LANGDON, MERLE K., The Attic "Tituli Memoriales" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 
24:1 (1983:Spring) p.67 

The Attic Tituli Memoriales 

Merle K. Langdon 

I N THE ROMAN ERA it was not uncommon for Greek-speaking 
people in various parts of the Mediterranean world to commemo­
rate their loved ones or favorites with inscriptions containing the 

verb /-U/-LVT,CTKW. 1 In epigraphical corpora such inscriptions are put into 
the miscellaneous Varia or, when numerous enough, grouped under 
a separate heading, Tituli memoriales. Those from Attica comprise a 
separate group, Category XI of IG 112 (13229-47). New finds have 
not subsequently enlarged this group. Rather, progress has been in 
the opposite direction, and several misattributions have been noted.2 

New readings now require the subtraction of at least three more. 
13240 (PLATE 1). This inscription owes its presence in IG 112 to an 

oversight. It was first edited by Boeckh as CIG 965, "ex schedis 
Fourmonti": 

Kov . . TTJ 
'0\ ' , E' , ",V/-L7TWV Kat VTVXWV. 
@eoBoULa<;. 'A yafJoKALa<;. 

On line 1 Boeckh commented, "credo KOL"vT'Y] E/-LVT,UfJ'Y]." 
Almost half a century later S. Koumanoudes recognized the in­

scription as a Christian epitaph and printed a much improved text:3 

Ko [t/-LTJ] TT,PWV r 'OAV/-L7TWV Kat t EVTVXLOV [Kat] 
0eo8ouLa'!l 'A yafJoKALa'!l 

Deterioration of the printed text soon followed. Dittenberger knew 
both previous versions and adopted that of Koumanoudes; though he 
omitted the crosses he did classify the inscription as a Christian 

1 The basic study is by A. Rehm, "MNHL@H," Phil%gus 94 (1940) 1-30. 
2 Werner Peek, AthMitt 67 (1942) 64-67, 210, is responsible for the removal of 

13229, part of 13236, and 13241. A. W. Parsons, Hesperia 12 (1943) 240 n.130, pro­
nounced 13245 to be only some scratches on a block built into the basin of the Klep­
sydra at the northwest foot of the Acropolis. W. Judeich, Topographie von Athen2 (Mu­
nich 1931) 192, gives a slightly different reading of this inscription from the IG ver­
sion, <l>PYNIXOY instead of cI>PYNIXO[L), but as this does not appear to be based on 
a personal examination, we may follow Parsons in rejecting it. 

3 'ATTtKTi~ 'E'7n'Ypa</xtL 'E7nnJl-L/3WL (Athens 1871) 414 no. 3593. 
67 



LANGDON, MERLE K., The Attic "Tituli Memoriales" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 
24:1 (1983:Spring) p.67 

68 THE ATTIC TITULI MEMORIALES 

tombstone (IG III 3457). Subsequently A. Orlandos printed a greatly 
inferior text,4 but did give the best description of the block of stone 
itself, recognizing it as a sarcophagus lid probably of the fourth cen­
tury after Christ. Finally, Kirchner overlooked the fact that CIG 965 
and Koumanoudes no. 3593 were the same object, and so he deleted 
from the corpus IG III 3457 along with other Christian funerary 
inscriptions included by Dittenberger, but retained CIG 965, accept­
ing Boeckh's suggestion that this was a titu/us memorialis. 

As there has been no first-hand examination of the inscription 
since Orlandos' poor text,5 I re-edit the monument here, giving as 
full and correct a reading as I believe possible. The stone remains 
built into the Byzantine chapel of Aghios Petros just west of the 
village of Kalyvia Kouvara in the Attic Mesogeia. It is located just 
above the lintel of the entrance, and the preserved letters are easily 
read. 

KOt~71TT,PWV [K] q~f.!-!1 [TT,PWV] r 'O'A.v~1T'wV Kat r Evroxwv [Ka] ~ 
@Eo80(Tia~ ~ 'A 'Ya(JoK'A.ia~ d 

The sarcophagus lid is a double tombstone, for which the closest 
Attic parallel is IG III 3502, where the two entries are by different 
hands.6 In the present example the two inscriptions were cut by the 
same hand. 

13246, 13247 (PLATE 2). The final two inscriptions of IG II2 Cate­
gory XI must be reclassified. They are rupestral, cut on a level sheet 
of bedrock that is exposed just south of the chapel in the high saddle 
below the summit of Mount Pani in the Mesogeia. They are 0.90 
meters apart and are situated at a right angle to each other in such a 
way that Aao8iK71~ runs from north to south and ':AvTwX71~ from 
west to east, the latter name beginning just to the east of the final 
letter of the former name. Milchhofer, the original editor,7 read 
'AVTWX[OV], but the eta and sigma are preserved, cut below the line 
of the preceding letters in order to avoid a flaw in the rock. The 
sigma is lunate, quite small, and ends just at a long diagonal crack in 
the rock. A patch of lichens has somewhat obscured these two letters. 

4 'A8rl"a 35 (1923) 184-86. 
5 It is mentioned by J. S. Creaghan and A. E. Raubitschek, Hesperia 16 (1947) 7 

(where Koumanoudes' readings are provisionally accepted) and 50 (where the inscrip­
tion is included in a list of Christian tombstones from Attica). 

6 Double Christian tombstones are discussed by Greaghan and Raubitschek (supra 
n.S) 6-7; they discuss and illustrate IG III 3502 at 26 no. V and pI. 1. 

