Thonemann - Mark B. Wilson

The Women of Akmoneia
Author(s): PETER THONEMANN
Source: The Journal of Roman Studies, Vol. 100 (2010), pp. 163-178
Published by: Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/41724770 .
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The
Women
of
Akmoneia*
PETER THONEMANN
ABSTRACT
Thisarticleis thefirstpublicationofa Greekinscription
fromAkmoneiain Phrygia,dated
to a.D. 61y. The monumentis an honorificstelefora priestessby the name of Tatia,and
was votedbya body of 'Greekand Roman women' As a documentof collectivepolitical
activityby a female corporategroup, the inscriptionhas no real parallels in eitherthe
Greek or Roman world. The monumentis set in the contextof the Roman mercantile
presencein centralPhrygiain the late Republicanand earlyImperialperiods, and some
proposalsare offeredconcerningtheidentityand significance
of thehonouringbody.
I INTRODUCTION
In the late Hellenisticand earlyRoman Imperialperiods,wealthyélitewomen played an
increasingly
prominentpartin thepubliclifeof thecitiesof peninsularGreece,theAegean
islands and westernAsia Minor.1In the fifthand fourthcenturiesb.c., the involvement
of women in the public life of Greek cities had been almost entirelyrestrictedto the
religioussphere:individually,to the tenureof priesthoodsof femaledeities,and collecof a small numberof women-onlyfestivals.2
In thecourse of
tively,to the administration
the Hellenisticperiod,the magistraciesof Greek civic communitiesgraduallytook on a
liturgicalcharacter;fromthe thirdcenturyonwards,priestesses,like othercivic officials,
were increasinglyexpectedto financetheirown officeand pay for the upkeep of their
sanctuariesout of theirown pockets.3By the late second centuryb.c., the public services
performedbyfemalemembersof thecivicélitehad expandedoutwardsfromthereligious
sphereinto otherfieldsof public life,and women are increasinglyfound holdingcivic
magistracies,performingsecular liturgies,and bestowinggenerousbenefactionson the
widercitizenand non-citizenbody.4
* Thisarticle
forms
AsiaeMinoris
XI project
partoftheMonumenta
Antiqua
(http://mama.csad.ox.ac.uk),
funded
andHumanities
I amgrateful
Research
Council.
toBarbara
generously
bytheArts
Levick,
Millar,
Fergus
Simon
theJournal's
Editor
andthree
readers
fortheir
criticism
andadvice.
Price,
anonymous
1 R. vanBremen,
TheLimits
Women
andCivicLifeintheGreek
EastintheHellenistic
and
ofParticipation:
Roman
Periods
Tes activités
desfemmes
sénatoriales
etéquestres
(i 996);M.-Th.Raepsaet-Charlier,
publiques
sousle Haut-Empire
inW.EckandM. Heil(eds),Senatores
romain',
populiRomani(2005),169-212,at
189-203.
ofwomen-only
festivals
ofwomen:
Management
religious
bycorporate
groups
I.Mylasa303,IG II21184,
bothfourth
b.c.
century
3 E Quass,DieHonoratiorenschicht
indenStädten
desgriechischen
Ostens
(1993),270-303;vanBremen,
op.
cit.(n.1),19-25.Fora particularly
well-attested
inthethird
andsecond
centuries
case,thesaleofpriesthoods
'Käufliche
Priestertümer
imhellenistischen
b.c.,seeH.-U.Wiemer,
Kos',Chiron
33 (2003),263-310.
Seeforexample
thehonorific
decrees
forthegreat
civicbenefactor
ofKyme(mid-second
Archippe
century
de Kyme,
inN. Loraux(ed.),La
la bienfaitrice',
b.c.):SEG 33,1035-41,withI. Savalli-Lestrade,
'Archippe
Grèce
au feminin
Thedateandcontext
oftheKymaian
decrees
forArchippe',
(2003),247-95;R.vanBremen,
REA110/2(2008),357-82.At1039.8-10,
isgranted
habitual
, implying
44-5,Archippe
aleitourgesia
liturgical
thegrant
ofateleia
toa priestess
inLSCG120(Chios).
obligations;
compare
2010.
JRS100(2010),pp.163-178.© TheAuthor(s)
Published
Studies.
byTheSociety
forthePromotion
ofRoman
doi:io.ioi7/Soo7543
5810000110
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164
PETERTHONEMANN
in thepoliticaland economicbehavioursanctionedto a smallclass
This transformation
of élitewomenis bestexplainedas a consequenceof deep structuralchangesin thesocial
hierarchyof Greekcivic communities.In the course of the second and earlyfirstcentury
b.c., many Greek cities saw the emergenceof a new stratumof super-richlandowners,
fromthatenjoyed
whose relationshipwiththe restof the civic body was quite different
by civic élitesin the Classical and earlyHellenisticperiods.5The dramaticallyincreased
economicinequalitybetweenthisuppermoststratumand thewiderdemos was echoed on
the politicalplane in a generaldepoliticizationof public life.The influenceexercisedby
thisnewlydominantclass was largelyextra-political:theirservicesto theircommunities
- embassies,militaryleadership,negotiationswithRoman governorsand generals,largescale provisionof grainor oil, giftsand loans of cash to thecity- were undertakenin a
The bypassingof traditional,
privatecapacity,not in thecontextof tenureof civicoffice.6
of
women
into public life.With
institutions
facilitated
the
civic
entry
men-only
political
and assemblybyautonomous
exercisedoutsidethecouncil-chamber,
influence
increasingly
the traditionalinstitutionalbarriersto femaleparticipationin public
citizen-benefactors,
lifesimplyceased to apply.The 'privatization'of civic governmentrenderedgenderless
thanwealth.7
significant
The growingprominenceof individualélite women in the public lifeof Greek cities
in the late Hellenisticand earlyRoman Imperialperiodscan be tracedthanksto a large
numberof honorificdecreesand statue-basesforindividualpriestesses,femalemagistrates
and civic benefactors.However the new public rôles available for femalemembersof
the civic élitein the last two centuriesb.c. did not, on the whole, includeany corporate
activitiesor organization.8This is as we should expect: membersof the late Hellenistic
and early Roman Imperial dominantclass exercisedtheireconomic power and social
hegemonyas individuals,not as a corporatebody.
A new inscriptionfromtheeasternpartof theRoman provinceof Asia, publishedhere
for the firsttime,requiresan unexpectedmodificationof this picture.This monument
was recordedin 1955 by the late Michael Ballance at the villageof Islämköy,30 km east
attributedto the
of modernUçak in westernTurkey.The inscriptioncan be confidently
on
a
situated
ancientpolis ofAkmoneia,a smallcentral-Phrygian
loftyridgeabove the
city
modernvillageof Ahat,c. 10 km southof islämköy.9
5 G.E.M.deSteCroix,
Les
World
Greek
TheClassStruggle
intheAncient
(1981),300-26,518-37;P.Gauthier,
occidentale
sociales
enAsieMineure
'Stratifications
etleurs
cités
bienfaiteurs
(1985),7-75;P.Debord,
grecques
etla Syrie
sociétés
rurales
dansl'AsieMineure
inE. Frézouls
à l'époque
urbaines,
(ed.),Sociétés
hellénistique',
à la basse
etparticipation
andC. Müller
etromaines
(eds),Citoyenneté
(1987),29-40;P.Fröhlich
hellénistiques
The
seeP.Thonemann,
basisofthisdevelopment,
ontheeconomic
(2005).Forthoughts
époquehellénistique
2011),ch.7.
Maeander
(forthcoming,
6 Gauthier
74-5.
op.cit.(n.5),72-3;women,
7 In thesecond
of
centuries
andfirst
connected)
(andcausally
growth
b.c.,RomanItalysawa comparable
and themasses.Howeverthesocio-political
socialstratum
theuppermost
between
economic
inequality
thepublic
Onthecontrary,
lifefollowed.
ofpublic
nodepoliticization
inItaly
werequitedifferent;
consequences
class.Asa
thedominant
within
internecine
characterized
wasincreasingly
competition
bydestabilizing
sphere
from
excluded
Romeremained
inlateRepublican
women
intheGreek
unlike
effectively
East,wealthy
result,
elsewhere.
tostudy
thewholephenomenon
life.I intend
public
8 Exceptions
mid-first
InIG V 2,266(Mantineia:
contexts.
toreligious
areconfined
b.c.),anassociation
century
In M. Segre,
Phaena.
fora female
decree
is found
an honorific
ofDemeter
ofpriestesses
benefactor
passing
of
forthecompletion
contributions
secondcentury
di Cos (1993),ED 178B(early
Iscrizioni
B.c.),financial
der
'AusderArbeit
R. Parker
andD. Obbink,
women
comefrom
ofAphrodite
a precinct
only:seefurther
onCosI', Chiron
VI.Salesofpriesthoods
Graecae"
30(2000),415-49,at429-31.
