Greek Epigraphy

A headless herm of Menander is stored in the Museum of Antiquity of Turin. A long Greek inscription of thirteen lines is laying on. The modern history of Menander's herm begins with sixtheenth century humanists who first mentioned it and recalls also the ambitious projects of Carlo Emanuele I, Duke of Savoy, who bought it in the early seventheenth century. A renewed autopsy and a new edition of the text led to reading improvements and innovative conclusions on the artifact's history and its inscribed text.

The present study investigates the spread of the ho Ôn (ὁ ὤν) inscription in Christ's halo. Developed in the early Palaiologan period, the inscription originates with the liturgy for the Feast of the Transfiguration and was popularized through the theology of light elucidated by Hesychasts. Contextualizing the epigraphic innovation within the wider debates over Hesychast theology, this essay pursues lines of inquiry first proposed by Titos Papamastorakis, who drew attention to the proliferation of this inscription in dome ensembles. The study concludes by discussing the reception of the ho Ôn inscription in the Post-Byzantine Greek and Slavic worlds.

Tra le epigrafi greche conservate in Piemonte un documento, in particolare, si segnala per la sua lunga storia di mobilità e di collezionismo che risale già al XVI secolo. Di provenienza romana e databile all'età imperiale, un'erma di Menandro giunse infatti a far parte delle collezioni di Carlo Emanuele I di Savoia: essa presenta un lungo testo epigrafico di cui l'autore fornisce qui l'edizione critica e il commento testuale.

This paper explores the principles underlying decisions to inscribe Athenian laws and decrees on stone, finding (against a recent paper by Michael Osborne) that many laws and decrees were not inscribed, including those of ephemeral significance. The basis of the paper is a comparative analysis of the inscribed record of 352/1-322/1 BC and the literary record of decrees proposed by Demosthenes, which extends across the same time period. It finds that three main criteria were relevant to decisions to inscribe: durability of intention; the intention to deliver a message; and religious content. The effect of the establishment of the state archive of papyrus copies of laws and decrees at the end of the fifth century is explored, and the existence of the archive identified tentatively as a factor, alongside others, explaining the very small number of extant inscribed laws from the fourth-century democracy (ca. 12) in comparison with the number of decrees (ca. 550-600).

The empire that the Athenians established in the years after 478 BC was an entirely new phenomenon in the history of Greece, and the basis of much of the brilliant development of Athenian culture in the fifth century. Its growth and collapse was the key event in the history of the period, after the defeat of the Persian invasion. Yet this important historical phenomenon remains baffling to study. New developments in various fields have made urgent a revision of existing approaches, which largely originated in the first half of the last century. Advances in archaeology have hugely extended the possibilities of writing an archaeology of the empire. The accepted chronology of many key inscriptions has been powerfully challenged, so that new narrative reconstructions become possible. Relevant new documents in languages such as Lycian have become available. Understanding of the Persian empire which was the parallel, and in a sense the model, with which the Athenian empire interacted has been transformed in the last quarter century. Broader developments in historiography (microhistory; history from below; and, post-colonial theory) invite us to pose new questions.The aim of this collection is not to offer a final word on any of the problems, but to give a sense of the possibility of a new generation of studies of the empire.

THE CULT OF DIONYSOS IN ASIA MINOR
IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL AGE

