A pedestal with inscription from the middle Strymon valley

Abstract

The subject of the present article is an inscribed marble pedestal found in 2005 during archaeological excavations of an Early Byzantine basilica in Dolnoto Gradishte locality near the village of Mikrevo, Strumyani Municipality (Southwestern Bulgaria). The monument consists of a foundation and a Tuscan base. It was made in the late 1^st or in the early 2^nd century AD and was most probably an element of the architectural environment of a military camp. In the late 2^nd century it was reused as a pedestal upon which it may be assumed that an ostotheke (ash chest) was placed. A six-line Greek inscription was engraved on the front side. It is a funerary inscription dedicated by Artemidora to the memory of her son and husband with a value of 300 denarii.