CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
Urban Elites in the Roman
East: Enhancing Regional
Positions and Social Superiority
Athanasios Rizakis
From the late Hellenistic period, leading citizens of Greek cities played a central
role in the conduct of political affairs, thanks to the support of Rome, and served
as mediators between their own communities and the central power. As such, they
attempted to avoid any possible unfortunate consequences of Roman rule, while also
actively seeking the benefits which were to be won by the creation of bonds with
Roman notables. These bonds, facilitated by the importance accorded by Roman
aristocrats to Greek paideia (“education,” “culture”), formed the basis of Roman
rule in the Greek world under Augustus and his successors. The relations between
Greeks and Roman aristocrats extended and deepened after Actium. Moreover, the
imperial administration, seeking to improve the government of the provinces, now
applied a policy of integrating Romanophile elites within the Roman system by means
of the citizenship (civitas). These leading citizens subsequently completely assumed
civic power and, acting in agreement with the Romans, they took the initiative of
introducing the imperial cult, whose priesthoods they performed. From the first cen-
tury,ad, the imperial cult became a dominant part of the civic landscape and cre-
ated a bond between aristocratic families and the emperor. This privileged link increased
their own prestige and that of their families within their local context. This is reflected
in the honors that they received for their generosity and their mediation with the
emperor on the part of their city.
Local Patriotism and Euergetic Activities
Nevertheless, such devotion to Rome and the emperor did not distance the provincial
elites from the traditional cults of their cities, which they occasionally administered