I.Corinth 8.3.153: establishment of a contest for maidens in Isthmia

I.Corinth 8.3.153: establishment of a contest for maidens in Isthmia

ca. 25 CE

honorary inscription

inscription

The date and the honorand of this fragmentary inscription are disputed: either L. Castricius Regulus or Cn. Cornelius Pulcher in the time of Tiberius or Claudius, i.e. the first half of the first century BCE (see Kajava 2002). It is generally agreed, however, that Kent’s reconstruction (in the edition used here) regarding the introduction of a contest for maidens by the agonothetes honored in the inscription is correct. This is usually taken to be a footrace because we know from the inscription for the daughters of Hermesianax that such a contest existed in Isthmia at the time. The text with the new readings of Kajava 2002 is available in the Epigraphik-Datenbank Clauss / Slaby.

[To Lucius Castricius Regulus (?), son of …, of the tribe …, aedile, prefect for the administration of justice], duumvir, [quinquennial] duumvir, [a]gonothetes of the Tib[erea] [Caesar]ea Sebastea and [agonothetes of the I]sthmia and Caesar[ea, who was the first] to organize [the Isthm]ia at the Isthmus [under the sponsors]hip of the Colonia Laus Julia Corinthiensis. He introduced [a poetry contest in honor of] the divine [Julia] [Au]gusta as well as [a contest for maid]ens, and after all the [buildings of the Cae]sarea were restored, he completed […] and held a banquet [for all the co]lonists. [His son, ? Castri]cius Regulus (set up this monument) [to his fa]ther in accordance with a decree of the city councilors.

translated by Alexander Meeus for the Cynisca project

[L. Castricio]
[--- f. --- Regulo]
[aedili praef • I • d • II •]vir • eṭ [II • vir]
[quinquennal • a]gonothete • Tiḅ-
[ereon • Caesar]eon • Sebasteon • et
[agonothete • I]sthmion • et • Caesar-
[eon • qui • Isthm]ia • ad • Isthmum • egit
[primus • sub • cura]m Col • Laud • Iul • Cor •
[carmina • ad • Iulia]m • diva[m • Au]g • virgi-
[numque • certame]n • insṭịṭụịṭ • [e]t • omnib-
[us aedificiis • Cae]sareon • novatis • Co-
[---]ṭo • peregit • epulumq •
[omnibus • co]lonis • dedit
[fil • L • Castri]c̣ius • Reg̣ụlus
[pat]ri
[d] • d

J.H. Kent (ed.), Corinth VIII.3, The Inscriptions, 1926-1950, Princeton, NJ (1966).

M. Kajava (2002), When Did the Isthmian Games Return to the Isthmus? (Rereading “Corinth” 8.3.153), Classical Philology 97, 168–178.

Corinth