FDIII3 72 Statue base at Delphi

Statue base at Delphi

F.Delphes III 3 72 Date: 138-160 AD

Appia Annia Atilia [Regilla Cau]cidia [Tertulla]^[1] daughter of Appius (5)[Gallus] consul [wife of] Herodes . . . . . . ^[2]

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References:

F.Delphes III 3 72 (Translated text) (PHI)

Syll.³ 859D

Ameling, Herodes Atticus II 109

Choix de Delphes 262

Translation by: Hannes Freitag

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base (private)

Original location: Delphi

Findspot: Delphi, north-east corner of the temple, in the pronaos (Delphi Museum 1792+1830)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is a statue base set up by Regilla, wife of Herodes Attticus, for an unknown person in the sanctuary of Apollo Pythios at Delphi. It is inscribed on a white marble base which consists of two joining fragments from the topmost and leftmost parts of the base. It is one of several statue bases set up at Delphi by or for the family of Herodes Atticus. If it was not moved there secondarily, the findspot could indicate that the base was originally located on the temple terrace, probably in front of the temple or in the pronaos. It would then have been distinct from the family monument located near the Athenian Treasury (see Choix de Delphes 257 with notes). That it is to be interpreted as a separate monument is also indicated by the different materials (white marble rather than grey limestone), dedicants (Regilla rather than Herodes on the authority of the Delphians), and letter heights (35 mm rather than 18-22 mm), cf. J. Bousquet, BCH 88, 1964, 393-94. On Herodes Atticus, see AIUK 11 (Ashmolean) no. 15 with notes; on Regilla, see I Eleusis 476 with notes; on Attic inscriptions at Delphi, see IG II³ 4, 17 with notes.

The inscription postdates Regilla’s marriage to Herodes in or after 138 and predates Regilla’s death in or before 160 AD, cf. T. D. Barnes, Latomus 27, 1968, 581-86.

At Delphi, there were at least two statues of Regilla, one dedicated by her husband Herodes as part of the family monument (Choix de Delphes 257), the other by the Council and People of the Delphians, but in honorific language which sounds more Athenian than Delphic (Choix de Delphes 261). The latter was found on the temple terrace at the foot of the north wall of the cella which suggests that it was not part of the family monument either; its findspot is not far from that of our text and the two bases might have stood nearby. Regilla is active as dedicant at Delphi only in our text . At Olympia, she dedicated a statue of Hygieia to the goddess (IvO 288) and the great nymphaeum to Zeus (IvO 610 and, together with Herodes, 612); at Corinth, she might have dedicated the Peirene Spring, either on her own or together with her husband (Corinth VIII.1, 86; cf. B. A. Robinson, Fountains and Culture of Water, 2001, 354; doubted by J. Tobin, Herodes Attikos, 1997, 300-1). Our text seems to be the only surviving statue of a living person set up by Regilla.

The names of Regilla are the same as those in I Eleusis 476 and Choix de Delphes 257, but they are there given in a different order: Appia Annia Regilla Atilia Caucidia Tertulla (instead of Atilia Regilla). [2] It is not clear who the statue depicted. It could have been a statue of Herodes (see textual note). As the statue dedicated to Regilla by the Delphians (Choix de Delphes 261) was found nearby, the two could be connected, with Regilla dedicating a statue of her husband next to the statue of her set up by the Delphians. This would make for a certain symmetry with the family monument, where Herodes was awarded a statue by the Delphians and dedicated statues of his wife and children next to it out of his own money, but on the authority of the Delphians. In the exedra at Olympia, there is a similar interplay of different dedicants: the statues of the imperial family were set up by Herodes (IvO 613-18 = R. Bol, Statuenprogramm, 1984, 113-120 nr. 4-9), while those of his family were dedicated by the Eleians (IvO 619-26 = Bol, 120-134 nr. 10-17); the entire monument appears to have been dedicated by Herodes and Regilla in the badly damaged architrave inscription (IvO 612 = Bol, 111-13 nr. 3), and only by Regilla in the inscription on the live-sized marble bull (IvO 610 = Bol, 109-10 nr. 1).

Added: 6 Mar 2026
Updated: 6 Mar 2026
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