Montanist Epitaphs at Usak Gibson, Elsa Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1975; 16, 4; ProQuest pg. 433

Montanist Epitaphs at U~ak 
Elsa Gibson 

I PRESENT here four unpublished gravestones from the museum of 
U~ak, en the border ofPhrygia and Lydia in western Asia Minor.l 
U~ak is a modern commercial town, long noted for its carpets,2 to 

which inscriptions and coins have found their way from several ancient 
sites.3 The first three inscriptions (PLATES 3-5), however, belong to a 
group of which the distinguishing relief has been observed only at 
U~ak: the representation of a cross or communion paten within a 
circular wreath, the whole above an altar or communion table.4 

Photographs of two previously published monuments of this group 
are presented in PLATES 6 and 7, since only drawings were given by 
their editors, J. Keil and A. von Premerstein. The exact provenance 
of this group of inscriptions is unknown, but as they are carved to 
represent a door or doors, a form of funerary stele distinctive ofPhry­
gia, they must derive from this region.s Their style of lettering is 

1 I wish to thank Dr Hikmet Giirc;:ay, Director of Antiquities in Turkey, for granting me 
permission to work in the U~ak Museum; Dr Nezih FlratlI, for calling my attention to the 
presence in the museum of the broken stone (PLATE 7); Mr Sava~ Sava, director of the U~ak 
Museum, for his hospitality and assistance; Professor Sterling Dow, for his aid and advice; 
Dr Thomas Drew-Bear, for criticism and references; and Professor Ihor Sevcenko, for 
interpreting the motif which distinguishes the first three epitaphs presented here. 

2 On the carpets and carpet industry ofU~ak see B. Atalay, Turk Haitcl/tgi ve U~ak Halllan 
(Tilrkiye i~ Bankasl Killtilr Yaymlan 1967). 

3 For inscriptions at U~ak see notably Ph. LeBas and W. H. Waddington, Inscriptions 
grecques et latines recueillies en Asie Mineure (Paris 1870, repro Hildcsheim 1972) nos. 713-29; 
S. Reinach,REG 3 (1890) 5<H56; W. M. Ramsay, Cities and Bishoprics ofPhrygia 1.2 (Oxford 1897) 
558, 568,612, 13, 653,656,657; K. Buresch, Aus Lydien (Leipzig 1898) 164; Inscriptiones 
Bureschianae, ed. A. Korte (Greifswald 1902) nos. 54-57; J. Keil and A. von Premerstein, 
Bericht fiber eine zweite Reise in Lydien (DenkschrWien 54, 1911) 133-35 and nos. 248-67; L. 
Robert, Hellenica X (Paris 1955) 251-56. 

4 The other two members of the group (making five in all) are Keil and von Premerstein, 
Zweite Reise nos. 261 and 263 (our PLATES 6 and 7): 'AcK},,7J1nal37Jc MiATrjC KUL Ct:aVTqi P-n]P-7}C 
xapLv (261); .... aviTrjc£v P-V~P-7}C xapLv (263). Both of these stones are now in the museum at 
Upk. In their commentaries on these inscriptions Keil and von Premerstein called atten­
tion to the motif in question but were puzzled by it. 

S On the attribution of doors tones to Phrygia and their distribution there, see L. Robert, 
Gnomon 31 (1959) 22, and Hellenica XI-XII (Paris 1960) 281 with n.2. Keil and von Premerstein 
attribute to Ahat KOY (Akmonia) the two members of this group which they publish but do 
not say why, like Buresch before them (op.cit. [supra n.3] 162), apparently assuming that the 
source of doorstones at Usak must be Ahat Kay because it is the closest identified site in 

433 



434 MONTANIST EPITAPHS AT U~AK 

characteristic of the late second or early third century.6 I shall try to 
show that these Phrygian, pre-Constantinian, phanero-Christian 
monuments are Montanist, not only because of their unequivocal 
expression of faith but also because of their connection with another 
inscription previously published; and that they are the gravestones 
of members of the clergy able to celebrate the Eucharist. 

