DIVINE LAWS & JUDICIAL GODS IN THE CLASSICAL LEVANT In search of a Near Eastern religious-legal framework in the Roman period

DIVINE LAWS & JUDICIAL GODS IN THE CLASSICAL LEVANT In search of a Near Eastern religious-legal framework in the Roman period ted.kaizer@durham.ac.uk Chicago, 27 April 2010 1) A day at the court: the Goharienoi before Caracalla in Antioch (AD 216) Sabino et Anulino cos., [VI] Kal(endas) Iunias, Antio[chiae, Imp(erator) Caesar] M. Aurel(ius) Antoninus Pius Fel(ix) Aug(ustus) Par(thicus) max(imus), Brit(annicus) max(imus), Ge[rm(anicus) max(imus)] cum sal(utatus) a praef(ectis) praet(orio) e(minentissimis v(iris), item amicis et princ(ipibus) offic(i)or(um) sed(isset) in aud(itorio), admitti iussit Aur(elium) Carzeum Sergi defen(sorem) Go[har(ienorum)] agentem adversus Avid(ium) Hadrianum mancipem, quam cognitionem dominus suscipere dignatus est, cum advocato Egnatio Iu- 5 liano, Avid(io?) Hadriano manc(ipe?) cum advocato Lolliano Aristaeneto, ex quibus Aristaenetus d(ixit) : παραγράφομαι. Lollianus d(ixit): ταγῆναι ἐκέλευσες τήν διάγνωσιν. Aristaenetus d(ixit) : αἱ ἔκκλητοι νόμω γείνονται ἥ λαμβάνει τὴν ἔκκλητον ὁ ἡγεμὼν καὶ εἰσέρχεταί σου εἰς τὸ δικαστήριον ἥ μὴ δεξαμένου τοῦ ἡγεμόνος πῶς εἰσαγώγιμός 10 ἐστιν ἡ δίκη ; μετὰ πολλὰς κρίσεις καὶ άποφάσεις σὺ ἐνετεύχθης ἐν *ταῖ+ς ἀξιώσεσιν τῶν,ο} Γοα*ριην+ῶν. οὔτε σύνδικος οὐ πρεσβευτής, ἄνθρω- *πος ἀντίδικος ἰδι+ωτικὸς ὢν εἰσήγ(αγ)εν ἔντευξιν ὥστε σε δικαστὴν ἀντὶ ἡγεμόν*ος ἔχειν+ σὺ *γὰρ+ ε*ἶπες αὐτ+ῶ εἰ βούλεσθε ἀκοῦσαί με, ἀκούσομαι. *πρότερον οὗτοι οὐ+δὲ α*ν+τιλέγοντ*ες+, νῦν ὁπότε εἰσήειμεν νόμω δικαστηρίου, 15 *σοι ἐνέτυχον ἀλλὰ δεῖ λέγει+ν ὅτι οὔτε ἔκκλητον ἔχουσιν οὔτε ἔχειν δύνανται πρὸς *τὸ δικαστήριόν σου. Lolli]anus d(ixit) : γεωργοὶ οἵ σοι μετὰ τῶν ἄλλων δεήσεων *ἐνέτυχον, καὶ ταύτην τὴν+ ἱκεσίαν σοι προσήγαγον Κάσσιος οὐ προσήκατο τὴν πα*ρα-] [γραφὴν, ὅτι οὐ πρότερο]ν κατεμέμψαντο εἰσήγαγε[ν πρὸς τὸ] θεῖον δικά- [στήριόν σου μετά] τῶν ἄλλων ἀξιώσεων ὥστε σ*ὺ ἐτύγχανες ὤν δικ+αστὴ*ς+ 20 [ - - - - - ] κελεύσας τοῦτο ἀναγν*ωσθῆναι - - - - ] d(ixit?) Ε - - - - - - - - - ΚΑ. ΟΤΣΕΕΙ. ΕΣΟΤΑΝ - - - - - - - - ΑΣΟ - - - - - - - - ΕΕΙ... ΣΟ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - ΣΕ - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - [Antoninus A]ug(ustus) d(ixit) : λέγεις οὖν ὅτι οὐκ ἐξεκαλέσατο ; Aristaene- 25 tus d(ixit) : *οὐκ ἔχουσιν+ ἔκκλητον ὅτι οὐκ ἐξῆν. Antoninus Aug(ustus) d(ixit) : ἴδε οὖν ἵνα ἐγὼ τῆ ἑμαυτοῦ γνώμη τι εἰπῶ καὶ ἐν τού- 1

τω τῶ *πρ+άγματι οὔτε ἐξεκαλέσατο οὔτε ἐμέμψ*α+το οὔτε τὸ πρᾶγμα τοῦτο ἐλέχθη παρὰ τῶ ἡγουμένω ἐπὶ τοῦ αὐτοκράτορος μέμφομαι σε, φησ[ί+ν 30 οὐ θέλις ἐμὲ ἀκοῦσαι τοῦ πράγματος ; Aristaenetus d(ixit) : λέγω. Antoninus Aug(ustus) d(ixit) : ἐγὼ εἰ ἔσπευδον ἐντεῦθεν ἀναστῆν*αι+, ἔλεγον ἡ παραγραφὴ χώραν ἔχει. ἐν τίσιν οὖν μέμφομαι ; Lollianus d(ixit) : λέγω ἐντὸς ἡμισείας e[t su]biunxit : ὁ μὲν ἀγὼν ὑπὲρ εὐσεβείας 35 τοῖς *μὲν γ+εωργοῖς, σοι δὲ πρεσβύτερον εὐσεβείας οὐδέν τὦρα οὖν θαρρο*ῦ+σιν