AIUK10 no. 2 Grave stele of Claudia Aphphein

Grave stele of Claudia Aphphein

AIUK 10 (National Galleries of Scotland) no. 2 Date: Mid-2nd cent. AD

Claudia Aphphein of Melite.^[1] Relief^[2]

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Greek text

References:

AIUK 10 (National Galleries of Scotland) no. 2 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG II² 6837 (PHI)

Conze IV no. 1853 (drawing)

Clairmont, CAT 2.374c (ph.)

von Moock no. 420

Translation by: Peter Liddel, Polly Low

AIO Images: 1 2

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: “Found near Athens” (Lady Ruthven’s will) (Edinburgh, National Galleries 687)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is a funerary stele, with inscription carved inside the pediment and its base, for a woman named Claudia Aphphein of Melite. Nothing more is known of her, although her Roman nomen gentile Claudia suggests that she was a Roman citizen, either on the basis of membership of a prominent family or as a descendant of a family enfranchised under Claudius. Alternatively she may have been a freedwoman whose former master had the nomen Claudius. Aphphein (or Apphein) is a rare name; if she was a freedwoman, it may have been her original name or a Hellenised form of it. We suggest that it is best interpreted as a Lallname, a simple name of endearment which had its origins in baby-talk. The demotic form, literally “from the Meliteans”, characteristic of inscriptions of the Roman period, is a mode of designating female deme affiliation. [2] The relief depicts two female figures in dexiosis, both of whom are clad in chiton and himation. The figure on the left stands with left hand raised, perhaps a “speaking gesture”. Judging by the decorative letter forms, the extant inscription on this monument is of the Roman period, probably the mid-second century AD. Likewise, the hairstyles are characteristic of the imperial period. However, the drapery of the figures, covering their bodies with soft, large, folds, is characteristic of the classical period. This is, therefore, likely to be a monument set up originally in the fourth century BC, with the heads re-worked in the second century AD when the extant inscription was added.

This inscription is one of the two Attic funerary monuments brought to Winton House in East Lothian by the Dowager Lady Ruthven (1789-1885); they are both currently in the holdings of the National Galleries of Scotland. For a fuller discussion of this monument and its collection history, see AIUK 10 (National Galleries of Scotland), no. 2. For more information about private Attic funerary monuments, see AIUK 3 (Cambridge), section 3, with video.

Added: 24 Sep 2021
Updated: 6 Apr 2022
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