9"Inscriptiones
Pontus
andArmenia
inAsiaMinor,
Researches
seeW.J.Hamilton,
ofAkmoneia,
andterritory
Onthesituation
andWest-Central
I Pt. II: West
TheCities
andBishoprics
Phrygia
ofPhrygia.
(1842),1,113-19;W.M. Ramsay,
in
dePhrygie',
d'Akmonia
'Nonnos
etlesmonnaies
reprinted
JSav(i975)>153-92.5
(1897),621-5;L. Robert,
II.18.3
ANRW
dePhrygie',
andChr.Naout,'Divinités
T.Drew-Bear
VII(1990),185-224;
Selecta
OperaMinora
withancient
at1933.Islämköy
evidence)
(onexiguous
Banaz)wasidentified
(nowrenamed
(1990),1907-2044,
enPhrygie:
de la géographie
'Problèmes
AliabyRamsay,
l'example
historique
op.cit.,592-5;T. Drew-Beat^
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THE WOMENOF AKMONEIA
l6$
Ballance archiveno. 1955/109 (íslâmkôy).WhiteDokimeian marblestele with pilasters
at sides and tenonbelow. Brokenabove and at sides of base. Ht 2.12+ m (includingbase
and tenon);width0.66 m (pilasters0.14 m; tenon0.35 m); thickness0.19-0.21 m (base
and tenon0.28 m); letters0.018-0.025 m. Date: A.D.6/7(Year 91 of Sullan era). Figs 1-2.
[
Yu]
vaîiceçřEMr)víôeç te mi 'Popolai êxeí|XTioav
TaTÍavMrivoKpiTou
if|vicaiTpuqxftoav,
yuvaîicaôè Mt]voôóxouMevekáov
toi) icaiDíAÀovoç,
ÊiJxfjvàpxtLÉpTiav,
v. EpYBXiv
è|xJtavxi mip<î>
yevT]0eíoav am(òv,utáoT]çàpexfjçí-veicev.vac.
xf|vêjtiixéX-Tiav
Kpájioir'oa'ièvov
xtjxoçMrivoicpíxov
xovicaiMeveX,áou
icai
IIojxXíounexpoviov 'Ejriyévovç
mi Mrivoicpíxou
Äya0oicXiü)c;.
ëxovçv.a v.9'
...thewives,both
GreekandRoman,
honoured
Tatia,
ofMenokritos,
daughter
5
also calledTryphosa,
wifeofMenodotos,
sonofMenelaos,
also calledSillon,
thehigh-priestess,
10
havingactedas
theirbenefactor
inall circumstances,
forthesakeofall
hervirtue.
15
Thefollowing
were
(forsetting
responsible
up thestele):
KratessonofMenokritos,
also calledMenelaos,and
PubliusPetronius
20
Epigenes,
andMenokritos
sonofAgathokles.
Year91.
The monumentis an honorificstelefora certainTatia, daughterof Menokritos,who
has acted as high-priestess
(archiereia)of a civic cult or group of cults at Akmoneia;her
officemay,but need not necessarily,
have been the civicpriesthoodof the Imperialcult.10
In mostrespects,thisinscriptionis of an entirelystandardtypefortheperiod:a stonestele
erectedto honoura femalememberof thelocal élite,in recognitionof variousunspecified
benefactions.Hundreds of comparable monumentscelebratingthe personal meritsand
euergeticactivitiesof élite women are known fromthe cities of the Greek East in the
last two centuriesb.c. and the firstthreecenturiesA.D.What givesthisparticulartextits
interestis thecorporatebody responsibleforhonouringTatia, describedin
extraordinary
xs icai 'Pca^aîai, 'the wives,both Greekand Roman'.
lines 1-2 as [yujvaíiceç'EAÀriviôeç
To the best of myknowledge,the phenomenonattestedin the Islamköyinscription,
of a
is entirely
corporatebody of women passing a decree in honour of a femalebenefactor,
withoutparallelin theGreekworld.An undeterminable
numberof linesare missingat the
top of the stele,and hence it is unclearwhetherthisbody of women was the onlygroup
to honourTatia. We could restorea 'short'prescript,assumingthatonlya singleline has
been lost fromthetop of theinscription,
withthewomen as thesole honouringbody:
ANRWII.7.2(1980),932-52,at942-4,correctly
thatthevillage
must
haveformed
d'Alia',
argued
partofthe
ofAkmoneia.
M. Waelkens,
Seefurther
Diekleinasiatischen
Türsteine
territory
(1986),175-6.
10 Fortheorthography
TAMII 41c
(line9) withdoubleiota, cf.e.g.IGRIV 882(Themisonion);
àpxuépTiav
Forthecivicpriesthood
oftheImperial
cultatAkmoneia,
seeMAMA
(Telmessos),
287(Xanthos),
420(Patara).
VI 263(Julia
toi)gúvjravxoç
tóW[0]egW
icçt[l]
Severa,
àp/iipeiav
áycovoGéiiv
içou
Seßaoxöv[01]
; cf.IGRIV
Rituals
andPower:
TheRoman
CultinAsiaMinor
656),andcf.S. Price,
Imperial
(1984),78-100.
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l66
PETERTHONEMANN
FIG.i. Honorific
steleforTatia,daughter
ofMenokritos
Akmoneia).
(íslâmkôy:
[àya% Tvxwai yv]vaîiceçťEM.Tivíôeç is KalTournai
[Withgoodfortune:
The]
wives,bothGreek
andRoman...
withthe Greekand Roman wivesas the
we could restorea 'long' prescript,
Alternatively,
last of a numberof corporategroupshonouringTatia:
mi ó ôfl][rißoi)Xf|
[jíoçKaioi Kax]fPot)][olkoDvteç
[(xaîoiKaiai yv]vaÎKeç'EMryviòeç te Kai 'PcDjiaîai
[Thecouncilandthe]
[peopleandthe]
[resident
Ro][mansandtheir]
wives,bothGreek
andRoman...
is correct(eitherwould
AlthoughI see no way of decidingforcertainwhichreconstruction
be compatiblewiththeway the stonehas broken),I shall offersome argumentsbelow in
favourof the 'short'prescript.
I shall divide my discussionof the íslâmkôyinscriptioninto threeparts: (n) date and
prosopography;(hi)thephrase'both Greekand Roman'; and (iv) thecharacterand wider
of the corporatebody of women responsibleforpassingthe decreein Tatia's
significance
honour.
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THE WOMENOF AKMONEIA
FIG.2. Honorific
steleforTatia,daughter
ofMenokritos
Akmoneia):
(islämköy:
squeeze.
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167
l68
PETERTHONEMANN
II DATEANDPROSOPOGRAPHY
The inscription
is dated 'Year 91' (line 23). SincetheSullan era (fromautumn85 b.c.) was
in use at Akmoneia,our textcan be firmly
dated to the yearA.D. 6/7.11Corroborationis
providedby thefactthattwo of the individualsmentionedin thisinscriptionalso appear
on the contemporarycoinage of Akmoneia. Krates son of Menokritos (lines 16-17),
one of the threemen responsibleforthe erectionof the monument(and possiblyTatia's
at Akmoneia in the latteryearsof the reignof
brother),is attestedas a mint-magistrate
Augustus,and Menodotos Sillon (lines6-8), Tatia's husband,mintedone of thelast issues
of 'autonomous' brass coinage of Akmoneia (bust of Athena in Corinthianhelmetand
The precisedatingof theautonbetweentwo stars).12
aegis/eaglealightingon thunderbolt,
omous bronze and brass coinage of Akmoneiahas hithertobeen uncertain(late second/
firstcenturyb.c.); thisprosopographicalconnectionnow allows us to say withconfidence
thattheend of the seriesimmediately
precedes,or even overlapswith,theearliestRoman
provincialcoinage of Akmoneia,aroundtheturnof theera.