ἐπὶ τοῦ παρόντος ἀγωνιζόμενοι παρὰ εὐσεβεστάτω βασιλεϊ καὶ δικαστῆ. Διὸς ἱερὸν ἐπιφανές ἐστιν παρ αὐτοῖς ἀμέλει παρὰ τῶν περιχώρων ἁπάντων Ω. ΕΙ Η θεωρεῖται βαδίζουσιν αὐτόσσε καὶ πομ*π+ὰς 40 πέμπονται. Σοῦ ἀντιδίκου τοῦτο πρῶτον ἀδίκημα ἀτελείᾳ καὶ ἀλιτουργία χρῆται καὶ στέφανον χρυσοῦν ἔχων προεδρίᾳ χρῆται καὶ σκῆπτρον ἐν*κ+εχίρισται καὶ ἱερέα τοῦ Διὸς ἑαυτὸν ἀνεκήρυσεν ὅπωσ *ταύτης+ ἠξίωται δωρεᾶς ἐπιδεικνύτω ἐγὼ γὰρ αὐτ*οῦ+ 45 *κατεν+αντίον ὅτι μηδὲ ὁ τούτ*ου+ πατὴρ ἀναγνώσομαι [--- --- --- Translation: Under the consulship of Sabinus and Anulinus, the 6th day before the Kalends of June, in Antioch, Imperator Caesar M. Aurelius Antoninus Pius Felix Augustus, Parthicus Maximus, Britannicus Maximus, Germanicus Maximus, saluted by the Praetorian Prefects, most eminent men, and also by his friends and by the state secretaries, having taken his seat at the tribunal, allowed to appear Aurelius Carzaeus, son of Sergius, defense lawyer of the people from Goharia, arguing his case against the contractor Avidius Hadrianus, a case which the emperor was glad to hear before him - Aur. Carzaeus with his advocate Egnatius Lollianus, the contractor Avidius Hadrianus with his advocate Julianus Aristaenetus. From those, Aristaenetus said: I demur. Lollianus said: You (i.e. Caracalla) ordered the cognitio to take place. Aristaenetus said: Appeals occur by rule: either the governor approves the appeal and it comes before your tribunal, or, if he has not accepted it, how can the case be brought before you? After many judgments and decisions, you were petitioned among the requests of the villagers of Goharia. Being neither a syndikos nor a delegate, but only a personal complainant, the fellow has inserted an appeal so as to get you as judge instead of the governor. And you said to him: If you wish me to hear (the case), I will hear it. We have protested against this from the outset, and now, when we were proceeding by the court rule, we demur to the suit because they have no right to appeal, nor can have, to your tribunal. Lollianus said: Your peasants, who had contacted you about other business, have also submitted this petition. Kassios had not granted the opposition sanction for a demurrer because they had not complained earlier on. He has introduced this affair before your divine tribunal together with the other requests so that you could judge it [- -- ---] [Aristaenetus] said: [--- --- --- 3 lines --- --- ---] [Antoninus] Augustus said: Are you, then, saying that he (i.e. Carzeus) did not appeal? Aristaenetus said They do not have an appeal, for it is not open to them to have one. Antoninus Augustus said: Look, now, let me say a word according to my own view 2

