Roman Marble Stele

An impressively large and tall stele of slightly tapering shape was carved from a massive block of marble. According to the century-old tradition, the architectural design (plain borders and the top, formed as a triangular pediment surmounted by a palmette acroterion) represent the elements of a shrine (a naiskos) dedicated to the deceased. Two figures appear inside the recessed panel. The scene, which has a symbolic meaning, depicts the farewell and sacrifice. A commemorative inscription in Greek is placed below it:

Thou who passes by, cry duly the here youngster

whom the envious Hades took away before he grew up.

3 He had received the lamentable vision of his lifeless

sister; he himself died far from home:

5 his loving father could not yell turning around the corpse,

his mother could not attire her offspring with her own hands.

7 Instead, in Asia, in Bithynia, far from his native land,

they mourned and made offerings of fruits for the dead

9 they sent somebody to bring here the ashes of the bones

to his homeland: great mourning for his parents.

11 With a cold monument the wretched parents try to cool

the burning pain due to the death of Myron and they cannot.

Asia, the mother

14 Farewell Myron and Maia

Composed of 14 lines, the inscription is finished with parting words mentioning both the brother and the sister; Maia, “lifeless sister”, had probably died some time before the Myron’s death, when he was away from home. As the names are not inscribed above the figures, we may assume that the young beardless man represented on the left side is Myron who passed away; the woman’s figure could be his mother Asia. Myron is dressed in a tunic with sleeves and a long himation which overfold leaves his right shoulder uncovered. The woman is also fully dressed in himation and chiton; a long himation is placed over her head as a veil. On the upper part of the chiton the soft folds form a V-neck. Her left hand is held against the himation’s overfold at the waist to keep the mantle in place. She is probably holding some offerings in her hand (“offerings of fruit for the dead” as it is mentioned in the inscription). The youth and the woman clasp their right hands over the round altar with the flame on its top. The scenes of farewell with the figures clasping hands are typical for the iconography of ancient Greek funerary reliefs. The additional depiction of the altar may indicate the sanctuary and the offering burning on it. The pediment has a carved disc and a drilled hole below it, where the rest of a metallic pin remains. It was probably used to hold the wreath (on some stelai, the relief representation of a wreath, or wreaths, substitutes the real one).

As it is recorded in the epitaph, the family lived in Bithynia, a prosperous territory under the Roman Empire. Situated in the north-west region of Asia Minor, it was part of the Roman province Bithynia et Pontus, which was neighboring the province Asia. Both provinces are known for fine marble quarries; presumably, the grave stele was made locally.

Reassembled from two parts; surface covered with encrustation; scratches and breaks in places.

Ex- S.A. private collection; thence by descent, 1998. (Imported to the US in 1999)

PFUHL E., MÖBIUS H., Die ostgriechischen Grabreliefs, vol. 1-2, Mainz, 1977.