No fewerthan threeout of the fiveindividualsmentionedin this inscriptioncarried
an additionalname (ó icat/r^
icai). Many such additional names probablyoriginatedas
nicknames,as is explicitin an inscriptionfromKelenderisin Kilikia: 'Here lies the son of
Synegdemos,18 yearsold; his motherand fathernamed him Synegdemos,but everyone
else called himBiliös'; thename BíXÀoçis an obscenenicknamemeaning'Balls', 'Ballsy'.13
The additionalname ElModv (here,line 8) is likelyto be a nicknameof exactlythistype,
meaning'Squint-eyed'(coiXlóç).14The femalename Tpvqptòoa(line 5) seemsto have been
widespreadas a nickname('Dainty').15
Publius PetroniusEpigenes (lines 19-20) seems not to be attestedelsewhere.Given
his Greek cognomen,it is likelythat Epigenes (or his father)had gained the Roman
citizenshipby manumissionthrougha memberof the gens Petronia. The most likely
candidate is perhaps Publius Petronius,an Italian negotiatoron Delos in the earlyfirst
centuryb.c.16Other Petroniicontinued to be prominentin the region of Akmoneia
down to the thirdcenturyA.D.:at neighbouringDiokleia, a certainQ. PetroniusCapito
Egnatianuswas jointlyresponsibleforthe erectionof a statueof the emperorSeptimius
of Sebaste,a Publius
Severus(a.D. 96/7),and at thevillageof Dioskome, on theterritory
Petroniuswas jointlyresponsiblefor settingup a monumentdedicated to the emperor
17
PhilipI (a.d. 248).
11 W.Leschhorn,
Antike
Ären(1993),263-5.
12 Krates
BMCPhrygia
Sillon:
sonofMenokritos:
RPCI 3168.Menodotos
p. 6,nos15-16;SNGVonAulock
5 (2002)500.
15;CNGTriton
56;SNGCop. (Phrygia)
4011;SNGMünchen
(Phrygien)
3366;GMWinterthur
n.34.
ofAkmoneia,
seefurther
ForthelateRepublican
below,
coinage
13 áv0áôeiceîxe
ol ô' àXXoi
1jô' ó Jtaxfjp
SuveyÓTiiiov,
ouvojia(MÍXT)p
Jtaîç
Suvevôtiiiov,
t|i èxdW,
q) Š0ovxo
dansI AsieMineure
Nomsindigènes
B1Ú.0V
L.Robert,
gréco-romaine
èjtíDVÓ<n>aoav
(LBW1388,with
jtávxeç
im
oderSignum
'ZurAusbreitung
desSupernomen
seeM. Lambertz,
ofthiskind,
(1963),16-22).Onnicknames
at 116n.2, 133-43.
Glotta
römischen
Reiche,
H',
99-170,
(1914),
5
14F.Bechtel,
Personennamen
Kleinasiatische
desGriechischen
Personennamen
Historische
(1917),505;L.Zgusta,
anditsderivative
I (1990),280.ThenameSeitaov
Onomastica
GraecaSelecta
(1964),464n.73;O. Masson,
arealsoattested
atAkmoneia
(MAMAVI 312;Ramsay,
op.cit.(n.9), 644,no.545),butthese
SeiXcoviavóç
DI (1990),212.
Selecta
Graeca
Onomastica
Silo: O. Masson,
toderive
from
theLatincognomen
aremore
likely
15 e.g.G.Manganaro,
at344,no.47C
ASAAN.S.25-6(1963-4),293-349,
'Leiscrizioni
delleisolemilesie',
... VjKatayupivr)
SEG30,1286(Didyma:
... fiKataru
Tpv<ptòoa).
Iltaxxaivlç
|iévnTpvcptòoa);
(Patmos:
XXiÇavôpa
16 LDelos
fortheAgoraoftheItalians.
II 9: catalogue
ofsubscribers
2612,
17 Diokleia:
seebelow,
n.39.Dioskome:
below,
Ramsay,
op.cit.(n.9),660,no.615(IGRIV 664);seefurther
n.38.
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THE WOMENOF AKMONEIA
169
ANDROMANS
ATAKMONEIA
III GREEKS
'bothGreekand Roman' appearson a handfulof inscriptions
fromcentral
The specification
in
In
the
a
fromthe
and
eastern
dedicatoryinscription
Phrygia
Lydia
earlyImperialperiod.
of Akmoneiaare
reignof theemperorTiberius,theinhabitantsof a villageon theterritory
describedas toiç ratoiícowiv êv Ilpsi^ei ePo)|xaíotçicaí "EMpoiv, 'those livingat Preizos
A dedicationto theemperorDomitianfromthevicinity
of
(?), bothRomans and Greeks'.18
oí
êv
Nasi
te
ical
to
a.d.
set
dated
was
Blaundos,
88,
icatoiicoflvxEÇ
ťPa>(xaíoí
f'EMr|veç],
up by
'thoselivingat Naos (?), bothRomans and Greeks'.19
ofthe
inscription
Finally,an honorific
latefirst
ofHyrkanisin easternLydia
centuryb.c. or earlyfirstcenturyA.D.fromtheterritory
was set up by ò ôípoç [ó Aa?]ô£,eòôLa)v
'the demos of the
"EMjjvétç] te ml [fP]cjp(iaíoi,
both
Greeks
and
Romans'.20
The
of
this
last
monument
is particuLaszeddioi,
phraseology
it
demos
of
the
as
does
that
the
Laszeddioi
was
larlysignificant,
implying
entirely
composed
of 'Greeksand Romans'; thatis to say,theterm"EXXrivsç
was used to referto all thosein
thecommunity
who were not Romans,not merelyto the ethnically'Greek' inhabitantsof
the village(as opposed to its indigenousLydianpopulation).At Akmoneia,therefore,
the
'Greek
wives'
is
best
understood
as
a
of
to
(ai ywaîiceç 'EMryviöec;)
phrase
way referring
thewivesof all male Akmoneiancitizens,whatevertheir'real' ethnicorigin.The corporate
te ical ePo)|xaXai)
thuscorrebodyof 'theGreekand Roman wives' (at yuvaîiceçeEX,A,T)víôeç
sponds preciselyto the male decision-making
body of the city,'the boule and the demos
(of theAkmoneians)and theresidentRomans' (fjßovAr|ml ó ôf]|xoç[ó Àic|iovBa)v]ml oí
icaToiiayuvTeç
ePco|xaîoi).21
ePa)(xaîoi)are knownat numerouscities
Groupsof 'residentRomans' (oí Kxxxoiicoímsç
of inland Asia Minor in the late Republican and earlyImperialperiod, oftenorganized
intoformal'associationsof Roman citizens'(conventusciviumRomanorum). In a handful
of instances,these associations are explicitlydescribed as consistingof businessmen
(conventusciviumRomanorumqui ... negotiantur
).22Verylittleis known about the rôle
played by these communitiesin the civic governmentof theirhost cities. At ApameiaKelainai in southernPhrygia,public decisionsseem regularlyto have been made in the
name of 'the boule, the demos, and the residentRomans' well into the latterhalfof the
secondcenturyA.D.23
Fromthemid-first
centuryA.D.onwards,membersoftheseimmigrant
communities
are occasionallyattestedholdingcivicofficeat thecitiesin whichtheyresided.
An inscription
fromApameia datedto A.D.45/6commemoratesthefirstoccasion on which
18 T.Drew-Bear;
Nouvelles
dePhrygie
(1978),12-14(SEG28,1080):Ahat.
inscriptions
19 Ramsay,
restored
thefinalwordas 'Pwfxaloi
xeicat
op. cit.(n.9), 610,no. 511(IGRTV713).Ramsay
I wouldprefer
fêévoi?];
f'EMjiveç].
20
TAMV 2,1322.
attested
Kaió ôfjpioç]
ic[a]L
Directly
onlybyRamsay,
op.cit.(n.9), 641,no.533(IGRIV 632):[f'ßouA,f|
oticaxoLicoi)vx[eç
KXaúôiov
icxL
'Pco]|iaîoi
éxeí^oavTipépiov
[ut]òvKupeíva
©epiioxaYÓpou
ÀoicXT]JU[áÔT]]v
Thisinscription,
likethehonorific
steleforTatia,derives
from
thevillage
ofíslâmkôy,
identified
with
wrongly
AliabyRamsay
n.9);theincorrect
attribution
isperpetuated
Filius
Publicus.
(above,
Ytòç
byF.CanalideRossi,
e titoli
iniscrizioni
dietàimperiale
xfiç
JtóXecDÇ
affini
greche
(2007),118-19,no.87.
C. Delplace,
etfinanciers
danslesprovinces
d'AsieMineure
sousla République',
'Publicains,
trafiquants
Ktema2 (1977),233-52;F. Kirbihler,
'Die Italiker
in Kleinasien',
in M. Meyer(ed.),NeueZeiten- Neue
Zu Rezeption
Sitten.
undIntegration
römischen
unditalischen
inKleinasien
(2007),19-35.F°r
Kulturguts
thecorrespondence
oftheGreekphraseol mxoncoflvxeç
withtheLatinconuentus
c. R. (qui...
fP(0|iaÎ0i
Greeks
andRomans
inImperial
Asia.IGSK59
),seee.g.IGRIV675(SEG36,1200;R.A.Kearsley,
negotiantur
D. Magie,Roman
RuleinAsiaMinor
(2001),no.135:Prymnessos);
(1950),II,1051-3.
23
MAMA
VI 177(under
IGRIV779,790(c.a.d.128);MAMAVI 180(first
halfofsecond
Vespasian);
century
IGRIV785(probably
second
halfofsecond
MAMAVI 183(under
Marcus
IGR
A.D.);
A.D.);
century
Aurelius);
IV786,791,793-4(uncertain).
Thepersistence
ofthisparticular
conventus
civium
Romanorum
intothesecond
A.D.is,however,
century
(Kirbihler,
highly
exceptional
op.cit.(n.22),20n. 10,24n.39).
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170
PETERTHONEMANN
Roman citizensheld all fiveposts in the Apameiancivicarchon-college; fourof thesefive
postswereheld by expatriateItalians.24
of theresidentRomans in thecivicaffairsof Akmoneiais neatlyillusThe involvement
tratedbythecareerofM. IuniusM.f. Sab. Lupus, an Italiandomiciledat Akmoneiaduring
the reignof Nero. Iunius' name appears on two Greekpublic inscriptionsof Akmoneia,
one dated to A.D.64, in whichhe appears as one of the city'sthreedogmatographoi
, the
otherdatedto A.D.68, in whichhe appears as one ofthecity'sthreearchontes
, holdingthat
In each case, Iuniusis thesole Roman citizenmentionedin the
officeforthesecondtime.25
the
other
two
text;
dogmatographoi(Artemonson of Artemon,Patronson of Demades,
grandsonof Asklepiades)and theothertwo archontes(Menekratesson of Kokos, Glykon
son of Menophantos)all have good Greeknames. By a happycoincidence,Iunius Lupus'
tombstonewas discoveredby Michael Ballance in 1956 at the village of Susuz, c. 5 km
westof Ahat.
Ballance archiveno. 1956/61 (Susuz). Whitemarbleblock withtabula ansata, apparently
complete.Ht. 0.65 m; W. 0.73 m; Th. -; letters0.022-0.028 m. Date: late firstcentury
a.D. Fig. 3.
hed. V(ivi) hed.
L • Aelius• L • f • Fab • Venustas• Tyrraniae • Veneriae• uxori • suae • et • sibi• [[et]]
5
[[M • Iuni]]• et • M • Iunius • M • f • Sab • Lupus
Aeliae• L • f • Marcellae• uxorihed.
10 suae • et • sibi
sonofL(ucius),ofthetribeFab(ia),forhiswife,
Whilestillliving,
L(ucius)AeliusVenustus,
and M(arcus)IuniusLupus,son of M(arcus),of thetribe
Veneria,and himself;
Tyrannia
ofL(ucius),andhimself.
Sabatina,forhiswife,AeliaMarcella,daughter
fromAkmoneia.26
This tombstoneappearsto be theonlymonolingualLatininscription
The fact that a single tombstonewas used for both couples is best explained on the
assumptionthatAelia L.f. Marcella, thewifeof M. IuniusLupus, was thedaughterof the
L. Aelius L.f. Venustusand TyranniaVeneria.We
othercouple named in the inscription,
have alreadyseen thatIunius Lupus was a prominentfigurein the civic governmentand
public lifeof Akmoneia,holdinglocal officealongside nativeAkmoneianswho did not
possesstheRoman citizenship.As we learnfromhis tombstone,Iuniuschose to marrythe
daughterof anotherItalian expatriateat Akmoneia,L. Aelius Venustus;when preparing
theirfunerary
monument,the two men chose to have it inscribedin Latin, not in Greek.
To judge fromIunius Lupus' behaviour,as late as the 60s A.D.,Akmoneia remaineda
24 IGRTV792:L.Munatius
M.f.Collina
P.Carvilius
L.f.Palatina
L.Atilius
L.f.Camilia
Pollio,
Proclus,
Tertius,
fourofthesearecertainly
Thefirst
Onesimion.
andM. Porcius
M.f.Terentina
M. Viccius
expatriate
Rufus,
whohad
tobea native
andtribus
wholacksfiliation
M. Porcius
, ismorelikely
Apameian
Onesimion,
Italians;
manumission.
Roman
achieved
through
citizenship
25 Màpicoç
AE 2006,1427.7,16-17;MàpicoçIovvioç
ôoyiacxtoypckpû),
SaßaxeivaAoDjtoç
'IovvioçMápKov
AE 2006,1426.26-7.
xòß' loTyvY&aiiEV,
äpxwv
Aoflrcoç
Mápicov
Saßaxeiva
26 Three
from
thearchitrave
andLatin)dedicatory
survive
ofa bilingual
(Greek
inscription
fragments
separate
atAkmoneia:
ofa monumental
op.cit.
(1) Ahat:LBWIII 753(CIG 3860k 2; CIL ID 360;Ramsay,
building
witha
op.cit.(n.22),no.167a),toberepublished
(n.9),644,no.542;CIL m 13658;IGRIV 662;Kearsley,
inMAMAXI;(2) Çaban:
Ramsay,
op.cit.(n.9),644,no.542(CILHI7049;CILHI13658;IGRIV662;
photo
withthe
wasnotassociated
fragment
Kearsley,
op.cit.(n.22),no.167b);(3) Kayh:MAMAVI 333.Thisthird
tothoseofthe
andsizeofthelettering
areidentical
butthestyle
andCalder),
first
twobyitseditors
(Buckler
isuncertain.
Thedateoftheinscription
Ahatfragment.
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THE WOMENOF AKMONEIA
171
M.Iunius
monument
ofL.Aelius
FIG.3. Funerary
Venustus,
Veneria,
Tyrannia
LupusandAeliaMarcella
(Susuz:
Akmoneia).
in whicheven those residentRomans
culturallyand linguistically
'bilingual'community,
stillchose, in theprivatesphere,
who were bestintegratedintothelocal civicgovernment
to privilegetheirLatin,non-Akmoneianorigins.
The prominentRoman presence at Akmoneia in the early Imperial period is best
explained in relation to the town's geographicalposition, controllingone of the two
major west-east routes across the Asia Minor peninsula. This road begins at Sardeis
in the lower Hermos valley,and climbs east-north-east
throughthe gentlehill-country
of the upper Hermos river (the modern Gediz Çayi) as far as the ancient town of
Temenouthyrai(modernU§ak). Here the road skirtsthe southernflankof the imposing
massifof Mt Dindymos (Murat Dagi), runningnorth-eastthroughthe fertilePlain of
Doias (the Banaz ovasi), beforereachingthe fringeof the Anatolian plateau at modern
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172.
PETERTHONEMANN
FIG.4. MapofCentral
andSouthern
Phrygia.
AfyonKarahisar.27The site of Akmoneia overlooks this road fromthe south, at the
point where it passes througha narrow bottleneckalong the valley of the Banaz Suyu
(the ancientriverSindros),betweenthe Murat Dagi and Çatma Dagi mountainranges.
Akmoneiawas thusparticularlywell situatedto controlthe commercialtrafficbetween
the lowlands of westernAsia Minor and the Anatolian plateau to the east.28
The earliestevidenceforAkmoneia'sdevelopmentas a commercialcentredates to the
(statarion)
periodof theMithradaticwars.29In thelate 70s or early60s b.c. a slave-market
27 T. Drew-Bear,
inPhrygia',
Chiron
The cityofTemenouthyrai
9 (1979),275-302,at 275-9;K. Belkeand
RomanRoadsand
N. Mersich,
undPisidien
TabulaImperii
(1990),150-2;D. French,
Byzantini
7: Phrygien
nos704,966-8.
Milestones
AsiaMinor
2:AnInterim
Milestones
(1998),
of
of
Catalogue
28Apameia-Kelainai
thecity
route
acrossthepeninsula;
controlled
a similar
bottleneck
onthemoresoutherly
ofAsia,second
Strabo
isdescribed
onlytoEphesos,
emporion
(12.8.15)as 'a great
bytheAugustan
geographer
The
Seefurther
P.Thonemann,
from
as a common
formerchandise
bothItalyandGreece*.
entrepot
serving
Maeander
2011),ch.3.
