Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 2 - Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire

Emperors, Kings, and Subjects 245

of the latest Greek inscriptions from this area, from the early fourth cen-
tury.Forinstance,thereisthededicationofa.d.307putupbythearchons
ofthe‘‘Agrippeis’’(Phanagoria)andthe‘‘Kaisareis’’(Panticapaeum)tohon-
ourMarcusAureliusAndronicus,whohadformerlybeen‘‘inchargeofthe
kingdom [basileia].’’^57 It is striking to see that the Romantria nomina,^58 and
theearlyimperialnamesofthesecities,canstillbeused.Justaswiththecity
foundations,orre-foundations,byHerodandhisdescendants,namesdrawn
fromtheimperialdynastyfunctionedasprominentsymbolsofloyalism.In
fact, the name ‘‘Caesarea’’ for Panticapaeum otherwise appears in ourevi-
denceonlyoncitycoinsmintedunderAugustus.‘‘Thedēmos[people]ofthe
Agrippeis’’ also appears on such coins,^59 as well as on an inscription of the
AugustanperiodhonouringQueenDynamisphilorōmaios(9/8b.c.–a.d.7/8),
andonanotherfragmentaryinscription,probablyofthesecondcentury.^60
Then,fromtheyearbeforethededicationtoMarcusAureliusAndronicus,
namely 306, there is a dedication from Panticapaeum to ‘‘Theos Hypsistos
Epekoos’’(SupremeGodEpēkoos)putupbySogous,whoisdescribedas‘‘in
charge of Theodosias,’’ assebastognostos(known to the Emperor), as having
beenhonouredbyDiocletianandMaximian,andashavingbeengiventhe
name‘‘Olympianus’’intheprovincialarea.^61 Hereagain,thedistantemper-
orsaremadeveryvisiblypresentinthetext.AureliusValeriusSogoushad
builtaproseuchē,bywhichweoughtperhapstounderstandaJewishsyna-
gogue.^62 Ifso,andifthe‘‘TheosHypsistos’’whomAureliusValeriusSogous
worshippedwastheJewishGod,thisinscriptionwillserve,likeotherun-
doubtedlyJewishonesfromthearea,tosuggesthowtheRomanEmpirehad
servedtomakealinkbetweenthetwobest-attestedandmostinterestingof
itsdependentkingdoms,JudaeaandtheBosporus.

57.CIRB,no.1051.

58. SeeforcomparisonB.Salway,‘‘What’sinaName?ASurveyofRomanOnomastic
    Practicefromc.700bctoad700,’’JRS84(1994):124–45.


59. See Gajdukevic (n. 36), 328, 431; Burnett et al. (n. 14), 334–35, nos. 1936 (‘‘of the
    Caesareis’’)and1935(‘‘oftheAgrippeis’’).


60. Gajdukevic(n.36),477;CIRB,no.979(Dynamis);983.
    61.CIRB,no.64.


61. Thisquestionhasofcoursebeenlongdebatedandcannotbediscussedagainhere.
    For the undoubted Jewish presence in the area, see J.-B. Frey,Corpus Inscriptionum Iudai-
    carumI^2 (1975), nos. 683–91; E. Schürer,History of the Jewish PeopleIII.1, ed. G.Vermes,
    F. Millar, and M. D. Goodman (1986), 36–38. Fora new Jewish inscription from Phana-
    goria ofa.d.51, see D. I. Danshin, ‘‘Phanagoriiskaya ObschinaYudeev,’’VDI204 (1993):
    59–72,whichalsopresentsageneralreviewoftheevidence.ForTheosHypsistos,see,e.g.,
    J.Ustinova,‘‘TheThiasoiofTheosHypsistosinTanais,’’Historyof Religions31(1991):149–80.