IGII2 13220 Tomb of Zosimianos (“Tomb of Kimon”)

Tomb of Zosimianos (“Tomb of Kimon”)

IG II² 13220 Date: 3rd century AD or later

This is the place (topos) of Zosimianos; and whoever should violate it will give to the Fisc (tameiō) twenty-five denarii.^[1]

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References:

IG II² 13220 (Translated text) (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle, Justin Dooley

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Rock-cut tomb

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: Tomb of Kimon (In situ)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This tomb chamber carved out of the rock on the Hill of the Muses is known as the Tomb of Kimon (the father of Miltiades who commanded the Athenians at the Battle of Marathon), based on Herodotos’ statement that his grave was on the outskirts of the city on the road through the deme of Koile (Herodotus 6.103), but the only evidence for an occupant is this inscription for Zosimianos carved above the vertical tomb opening in large letters, which is difficult to read due to the roughly cut rock surface. It dates to the third century AD at the earliest and parallels for the lettering exist as late as the sixth century AD. The text was noted by many early travellers and archaeologists from the visit of Michel Fourmont in 1729 onwards, and is probably from a secondary use of the tomb.

Curses, imprecations, or fines against the subsequent violation of tombs, often attempting to prevent the internment of a further corpse, were common in Thrace and Asia Minor in the Hellenistic and Roman periods (J. H. M. Strubbe, Arai Epitymbioi, 1997), but there are only a few examples at Athens, all with far larger fines: IG II² 13211: 50,000 (5 myriads) of silver; IG II² 5, 13529: 2 pounds (litras) of silver; IG II² 5, 13380: 3 ounces of gold. The Fisc, often referred to as the Most Holy Fisc, was the main treasury of the Roman Empire in the Imperial Period (see F. Millar, Rome, the Greek World, and the East, 2004, II 47-88). In this period, the Roman denarius was the main currency of account in the Eastern Mediterranean.

Added: 24 Sep 2026
Updated: 24 Sep 2026
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ID: AIO_3881