DOI article:
Wheeler, James Rignall: The Theatre of Dionysus
DOI Page / Citation link:https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8560#0199
THE THEATRE OF DIONYSUS.
177
It is impossible to give any satisfactory explanation of this inscrip-
tion. Nothing really is known of such an official, though we have
i-l tepetas i/sr 'AOyvas 'Adrjvlov (C. I. A., III. i, 668) upon the base
of a statue, found near the Propylaea, which was erected in honor of
Claudius Atticus, who was probably the son of Herodes Atticus. This
raises a presumption that the priestess lived in the latter half of the
second century a.d. The chair cannot be in situ. In C. I. A., III.
1, 61, we find (A. I., line 11) 'Appta [_'A~]8rjvLov.
It is worthy of notice that this chair and the one inscribed to
Eubiotus (No. 56) were placed in the theatre in honor of individuals,
and were not seats t>f the holders of particular offices.
In different parts of the koLXov of the theatre, inscriptions have
been cut into the ordinary seats of Piraic stone. The cutting is very
careless, and most if not all of the inscriptions are as late as the time
of the Roman emperors. These inscriptions are of no great interest,
being, for the most part, designations of seats for priests or priest-
esses. They are given in facsimile in the plates at the end of Vol.
III. 1 of the C. I. A., and brief remarks on most of them may be
found in the text, Nos. 303-384.
Before closing, a few words on some of the pieces of sculpture and
bases of statues which have been found in or near the theatre, may
not be out of place.
I have avoided discussing the inscriptions found in the theatre,
except those upon the official chairs and the bases of the statues of
Hadrian, chiefly because they have no special bearing upon the history
of the theatre and most of them are of little interest. They have
all been published with at least some commentary in the C. I. A.
That there were a multitude of statues in the theatre, erected to
distinguished persons, we have ample testimony from the number of
inscribed bases that have been found. Some, without doubt, had
their places in the kolXov, as the bases marked a,* b, d,| on the plan;
* To Marcus Aurelius.
f It has been suggested that this large base may once have borne a throne
for the Emperor Hadrian, when he presided over the Dionysia.
177
It is impossible to give any satisfactory explanation of this inscrip-
tion. Nothing really is known of such an official, though we have
i-l tepetas i/sr 'AOyvas 'Adrjvlov (C. I. A., III. i, 668) upon the base
of a statue, found near the Propylaea, which was erected in honor of
Claudius Atticus, who was probably the son of Herodes Atticus. This
raises a presumption that the priestess lived in the latter half of the
second century a.d. The chair cannot be in situ. In C. I. A., III.
1, 61, we find (A. I., line 11) 'Appta [_'A~]8rjvLov.
It is worthy of notice that this chair and the one inscribed to
Eubiotus (No. 56) were placed in the theatre in honor of individuals,
and were not seats t>f the holders of particular offices.
In different parts of the koLXov of the theatre, inscriptions have
been cut into the ordinary seats of Piraic stone. The cutting is very
careless, and most if not all of the inscriptions are as late as the time
of the Roman emperors. These inscriptions are of no great interest,
being, for the most part, designations of seats for priests or priest-
esses. They are given in facsimile in the plates at the end of Vol.
III. 1 of the C. I. A., and brief remarks on most of them may be
found in the text, Nos. 303-384.
Before closing, a few words on some of the pieces of sculpture and
bases of statues which have been found in or near the theatre, may
not be out of place.
I have avoided discussing the inscriptions found in the theatre,
except those upon the official chairs and the bases of the statues of
Hadrian, chiefly because they have no special bearing upon the history
of the theatre and most of them are of little interest. They have
all been published with at least some commentary in the C. I. A.
That there were a multitude of statues in the theatre, erected to
distinguished persons, we have ample testimony from the number of
inscribed bases that have been found. Some, without doubt, had
their places in the kolXov, as the bases marked a,* b, d,| on the plan;
* To Marcus Aurelius.
f It has been suggested that this large base may once have borne a throne
for the Emperor Hadrian, when he presided over the Dionysia.