even in this case. He did not appeal, he did not put in a complaint, and this matter was not spoken of before the governor. I complain of you before the emperor, he says. Are you not willing for me to hear the case? Aristaenetus said: Naturally. Antoninus Augustus said: If I were in a hurry to get away from here I should say the demurrer is allowed. In what, then, am I criticised? Lollianus said: I will speak for under half an hour. And he added: This dispute is about piety, and to the peasants as to yourself there is nothing more important than piety. Hence they have confidence in the present case, suing before a most pious king and judge. There is a famous temple of Zeus in their territory, which is visited by people from all the neighbouring regions. They go there, and arrange processions to it. Here is the first wrong committed by our adversary. He enjoys immunity from taxation and exemption from liturgies, wears a gold crown, enjoys precedence, has taken the sceptre in his hand and has proclaimed himself the priest of Zeus. On what grounds has he judged himself worthy of that privilege? I will show --- that not even his father [--- --- --- --- --- --- SEG XVII, 759 = AÉ 1947, 182. Published by P. Roussel and F. de Visscher, Les inscriptions du temple de Dmeir, in Syria 23 (1942-3), p.173-194. Main discussion by W. Kunkel, Der Prozess der Goharenier vor Caracalla in FS Hans Lewald (Basel, 1953), p.81-91 [= id., Kleine Schriften (Weimar, 1974), p.254-266] For the minor restorations at the beginning of lines 42-43, see N. Lewis, Cognitio Caracallae de Goharienis: two textual restorations in TAPhA 99 (1968), p.255-258. Cf. W. Williams, Caracalla and the rethoricians in Latomus 33 (1974), p.663-667; J.A. Crook, Consilium Principis (Cambridge, 1955), p.82-83 and p.142-143; id., Legal Advocacy in the Roman World (London, 1995), p.91-95. 2) A priestly consecration in Palmyra (AD 164) *Σὸν ἀ+νδριά*ντα Ἁδδουδ+ανου Ἁγεγου *τοῦ Λισαμσου+ *τοῦ Ο+ὐζαρζιραθου ἀνέστησεν Αλαισας ἀδελφὸς *αὐτο+ῦ ἱεράσαντα Βήλῳ θε ἐξ ἰδίων Ἁδδουδανην *υἱὸν αὐτοῦ μηνὸς Ξανδι+κοῦ τοῦ 475 ἔτ*ο+υς Translation: This statue, of Haddoudanos, son of Agegos [son of Lisamsos] Ouzarzirathos, erected Alaisas his brother, because he consecrated to the god Bel, from his own purse, Haddoudan his son. The month Xandikos of the year 475 (April, AD 164). [s ]lm dn[h dy] h [d]wdn br h ggw lš[mš] zrzyrt dy qym l[h] lyš h [w]hy lyqrh bdyl dy qdš lh h dwdn brh [m]n [k]ysh l[bl l]h byrh nysn šnt 475 Translation: This is the statue of Haddoudan son of Hagegu (son of) Lishamsh Ouzarzirat, that Alaisa his brother set up for him in his honour, because he had consecrated for him Haddoudan his son, from his own purse, to [Bel his god]. The month Nisan, the year 475 (April, AD 164). D.R. Hillers and E. Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts (Baltimore - London, 1996), n o 1372. Cf. T. Kaizer, The Religious Life of Palmyra (Stuttgart, 2002), p.234-242. 3

