Imagines Italicae: News and Puzzles

News and Puzzles

Project News

February 2004

The texts in Imagines Italicae will be listed as a numbered sequence within individual communities, not least in order to highlight the pattern of the spread of Latin in the course of the Roman conquest of Italy. We have now put up a list of ancient communities, their boundaries identified by the names of the modern 'comuni' within them. Furthermore, since one of the main objectives of Imagines Italicae is to provide an account of the archaeological context of the texts, we shall also put up some of the archaeological bibliography with which we are working, in the hope that others will find it useful.

April 2003

The project team spent three weeks in Italy visiting museums and sites, collecting data and taking photographs of the remainder of the inscriptions in our database.

February 2003

Gabriel Bodard joined the project, and carried out a major overhaul of the website; set up the new discussion group, and created an archive of electronic images of inscriptions.

December 2002

Margaret Watmough visited the Hermitage museum in St Petersburg, Russia, and photographed two inscribed vases in their collection (ST Ps 3; ST Cm 33).

Puzzles—can you help?

1. Greek or Oscan characters?

If the following characters are in any kind of Greek alphabet, as G. Antonini claims, we have as yet been unable to decipher them. (Select thumbnail for larger image of his sketch.) We would be grateful for any suggestions or insights.

Region

Volsci

Identifier

ATINA
Villetta Barrea

References

Pocc 99

Published drawings

Antonini

Object

Presumably a column drum, reused in Roman bath.

Discovery and Context

Antonini: 'Ritrovandomi l'anno MDCCXXV nell'Aquila Uditor di quella Provincia ... (I heard) essersi trovato un tesoro ... vicino la Villetta, sulla sinistra del fiume Sangro ... Sulla riva di questo dovetti far iscavare, ove dicevano essere stato trovato il tesoro, e trovai esserci un'antichissima, rozza fabbrica, che fatta nettare ... vidi esser un bagno col suo ambulacro, ed un angusto, rozzo acquedotto, che vi conduceva l'acqua dal Sangro. Attaccata a quello trovossi una pietra dolce, di circa tre palmi di diametro [= 0.00 m], rotta in piú pezzi, in cui erano undici grossi caratteri, o segni intagliati in due dritte linee, i quali, benchè alquanto dal tempo consumati, vidi però che tre di essi erano all'intutto simili a quei del sepolcro del Varrizzo [near Paestum].

Epigraphical Account

Since Antonini claims that of the letters seen at Paestum, three also formed part of the inscription at Atina, three of the symbols above need to be possible both in the Greek and in the Oscan national alphabet.

Bibliography

G. Antonini, La Lucania. Discorsi di G. Antonini, barone di S. Biase (Naples 1794-7) Parte I, discorso VI, p. 70 n. 1 (wrong in Poccetti), whence D. Romanelli, Antica topografia storica del Regno di Napoli (Naples 1815-19) p. 487 (wrong in Poccetti).

2. Cup with "erotic representations"

This insription (select thumbnail for larger image of sketch) is on a painted vase, presumably known, but not identified in our sources. Can anyone help us to identify the vase from the description below?

Region

Campania

Identifier

PICENTIA
Pontecagnano

References

Garrucci

Published Drawings

Garrucci

Object

Pelike

Discovery and Archaeological Context

Garrucci: 'In quel medesimo sepolcro, ove fu trovato (sic) la tazza col graffito sovraesposto [= ET, Pontecagnano 34], era una pelike ornata di due rappresentanze erotiche, disotto al piede lessi NVO (Tav. I n. 3)'.

Text and Apparatus

nuo / nua / oun / aun

Bibliography

R. Garrucci, Bullettino Archeologico Napoletano, n.s., 1 (1852-3) pp. 84-7, Pl. I, 'Iscrizioni Etrusche graffite sul fondo esterno di due vasi trovati in sepolcri campani', at p. 87.