no. 2, fig. 8 (ed. pr.) |
In the lower mosaic pavement of the narthex, in front of the entrance to the nave.
Seven-line inscription set within a round medallion (diam. 96 cm) in the lower mosaic pavement of the narthex, in front of the entrance to the nave, looking east. The script is traced in black letters and is framed by two concentric circles of tesserae of the same colour inscribed in a red octagon. All around the octagon are square frames filled with images of birds and separated by rhombi and triangles. The characters, 8 cm high, belong to the square alphabet and can be dated to the first half of the fifth century or the mid years of this century on palaeographical grounds. Two abbreviations by truncation in the first and last lines are marked with diagonal strokes crossing the stem of the last letter. The word υἱῶν is misspelled with two iotas, the first of which has a trema. Also, the name of one of the donors appears to be misspelled, for Δοβνινῖος is unattested and unlikely and must represent the common name Δομνῖνος, either as a dialectal variant or a faulty copy of the model by the mosaicist.
Προσφ(ορὰ)
Δοβνίνου
καὶ Μεγάλης
4 καὶ Παυλίνου
[ἀ]δελφῶν υἱ{ι}ῶν
Γερμανουῦ
βενεφ(ικιαρίου).
Offering of Domninus and Megale, and of Paulinus, brothers sons of Germanus the beneficiarius.
Seven-line dedicatory mosaic inscription within a round medallion, in the lower mosaic pavement of the narthex.
The donors are called brothers, which in Greek can fit a group of siblings of both genders, but also ‘sons’ (υἱῶν rather than τέκνων), which can only apply to male children. Therefore Megale, a female name, must describe Domninus’ wife rather than a third sibling. The donors are therefore two brothers, sons of Germanus the beneficiarius, and the wife of one of them. Considering the location of the inscription, at the centre of the narthex in front of the entrance to the nave, their offering paid for the paving with mosaic of the entire narthex.
The beneficiarii in the Roman army were soldiers chosen for special tasks, often of an administrative character as assistants of the commanding officers. Most inscriptions mentioning beneficiarii refer to soldiers and belong to the second and third centuries. After Diocletian’s administrative reform, the lesser personnel of the imperial and provincial offices, the exceptores or scribes, were selected from the beneficiarii and other military ranks, but soon the military term went out of use. Therefore, the title of the donors’ father seems to point to the earlier rather than to the later part of the period indicated above.