3) Variety of local religious life in the Roman Near East T. Kaizer, In search of Oriental cults: methodological problems concerning «the particular» and «the general» in Near Eastern religion in the Roman period, in Historia 55 (2006), p.26-47. Id. (ed.), The Variety of Local Religious Life in the Near East in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods [Religions in the Graeco-Roman World 164] (Leiden - Boston, 2008), esp. Introduction, p.1-36. Id., Creating local religious identities in the Roman Near East, in W. Adler (ed.), The Cambridge History of Religions of the Classical World, vol.2 (Cambridge, in press). 4) The mysterious case of the missing cult statues --- --- --- Ε --- --- --- --- --- --- ΑΓΜΕ --- --- --- ΩΝΣΩΝ --- --- --- ΕΣΝΕΣΙΟΡ --- --- --- ΤΚΟΤΑ --- --- --- ΟΤ --- --- --- Ε --- --- --- --- --- --- --- ΘΗΝΕΝΑ 5 --- --- --- --- --- --- Α --- --- --- --- --- --- --- Α - ΘΕΩ --- --- --- Θ --- --- --- --- - --- --- --- ΟΝΚ --- --- --- ἐκέλε*υ+σεν Ι --- ΝΟΙΑΟΤΣΟΤΕ --- ΠΟ - --- d(ixit): ἱερεὺς ὁ Γ---Α *--- ὑπο τοῦ κ+υρίου μου Πορφ*υρίο+υ τοῦ ἱερέως προενεχθῆναι αὐτὰ --- 10 --- --- ΕΛΛΕ --- --- αὐτῶν γενεσθ---μενως τε τὰ κεκ*λει+σμένα ὑπὸ τοῦ δεσ*πότου+ --- --- ΠΙΠΕΡΑΧ --- --- --- [Lab]erianus d(ixit): τά ξόανα τ*αῦ+τα ποῦ ἀπόκειται --- ---]us d(ixit): --- ΣΕ - ΕΝΙΕΤΕΒΙΣ --- [Lab]erianus d(ixit): τίς ἐστιν ὁ ναοκόρος. D(ixerunt): Δωρόθεο*ς --- ---] Laberianus *Δω+ροθέω d(ixit): σύ εἶ ὁ ναοκόρος ἐνταῦθα *οὖν ἥ+ ἀπὸ πλίο*νος+ σου ταῦτα τὰ ξόανα ἀπετέθη; Do[r]otheus d(ixit): οὐ, κύρ*ιε+, οὐ μνημονεύω --- 15 [Lab]erianus d(ixit): τίς *ἦν+ ὁ π*ρὸ+ σου. D(ixit): Ακιβας [ἦν+. L[a]berianus --- d(ixit): ΣΛΛ-ΕΙ---ΠΟΓ--- --- *πότε+ *τὰ+ ξόανα ἀπετεθη - α -- *οὔτε ο+ὗτος ὁ πρὸ ἐμοῦ μνημον*ε+ύει οὐδὲ ἐγὼ μέμνημαι ἔχουσιν γ*ὰρ ---] --- ---κοντα πέντε ἔτη τὰ ξόανα ἀποικείμενα ἐπὶ Αὐρηλιανοῦ --- [Lab]erianus d(ixit): ἀκόλουθόν ἐστιν παρόντων καὶ τοῦ ταβουλαρίου καὶ τῶν σκευοφυλάκων καὶ ὑμῶν τῶν [πρω]τευόντων τῆς Θελσεηνῶν μ[ητρο]κώμης καὶ ὑμῶν τῶν ναοκόρων τῶν τε πεπα*υ+μέ- 20 4

νων καὶ τῶν ἐνεστότων κατὰ τῆν κείνησιν τοῦ Ὑψίστου Διὸς τὰς θύρας ἀνυγεῖσας ὀφθῆναι. πόταπά ἐστι τὰ ξόανα ; κα --- --- θως ἐβουλὴθη ἡ αὐτου ὁ*σι+ό*τ+ης προενεχθέντα καὶ ἀναγνωσθέντα μετὰ ἀκριβίας προκομίσθη τῆ αὐτοῦ δυνάμι παρὼν οὖν Δημήτριος ὁ ταβουλάριος ἐφῖδε τὰς σφραγίδας καὶ ἐνκαταβαλητ*--- --- σ+ήμασι τούτοις ὁποῖον χαρακτῆρα ἐκτυποῦ*σιν+ ἀποκρινάσθω δὲ καὶ Θεόδωρ*ος --- --- --- κατὰ + ποίαν πρόφασιν ἀπετέθη τὰ ξόανα ΕΝ --- Ε --- ΛΙ 25 - ΙΠΕΟΔΟΡ --- --- --- --- σθαι τὴν κώ(μ)ην κατὰ τὸν κερὸν ἐκεῖνον --- --- Translation: --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- --- he ordered --- --- [NP] said: the priest --- --- --- by my master Porphyrios the priest they were presented --- --- --- locked by the master --- --- Laberianus said: To where were the cult statues transported? [---]us said: --- --- --- Laberianus said: Who is the temple-warden? They said: Dorotheos. Laberianus said to Dorotheos: If you are the temple-warden, was it not before your time that the cult statues were transported? Dorotheos said: No, my lord, I do not remember. Laberianus said: Who is your predecessor? [Dorotheos] said: Aquibas. Laberianus said: --- --- --- [Dorotheos] said: --- --- to where the cult statues were transported, neither