The Martyrdom of Ariadne of Prymnessos and an Inscription from Perge

Abstract

This paper analyses a passage of the late antique Martyrdom of Ariadne of Prymnessos (the speech of Nikagoras in defence of his kinsman Tertullus). Nikagoras’ speech has long been recognised as having been modelled on one or more honorific inscriptions of the high imperial period. The author shows that the speech of Nikagoras is a paraphrase of an honorific inscription from Perge for Tiberius Claudius Vibianus Tertullus, a prominent Pergaian civic benefactor who held the imperial office of ab epistulis Graecis during the last years of the reign of Marcus Aurelius. The author argues that a verse epigram from Sagalassos in Pisidia, recording the benefactions of a certain «Tertullus» to Sagalassos, also pertains to the same individual.