Rome and the East
dicea and Tyre were quick to align themselves with Severus on the news of
his victory over Pescennius Niger in Cappadocia in ; Laodicea was then
sacked by Niger’s troops.^112 This sack, and reports of the rewards which then
followed for Laodicea, appear in the sixth-century Chronicle of Malalas:
Severus granted senatorial rank to the leading men of the city, gave large
sums of money for public expenditures, built various public buildings, and
decreed that the city should have the status ofmetropolisand be named after
himself.^113
The latter point is perhaps a confusion with Tyre, which was also rewarded
(see below). More significant is the fact that the rank ofmetropolisretained
its relevance in Malalas’ time; but the status ofcolonia, which Laodicea also
received, has dropped out of memory. But it is that which Ulpian, as a con-
temporary and a Roman jurist, had recorded, and related emphatically to the
civil war:Est et Laodicena colonia in Syria Coele, cui divus Severus ius Italicum ob
belli civilis merita concessit.^114 Yet Malalas’ perspective was not entirely mislead-
ing, for a weight from Laodicea published by H. Seyrig shows that the year
/ counted as the th of thekolonia, but the th of themetropoliteia(the
status ofmetropolis).^115 Severus had thus granted the title ofmetropolison his
arrival in , but that ofcoloniaonly in , when he was again in the Syrian
region.
Both titles are reflected in the designation of an athlete from Laodicea,
in an inscription of.., asκόλων Λα〈ο〉[δι]κεὺς μητροπολείτης κα[ὶ]
ἄλλων πόλεων πολείτης.^116 The pseudo-Greek termκόλωνis used again;
and the Romano-Greek public character of the city is reflected equally in its
coins. Under Caracalla one example hasLAUCOLMETROIUL;^117 from then
on a variety of Latin terms appear, includingAETERNUM BENEFICIUM
andROMAEFEL. But a substantial series with the Latin/Greek legendCOL
LAOD METROPOLEOSdoes not appear until the reign of Philip, ceasing
. Herodian , , –. See Ziegler (n. ), –.
. Malalas –.
.Dig. , , , . Cf. , , , (Paulus).
. H. Seyrig, ‘‘Un poids de Laodicée,’’Syria (): :ἔτους θ´τῆς κολωνίας,
γι´τῆς μητροπολιτείας,τ[οῦ]καὶγνσ´. The latter figure, , establishes the date /.
Cf. the weight listed by H. Seyrig,Bull. Mus. Beyrouth (): , no. :ἔτους δι´τῆς
κολωνείας(hence../).
.IGRIII IGLSIV Moretti,Iscrizioni agonistiche greche,no..
.SNG,Danish National Museum: Syria, no. . It is curious that some of these colo-
nial coins in Latin, as well as earlier Greek issues of the city, were counter-marked COL.
See C. J. Howgego,Greek Imperial Countermarks(), no. .