SEG 34.177 Honours for Julius Caesar

Honours for Julius Caesar

SEG 34.177 Date: 48-47 BC

The People (erected this statue of) Gaius Julius Caesar, pontifex maximus and dictator, their saviour and [benefactor].^[1]

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References:

SEG 34.177 (Translated text) (PHI)

IG II² 3222 (PHI)

SEG 14.122 (PHI)

Syll.³ 759

Leone, Polis, Platz und Porträt 8

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base (People)

Findspot: Agora, Church of Panagia Pyrgotissa (Ag. no inv. number)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This base for a colossal statue of Julius Caesar was probably erected by the Athenians following his victory over Pompey Magnus at the Battle of Pharsalos on 9 August 48 BC and his reappointment as Roman dictator in October of the same year. The Athenians had a pre-existing relationship with Caesar, who had promised fifty talents for the construction of the Roman Agora in 51/50 BC (IG II³ 4, 12 with notes), but supported Pompey at the start of the civil war between them (cf. IG II² 1047 with notes and C. Habicht, Athens from Alexander to Antony, 1997, 350-53). [For this reason, Geagan's proposal in Praktika of the 8th Congress for Greek and Latin Epigraphy, 1967, 71 = SEG 34.177 and Agora XVIII that the monument belongs after Caesar was first appointed dictator in 49 BC seems implausible - CdL]. Caesar issued a pardon to the Athenians immediately after the battle of Pharsalos, confirming their status as a free city (Appian, Bell. Civ. 2.368; Cassius Dio 42.14.2) and visited the city in September 47 BC (Cic. Ad Atticum 11.21). Either or both events may have been the occasion for the erection of this statue. There were originally further blocks on either side of the surviving stone, so it is likely that the statue was well over life size. There is a dowel hole in the top surface towards the front, apparently for the insertion of a bronze spear, which the statue would have held in one hand; the holes for the statue's feet are not preserved. Caesar is also honoured by (Agora XVIII 249-250 and I Délos 1587), and perhaps IG II² 3223 from the Acropolis. The head of a statue of Caesar was also found on the Acropolis (NAMA 437). On honours accorded to Caesar at Athens and elsewhere in Greece, see M. Kantiréa Le dieux et le dieux augustes 2007, 32-36

Added: 24 Jul 2026
Updated: 24 Jul 2026
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ID: AIO_3838