ONUR 2001 EpigrAnat Bassus Patara

8/3/2019 ONUR 2001 EpigrAnat Bassus Patara

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NORDRHEIN-WESTFAUSCHE AKADEMIE DER WISSENSCHAFTENTURK TARlH KURUMU

EPIGRAPHICA ANATOLICAZeitschrift fur Epigraphik und historische Geographie Anatoliens

herausgegeben vonEKREM AKURGAL, WOLFGANG BLUMEL, WOLFGANG DIETER LEBEK

HASAN MALAY, REINHOLD MERKELBACH, GEORG PETZLSENCER ~ A H t N , ENDER VARlNUOOLU

HEFT33 2001DR. RUDOLF HABELT GMBH . BONN


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EPIGRAPHISCHE MITTEILUNGEN AUS ANTALYA VI

THE LAMP-STAND OFFERINGS OF PRIMIPILARIUS FLAVIUSBASSUS TO APOLLO PATROOS IN PATARAIn 1994, the team responsible for archaeological excavations at Patara discovered the basedepicted below. It was found around the eastern part of the ancient port on the southern side ofthe cape, some 200 metres from the theatre in the north-west. In 1996, the squeeze of theinscription on this base was made by S. ~ a h i n while he was working in Patara on efforts topublish the inscriptions there. In 2000, the base was moved to the Museum of Antalya, whereit has no inventory number.

The base has a triangular form. The edges of the upper part, which was meant to bearthe offerings, are 0.38m; the middle section, with its inscription, is OAOm; the bottom sectionis 0.45m. The base has four feet: three rectangular ones in the corners and a circular one in thecentre. The inscription can be read in spite of the missing sections of the right half. H: 0.51 m;w: 0.425 m; th: 0.37 m; letters: 0.02 m.

.. I thank my teachers, Prof. Dr. Fahri Ilk (director of the excavations at Patara) and Prof. Dr. Sencer ~ a h i n , who have allowed and advised me to publish this base and its inscription.


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170 F. Onur

Frontal View Over View

AA BlO t BAl:IOl:f IPEIMOnEIAAPlo t9EOEI lHKOQ AITlIOAAONII lATP(UlTAIAYXNIAt l :YNTOIIAYNOl t XAPll:THIPEON

n.(

< l > M x ~ l O < ; BaO"c::ro 1t1J[lC0ct> ' A 1 t 6 ] ~ to the listening god Apollon~ Y Da-c[paxp 'tac;] ~ 1 ! " Patroos (these) lamp-standsxviae; c::rUv ['Wtc;] ~ ~ with (their) lamps,XVOl


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171he Lamp-stand Offerings ofPrimipilarius Flavius Bassus to Apollo Patroos in Patara

an offering associated with a re-use of the temple. Also, the style of the lettering is typical ofthe 2nd half of the 2nd century. Architectural remains found in the place from where the baserolled down, such as columns, inscribed fragments of a rather large architrave and ceilingdecorations, suggest that there must have been an important building in this area. One cannaturally assume that these remains may belong to the temple of Apollo when it is taken intoaccount that the base was also found in the same vicinity.

It has been concluded from the context of the inscription that Flavius Bassus offers a prayerrelating to an unknown suffering and promises to offer lamp-stands with lamps, in order to ridhimself of this suffering. Surely, Apollo hears (btfpcooC;) his prayer and makes his wish cometrue. So, Flavius Bassus makes his vows come true flS a measure of gratitude (Xo.PtcrnlpLOV), apromise made by Bassus himself.

1 t P 1 . ~ 0 1 t u . . a . P 1 . 0 ~ (Lat. Primipilarius): Here we see the form of 7tPEqlO7tEtAapLOC;, similarto the other 7tpqlOTtlAaptOC; or TtPl/107tlMPLOC; in the inscriptions.6 Flavius Bassus was incharge as a Primus Pilus in legion, in other words he was the first centurion of the firstcenturio of the first cohors of a legion. When a Primus Pilus finishes his office, he becomes aPrimipilarius. A retired superior Primipilarii could be appointed to the imperial service. 7

Only three individuals have been known to be Primipilarius from the province of Lycia andPamphylia:

1) Marcius Titianus of Balboura82) Lucius Gavius Fronto of Attaleia 93) Bryonianus Lollianus of Side lOThese three returned to their respective native countries and took up some imperial or civilservices after finishing their offices in the legion. In this way, Flavius Bassus also arrived in

Patara and offered lamp-stands with their lamps, though we do not know precisely whetherPataTa was in fact his native country or not.

b t T t 1 C O O ~ : Apollo was being worshipped as 8oc; rtT1l'COOC; meaning "the god hearing theprayers from above", together with the other gods/goddesses. I I

lvuXVia.: This word comes to mean "lamp-stand". Bassus offered these lamp-stands withtheir lamps, which is I v { ) X V O ~ in Greek. These lamps were made either of terra cotta, copperalloy, silver or gold. However, it is not clear what kind of material was used for the lamps ofthis base, since these have not been discovered.

6 For example see: the honourific inscriptions of Bryonianus Lollianus: J. Nolle, I. v, Side 11, nos. 105-110:1tPEll.101telAaplOv. In an other (unpublished) foundation inscription found in Patara, which probably belongs tothe 2nd century A.D., i t appears as npell.lutev..aplO1J.