Making his presence, which can be traced long before the Archaic Age, deeply felt mainly in Hellas, Asia Minor and then in Rome throughout the ancient world, Dionysos, depending on the place and time, appears before us sometimes as a god of grape-wine, sometimes as a god of theatre and acting arts and sometimes as a religious power shaped according to the local needs, however, he has generally been a god of nature representing the fertility and abundance. According to the inscriptions, Dionysos was mentioned with many epithetons in Asia Minor of the Roman Imperial Age, and that he was a god of nature bringing abundance-fertility and his many other features can be observed by these epithetons. Depending on the long stated customs, the cult of Dionysos in Asia Minor survived throughout the Roman Imperial Age (especially in the II-III. Century A.D. with festivals, cult associations and structuring, artists (musicians, players, dancers) that served his cult. According to the written records, festivals such as Dionysia, Lēnaia, Anthestēria, Trietēris organized in the name of Dionysos were celebrated. Dance, music and play competitions were made in these festivals maintained by the rich citizens or directors and not commonly known cult rituals were performed. Besides the associations of synodos artists called by different names in different times in the large cities of the west, cult associations broad in scope such as thiasos, speira or cult member groups with large audience in various names were active both in worshipping and these festivals. In order to achieve this, undoubtedly, both artist associations and cult associations had to have a well organized governing structure. Names were given to the cult members according to the task taken. These members also had to pay a membership fee in order to be a member or to continue to be one. Actually, these fees were as important as the epimeletes in the mainta-nance of these associations. In addition, they were supported both mate-rially and spiritually by the Roman emperors or provincial governors. Although the paganic religious activities in the lands of Asia Minor under the control of Rome were left to the free will of the cities, they would not be strong without the respect shown for the cults of the emperors, emperor and the Roman goddess (Dea Roma). The worshipping of Dionysos could only develop with the close relations with the emperors and the Roman Empire. Correspondingly, supporting a paganic cult significant for the people, the Roman Empire gained the sympathy of the people and also kept them loyal to Rome. The deification of the Roman emperors began with General Marcus Antonius, who was wellcomed as “New Dionysos” on his arrival to Ephesos, and continued in the Roman Imperial Age. During this period the associations in Anazarbos, Ankyra, Ephesos, Teōs, Aphrodisias and Sardeis characterised Emperor Hadrianus, Commodus and Caracalla by this epitheton. Thus, they deified them by considering them equal with Dionysos. Dionysos also had common worship with imperial or Dea Roma cult besides the common paganic worship of Zeus and Dēmētēr. Like all other paganic religions, the cult of Dionysos broke down with the strengthening Christianity with which it had opposite doctrines and finally with the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion of the state. However, many features of the Dionysos cult continued to exist in Asia Minor both in Christian features and local cultures and traditions. Today it still continues this effect.

Arkaik Çağ’dan çok daha eskilere götürebildiğimiz varlığını, coğrafi olarak başta Hellas, Küçükasya ve sonraları Roma olmak üzere tüm Antik Çağ coğrafyasında etkin bir şekilde hissettiren Dionysos, yer ve zaman farkına bağlı olarak, bazı yerlerde üzüm-şarap tanrısı, bazılarında tiyatro ve sahne sanatlarının tanrısı, bazılarında ise yerel ihtiyaçlar doğrultusunda şekillendirilmiş dinsel bir güç olarak karşımıza çıkmıştır. Ama genel olarak bereket ve bolluğu temsil eden bir doğa tanrısı kimliğine sahip olmuştur. Yazıtlardan anlaşıldığına göre Roma İmparatorluk Çağı Küçükasyası’ nda birçok epitheton ile anılan Dionysos’un, bolluk-bereket getiren bir doğa tanrısı olduğu ve diğer başka özellikleri gene bu epitheton’larından anlaşılmaktadır. Küçükasya’daki Dionysos kültü Roma İmparatorluk Çağı boyunca (bilhassa M.S. II-III. yüzyılarda), öncesinden gelen bir geleneğe bağlı olarak şenlikleri, kült dernekleri ve yapılanması, kültüne hizmet eden sanatçıları (müzisyenler, oyuncular, dansçılar) ile varlığını sürdürmüştür. Yazılı belgelerden bu dönemde büyük ve zengin kentlerde hâlâ Dionysia, Lēnaia, Anthestēria, Trietēris gibi Dionysos adına tertiplenen şenliklerin kutlandığını; masrafları, epimeletes olarak bildiğimiz kentin zengin vatandaşları ya da yöneticileri tarafından karşılanan bu şenliklerde külte ilişkin dans, müzik ve oyun yarışmaların yapıldığını ve herkesçe bilinmeyen kült ritüellerinin uygulandığını öğrenmekteyiz. Bilhassa batı kesimlerdeki büyük kentlerdeki, farklı dönemlerde farklı isimlerle anılan synodos sanatçı derneklerinin yanında thiasos, speira gibi daha geniş kapsamlı kült dernekleri ya da en yaygını mystai olan çeşitli adlar altında toplanan geniş kitleli kült üye grupları hem tapınımda, hem de bu şenliklerde aktif olmuşlardır. Şüphesiz ki bunu gerçekleştirebilmek adına gerek sanatçı dernekleri gerekse kült dernekleri, iyi organize olmuş bir idari yapılanmaya sahip olmak durumundaydı. Bu derneklerde üstlendikleri görevlere göre adlandırılan kült üyelerinin, üye olabilmeleri veya üyeliklerini sürdü-rebilmeleri için ödemek zorunda oldukları aidatlar da vardı. Esasen bu derneklerin finansmanının karşılanmasında bu aidatlar, en az epimeletes’ ler kadar önemliydi. Ayrıca Roma imparatorlarının ya da eyalet yöneticilerinin hem manevi hem de maddi desteğini alıyorlardı. Zira bu dönemde Roma egemenliği altında bulunan Küçükasya topraklarındaki pagan dinsel yaşam her ne kadar kentlerin özgür iradesine bırakılmışsa da, imparatorlara, imparator ve Roma Tanrıçası (Dea Roma) kültüne gösterilen saygı olmaksızın güçlü kalamazdı. Küçükasya Dionysos tapınımı da, tamamıyla imparatorlar ve Roma İmparatorluğu ile kurulan güçlü bağlar sayesinde gelişebilmiştir. Bununla paralel olarak da Roma İmparatorluğu, halk için önemli olan pagan bir kültü destekleyerek, hem halkın sempatisini kazanmakta, hem de böylece onların Roma’ya olan bağlılığını sürdürmek amacını gütmekteydi. General Marcus Antonius’un Ephesos’a gelişinde “Yeni Dionysos” olarak karşılanmasıyla başlayan Romalı devlet adamlarını tanrılaştırma geleneği, Roma İmparatorluk Çağı’nda da sürmüş; bu dönemde özellikle Anazarbos, Ankyra, Ephesos, Teōs, Aphrodisias ve Sardeis’teki dernekler, İmparator Hadrianus, Commodus ve Caracalla’yı bu sıfatla nitelendirmişler, böylece onları Dionysos ile bir tutarak tanrılaştırmışlardır. İmparatorluk veya Dea Roma kültü ile ortak tapınımı da görülen Dionysos’un Zeus ve Dēmētēr gibi pagan tanrı-tanrıçalarla da ortak tapınımı söz konusudur. Diğer pagan dinler gibi Dionysos kültünün yıkımı da, öğretilerinin birbirine tamamen ters düştüğü Hıristiyanlık dininin güçlenmesiyle ve nihayetinde M.S. 391’de imparatorluğun resmî dini olmasıyla gerçekleşmiştir. Ancak Dionysos kültünün birçok unsuru, Küçükasya topraklarında, gerek Hıristiyanlık unsurlarında gerekse halk kültür ve geleneklerinde yaşamaya devam etmiştir. Bugün de bu etkisini göstermeye devam etmektedir."