(forthcoming,
29 Nothing
in theHellenistic
G. M. Cohen,TheHellenistic
is known
ofthehistory
ofAkmoneia
period:
ofthe
inEurope
Settlements
, theIslands
, andAsiaMinor
inscription
(1995),277.MAMAVI 259isanhonorific
'Macedonian'
forMenophilos
sonofApollonios,
Roman
i;òyÄJtoM,ü)viov
(Mi]vóq)iXoy
period
early
Imperial
from
'Fiveinscriptions
atAkmoneia
nameMaiceôobv
is attested
andthepersonal
(E. Varinlioglu,
Maiceôóva),
a Macedonian
thatthisreflects
REA 108 (2006),355-73,at 360,no. 2 a36); it is conceivable
Acmonia',
Akmoneia
washometoa substantial
orAttalid)
atAkmoneia.
settlement
community,
(Seleukid
Jewish
diaspora
III inthelatethird
inPhrygia
colonists
settled
from
theJewish
whomaybedescended
byAntiochos
military
inAsiaMinor
Communities
b.c.(Josephus,
P.Trebilco,
(1991),58-84;T.Rajak,
AJ12.148-53):
Jewish
century
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THE WOMENOF AKMONEIA
173
was establishedat the city.The statarionwas paid for by C. SornatiusC.f. Barba of
Picenum,Lucullus' legate in Asia Minor duringhis campaignsagainst Mithradates;the
originalfunctionof thisslave-marketmay well have been to processthe vast numbersof
This slave-market
was stillin existencein
war-captivesfromLucullus'Asiaticcampaigns.30
a.D. 68, whena certainDemades son of Dionysogenessetup a statueof Hermesand other
dedications'at thestatarion'31 The Akmoneianshad a patronat Rome in thelate Republican period, Q. Decimius Q.f., about whom nothingis known.32By the late 60s b.c.,
Akmoneiawas a wealthyplace. In the course of his governorshipof Asia in 62/1b.c., L.
ValeriusFlaccus was said to have extorted206,000 drachmaefromthecityof Akmoneia;
thisenormoussum,which was supposedlypaid by an individualcitizenof Akmoneia,a
certainAsklepiades,is some indicationof theprosperity
of Akmoneiaduringthisperiod.33
It mayhave been aroundthistimethatAkmoneiabegan mintingitsown bronzeand brass
coinage,on the same denominationalstructureand withsimilartypesto the muchlarger
coinage of Apameia-Kelainai,75 km south-eastof Akmoneia.34
The large numberof Italian businessmenresidentat Akmoneiain the late Republican
and earlyImperialperiodcan be inferred
fromtheunusuallywide varietyof non-imperial
in
attested
at
Akmoneia
the
firstthreecenturiesA.D. Some of these gentiligentilicians
cians were relativelycommon in the Greek world (Atilius,Aufidius,Calvisius, Clodius,
Furius,Naevius, Papirius,Vibius); otherswere distinctly
rare,or even unique (Afranius,
Most of
Catilius,Clutorius,Mevius, Musetius,Pacilius,Titedius,Trollius,Turronius).35
these familieswere presumablythe descendantsof freedmenof Italians in business at
Akmoneiain thelast centuryof the Republicand theearlyyearsof thePrincipáte.
In one instance,itmaybe possibleto tracetheoriginsofa prominentfamilyat Akmoneia
to the activitiesof one specificlate Republican businessman.In the course of the second
and early thirdcenturiesA.D., several individualswith the gentilicianEgnatius appear
at Akmoneia. The earliestattestedmemberof the familyseems to be L. Egnatius L.f.
TeretinaQuartus,who pursuedan equestrianmilitarycareerin thefirsthalfof thesecond
centuryA.D.36Quartus was a native of Akmoneia,where he was honoured as 'founder
TheJewish
andRome(2001),463-78;W.Ameling,
Orientis
II:
DialoguewithGreece
Inscriptiones
Judaicae
Kleinasien
(2004),
345-79.
30 MAMAVI 260,withR. Syme,
II (1979),601-2:Táioç2oupvá[xioç
RomanPapers
Taiov]vtòçOueXíva
Sornatius
wasalsohonoured
atPergamon:
IvPII 431(IGRTV437).
xò]axaxápiov... icaxeoicevaoev.
ß[apßa£
A.B.Bosworth,
andtheslavetrade',
thattheslave-market
'Vespasian
CQ 52(2002),350-7,at354-5,suggests
inorder
wasbuilt
todispose
ofslaves
atPrusaandNicaeain72b.c.,butthis
specifically
captured
bySornatius
makes
little
sense.OnSornatius,
seefurther
M. P.Guidobaldi,
'C. Sornatius
C. f.Vel.Barba:una
geographical
breve
notasullegato
diLucullo
inAsia',CCG7 (1996),263-8.
31 AE2006,1426.10-13:
èrti
xexoi)oxaxa[p]iou
xà vövjcpòçxoîçaAAoiç
icalřEp^oí)
icáMioxov
àvaôrí^aoiv
as a majorsource
ofslavesinthelateRepublican
andearly
W.
àvôpeictvxa
àvéôriicev.
Phrygia
Imperial
periods:
V.Harris,
Towards
a study
oftheRoman
slavetrade',
MAAR16(1980),117-40,at 122-3,127-8.
32 MAMAVI 258:early
first
b.c.
century
33 Cic.,Flacc.34-8.
34 Threetypesareknown,
minted
withserpent(1) Zeuswithoak-wreath/Asklepios
byfourmagistrates:
withstag;(3) Athena
incrested
Corinthian
onthunderbolt,
staff;
(2) cityTyche/Artemis
helmet/eagle
alighting
between
twostars.
Theodotos
sonofHierokles,
Timotheos
sonofMetrodoros,
Timotheos
sonof
Magistrates:
Menodotos
Sillon.
Seee.g.,BMCPhrygia
Menelaos,
pp.4-6,nos1-16;SNGVonAulock
3365-8,8310;GM
Winterthur
8-16.FortheRepublican
bronze
and
4011-13;SNGMünchen
(Phrygien)
52-6;SNGCop.(Phrygia)
brasscoinage
ofApameia,
seeBMCPhrygia
series
seems
tohavebeen
pp.74-88,nos33-109.TheApameian
introduced
inorshortly
before
b.c.:T.N. Smékalova,
Theearliest
ofbrassand"pure"
89/88
application
copper
intheHellenistic
ofAsiaMinorandthenorthern
BlackSeacoast',inJ.M. Hejte(ed.),Mithridates
coinages
VI andthePontic
ofthelateApameian
(2009),233-48(confirmed
Kingdom
bythechronology
,
cistophoroi
tobediscussed
intheforthcoming
oftheRepublican
ofApameia
andM. Byrne).
study
coinage
byR. Ashton
Thebeginning
oftheAkmoneian
series
cannot
bedatedprecisely;
thelastissues(mint-magistrate
Mrçvóôoxoç
datetothereign
ofAugustus
2íM,ü)v)
(seeabove).
Fullreferences
andbibliography
inMAMAXI,introduction,
'Akmoneia'.
PMEI 342,E3; IV 1547-8,E3;J.Ott,'DieKommandeure
dernorischen
10 (1995),
Hilfstruppen',
Tyche
107-38,at119-21.
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174
PETERTHONEMANN
and benefactorof his homeland'.37An Egnatius Rapo and an EgnatiusVitellianusare
also attestedat Akmoneia,and fourEgnatiiappear on an inscriptionfromthe villageof
An inscription
bordersof Akmoneianterritory.38
Dioskome, close to the south-western
fromneighbouringDiokleia dated to A.D. 196/7mentionsa certainQ. PetroniusCapito
Egnatianusand his son Marcus; thecognomenEgnatianusshouldderivefromhismother's
nomenEgnatia.39
The tribalaffiliationof L. EgnatiusL.f. TeretinaQuartus providesus with a clue to
the originsof the AkmoneianEgnatii. A haruspex and magistrateby the name of L.
Egnatius L.f. T[er.] Mamaecianus is attestedat Venafrumin the firstcenturyb.c., but
thereis no reason to suspectthat he had any connectionwith the provinceof Asia.40A
moreinteresting
possibilityis thatthe AkmoneianEgnatiimightultimatelybe connected
to the equestrianfinancierL. EgnatiusRufus,whom Cicero could describeas 'the closest
to me of all Roman équités'.41It is verylikelythatEgnatiusRufus belongedto the tribe
Teretina,sincehe is probablyidenticalwiththeEgnatiusSidicinus(i.e. a nativeof Teanum
Sidicinum)withwhom Cicero had financialdealingsin early50 b.c.42Between51 and 46
b.c., Cicero wrote severallettersrecommendingRufusto various Roman officialsin the
He urgedthe governorof Cilicia to look
provincesof Asia, Cilicia and Bithynia-Pontus.
favourablyon theactivitiesofEgnatius'local agentin theregion,a certainQ. Oppius,who
was based at Philomelionin PhrygiaParoreios.In theprovinceof Asia, Egnatius'interests
were representedby his slave Anchialos,whom Cicero recommendedto the provincial
quaestor.43Given L. EgnatiusRufus' businessactivitiesin the provinceof Asia (and the
part of Cilicia, PhrygiaParoreios),it is veryattractiveto suppose thatthe
neighbouring
Egnatiiof Akmoneiamightbe descendedfromone of Rufus'freedmen.
