A Musical Note from Roman Cyprus

Ersin Hussein; Massimo Raffa

doi:10.1515/tc-2016-0008

Article

A Musical Note from Roman Cyprus

Ersin Hussein and Massimo Raffa

Published/Copyright: July 15, 2016

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From the journal Trends in Classics Volume 8 Issue 1

Abstract:

In antiquity, the Sanctuary of Aphrodite Paphia at Palaipaphos was Cyprus’ most celebrated religious space. The high number of Hellenistic and Roman inscriptions discovered at the sanctuary reveals that it was an important environment for the celebration of the island’s rulers, high profile visitors, and its local elite. While the accompanying statues of these inscriptions, or the structures that they may have been fixed to, do not survive, their texts point to the visually impressive character of the sanctuary. This article will present new readings of two inscriptions discovered at this sanctuary which commemorate the poet Lucius Septimius Nestor of Laranda and a certain Sergia Aurelia Regina. The relationship between poet and benefactress, as it appears from the two inscriptions, is to be placed beyond doubt in the framework of female euergetism in the Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire, during the second to third centuries AD. This study will reconsider the musical pun occurring in an inscription set up by Regina to honour Nestor as it sheds some new light on the nature of this relationship and may account for some puzzling features of the inscription, such as the self-celebrating tone in which Regina speaks of herself and the title of hypatē (hardly a substitute for the expected hypatikē) with which she credits herself.

Keywords:: Roman Cyprus; euergetism; Ancient Greek music

Funding statement: This paper was first presented at the Classical Association Conference, 2013. The authors would like to thank Dr Jean-Baptiste Cayla for allowing them to cite his PhD thesis in this article, Professor Alison Cooley for reading an early draft and for offering her guidance, and Professor Charlotte Roueché for her feedback. Any errors are the responsibility of the authors. Ersin Hussein (EH) and Massimo Raffa (MR) co-authored sections 1 and 5; EH wrote sections 2, 3A, 3C, and 4; MR wrote sections 3B and 3D. All translations are by EH.

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Published Online: 2016-7-15

Published in Print: 2016-7-15

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https://doi.org/10.1515/tc-2016-0008

Keywords for this article

Roman Cyprus; euergetism; Ancient Greek music