INSCRIPTION

Honourific inscription to Octavia Agis, dedicated by the polis of Sparta

"INSCRIPTION TEXT"

1 Ἁ πόλις
Ὀκταουίαν Ἀγίν,
Ὀκταουίου Λονγε[ί]-
[ν]ου θυγατέρα καὶ Ἰ-
5 ουλίας Νεικίου, ἔκ-
γονον τῶν ἀρχα-
γετᾶν τᾶς πόλε-
ως θεῶν Ἡρακλέ-
ους καὶ Λυκούρ-
10 γου, γυναῖκα δε
Πομπηίου Ἀριστο-
κράτους, σωφρο-
σύνας καὶ φιλαν-
δρίας χάριν
15 ΧΑΡΙΝ
  Inscription Type: Honourific inscription
  Date: 110-130 CE
  Location: Sparta, built into the eastern face of the Roman fortification wall, Roman Stoa
  Museum (Storage Place:
  Inv. no:
  Name of Woman Οκταβία Αγίς
  Civic Presence (Social Role Represented): Received honours
   Comments:

Marble statue base bearing a civic honourific inscription for Octavia Agis, who claimed descent from the Founder Gods of Sparta, Heracles and Lycurgus, on account of her moderation and love for husband. It is interesting that the noble descent of both parents of Octavia Agis was stressed through the formulation of her filiation: her nomen and cognomen were followed by those of her father and the word θυγάτηρ (corresponding to the Latin filia) and those of her mother. The claim of descent from Heracles and the Dioscuri was common among the Spartan elite of the Hadrianic and Antonine period, but the claim of descent from Lycurgus is unique.

  Bibliography:

Spawforth 1994, 437-439, αρ. 10 (SEG 1994, 361; 1994, 1607); RP II, LAC 596

  Author: Giorgos Mitropoulos
  Added: 2024-08-31
  Edited: