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Last Updated on 13 Mar 2017

Author: Thom Russell

CAPInv. 1917: Dion[y]sobolitai

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Thrace
ii. Region Propontic Thrace
iii. Site Byzantion

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) Διον[υ]σοβολιταί (I.Byzantion 38, l. 2)
ii. Full name (transliterated) Dion[y]sobolitai

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 118 - 138 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Theophoric:Dionysobolitai: derived from Dionysus Parabolos, a local epithet for Dionysus worshiped along the Bosporus strait.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) I.Byzantion 38 (AD 118 - 138)
Online Resources I.Byzantion 38 and AGRW ID 13966
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Record of a dedication made by a group of Διονυσοβολιταί, Dionysobolitai.
i.c. Physical format(s) Marble stele with relief depicting Dionysos

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Women
Note One woman is mentioned, Volusia Claudiane (I.Byzantion 38, l. 2).

XII. NOTES

i. Comments There are good reasons to believe that this stele relates to hoi thiasitai Dionysiou Parabolou of I.Byzantion 37, an association of worshipers of Dionysos Parabolos (CAPInv. 316). Both documents date according to the first and second eponymous archonships of the emperor Hadrian (see Łajtar pp. 71-2, 74), suggesting that the association honoured the emperor’s consecutive terms in office. Łajtar notes that the reliefs on both inscriptions are also similar (p. 74). Finally, the rarity of the Parabolos epithet speaks to the identification of both stelai: the epithet is connected with a spot along the Bosporus mentioned by Dionysius of Byzantium (Dion. Byz. 50), but is otherwise unattested. The outstanding issue which prohibits a certain identification is the variant usage of thiasitai and Dionysobolitai on the two inscriptions. Cf. Łajtar's comments, I.Byzantion, pp. 71-4 (esp. 74).
iii. Bibliography Łajtar, A. (2000) I.Byzantion, pp. 73-4.
Robert, L. (1974), Opera Minora Selecta. Vol. 4. Amsterdam: 200.
Robert, L. (1978), ‘Documents d'Asie Mineure’, BCH 102.1: 395-543, esp. 523-31.
Robert, L. (1990), Opera Minora Selecta. Vol. 7. Amsterdam: 646.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note Identification as a private association is probable, if we can assume that this inscription relates to the same group as the association CAPInv. 316.