ISardis 319-320 Letter and honours for Polybios of Sardis

Letter and honours for Polybios of Sardis

Sardis VII 2 319-320 Date: ca. 150 AD

Side A

(Sardis VII 2, 319) . . . (1) to the established (?) Hadrianeion . . . ^[1] and congratulating [you on your] prosperity (euphorias) [resulting from this] man and these things we . . . , praying that all those who come from the same place to be resident (epidēmountōn) (5) here prove to be of this sort, we pray to the ancestral gods that you may be well.

Side B

(Sardis VII 2, 320) . . . ^[3] let it be left.” The presiding officer (proedros) put the question, “Is it decided that a letter should be written to the the most mighty (kratistois) Sardians about the most noteworthy Polybios?” To all: or “(Yes, it is decided) by all!” (?) (5) “What do you think?” “Let a memorandum be passed (hupomnēmatisasthō)!” Having been called in, Polybios said,^[3] “I consider no other blessing (eudaimonias) more magnificent than my present one, men of the Areopagos. I have the good fortune (10) to stand before you and to speak and to enjoy the testimonial (marturias) from you, which even the gods thought highly of, when they received it.” They shouted out, “You are worthy (axios)!”

Greek text

References:

Sardis VII 2 319-320 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 43.863

SEG 43.864

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Archaeological Exploration of Sardis - (1, 2)

Monument type: Stele (inscribed on both sides)

Inscription type: Letter, Decree (Areopagos)

Original location: Sardis

Findspot: Sardis (Byzantine Shop W8) (Sardis)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual note: AIO acknowledges debts to the translation of P. Hermann in G. Dobesch and G. Rehrenböck, Die epigraphische und altertumskundliche Erforschung Kleinasiens, 1993, 211-19.

This stele records a laudatory letter to the Sardians regarding one of their citizens, Polybios (Side A), and the minutes of a meeting of the Areopagos at which he was honoured (Side B). The expectation that further Sardians will reside in Athens in the same role as Polybios (A, ll. 4-5) makes it likely that he was honoured for serving as Sardis’ delegate to the Panhellenion, an association of select Greek communities established by Hadrian and based in Athens (on which see IG II³ 4, 215; on Sardis in the Panhellenion, see also J. H. Oliver, Marcus Aurelius, no. 45). The letter on Side A is probably the one which the Areopagos undertakes to write on side B at l. 2 (C. P. Jones, CPh 91, 1996, 247-53) or, less likely, a separate letter from the Panhellenion (Hermann 1993). For another letter of the Areopagos in honour of a delegate to the Panhellenion, Marcus Ulpius Appuleius Eurykles of Aizanoi, see OGIS 504-507 C. They seem to have been fairly routine and belong to a wider social practice of laudatory letters in the Roman empire (see J. E. Lendon, Empire of Honour, 1997, 48-49). "Testimonial" (martyria) is used as a technical term for them in both inscriptions (B, l. 11; OGIS 504-507 B, ll. 5 and 7, C, l. 12, D, ll. 10 and 17). The Hadrianeion is unknown and evidence for Hadrian’s cult at Sardis is comparatively sparse: the Sardians held penteteric games for Hadrian as a “new Dionysos” (I Sardis VII.1.13-14) and erected a small altar for him (I Sardis VII.2, 374). The Panhellenion and the cult of Hadrian were closely linked. [2] Side B presents an account of the meeting of the Areopagos (confirmed by l. 9) at which the decree honouring Polybios was passed (on Athenian decrees in the first and second centuries AD, see SEG 21.499 with notes). The text uses interpuncts to indicate changes of speaker and to mark off “stage directions” from speech. Some of the terminology, especially “memorandum” (hypomnematismos) for “decree,” is typical of the Areopagos (cf. IG IV² 1, 83 with notes). The Areopagos controlled correspondence on behalf of the Athenian community (IG IV² 1, 83, ll. 17-19). The reference to the Sardians as “the most mighty” (kratistoi, a generic title of rank not usually used for communities) might refer obliquely to the city’s recently achieved twice neokorate status (i.e. the right to host a second temple of the provincial Imperial cult), object of major competition among the Greek cities of Asia Minor in the Imperial period (see B. Burrell, Neokoroi, 2004, 100-16). Polybios’ title, “most noteworthy” (axiologotatos) is only otherwise attested at Athens in the Areopagos’ honours for Eurykles of Aizanoi (OGIS 504-507 C, l. 4) and is perhaps linked to the acclamation of Polybios as “worthy” (axios) in l. 14. In Asia Minor, where individuals bear titles of rank much more often than in Mainland Greece, it is a generic term for the most prominent civic notables short of equestrian or senatorial rank (cf. S. Demougin in A. Kuhn, Social Status and Prestige in the Graeco-Roman World, 2015, 78-82). Polybios’ statement that the gods also treasure the Areopagos’ approval probably refers to the mythical trial of Ares there for the murder of Halirrhothios, son of Poseidon (Aristides Or. 1 45-47; Jones 1996). Shouting and acclamations also feature in other accounts of meetings in Roman Athens (IG II² 2090, ll. 5-11 and IG II² 1368) and elsewhere (e.g. I Sardis VII.1 no. 8, ll. 34-38, P Oxy. 1.41 of Oxyrhynchos in Egypt, Dio Chrys. Or. 7.27-63 on Euboia, Acts 19.29-39 in Ephesos). They are implied by sources from the early first century AD onwards, but become common in inscriptions only from the third century (cf. H.-L. Fernoux, Le demos et la cité, 2011, 134-50). [3] Polybios appears to have been an important figure in his home province of Asia, where he served in the important provincial roles of Asiarch (a type of priest) once and curator (a type of judge) twice (Tituli Asiae Minoris V 2, 828 C from Attaleia). He also seems to have been a literary critic. Four pamphlets written by him survive, as does the base for a bust of Cicero that he erected at Sardis (I Sardis VII.1.49). This combination of civic and provincial service, wealth, and education is typical of delegates to the Panhellenion (cf. Eurykles in OGIS 504-507 and A. J. Spawforth and S. Walker, JRS 75, 1985, 84-90).

The stele was found reused in a cistern in a fifth-century shop within Sardis’ large bath-gymnasium complex, engraved with a large crucifix (on these shops, see Archaeological Investigation of Sardis and J. S. Crawford, The Byzantine Shops at Sardis, 1990).

Added: 20 May 2023
Updated: 13 Jan 2024
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