IGII2 3702 Statue base for Marcus Ulpius Pupienus Maximus

Statue base for Marcus Ulpius Pupienus Maximus

IG II² 3702 Date: ca. 230 AD

(This statue of) Marcus Ulpius Pupienus Maximus, the mighty (kratiston), the son of the most brilliant (lamprotatou) (5) consular, Marcus Ulpius Eubiotos, who was a colleague to his father as one of the court presidents (thesmothetais),^[1] (was erected by) one who was deemed worthy (10)of nurture (anatrophēs) and was promoted by his father to rank (axian): Ulpius Elpidephoros, (for) his personal (15)benefactor (euergetēn).^[2]

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References:

IG II² 3702 (Translated text) (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base (private)

Findspot: Athens (Plaka) (Lost?)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Pupienus was the younger son of Marcus Ulpius Eubiotos Leuros, who was archon ca. 230 AD and made major benefactions to Athens, for which he and his sons were extensively honoured (see SEG 30.82 with notes and IG II² 3697 on the family). During Eubiotos' archonship, Pupienus and his brother Teisamenos (IG II² 3701) served as two of the six court presidents (thesmothetai). Pupienus' name indicates a maternal relationship to the Roman senator Marcus Pupienus Maximus, a dominant figure in Rome in the 230s, who was briefly emperor in 238 AD. He might have forged the marriage tie when he was proconsul of Asia in the 210s; his son's tenure as proconsul of Macedonia ca. 220 suggest ongoing ties with Greece (see N. Hächler, Kontinuität und Wandel des Senatorenstandes im Zeitalter der Soldatenkaiser, 2019, 380-85). Pupienus bears the status designation "the mighty" (kratistos), which translates the Latin vir egregius to which Roman equestrians and their families were entitled. Imperial Greek epigraphy regularly uses it for prominent institutions (in this case, the Areopagos) as well. Eubiotos' title, "the most brilliant" (lamprotatos), translating the Latin vir clarissimus, was reserved for senators, but is given to Pupienus in IG II² 3703 - an example of how these rules were not always strictly followed. [2] The erector of the statue, Ulpius Elpidephoros, is one of the family's freedmen. He seems to have been born and raised in the family's household and the "promotion to rank" probably refers to his appointment to a position of responsibility within it. Elpidephoros uses the term "personal benefactor" to refer obliquely to Pupienus' legal and social role as his "patron" (cf. IG II² 3703; on the social and legal obligations of the freedman-patron relationship, see H. Mouritsen The Freedman in the Roman World, 2011, esp. 36-58). From the reference to Pupienus' service as court president, it seems that these freedmen took advantage of the public honours for the family around 230 AD in order to erect monuments for Pupienus. But it is possible that the statues were erected later.

Added: 28 Jul 2023
Updated: 27 Jun 2024
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ID: AIO_2758