the one who was before me remembers it, nor I myself recall it. --- --- --- -]five years the cult statues were transported, under Aurelianus. Laberianus said: It follows that when the record-keeper and the store-keepers and you, the leading men of the mother-village of the Thelseenoi, and you the temple-wardens, both those who had demitted office and those in office, were present on the occasion of the movement of Zeus Hypsistos, that the doors will have been open. What sort of cult-statues are they? --- --- --- his sanctity --- wished --- presented and inventorised with great care, they were moved by his power. Demetrios the record-keeper, who is present here, has seen the seals and --- --- with these seals they imprinted the mark (?). Theodoros also ought to answer --- --- for which reason the cult statues were transported --- --- the village at this occasion --- --- Published by P. Roussel and F. de Visscher, Les inscriptions du temple de Dmeir, in Syria 23 (1942-3), p.194-200. Cf. F. Millar, The Roman Near East, 31 BC - AD 337 (Cambridge, Mass. - London, 1993), p.318. 5) The moving cult statue in Hierapolis (On the Syrian Goddess 10 + 36) --- --- ἱδρώει γὰρ δὴ ὦν παρὰ σφίσι τὰ ξόανα καὶ κινέεται καὶ χρησμηγορέει, καὶ βοὴ δὲ πολλάκις ἐγένετο ἐν τ νη κλεισθέντος τοῦ ἱροῦ, καὶ πολλοὶ ἤκουσαν --- --- --- τρόπος δὲ αὐτῆς τοιόσδε. εὖτ ἂν ἐθέλῃ χρησμηγορέειν, ἐν τῇ ἕδρῃ πρῶτα κινέεται, οἱ δέ μιν ἱρέες αὐτίκα ἀείρουσιν ἥν δὲ μὴ ἀείρωσιν, ὁ δὲ ἱδρώει καὶ ἐς μέζον ἔτι κινέεται. εὖτ ἂν δὲ ὑποδύντες φέρωσιν, ἄγει σφεὰς πάντῃ περιδινέων καὶ ἐς ἄλλον ἐξ ἑτέρου μεταπηδέων. 5

Translation: --- --- Among them the statues sweat, and move, and deliver oracles, and there are often cries in the sanctuary when the temple has been locked up, which many have heard. --- --- --- It [i.e. the oracle of the statue of Apollo] works like this. When it wants to prophecy, it first moves on its base, and the priests lift it up; if they do not lift it up it sweats and moves even more. When they lift it onto their backs and carry it, it drives them twisting and turning this way and that, leaping from one to another --- --- Text and translation following J.L. Lightfoot, Lucian, On the Syrian Goddess. Edited with Introduction, Translation and Commentary (Oxford, 2003), with discussion at p.332-333 and p.468-469. 6) Keep your street clean! ἔτους 538 Δεσίου ἐκ κελεύσεος θεοῦ κὲ ἀρχόντων Αχλαβου Σιραδατ Βαρωσινου ἴ τις ἂν βάλη κόπρον ἐν τ λιθοστρώτῳ τ κὲ ἀγορρα 5 [--- --- Translation: In the year 538, (the month) Desios (June, AD 227). In accordance with the command of the god and of the officials Achlabos, Tiridates (and) Barosinos (it is thus decided): if anyone throws dirt on the paved road and the agora [or: on the stone-paved agora], (then --- --- H. Seyrig, Inscriptions grecques, in Syria 31 (1954), p.212-214, n o 1. 