IGII2 3290 Abydos honours Hadrian

Abydos honours Hadrian

IG II² 3290 Date: ca. 132 AD

Fragment a

(This statue of) Emperor Trajan Hadrian Olympios Caesar Augustus (was erected by)

Fragment b

the Abydenes for their own saviour and founder (ktistēn) through an envoy, Marcellus Maior.^[1]

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References:

IG II² 3290 (Translated text) (PHI)

Højte, Statue Bases 209

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Louvre - (1)

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base (other city)

a - Findspot: Olympieion (Lost?)
b - Findspot: Athens (Louvre MND 1769 ; Ma 4210)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This statue base is part of a group erected for Emperor Hadrian (r. 117-138 AD) in the precinct of the Temple of Olympian Zeus. On Hadrian at Athens, see IG II² 5185 with notes. On the temple, which had been begun by the Peisistratid tyrants around 515 BC, resumed by the Seleukid king Antiochos IV in the 160s BC, and was completed by Hadrian, see IG II² 5186 and R. Tölle-Kastenbein, Das Olympieion in Athen (1994). The consecration took place in 132 AD with Hadrian and delegations from cities throughout the eastern Roman empire in attendance (Dio Cassius 69.16.1; Philostr. Vit. Soph. 1.25.2; Hist. Aug. Vit. Hadr. 13.6). The nearby Arch of Hadrian (IG II² 5185) and a very large set of altars found throughout Athens (Benjamin, Altars of Hadrian 7 with notes) were probably erected for this event. Afterwards, many cities erected statue bases like this one in the precinct. Most of these bases are inscribed in Greek and vary in size, shape, and text, although they usually identify Hadrian as "Olympios" and name one or more envoys responsible for the erection of the statue (IG II² 3291-3293, 3295-3310, SEG 32.254, SEG 41.143, perhaps SEG 48.204). Three or four bases, dedicated by Roman coloniae (colonies) in the east, are in Latin and very similar in shape, size, and text (CIL III 7281-7283 and perhaps CIL 7285). Most of the bases are dated only by the use of the epithet "Olympios", which places them after 128 AD and most likely after the consecration in 132/3 AD. The Latin inscriptions and IG II² 3303 are explicitly dated to 132/3 AD. SEG 41.143 seems post-date 132/3 and IG II² 3310 post-dates 138 AD. Pausanias 1.18.6 reports that the temple precinct contained various sets of statues of Hadrian: two statues of Thasian marble and two of Egyptian stone at the precinct's entrance, a set of bronze statues in front of the columns which the Athenians called "colony cities" (apoikoi poleis), other statues in the precinct dedicated by "each city", and a colossal statue dedicated by the Athenians "behind the temple" (i.e. facing west towards the Acropolis?). Probably, the "colony cities" are the Latin inscriptions, erected by Roman coloniae in the East, perhaps limited to those privileged with the "Italian right" (ius Italicum), which could have stood in front of the ten columns of the front façade, and might have inspired other cities of the East to erect their own statues throughout the precinct (F. Camia, A. Corcella, and M. Monaco in What's New in Roman Greece, 2018, 477-483).

Many cities used the erection of these statues to advertise their claims to prestige (e.g. IG II² 3297 and IG II² 3299). Many honour Hadrian as a benefactor. In some cases, the cities had received specific benefactions from him; in other cases no special interactions with him are attested, but they may have considered themselves to have benefitted from his general actions, notably his remission of tax arrears throughout the empire in 118 AD (A. Birley, Hadrian, 1997, 97-99). A precedent for the dedications may have been provided by the dedication of the temple for the provincial cult of the Flavians in Ephesos in 88/9-90/1 AD, where thirteen statues of the emperor Domitian were erected by different cities of the province of Asia (S. J. Friesen, Twice Neokoros, 1993, 29-47). It is possible that cities dedicated these statues as part of efforts to gain admission to the Panhellenion, a league of Greek cities that met at Athens, which was probably established during the consecration of the temple (see IG II³ 4 215 with notes), but there is unlikely to be a close connection, since only three of the statues in the precinct are erected by cities that are known to have become members of the Panhellenion (IG II² 3300 by Miletos, 3305 by Magnesia, and 3306 by Apollonia) and many of the statues were erected by cities in regions that were excluded from the Panhellenion, like Cilicia and Syria (e.g. IG II² 3299, 3302; cf. A. Spawforth and S. Walker, JRS, 1985, 79-81 with a list and map). The dedicator of this particular statue, Abydos, was located on the Hellespont in the province of Asia. No particular interactions between it and Hadrian are attested.

Statues were also erected in the precinct by groups (IG II² 3313, SEG 47.222) and private individuals (IG II² 3314-3320, Agora XVIII 262, SEG 32.254).

Added: 17 Aug 2024
Updated: 17 Aug 2024
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ID: AIO_2998