SEG 62.148 Place of Elaphebolios

Place of Elaphebolios

SEG 62.148 Date: 1st-3rd centuries AD

Elaphebolios’ place,^[1] konnolēngou.^[2]

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References:

SEG 62.148 (Translated text) (AIO)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Column

Inscription type: Topos-inscription, Graffito

Findspot: Roman Agora (In situ)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This ‘topos-inscription’, roughly carved on a column from the south stoa of the Roman Agora, assigned the spot to one Elaphebolios, perhaps a merchant. His name is derived from the Attic month Elaphebolion. On ‘topos-inscriptions,’ see SEG 62.144 with notes and on the Roman Agora in general, see IG II³ 4, 12 with notes. [2] The final line of the text is written in Greek letters, but transliterates a Latin sexual obscenity, which identifies Elaphebolios as a man who performs oral sex on women (see J. N. Adams, The Latin Sexual Vocabulary, 1982, 80-81, 134-135). This is presented as a disgusting and shameful act in Roman-period literary sources (W. Krenkel, Naturalia non turpia, 2006, 265–302), as well as in Latin graffiti from Pompeii (e.g., CIL IV 2257 with S. Levin-Richardson, The Brothel of Pompeii, 2019, 106-107). Another graffito in the Roman Agora relating to oral sex, SEG 56.316, was partially erased in antiquity, suggesting that that distaste was shared by Athenian authorities. It thus seems likely that the final line of this inscription was not originally part of the text, but was added by someone who wished to insult Elaphebolios. However, without an image of the text, this cannot be confirmed. (It is implausible that Elaphebolios was a sex worker, since sex workers catering to female clientele are not attested in the ancient world and the location in the colonnade of the south stoa of the Roman Agora, with no dividers between the neighbouring spaces is not a reasonable location for a brothel).

Latin and Latin loanwords were generally avoided in literary Greek in the Imperial period, but the language was widely used in the Eastern Mediterranean in day-to-day contexts, especially in interactions with the Imperial government and long-distance trade (cf. E. Dickey, Latin Loanwords in Ancient Greek, 2023, 639-42). Its use in this case may be linked to the commercial context of the Roman Agora or it may have some relation to the subject matter (masking or exoticising the obscenity?). The transliteration of the Latin term into Greek follows standard patterns (cf. E. Dickey, Latin Loanwords in Ancient Greek, 2023, 504-7).

Added: 6 Mar 2026
Updated: 6 Mar 2026
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