IV THEWOMENOF AKMONEIA
As we have seen,thechiefpointof interestin theinscriptionis thehonouringbodyin lines
1-3 of the text,'the Greekand Roman wives'. The existenceof a corporatebody of this
In the smalltownsof Italyand the Greekworld in the
typeis not in itselfunprecedented.
37 IGRIV642;fora farther
seenowAEzoo6,1425. Quartus
forQuartus
from
honorific
Akmoneia,
inscription
inaninscription
discovered
offullers
andlover
ofhishomeland'
wasalsohonoured
as'founder
byanassociation
toderive
isalsolikely
thisinscription
atUçak,
theancient
(SEG6,167;AE 1977,802).However
Temenouthyrai
from
AhattoUçak:seeMAMAVI 149,
areknown
tohavetravelled
stones
from
sincenumerous
Akmoneia,
*167;Robert,
op.cit.(n.9),156n.7; Drew-Bear,
op.cit.(n.28),284-5.
38
'Thecities
W.M. Ramsay,
MAMAVI 295-6.Egnatii
atDioskome:
Vitellianus:
RapoandEgnatius
Egnatius
at414-15,no.29(Ramsay,
ofPhrygia',
andbishoprics
op.cit.(n.9),608,no.498;IGR
JHS4 (1883),370-436,
inMAMAXI.Inline5,thecorrect
willappear
textofthelatter
IV635;SEG42,1203).Animproved
inscription
era= a.D.248;inlines12-13,where
10oftheSullan
Year332Month
is[ë]Touç
[piiKvôç)]
ôeicáxov,
xXß'
reading
bereadasIIo3tX.[í]|ov
thenameshould
textreads[A.(?) 'EyvalxialIvloO
IIeTpa)v[iov
Iletp(Dv[ia]voí),
Ramsay's
. c. %. .liou.
39 Ramsay,
seeO. Salomies,
ofthiskind,
cognomina
op.cit.(n.9), 660,no.615(IGRIV 664);onmaternal
61n.2.
intheRoman
Nomenclature
andPolyonymous
(1992),
Empire
Adoptive
40 CIL I2 3116a,withO. Wikander,
IV.ThecaseoftheEgnatii
andéquités
'Senators
, ORom18 (1990),
ofQuartus).
beanancestor
at210n.45 (suggesting
thathemight
207-11,
41 C. Nicolet,
a l'époquerépublicaine
L'ordre
(312-43av.J.-C.)(1966-74),II, 866-8,no. 134;J.
équestre
in
with
financial
romain
danslemonde
La viefinancière
Egnatius
dealings
(1987),700-1.ForCicero's
Andreau,
seeCic.,Att.7.18.4,10.15.4,11.3.3,12.18.3,ii.30-1»i*-?1-?theearly
b.c.,
40s
42 Cic.,Att.6.1.23.Fortheattribution
seeILS 9389;L. R.Taylor
tothetribe
Sidicinum
ofTeanum
Teretina,
andRuralTribes
Urban
theThirty-Five
theRoman
Districts
(i960),97n. 55.
Republic:
of
Voting
43 R. Syme,
in
mbithyma
androntus
areP.bilius,
I (1979),126-40.Theaddressees
Roman
proconsul
Papers
andQ. Gallius,
inCiliciain47/6B.c.(Fam.13.73-4),
Philippus,
proconsul
51/0b.c.(Fam.13.47);Q. Marcius
in46B.c.(Fam.13.45).
inAsiain47B.c.,proquaestor
orlegate
hisquaestor
(Fam.13.43-4);
quaestor
Appuleius,
ofQ. Oppiusand
offreedmen
inLykaonia
atIkonion
maybethedescendants
Subsequent
OppiiandEgnatii
28(1979),409-38,at421-2.
Historia
'Iconium
andNinica',
Rufus:
S. Mitchell,
Egnatius
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THE WOMENOF AKMONEIA
175
late Republicanand Roman Imperialperiods,'the wives of the citizens'could, in certain
contexts,be conceptualizedas a separate corporategroup withincivic communities.A
numberof inscriptionsfromthe sanctuariesof Lagina and Panamara on the territory
of
Stratonikeiain Karia referto a JioX,tT8U|ia
to>vywaiiccov,a 'civic body of adult women/
wives'.44Similarly,at Lanuviumin Latium,at an uncertaindate in the Roman Imperial
period,a curia mulierumis attestedas receivingan epulumduplum;the termcuria here,
like politeumain the inscriptionsfromLagina and Panamara,probablymarksthe status
of the women as wives of the male membersof a curia at Lanuvium.45At Stratonikeia,
the politeumaof women seems to have existedsolelyforthe purpose of receivingcashdistributionsand participatingin banquets; in one inscription,a priestat Panamara is
said to have 'summonedthe politeumaof wives, and givento each of them,along with
thecustomarythings,one denariusper head; and likewiseto those local [i.e. non-citizen]
and foreignwiveswho come up to the sanctuarywiththeirhusbands...'.46A comparable
distinctionbetweendifferent
classes of femalerecipientsof cash-distributions
appears in
an inscriptionfromCarsulae in Umbriaof thelate second or thirdcenturyA.D.,in whicha
distribution
ofone denariusperhead is offeredto themulieribusmatron(is)et libertin(is).47
What is so surprisingabout the new Akmoneianinscriptionis not the existenceof
a corporatebody of 'wives of the citizens'per se; the extraordinaryelementlies in the
women'sbehaviouras activepoliticalagents.Even thoughthe collectivebody of 'citizen
wives' could be conceptualizedas possessinga politicalpersonality,as suggestedby the
use of termssuch as politeumaor curia to describethem,the rôle played in civic lifeby
thesewomenwas, undermostcircumstances,
a purelypassiveone.48'At thisstagein their
lives,women, as a civic category,clearlyhave no formalrole to play any more beyond
thatof recipientsof distributions
or participantsen groupein processionsand in civicand
this
To
religiousbanquets'.49
generalization,the decreeof the citizenwives of Akmoneia
forthehigh-priestess
Tatia standsout as a lonelyand baffling
exception.
Tatia herselfis a figureof a familiartype.The banquets and cash-distributions
from
which these corporatebodies of women benefitedwere oftenprovided at the expense
44 LStratonikeia
666(Lagina).
Onthisuseoftheterm
seeW.Ruppel,
149,174,352(Panamara);
JtoMxeuixa,
'Politeuma:
einesstaatsrechtlichen
82(1927),268-312and433-54,
Terminus',
Bedeutungsgeschichte
Philologus
at
45449-52.
CIL XIV 2120,withG. Amodio,
'Alcuneosservazioni
sullecuriemunicipali
nellecittàdell'Occidente
'CIL XIV
ZPE 120(1998),233-49,at239n. 50;A.Pasqualini,
diLanuvio
romano',
2120,la curiamulierum
e 1'"associazionismo"
delledonne
inA.Buonopane
andF.Cenerini
nella
romane',
(eds),Donnae vitacittadina
documentazione
thetext).
epigrafica
(2005),
259-74
(overinterpreting
46 LStrat.
xòJtoXeí[xev]n,a
xcov
xcàvè| ë0ouç
352:[K]aXioaç
YuvatKtòv,
[òovçôè]éicáoxfl
jiexaxa>v^[ol]jt(jl)v
Kaix[aiç]oùvàvôpáoivàva[pâoiyu]va[i£]iv
KaiÇévaiç].
Thecitizen
of
wives
[à]và* a', ófxoícoç
èvxojtío[iç
Stratonikeia
wereoften
listed
'resident
women'
and'female
slaves'
as
(aí JiápoiKOi)
alongside
foreign
(aí òovKai)
ofdistributions:
KaixœvjiapoÍKO)[v
recipients
xd)]v
yvvaiKcòv
e.g.LStrat.
K]aiòovXíòv,
663.6-8,[vjtèp?
pi[exà
Kaié[Ká]ooxT|i
àvà ôpa[x|iàçxpeíç]('onbehalf
ofthe[citizen]
xfiçexxjoxKaç
fjçjt[apéax]exo
aòxatçbôcokev
wives
andresident
women
andfemale
after
thebanquet
which
sheprovided
forthem
shegaveto
slaves,
foreign
eachwoman
three
denarii
cf.LStrat.