The fourth inscription (PLATE 8) does not belong to this group but 
is the epitaph of one Severa, who appears to have belonged to an 
influential family of Temenothyrai: the provenance of her epitaph 
must be that city, the precise location of which has not yet been dis­
covered but which must have been near Usak.7 , 

NUMBER 1 (PLATE 3) 

White marble double doors tone broken at bottom left. The in­
scription is on a projecting fascia at top, and the pair of doors is in a 
recessed panel below this fascia. Height 1.28 m.; width 1.04 m.; 
thickness at top 0.42 m.; thickness at shaft 0.30 m.; letter-height 0.026 
m. Above the pair of doors and on engaged pilasters between them 
and to right and left of them are carved stylized tendrils. In the doors 
are: (left door) in arched transom, spindle and distaff, above a large 
mirror which is in the main part of the door; below it, comb (to left) 
and bottle, with stopper or pourer; in the right door is carved a cross 
within a wreath above a table. In the transom above the right-hand 
door are represented two leaves, now quite worn. Between each tran-

Phrygia. This motif has never been observed there, however; see W. H. Buckler and W. M. 
Calder, Monumenta Asiae Minoris Antiqua VI (Manchester 1939) nos. 239-350 and pp.148-51 , 
for the inscriptions of Akmonia. Among Keil and von Premerstein's inscriptions of un­
known provenance at U~ak are three more doorstones (nos. 254-56), and there are several 
other doorstones (Le BasfWaddington, op.cit. [supra n.3] nos. 714,718,723,725,727; REG 3 
[1890] 65; AthMitt 25 [1900] 468; Inscr. Bureschianae no.55) and many doorstone fragments 
(Buresch, op.cit. 162; Le BaS/Waddington, op.cit. ad no.721) of unknown provenance at 
U~ak. For doorstones of Temenothyrai at U~ak see the following note and our no.4 below. 

6 Thus also Keil/von Premerstein, Zweite Reise, ad locc. 
7 On Temenothyrai see most recently P. Herrmann, Ergebnisse einer Reise in Nordostlydien 

(DenkschrWien 80,1962) 34-35 (with J. and L. Robert, BullEpigr 1963, no.259), and Chiron 2 
(1972) 528 no.32 (possible localization at Akta~, already suggested by Keil/von Premerstein, 
Zweite Reise p.129). Le Bas/Waddington, op.cit. (supra n.3) no.727, a doorstone at U~ak, was 
signed by a sculptor from Temenothyrai, and Keil/von Premerstein, Zweite Reise no.262, 
another doors tone at U~ak, attributed by those editors to Akmonia, is almost certainly 
attributable to Temenothyrai: see our no.4 below. For the inscriptions at U~ak which men­
tion Temenothyrai or the Temenothyritai, see Keil/von Premerstein, Zweite Reise p.134. 



ELSA GIBSON 435 

som and the surface on which the tendrils are carved is a trio of 
stepped plain bands. 

MapKLa AOVKLo/ aOE'\cp[ 0 }r€Kllo/ Kat TaTLCf Til y[ v]-
'--" \ , ......, I 

vaLKL aVTOV fLYYjfLYjC xapLv -
"Markia (erected this monument) to her cousin (nephew?) Loukios 
and his wife Tatia, in memory of them." 

The word aOE'\cp6TEKllOV is attested only once in the lexica, viZ. in the 
eighth-century author Hippolyrus Thebanus,8 where it refers to Sa­
lome and John the Baptist and spells out their relationship as the 
children of two brothers. The word aoeAcpcJ1Tatc 'nephew' or 'niece', 
however, is attested from the first century B.C. through the seventh 
century (cf TGL, LSJ, Preisigke Worterbuch, s.v.) and is synonymous 
with aOE'\cpLoEOC (aoE,\cpLoOVC). It is not possible to determine with 
certainty whether in our inscription a8E,\cp6TEKVOV already means 
'cousin' or has its literal sense and is here another synonym of the 
contemporary a8E'\cp61TaLc 'nephew'. 