SEG 60-1998. Religion. Dionysos: his cult in Asia Minor, Imperial period:
On the basis of archaeological, numismatic, and (mainly) epigraphic attestations, B.Öztürk,Roma imparatorluk çağı Küçükasaysı’nda Dionysos kültü (Istanbul 2010), studies the cult ofΔιόνυσος in Roman Asia Minor. After general remarks about the god, he presents a geographically arranged catalogue of the relevant inscriptions with brief comments (ph. of some texts). On 196-209, Ö. provides a register with explanations of the most important terms found in the inscriptions, and on 210/211 a list of epithets.

Tios (Zonguldak-Filyos) kentteki arkeolojik kazılar 2007 senesinden beri Karadeniz Ereğli Müzesi adına, sırasıyla Prof. Dr. Sümer Atasoy ve Doç. Dr. Şahin Yıldırım’ın bilimsel danışmanlıklarıyla akropolis, antik liman, tiyatro ve nekropolis alanlarında yürütülmüş ve bölge tarihinin güncellenmesine olanak veren önemli buluşlara sahne olmuştur. Arkeolojik çalışmalara paralel olarak yürütülen epigrafik araştırmalar da kentten günümüze ulaşmış Hellenistik ve Roma dönemlerine ait mezar taşlarını, onurlandırma heykel kaidelerini, adakları, miltaşlarını, ticari ağırlıklarını ve diğer türlerdeki yazıtlı buluntuları gün yüzüne çıkarmıştır.

