Graffiti and Dipinti (Athenian Agora vol. 21)

186 Pages·1976·7.79 MB·English

by  Mabel Lang

THE ATHENIANAG ORA
RESULTS OF EXCAVATIONS
CONDUCTED BY
THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS
VOLUME XXI
GRAFFITI AND DIPINTI
BY
MABEL LANG
THE AMERICAN SCHOOL OF CLASSICAL STUDIES AT ATHENS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
1976
PUBLISHED WITH THE AID OF A GRANT FROM MR. JOHN D. ROCKEFELLER, JR.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
Lang, Mabel L 1917-
Graffiti and dipinti.
(The Athenian Agora; v. 21)
Bibliography: p.
1. Athens. Agora. 2. Graffiti-Athens.
3. Inscriptions, Greek-Athens. I. Title.
II. Series: American School of Classical Studies at Athens. The
Athenian Agora; v. 21.
DF287.A23A5 vol. 21 938'.5s [938'.5] 75-40229
ISBN 0-87661-221-4
PRINTED IN GERMANY at J.J. AUGUSTIN, GLtCKSTADT
PREFACE
P erhapse ven more than in otherv olumeso f the AthenianA goras eriest he materialp resentedh ereh as
hadt he benefito f mucht imea ndt houghto vert hey earso n the parto f a goodly numbero f excavators,
cataloguersa nd visitorsi n the Agora. Everyonee njoysv erbalp uzzlest hat challengeo ne's powerso f
reading( ancient)m inds,a nd manyh appyn otionsa boutt heset exts weree volveda roundt he tea table so
that the 'onlie begetter'm ay have been lost in obscurity.
Dating of the materialh as also been a cooperativee ffort,s o that the presenta uthori s indebtedn ot
only to excavatorsb ut also to the many scholarsw hose study of particulark inds of materialf or
particularp eriodsh as broughto rdero ut of complicationa nd confusion.
Basict o this workw as firsta completel istingo f all graffitai nd dipintif oundi n the Agora,i nitiatedb y
Lucy Talcotta nd effectedb y SuzanneY oung and a successiono f helpfulv olunteersT. hen,t he founda-
tions of this study'sc ategoriesA throughG werel aid in a preliminarvye rsionw ritteni n the early1 950's
by George A. Stamiresa nd EugeneV anderpool.A lthoughf ar more limited in scope and numbero f
piecess tudiedt han this, that workh as on severalo ccasionsp rovidedn ot only the best readingb ut also
the right phrasesi n which to presentt he material.I n the years following,t he presenta uthorw as for-
tunatei n beinga ble to consultw ith EugeneV anderpooal nd benefitf romh is vast experienceo f all things
Greeka nd graphic.H is wisdoma nd temperedj udgmenti n consequencep ervadet he whole work; the
infelicitiesa nd what errorst herem ay be of commisssiono r omissiona re all my own.
Illustrationos f the graffithi ave been limitedt o drawingsI. n the case of dipintip hotographhs ave been
preferredfo r one category,b ecauseo f the difficultieps resentedb y a combinationo f run-onc ursivef orms
and the fugitivem edium.T he drawingsw ere made by Hero Athanasiadesa nd Helene Besi who have
shownb oth skill and firmnessi n representinwg hatw as actuallyv isibler athert han being influencedb y
the 'wishfuls eeing'o f the author.