7 For general information, see: B. Dobson, Die Primipilares, Bonn 1978.8 Dobson, op.cit., no. 116; M. Warrle, Stadt und FeSl im kaiserzeitlichen Kleinasien, Miinchen 1988(Vestigia 39), 63; IOR Ill, 472; IOR 1lI, 576; IOR Ill, 500, col. III 28-31.

9 Dobson, op. cil., 115.IOIORII1,810and811;ZPE26, 1977, 71-81;AE 1966,471.I1 For tm'pCOOS, see: O,Weinreich, 8EOI EnHKOOI, Athen. Mitt. 37, 1912, 1-68.


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172 F.Onur

It is well known that lamp offerings were not only being made to Apollo. An example ofthis can be seen in the inscriptions on ceramic vessels found in Cyprus, which point to thelamps being offered to the nymphs. 12

Also, in a dedication inscription found in Syria, a lamp-stand and a lamp were offered tothe goddess Leukothea ( .. :rhv [A]UXViav leat "tOY AUXVOV aq'tEpw(JE.-n eEi;L A E U l e O e E ~ ... )13. Avery similar example which is believed to have come from Afyon-


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The Lamp-sland Offerings ofPrimipilarius Flavius Bassus 10 Apollo Patroos in Patara 173

10th centuries RC. were discovered in Olympia22 ; triangular stands have also been found inthe temple of Apollo Ptoion. 23

From the Classical period onwards, the tripod was used as a prize given in cboregeiwhich were theatrical shows. The best traditional tripods were located in Athens. Hundreds 0bronze tripods, which had been dedicated to Dionysus as prizes of the choregeias, decoratedthe edges of the Tripous/tripod Street in Athens. These tripods also had a base, which VIshaped like the base in Patara.24 This tradition was kept alive until the late Roman period.The bases, which were discovered in the theatre of Orchomenos in Boeotia and dedicated toDionysus, are very similar to the base of Patara.26 Triangular bases whose purpose was tocarry statues27 (rarely) or lamps are also in existence. 28 So, in the light of these examples, wecan see that there were in existence bases with legs that carried lamps. These legs wereprobably tied together, giving them a tripod appearance.

Akdeniz UniversitesVAntalya Fatlh Ouut

6ZETANTALYA'DAN EPIGRAFI HABERLERI VI: Primlpilarius Flavius Bassus'un Patara'da ApollonPatroos'a sundu!u adak pmdanlanAlthk 1994 ylhnda Patara limanmm dogu agzmda, tiyatronun 200 m kadar kuzeyballsma d i i ~ e n bumun giineyyamacmda PataTa kazl ekibi tarafmdan b u l u n m u ~ t u r . Althktaki onemlj klSlm ustiinde bulunan dort adet metaloturtma delikleridir. Bu deliklerden dortgen olan uer tanesi k o ~ e l e r d e , yuvarlak ve daha az derin olan dordunciisilise merkezde bulunmaktadlr. Althktaki yazltm, sag yansl kotu durumda olmasma ragmen tamamlayabilmekmumkiin o l m u ~ t u r : "Primipilarius Flavius Bassus, dualarl i$ilen lann Apollon Patroos i{:in, (bu) kandil altlzklannl kandilleriyleberaber bir ~ k r a n a d a ~ olarak (adadl)".Yazltm tarihlenmesi ierin Patara Apollon Tapmagl tariheresi goz onune ahnmlcr. Her ne kadar Flavius soy achyla1 yy. o z e l l i ~ i gosterse de, Rhodiapolisli Opramoas'm yapml oldugu yardlmlarla tapmagm yeniden i ~ l e m e y e b ~ l a d l g l tarihten sonra ve Conslitulio Anloniniana'dan (212) once olmahdlr. Flavius Bassus lejyonda prlmuspilus olarak gorev yapml, bu gorevi bitikten (primipilarius) sonraki bir donemde Patara'da Apollon Patroos'tanbir temennide bulunmutur. Bunun g e r e r e k l ~ n e s i sonucunda ise kandil althklan ile kandiller a d a m l ~ ve bunuyakm erevrede goriilmeyen bir bierimde, bir uc;ayak formunda y a p m l ~ t J r .

22 M. Maa13, Olympische Forschungen 10, Berlin 1978, 117.; P.C. Pol, Antike Bronzerechnik. Kunst undHandwerk antiker Erzbildner, Munchen (1985),30.23 P. Guillon, Les Trepieds du Ptoion I, Paris 1943, 23., no. XXII; 1. Ducat, Les Kouroi du Ptoion. LeSanctuaraire d' Apollon Ptoieus a I' epoque archaique, Paris 1971,40 I no. 251 and pI. 138.24 H. Jung, Die Relietbasis Athen, National Museum 1463: Sparklassisch oder neuattisch?, MarbWpr 1986,

3-38, pI. 1-3.25 Reisch, op.cir., 91; M. Jacob-Felsch, Die Entwicklung der griechischen Statuenbasen und die Aufstellungder Statuen, Waldsassen 1969,98; E. Stikas, "TplTtAe\lpu KOlVOKp

ONUR 2001 EpigrAnat Bassus Patara

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