Federica Giommoni (fede.giommoni@gmail.com)
Department of Literature and Philosophy - PhD
University of Florence
Pride and Identity: Propaganda-epigrams from the Reign of Justinian
1- Subjects connected with the battle of Marathon in epigrams from Simonides onwards:
 Cynaegirus: Crinagoras AP 7.741 = XXI GPh; anonymous AP 11.335; Cornelius Longus
APl 117 = II FGE (on the authorship of this epigram see Aubreton-Buffière 1980, 124 n. 4).
 Nemesis’ statue: Parmenion APl 222 = XV GPh; anonymous APl 263 = LXXI FGE.
 Pan’s statue: Simonides APl 232 = V FGE
2- Popularity of these subjects in Late Antiquity:
 Cynaegirus: see Harrison 1972; Favreau 2003, 143-154.
Nonn., D. 28.156-157
kai; movgi" eij" cqovna pi'pten: e[hn dev ti" “Areo" eijkw;n
ojyigovnw/ naeth'ri fulassomevnh Kunegeivrw/.
Kunegeivrw/ Falkenburg : geneth'ri L Maraqw'no" Cunaeus
“Until at last he fell to the ground, a warlike image preserving the memory for Cynaegirus fellowcitizen of later days.” (transl. Rouse, slightly modified).
See Vian 1990, 158-159, 320-322; Agosti 2004, 258-259. For “Areo" eijkw;n see Agosti 2007, 47-48.
 Nemesis’ statue: Ausonius ep. 22 Green (“a close rendering of AP 16.263” Green 1991,
389)
 Pan’s statue: Nonn., D. 27.294-300
Kai; qeo;" ajgronovmwn, nomivh" suvriggo" ajnavsswn,
aijgivdo" uJmetevrh" ejpideuvetai aijgivboto" Pavn,
o}" pri;n ajsulhvtoisin ejmoi'" skhvptroisin ejrivzwn
mavrnato Tithvnessi, galaktofovrou de; tiqhvnh"
aijgo;" ∆Amalqeivh" ojresidrovmo" e[pleto poimhvn:
rJuveo to;n metovpisqe bohqovon ∆Atqivdi cavrmh/,
Mhdofovnon rJuth'ra tinassomevnou Maraqw'no".
295
300
“The god of countrymen himself, lord of the pastoral pipes, Pan the goatherd, needs your aegis-cape.
He once competed with my inviolable sceptre and fought against the Titans, he once was mountainranging shepherd of the goat Amaltheia my nurse, who gave me milk; save the future helper of the
Athenian battle, who shall slay the Medes and save shaken Marathon.” (transl. Rouse 1940, slightly
modified).
See Vian 1990, 309; Agosti 2004, 238-239.
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3- Marathon themes in the Cycle of Agathias:
 Cynaegirus: Paul the Silentiary APl 118
Mhdofovnou" me;n cei'ra" uJpe;r gamyoi'o koruvmbou
nao;" ajpornumevnh" ejxevtamon kopivde",
aJnivka pou, Kunevgeire, fugav" pote forti;" ejkeivna
w{sper ajp∆ eujnaiva" ei[ceto sa'" palavma".
ajlla; kai; w}" ajpri;x dovru nhvion ajmfidakou'sai
a[pnoon wJmavrteun tavrbo" ∆Acaimenivoi":
kai; ta;" mevn ti" ajnh;r e{le bavrbaro": aJ dev ge ceirw'n
nivka Moyopivoi" mivmne par∆ ejnnaevtai".
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“The hands that dealt death to the Medes were hewn off by axes as they rested on the curved stern of
the ship which was hastening away, then, Cynaegirus, when that flying vessel was held by thy hand
as if by a cable. But even so, gripping tight the ship’s timber, they accompanied the Persians, a
lifeless terror to them. Some barbarian took the hands, but their victory remained with the inhabitants
of Mopsopia.” (transl. Paton 1918).