NUMBER 2 (PLATE 4) 

White marble doorstone with a projecting fascia at top, on which is 
the inscription; the shaft is broken at left, and the upper right corner 
of the fascia is lost. Height 1.05 m.; width 1.01 m.; thickness of top 
0.46 m.; thickness of shaft 0.34 m.; letter-height 0.035 m. The door 
itself (four panels and a transom) is recessed. In each of the four panels 
of the door is a flat boss in low relief within a diamond, also in low 
relief. In an arched transom above the panels is represented a cross 
within a narrow wreath above a table. On each side of the panels of 
the door is represented a pilaster with a capital; within each pilaster 
is carved a tendril with leaves, in low relief. In the field surrounding 
the transom is carved in low relief a more elaborate vine with flowers, 
and two leaves at the bottom of it on each side just above each of the 
capitals. Between the transom and the surface on which this vine is 
carved is a series of three stepped plain fascias. 

L1 ELOyaC ' APTEfLLOWPo/ e[3LcKm:r [0/] 
EKK TOU KvpLaKou fLv~fLT}C XapL[Il] 

8 Hippolytus von Theben, ed. F. Diekamp (Munster 1898) 14,47, and the apparatus criticlIS 
ofp.B. See Lampe's Lexicon s.v. a8£At/>oTEKVOV, 'cousin'. 



436 MONT ANIST EPITAPHS AT U~AK 

"Deiogas (erected this monument) out of church funds to the bishop 
Artemidoros, in memory of him." 

The name Diogas is a hypocoristic for Diogenes.9 The spelling 
i{3tCK07TOC occurs in another inscription of Diogas (see below p. 437). 

Doubtless Diogas was the successor of Artemidoros, but not yet 
appointed at the time this inscription was carved because in it he bears 
no title. He buries his predecessor with church funds. Although the 
phrase iK TOU KVPUtKoU is unattested, to my knowledge, I think that it 
means 'from ecclesiastical money' or, properly, 'from the Lord's 
money'. The church did finance some burials: it owned several tombs 
at Korykos in Cilicia.10 Our expression employs the singular, not the 
plural as do parallel formulas: for example, €K TaW l8twv, TWV -rijc 

I A A 8 ............ ...... , ~ , ...... ,~ , f' , 

KWI-'7JC, TWV TOV EOV, TWV KO£VWV 7TpOCOOWV, EK TWV wtWV V7TapXOVTWV, 

7Tpoc68wv, XP7Jl-'aTWV, avaAWl-'aTWV, KTA. Nevertheless, the construction 
is an easy one and a number of substantives can be understood. I do 
not believe that the word is itself a substantive, KVptaK6v 'church',n 
although the <Lord's money' referred to is obviously that adminis­
tered by a specific church. 

Perhaps Artemidoros was poor or had no family: Diogas himself 
(no.3 below), Asklepiades (Keil and von Premerstein, Zweite Reise 
no.261), and Loukios (no. 1 above) were not buried at church expense. 

NUMBER 3 (PLATE 5) 

White marble double doors tone broken at top right and top left. 
The inscription is on a projecting fascia, below which are the doors in a 

9 On an inscription of Odessos the engraver first carved LJtoy&c, then erased alpha sigma 
to change the name to Lhoylvr]c (G. Mihailov, Inscriptiones Graecae in Bulgaria Repertae 
J2 [Sofia 1970] no.174 and pI. 86, discussed by L. Robert, CRAI 1955 p.214). For a list of oc­
currences of the name Diogas in Asia Minor see L. Robert, Collection Froehner I, Les inscrip­
tions grecques (Paris 1936) 121 n.1; BullEpigr 1972, no.458. On names in -&c see notably L. 
Robert, Noms indigenes dans I'Asie Mineure greco-romaine (Paris 1963) 222 with n.l; BullEpigr 
1963, no.82. Cf. our no.3 below for another attempt to use a 'better' form in a formal 
document. 

10 J. Keil and A. Wilhelm, MAMA ill (Manchester 1931) nos. 772-78: rijc ~KK~71clac •• Cf. the 
phrase ~K 'TWV {(pa'TtKWV on building inscriptions in Syria (for example W. K. Prentice, 
Greek and Latin Inscriptions of Syria [New York 1908] no.363; J. and L. Robert, BullEpigr 
1953, no.214; 1963. no.278). The expression ~K 'TWV KVptaKWv of IGLS II 650 is irrelevant 
here, meaning 'at the expense of his masters', as the editors note (the deceased was a 
slave). Cf IGLS II 315, ~K 'TWV 'TOV 8£ov P-V71cOfi. where the editors' interpretation does not 
seem beyond doubt. 

