{{Short description|Cippus in Tunisia}} {{Infobox artifact|name=Beccut cippus|image=Beccut 1 Mouelhi Chaker.jpg|image_caption=Lapidary item in the [[Makthar Museum]]: the stone known as the Beccut cippus.|type=[[Cippus]]|culture=Roman Africa|discovered_date=1953|discovered_place=Carthage archeological site|material=[[Limestone]]|place=Makthar Museum}}
The '''Beccut cippus''' is an [[Artifact (archaeology)|archaeological artifact]] found in 1953 in [[Maktar|Makthar]] ([[Tunisia]]). It is preserved in the town's [[Makthar Museum|archaeological museum]], opened in 1967.
Along with the famous Makthar harvester inscription unearthed in the late 19th century and preserved in the [[Louvre]], the [[cippus]] is one of the few [[Epigraphy|epigraphic]] documents found on this site to have been engraved with a [[Poetry|poetic text]].
This third century text evokes the memory of a deceased young woman. Despite the clumsiness of the wording, written in a provincial context, it provides information on the social and religious life of the town, and is a valuable insight into the [[Romanization (cultural)|Romanization]] of this part of Roman Africa and the integration of populations of [[Numidia]]n origin at the end of the {{Ill|High Roman Empire|fr|Haut-Empire romain}}.
== History ==
=== Ancient history of Makthar up to the 3rd century === [[File:Maktar plan ruines.jpg|alt=Map of the Makthar archaeological site|left|thumb|Map of the Makthar archaeological site, essentially inside the current archaeological park. Only partially corresponding to the ancient city.]] The Beccut cippus is a funerary monument discovered in Makthar by site supervisor Herranz during the exploration of the [[Roman roads|Roman road]] leading from Makthar to [[Ausafa]] through the [[Wadi]] Saboun valley.<ref name=":0">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=128|ref=}}</ref>
The site of the town of Makthar, occupied in ancient times, was the seat of a powerful [[Numidia]]n city allied to [[History of Carthage|Carthage]], which [[Masinissa]] seized shortly before the final fall of the Punic city in 146 BC at the end of the [[Third Punic War]]. The influence of Carthaginian civilization remained strong for a long time, as evidenced by the Neo-Punic stelae dating from the 1st century and found in excavations at the site known as Bab El Aïn.<ref name=":1">{{Harvtxt|Lipinski|1992|p=270}}</ref> From the end of the 1st century, the city benefited from [[Pax Romana|Roman peace]] and experienced a degree of prosperity.<ref name=":2">{{Harvtxt|Slim|Fauqué|2001|p=105}}</ref> The institutions of the city, which became a free city in 46 BC, were permanently influenced by the Punic era, with the maintenance of three [[shophet]]s until the beginning of the 2nd century. From that century onwards, [[triumvirate]]s replaced them.<ref name=":1" />
The Romanization of the city began with some families gaining citizenship from the reign of [[Trajan]], and others the [[Equites|equestrian]] rank during the reign of [[Commodus]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Collective|2006|p=300}}</ref> The old Numidian city had previously become a colony under the name of [[Colonia (Roman)|Colonia]] Aelia Aurelia Mactaris between 176 and 180.<ref name=":2" /><ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|1954|p=74}}</ref> The city's zenith came at the end of the 2nd century, during the reign of Emperor [[Marcus Aurelius]], with intense civic activity and a surface area of over 10 hectares. In the 3rd century, it became the seat of a [[Episcopal see|bishop]]<ref>{{Harvtxt|Collective|2006|p=301}}</ref> as the town's name is mentioned four times in lists of bishops from councils, including [[Councils of Carthage|that of Carthage in 256]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Prévot|1984|p=4}}</ref> The end of prosperity is dated to the end of the first third of the 3rd century with the restoration of the damage caused by the [[Crisis of the Third Century]] that took place after 285.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|1954|pp=76–77}}</ref>
The Beccut cippus dates from the years 250–260.<ref name=":3">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=148}}</ref> It evokes the memory of a young woman, Beccut, who died in her early twenties and was [[Cremation|cremated]] according to local tradition.<ref name=":7">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=149}}</ref> The Makthar archaeological site has revealed fifteen funerary [[Poetry|poems]] dated between the 3rd and 6th centuries, but the earliest ones date no further than the end of the [[Severan dynasty]] and make up a group of nine artefacts to which the Beccut cippus belongs.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|pp=148–149}}</ref>