Bu buluntular arasından beyaz mermerden silindir bir onurlandırma heykel kaidesinin üzerindeki yazıtının ise sadece bu kentin değil aynı zamanda Anadolu’nun Roma tarihi açısından önem arz ettiği anlaşılmıştır. Zira antik literatürde sadece ünlü yazar Nikaialı Cassius Dio’nun (MS yak. 150-235) Roma tarihini kaleme aldığı eserinde (Rhomaika, 79.39.5) adı geçen Roma İmparatorluğu’nun Pontus-Bithynia Eyaleti Valisi Caecilius Aristo, bu unvanıyla ilk defa bu yazıtta belgelenmiş oldu. Yazıtın çevirisi şöyledir:

Tiosluların pek görkemli/gösterişli kenti, legatus Augusti propraetore (imparatorun praetor mertebesindeki elçisi) Caecilius Aristo’nun yönetim döneminde... (şu kişi/kişileri onurlandırdı)

Bilinen tarihe göre, Roma İmparatorluğu’nun iç savaşlarla çalkalandığı bir dönemde Roma İmparatoru Caracalla’yı, kendisinin tertiplediği bir suikastla (MS 08.04.217) öldürtmeyi başaran Macrinus imparator olmayı başarmıştı. Ancak bu kez kendisi Iulia Maesa’nın himayesinde olan torunu Varius Avitus’a yani namı diğer Elagabalus’a karşı Antiokheia’daki savaşı kaybetmiştir. Bir seneden biraz fazla tahtta kalabilmiş devrik imparator Macrinus bunun üzerine gizli bir şekilde Roma’ya gitmeye ve Senato ile halkı ikna ederek iktidarını yeniden elde etmeyi amaçlamıştır. Böylece kılık değiştirerek Kilikia, Kappadokia, Galatia ve Bithynia bölgeleri üzerinden Eribolon’daki (İhsaniye) limana ulaşmış buradan Kalkhedon’a varmıştır. İşte Cassius Dio tam da bu noktada Macrinus’un, Vali Caecilius Aristo’nun korkusundan (Eyalet Başkenti) Nikomedeia’ya girmeye çekindiğini belirtmiştir. Dolayısıyla, Dio’nun MS 08.06.218’den kısa bir süre sonrasını kayda geçen bu cümlesi, bugüne kadar Aristo’nun o dönemde bölge valisi olduğunun dolaylı yoldan belgesiydi. Ancak şimdi Tios’ta ortaya çıkan bu yazıtla, önceki kariyerinin ufak bir kısmı Roma’daki birkaç belgeden tanınan Caecilius Aristo’nun hem adı hem de eyalet valiliği doğrulanmış oldu.

The provenance of the Infancy Gospel of Thomas (IGT) remains an open question to scholars of early Christianity. Egypt, Palestine, Syria and Asia Minor have been proffered as the most likely settings of origin (with the latter two favored especially in recent years). The educational scenes in IGT may provide helpful hints of the text's original setting. Paul Foster, however, in comparing the details of such scenes with depictions of education in literary sources, concludes that they offer no features suggestive of a particular setting of origin. However, comparison of such scenes with material depictions of ancient education may provide more geographical precision. A reexamination of the text's educational scenes vis-à-vis material-cultural evidence suggests that Egypt should be reconsidered as a viable setting of origin for IGT.

A Hellenistic inscription from Iasos prompts a reconsideration of the career of the Athenian politician Teisamenos the son of Mechanion. I first address some interpretive problems that have beset the study of this figure before turning to the new information from Iasos. I argue that we should understand Teisamenos as a “demagogue” as that term was coming to be known
already in antiquity, with negative connotations. Finally, the physical form of Teisamenos’s decree, known from an earlier Attic copy, invites us to rethink the relationship between democratic rhetoric and material culture, in this case decrees adorned with sculpted reliefs.

The second thematic panel presented a wide range of the latest advances in the study of the migrations and identity in Eurasia from the ancient times to the middle ages, with a focus on scholarly traditions, literary evidence and archaeology. All the papers addressed current debates about texts, epigraphy, numismatics, iconography, as well as archaeological discoveries. They provided opportunities to share perspectives, new methods and frameworks for future research. At the same time, this panel was in line with the efforts in recent years to bridge the large gap between the scholarly traditions of West and East in order to absorb, interpret and integrate the constant flow of new information about the Black Sea region with adjacent territories into mainstream western classical scholarship.

