DOI Seite / Zitierlink:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.4680#0168
5. THE RECKONING WITH GOD. 499
to do violence to, or intrude any corpse into, the tomb, are assigned
by Koss and by Kirchhoff CIG 9288 f to the third or fourth century.
One of these, containing a reference to ' the Angel here standing on (the
tomb) Y i.e. a relief or other representation of an Angel as guardian of
the grave, mentions three presbyters, a deacon, and two vowed virgins2,
children of one mother. The names3 point to an early period, and
support the date assigned by Ross and Kirchhoff on the ground of style
and lettering ; but the open reference to Church officials by title, and
the concluding formula ('Irjcrov Xpetcrre, fiorjOci tS> ypd-^ravri navoiKi)
make me unwilling to place it earlier than Constantine, while all
other arguments are against the idea of a later date. We thus get an
approximate date 330-340 for the concluding formula, and for the
opening formula ev K(vpi)a>.
A third analogous expression takes an imperative form, ' thou shalt
not wrong the God.' It occurs only in the Tembris valley, and once
in Pisidian Antioch; and it is neither so obviously Christian as the
second formula, nor capable of being certainly demonstrated by its
varieties and accompaniments to be Christian, like the first formula ;
but its character seems highly probable. It will come up in a later
chapterd.
A fourth similar form is found perhaps only once near Acrae in
Sicily, ' may he not escape the notice of the God 5.'
It has never been a characteristic of healthy Christian society to be
satisfied with a few stereotyped formulae : the more vigorous it is the
more varied is its expression. In Eumeneia there are, I believe, many
Christian inscriptions, which do not employ the ' Eumenian formula.'
For example, there occurs one outlying example of what we may call
the ' Akmonian formula,'no. 231, which probably arose among the
Jews or Jewish Christians.
§ 7. Second Century Christian Epitaphs. The 16 epitaphs
no. 354-380 all obviously belong to the third century; and there is no
epitaph demonstrably Chr., which can be placed earlier. Yet it is
obvious that there must have been epitaphs of Chr. at Eumeneia for
more than a century before. Where are they? It seems unreasonable
1 ivopKifa vfias ruv &8e i<p«na>Ta "wye- copy (reading A for A and O for £), is
Xov, ixrj tIs TTore ToXprj ivddSe rtva Kara- badly maltreated by Kirchhoff ibid.
6ea6e CIG 9288. * <TV M dfiixijcreis T6v 6(6v. See also
2 irapdevevo-ao-a, ibid. my Early Chr. Mon. I pp. 255 ff in Expo-
3 Asklepis, Elpizon, Asklepiodotos, sitor 1888. An example of the pagan
Agaliasis, Eutychia, Klaudiane, Euty- model may perhaps be recognized in
chia. The name Asklepiodotos, which Kaibel 772 p-qdiva admrjo-ai Kara Tu>v8tuv.
is got by slight variations from the 5 p; Xcifioiro tuv 8e6n Kaibel 254.
L a
to do violence to, or intrude any corpse into, the tomb, are assigned
by Koss and by Kirchhoff CIG 9288 f to the third or fourth century.
One of these, containing a reference to ' the Angel here standing on (the
tomb) Y i.e. a relief or other representation of an Angel as guardian of
the grave, mentions three presbyters, a deacon, and two vowed virgins2,
children of one mother. The names3 point to an early period, and
support the date assigned by Ross and Kirchhoff on the ground of style
and lettering ; but the open reference to Church officials by title, and
the concluding formula ('Irjcrov Xpetcrre, fiorjOci tS> ypd-^ravri navoiKi)
make me unwilling to place it earlier than Constantine, while all
other arguments are against the idea of a later date. We thus get an
approximate date 330-340 for the concluding formula, and for the
opening formula ev K(vpi)a>.
A third analogous expression takes an imperative form, ' thou shalt
not wrong the God.' It occurs only in the Tembris valley, and once
in Pisidian Antioch; and it is neither so obviously Christian as the
second formula, nor capable of being certainly demonstrated by its
varieties and accompaniments to be Christian, like the first formula ;
but its character seems highly probable. It will come up in a later
chapterd.
A fourth similar form is found perhaps only once near Acrae in
Sicily, ' may he not escape the notice of the God 5.'
It has never been a characteristic of healthy Christian society to be
satisfied with a few stereotyped formulae : the more vigorous it is the
more varied is its expression. In Eumeneia there are, I believe, many
Christian inscriptions, which do not employ the ' Eumenian formula.'
For example, there occurs one outlying example of what we may call
the ' Akmonian formula,'no. 231, which probably arose among the
Jews or Jewish Christians.
§ 7. Second Century Christian Epitaphs. The 16 epitaphs
no. 354-380 all obviously belong to the third century; and there is no
epitaph demonstrably Chr., which can be placed earlier. Yet it is
obvious that there must have been epitaphs of Chr. at Eumeneia for
more than a century before. Where are they? It seems unreasonable
1 ivopKifa vfias ruv &8e i<p«na>Ta "wye- copy (reading A for A and O for £), is
Xov, ixrj tIs TTore ToXprj ivddSe rtva Kara- badly maltreated by Kirchhoff ibid.
6ea6e CIG 9288. * <TV M dfiixijcreis T6v 6(6v. See also
2 irapdevevo-ao-a, ibid. my Early Chr. Mon. I pp. 255 ff in Expo-
3 Asklepis, Elpizon, Asklepiodotos, sitor 1888. An example of the pagan
Agaliasis, Eutychia, Klaudiane, Euty- model may perhaps be recognized in
chia. The name Asklepiodotos, which Kaibel 772 p-qdiva admrjo-ai Kara Tu>v8tuv.
is got by slight variations from the 5 p; Xcifioiro tuv 8e6n Kaibel 254.
L a