A Greek Decree Fragment
This fragmentary Greek inscription comes from Chersonesos on the north shore of the Black Sea. PHI preserves it under IosPE I² 369, with a linked SEG 27:431 record for one military-operation line.
The surviving words are broken, but they are still historically useful. The fragment speaks of a city, a month of gathering, a broad army, the Sauromatai, a land made fire-burned, crossing into the city, guarding, and a damaged royal reference.
The translation below keeps the fragmentary state visible. It should be read as a small witness to Chersonesite frontier danger and Sauromatian military pressure, not as a full narrative of the event.
Translation
IosPE I² 369 / PH184564
[... of the ...] they said: since [...]
[... apart from the city ...] for the gathering of the month [...]
[... all] having and [...]
[... when] a broad army fell upon [...]
[...] and the Sauromatai and [...]
[it made] the land fire-burned [...]
[...] he arrived on the twelfth day [...]
[...] we crossed over into the city [...]
[...] all the country [...]
[...] he guarded, having thrown back [...]
[...] having made goads [...]
[...] of King S[...]
[...]
SEG 27:431 / PH338225
Line 13: [...] having made goads [...]
Colophon
This Good Works Translation was prepared for the New Tianmu Anglican Church from inspected Ancient Greek inscription records PH184564 / IosPE I² 369 and PH338225 / SEG 27:431. The English is deliberately spare because the surviving Greek is heavily damaged.
The fragment belongs to the Scythian shelf as north Black Sea frontier evidence: Chersonesos, military danger, the Sauromatai, damaged civic language, and possible royal context. It does not support a broad identity claim about Chersonesites, Sauromatai, Sarmatians, or Scythians.
Compiled and translated for the New Tianmu Anglican Church, 2026.
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Source Text: Chersonesos Fragment on the Sauromatai
Ancient Greek source text from PHI Greek Inscriptions records PH184564 / IosPE I² 369 and PH338225 / SEG 27:431. Presented here for reference, study, and verification alongside the English translation above.
IosPE I² 369 / PH184564
PHI identifies the main record as a Chersonesos inscription of the late second century CE. PHI context: N. Black Sea — Chersonesos — late 2nd c. AD?.
[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]
1 [— — — — — —] ⟨τ⟩ῶν [— — — — — — — —]
[— — — εἶπ]α̣ν· ἐπειδὴ̣ [— — — — — — — —]
[— — — — —]αν δίχα τᾶς π[όλεος — — — —]
[— — — κ]ομιδᾶς τοῦ μηνὸ[ς — — — — — —]
5 [— — —]α̣ς πάντας ἕξειν καὶ [— — — — — —]
[— — ἐ]πιπετὼν πλαθυῖ στρατ[οῦ — — — —]
[— — —]ν καὶ Σαυρομάταν καὶ συ̣[— — — —]
[ἐποίησ]εν χώραν πυρίφλεκτον̣ [— — — —]
[— — —] π̣αρεγένετο τᾶι δωδεκ[άται ἡμέραι]
10 [— — ὑ]π̣ερβᾶμεν εἰς τὰν πόλι̣ν̣ [— — — —]
[— — —] τ̣ᾶς χώρας ἅπαντας̣ [— — — — —]
[— — — ἐ]φύλαξεν ἀμβαλ[ὼν — — — — —]
[— — — —] π̣οιήσας χεντ[— — — — — —]
[— — — — β]α̣σιλέος Σ̣․[— — — — — — —]
15 [— — — — —]τρ[—]τιτ[— — — — — — — —]
[— — — — — —]․Ι[— — — — — — — — —]
[— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —]
SEG 27:431 / PH338225
PHI identifies the linked SEG record as a fragmentary inscription referring to military operations, with a note on line 13. PHI context: N. Black Sea — Chersonesos — 2nd c. AD — IosPE I 369, l. 13 — DHA 3 (1977) p. 95 (B. Nadel).
13 [— — — — π]οιήσας κέντρα [— — —]
Source Colophon
The Ancient Greek inscription records were inspected from PHI Greek Inscriptions on 2026-05-11. The main record is PH184564 / IosPE I² 369, which PHI identifies as a late second-century CE Chersonesos inscription. The linked control is PH338225 / SEG 27:431, identified by PHI as a second-century CE Chersonesos fragment referring to military operations and linked back to IosPE I² 369.
Local source captures and extracted source files are preserved under Tulku/Tools/scythian/sources/expansion_bench_2026-05-11/ as phi_184564_iospe_i2_369_chersonesos_sauromatai_fire_ins36.html, phi_184564_iospe_i2_369_chersonesos_sauromatai_fire_ins36_source.txt, phi_338225_seg_27_431_chersonesos_military_operations_ins36.html, and phi_338225_seg_27_431_chersonesos_military_operations_ins36_source.txt.
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