An altar from Omiš with two inscriptions from classical antiquity

Abstract

Votive inscriptions were carved at different times on opposite sides of an altar found in Omiš, which makes it unusual and interesting. The first inscription - [Divjo Aug(usto) ct [Romae]/ Sacru|m] - was carved in the first century, or more precisely during the rule of emperor Tiberius. The second inscription - [Ara]m Gcm[ol/oc(i) AJugustani/ [..vcl...J Ilica Vol/ [...vel....J <sacravit vel consecravit>] - is assigned to the first half of the second century. On the basis of eight letters which have been preserved (-Ilica Vol-1 an attempt is made to decipher the name of the dedicant. It is a woman’s name of Liburnian, i. c. north Dalmatian onomastic heritage. The formula is Roman (duo nomina). A personal Illyrian name - Voltisa, Volsuna, Volaesa or Volsa - took in the formula the place of the cognomen, and the Illyrian collective or family name or last name the place of the gentile name. The root of family name could have been Opl- or Oepl-. One could speak about the two faces of the altar, one older and the younger. The older inscription, written in impeccable capitals, is the concise in its cosmopolitan Roman spirit. Its is of official nature and it could have been set up by the town rulers or some institution. The content of younger and longer inscription is of private, provincial and local in character (an address to the protector of the place), and reveals the Illyrian-Liburniun orign of the dedicant. The altar Trom Omiš, together with other recent archeological and cpigraphic finds, shows that Omiš in antiquity must have a different, i. e. more important role than the one usually assigned to it in historical sources and scholarly literature.