11 With 'T01TOC. olKoc, olK71-n7ptov or as a neuter substantive 'TO KVptaKOv the word refers to a 
church building: see Lampe. Lexicon S.v. 



ELSA GIBSON 437 

recessed panel. Height 1.10 m.; width 1.46 m.; thickness of shaft 
0.36 m.; thickness of top 0.44 m.; letter-height 0.045 m. (line 1), 
0.035 m. (line 2). Above the doors in the recessed panel is carved a 
tendril with leaves, as also on engaged pilasters to the right and left 
of the pair of doors. On an engaged pilaster between the doors is an 
open roll. In the panels are: (left) a mirror in the center of the door 
above a comb, which in turn is above an incised basket on the left and 
a small jug containing some sort of pourer or stopper on the right; 
in the right panel is a broad stylized wreath surrounding a cross, the 
whole above a table. 

H ••• -iane while living (erected this monument) to herself and to her 
husband Diogas the bishop, in memory." 

From Inscriptiones Bureschianae no.55 it is known that there was a 
bishop Diogas at or near U~ak: Ll wylic e,BLcKo I7TOC 'AfLfLLctJ 7TP€C I,BVTEpq. 
JLV1JfL7JC I xaptv. I believe that the Deiogas of inscription no.2 above and 
the Diogas of the present inscription are this same man, and so I 
feel safe in restoring [€7TLCK07T ]ctJ. 

The explanation of the communion paten in wreath12 above an 
altar or communion table13 lowe to Professor I. Sevcenko. who 
interprets the motif to mean that the deceased was a member of 
the clergy authorized to celebrate the Eucharist. A relief of an altar 
bearing a cross, on the lid of an uninscribed sarcophagus at Takadm 
in Cilicia,14 may have a similar meaning. In our series, Artemidoros 
and probably Diogas were bishops. 

Phanero-Christian monuments in Phrygia, especially western 
Phrygia. in the pre-Constantinian era may well be suspected of belong-

12 Although the wreath looks like a star in Keil/von Premerstein, Zweite Reise nos. 261 
and 263, and in our no.3, it is clear from our no.2 and especially our no.l that a wreath is 
intended; what looks like a star is a stylized wreath made by zigzags (cf MAMA V [1937] 
p1.59 no.294 from Nakoleia, and MAMA VII [1956] pl.25 no.420 from eastern Phrygia). 
Victors' crowns on agonistic tables as represented on coins are also upright: cf F. Imhoof­
Blumer, Nomisma 5 (1910) 39ft'; 6 (1911) Iff. 

13 For representations of the Eucharist see H. Leclercq, DACL XIII.l (1936) 436-61. 
For altar or communion table see DACL 1.2 (1907) 3155-89; XV.2 (1953) 1951-55; G. Roux, 
"Une table chrt!tienne de Delphes," BCH97 (1973) 137-44. OUf representation of the Eucha­
rist surrounded by a wreath is unique as far as 1 know. 

14 J. Keil and A. Wilhelm, MAMA III (1931) p.32. 



438 MONT ANIST EPITAPHS AT U~AK 

ing to a community of Montanists.15 But the inscription cited above, 
Inscriptiones Bureschianae no.55, provides a more convincing proof, for 
only the Montanists had female presbyters: "Among them Esc. the 
Montanists] bishops are women, and presbyters are women, and the 
rest too; there is no distinction as to sex."16 (This whole paragraph 
from Epiphanius concerns the important position of women in the 
traditions and practice of Montanism.) Ammion,17 however, did not 
celebrate the Eucharist, or if she did, this function is not represented 
on her tombstone.18 

That the paten motif indicates a function, as reliefs on Phrygian 
doors tones usually do, and is not merely vaguely expressive of Chris­
tianity is clear from a comparison between the reliefs themselves and 
the texts of the epitaphs.19 In inscriptions no.1 (epitaph of Loukios 
and his wife Tatia), nO.3 (epitaph of a woman and her husband Diogas), 
and Keil and von Premerstein, Zweite Reise no.261 (epitaph of Askle­
piades and his wife Melete; the stone is shown in our PLATE 6) femi­
nine articles are shown in the left-hand door, and cross or communion 
paten in wreath above table in the right-hand door; the latter, then, 
refers to the activity of the man alone. In no.2, the epitaph of one per­
son, the device in question is placed in the pediment above the (single) 
door, and each panel of the door contains merely a flat boss within a 
raised diamond. In Keil and von Premerstein, Zweite Reise no.263 (our 
PLATE 7) there were evidently three deceased persons. It is interesting 
further to recall that Montanus introduced the practice of paying 

