OGIS 504-507 Dossier on M. Ulpius Eurykles’ service as Panhellene

Dossier on M. Ulpius Eurykles’ service as Panhellene

OGIS 504-507 Date: 157 AD

Text A (OGIS 506) Emperor Caesar, son of the God Hadrian, grandson of the God Trajan Parthicus, great-grandson of the god Nerva, Titus Aelius Hadrian Antoninus Augustus, pontifex (5)maximus, tribunician power 20 times (157 AD), acclaimed emperor twice, [consul four times, father of the] [fatherland], to the Panhellenion, greetings:^[1] [that the] Panhellenes before you declared Eurykles to be (10)fair (epieikē), I learnt from the letters sent by them. May you be well.^[2] (This letter was sent) one day before the kalends of December (30 November), from Rome.

Text B (OGIS 507) The archon of the Panhellenes and priest of the God Hadrian Panhellenios and competition-director (agōnothetēs) of the Great Panhellenia, Claudius Iason (157/8-161/2), and the Panhellenes to the Greeks in Asia, greetings:^[3] We have already expressed the worth of Marcus Ulpius Apuleius Eurykles of Aizanoi (5)through other letters of testimony (marturias) from us, having sent letters about him to you yourselves and to his fatherland and to the greatest emperor, but we considered it just, as the mighty Claudius Iason assumed the archonship (of the Panhellenes), to give the same testimony (marturēsai) namely that he (i.e. Eurykles) has employed fairness (epieikeia) and all reverence (aidoi) about the citizenship (politeian) of his fellow Panhellenes and that he advanced even further his pre-existing distinction (axiōma),^[4] (10)which goes back in his family to the beginning, in what he has continuously said and done through the whole period of the session (sunedreias). I pray that you fare well.

Text C (OGIS 505) The Council of the Areopagos and its herald and competition-director (agōnothetēs) of the games of the Augusta, Nummius Menis, to the Officials, Council and People of the Aizanitans, greetings:^[5] Your citizen (politēs), Marcus Ulpius Eurykles, the most noteworthy (axiologōtatos),^[6] (5)was resident (epedēmēsen) in our city for all this time in a manner worthy of his own distinction (axiōmatos) and of your city, having spent his time in Athens, as if it were his fatherland, conversing in an educated manner (paideia) and showing a thoroughly excellent (enareton) attitude through his zeal for what is most beautiful and revered (semnotata). And for this we honoured (10)him with fitting honours and the dedication of a statue and a portrait both in our fatherland, Athens, in whatever place he wishes, and among you.^[7] And we considered it just to give this same testimony (marturēsai) of the man before you, on account of his decorum (kosmiotētos) and his character and his love of honour (philotimias) regarding education (paideian)

Text D (OGIS 504) The archon of the Panhellenes and priest of the God Hadrian Panhellenios and competition-director of the Great Panhellenia, Titus [Flavius Kyllos] (152/3-156/7) and the Panhellenes to the Council and the People of the Aizanitans, greetings:^[8] And considering it fitting for themselves to display the honours for good men (5)enduringly and to rejoice with you at the possession of such citizens, understanding the following, the sort of person this Ulpius Eurykles is, who has behaved as a fellow citizen (sunpepoliteumenos) to us for the whole period of the session moderately, and as to how he has won each of us over through friendship and has made himself stand out in the collective (koinōi) for his education and other excellence and fairness, we considered it (10)reasonable to give testimony about him to you and to please you by demonstrating the good will (eunoian) we bear towards him, since both regarding the League of the Panhellenion and privately regarding our most marvellous archon Flavius Kyllos he has employed a love of honour which adorns (kosmousē) not just Eurykles himself, but also your eminent (diasēmotatēn) city, and the whole time he has continuously spoken and acted in ways (15)that are worthy of it (i.e. the city) and of his family (genou) and of the manly virtue (andragathia) which he gets from his ancestors. And we also sent letters about him both to the people (ethnos) and to the most divine emperor, having considered him worthy of even that kind of testimonial. Farewell.

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References:

OGIS 504-507 (Translated text) (AIO)

IGRR IV 573-576

Oliver, Marcus Aurelius 28-30 (B-D)

MAMA IX P6-9

Oliver, Constitutions 155 (A)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Arachne - (1)

Monument type: Wall

Inscription type: Letter (Emperor), Letter (Panhellenes), Letter (Areopagos)

Findspot: Aizanoi (Temple of Zeus) (In situ)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is a dossier of four letters regarding the good service of Marcus Ulpius Appuleius Eurykles while resident in Athens as the delegate to the Panhellenion from the Phrygian city of Aizanoi. For the Panhellenion, see IG II³ 4, 215; Aizanoi was a founding member (cf. IGRR IV 562). The letters are inscribed in a band on the north wall of the Temple of Zeus in Aizanoi (on which, see R. Posamentir and M. Wörrle, Istanbuler Mitteilungen 56, 2006, 227-46, and E. Roels in M. Böttner et al (edd.), 5300 Jahre Schrift, 2017, 50-53). The letters are not inscribed in chronological order. The earliest was Text D, a letter from the outgoing archon of the Panhellenion and the Panhellenes of the 152/3-156/7 AD session to Aizanoi announcing that they had honoured Eurykles. Additional letters sent to the emperor and the League of the Greeks of Asia at this time are referred to at A ll. 10-11, B ll. 5-7, and D ll. 15-17, but not included in the dossier. Text C from the Areopagos and its herald to Aizanoi was probably written at the same time. These were followed by Text A, a brief letter written by Emperor Antoninus Pius to the Panhellenes on 30 November 157 acknowledging the honours (on inscribed Imperial letters, see I Eleusis 513), and Text B from the archon of the Panhellenion and the Panhellenes of the 156/7-160/1 AD session to the League of the Greeks of Asia (see n. 3). The letters seem to be inscribed in order of prestige: Text A from the emperor, followed by Text B to the League of the Greeks of Asia, then the letters to Aizanoi alone, with Text C from the Areopagos apparently outranking Text D from the Panhellenion. The almost comic brevity of Antoninus’ response in Text A suggests that honours for delegates to the Panhellenion were fairly routine, as does the fact that the Areopagos wrote Text C without reference to the Council and People, and the existence of a similar letter for another Panhellene (I Sardis VII 2, 319-320). The Aizanians' unusual decision to inscribe the whole dossier of letters was probably prompted by Eurykles (see n. 2), though they may also have felt that his honours redounded to the community's credit (cf. C ll. 5-6, D ll. 5, 11-15). On the broader practice of hoarding and displaying letters of praise from prestigious individuals, see J. E. Lendon, Empire of Honour, 1997, 48-49. The text is covered with graffiti depicting horsemen, carved by the Çavdar Tatars, who occupied Aizanoi in the 13th century AD. [2] Marcus Ulpius Appuleius Eurykles is the best known delegate to the Panhellenion, but appears to have been typical of them in being wealthy, educated, relatively young, and a leading figure in his own community. He seems to have leveraged his service on the Panhellenion and these honours into a successful career in his home province of Asia (A. J. Spawforth and S. Walker, JRS 75, 1985, 84-90). On his return from Athens to Aizanoi in late 157, he erected a dedication to Antoninus Pius, Hadrian Panhellenios, the Eleusinian Goddesses, Athena Polias, Poseidon, and Amphitrite (SEG 42.1191). He was then high priest of the provincial imperial cult in 161 AD (IGRR IV 564), curator of the Gerousia in Ephesos in 162 or 163 AD (I Ephesos Ia 25), Asiarch (a priest of the provincial Imperial cult, RPC IV.2 1690 and 9536), and then imperial curator to Aphrodisias and high priest once more in the 180s AD (IAph2007 12.538). On his career, see M. Wörrle, Chiron 22, 1992, 349-368. This inscription states that he was also an accomplished orator or sophist (C ll. 6, 13-14, D l. 8), which seems to have been typical of Panhellenes (cf. I Sardis VII 2, 319-320 and SEG 28.97). Statue bases in honour of Panhellenes generally emphasis their rhetorical prowess (e.g., IG IV 858; Corinth VIII 3, 264), their provincial officeholding (e.g., IG IV 590), or both (e.g. IG VII 106). The letters consistently praise Eurykles for his fairness (epieikeia, A l. 10, B l. 8, D l. 9), a word associated above all with conduct as a judge (cf. IG II² 3701); from B ll. 7-9 it seems that he had a role in reviewing the qualifications of the incoming Panhellenes for the 157/8-160/1 session - a process that could prove highly controversial (cf. SEG 29.127, B ll. 15-30, in which disputes on the topic are appealed to the emperor). [3] Text B is written by the incoming archon of the Panhellenion, Tiberius Claudius Iason Magnus of Cyrene, whose archonship ran from 157/8 to 160/1 AD (see Agora XVIII 404 with notes). The addressee is the League of the Greeks of Asia, an association of all the Greek cities within the Roman province of Asia, which included Aizanoi and was the hub of the province's Imperial cult (see M. Vitale, Eparchie und Koinon in Kleinasien 2012). [4] The Panhellenes also characterise themselves as a community of citizens (politai) in D ll. 6-7 and [5] Text C was written by the Areopagos, on which see AIUK 4.3A (BM: Decrees), no. 10 with notes. It controlled Athens’ correspondence in the Imperial period (cf. IG IV² 1, 83, ll. 17-19) and writes here on behalf of the city without reference to the Council or People. The herald of the Areopagos, Nummius Menis of Phaleron, was an ephebic gymnasiarch ca. 115-125 AD (IG II² 2029, l. 20) and eponymous archon ca. 152-154 AD (Byrne, Roman Citizens, pp. 377-80). The games of the Augusta over which he had presided are not otherwise attested. They might have honoured Antoninus Pius’ wife Faustina the Elder, who was deified after her death in 140 AD or, more likely, his daughter Faustina the Younger, who married the heir Marcus Aurelius in 145 AD and was promoted to Augusta in 147 AD (cf. IG II² 5210 with E. Sironen, Arctos 23, 1989, 179-81). [6] For the title “most noteworthy” (axiologotatos, not used in any of the other letters of the dossier), see I Sardis VII.2, 319-320 with notes. [7] The “image” (eikon) is probably a painted portrait on a round background (cf. SEG 28.95 with notes). None of these images or statues survive. The grant of permission to set up a statue in Aizanoi, a separate city-state over which Athens had no authority, must be permission for the statue there to be inscribed with the name of the Athenians, rather than permission for it to be erected at all (cf. IG IV² 1, 83). [8] Text D was written by the outgoing archon of the Panhellenion, Titus Flavius Kyllos of Hypata in Thessaly, whose archonship ran from 152/3 to 156/7 (see Agora XVIII 402 with notes). The face that the text begins with "and" (D, l. 4) suggests that the inscribed portion is only an excerpt from a longer letter which also dealt with other topics unrelated to Eurykles.

Added: 20 May 2023
Updated: 16 Jan 2024
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