7 AthMitt 12 (1887) 281 nos. 176-77. 



LANGDON, MERLE K., The Attic "Tituli Memoriales" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 
24:1 (1983:Spring) p.67 

MERLE K. LANGDON 69 

The lichens are also responsible for obscuring another, more impor­
tant, part of the first inscription. Just above the name AaoBiK'Y}() the 
word opo~ is preserved, almost illegible because of a thick concentra­
tion of lichens. The inital omicron and rho are above and just to the 
left of the first letter of the woman's name, the second omicron is 
between the lambda and alpha, and the lunate sigma between the 
alpha and omicron of her name. 

One possible interpretation of the new readings may be ruled out, 
viz., that the inscriptions are funerary and the word to be understood 
with opo~ is ILVTJI .. ux.TO~, (r;71.uXTo~, vel sim. This is precluded by the 
fact that there are no remains of graves near the inscriptions or 
anywhere else on the saddle. The gravestone IG IJ2 11777 is built 
into the nearby chapel, but it was surely transported up the mountain 
from some cemetery in the plain for incorporation into the church. 
Instead, we are dealing with a terminus, with some such word as 
xwpiov unexpressed, defining a boundary between the properties of 
two women. The saddle of Pani is spacious and by no means com­
pletely rocky. Sheep can and do graze here, and there is a now stag­
nant well not far west of the chapel. The lettering of the inscription 
places it within the Roman era, a time when the possession of land 
by women was not unknown in Attica.8 

In addition to these certain false assignments I suggest that IG IJ2 
13243 and 13244 be removed from Category XI. Each gives a name 
alone without a form of J.UlLv-i]O"KW. They are not serious commemo­
rations but merely casual graffiti of the type that Plutarch calls 'non­
sense' (cpAvapia).9 13243 is a graffito carved on the east face of the 
east anta of the Thrasyllos monument, and 13244 is a similar graffito 
cut on the rock of the Pnyx hil1.10 

Ten Attic inscriptions remain as tituli memoriales: IG IJ2 13230-39. 
Six were found in sanctuaries (13230, 13232, 13236-39). Another 
may plausibly be associated with one. 13231 is presently lost, and no 
more definite provenience is given for it than "in vico Keratea." 
There can be little doubt, however, that it once stood in the sanctu­
ary of the Dioskouroi at Kephale. The de me site of Kephale is just 

8 See John Day, An Economic History of Athens under Roman Domination (New York 
1942) 232-33. The closest parallel for the terminus may be IG lIZ 2525, most recently 
treated as a boundary inscription of private land: J. Ober, Hesperia 50 (1981) 76. 

9 Mor. 520D-E. Plutarch tells us that even inscriptions with lMJ.Lv~a"Kw may be frivo­
lous and not serious commemorations if they are scratched on a random wall. A good 
illustration of this type was recently found on Delos: BCH 100 (I976) 821. 

10 For 13243 see M. Mitsos and E. Vanderpool, Hesperia 22 (1953) 181 no. 9. 13244 
has eluded the attempts of modern investigators to find it: Peek (supra n.2) 151 no. 
325; K. Kourouniotes and H. A. Thompson, Hesperia 1 (J932) 213 0.4. 



LANGDON, MERLE K., The Attic "Tituli Memoriales" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 
24:1 (1983:Spring) p.67 

70 THE ATTIC TITULI MEMORIALES 

east of Keratea, and it was in this deme that the Dioskouroi were 
worshipped as the Great Gods (Paus. 1.31.1). The phrase 7rapa TO [t~] 
(JEOt~ J..tE'YaAOt~ in this inscription should thus be taken to mean that 
the tablet was set up within their temenos. ll The three tituli memoriales 
with unknown proveniences (13233-35) were very probably also lo­
cated in sanctuaries, given the find spots of their colleagues. 

Doubt attaches only to 13242, a group of names cut on a horizon­
tal expanse of rock high on the south slope of the Acropolis. In view 
of the large number of sanctuaries located on this slope, it is quite 
possible that the inscription lay within a sacred area. Yet it is near IG 
112 1987, a rupestral set of three names of ephebes,12 so it too may 
simply be the result of a visit by some young men to this spot. The 
fact that the names in 13242 are in the genitive case, however, may 
indicate that EJLviW·(JTJ was once inscribed as part of the text. This 
permits the possibility that this inscription is rightfully placed in 
Category XI.13 

THE UNIVERSITY OF WASHINGTON 

January, 1983 

11 H.-G. Buchholz, AA 1963, 496, speculates on the location of the Dioskourion at 
Kephale. 

12 For a plan showing the location of IG 112 1987 see Hesperia 16 (1947) 71 no. 7l. 
13 I wish to thank an anonymous referee of GRBS for reading an earlier version of 

this paper and suggesting improvements; also Gerald V. Lalonde for discussion on 
certain points concerning termini. Errors that remain are my own. 



LANGDON, MERLE K., The Attic "Tituli Memoriales" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 
24:1 (1983:Spring) p.67 

LANGDON PLATE 1 

A. CHRISTIAN GRAVESTONE, IG 112 13240 

B. LEFT HALF, IG 112 13240 

c. RIGHT HALF, IG 11213240 



LANGDON, MERLE K., The Attic "Tituli Memoriales" , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 
24:1 (1983:Spring) p.67 

PLATE 2 LANGDON 

A. IG 112 13246 

B. IG 112 13247