A new reading of a bilingual votive inscription from Germisara thermal baths (Dacia superior)
Abstract
New edition and philological commentary of a long and complex votive inscription from the time of Commodus consisting of a poem in Latin (written in dactylic hexameters) followed, as a complement and amplification, by a Greek text in prose with a certain poetic color. The inscription is dedicated to the Nymph of a thermal sanctuary, mentioned by what appears to be a name or local epithet, and consists both of the commemoration of the fulfillment of a vow and in the narration of the annual festivals that the military unit (numerus) commanded by the dedicator celebrated, through votive offerings and sacrifices, both in honor of the Nymph of the place and of Asclepius, Panacea, Artemis and Hypnos. It is also narrated, in the Greek text, a sanatio and the corresponding offerings of thanksgiving. The use of Greek in this epigraph seems to have to be explained for a reason of cultural prestige.
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