Follet1976 126 n.3 Honours for Cornelius Pulcher

Honours for Cornelius Pulcher

Follet, Athènes 126 n.3 Date: 133/4-136/7 AD

[the priest of Hadrian Panhellenios] [and archon of the] Panhellenes, [Gnaeus Cornelius] Pulcher, [high priest] [of Greece and] Helladarch . . . (5)[procurator] of Epirus, juridicial legate [of Egypt and] Alexandria . . . . . . friend (?) . . . ^[1]

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Greek text

References:

Follet, Athènes 126 n.3 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 26.253 (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base

Findspot: Unknown (Athens Ephoria ΡΑ 636)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This statue base honoured Gnaeus Cornelius Pulcher, who served as the first archon of the Panhellenion between 133/4 and 136/7 AD and, probably ex officio, as the priest of Hadrian Panhellenios. On the Panhellenion, see IG II³ 4, 215 with notes; for the priesthood, cf. OGIS 504-507 and IG X,2 1 181). Pulcher was a member of a prominent family from Epidauros which received Roman citizenship under Augustus; he was also a citizen of Argos and Corinth, the capital of the province of Achaia. After his death, the Panhellenes erected a statue base with an inscribed epigram for him at Epidauros (W. Peek, Neue Inschriften aus Epidauros no. 90). He is also honoured in Greek and Latin inscriptions from Troizen (IG IV 795) and Corinth (Corinth VIII.1 80-83, VIII.2, 71-73, VIII.3, 138-142). These inscriptions enable the restoration of this text and of Pulcher's career, which occupied roughly the first three decades of the second century AD and involved posts at the civic level, the provincial level, and in the Imperial administration as an equestrian. Pulcher is the earliest attested high priest of Greece and Helladarch (ll. 3-4), a pair of life-time posts which seem always to have been held together. The former was responsible for the Imperial cult of the province of Achaia, the latter for that of the Achaian League, one of several leagues of Greek cities within the province. The other leagues of the province (Boiotia, Lokris, Phokis, and Thessaly) seem to have fallen under the responsibility of a second Helladarch (B. Puech, REA 85, 1983, 17-21, 41-43; on the provincial leagues, see IG II³ 4, 219 with notes). In the Imperial administration, Pulcher was commander of a legion in Syria before 114 AD, procurator (i.e. governor) of Epirus ca. 115-117 AD, and the juridical legate (legatus iurdicus, i.e. chief legal officer) for the province of Egypt ca. 120-130 AD. The archonship of the Panhellenion was probably one of his final offices, intended as the climax of a very successful career and as a sign of the prestige that Hadrian intended to give to the new association. For full prosopographic details, see PIR² C 1424; A. D. Rizakis and S. Zoumbaki, Roman Peloponnese I, 2001, 188-189, 302-305, with stemma at 531.

Added: 21 Jan 2024
Updated: 21 Jan 2024
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