Rome, the Greek World, and the East, Vol. 1 - The Roman Republic and the Augustan Revolution

 The Augustan Revolution

maintenanceofitsprivileges;andasecondbyArtemidorusaskingpermis-
siontohavetheprivilegesinscribedonabronzetablet.Thisletter,preserved
onpapyrus,isaddressedtotheprovincialcouncilpresumablyforinforma-
tion and as further protection for the rights of the association. The pre-
existingroleandimportanceoftheprovincialcouncilisnowclearfroma
documentfromAphrodisiasshowingthatearlierinthecenturyithadsent
anembassytoRometoprotestagainsttheexcessesofthepublicans.^46

. Agrant(decretum?)ofcitizenshipbyOctavian(ortheTriumvirs?)to
SeleucusofRhosus,(?)..IGLSIII,no.,ii;Sherk,Roman
Documents,no.,ii.

Thedocumentismuchmutilated,andthereisampleroomfordoubtabout
bothitscorrectdesignationanditsdate.Whatissignificantinthiscontextis
thatitrefers(l.)toaLexMunatiaAemilia,evidentlypassedbytheconsuls
of..,MunatiusPlancusandAemiliusLepidus,inaccordancewithwhich
thegrantismade.Thereisnoindicationofdate,butitisprobablyearly,as

the donorappears as ‘‘Caesar Imperator’’—Καῖσαρ αὐτοκράτωρ. ‘‘Impera-

tor’’ does not yet appear as apraenomen, which it came to do from , or
possibly,..^47 Ontheotherhand,theverbgiveninlineisintheplu-
ral,‘‘gave,’’whichhassuggestedtosomethatanoriginalwhichreferredtoa
grantbytwoorthreeoftheTriumvirshasbeentamperedwithbeforebeing
inscribedseveralyearslater.TheaftermathofPhilippiremainsareasonable,
butnotintheleastacertain,contextfortheoriginalgrant.Moreimportant
forourpurposesisitsjustificationintermsofalaw,itsformalanddetailed
character,anditsreferences(ll.–)totherightsofembassytotheSen-
ate,andtoRomanmagistratesandpromagistrates,andtofinespayabletothe
Romanpeople.

. (?)Greektranslationofalawestablishingceremoniesinhonourofthe
deifiedJuliusCaesar?..?Forschungen in EphesosIV,(),,
no.;seenowM.Crawford,ed.,Roman StatutesI–II(),no..

Thefirstwords(thelete,keleuete)translate‘‘velitis,iubeatis’’(‘‘Mayyouwish
andcommand’’)theterminologyofalaw,^48 andtheexpression‘‘thedeified

. FirstpublishedbyK.Erim,PBSR():–;seeT.Drew-Bear,ZPE():
–,andforafulldiscussionhis‘‘Deuxdécretshellénistiquesd’AsieMineure,’’BCH
():,onpp.–;now,J.M.Reynolds,Aphrodisias and Rome(),no..
. SeeR.Syme,‘‘ImperatorCaesar,aStudyinNomenclature,’’Historia():
Roman PapersI(),;R.Combès,Imperator(),–.
. Mommsen,StaatsrechtIII,,n..S.Weinstock,Divus Julius(),,suggests,
surelywrongly,thatthisisaletterfromtheSenate.