The Roman Republic
Africa;and,intheeast,Macedonia,Greece,andtheprovinceof ‘‘Asia’’(the
westerncoastof Turkeyanditshinterland).WhenPtolemyApionleftthe
kingdomofCyrene(easternLibya)toRomein,noactionwastaken.What
this meant for the characterof life in Cyrenaica is now vividly illustrated
byadecreefromBerenice(Benghazi).^37 Ithonoursapublic-spiritedcitizen
namedApollodorus:‘‘Firstly,immediatelyafterthedeathoftheking,when
Berenicewasvigorouslybesiegedbythewrongdoers[probably,politicaldis-
sidents],asaresultoftheprevailingabsenceofmagistratesinofficehewas
called upon to command theyoung men [the town’s military force], and,
enduring every danger, restored conditions to a state of complete peace.’’
Subsequently the city,which was walled, endured two successive raids by
piratefleets,andApollodorusperformedfurtherservices,asheseemstohave
donelateralsointheperiodoftheimpositionofeffectiveRomancontrolin
thes.
ItisimportanttorememberthattheideathatthefreedomoftheGreek
city-statehaddisappearedatthemomentofAlexander’sconquestisafan-
tasy.TheGreekcities,liketheGallic,Punic,andIberiancivitatesoftheWest,
werepoliticalandmilitarycommunitieswhichhadnooptionbuttomake
politicalanddiplomaticchoices,couldanddidwithstandsieges,andwere
expectedtosendmilitaryandnavalcontingentstoassisttheirallies,including
Rome.Wecanseethisclearlyintwooftheearlierdocumentsfromthegreat
newdossierofinscriptionsfromAphrodisiasinCaria(south-westTurkey).
OnedocumenthonoursacitizenofAphrodisias,namedArtemidorus,who
waschosentoleadtheforceofcitizens,paroikoi(non-citizeninhabitants)and
slaveswhichthecitysenttoaidtheRomangeneralQuintusOppiuswhenhe
wasbesiegedbyKingMithridatesofPontusinLaodiceain..;afurther
oneisaletterofOppiuswrittenlaterfromtheislandofCos,acknowledg-
ingthecity’sservicesandpromisingtodowhateverhecaninitsinterests.^38
The cities of Asia, the Aegean, and Greece were faced with a choice, be-
tweenMithridatesandRome,inwhichconsiderationsofself-interest,inter-
nalpoliticalfactors,Mithridates’propagandaastothereliefofdebtsandthe
freeingofslaves,andhatredof Romanexploitation,officialandunofficial,
allplayedapart.^39 So,ontheonehand,wehavetoseetheworldinterms
. J.M.Reynolds,‘‘ACivicDecreefromBenghazi,’’The Society for Libyan Studies: Fifth
Annual Report(–),–;re-editedbyJ.M.ReynoldsinJ.A.Lloyd,ed.,Excavations
at Sidi Khrebish, Berenice-Benghazi,Libya Antiqua,Supp.(),,no..
. J.M.Reynolds,Aphrodisias and Rome(),docs.,.
. Forthedetails,whichcannotbediscussedhere,seeT.Reinach,Mithridates Eupator,
König von Pontos(Leipzig, ); D. Magie,Roman Rule in Asia Minor(),chap..For