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Last Updated on 02 Mar 2017

Author: Maria-Gabriella Parissaki

CAPInv. 1754: thiasus Liberi Patris Tasibasteni

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Macedonia
ii. Region Edonis
iii. Site Philippi

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) thiasus Liberi Patris Tasibasteni (Philippi II 524/L103, l. 7; Philippi II 525/L104, ll. 4-6)
ii. Full name (transliterated) thiasus Liberi Patris Tasibasteni

III. DATE

i. Date(s) ii - iii AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Theophoric:Liber Pater
Topographical:Tasibastenus
iii. Descriptive terms thiasus, thiasus
Note thiasus: Philippi II 524/L104, l. 7; Philippi II 525/L104, ll. 4-5


Philippi II 524/L103: thiasis Lib(eri) Pat(ris) Tasibast(eni) on the stone.
Philippi II 525/L104: thiasis Lib(eri) Pat(ris) Tasibasten(i) on the stone.

As already suggested by the first editor Heuzey 1865: 225, Tasibastenus should be understood as a cult epithet deriving from a hitherto unattested place-name (Tasibasta) with the addition of the ending enus/-ηνός, enus/-enos.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) Philippi II 524/L103 (ii - iii AD)
Philippi II 525/L104 (ii - iii AD)
Note See also:
Philippi II 524/L103:
CIL III 703
GRA I no. 327
Philippi II 525/L104:
CIL III 704
GRA I no. 328

One more fragmentary inscription from Philippi, preserving in l. 2 the words thiasum muner[..], has been associated with the thiasus presented here (see CAPInv. 1755).
Online Resources Philippi II 524/L103 and TM 121551
Philippi II 525/L104: TM 121552
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Latin funerary inscriptions
i.c. Physical format(s) Philippi II 524/L103: sarcophagus (0.70 X 2.85 X 1.38)
Philippi II 525/L104: altar with depiction of 'Thracian Rider' (0.82 X 0.57 X 0.50)
ii. Source(s) provenance Charitomeni (former village of Reussilova) at the territory of Philippi.
Both stones were seen by Heuzey 1868: 221-2, in the area of the village; the first reused in the fountain and the second in an abandoned church at a small distance from it. According to the villagers, the first stone was transported from the area of Monastirla(r). Later research conducted there by the local Ephorate of Antiquities identified remains to be attributed to a settlement or a large building complex of the Late Roman period.

VII. ORGANIZATION

viii. Obligations The thiasus was involved in the celebration of Rosalia at the tombs of those having left bequests for this purpose.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

iv. Endowments The thiasus is named as the recipient of bequests left for the celebration of the Rosalia; the sums recorded are 200 and 100 denarii.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number Six persons named in Philippi II 524/L103 (three deceased and three heirs) and one in Philippi II 525/L104.
iv. Status The deceased and their heirs mentioned in the two inscriptions were of Thracian origin, as indicated by their personal names (Philippi II 524/L103) or the depiction of the 'Thracian Rider' on the tombstone (Philippi II 525/L104); in this second case, moreover, the deceased is qualified as a servus actor of a landowner.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The cult of Liber Pater is well attested in the territory of Philippi (see Philippi II 342/L292 for the relevant attestations).
ii. Poland concordance Poland B*63a (Philippi II 524/L103)
Poland B*63 b (Philippi II 525/L104)
iii. Bibliography Heuzey, L. (1868), ‘Le sanctuaire de Bacchus Tasibastenus dans le canton de Zikhna (en Thrace)’, CRAI 12: 219-31.
Kloppenborg, J.S., and Ascough, R.S. (2011), Greco-Roman Associations: Texts, Translations, and Commentary. I. Attica, Central Greece, Macedonia, Thrace. Göttingen: 327-8.
Pilhofer, P. (2009), Philippi. Band II: Katalog der Inschriften von Philippi. rev. edn. Tübingen: 625-30, nos. 524/L103 and 525/L104.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note That this private group of devotees could have been origanised on a more permanent basis is conveyed by the fact that it is named as the recipient of a bequest generating future obligations.