Ancient Greek Inscriptions

Letters in ligature:
1 ος, ος;
2 ων, ος;
3 πω, δε;
4 νω, ωρ;
5 ου, πε, τωκ, μω;
6 των, αρ, ντωνε, των;
7 μνημης, νς, τη, νε, τη;
8 αν, μβ.
Apparatus:
The letters have been painted with red.
3 In the beginning of the line ΠΩ in ligature instead of ΤΩ. The error was probably corrected with paint.
5 IGBulg: πεπτοκότι.

The information about the monument and the images are courtesy of Vratsa Regional Museum of History, the content is further revised by Nikolay Sharankov.

The patronymic of Aurelius Maximus Δαεζερεος (in the nominative, Δαεζερις) is Thracian, unattested elsewhere. It is formed of two elements, known from other compound names - the first attested in names such as Δαειπωρα and possibly Δαικωσης, and the second, -ζερις, in Βρινκα-ζερις, Δουρα-ζερις etc.

The inscription displays influence from the Latin language and epigraphic habit: transliterated or literally translated Latin phrases and frequent use of interpunction.

The unusual phrase ζῶντος ἑαυτοῦ (an absolute genitive, lit. "while himself being alive") represents a literal translation of the formula "se vivo" (an absolute ablative).

In the name of the cohort, the form Βρακάρου is a transcription of the Latin genitive plural "Bracarum", which in that late period was pronounced without the final -m.

First cohort of the Bracari (cohors I Bracarum) is named after the Celtic tribe of the Bracari from the Iberian Peninsula (modern North-Western Portugal), where it was originally recruited from. During the second half of the I c. AD, the cohort is attested in Mauretania, and was transferred to the province of Lower Moesia in the early II c. AD.

Mihailov, Georgius. Inscriptiones Graecae in Bulgaria repertae. Vol. V, 1997.

Иванов, Теофил. Новооткрит старохристиянски некропол при с. Горна Бешовица, Врачанско. In: Археология Vol. IV/2, 1962, p. 38-48.