For the lenghtening of the consonant-ending monosyllable at line 1 see, by the same Paul, AP 7.604,
Soph. 444, 701, Amb. 19. Line 2: see Hdt 6.114 ejpilabovmeno" tw'n ajflavstwn nhov". For the rhetorical
emphasis of line 3 see Him. or. 6.21. Line 5 ajmfidakou'sai: the word doesn’t occur elsewhere.
 Nemesis’ statue: Thaetetus scolastikov" APl 221
(On the identity of this barrister, collegue of Agathias, see Av. and. Al. Cameron 1966, 14, 18; PLRE
1992b s.v. Theaetetus, 1223-1224.)
Cionevhn me livqon palinauxevo" ejk periwph'"
laotuvpo" tmhvxa" petrotovmoi" ajkivsi
Mh'do" ejpontopovreusen, o{pw" ajndreivkela teuvxh/,
th'" kat∆ ∆Aqhnaivwn suvmbola kammonivh".
wJ" de; dai>zomevnoi" Maraqw;n ajntevktupe Pevrsai"
kai; neve" uJgropovroun ceuvmasin aiJmalevoi",
e[xesan ∆Adrhvsteian ajristwvdine" ∆Aqh'nai,
daivmon∆ uJperfiavloi" ajntivpalon merovpwn.
ajntitalanteuvw ta;" ejlpivda": eijmi; de; kai; nu'n
Nivkh ∆Erecqeivdai", ∆Assurivoi" Nevmesi".
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“I am a white stone which the Median sculptor quarried with his stone-cutter’s tools from the
mountain where the rocks grow again, and he bore me across the sea to make of me images, tokens
of victory over the Athenians. But when Marathon resounded with the Persian rout, and the ships
voyaged on bloody waves, Athens, the mother of beautiful works, carved of me Adrasteia, the
goddess who is the foe of arrogant men. I counterbalance vain hopes, and I am still a Victory to the
Athenians, a Nemesis to the Assyrians.” (transl. Paton 1918).
Line 1 Cionevhn...livqon: see Hor. serm.1.2.80; palinauxevo": see Nonn., D. 25.174 et passim. Line 2
laotuvpo": see Agathias APl 59.2, Paul Sil., Amb. 155; the clause (livqon) laotuvpo" tmhvxa" is a close
resemblance of Paul Sil., Amb. 265: laotuvpo" kai; touvsde livqou" ejtmhvxato tevktwn. petrotovmoi":
the word doesn’t occur elsewhere. Line 3 kammonivh": see Il. 22.257. Line 5 dai>zomevnoi": see Nonn.,
D. 32.235, Q.S. 1.92, 6.305. Line 6 uJgropovroun: the word doesn’t occur elsewhere; aiJmalevoi" see
Triph. 70, Nonn., D. 4.454 et passim, Paul Sil. AP 11.60, Soph. 631, Amb. 44. Line 7 ajristwvdine":
see anon. AP 1.10.9, Christodorus AP 2.391, Nonn., D. 9.148, 18.124, Jo. Gaz. 1.133, Paul Sil. Soph.
199, 281. Line 8 daivmon∆: for this kind of elision in Agathias’ Cycle see Page 1978, 34.
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 Pan’s statue: Thaetetus APl 233
ÔUlobavta", filovdendro", ojressauvlou povsi" ∆Acou'",
Pavn, skopov", eujkeravou malofuvlax ajgevla",
Pa;n oJ dasuknavmwn, oJ poluvsporo", o}" metanavsta"
e[dramon aijcmata'n ej" davin ∆Assurivwn,
Miltiavdou sthvsanto" oJmavspida persodiwvkthn
i{stamai ajklhvtou xeivnia summacivh".
a[lloi" ajkropovlhe": oJ mhdofovno" de; devdastai
xuno;" ejmi;n Maraqw;n kai; maraqwnomavcoi".
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Pavn, skopov" Hecker : pavnskopo" Pl | mhdof.: f ex kt (?) Pl
“The walker in the woods, the lover of the trees, the spouse of Echo who dwells on the hills, I, Pan,
the scout, the keeper of the horned flock of sheep, Pan with the shaggy legs, the fruitful god, I who,
leaving my home, ran to meet the warlike Assyrians in battle, stand here set up by Miltiades, as his
fellow-soldier and pursuer of the Persians, in return for my unsummoned succour. Let others stand
on citadels, but Marathon, which slew the Medes, is the common portion of myself and the men who
fought at Marathon.” (transl. Paton 1918).