=== Discovery and study === [[File:Makthar musée bases statues, cippe de Beccut au milieu.jpg|alt=Group of three Roman steles in a museum|thumb|Group of lapidary items in the [[Makthar Museum]], including the Beccut cippus in the center.]] According to [[Jean-Marie Lassère]], the study of the [[epigraphy]] of African monuments must be cautious because of the "compartmentalized regions": funerary customs and formulas spread in different ways.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|p=8}}</ref> The excavations at Makthar have yielded numerous figurative representations, all of which are useful for dating monuments. However, the form of the letters must be treated with caution, given the provincial nature of the work, which was carried out by "unskilled country [[Engraving|lapidarists]]", and [[Palaeography|paleography]] is not sufficient for dating.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|p=10}}</ref>
The cippus was discovered in 1953,<ref name=":4">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=125}}</ref> published the following year (B.A.C., 1954, p. 120);<ref name=":8">{{Harvtxt|Camps|1991}}</ref> an in-depth study was published in 1970. The site revealed four other cippes in 1965.<ref name=":0" />
The area in which it was found contained numerous remains of monumental [[mausoleum]]s.<ref name=":0" /> The inscriptions found during the excavations reveal around 15% of the members of the college of local [[Decurion (Roman cavalry officer)|decurions]] in the second third of the 2nd century, and no members of the lower social classes.<ref name=":5">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=150}}</ref>
== Description ==
=== General description === [[File:Beccut 4 Mouelhi Chaker.jpg|alt=Carved detail with a garland and a pinecone|left|thumb|Carved detail with a garland and a pinecone.]] The word [[cippus]] is "used too loosely in epigraphic literature", etymologically meaning "an upright stone". The term is often used in the context of Roman Africa to refer to funerary monuments.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|p=11}}</ref> Funerary altars are often referred to as cippus in the literature.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|p=65}}</ref> The adoption of the funerary custom of altars instead of steles did not predate the 2nd century, at the beginning of the "apogee of Africa", and spread massively in the following century.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|pp=122–123}}</ref>
The Beccut cippus is of the ''arulae-pillar'' type.<ref name=":3" /> It is carved from [[limestone]] and measures 1.60 m (5.2 ft) high by 0.45 m (1.47 ft) wide and 0.55 m (1.80 ft) thick.<ref name=":0" /> The upper part is broken on the right.<ref name=":0" />
The cippus features a large area of text, above which is a degraded garland and a [[Conifer cone|pinecone]].<ref name=":0" /> The garland carved in stone reproduces the garlands "hung on tombs on the occasion of celebrations". The [[altar]] was adorned before [[sacrifice]]s,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=131}}</ref> in particular those linked to the festival of [[Rosalia (festival)|''Rosalia'']].<ref name=":6">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=132}}</ref> This Roman funerary festival was introduced to Makhtar when the town became a [[Colonia (Roman)|colony]].<ref name=":6" />
=== Inscription === [[File:Beccut 3 Mouelhi Chaker.jpg|alt=General view of the part of a stone bearing Latin inscriptions|thumb|General view of the part of the cippus bearing Latin inscriptions.]] The cippus features a 22-line inscription and, below it, the word "Euthesia",<ref name=":4" /> outside the frame.<ref name=":0" /> The last four lines have gaps.<ref name=":4" /> The artifact is the only stele with a known verse epitaph, apart from the Makthar Harvester epitaph,<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=146}}</ref> the "most famous Mactar inscription".<ref name=":3" />
The shape of the letters, which do not fit neatly into the listed categories ([[Uncial script|uncial]], [[Roman cursive]], etc.), led [[Jean Mallon]] to describe this as a new school of [[Palaeography|paleography]], "marking the advent of modern Latin writing".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|pp=157, 162}}</ref> Jean Mallon has carried out a comparative study of the cippus script and that of an [[Oxyrhynchus Papyri|Oxyrhynchus papyrus]], in particular no. 668, which contains an [[epitome]] of [[Livy|Titus Livius]] and was found in 1903. The manuscript has been dated to the 3rd century, and Mallon suggests the birth of writing in what is now Tunisia.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|pp=157–158}}</ref> The [[calligraphy]] used by the lapidarist is three times larger than on the [[scroll]] and "the proportions are exactly the same".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=159}}</ref> The inscription is chiselled "in the graphic style of a contemporary book".<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=164}}</ref>