666.
per
head');
47 AE 2000,531.Cashdistributions
to women(mulieribus)
arefrequently
inItaly:e.g.ILS 6271
attested
uxoribus
uxoribus
(Ferentinum:
mulierib(us)
); CILX 5849(Ferentinum:
nuptis
); CILX 415(Volcei:
); AE 1976,
AE 1997,432(Fagifulae);
seefurther
S.Mrozek,
Lesdistributions
176(Blanda
Iulia);CILIX 3171(Corfinium);
etdenourriture
danslesvilles
italiennes
duHaut-Empire
romain
d'argent
(1987),86,98-9.InCIL XIV2408
a.d.169),thefemale
ofa cash-distribution
arespecifically
described
as 'thewives
(ILS5196:Bovillae,
recipients
ofthehonorât
/'(mulier
Inthetestament
ofL. Veturius
(ibus)honor
(atorum)).
(CILV 2072),in
NeposatFeltria
which
sumsofmoney
aresetasideforvarious
tobeperformed
rites
funerary
bytheCiarne(nses),
Hercl(anenses)
andmulieres
themulieres
constitute
a separate
oraresimply
thewivesofthe
, itisnotclearwhether
collegium
members
ofthefirst
twocollegia.
Cf.thecollegium
mulierum
ofCILVI 10423.
SeeB. Levick,
'Romanwomen
ina corporate
Ktema19 (1994),259-67,emphasizing
thestrong
state?',
restrictions
onfemale
behaviour
under
thePrincipáte.
imposed
'corporate'
VanBremen,
asparticipants
inpublic
intheGreek
seefurther
op.cit.(n.1),148.Onwomen
banquets
world,
P.Schmitt
La citéau banquet
: Histoire
desrepaspubliques
danslescités
Pantel,
(1992),397-9.
grecques
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176
PETERTHONEMANN
of (or at least in the name of) individualfemalebenefactors.50
A statue-basefromVeii
in EtruriahonoursCaesia Sabina forhavingprovideda banquet for'the mothersof the
centumviri
, and theirsistersand daughters,and thewivesofthemunícipesofeveryordo'.51
In an honorificdecree of the mid-first
centuryA.D.,the local benefactorEpameinondas
of Akraiphiain Boiotia is said to have provided a midday meal for the entirecitizen
populationof Akraiphia,along withtheirmale childrenand slaves,overa ten-dayfestival
period;his wifeKotila similarlyprovideda middaymeal for'the wivesof thecitizensand
the unmarriedgirlsand the femaleslaves'.52A statue-basefromHerakleia underSalbake
in Karia describesthe officesheld and benefactionsperformedby Ammia, daughterof
Charmides,wifeof C. AburniusEutychianus,'havingalso herselfprovideddistributions
for all the wives of the bouleutai and citizens'.53The phraseology(bovoav icat avxi'v
to the women of Herakleia are
ôiavofxáç)makes it clear thatAmmia'scash distributions
distributions
made by herhusbandto themale bouleutaiand citizensof Herakmirroring
leia.54
Such 'mirrored'husband-and-wife
benefactionsmay providesome help in explaining
thecontextof the honoursvoted by the Greekand Roman wives of AkmoneiaforTatia.
In lines 6-8 of our inscription,Tatia is situatedin relationto her husband Menodotos
Sillon,who (as we have seen) was a prominentmemberof the civic élite of Akmoneia
around the turnof the era. In the Roman Imperialperiod,husband and wife(or mother
and son) pairs who had held officetogether,particularlyas priestand priestess,were
honouredwithtwinstatuesand twinhonorificinscriptions.55
It is possiblethat
frequently
thesurviving
monumentis one of a pair of honorificstelai,setup simultaneously
forTatia
and herhusbandMenodotos. If thiswere the case, it would be attractiveto suppose that
Kai ó ôf)|XOÇ
ó
Menodotos mighthave been honouredby the men of Akmoneia (t) ßovX,fj
icat
oi
for
his
benefactions
to
while
Tatia
was
them,
ÂicjjLovécDV
KatoiKoflvxeç
ePo)|xatoi)
te Kai řPa)(xaíai).
honouredby thewomen (ai yvvaîiceç'EXÀrivíôeç
Nevertheless,none of this rendersthe honorificinscriptionforTatia fromAkmoneia
any less remarkable.As we have seen,fora corporatebody of women to take eithersole
or joint responsibility
with the male membersof theircommunityfor a
responsibility
monument
of
kind
this
is
entirelyunprecedentedin the citiesof the Greekworld
public
underthe Principáte.The best parallels forthe Akmoneianmonumentcome fromItaly
in the Roman Imperialperiod,wherea handfulof monumentsshow corporatebodies of
women dedicatingstatuesof benefactors,both male and female.At Trebula Mutuesca
in Latium in the mid-secondcenturyA.D.,the mulieresTrebulanaededicateda statueof
the
Laberia Hostilia, and at Carsulae in Umbriain the late second or earlythirdcentury,
mulieresmatronaeet libertin(ae)dedicateda statueof C. TifanusAgricola.56At Tuficum,
50 Women
neednotalwayshavepaidforthe
andbanquets
to thecity's
women
whooffered
distributions
a three-talent
InClassical
weareexplicitly
toldthatmenpossessing
from
ownresources.
festivities
their
Athens,
festival
atthewomen-only
nametoherfellow-demeswomen
wererequired
tooffer
a mealintheir
fortune
wife's
oftheThesmophoria:
Isaeus3.80,withSchmitt
Pantel,
op.cit.(n.49),132.-5.
51 CIL XI 3811:'haecsolaomnium
etomnis
etfiliab(us)
etsororibus
feminarum
matribus
c(entum)
uir(orum)
wassetupbythesorores
dediť.Thestatue
ordinis
mulieribus
, butitisnotatall
piissimae
epulum
municipib(us)
and
diCaesiaSabinadaVeio(C/L,XI,3811)',inBuonopane
thisrefers:
D. Pupillo,
'L'iscrizione
cleartowhom
Cenerini,
op.cit.(n.45),233-40,at239.
52
ofAcraephia',
GRBS12 (1971),221-37,at 228,lines69-71:xáçxeyvvaXicaç
J.H. Oliver^
'Epaminondas
riywňoòtoOKorneaitoíoxioev
icaljcapôévovç
icalôoi&açèvTiXiicouç.
tcl)v
jtoXeiTóW
53 L. andJ.Robert,
La CarieII: leplateau
deTabaietsesenvirons
op.
(1954),173,no.66,withvanBremen,
cit.(n.1),166-7,293-4.
54 On'joint'and'mirrored'
seevanBremen,
benefactions,
op.cit.(n.1),273-96.
55 e.g.thenear-identical
AeliaAmmia,
ofM.Iulius
statue-bases
from
high-priest
Aquilaandhismother
Ephesos
22
ausAizanoi
'NeueInschriftenfunde
686and689,withM.Wörrle,
ofAsia:I.Ephesos
andpriestess
I', Chiron
cit.(n.1),117-36.
at368-70;seefurther
vanBremen,
op.
(1992),
337-76,
56 Trebula:
inItalien
inpraediis:
Senatorischer
Totus
Grundbesitz
AE 1964,106;FIR1L 15;A.M. Andermahi;
AE 2000,533.
undhohen
inderfrühen
Kaiserzeit
(1998),312-14.Carsulae:
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THE WOMENOF AKMONEIA
I77
also in Umbria,a statue of Camurena C.f. Celerina was dedicated by the munícipeset
the matronaededicated a statue
incol(ae) Tuf(icani)utriusquesexus, and at Surrentum,
of a priestessof Venus.57From the easternhalfof the Roman Empire,the only remotely
Iulia
parallel case is a bilingualprivatemonumentof the Seveřanperiod fromColonia
'
AugustaDiensis in Macedonia, in which 'the wives of the coloni and incolae honour a
femalebenefactor(AnthestiaP.I. Iucunda) with a statue.58However,the stele for Tatia
fromAkmoneiais not a private,but a public monument,as lines 15-23 (concerningthe
erectionof the monumentby civic officials)make clear; the women of Akmoneia are
acting,withmale approval and support,as a public body in theirown right.
