Epigraphic Saturday, Cambridge, February 16th, 2008. 14:15.
Corsten presented two inscriptions in this session, both of which he has only begun to work on and are not yet completely interpreted.
The first is a fragment (six incomplete lines) of a dedication on a large block from the wall of the temple of the Imperial cult in Kibyra. Both the dedicatee (in dative) and the dedicant (in nominative) seem to be emperors: the former a Σεβαστός whose name does not otherwise survive, but is linked with Livia (“New Demeter”), and therefore ought to be her husband Augustus or her son Tiberius; the latter is son of Drusus and founder of the city, almost certainly Claudius. Although there is mention of a rebuilding, and the major earthquake in Kibyra postdated the death of Augustus, it is inconceivable that an inscription under Claudius should mention Tiberius and Livia together like this, so Augustus and Livia must be the didicatees. (There is some difficulty concerning the number of emperors in this inscription: it is not impossible that Tiberius, Nero, and Claudius are all listed in the nominative as founders and rebuilders of the city after Augustus and Livia in the dative.)
The second text is a very worn, hard to read, 27-line fragment of a decree from Olbasa (modern Belenli). The text seems to be Hellenistic, with several references to βασιλεῖς (who must be the Pergamene royals). The decree seems to be recognising the Nikephoria festival of Permamon; even including a formula identical to the one used of this festival in Pergamon. As this inscription is very similar in lettering and dimensions to another Hellenistic fragment from this city–to which it can not be related–Corsten suggests that this could be part of an archive wall collecting decrees relating to the history of the city in a single collection.