'It is easy to read if you know what it says.' - EUGENVE ANDERPOOL
NOVEMBER1, 974 MABEL LANG
TABLE OF CONTENTS
PREFACE ........................................................................ V
LIST OF PLATES ............................................................ .... viii
ABBREVIATIONSA ND BIBLIOGRAPHY ...................................................... ix
INTRODUCTIO.N... ..... ................ . ..................................... 1
A. ABECEDARIA ........................... . ................. ..... 6
B. MESSAGEASN D LISTS ...................................................... 8
C. LOVEN AMESA ND HATEN AMES. .......... ................................ 11
D. NAMESO N SHERDS.. ................. ........... ................... 16
E. NUMERICANL OTATIONOS N SHERDS .......................... ................... 21
F. OWNERS' MARKS ....................... ............................ 23
F. PRIVATEO WNERSHIP ...................................................... 30
FA. PUBLIC OWNERSHIP: DELTA-EPSILONL IGATURES .................................... 51
FB. PUBLICO WNERSHIPD: ELTA-ETAL IGATURES ........ ........ ......... 52
G. DEDICATIONSA ND CONVIVIAILN SCRIPTION.S.. ........................... ............ 52
H. COMMERCIANLO TATIONS. ......................................................... 55
HA. CAPACITY.. ..................... ............... ..................... 55
HB. TARE .6............................................................. 64
HC. DATE ................................................................ 69
HD. CONTENTS ....................................................... 72
HE. COMBINATION..S.. ................................................... 75
I. TAX NOTATIONS ....... ......... ................................... 82
J. CHRISTIANIN SCRIPTIONS.. .......................................... 87
K. MISCELLANEOUNSO TATION.S.. ...... ................................... 88
L. UNCLASSIFIEDN OTATION.S.. .............. ............... ................... 90
M. PICTURES ............ ..... .......................... .............. 94
DEPOSITS ................................................9...................96
CONCORDANCEO F INVENTORYA ND CATALOGUEN UMBERS ................................... 101
INDICES.. .......................................... 105
INDEX NOMINUM. .......... .. ............................. . ..... . .......105
INDEX VERBORUM ................................................................... 110
INDEX NUMERORUM ................................................................. 115
INDEX SIGILLORUM .................................................................. 116
LIST OF PLATES
PLATE
1 Abecedaria (A 1-11)
2-3 Lists and Messages (B 1-21)
4-6 Love Names and Hate Names (C 1-34)
7-9 Names on Sherds (D 1-44)
10 Numerical Notations on Sherds (E 1-16)
11-28 Owners' Marks (F 1-334)
29 Owners' Marks: De(mosion) Ligatures (Fa 1-26; Fb 1-3)
30-31 Dedications and Convivial Inscriptions (G 1-23)
32-36 Commercial Notations: Capacity (Ha 1-56)
37-38 Commercial Notations: Tare (Hb 1-31)
39-40 Commercial Notations: Date (Hc 1-26)
41-42 Commercial Notations: Contents (Hd 1-23)
42-47 Commercial Notations: Combinations (He 1-44)
48-53 Tax Notations (I 1-45)
53-54 Christian Inscriptions (J 1-12)
54-55 Miscellaneous (K 1-19)
56-59 Unclassified (L 1-56)
60-61 Pictures (M 1-23)
62 Actual State Plan of the Agora
ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Agora TheA thenianA gora,R esultso f Excavationcs onductedb y the AmericanS chool
of ClassicalS tudiesa t Athens
III R. E. Wycherley, Literary and Epigraphical Testimonia, Princeton, 1957
(see below, Wycherley)
IV R. H. Howland, Greek Lamps and their Survivals,P rinceton, 1958 (see
below, Howland)
V H. S. Robinson, Pottery of the Roman Period: Chronology,P rinceton,
1959( see below, Robinson,C hronology)
VI C. Grandjouan, Terracottaso f the Roman Period, Princeton, 1961
VII J. Perlzweig, Lamps of the Roman Period, Princeton, 1961
