Terentius Priscus
He was initiated and cured thanks to the invincible Nabarze.
Biography
of Terentius Priscus
TNMP 225
A certain Terentius Priscus Eucheta [sic], who had been initiated and cured, thanks the invincible god Navarze [Nabarze] for granting his wish. Note that this text gives b(oti) for v(oti) and Navarze for Nabarze, which probably indicates that we are dealing with a Greek speaker. The theonym appears to be indecipherable in both Greek and Latin.
The senatorial historian, Dio Cassius, says that, ’there is a story that a certain Arnouphis, an Egyptian magician, had invoked various demons by spells (παγγανεῖαι), notably Hermes of the Air,’ and a similar account is found in the Suda. Arnouphis himself appears in an inscription from Aquileia that reads thus:
’Arnouphis the Egyptian sacred scribe and Terentius Priscus, to the goddess present here’ —no doubt Isis.
Fifty years ago, J. Guey presented a full account of Arnouphis, identifying ’Hermes of the Air’ as the Egyptian god Thoth-Shou, perhaps powerful enough to counter the plague at Aquileia in 168-169, when the physician Galen (like Arnouphis?) visited the city.
References
- Bricault; Roy (2021) Les cultes de Mithra dans l'Empire Romain
- Lloyd G. Patterson (2009) God in Early Christian Thought
Mentions
Base with inscription of Priscus Eucheta to Navarze
TNMM 653
This inscription, which doesn’t mention Mithras, was found near the church of Santa Balbina on the Aventine in Rome.
[Prev.: To the invincible god Navarze, Terentius Priscus Eucheta, son of Publius, treated and initiated, offered this gift for a wish granted.].
Comments
I’m working on this inscription, and I’m not sure if you’ve understood and translated it correctly. If you assume that the person dedicating the altar was Terentius Priscus Eucheta, son of Publius, it means that the word "curante" is not followed or preceded by any word in the ablative case. I think that Manfred Clauss’s idea (Cultores Mithrae, p. 20-21) that the altar was dedicated by Terentius Priscus "under the supervision/guidance of Eucheta" (Eucheta curante) is a better interpretation. The suggested translation then would be: "Terentius Priscus, son of Publius, dedicated (or presented as a gift according to the vow) to the god Invictus Nabarze, under the guidance of Eucheta and together with other worshipers."
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