15 On the Montanists and the phanero-Christian epitaphs of Phrygia, see W. M. Calder, 
"Philadelphia and Montanism," BR ylLib 7 (1922-1923) ; H. Gregoire, Byzantion I (1924) 703-{)9 ; 
W. M. Calder, "Leaves from an Anatolian Notebook," BRylLib 13 (1929); A. Ferrua, "Ques­
tioni di epigrafia eretica romana," RACrist 21 (1945) 207-21; W. M. Calder, "Early Christian 
Epitaphs from Phrygia," AnatSt 5 (1955) 27-31; H. Gregoire, Les persecutions dans {'empire 
romain' (MbnAcBelg SER n 46.1 [1964] 15-16. On the history of the Montanist movement see 
N. Bonwetsch, Die Geschichte des Montanismus (Erlangen 1881); P. de Labriolle, La crise 
montaniste (Fribourg/Paris 1913); id., Les sources de l'histoire du montanisme (Fribourg/Paris 
1913); W. Schepelem, Der Montanismus und die phrygische Kulte (Tiibingen 1929). 

16 Epiphanius, Panarion 49.2: 'E."lcK07Tot T€ ."ap' a~o&c yvvatK€C, Kal "'P€c{3Jr€PO' yvvatl(€C, 
Kat "TCt rua' WC p:q8tv 8w.rplp€'v CPVCtV. 

17 This feminine name is found extensively in Asia Minor: L. Robert, Hellenica VI (1948) 
90; L. Zgusta, Kleinasiatische Personennamen (Prague 1964) 62-63 s. v. -Al£fUOV. 

18 Since she was a woman her tombstone shows a spindle and distaff and a small box 
(capsula), perhaps (there is no illustration) similar to those illustrated in MAMA I (1928) 
411, 420, 422-24; MAMA V (1937) 40-41 (with discussion), 195, 267. In all these examples 
the chests seem to be associated with women. 

19 See no.4 below for the close correspondence between the words of Severa's epitaph 
and the reliefs on her tombstone. 



GIBSON PLATE 3 

DOORSTONE FUNERARY STELE No.1, U§AK MUSEUM 



PLATE 4 GIBSON 



GIBSON PLATE 5 



PLATE 6 GIBSON 



Figure 1. EXTANT FRAGMENTS Figure 2. SKETCH OF STELE 

FUNERARY STELE, KEIL AND VON PRE:\fERSTEIN NO. 263, U§AK MUSEUM 

,-.. 
1.;> ..... 
I:i:I 
[JJ 

o 
z 

"0 
r­
;:t. ..., 
m 
'" 



PLATE 8 GIBSON 

DOORSTONE FUNERARY STELE NO. 4, U~AK MUSUEM 



ELSA GIBSON 439 

preachers a salary: 6 caAapLCt. XOPYJYwv 'TOLe KTJPVCCOVCtV aV70v 70V 

Aoyov (Apollonius in Eusebius, Hist.Eccl. 5.18.2). This innovation was 
contrary to the doctrine and custom of the Orthodox Church, whose 
prophets, preachers and clergy were given support in kind,20 and the 
Montanist practice naturally gave rise to accusations of greed.21 

The ll1ason was confused about the word iavrfi and in fact wrote it 
twice, the first time eliminating the upsilon, the second time writing 
the second person CECt.V'Tfj. The elimination of upsilon was probably 
caused by confusion as to the spelling because of a common pronuncia­
tion Ea'Tofi, Ea'TifJ, etc. 22 To rectify his error the mason improvised a 
V-shaped upsilon (not his usual form), which he fitted in by joining it 
to the preceding alpha so that the right bar of the alpha forms the left 
bar of the upsilon: no space was originally left for this letter on the 
stone. For CEaV'Tfj (without ligature) see another inscription in this 
series, Keil and von Premerstein, Zweite Reise no.261; the editors note 
the form but find it unique and puzzling.23 It appears that the mason, 
uncomfortable with the simple third-person pronoun, which had long 
served for the second person,24 added a hypercorrect, and here in­
correct, second person c€avTfj. The coexistence of both forms in our 
inscription, referring to the same person, demonstrates the difficulty 
experienced by the redactor with their use. 

