Nekrodiatagma. Some Observations on I. Thrake Aeg. E216

The paper analyzes a funerary inscription from Maroneia, which contains an uncommon legal term – νεκροδιάταγμα. After a brief prosopographic and textual analysis of the inscription, the paper examines the term νεκροδιάταγμα from the point of view of the theoretical opposition between the legal and the religious means of protecting the grave against violations. Then, through parallels with other epitaphs, special attention is given to the relationship between the public legal norm, stemming from the τυμβωρυχίας νόμος or the actio de sepulchro violato, and the possible existence of a private legal norm, based on the will of the tomb founder and his absolute right to dispose of the tomb. Finally, the paper concludes that the protection of the tomb in the Graeco-Roman funerary law should not be considered as a twofold phenomenon, situated between the religious and the legal aspects of the tomb, but rather as a threefold phenomenon, which combines the religious aspect with both the public legal norm and the private one.