AIO 2734 Divine honours for the Severans

Divine honours for the Severans

AIO 2734 Date: 197 AD?

[For Good Fortune] [In the archonship of - prytany of -, 9th prytany], of which the secretary was . . . [ . . . twenty]-third of Mounychion, [and twenty-xth day of the prytany]. Of the presiding committee, E- was putting to the vote (5)[and his fellow members of the presiding committee. In accordance with the interpretation (?) of the] interpreter chosen by the Pythian oracle (puthochrēstou exēgētou) . . . ^[1] [ . . . Elpidephoros son of Asklepiades of Pallene] proposed:^[2] since . . . . . . of good things the . . . . . . protection (kēdemonian) . . . [shall resolve] . . . to sacrifice on behalf of the Olympians (10) . . . a bull on the -th day of each month . . . ⟦ . . . ⟧^[3] . . . those having sacrificed in advance . . . the prytaneis and the [officials of the city?] . . . Zeus having been put forward (15) . . . to the prytaneis just as in the . . . in accordance with our custom (sunētheia) . . . uninscribed space [and on the] Kalends [of January] to pray to the Maiden (Parthenō) in the Hekatompedon^[4] . . . of the emperors to Good Fortune and (20) . . . is on the Acropolis . . . the [priests (?)] each [year] . . . to Julia Augusta, mother [of the camps . . . ] . . . and to sacrifice to her . . . . . . the entry sacrifices (eisitēria) to Athena . . . . . . and [the priestess of Athena Polias] shall begin [these sacrifices] (25)[and] shall get [the perquisites (gera)], and in future . . . . . . and in the beginning . . . . . . Julia Augusta . . . . . . of good fortune . . . . . . (30) . . .

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Greek text

References:

AIO 2734 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 21.504

SEG 21.511 (PHI)

Oliver and Meritt, Greek Inscriptions 1941 36

Agora XVI 340 (PHI)

Follet, Décrets attiques 1

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Agora Excavations - (1, 2, 3, 4)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Council and People)

a - Findspot: Agora (Ag. I 6735)
b - Findspot: Agora (Ag. I 3025a)
c - Findspot: Agora (Ag. I 6170)
d - Findspot: Agora (Ag. I 5855)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This fragmentary decree of the Council and People establishes cultic honours for Emperors Septimius Severus and Caracalla and Empress Julia Domna. It was amended shortly afterwards by Agora XVI 341, whose proposer had been out of town, apparently on an embassy to the emperors in Rome, at the time of this decree. The reference to "emperors" in the plural (l. 19) indicates a date after Caracalla's promotion to Augustus in March/April 197 AD. The fact that this decree was passed while this embassy to Rome was in progress suggests that it reacted to sudden news that required an immediate response, probably Severus' victory over Albinus and the promotion of Caracalla in early 197 AD (see Agora XVI 341 for details). Cult honours were awarded to Roman emperors and members of their family from the time of Augustus, and derive from the honours granted to kings and others in the Hellenistic Period, but at Athens we mostly know of them from statue bases of emperors and their priests. Inscribed decrees regarding these honours survive only from the reign of Augustus (see Agora XVI 336 with notes) and from the Severan period (Agora XVI 340-342, Agora XV 460). On Athenian decrees of the Severan period, see AIUK 4.3A (BM, Decrees), 10.

