Abstract
In 2019, N.I. Nikolaev has published a new curse inscription found in Olbia. This is an opisthograph. The text is written retrograde on the reverse side of the lead plate, containing only a long least of personal names. In general, Nikolaev correctly read the completely preserved names (the scholar has 40 of them in total), but even he made many diff erent kinds of mistakes. The author of this paper carefully analyzes the text of the inscription and establishes a real list of names and patronymics of 26 damned people. Nikolaev has dated the curse inscription to 357–347 BC, based on his hypothesis that the catalogue of names IOSPE I2 201 is a synchronous list of Olbian eponyms. The author of this paper criticizes this hypothesis as unfounded and shows that IOSPE I2 201 is a simple catalogue of citizens of the last quarter of the 3rd century BC. A detailed analysis of the paleography of the slander showed that it dates from approximately the same time, and both lists also have a prosopographic similarity. All the names of the slanderers are Greek, with the exception of Θατοῦc Ναγχινου, who is an Egyptian. Egypt was the granary of the entire Greek world during the Hellenistic period. Olbia imported bread from various foreign regions in the 3rd–2nd centuries BC, so the first attested presence of an Egyptian in the polis may be associated with the supply of bread from Egypt. This allows to suggest that the reason for compiling such a large curse was a competition between the two “companies” that supplied bread. In this regard, the author considers two other late Hellenistic spells from Olbia with a large number of names – 31 and 22; the reason for compiling the first one is the rivalry between two building artels for a large order from the city. In conclusion, the author summarizes his recent work on the chronological distribution of 26 Olbian curse inscriptions: 6 of the Classical period (520–325 BC), 20 Hellenistic, when Olbia suff ered the crisis.
Keywords
Olbia Pontica, large curse inscription of the late 3rd century BC, text criticism, paleography, possible historical retrospective, chronology of Olbian curse inscriptions.
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