Line 1 filovdendro": see Epiph., Panar. 3.13.8; ojressauvlou: for the adjective see Colluth. 107. Line
2: for pavnskopo" see Julian of Egypt AP 7.580.2 tovsson, o}son kruvyai pavnskopon o[mma Divkh".
eujkeravou occurs in Nonn., D. 1.369 et passim, P. 2.73, Paul Sil. Soph. 652. malofuvlax: the word
doesn’t occur elsewhere. Line 3 dasuknavmwn: for the Doric form see Agathias AP 6.32; non-Doric
forms occur in Nonn., D. 9.203, 13.45. For the meaning of poluvsporo" see Aubreton-Buffière 1980,
290, Beckby IV, 19672, 566. metanavsta" in the meaning of “ally, helper” see Nonn., D. 1.106
(referring to Dionysus) et passim. Line 5 Miltiavdou sthvsanto": see Simonides APl 232 = V FGE
sthvsato Miltiavde". oJmavspi" and Persodiwvkth" don’t occur elsewhere. Line 8 maraqwnomavcoi":
for the first appearance of this compound see Ar., Ach. 181.
4- First appearances of the adjective mhdofovno":
 Plutarch, De gloria Atheniensium 349b 11 (referring to Miltiades)
mhde; Miltiavdou tou' mhdofovnou mhde; tou' persoktovnou Qemistoklevou" ceiro;"
“bakcei'∆ ejtelevsqh”.
“«..nor has never been trained in the Bacchic rites» that are the handiwork of Miltiades, bane of
Medes, and Themistocles, slayer of Persians.” (transl. Babbitt 1936).
 Lollius Bassus AP 7.243 = II GPh
Fwkivdi pa;r pevtrh/ devrkeu tavfon: eijmi; d∆ ejkeivnwn
tw'n pote mhdofovnwn mna'ma trihkosivwn,
oi} Spavrta" ajpo; ga'" thlou' pevson ajmbluvnante"
“Area kai; Mh'don kai; Lakedaimovnion.
h}n d∆ ejsorh/'" ejp∆ ejmei'∆ eujbovstrucon eijkovna qhrov",
e[nnepe tou' tagou' mna'ma Lewnivdew.
eujbovstrucon Scaliger : Bovstrucon P bovstrucon Pl | qhrov" Brodaeus : qhvrh" ceteri
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“Look of this tomb beside the Phocian rock. I am the monument of those three hundred Mede-slayers
of old, who died far from Sparta, having dimmed the might of Media and Lacedaemon alike. As for
the image of a hairy beast upon me, say that this is the monument of the commander Leonidas.”
(transl. Paton 1917, slightly modified).
See the small group of epigrams on Leonidas’ grave quoted by Hdt., 7.228: on the Simonidean
authorship of these poems see FGE 1981, 231-234, Petrovic 2007, 62-68; for a commentary see
Petrovic 2007, 236-244.
5- 6th-century inscriptional epigrams
 anonymous APl 62 and 63:
Tau'tav soi, w\ basileu' Mhdoktovne, dw'ra komivzei
sh'" ïRwvmh" genevth" kai; pavi" Eujstavqio",
pw'lon uJpe;r nivkh", Nivkhn stefanhfovron a[llhn,
kai; se; methnemivw/ pwvlw/ ejfezovmenon.
uJyovs∆, ∆Ioustinianev, teo;n kravto": ejn cqoni; d∆ aijei;
desmo;" e[coi Mhvdwn kai; Skuqevwn promavcou".
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“These gifts, O King, slayer of the Persians, are brought to thee by Eustathius, the father and son of
thy Rome: a horse for thy victory, another laurelled Victory, and thyself seated on the horse swift as
the wind. Thy might, Justinian, is set on high, but may the champions of the Persians and the
Scythians lie ever in chains on the ground.” (transl. Paton 1918).