The first line of the text and the last two are typical of such funerary monuments, but in between is a poem of ten [[Dactylic hexameter|hexameters]].<ref name=":4" /> The text contains [[Prosody (linguistics)|prosodic]] errors, and the author of the inscription appears to be an "improvised poet", according to [[Édouard Galletier]].<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|pp=153–154}}</ref>
Beccut speaks in the text.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=153}}</ref> The two lines giving the deceased's full name are badly damaged.<ref name=":5" /> The inscription form includes an "abbreviated invocation to the [[Manes]]", the name of the deceased and his age.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|p=22}}</ref>
=== Funerary inscription === # D*M*S* # BECCVTIAMPRÍ # MVMILONICONIVNCTAMA # RITO # VIRGORVDISTENERAQVOME # FORTVNAREDVXIT # VITAESETLETISEDESSICFATATVLERE # HICHYMNOTEDAQSIMVLPRAEEVN # TECANEBAR # NVNCVVSTISVRNAQSIMVLCONTECTA # RESEDI # VIXIDVMLICVITMORVMSINELABEPVDICA # MATERNVMNOMENFECILVCINAEFA # VORE # NATVMPROGENVINOSTROQVINO # MINEVIVAT # NEFLEATHOCNIMIVMCVISVMCARISSIMA # CORDI # COMMVNEESTHOMINVMFVNEBREM # [..]ERELA[......] # [....]L[....]EIA[............] # [..]RISSIMAPIAVIXITANNISXV[....] # EVTHESIA<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=126}}</ref>
=== Body === # |D(iis) M(anibus) S(acrum) # |Beccut iam pri|mum Iloni coniuncta ma|rito # |uirgo rudis tenera quo me| Fortuna reduxit # |uitae set leti sedes sic fata tulere # |hic hymno tedaq(ue) simul praeeun| te canebar # |nunc uustis urnaq(ue) simul contecta | resedi # |uixi dum licuit morum sine labe pudica # |maternum nomen feci Lucinae fa| uore # |natum progenui nostro qui no|mine uiuat # |ne fleat hoc nimium cui sum carissima | cordi # |commune est hominum funebrem |[qu]erela[m.....] # [....]l[...]eia[............]|[..]rissima pia vxit annis XV[....] # Euthesia<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=127}}</ref>
=== English translation === {{Blockquote|text="I, Beccut, first united with my husband Ilo (?), a novice and youthful [[Virginity|virgin]], in the place where [[Fortuna]] led me, the dwelling place of my life, but also the place of my demise - so the Fates willed - here I was celebrated both by the [[Hymen (god)|Hymen]] and by the nuptial torch carried before me, now I lie buried both in the tomb and in the [[urn]]. I have lived as long as I was allowed, [[Chastity|chaste]] and unblemished in my morals; Lucina's favor has earned me the title of mother: I have given birth to a son; may he live in my place! May he not weep too much over my fate, he to whose heart I am so dear: it is the human condition to have to weep over the dead (?)."<ref name=":0" />}}The end of the text cannot be translated due to gaps in the stone or the term used, "Euthesia"; the precise age of the deceased is one of these gaps.
== Interpretation == [[Sacrifice]]s cannot take place above the monument's table due to its height, even though it is carved in the shape of an altar.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=144}}</ref>
A comparative study of the pillar altars found on the archaeological site by [[Gilbert Charles-Picard]] suggests that the Beccut cippus dates the death of Makthar's harvester after 260, while the epigraphic study notes that "the writing is not identical"; the harvester died at an old age and his ascension may date from the city's period of prosperity, between 210 and 235.<ref name=":3" />
=== Makthar social study document === Peregrines, after obtaining [[Roman citizenship]], kept their "barbarian name" as their ''[[cognomen]]''.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|p=15}}</ref> In the evolution of the [[Roman naming conventions|Roman name]] over the course of the 3rd century, the ''praenomen'' gave way to the ''cognomen'', "the only personal name used in everyday life".<ref name=":9">{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|p=23}}</ref>
