AgoraXVIII 401 Statue of Ti. Varius Caelianus

Statue of Ti. Varius Caelianus

Agora XVIII 401 Date: ca. 90-120 AD

Tiberius Varius Caelianus, successor (diadochos)

Previous - Agora XVIII 379 Next - Agora XVIII 402
Greek text

References:

Agora XVIII 401 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 23.116 (PHI)

SEG 28.220 (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Agora Excavations - (1)

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base

Findspot: Areopagos, in a private house (Ag. I 4280)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is the base for a statue of Tiberius Varius Caelianus. Successor (diadochos) was the title of the head of the Platonic Academy, the Epicurean garden, and the Stoic school at Athens (see SEG 55.250 with notes). Caelianus was probably a Platonist (J. H. Oliver, AJA 98, 1977, 171 = SEG 28.220). The name is given in the nominative case, rather than the accusative case used for honorific monuments. This might mean that it was part of a set of statues in a gallery or on a monument. Agora XVIII 438, a posthumous statue of Caelianus’ daughter Varia Archelais, names her husband as L. Aemilius Juncus, who was Roman consul in 127 AD, then proconsul of Asia, and corrector of the free cities of Greece in 140/1 (on whom, see SEG 32.254). This connection indicates the status of the Athenian Successors in the Roman Empire and provides a rough date for the inscription (cf. Follet, Athènes, 1976, 32-34).

Added: 17 Aug 2024
Updated: 17 Aug 2024
Feedback

ID: AIO_3047