The interpreter chosen by the Pythian oracle (pythochrestes exegetes, l. 5) was the highest-ranking of several religious professionals who advised on the details of sacrifices and other rituals (cf. IG II² 1035, ll. 11-13 with note; I Eleusis 489, ll. 17, 48-49). His advice was probably necessary because this decree altered several Athenian religious observances. As restored here, the decree is stated to be in accordance with his advice, but, as Agora XVI 341 describes itself as an "interpretation" (exegesis), this may instead be a reservation noting the interpreter's absence [CdL]. The emphasis on the authority of the religious experts reflects their prominence in public life in Imperial-period Athens (cf. I Eleusis 300 and AIUK 4.2 (BM, decrees), no. 17 with notes). Classical and Hellenistic Athenian decrees on ritual matters were often produced in consultation with religious experts (e.g., AIO 1318, ll. 23-38), but also referred such matters to the oracle of Delphi (e.g., IG II³ 1, 292) or made decisions without reference to religious experts (e.g., IG II³ 1, 337). [2] The name of the proposer is restored from Agora XVI 341, l. 13. [3] The "Olympians" are probably the Imperial family (cf. Agora XV 460, l. 36). The monthly offering of a bull may have taken place on a birthday or accession date (of Caracalla?). Bulls are offered to emperors in the Feriale Duranum, a Severan-period Roman military calendar found at Dura-Europus (P Dura 54; M. Beard, J. North, and S. Price Religions of Rome, 1998, I 324-26). The erasure contained the name of Emperor Geta, younger son of Julia Domna, removed after his murder and damnatio memoriae in 212 AD. See IG II³ 4, 1397 with note. [4] The section after the uninscribed space in l. 17 deals largely with honours for Julia Domna. Based on comparison with Agora XVI 341, it appears that this decree's honours included prayers to Athena Parthenos in the Hekatompedon (the Parthenon or specifically its central chamber, cf. IG I³ 329) on the 1^st of January (l. 18-19), sacrifices to Good Fortune for something relating to the emperors (l. 19); sacrifices by the annual officials or priests to Domna as "Mother of the Camps" (l. 20-21); and further sacrifices offered to Athena (and Domna?) by unnamed officials on taking office (eisiteria), in which the priestess of Athena collaborates (ll. 22-25). It appears that the second decree adjusts the details and tone of these arrangements, rather than totally overhauling them (see notes to Agora XVI 341 for discussion).

Textual note: AIO follows the text of Follet, who adds a new fragment at l. 10 and places a previously free-floating fragment at the left side of ll. 18-29. Follet appears to assume a line of ca. 50 letters based on l. 18, but ll. 4-5, 24-25 and probably 11 require a longer line. We exclude some speculative restorations: l. 3 ἐκκλησία κυρία ? ἐν… "principal Assembly? in…"; l. 11-12 [Λ. Σεπτ. Σεουήρῳ καὶ ⟦Μ. Αὐρ. Ἀντωνείνῳ καὶ Σεπτ. Γέτᾳ⟧]| [Καίσαρι - "to L. Sept. Severus and ⟦M. Aur. Antoninus and Sept. Geta⟧ Caesar" (these emperors must be named and Geta's name must stand in the erasure, but there is no parallel at Athens for the erasure of Antoninus/Caracalla's name); l. 17 Δι|[ὶ Σωτῆρι ? καὶ Ἀθηνᾷ Σωτείρᾳ ?— "to Zeus Soter and Athena Soteira"; ll. 19-20 εὔχεσθαι δὲ καὶ τῇ κα]θ̣᾽ ἑνὸς τῶν αὐτ̣[οκρα]τ̣ό̣ρων ἀγαθῇ τε τύχηι καὶ | [νείκῃ "and also to pray to the] good fortune and victory regarding each one of the emperors" (Follet's alternative suggestion εἰς τὸ πᾶν γ]ένος τῶν αὐτ̣[οκρα]τ̣ό̣ρων "for the whole family of the Emperors" is attractive, cf. Agora XV 460, ll. 28-29, but apparently precluded by the traces on the stone); ll. 20-23 ἐν πᾶσι τοῖς ἱεροῖς ἅ ] ἐ̣στιν ἐν Πόλει· [τοὺς δὲ ἱερεῖ]ς ? τοὺς καθ’ ἕκαστον | [ἔτος Ἀθηνᾷ Πολιάδι καὶ Ἰο]υ̣λίᾳ Σεβαστῇ µη[τρὶ τῶν στρατοπέδων θύειν· τὸν] | [δὲ ἐπὶ τὰ ὅπλα στρατηγὸν ] καὶ ταύτῃ θύειν [ὡς Σωτείρᾳ τῶν Ἀθηνῶν ? ἐν Βοηδρο]|[µιῶνι ? ὅταν ποιῇ τὰ εἰσιτ]ήρια τῆι Ἀθηνᾷ [τῇ Πολιάδι "in all the sanctuaries which] are on the Acropolis, [and the priests] each [year shall to Athena Polias and] Julia Augusta, Mother [of the Camps sacrifice, and the hoplite general shall] also sacrifice to her [as Saviour of Athens in Boedromion, whenever he performs the entry] sacrifices for Athena [Polias]."

Added: 28 Jul 2023
Updated: 28 Jul 2023
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ID: AIO_2734