Few direct clues exist to the everyday lives and beliefs of ordinary Jews in antiquity. Prevailing perspectives on ancient Jewish life have been shaped largely by the voices of intellectual and social elites, preserved in the writings of Philo and Josephus and the rabbinic texts of the Mishnah and Talmud. Commissioned art, architecture, and formal inscriptions displayed on tombs and synagogues equally reflect the sensibilities of their influential patrons. The perspectives and sentiments of nonelite Jews, by contrast, have mostly disappeared from the historical record. Focusing on these forgotten Jews of antiquity, Writing on the Wall takes an unprecedented look at the vernacular inscriptions and drawings they left behind and sheds new light on the richness of their quotidian lives. Just like their neighbors throughout the eastern and southern Mediterranean, Mesopotamia, Arabia, and Egypt, ancient Jews scribbled and drew graffiti everyplace--in and around markets, hippodromes, theat...

The Collaborative Research Centre 1136 'Bildung und Religion' is pleased to
invite you to attend the conference 'Religion and Education in the Ancient
Greek World', organised by Tanja Scheer and Irene Salvo, to be held on
Wednesday the 25th and Thursday the 26th of October 2017 in the Historical Building of the Goettingen State and University Library (Paulinerkirche).

Further information here:
http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/571664.html.

Participation is free, but if you would like to attend please send an
e-mail by Friday the 20th of October to Irene Salvo, isalvo@uni-goettingen.de.

Sehr geehrte Damen und Herren,

Der SFB 1136 „Bildung und Religion“ lädt herzlich Sie zur internationalen Tagung „Religion and Education in the Ancient Greek World“ ein, die vom 25. bis 26. Oktober 2017 in Göttingen stattfindet.

Weitere Informationen finden Sie hier: http://www.uni-goettingen.de/de/571664.html.

Wenn Sie an der Tagung teilnehmen möchten, bitten wir Sie um eine kurze Rückmeldung bis Freitag, den 20.10.2017 (isalvo@uni-goettingen.de), um entsprechend planen zu können.

Greek Popular Assemblies in the Imperial Period and the Discourses of the Dio of Prusa

This paper is an attempt to clarify the position of the Greek popular assemblies within the political system of Graeco-Roman city, using available epigraphic documents and ancient literary sources, especially the works (Discourses) of Dio of Prusa, one of the most prominent and most interesting personalities in the Roman East during the early Antonine era.
For a long time now, there is a consensus among scholars that the Greek cities of the Imperial Period where democracies only in name. In reality, they were governed by small and rather exclusive elite groups. Council-members and public officials were elected only from an enclosed circle of the prominent families, while the popular assembly was marginalized, relegated to a token status or, even, ceased to function altogether. Municipal elites compensated the lack of public involvement in local politics by generous spending of their personal wealth on public buildings, monuments, festivals, games, feasts etc., thus keeping the popular disaffection within acceptable limits.
This view is certainly correct in its broad outlines but significant corrections are necessary, especially concerning the role of the popular assembly. The Discourses of Dio are particularly useful because some of them are the public speeches actually held before the various assemblies and one of them – possibly a fictional story but non the less very instructive – gives the descriptions of a full assembly meeting. Combined with the information from the epigraphic documents, several important conclusions can be drawn: the Romans did not formulate nor pursue any general policy of checking or abolishing civic assemblies in the Greek cities; inscriptions confirm existence of civic assemblies in nearly every Greek City of the Early Imperial Period; combined epigraphical and literary evidence for Ephesos (note especially the Salutarius foundation inscription – I.Ephesos 27, and the famous episodic from the Acts of the Apostles 19.21-40) points to a considerable importance of assembly in pulic life; several cities Dio visited during his life (Rhodes, Alexandria, Tarsos, Nikaia, Nikomedia and his native Prusa) had a functional assembly in the late 1st and early 2nd century AD, as indicated by Or. 31-48; popular assemblies in these cities dealt with a large number of issues of considerable importance; in the Euboean discourse, Dio gives a general description of the conditions and dealings of Greek public assemblies in his time; the civic officials were present during regular assembly meeting, with one of them chairing a particular session. The assemblies in the other Greek cities of the time probably function on the similar lines as those described by Dio.
The above mentioned conclusion can not be, however, taken so far as to prove that the Graeco-Roman cities were real democracies, similar to those of Classical and early Hellenistic times. It is impossible to deny that, in reality, the role of the local elites in the everyday life was of paramount importance. They held most material wealth, influence, almost all the public offices of any importance and they were the intermediates between the communities and their Roman overlords. That said, such social and political reality still left enough room for popular assemblies as important local institutions. It remained to be so probably until the mid-3rd century A.D., when the epigraphical record suddenly falls silent on public assemblies.