Rome and the East
But now one of the fascinating documents which form a Greek-Syriac ar-
chive from mid-third-century Mesopotamia refers to a document drawn up
ἐνΣεπτιμίᾳκολωνίᾳμητροπόλι Νεσίβει, dating to...^141 Ammianus’
narrative, which has so much to say of the fortunes of Nisibis in the fourth
century, gives no hint that it was acolonia. On the other cities of Mesopotamia
there is no literary evidence for this phase, and this status, at all. But the coins
show that Carrhae/Harran certainly, and Reshaina and Singara quite prob-
ably, becamecoloniaeunder Severus. Carrhae minted alternately in Greek and
Latin, the other two only in Greek.^142 All three also claimed the titlemetropo-
lis. In the case of Carrhae, one of the papyri (no. ) was drawn up in..
ἐνΑὐρηλίᾳΚάρραιςκολωνείᾳμητροπόλειΜεσοποταμίας. The final publi-
cation of these papyri has shed some light on a potentially fascinating phase
in ancient cultural history. This evidence, fragmentary as it is, is still a reflec-
tion of the remarkable impact of Severus on the map of the Near East, or at
the very least on its toponomy.
The Third Century after Septimius Severus
Where Severus had led, his successors from the same dynasty, and their suc-
cessors, followed. At least some aspects of the broader background to this
development are clear: firstly, with the acquisition of Mesopotamia the Near
East became one of the main areas of imperial military activity, an activity
stimulated in its turn by the Persian reaction of the s and after. Secondly,
the remaining emperors of the Severan dynasty, Caracalla (..–), Ela-
gabal (–), and Severus Alexander (–), descended on the maternal
side from a family from Emesa (which was to be another newcolonia; see
below). Furthermore, Philip (..–) came from a place in the north-
ern Hauran which was also to become acolonia-cum-Greek city under the
name of Philippopolis.
The repeated presence of emperors in this region, and their deep involve-
. D. Feissel and J. Gascou, ‘‘Documents d’archives romains inédits du Moyen Euphrate
(IIIesiècle après J.-C.) III. Actes divers et letters (P.Euphr. à ),’’Journal des Savants:
–, no. .
. Carrhae/Harran: see G. F. Hill,JRS (): –;BMC Mesopotamia, lxxxvii–
xciv; W. Cramer, ‘‘Harran,’’RAC(), cols. –. (a)ΚΟΛΩΝΙΑΣ Μ Η ΚΑΡΩΝ
(Septimius Severus); (b) COL MET ANTONINIANA AUR and COL AUR METROPOLI
ANTONI (Caracalla); (c)ΜΗΤΡ ΚΟΛ ΚΑΡΡΗΝΩΝ(Gordian III). Reshaina: K.-O.
Castelin, ‘‘The Coinage of Rhesaena in Mesopotamia,’’Num. Notes and Monog. ():
ΣΕΠΚΟΛΡΗΣΑΙΝΗΣΙΩΝ(Decius). Singara: Hill,JRS (): ;BMCMesopotamia,
cxiii; –:ΑΥΡΣΕΠΚΟΛΣΙΝΓΑΡΑ.