo[v] tmaTLKov q>LA6[ co] c/>o[v]