The Hellenistic World and Rome
a joint political unit, their people (dēmos) had decided to march out, accom-
panied byparoikoiand slaves, to help Q. Oppius, besieged by Mithridates in
Laodicea. Whether or not they had ever arrived (or had contrived not to ar-
rive in time?), they had taken care, when Oppius was released after the Peace
of Dardanus, to remind him of their loyalty, and to seek his patronage (patrō-
nēa), which he granted; he would also, he wrote, speak in their favour before
the Senate and People when he reached Rome. In the Triumviral period the
city gained both a treaty (orkion) and a long decree of the Senate (senatus con-
sultum), of .., with provisions for its free status. Everything was owed,
as is quite clear, to the identification of the Aphrodite whose temple stood
there with Venus, as the mythological ancestress of the Julian house. But the
locus of power in Rome was changing. When the new ruler wrote (whether
before or after ..is uncertain) to tell the Samians that the privilege
given to the Aphrodisians was unique, he said ‘‘You yourselves can see that
Ihave given the privilege of freedom to no people except the Aphrodisi-
ans.’’^23 Such rights could now be seen as being at the personal disposition of
a monarch.
These inscriptions are of crucial importance for understanding the Greek
city of the imperial period. Firstly, as inscriptions, theyarein fact of the
imperial period. The two relating to Oppius were cut in the second cen-
tury..; the long series from the Triumviral period belong to the ‘‘archive
wall’’ on theparodos(entry passage) of the theatre and date, as inscriptions,
to the first half of the third century. Aphrodisias had in fact no classical, still
less archaic or mythological, history, but had emerged as a privileged com-
munity in the last decades of the Republic. Here at least, that troubled period
was not forgotten, and could not be. How significant was it, for a Greek city
of the second century.., that such a re-cut inscription might serve to re-
mind its citizens of one essential role of every city community of the archaic,
classical, and Hellenistic period which it had now lost, namely its military
function? In that respect, even if Platea might send off a contingent to assist
Marcus Aurelius on his northern campaigns,^24 there could be no continuity
with the Greek city of before the Augustan peace. Or might there be, none
the less? The poorly recorded history of the third-century invasions shows
that some cities might indeed resume their ancient military role.^25
. J. M. Reynolds,Aphrodisias and Rome(), nos. – (Oppius); – (Triumviral
period). The phrase quoted is from no. .
. A. Plassart, ‘‘Une levée de volontaires thespiens sous Marc-Aurèle,’’Mélanges
G. GlotzII (), ; the correct context was established by C. P. Jones, ‘‘The Levy at
Thespiae under Marcus Aurelius,’’GRBS (): .
. See F. Millar, ‘‘P. Herennius Dexippus: The Greek World and the Third-Century