Rome and the East
blance to the private house at Dura-Europos, converted for use in Christian
services.^153 Moreover, there is no doubt that by the end of the third century
Christian communities generally possessed a regular meeting place, variously
calledoikos ekklēsias,kyriakon,orproseuktērion. There does not appear, how-
ever, to be good evidence from this period that it was ever combined with an
actual episcopal residence.^154 One must suppose rather that Paul continued
to perform services there, perhaps with the support of a part of the congre-
gation.
Hence the appeal to the Emperor. It is crucial to our understanding of
both the Roman Empire, and of the place of the church within it, to real-
ize that we do nothaveto find exceptional political circumstances to explain
recourse to the emperor as arbiter. For an immense mass of evidence shows
us that individuals and communities saw the giving of justice as a primary
function of the emperor, just as they had of the Hellenistic monarchs who
preceded them.^155 Even if we confine ourselves to Syrian evidence alone,
we may note, firstly, the inscription which contains a series of appeals to
rulers from the temple community of Baetocaece, stretching from probably
the third century..to../.^156 Then we have the words of an orator
addressing Caracalla in Antioch in May , on the subject of the priest-
hood of the temple at Dmeir: ‘‘There is a famous temple of Zeus among
them, famous indeed among all the people of the area...theyfrequent it
and conduct processions to it. The first wrong done by our adversary...he
benefits from freedom from [taxation and?] liturgies, wears a gold crown,
[enjoys precedence?], wields a sceptre and has proclaimed himself priest of
. See C. H. Kraeling (n. ), esp. ff., ‘‘The Christian Building at Dura, and Early
Church Architecture’’; cf. R. Krautheimer,Early Christian and Byzantine Architecture(),
chap. I. Compare R. L. P. Milburn, ‘‘ΟΤΗΣΕΚΚΛΗΣΙΑΣΟΙΚΟΣ,’’J. Th. St. ():
, and Chr. Mohrmann, ‘‘Les dénominations de l’église en tant qu’édifice en grec et en
latin au cours des premiers siècles chrétiens,’’Rev. Sci. Rel. (): supp. , esp. –.
. Though, for instance, Lebreton and Zeiller (n. ), , use the term ‘‘maison épisco-
pale.’’ Kraeling (n. ), and , does not seem to me to offer concrete evidence for the
residence of presbyters indomus ecclesiae.
. See F. Millar, ‘‘The Emperor, the Senate, and the Provinces,’’JRS ():
( chapter of F. Millar,Rome, the Greek World, and the EastI:The Roman Republic and the
Augustan Revolution; ‘‘Emperors at Work,’’JRS (): ( chapter of F. Millar,Rome,
the Greek World, and the EastII:Government, Society, and Culture in the Roman Empire;The
Roman Empire and Its Neighbours(), –, –.
.OGIS Abbott and Johnson,Municipal Administration, no. ; cf. F. Millar,
CR, n.s., (): , which requires correction in the light of H. Seyrig, ‘‘Aradus et
Baetocaecé,’’Syria (): . The document is now re-edited asIGLSIV, .