Zellm ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 56 (2016) 709–713 2016 Michael Zellmann-Rohrer Notes on Two Inscribed Gems and an Affectionate Address Michael Zellmann-Rohrer HE PUBLICATION of a gem in the Museo Archeologico Nazionale dell’Umbria provides the occasion for a brief note on the Greek text inscribed thereon,1 and another on a comparable formulation on a second gem. I. A fine color photograph of the Umbrian gem, an onyx cameo, accompanied the first edition, and the readings are not in doubt. The editor dated the gem to the third century A.D. For convenience I reprint the text here, with one change in articulation that will be justified below: µά σε καρ|τέρι· οὐδίς | σε µειµή|σεται. ❧ 1–2 l. καρτέρει : Καρτέρι’ ed. pr. 2 l. οὐδείς 3–4 l. µιµήσεται 4 ❧ om. ed. pr. (I swear) by you (yourself), persevere: no one will match you. The editor had translated, “O Kartèrios, nessuno sarà mai in grado di imitarti (scil. di rappresentare la tua bellezza per mezzo dell’arte).” The rarity both of the name Καρτέριος (cf. LGPN I, Va, and Vb s.v., for only three occurrences) and of the observance of elision in inscribed gems argues against that articulation, and the particular verb resulting from the new articulation fits well the likely context of a parting gift between lovers (see below). The original rendering should also be modified to account 1 P. Vitellozzi, Gemme e cammei della collezione Guardabassi nel Museo Archeo- logico Nazionale dell’Umbria a Perugia (Perugia 2010) 449, no. 557. The cameo was previously in the collection of the antiquarian Mariano Guardabassi (1823–1880) and is now kept under the inventory number 1761. T 710 AND AN AFFECTIONATE ADDRESS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 56 (2016) 709–713 for the opening µά, whose force, as will be discussed in due course, is stronger than the simple interjection “O” (i.e. Greek ὦ), implying an oath sworn upon the object (σε).2 More idiomatically the whole could be translated “On your life, persevere, no one will match you.” In the absence of any con- crete reference to artistic representation, and in the specific context of an inscription on a luxury gift, µιµεῖσθαι more likely expresses the sentiment that no one will match the recipient in the affections of the giver, even though the two may be physi- cally parted. The latter circumstance is suggested particularly by the imperative καρτέρει, read in conjunction with the similarly structured formula in text II below, which unam- biguously anticipates a long absence.3 II. A useful comparandum for both the oath phrasing µά σε and the sentiment behind καρτέρει can be found in an in- scription on another gem which can now be re-classified as a similar expression of enduring affection. The object is an oval amethyst said to come from Constantinople and dated by its editor to the fifth to seventh centuries A.D.4 Here the giver identifies himself as Nektaris (Nektarios)5 and pledges his un- ceasing devotion. The text, with some slight modifications of previous editions, runs: obverse οὐδέ|ποτε ἐπι̣|λήσοµαι̣ | κ(αὶ) ἂν Ὀδυσ|σεὺς γέ|νωµαι· reverse µά σε, | ἐξουθέ|νι· ὁ δοῦλός | σου ἐγὼ | Νεκτάρις. obverse 2–3 ἐπι̣λήσοµαι̣ SEG : ΕΠΙ̣ΛΗϹΟΜΑΡ̣ ed. pr. 4 κ(αὶ) gem (abbr. ) : κ’ SEG 2 On µά see R. Kühner and B. Gerth, Ausführliche Grammatik der griechischen Sprache II.2 (Hannover 1904) 148, §505.3. 3 For inscriptions on gems likely presented as gifts more generally see G. Bevilacqua, “Osservazioni su alcune formule affettuose e galanti di età im- periale,” MiscGrRom 16 (1991) 225–237; cf. SEG XLI 1867. 4 Munich, Staatliche Münzsammlung, acc. 1992/146, majuscule tran- scription by M. Restle in R. Baumstark (ed.), Rom und Byzanz. Schatzkammer- stücke aus bayerischen Sammlungen (Munich 1998) 119, no. 22; an articulated text is presented in SEG LVII 612. 5 For the syncopated form see LGPN Va 329 s.v. MICHAEL ZELLMANN-ROHRER 711 ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 56 (2016) 709–713 reverse 2–3 ΕΞΟΥΘΕΝΙΟΔΟΥΛΟϹ gem, l. ἐξουθένει· ὁ δοῦλος : ἐξουθεν⟨έ⟩ω ὁ δοῦλος SEG I will never forget, even if I end up as Odysseus. (reverse) (I swear) by you (yourself), think nothing of (it). I, Nektaris, am your slave. The editor had translated, “Niemals werde ich vergessen, selbst wenn ich zum Odysseus würde. Fürwahr, ich will Dich verachten, ich, dein Sklave Nektaris,” explaining the in- scription as “Der elegische Text eines Liebenden, Nektaris (Nektarios), an seine grausame oder ihn nicht mehr erhörende Geliebte.” Reprinted in SEG, the text is interpreted along similar lines as an “[e]xpression of unrequited love,” with comments on the inconcinnity of Odysseus in that context. However Odysseus could be better reconciled if taken