NUMBER 4 (PLATE 8) 

White marble double doors tone damaged at top left corner and 
more extensively at top right. The first three lines of the inscription 
are on a projecting fascia, and the fourth line is on the shaft of the 
stone above the doors; the doors are in a recessed panel. Height 1.22 
m.; width 1.01 m.; thickness of top 0.42 m.; thickness of shaft 0.33 m.; 
letter~height 0.029 m. Between the doors and to right and left of them 

20 Apollonius in Euseb. Hist.Eccl. 5.18.4. Cf Didache 11-13, 15.1-2; Matt. 10.9-10; I Cor. 
9.8; I Tim. 3.3, 8; Titus 1.7, II. 

21 e.g., Apollonius in Euseb. Hist.Eccl. 5.18.2, 4-7, 9,11. 
12 A. N. jannaris, An Historical Greek Grammar (London 1897) §546. It is met very frequent­

ly in inscriptions. 
23 "Flir den Gebrauch von ("aUTW statt €aVTW vermogen wir, falls hier nicht etwa blosse 

Verschreibung vorliegt, keine Analogien beizubringen." Cf the form C£aTCt' read by R. 
Mouterde on an inscription in Syria (J. and L. Robert, BullEpigr 1953, no.214). 

24 The third-person form €CtUTOv, etc., had begun to replace the second person CftXUTOV, 
etc., as early as the fourth century B.C.: jannaris, op.at. (supra n.22) §1406; E. Mayser, 
Grammatik der griechischen Papyri aus der Ptolemiierzeit 1.2 (Berlin/Leipzig 1938) p.64. 



440 MONTANIST EPITAPHS AT U~AK 

are engaged pilasters. Within the left door are displayed a mirror 
above a bottle (to left) and a comb (to right). The right-hand door 
displays an open pair of tablets and an open roll. Above both doors 
on the main part of the stone and on the faces of the pilasters are 
carved stylized tendrils with leaves. Filling the transom above each 
door are stylized leaves. Between each transom and the surface on 
which the tendrils are carved is a trio of arched, stepped, plain bands. 

[K€]~Tat KaAOC Exovca Kp[------] 
[E]~tn}pa ~Oovc Jl-EV Cf.Jl-vov St' 8 K[A'l10f.ic'] 
OK'TWKatSEKa'TOV E'TOC 7T~'l1povca, 7TPOJl-[ otpa]. 

KA1}JI-'l1C -rfi 8vya7"p~ E431}PCf Jl-v7JJI-'l1c XapLV 
'-" -- ---

"Here lies beautiful ... Severa, of sober character, according to which 
[she was named]. She died at eighteen years of age, before her time. 
Clemens (erected this monument) to his daughter Severa, in memory 
of her. " 

The first three lines, those on the fascia, are in hexameters, but 
their spatial arrangement is peculiar. The first line contains all of the 
first hexameter as well as part of the first foot of the second hexameter. 
The second and third lines begin close to the edge of the fascia, and 
each has space for about ten letters at the end. Either the mason 
intentionally arranged the lines thus to accommodate a date or a 
signature, or he wished in principle to inscribe each verse in a separate 
line.25 

The orthographic variant (KaAoc) does not affect the meter, for this 
word scans as if correctly spelled. The beginning of the third hexam­
eter was rendered unmetrical by insertion of the age of Severa in 
place of the metrically appropriate elements which stood in the origi­
nal verse from which this was copied. 

Of the word 7TPOJl-OtpOC E. Griessmair remarks that it occurs very 
seldom in literature, although it is relatively common in epitaphs 
from the third century B. c. to the third Christian century and is more 
frequently found there than awpoc; he notes too that age is most often 
precisely expressed in the extreme situations of premature death, as 

25 The piece is a fine one, but even when a stone is signed it happens that the placement 
of the inscription is not planned in advance: if. for example G. Mendel, Catalogue des 
sculptures I Constantinople (Istanbul 1914) no.l077 (certainly from the region of Kiitahya), 
and W. M. Calder. AnatSt 5 (1955) 31 (Kiitahya Museum), both bearing the sculptor'S 
signature. 



