DOI Artikel:
Rolfe, John Carew; Tarbell, Frank B.; Waldstein, Charles: Discoveries at Plataia in 1889
DOI Seite / Zitierlink: https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.8678#0250
DISCOVERIES AT PLATAIA IN 1889.
A NEW FRAGMENT OF THE PREAMBLE TO DIOCLE-
TIAN'S EDICT, " DE PRET1IS RERUM VENALIUM."
The preamble to Diocletian's Edict Dc Pretiis Rerwm Venalium has
been known hitherto from two copies, one (a) found in Egypt and
brought in 1807 to Ai x in Provence, where it is now preserved in the
museum, the other (S) still in situ, inscribed on the wall of a Roman
edifice in Stratonike in Karia. The latest and best editions of these
two inscriptions are given by Waddington in Le Bas, Voyage Arche-
ologique, vol. in, pp. 145 ff., and by Mommsen in the Corpus Inso-ip-
Uonim Latinarum, vol. in2, pp. 801 ff.
In the course of the excavations carried on at Plataia in April 1889,
under the direction of Dr. Waldstein, there was found, in the most west-
ern of the ruined Byzantine churches situated within the walls of the
northern half of the city, a marble stele, bearing an inscription which
proved to be a fragment of this preamble. The stone formed part of
the pavement of the church, the inscribed face being uppermost, and the
upper end, including part of the inscription, being imbedded in the
wall. The back is rough. There are traces of an original moulding
on the sides and front, but this has been hacked away, with the result
of totally obliterating the first line of the inscription. On the right-
hand side about half of the letters have been worn away, as if by the
tread of feet. As this is true of the part imbedded in the wall, the
stone must have been used, but in a different position, in the pave-
ment of an earlier building. When found, it was broken irregularly
across the middle. It has since been conveyed to Athens, and is now
in the National Museum. In the course of transportation two small
233
A NEW FRAGMENT OF THE PREAMBLE TO DIOCLE-
TIAN'S EDICT, " DE PRET1IS RERUM VENALIUM."
The preamble to Diocletian's Edict Dc Pretiis Rerwm Venalium has
been known hitherto from two copies, one (a) found in Egypt and
brought in 1807 to Ai x in Provence, where it is now preserved in the
museum, the other (S) still in situ, inscribed on the wall of a Roman
edifice in Stratonike in Karia. The latest and best editions of these
two inscriptions are given by Waddington in Le Bas, Voyage Arche-
ologique, vol. in, pp. 145 ff., and by Mommsen in the Corpus Inso-ip-
Uonim Latinarum, vol. in2, pp. 801 ff.
In the course of the excavations carried on at Plataia in April 1889,
under the direction of Dr. Waldstein, there was found, in the most west-
ern of the ruined Byzantine churches situated within the walls of the
northern half of the city, a marble stele, bearing an inscription which
proved to be a fragment of this preamble. The stone formed part of
the pavement of the church, the inscribed face being uppermost, and the
upper end, including part of the inscription, being imbedded in the
wall. The back is rough. There are traces of an original moulding
on the sides and front, but this has been hacked away, with the result
of totally obliterating the first line of the inscription. On the right-
hand side about half of the letters have been worn away, as if by the
tread of feet. As this is true of the part imbedded in the wall, the
stone must have been used, but in a different position, in the pave-
ment of an earlier building. When found, it was broken irregularly
across the middle. It has since been conveyed to Athens, and is now
in the National Museum. In the course of transportation two small
233