Written in Stone: SEG XXXIV 1581, its Viewers, and their Perspectives

This paper identifies a standard format used by towns or poleis to honor particularly elite members of Greco-Roman Egypt and labels this formula as 'ΗΠΟΛΙΣ'. This paper then argues that while inscription SEG XXXIV 1581 is not typical for the ΗΠΟΛΙΣ formula in Egypt, it utilizes the ΗΠΟΛΙΣ formula. The use of this formula puts SEG XXXIV 1581 into conversation not only with ΗΠΟΛΙΣ inscriptions in Koptos but also with ΗΠΟΛΙΣ inscriptions in Alexandria. Literate viewers from Koptos itself would have been seen its variance from most Koptite inscriptions and its formulaic similarity to a small group of inscriptions found near the same area. At the same time, educated viewers who came from or had been to Alexandria would have seen its similarity to aristocratic inscriptions in Alexandria and interpreted it within that context. This paper argues that this interaction purposefully curated the viewer’s experience to heighten and communicate the prestige of Sarapion by speaking not only to locals in the Thebaid and in Koptos but also to educated visitors from Alexandria and beyond the Roman Empire.