Triumvirate and Principate TriumviralDocuments
The documents containing official decisions from the Triumviral period
come entirely from the Greek East. In this context it will be sufficient to
notetheiressentialcontentsandtheirrelevancetothewayinwhichdeci-
sionsweremade.Toillustrateacertainprogressionofformandattitudethey
willbegiveninchronologicalorder.
. LetterofAntoniustoHyrcanusandtheethnosoftheJewishpeople,
/..Jos.,Ant.,,(–).
. LetterofAntoniustoTyre,/..Jos.,Ant.,,(–).
. LetterofAntoniustoTyreenclosinghisedict(διάταγμα)./..Jos.,
Ant.,,(–).JosephusnotesthatsimilarlettersweresenttoSidon,Antioch,andArados
(,,[]),butdoesnotquotethem.Theletterswhichhedoesquote
wereevokedbyanembassytoAntoniusatEphesussometimeafterPhilippi,
whichbroughtagoldcrownandaskedforthefreeingofJewishprisoners
takenintheperiodofCassius’domination,andtherestorationoflostterri-
tories.Antoniusacceptedtheseclaimsatonce.InhislettertoHyrcanushe
refers to a previous embassy to himself in Rome, discourses extravagantly
onPhilippi,andordersthereleaseofthecaptives,themaintenanceofgrants
previouslygrantedbyhimselfandDolabella(proconsulofSyriain..),
andtherestorationoflandstakenbytheTyrians.WritingtoTyreheempha-
sisesthathisopponentsatPhilippihadnotbeenappointedtotheirprovinces
bytheSenate,ordersrestoration,andoffersthemtheopportunityofpresent-
ingtheircasebeforehimwhenhereachestheirvicinity.Inthesecondletter
heorderstheinscriptioninaprominentplaceofageneraledictreferringto
theillegalseizureofSyriabyCassiusandthelossessufferedbytheJews.Here
heuseshisfulltitulature,‘‘MarcusAntonius,imperator,oneofthreemenin
chargeoftheres publicasaid.’’Itistobenotedthattheissueisbroughtfor-
ward,assooften,byanembassyfromaninterestedparty,thatthedecisions
onitaretakendirectlyandindividuallybytheTriumvirconcerned,butthat
somereferenceismadetothelegalityofhisposition.
. LetterofAntoniustotheprovincialcouncil(koinon)ofAsiaonthe
rightsoftheworld-wideassociationofvictoriousathletesinsacred
gameswhohadwoncrowns.(?)..SB;R.K.Sherk,Roman
Documents from the Greek East(),no..
Antoniusreferstotwoembassies,apreviousonewhenM.AntoniusArtemi-
dorus,‘‘myfriendandtrainer,’’andtheeponymouspriestoftheassociation,
Charopinusof Ephesus,hadapproachedhiminEphesusandrequestedthe