The main interest of the cippus is [[Onomastics|onomastic]]. Beccut is the cognomen of the deceased, indicating a [[Ancient Carthage|Punic]] or [[Ancient Libya|Libyan]] origin.<ref name=":7" /> It would be the feminine form of the name BG'T, Bogud,<ref name=":7" /> a princely name.<ref name=":8" /> The deceased may have had two cognomina, one in [[Latin]] and the other in the native language. The husband's cognomen may have been Milo.<ref name=":5" /> The cognomen of African origin can be seen, in the words of [[Jean-Marie Lassère]], as "the revenge of indigenous tradition, relegating the [[Gens|gentilice]], symbol of Romanization, to the shadows."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|pp=23–24}}</ref> As for the husband's name, ILONI, this is not explained by the [[Punic language]], and specialists suggest the reading MILONI due to haplography, the dropping of one of the letters. The cognomen Milo was prestigious and its attribution to his son is possible by "a provincial scholar."<ref name=":5" />
Although the document gives no information on the couple's social position, it is assumed that they belonged to the city's "well-to-do bourgeoisie."<ref name=":5" /> The senatorial and equestrian families were not easily distinguishable in the city, and the [[Curiate assembly|Curiate]] was open to people of modest means "by dint of hard work."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|pp=150–151}}</ref> The cognomen Beccut betrays a "recent promotion."<ref name=":10">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=151}}</ref>
=== Document about a member of a religious community === [[File:Beccut 2 Mouelhi Chaker.jpg|alt=Detail of an engraved stone with a difficult-to-interpret inscription|thumb|Detail of the lower part of the cippus with the word "Euthesia".]] The invocation of the dead man's name was important because, according to [[Ausonius]], it made it possible to "bring the dead back from oblivion for a moment and mingle him with the living."<ref name=":9" />
The term "Euthesia" evokes a religious community.<ref name=":7" /> The city's wealthy social classes honored [[Cybele|''Magna Mater'']] and ''[[Liber]]'', and Bacchism is reflected in the greater presence of [[Dionysus|Dionysiac]] symbols on funerary monuments, such as a pine cone on Beccut's cippus. However, the latter is used as much for the cult of [[Saturn (mythology)|Saturn]] as for the ''Magna Mater'' or ''Liber.''<ref name=":10" /> Beccut may have been a [[Maenad|Bacchante]], and "Euthesia" may have been one of the "mystical vocables", the Eu prefix "belonging to the technical language of medicine."<ref name=":10" /> The signum on the monument is perhaps a sign of membership of the Isiac community. Although the cult is little known in Makthar, initiation elsewhere is possible. The cult of [[Dionysus]] and [[Osiris]] may have come close, according to a "commonly accepted assimilation."<ref name=":11">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=152}}</ref>
The cult of [[Isis]] imposed on its followers "a severe discipline, even to the point of [[asceticism]]", and Beccut's epitaph accords with these principles of life.<ref name=":11" /> The word "Euthesia" at the end of the inscription introduces "an atmosphere of strange mystery."<ref name=":11" />
=== Funerary poem === The text of the cippus is of the ''[[encomium]]'' type, and the poet evokes "banalities and clichés": "Beccut was modest and had a son."<ref name=":7" /> [[Lucina (mythology)|Lucina]] is an [[epithet]] of [[Juno (mythology)|Juno]], "tutelary goddess of [[childbirth]]."<ref name=":12">{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=155}}</ref> Evoking feminine virtue in the text is "traditional praise". She was born,<ref name=":12" /> lived and died in the same place.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Charles-Picard|Le Bonniec|Mallon|1970|p=154}}</ref> "Married very young", she did not die in childbirth because of the allusion to divinity, nor because of an accident: illness undoubtedly took her, "in a manner as banal as it was distressing."<ref name=":12" /> The lifespan indicated, Vixit annos, is mostly found on monuments dating from the 2nd or 3rd century.<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|p=127}}</ref>
The expression DMS (''Diis Manibus Sacrum'', to the sacred [[Manes]] gods) is stereotyped.<ref name=":12" /> However, the use of the invocation to the Manes gods, early on the African monuments of the Proconsular capital or [[Dougga]], is late "as one moves away from Carthage."<ref>{{Harvtxt|Lassère|1973|pp=123–126}}</ref> Consolation is a "commonplace theme."<ref name=":12" />
The [[Verse (poetry)|verse]] study reveals "no emotion" on the part of the husband, who according to [[Gilbert Charles-Picard]] "must have been in a hurry to remarry."<ref name=":7" /> The poem's style "is characterized by its banality, both clumsy and pompous". The language is described by Charles-Picard as "artificial" and having nothing to do with the language spoken by the local population.<ref name=":12" />
{{Portal|Ancient Rome|Africa}}
== References ==
<references />
=== Bibliography ===
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[[Category:Archaeology of Tunisia]] [[Category:Epigraphy]]