ELSA GIBSON 441 

here, and old age.26 I. Kajanto points out a prosaic explanation for the 
frequency of age records in children's epitaphs at Rome: the parents 
knew the age of their own child, whereas it was often difficult for an 
adult to know his own exact age.27 Of course the shortness of life of 
the deceased was moving, but equally important is the fact that his 
age was known exactly. 

Another inscription first seen at U~ak and now in the museum 
there reads :28 

Tanavoc v Kat KA~fLTJC v rIC]K01T€AALaV~ 1T[a}rpt 

yAvKVTaTCfJ Kat J-LTJTpl. Eeov v ~p~ {wen fLv~fLTJC xaPLJI 

This must be the epitaph of Severa's paternal grandparents; she was 
named for her grandmother. Her grandfather, Skopellianos, bears a 
name well attested at Temenothyrai: Avp. EKO[1T]EAALavoc Zevb80c 

was a bouleutes of Temenothyrai29 and the name is attested on coins 
of Temenothyrai during the reign of Marcus Aurelius.30 The ultimate 
provenance of the above epitaph and hence of Severa must be Te­
menothyrai. 

Severa's sober, upright character accords well with her name, and I 
believe that this appropriateness is pointed out by the poet in line 2 
of the epitaph. A manifestation of her .ry8oc CEJ-LVOV was her literacy, 
illustrated by the right-hand door of her gravestone; note that the 
ability to read and the ability to write are indicated separately, the 
former by a roll and the latter by wax tablets. Both are common 
motifs on gravestones in Phrygia. Severa's beauty, spoken of in the 

26 Das Motiv von Mors Immatura in den griechischen metrischen Grabinschnften (Innsbruck 
1966) 15-16. 

27 On the Problem of the Average Duration of Life in the Roman Empire (AnnAcFenn 153.2 
[1968] 13-16. 

28 Keil/von Premerstein, Zweite Reise no.262, with photograph (there said to be from 
Ahat Kay: see supra n.5). The editors date the inscription to the late second or early third 
century on the basis of the letter forms, and the absence of Aurelii (see follOWing note) 
confirms this opinion. On the prothetic iota in ['Ic]KoT/"€'\'uavcp see L. Robert, RevPhil 17 
(1943) 113 n.8 (=Opera Minora Selecta I [Amsterdam 1969] 366), and J. and L. Robert, 
BullEpigr 1973, p.75. 

29 Inscription copied at U~ak by E. Legrand and J. Chamonard, BCH 17 (1893) 265 no. 49 
(Ramsay, op.cit. [supra n.3] 612 no.517). The name Aurelios places the date of the inscrip­
tion after A.D. 212: see most recently P. Herrmann, Chiron 2 (1972) 519-30. (Two generations 
after the Constitutio Antoniniana, however, the pseudopraenomen Aurelios was no longer a 
novelty and was often not used.) 

30 BM Catalogue Phrygia (London 1906) p.cii; the coins, ibid. pp. 407f, 412, Inv. Waddington 
5320. This is probably Severa's grandfather. 



442 MONT AN 1ST EPITAPHS AT USAK 

first line of the epitaph, is illustrated by the objects in the left-hand 
door: mirror, bottle (probably for perfume; it is different from the 
jugs in nos. 1 and 3 above), and comb. 

That the stone has two doors does not obviate its ascription to only 
one deceased. Tombstones were largely prefabricated. This stone 
seems to have been originally intended for a married couple: in fact, 
it is very similar in form to that of Severa's own grandparents. How­
ever, the words of the epitaph have been chosen to point out the suita­
bility to Severa of the reliefs on both of the doors. We do not know 
whether the stone was deliberately chosen for her as illustrating her 
beauty, character and accomplishments, or no other stone being 
available Clemens was obliged to buy this one and, having done so, 
chose verses which would describe the appropriateness of both panels 
to Severa. 

TBHRAN 
AUgust, 1975