VIII E. T. H. Brann, Late Geometric and Protoattic Pottery, Princeton, 1962
(see below, Brann)
X M. Lang and M. Crosby, Weights,M easures and Tokens, Princeton, 1964
XII B. A. Sparkes and L. Talcott, Black and Plain Pottery of the 6th, 5th and
4th CenturieBs . C., Princeton,1 970( see below, Sparkes-Talcott)
A. J.A 1. AmericanJ ournal of Archaeology
Annuarlio Annuariod ella (R.) Scuola archeologicad i Atene
Beazley, A. B. V. J. D. Beazley, Attic Black-Figure Vase-Painters,O xford, 1956
Beazley, A. R. V. J. D. Beazley, Attic Red-Figure Vase-Painters,s econd edition, Oxford, 1963
Bechtel Fr. Bechtel, Die historischeP ersonennamend es Griechischen,H alle, 1917
Bickerman E. J. Bickerman, Chronologyo f the Ancient World,L ondon, 1968
Brann Late Geometrica nd Protoattic Pottery. Agora, VIII
B. S. A. Annual of the British School at Athens
B. C.H. Bulletin de correspondanceh ellenique
C. I. L. CorpusI nscriptionumL atinarum,P aris, 1862-1963
C.R. Classical Review
Edmonds J. M. Edmonds, The Fragmentso f Attic Comedy, Leiden, 1959-61
Howland Greek Lamps and their Survivals.A gora, IV
I.G. InscriptionesG raecae, Editio minor, Berlin, 1924 -
I. G. A. Imagines InscriptionumG raecarumA ntiquissimarum,t hird edition, H. Roehl,
Berlin,1 907
LG. R.R. InscriptionesG raecae ad Res Romanas Pertinentes,P aris, 1906-2/
Immerwahr H. R. Immerwahr", Some Inscriptionso n Attic Pottery," The James Sprunt
Studies in History and Political Science, XLVI, 1964, pp. 16-27
Jeffery, L. S. A. G. Lillian H. Jeffery, The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece, Oxford, 1961
Kretschmer P. Kretschmer,D ie griechischen VaseninschriftenG, iitersloh, 1894
Kubitschek W. Kubitschek, GrundriJd3efri antiken Zeitrechnung,M unich, 1928
LSJ H. G. Liddell,R . Scott, H. S. Jones,A Greek-EnglisLhe xicon,O xford,1 925-
40
Meisterhans2 K. Meisterhans, Grammatik der attischen Inschriften, second edition, Berlin,
1888
x ABBREVIATIONS AND BIBLIOGRAPHY
Metrolog. Script. MetrologicorumS criptorumR eliquiae, Leipzig, 1864-1866
P. Oxy. OxyrhynchuPsa pyri,B . P. Grenfella nd A. S. Hunt, ed., London, 1898-
Pape J. E. Pape, Worterbuchd er griechischenE igennamen,t hird edition (G. Benseler),
Braunschweig1, 884
Prosop. Att. J. E. Kirchner, ProsopographiaA ttica, Berlin, 1901-03
Robinson, Chronology Pottery of the Roman Period: Chronology.A gora, V
Robinsona nd Fluck D. M. Robinson and E. J. Fluck, A Study of Greek Love-Names, Baltimore,
1937
Roehl See I. G. A. above
S. E. G. SupplementunE pigraphicumG raecum,L eyden, 1923
Sparkes-Talcott Black and Plain Pottery of the 6th, 5th and 4th CenturiesB .C. Agora, XII
Tolstoy J. Tolstoy, Grecheskie Graffiti drevnikh gorodov Severnogo Prichernomoreia,
Moskva-Leningrad1,9 53
Wycherley Literary and EpigraphicalT estimonia.A gora, III
INTRODUCTION
Informal inscriptionsi, ncised or painted,a ppearo n over 3000 pieces (pottery,l amps, miscellaneous
clay) cataloguedi n the Agora excavations.A t least one-thirdo f these consist of one or two letters
only, incisedo n the bottom of smallv essels,p erhapsa s markso f ownershipo, r painted on the necks
of unglazeda mphorasp, erhapsa s somek ind of commercianl otation.T he brevityo f theset exts allowss o
greata varietyo f interpretationtsh at publicationw ould serven o usefulp urpose;i t is sufficientto note
the largen umbero f suchc urtaileda bbreviationsI.n additiont o the completei nscriptionso f one or two
letterst herea rem anyb rokeni nscriptioncs onsistingo f only a few lettersw hicha dmito f so manyp ossible
restorationsth at nothingc ertainc an be learnedf rom them. This publicationt hereforei s limitedt o the
859 graffitia nd dipintiw hichh ave sufficientc ontentt o be meaningfulw, hethert he meaningi s clear or
not. The selectedp iecesr angei n time fromt he late 8th centuryB .C.,w henl ettersf irsta ppearo n pottery,
to the 6th centuryo f our era. Sincet he varietyo f the materiali s so great,o thers pecificc riteriae mployed
in the selectionc an best be listedi n connectionw ith the variousc ategorieso f texts.