It is at leastpossiblethattheexplanationforthisunique documentof collectiveactivity
by the corporatebody of women at Akmoneiamightlie in the specificcircumstancesof
thetimeat whichthe monumentwas erected.As we have seen,the inscriptionis dated to
the yeara.d. 6/7.The reignof Caesar Augustushad seen significant
changesin the rôles
theinstitutionalization
of thefamily
playedby women in Roman public life.In particular,
of Augustusas the centralorgan of the Roman statehad broughtwithit an increasingly
prominentpublic rôle for his wife Livia as princepsfemina, 'firstlady' among Roman
in numerouspublic acts and benefactionsby
women.59This symbolicstatuswas reflected
Livia on behalfof the women of Rome. On the occasion of Tiberius'triumphover the
Germansin 7 b.c.,Dio informsus thatTiberiusoffereda feastfortheSenateon theCapitol,
while Livia feasted'the women' (presumablythe senators'wives) on her own account
(lòia).60 Many years later,when the widowed Livia planned to invitethe senatorsand
equestriansand theirwivesto a banquetto markthe dedicationof an imago of Augustus,
Tiberiusissuedtheinvitations
to themale guestsin his own name;Livia,as princepsfemina,
could appropriately
offera banquetonlyto thewivesof theRoman élite.61
It would be surprisingif this new way of conceptualizingthe position of women in
the Roman state - as symbolicallyorganizedinto an ordo matronarum
, with a single
woman at its head - had no influenceon the behaviourof the local élitesin the Roman
provinces.Indeed, in one instance,we can see the influenceof Augustus'promotionof
Livia as princepsfeminaon the behaviourof the civic élitesof Asia Minor veryclearly.
At Eumeneiain southernPhrygia,a small bronzecoinage was mintedduringthe reignof
whose
Augustuswiththeportraitand name of Livia on the obverse;themint-magistrate,
name appears on thereversewithina wreath,was a woman,Kastoris'sotira'62 This is, to
all appearances,theearliestinstanceof a coinage mintedbya femalemagistrateanywhere
in the Greekworld. In the PhrygianPentapolis,east of Eumeneia,a bronze coinage was
mintedafterAugustus'deathwiththeportraitand name of 'Augusta' (SeßacTri,i.e. Livia)
57 CIL XI 5711; CIL X 688.In a dedication
from
Interamna
Praetuttiorum
(AE 1998,416),thepriestess
Numisia
Secunda
Sabinais honoured
witha statue
inthefollowing
words:'ob munificentiafm]
huicprimae
mulierum
aerecoll[ato]
statu
'Le madri
dellecittà',
in
omni[um]
plepsPraetuttian[a]
[am]posuiť.F.Cenerini,
andCenerini,
set
Buonopane
op. cit.(n.45),481-9,at 487,takesthisto meanthattheplebsPraetuttiana
from
'denaroraccolto
dalledonne';M. Buonocore,
'Un'inedita
testimonianza
di munificentia
up thestatue
femminile
a Teramo',
Athenaeum
86 (1998),463-8,at464,apparently
understands
thehonouring
bodytobe
theplebsPraetuttiana
mulierum.
Neither
is atalllikely.
I should
totakethewordmulierum
hypothesis
prefer
withomnium
ofallwomen',
i.e.'huicprimae
omnium
mulierum
//
aerecollato
statuam
, 'first
plebsPraetuttiana
Forthephraseology,
cf.CIL XI 3811(Veii),
'solaomnium
feminarum'.
posuiť.
58 SEG 34,631 (AE 1998,1210):'colonarum
Anthestiae
P.l.Iucundae
honoris
(sic)etincolarum
coniuges
causa'/koXwvcdv
icalJtapoiicoov
al yuvaliceç
Äv0eoxiai
IIojtX,iov
'Iovicovvôai
í-veicev.
àjieXevOépai
àpeTÍjç
N. Purcell,
'Liviaandthewomanhood
ofRome',
PCPS32(1986),78-105;C. Kunst,
'Zursozialen
Funktion
inP.Kneissl
derDomus',
andV.Losemann
Romanům:
(eds),Imperium
Festschrift
fürKarlChrist
(1998),450-71.
Dio 55.8.2,withK. Vössing,
Mensaregia.Das Bankett
beimhellenistischen
Königundbeimrömischen
Kaiser(2004),277.Similarly,
atTiberius'
ovatioin9 b.c.,Tiberius
feasted
theRoman
men'ontheCapitol
and
while
LiviaandJulia
a banquet
for'thewomen':
Dio 55.2.4.
elsewhere',
provided
61 Dio 57.12.5.Onthissocial
convention
wasnotnew:cf.e.g.Cic.,Att.5.1),seeE. Stein-Hölkeskamp,
(which
Das römische
Gastmahl:
eineKulturgeschichte
(2005),
73-86.
62 RPCI 3143.
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178
PETERTHONEMANN
on the obverse,and the name of anotherwoman, Apphia ' hiereď ('priestess')on the
A generationlatereduringthe reignof Nero, a brass and bronze coinage was
reverse.63
mintedat Eumeneiawiththe names and portraitsof Nero and AgrippinaII; the coins in
of Asia', while those in
the name of Nero were mintedby Iulius Kleon 'the high-priest
the name of Agrippinawere mintedby Kleon's wife Bassa 'the high-priestess'.64
Kleon's
coins carriedon thereversean imageof thedeityApollo Propylaioswithhis characteristic
a double-axe,whileBassa's coins depictedthegoddessKybeleand herattributes,
attribute,
a tympanonand lion's head; no doubt Kleon and Bassa had at some pointservedas highof the Eumeneiancivic cults of Apollo and Kybelerespectively.
priestand high-priestess
Similarexamplesof 'paired' coinagesmintedbymenand womenin thename of emperors
and empressescontinuein laterperiods.65
The decree of the women of Akmoneia in honour of theirbenefactorTatia could be
as anotherkindof local responseto thenew Augustanideologicalprogramme.
interpreted
At Rome, Livia had been placed in an unprecedentedand highlyvisiblepositionas the
princepsof a nominalordo ofwomen,thefemaleequivalentofthemale populus Romanus
at whose head the princepsAugustusnow sat. For the Akmoneianordo matronarum
to pass a decree in honour of theirown local princepsfemina, the high-priestess
Tatia,
thisideologicalsystemat thecivic
may have seemedlike an appropriateway of reflecting
level. In fact,at Rome, Livia's ideologicalprominencewas not accompanied by any real
auctoritasor politicalpowerssince the Roman ordo matronarumof the earlyPrincipáte
remainedan entirely
passivebody,devoid of autonomyand existingsolelyforthepurpose
of receivingbenefactionsfromtheirfemaleprinceps; indeed, it is possible to interpret
Livia's sharplyand restrictively
definedpublic rôle as 'reallythe reverseof a movement
towards a serious change in the social role of women, and so ... no exceptionto the
repressivestabilizingintendedby Augustus' programmeas a whole'.66For a collective
body of women to be licensedto engage in active,quasi-politicalbehaviourof the kind
attestedin the Akmoneiandecree for Tatia was not part of the new Augustangender
ideologyat all.
Nonetheless,thereis no reason to expectthatthe normativepurpose of the Augustan
social programmewould necessarilyhave been instantlyand accuratelyunderstoodand
assimilatedin a small town at the opposite end of the Roman Empire.It seems to me
at least possible that the male inhabitantsof Akmoneia, in licensingthis unparalleled
outbreakof femalepolitical action,were attemptingto replicatesocial developmentsin
is broadly
the metropolisin theirown small provincialcommunity.If thisinterpretation
Akmoneia
is
women
of
of
Greek
and
Roman
the
the
correct, assembly
perhapsbestread
of what was goingon in AugustanRome. At any rate,
as a short-lived
misunderstanding
bettercounselssoon prevailed;the'Greekand Roman wives' are notheardof again,either
at Akmoneiaor anywhereelse.
WadhamCollege, Oxford
[email protected]
63 RPC13160;inplaceofanethnic,
that
Etf
carries
theadjective
thereverse
(sc.rceôíou),
KapjUTiKoO
suggesting
intociviccommunities.
oftheplainwerenotyetorganized
theinhabitants
64 RPCI 3149-52.
65 Laodikeia:
forNeroand Poppaearespectively;
and IuliaZenonis,
RPC I 2920-5(IuliusAndronikos
for
IuliaIpsos:RPC I 3193(Pomponia,
Andronikos'
coinsdepictZeus,whileZenonis'depictAphrodite);
?', Chiron
oderrömische
RPCII 1386-9,withP.Weiss,
Prägegenehmigung
II); Eumeneia:
'Euergesie
Agrippina
for
ofAsia,andCI. Terentulla,
high-priestess,
high-priest
30 (2000),235-54,at 236-9(M. Cl. Valerianus,
while
Terentulla's
coinsdepict
Valerianus'
andDomitia
Domitian
Kybele).
depict
Propylaios,
Apollo
respectively;
L. Servenius
wefind
thelocaldignitaries
AtAkmoneia
acting
together
CapitoandIuliaSevera
itself,
bycontrast,
II andPoppaea:
RPCI 3170-7.Seefurther
inthenameofNero,Agrippina
oncoinages
asjointmint-magistrates
andCenerini,
inBuonopane
unospaziofemminile?',
monetale:
A.L. Morelli,
op.cit.(n.45),119-33.
Epigrafìa
66Purcell,
op.cit.(n.59),86.
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