Line 1 Mhdoktovne: see (supra) Plu. De gloria Atheniensium 349c 1 Persoktovno" (referring to
Themistocles), Theod. Prodr. carm. hist. 18.83 Hörandner oJ Persoktovno" basileu;" Aujsovnwn
∆Iwavnnh". dw'ra komivzei is a Nonnian clause, see D. 4.260 et passim. Line 4 methnemivw/: the word
doesn’t occur elsewhere.
Pw'lon oJmou' kai; a[nakta kai; ojllumevnhn Babulw'na
calko;" ajpo; skuvlwn e[plasen jAssurivwn.
e[sti d∆ jIoustinianov", o}n ajntolivh" zugo;n e{lkwn
sth'sen jIouliano;" mavrtura mhdofovnon.
“The bronze from the Assyrian spoils moulded the horse and the monarch and Babylon perishing.
This is Justinian, whom Julianus, holding the balance of the East, erected, his own witness to his
slaying of the Persians.” (transl. Paton 1918).
see Parastaseis 61, 138-139 and 251 Cameron-Herrin; Al. Cameron 1977, 42-46; Mango 1986, 117118; Croke 1980, 192-194; Greatex 1998, 185.
 Paul the Silentiary, Soph. 138:
Mhdofovnwn ajbovhta mevnoi kleva shvmeron e[rgwn.
“Let the glories of Mede-slaying works remain unproclaimed today” (transl. Bell 2009).
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6- The persistency of the “Mhdofovno" idea”
 anonymous APl 46:
Nikhvtan dorivtolmon a[nax, stratov", a[stea, dh'mo"
sth'san uJpe;r megavlwn Mhdofovnwn kamavtwn.
“The Emperor, the Army, the cities, and the People erected the statue of Nicetas, bold in war, for his
great exploits in slaying the Persians.” (transl. Paton 1918).
See Mango 1993, 30-31.
Bibliographical References
G. Agosti, Nonno di Panopoli. Le Dionisiache, canti XXV-XXXIX, Milano 2004.
G. Agosti, Note a epigrafi tardoantiche (Miscellanea epigrafica II), “ZPE” 160, 2007, 41-49.
R. Aubreton- F. Buffière, Anthologie Grecque, Deuxième partie: Anthologie de Planude, Paris
1980.
H. Beckby, Anthologia Graeca, I-IV, München 1965-67².
Al. Cameron, Some Prefects Called Julian, “Byzantion” 47, 1977, 42-64.
Av. e Al. Cameron, The Cycle of Agathias, “JHS” 86, 1966, 6-25.
B. Croke, Justinian’s Bulgar Victory Celebration, “Byzantinoslavica” 41, 1980, 188-195.
A.-M. Favreau, Trois relectures rhétoriques d’un exemplum historique: Cynégire et Calimaque,
d’Athènes a Byzance, “Ktema” 28, 2003, 143-154.
G. Greatex, Rome and Persia at War, 502-532, Leeds 1998.
R.P.H. Green, The Works of Ausonius, Oxford 1991.
E.B. Harrison, The south Frieze of the Nike Temple and the Marathon Painting in the Painted Stoa,
“AJA” 76, 1972, 353-378.
C. Mango, The Art of the Byzantine Empire, Toronto 1986.
C. Mango, Épigrammes honorifiques, statues et portraits à Byzance, in Studies on Constantinople,
Aldershot 1993, 23-35.
M. Marzi-F. Conca, Antologia Palatina, III, Libri XII-XVI, Torino 2011.
D.L. Page, The Epigrams of Rufinus, Cambridge 1978.
A. Petrovic, Kommentar zu den simonideischen Versinschriften, Leiden-Boston 2007.
H. Schulte, Paralipomena Cycli, Epigramme aus der Sammlung des Agathias, Trier 2006.
F. Vian, Nonnos de Panopolis. Les Dionysiaques. Tome IX: chants XXV-XXIX, Paris 1990.
G. Viansino, Paolo Silenziario. Epigrammi, Milano 1963.
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