Inscribed Block: Letter from Hermogenes, warden of the temple of Men Askenos, to Proconsul
- Date
- 188/89 AD., Roman
- Museum
- Manisa, Archaeological and Ethnographic Museum, 7971
- Museum Inventory No.
- 7971
- Sardis or Museum Inv. No.
- Manisa 7971
- Material
- Marble, Stone
- Object Type
- Inscription
- Inscription Type
- Letter or Dossier Containing Letters, Decisions, Petitions, Subscriptiones, Honors
- Inscription language
- Greek
- Inscription Text
vac. ΕΠ̣[ ] vac. τῷ σωτῆρι τῆς ἐπαρχείας ἀνθ(υπάτῳ) Ἀρρίῳ Ἀντωνείνῳ παρὰ Ἑρμογέ- 4 νους τοῦ Δη‹μη›τρίου Σαρδιανοῦ νεω- κόρου θεοῦ Μηνὸς Ἀσκηνοῦ προ- πάτορος τοῦ ὄντος ἐν Σάρδεσιν· ἔχοντος, κύριε, δίκαια τοῦ θεοῦ ἐκ 8 βασιλικῶν δωρεῶν καὶ ἐπικρίσεων ἐννόμων καὶ ἐπιτρόπων καὶ τῆς βου- λῆς καὶ τοῦ δήμου δίδοσθαι κατ᾿ ἔτος ὑπὸ τῶν ἀρχόντων τῆς πόλεως ὡρισ- 12 μένα κὲ κεκριμένα ἐξ ἔθους (δηνάρια) χ´ εἴς τε τὰς θυσίας κὲ σπονδὰς τοῦ θεοῦ κὲ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος [ν]είκης τε κὲ αἰ- ωνίου διαμονῆς κὲ τῶν ἀφθόνων καρ- 16 πῶν· κὲ δεδομένων τούτων ὑπὸ τῶν κα- τ᾿ ἔτος ἀρχόντων, σήμερον μὴ διδομένων ὑπὸ τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ἄρχοντος Αὐρ. Κτη- σίππου, κὲ ἐπὶ τούτων τῶν θυσιῶν, δέο- 20 μαί σου τῆς τύχης κελεῦσαί σε τῷ ἄρ- χοντι Αὐρ. Κτησίππῳ δοῦναι τὰ ἐξ ἔθους διδόμενα (δηνάρια) χ´ πρὸς τὸ τὰς θυσίας τῷ θεῷ τὰς νενομισμένας ἐκτελεῖσθαι· ὑπέτα̣- 24 ξα δὲ κὲ τῶν πρὸ σοῦ ἀνθυπάτων κὲ ἐπιτρό- πων ἐπικρίσεις. vΟὐενουλήιος Βάλης ἐπίτροπος Αὐτοκράτορος Οὐεσπασιανοῦ Σαρδιανῶν ἄρχουσι χαίρειν· τὰ ἐξ ἔθους 28 εἰς τὰ τοῦ Μηνὸς μυστήρια χορηγούμενα εὔλογόν ἐστιν δίδοσθαι ἑκάστου ἔτους· κὲ Ἀσπ[ρήν]α̣ς ἀνθύπατος οὕτ̣[ω]ς. vac.
- Inscription Translation
- “[ - - -] from Hermogenes, son of (4) Demetrios, of Sardis, warden of the temple of the ancestral god Men Askenos existing at Sardis, to the proconsul Arrius Antoninus, the savior of the province: O Lord! According to the privileges bestowed by (8) the kings and legal decisions both by the procurators and by the Council and the People of the city, the god has the right of being given each year by the magistrates of the city (12) the customarily determined and decided sum of 600 denarii to be spent for the sacrifices and libations for the god and for the victory and eternal permanence of the Emperor and for plentiful harvest. (16) This was given by the magistrates of every year, but today it is not being given by the leading magistrate in charge Aur. Ktesippos, even on the occasion of these sacrifices; (20) I ask your Genius to order the magistrate Aur. Ktesippos to give the usual 600 denarii for accomplishing the customary sacrifices for the god. (24) I also append the decisions of the proconsuls and procurators who were in charge before you.”—“Venuleius Valens, procurator of the Emperor Vespasianus, to the magistrates of the Sardians, greeting. (28) It is reasonable to give every year the customary supplies for the mysteries of Men.”—“And the proconsul Asprenas (gave orders) in the same way” (mostly after Malay).
- Inscription Comment
- Site
- Çapaklı
- Findspot
- Northeast of Sardis (see the lemmata of nos.
325 and674 ).
- Description
Block of marble. The inscription (red paint partly preserved) is from later use of the stone (for details see ed. pr.).
- Dimensions
- H. 0.90, W. 0.52, Th. 0.17, max. H. of letters 0.02.
- Comments
Many ligatures.
1 ἐπ̣[ιστολή]: Malay (SEG); ἐπ̣᾿ [ἀγαθῷ] D. Feissel (AE).
2–3 “The proconsul Arrius Antoninus served either in 78/79 or in 188/189 AD; in view of the Αὐρ(ήλιος) in LL. 18 and 21 ed. pr. opts for the latter” (SEG).
4 ΔΗΤΡΙΟΥ: the stone.
5–6 On the name of Men Ἀσκηνός (to be distinguished from Men Ἀσκαηνός) and his cult in Sardis see Malay, Researches, p. 121.
19 κὲ ἐπὶ τούτων τῶν θυσιῶν: I take κέ as putting a stress on “these sacrifices” (for the god, the Emperor, and a good harvest); similarly AE, without translating κέ: “vu qu’ aujourd’hui le magistrat…ne verse pas à son tour la somme à l’occasion de ces sacrifices.” Differently Malay: “On the occasion of these sacrifices I ask your Genius to order the magistrate Aur. Ktesippos to give…,” etc.
20 κελεύειν goes here with the dative.
25–26 “a procurator Λ. Οὐινουλεῖος Παταίκιος is on record under Vespasian for the provinces Libya, Asia, and Thrace; ed. pr. wonders whether he is the same as Venuleius Valens, using two different cognomina” (SEG).
30 According to Malay there are two candidates for the proconsul Asprenas: P. Nonius A., governor ca. 86/87 AD, and L. Nonius A., ca. 107 AD.
The quotations of both Hermogenes’s and the procurator’s letters drop the closing greetings.
Compare the fragment of a similar dossier, no. 322.
The inscription is discussed by Chr. Schuler, “Inscriptions and Identities of Rural Population Groups in Roman Asia Minor,” in Epigraphy and the Historical Sciences, ed. J. Davies and J. Wilkes (2012 = ProcBritAc 177, pp. 63–100), pp. 71–72. M. Wörrle, Chiron 41 (2011), p. 369 compares the present dossier with a letter of the proconsul C. Norbanus Flaccus directed to Aizanoi, where the interference of the procurator Ofilius Ornatus(?) is mentioned (cf. SEG 61, 1134, with note).
- See Also
- Bibliography
- Malay, Researches, no. 131, pl. 97, fig. 136 (SEG 49, 1676; AE 1999, 1534; Dignas, Economy, pp. 139–41)
- Author
- GP