Rome and the East
feature of what colonial Berytus was. But in fact such a Greek writer might
easily have come from the city itself. As we would expect, though the coins
of thecoloniaremain (unlike those of some later nominalcoloniae; see below)
firmly Latin, as do inscriptions recording votes of thedecuriones,privatein-
scriptions from there may be in Greek as well as Latin. The ‘‘sea’’ in which
Berytus was an island cannot be described in any simple way as ‘‘Semitic.’’ If
‘‘Semitic’’ is supposed to have some wider cultural or racial connotation, the
criteria for its use are obscure, and its employment is potentially misleading.
If it has a linguistic sense, which makes it at least susceptible to definition,
then it should be conceded that there is not a single Semitic language in-
scription from the city or its territory in the colonial period, except for one
stray Palmyrene one from Harbata in the Bekaa.
That is not to say that there were no non-Graeco-Roman elements to be
found in the culture of the region, or no Semitic-language terms embedded
in Greek or Latin. A clear example, which is also of considerable importance
for understanding Heliopolis (see further below), is presented by the sanctu-
ary ofTheosBaalmarcodat Der el-Kala, mentioned above. The meaning of the
Semitic name of the god is conveniently supplied by a Greek dedication of
the Roman period, where he is addressed as ‘‘Lord of dances,’’^48 correspond-
ing clearly to B‘L MRQD. We need not doubt that this is a local cult, taken
over and observed by the new population of the colonial period. There is
nothing to show how long the cult had already been established there; all that
is clear is that the name of the deity is Semitic, and that dedications, in both
Greek and Latin were made there under the Empire.^49 Similar dedications
might be made to Baalmarcod in Berytus itself, and the wording of one of
them is of particular interest:I.O.M. Balmarcodi M. Verginius Bassus (centurio)
leg. IIII Scyt. vot. sol.^50 The appellationIuppiter Optimus Maximus Balmarcodis
repeated elsewhere asI.O.M.B.^51
When the Latin-speaking inhabitants came to characterise the god wor-
shipped at the temple at Der el-Kala, they sometimes, it is clear, applied to
him grandiose appellations normally used for Iuppiter Optimus Maximus,
with his archaic temple on the Capitol in Rome. That in its turn must raise
a much wider question. For the same appellations were also used by them,
. Le Bas-Waddington, no. CIGIII IGRIII :κοίρανεκώμων.
. See, e.g., Le Bas-Waddington, no. CILIII :IoviBalmarcodi;IGRIII
:θεῷΒαλμαρκῶδι;OGIS IGRIII ; Clermont-Ganneau,Rec. Arch. Or.
(): and –, nos. –.
. W. Henzen,ILSIII, no. , reprinted along withCILIII .
. Le Bas-Waddington, no. CILIII ;OGIS IGRIII ; Clermont-
Ganneau (n. ), , no. .