as a figure for just what he turns out to be, the beloved who does indeed return after a long separation: the sense here is thus that the giver, Nektaris, will never forget his beloved, even if the two are parted for as long as the separation of Odysseus and Penelope. The object of the exhortation ἐξουθένι6 on the re- verse is the possibility raised on the obverse, that Nektaris would forget his beloved, which is to be dismissed as baseless. The sentiment is followed and reinforced by a strong assertion of devotion, that the speaker is the beloved’s slave (δοῦλος). There are in fact no grounds for supposing that Nektaris’ love is unrequited, or that his beloved has rejected or treated him cruelly. The editor’s “fürwahr” gets closer to the force of µά σε, but the phrase is worth further comment. The particle µά, with or without a verb of swearing, in prose generally introduces oaths in the name of divinities, who can also themselves be addressed through the collocation µά σε with their name in the vocative.7 6 For the sense of the verb here see Lampe, Lexikon 501a s.v. For the construction with an impersonal object cf. in particular LXX Sap 3:11 and Ecclus 19:1, and Theoph. Simoc. 8.7.8. 7 E.g. Anth.Gr. (ed. Beckby) 12.25.3 (Statilius Flaccus), οὐ µά σε Φοῖβε; 12.119.1 (Meleager), ναὶ µά σε Βάκχε; 12.130.5 (adesp.), ναὶ µά σε δαῖµον (probably Ἔρως, cf. line 4); 12.173.3 (Philomedes), οὐ µά σε Κύπρι; 712 AND AN AFFECTIONATE ADDRESS ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 56 (2016) 709–713 As such, at an earlier period the expression might have suggested some semi-divine or beatified status for the beloveds addressed in these texts.8 Oaths sworn by the divine fortune or destiny (τύχη) attending a person of high rank are also attested in a period contemporary with the gems.9 Alternately, however, in a somewhat attenuated form, and probably under the influence of poetic diction, the locution µά σε seems to have become specially appropriate in affectionate addresses to cherished relations. An epitaph from Roman Saqqara perhaps bridges the two concepts: it is a represen- tation in elegiac couplets of a dialogue between a passer-by (ὁδοιπόρε, 1) and a stone lion adorning the tomb, which speaks with the voice of the δαίµων of the man buried there (δαίµονος αὐδῆι | ἀνδρὸς ὑποχθονίου, 3–4); after hearing of the great virtue and untimely death of the deceased, the passer-by ex- claims, “I weep, daimōn, (I swear) by you (yourself), after hearing what this animal said” (δακρύω µά σε, δαῖµον, ἐπεὶ κλύον ὅσσ’ ἀγορεύει | θὴρ ὅδε, 13–14).10 In Nonnus Dion. 24.201–212, the locution appears in an oath in a more intimate connection: an Indian woman lamenting her dead husband addresses him and swears never to drink the water of the ___ 12.194.5 (Strato), ναὶ µά σε γὰρ Κρονίδη. A humorous variant is provided in the Vita Aesopi G §15 (ed. Perry), where Aesop is addressed by a slave- dealer with µὰ τὴν σκοτίαν σου as a counterpoint to Aesop’s own oath µὰ τὴν Ἶσιν. 8 Cf. the acclamation orchestrated by the Αὐγούστειοι for Nero described in Cass. Dio 61.20.5, ὁ καλὸς Καῖσαρ, ὁ Ἀπόλλων, ὁ Αὔγουστος, εἷς ὡς Πύθιος. µά σε Καῖσαρ, οὐδείς σε νικᾷ. 9 I thank Kent Rigsby for pointing out this parallel. Such oaths can in fact be construed with µά, e.g. in an assertion to a Roman emperor beginning κύριέ µου Καῖσαρ, µὰ τὴν σὴν τύχην (Acta Alexandrinorum, ed. Musurillo 9 r, col. vi.8–9); compare also νὴ τὴν σὴν τύχην, Σεβαστέ, in Macrobius 2.4.31. More generally the practice of swearing by the emperor’s τύχη is frequent in oaths in documentary papyri from Roman Egypt (examples in LSJ s.v. τύχη IV). 10 Bernand, Inscr.métriques 68 (C. C. Edgar, “A Greek Epitaph from Saqqarah,” ASAE 27 (1927) 31–32; SEG VIII 530; SB IV 7423). MICHAEL ZELLMANN-ROHRER 713 ————— Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies 56 (2016) 709–713 Hydaspes again, “by you and your burden that I bear here in my womb, by you and the passionate love that time knows no way to wither” (οὐ µά σε καὶ σέο φόρτον ὃν ἔνδοθι γαστρὸς ἀείρω, | οὐ µά σε καὶ τὸν ἔρωτα τὸν οὐ χρόνος οἶδε µαραίνειν). In the closest parallels to these gems, in two epigrams in the Greek Anthology, the phrasing develops such that it can be used simply to address a living person, but one with whom the speaker is on particularly intimate terms, namely a lover, while very likely maintaining connotations from the earlier usage in conjunction with various levels of divinities.11 August, 2016 Lexicon of Greek Personal Names University of Oxford michael.zellmann-rohrer@classics.ox.ac.uk 11 Anth.Gr. 5.238.1 (Macedonius), οὐ µά σε κούρη; similarly 5.254.4 (Paul the Silentiary), ναὶ µά σε, to a woman addressed as ἀργέτι κούρη (1) and φίλη (5).