A CV in Stone

This is one of my favourites sights in Corinth and we all enjoyed spotting it today on our visit.

It is an inscription that comes from a monument that originally would have been situated in the market place, the most public place in the city. The monument itself was a circle of Corinthian columns set on a stone pedestal. The full version reads 'Gnaeus Babbius Philinus, aedile and pontifex, had this monument erected at his own expense, and he approved it in his official capacity of duovir'.

The back-story seems to be this: Babbius, a freedman like Erastus, judging by his name, had done well for himself, both financially socially, and reached a number of positions, including the one of duovir, the senior executive officer in the city council. The monument is therefore his CV written in stone.

If you take this monument together with the Erastus pavement (see below), we can see they suggest three interesting things about Corinth.

First, they point to considerable social fluidity. This was a city with a considerable number of former slaves among their number, and these freedmen were able to rise up the social to positions of influence and importance. To use language rather from today's culture, Corinth displayed a culture of 'aspiration'. If you worked hard, traded hard, you too could better yourself.

Second, these inscriptions point to significant status anxiety on the part of those who had risen up the social ladder. It is a phenomenon far from unknown today: the further you have climbed, the more conscious you are of your position, and the more fearful you are of slipping down again. By mentioning their various roles so clearly, Erastus, and especially Babbius, are demonstrating what one scholar calls 'self-made-person-escapes-humble-origins syndrome'.

Third, these inscriptions suggest a culture of self-promotion in the city of Corinth. Given the social mobility, given the resulting status anxiety, the response on the part of the nouveau-riche was to make opportunities to display their own achievements. The Babbius monument is nothing other than an attempt by its subject to show off his achievements, status and wealth. You couldn't post a photo on Facebook of your new car, office or holiday but you could build a monument. That it was allowed to stand in the market place suggests it was nothing unusual. In Corinth self-promotion was what you did.

Would it be what Paul did? Time would tell.