Certaint ypes of inscriptionso n potteryd o not belong in this study and will be more appropriately
dealt with elsewhere:
1) Ostraka;
2) Artists' signatures,l ove names and other painted inscriptionso n black-figureda nd red-figured
pottery;
3) Conviviali nscriptionsp aintedo n Hellenisticp otterya nd Late Romanm otto mugs, and all other
paintedi nscriptionsw hicha re part of the decorationo f the pot;
4) Stampedo r moldedi nscriptionss uch as amphorah andles,l amp signaturesA, rretines tamps,e tc.
Classification
Variousa s the selectedm ateriails , the majorityo f itemsf alls readilyi nto a comparativelsym alln umber
of categories:
A. Abecedaria
B. Messagesa nd Lists
C. Love Names and Hate Names
D. Names on Sherds
E. NumericalN otationso n Sherds
F. Owners'M arks
F. PrivateO wnership
Fa. Public OwnershipD, elta-epsilonL igatures
Fb. Public OwnershipD, elta-etaL igatures
G. Dedicationsa nd ConvivialI nscriptions
H. CommerciaNl otations
Ha. Capacity
Hb. Tare
Hc. Date
2 INTRODUCTION
Hd. Contents
He. Combinations
I. Tax Notations
J. ChristianI nscriptions
K. Miscellaneous
L. Unclassified
M. Pictures
An introductionto eachc ategoryd efinest he type, indicatess pecialc haracteristicasn d suggestsp arallels,
purpose,e tc.
Dating and Provenience
Therem ay be as many as threek inds of evidenceb earingo n the date of any particulari nscription:
1) form of the letters;2 ) date of the object on which the inscriptionw as written;3 ) date of the de-
posit in whichi t was found. Sometimesa ll three of these lines may give a result;s ometimes,h owever,
the writingm ay be characterlessth, e pot fragmenmt ayb e featurelesso, r the contextm ayb e meaningless.
Althought he date of the inscriptionis what we have to determinei,t must most often be arriveda t by
means of one of the other dates, since the chronology of letter forms is not as yet an exact science. The
context date will often be the most convenient. Where the date of the pot agrees closely with the context
date, it seemsu nnecessaryto give a date for the pot as well. Dates for the pots are includedt herefore
onlyw heret he contexti s meaninglesso r wheret he pot is obviouslye arliert hani ts context.F or the most
part,t hreed atesw ill be giveno nly whent heya re differenta, s for examplef or a geometrics herdi nscribed
in the 7th century B.C. and found in a 5th-centuryB .C. context.
The arrangemenot f inscriptionsi n each categoryi s chronological,b ut since there is considerable
differencein the degreeo f accuracyp ossiblef or variousi tems,t he orderi n some casesi s purelyc onven-
tional. Thus those piecesw hichc an not be datedm ore closelyt han to a centuryf ollow those that have
beena ssignedt o a particularq uartero r half of that centurye ven thought hey may indeedb e earliert han
the second-halfo r fourth-quartepr ieces.E ven more vague are dates like Early Roman (roughly1 st-
early3 rd centuriesa fterC hrist)o r LateR oman (late 3rd-6thc enturiesw) hichc overs till longerp eriods
of time.
Whent he sherdo r pot comesf rom a closedd eposit,t he depositn umbero n the Agorag ridi s given.A
list of the depositsw ith all piecesh erep ublishedf rome achw ill be foundi n the indexo f Deposits.W hen
a piece comes in a fill predominantlyo f one period, though not a closed deposit, the context date is
given withouta depositn umber.W hen an item was found in an area whichp rovidedn o information
concerningit s date, no mentioni s made of provenience.
PublicationR eferences
Whena piece has alreadyb een eithern oted in a preliminaryr eporto r more formallyp ublishedi n a
specials tudyi n Hesperiao r in an Agora volume,t he publicationr eference( ofteno nly the most recent)
is includedi n the first paragrapho f the catalogued escription.T his referencem ay be in the form of
volumea nd page numberso r expresseda s an equationb etweent he cataloguen umberh erea ssigneda nd
that given in the other publicatione, .g., "Ha 26 (P 9902).R ound-mouthejdu g, Robinson,C hronology,
M 169" or "F 177 (L 4212).B lack-glazedla mp (= Howland,n o. 267)." Frequentlyth e shapea nd form
of a vesseli s definedw ith referencet o examplesa lreadyp ublisheda nd dated eitheri n Hesperiao r one
of the AthenianA gorav olumes.S ee list of Abbreviationfso r shortf ormso f reference.
