Rome and the East
[B’SṬRṬGWT’ DY] QLNY’ WBRBNŠQWTH—‘‘in hisstratēgiaof thekolō-
neiaand in his control of the market.’’
From October.. we have a bilingual inscription honouring Iulius
Aurelius Ogga apparently asδυα[νδρικὸν,φιλοτείμ]ωςστρατ[ηγήσαντακα]ὶ
μαρτυρηθέν[τα.. .]. If the restorations are correct, the office ofduumvir/
στρατηγόςwas referred to twice in different ways. Here again the Palmy-
rene version is not a simple transliteration or even a translation, but a slightly
different text: WŠPR LHWN B’SṬRṬGWTH—‘‘and gave them satisfaction
in hisstratēgia.’’^163 The remaining evidence, dating to the middle of the third
century, reflects the rise of Palmyra to independent power under the leader-
ship of Septimius Odenathus. The spread to other leading Palmyrenes of
the Roman imperialnomen‘‘Septimius’’ seems to be a result of this local
leadership, and not of an earlier set of grants by Septimius Severus.^164 Thus
the person to whom most of the relevant texts refer, Septimius Worod,
seems to be the same as the ‘‘Aurelius Worod’’ attested in../asaRo-
maneques(which appears asἱππικός/ HPQ’) and city councillor of Palmyra
(βουλευτὴςΠαλμυρηνός/ BYLWṬ’ TDMRY’).^165 With the assertion of in-
dependent power by Palmyra, this man rose to a series of important posi-
tions. In a bilingual inscription from the Great Colonnade describes him
as [τὸνκράτιστ]ονἐπίτροπ[ονΣεβαστοῦδ]ουκηνάριον/ QRṬYSṬS ’PTRP’.
At this point he is more probably still in imperial service. The man putting
up the inscription is aduumvirof thecolonia, Iulius Aurelius Nebuzabadus,
[στρατ]ηγὸς[τῆς]λαμπροτάτης κολωνείας/ ’STR〈Ṭ〉G’ DY QLNY’.^166
Septimius Worod was also at some pointaedilisand thenduumvirof the
colonia, possibly before... For another bilingual inscription from the
Great Colonnade, whose Palmyrene text is almost entirely missing, and
whose precise date is uncertain, records that he had held these offices in
the past:λαμπρῶςστρατηγήσαντακαὶἀγορανομήσαντατῆςαὐτῆςμητρο-
κολωνείας. This new termμητροκολωνεία(perhaps first recorded at Emesa;
see text to n. above) is a perfect expression of the hybrid character of
the more prominent cities in the Roman Near East in this period. The form
in which it is used here, however, is a function of the fact that the inscrip-
tion has already mentioned Septimius Worod’s present post: [δι]κεοδότην
τῆςμητ[ροκολω]νείας.^167 This expression may or may not be intended as
.IGRIII CISII.,InventaireIII, no. .
. So Schlumberger (n. ), –.
.IGRIII OGIS CISII.,InventaireIII, no. . For his identity,
see Schlumberger (n. ), .
.IGRIIICISII.,InventaireIII, no. .
.IGRIII CISII.,InventaireIII, no. .