Bronze Plaque with Greek Inscription of the Athlete Kleombrotos

The bronze plaque is quadrangular in shape with rounded corners and regular, though not perfectly straight, edges. At the corners it preserves holes for four nails. At the center is an inscription in the Achaean Greek alphabet, written retrograde, that is, with the letters running from right to left. The text reads:

“Kleombrotos, son of Dexilaos, dedicated (this) as a vow to Athena, having won at Olympia the contest for those equal in height and build, after having promised her a tithe of the prizes.”

The bronze plaque, found in the sanctuary dedicated to Athena on Timpone della Motta at Francavilla Marittima, was probably affixed to the base of a large votive offering, now lost, dedicated by an athlete named Kleombrothos. The young man, originally from Sybaris, entrusted to the goddess—according to the inscription—a tenth of the prizes he received for his victory at the Olympic Games, following a well-attested practice in the Greek world.

The text, structured according to the metrical patterns of Archaic choral lyric poetry, is highly refined. The inscription is composed in the first person, using the so-called “speaking inscription” formula, a conventional feature of dedications from this period. The artifact, discovered in 1965 during excavations conducted by M. W. Stoop near Building II of the sanctuary, represents an important testimony both to the cult of Athena at Francavilla Marittima and to the influence and prestige of Sybaris. Indeed, together with Crotone and Syracuse, Sybaris was among the few colonies of the Greek West to boast an athlete who competed in the Olympic Games.