Letter-shapesa nd Spelling
The varietyo f shapesw hiche ach letterm ay take is dependento n severalf actorso f whichc hronology
is only one; othersa re the natureo f the writings urface,t he natureo f the writingi mplementt,h e writing
INTRODUCTION 3
skill of the inscriber,a nd the amount of care which he has taken. Thus anything but the most painstaking
incision on (or through) good black glaze results in angular letters and straight lines where curves might
be expected. A very fine metal point is easier to control but seems not to have been used so often as some
blunter instrument.T he older, softer fabrics lend themselves more to curved lines so that even the straight
uprightso f alphaa nd deltaa reo ftenc urved.A writerw ho knowsh is lettersw ellp roducesm orer ecogniz-
able shapes than one who draws each line without much feeling for the appearanceo f the letter as a whole.
Becauseo f thesef actorsi t is not practicableto see all differenceisn letter-shapeas s relevantt o the date
and development of the alphabet. For example, even though epsilons are known to develop from tailed
to untailed, a good black-glazed sherd of the 5th century B.C. may show a long-tailed epsilon while those
on a coarse pot of the 6th century B.C.a re without a tail. One or more of a number of reasons may be
involved:t he hards urfaceo f blackg lazer equiress o muchp ressuret hat completec ontrolo vert he length
of line may be lost; the 5th-centuryw riter may be an old man using the letter-shapes of his early youth;
the 6th-century writer may have been a careful person who had established a base line below which he
did not go, etc.
Spelling, and the use of Attic or Ionic alphabet, are also subjectt o other influencest han that of chronol-
ogy. Although in formalp ublici nscriptionst he Ionic alphabetw as not ordinarilyu sed until 403 B.C.,
individualsi n Athens were open to influenceso f many sorts: citizensm ay have been quick to pick up
the more preciseI onic vowelsf or greaterc larity;m eticsa nd slavesm ay have broughtt heiro wn writing
habitsw ith them. In a time befored ictionariest,h erec an have been no standardo f spellingo r even of
pronunciations,o that even with the best will in the worlds pellingw ill have been idiosyncraticA. good
example of the range and variety of both letter-shapes and spelling possible to individuals all writing at
the same time may be the ostrakac ast againstT hemistoklesin the 480's:
Theta-square or round;c rossbarredo r dotted
Epsilon-bars horizontalo r slanted;o mitteda t least once
Mu-last leg of equal or unequall ength
Iota-sometimes omitted
Sigma-most often three-barred,o ccasionally four or more; sometimes doubled, or reversed,o r omitted
Tau-most often writtent heta, occasionallyt au
Omicron-squareo r round
Kappa-no variety
Lambda-always Attic
Epsilon-see above; eithers ingleo r doubled;o mitteda t least once
Sigma-see above
The letters of Neokleous not already dealt with are only nu (last leg may be equal or unequal) and the
diphthong (most often omicron, occasionally omega). In Phrearriost he phi may be square or round, the
rho's may be tailedo r not, and the rho in the middlem ay be singleo r double,b oth witha nd withoute ta
as the aspirate.
A close studyo f letter-shapehs as been includedi n the introductionto Owners'M arks( F), since this
category alone not only covers our whole time span from early 7th century B.C.t o the 6th century of our
era but also provides a sufficientn umber of similar texts for statistical purposes. The conclusions arrived
at for that one group can here be tested on all categories; they appear generally to hold true.
"A more or less standard old Attic alphabet( A or ABAAEIIH?IKLNMNOPP$TVorO +X)l is used with
only a few exceptions and variant forms through the second quarter of the 5th century B.C."(p.2 3
below). Obviously these standard shapes will often only be approximatedb y writersw ho may be unskilled
or using intractable materials,b ut in addition there are real exceptions which may be tabulateda s follows:
Digamma is not used alphabeticallyb ut only numerically;k oppa is used more exceptionally than regularly; xi and psi are
regularlyi ndicatedb y the combination of chi and phi, respectively,w ith sigma.