A01.031.0.pdf

ROMAN PERSONAL NAMES IN ACHAIA
Remarks: The gentilicium of the person could be completed as Bafbbia]. The Babbii are a
known family attested at Delphi, Thespiai and especially, at Corinth (M. Kajava-H.
Solin, Epigraphica 59, 1997, 347 n. 27).
w. L. Sentius Vatinianus (ACH 215)
52. ΒΑΣΙΛΙΟΣ (ΒΑΣΙΛΙΟΥ)
J. Bingen, BCH18 (1954) 74-82 and fig. 1-2 (SEG 13, 1956, 277; D. Feissel et A. Philippidis,
"Inscriptions du Péloponnèse", T&MByz 9,1985, 374 no. 158*); *Rizakis, Achaïe II, no 37
[3rd-4th c. A.D.]
Patrai; limestone plaque bearing a funerary epigram for the person, descendant of a notorious
and rich family, probably of Elis, which traced its ancestry to Pelops. He accepted single—
handedly the charge of duumvir quinquennalis in an extremely difficult period for the city;
Basilios not only assumed his charge with dignity and justice, but he offered many other
services and gifts to his co-citizens:
Ούτος ο κυδαλίμης γενεής Πελοπηίδος ορπηξ ΓΟξυλίδης Βασίλιος, ομώνυμος εΐο τοκήι, Ι
είθυδί,κςο πινυτώ θεοπειθέι ος τε μιν οίον Ιάρχον πενταέτηρον εκών ναέτησιν οπασσεν.ΙΙ 5
Όσσα δ'άριστονόου βουλής υπό νεύμασι φώτας Ι εστί θέμις κατά άστυ τελειέμεναι μάλα
πάντα, Ι μοϋνος έών θεσμοισιν άνύσσατο και ναετηρας Ι πάντας όμως ξείνους τε τελεσφό-
ρον ες λυκάβαντα Ι ήνεκέως λοετροισιν άρεσσατο· ήδ' άρα φώταςΙΙ 10 είλαπίναις χρυσφ τε
και ειμασι δηθά γεραίρων,Ι δέχνυ (τ') ένίμ μεγάροισι· θεμιστοπόλω δέ τε βουλή Ι και δήμω
κτεάνω[ν σφετ]έρων πόρε μύρια μέτρα Ι σπυροϋ Έλευσινίοιο τον εύρυχώρω ένί Πείση Ι
Δημήτηρ λαγόνων σταχυοκόμος έξανέηκενΙΙ 15 έπτάκι δ' αύ δέκα χειλιάδας μελιηδέος οίνου
Ι ώπασεν 'Αργυρής ζαθέης άπο· ένδεκα δ' αύτε Ι χειλιάδας γλαυκεϊο πόρ' ένναέτησιν έλαί-
ου.Ι Τον μέν άρ' εν μεγάροισι πανδημαδόν ύμνείοντες,Ι ήδ' άρα γεράεσσιν αμειβόμενοι μάλα
πάντες,II 20 είκόνι λαϊνέη πανομοίιον έστήσαντο.
Remarks: This text is of interest for the three basic problems it poses. The first concerns the
name: most likely Basilius is a nomen simplicium, since the use of this sort of name
is widespread in late antiquity. It is less likely to have been part of a Roman name,
such as a cognomen, which in this case would have been used on its own purely for
metrical reasons. The second problem has to do with the precise nature of the offices
held by Basilius. The first editor considered that άρχος πενταέτηρος in the epigram
corresponded to defensor civitatis, an office introduced by Valentinian I to protect
the poor from the tax-collector. This office seems to have been rare in the eastern
empire (O. Seeck, RE IV [1901] 2365-2371, s.v. Defensor civitatis; V. Mannino,
Ricerche sul "Defensor civitatis" [Milan 1984] passim; B.R. Rees, "The defensor
civitatis in Egypt", JJP 6 [1952] 73-102). Troublesome too is the fact of the
inscription's early date. In toto, it is much more probable that the office should be
understood as duumvir quinquennalis, since the formula άρχος πενταέτηρος more
often corresponds to this office (Rizakis, Achaïe II, 122 n. 5), which frequently
appears in the earliest inscriptions belonging to the Roman period.
The duumvir quinquennalis was a collégial office, but it appears that Basilius held it
alone —μοϋνος έών (1. 7)— during a period of economic crisis when candidates for
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