7) A warning from the god himself: don t steal a sledge-hammer at Hatra! bgn mrn wmrtn / wbrmryn l mn dy / lnsb mškn w / hṭṃ w mr / wnrg wksyr / wgblyt wmkl / whṣṇ mn bd / dy brmryn wmn dy / lnsb h d mn grb / hlwn mn dy brmryn / hẉy hḷm dy rgmyt mrgym Translation: Invocation of Maren and Marten and Bar-Maren against him who will take away tents or sledge-hammers or spades and axes and pickaxes and troughs and bars and small axes from the building-site of Bar-Maren, and (against) anyone who will take one of those jars from what belongs to Bar-Maren. He has shown (in) a dream: I have given order for death by stoning. Hatra n o 281. Cf. T. Kaizer, Capital punishment at Hatra: gods, magistrates and laws in the Roman-Parthian period, in Iraq 68 (2006), p,141-142 (with full references to older literature); J.F. Healey, The writing on the wall: law in Aramaic epigraphy, in P. Bienkowski, C. Mee and E. Slater (eds.), Writing and Ancient Near Eastern Society. Papers in Honour of Alan R. Millard (New York - London, 2005), p.133 ( the dream-priest?) has revealed: ); id., Aramaic Inscriptions and Documents of the Roman Period. Textbook of Syrian Semitic Inscriptions IV (Oxford, 2009), p.300-302. 6

8) More Hatra-punishment (1): death by stoning or the death of the god? byrh knwn d 463 / bmlk dy lh ṣt bw / šmšbrk rbyt wh t ry / qšyš wdrdq w rby / klhwn [wkwl dy l wnpyq / lhṭṛ ] wkwl dy mr bh t r / whkyn psqw dy kwl dlgnwb / lgw mn ml hdyn wlgw mn / šwr bry yn gbr / hw gwy lqt yl bmwt dy / lh w yn gbr hw bry lrgym Translation: In the month Kanun of (the year) 463 (November, AD 151), following the counsel of the god, Shamshibarak the majordomo and the Hatrenes, the old and the young ones, and the Arabs, all of them, [and all those entering or leaving Hatra (not in n o 343)], and all those who reside in Hatra, wished and have thus decided: that anyone who will steal within this ramp and within the exterior wall, if it concerns a man from inside he will be killed by the death of the god, if it concerns a man from outside he will be stoned. Hatra n o 336 = n o 343. Cf. Kaizer, Capital punishment, p.142-143 and p.144; Healey, The writing on the wall, p.135; id., Aramaic Inscriptions, p.307-309. 9) More Hatra-punishment (2): the god as executioner hkyn psqw nrgl dh - / špt wsnt rwq mlk / wr yt rbyt w stnq / qšyš dy kwl zmrt / wqynt dy mrn wmrtn / wbrmryn dy tšbwq mqmh / wt zy[l ---]ndk bmwt / dy lh tmwt wdy lnpq / zmrt [---] lh gb / bmwt dy lh lmwt hw / gbr šrr mn snt rwq / mlk d rb [---] dmh / [---]m[---] wd[---]l šndrh / lbyt [---] / bydw dkyr Translation: Thus have decreed Nergol the executioner and Sanatruq the king and Ro it the majordomo and Ustanaq the elder, that any female singer and wailing woman of Maren and Marten and Bar-Maren who will leave her place and who will go away [---] (will die) with the death of the god, and that anyone who will lead out a female singer and who will provide her shelter, that man will die with the death of the god. Announcement from Sanatruq the king of Arab [---] his blood [---] he has led him to the house [---] May Obidu be remembered. Hatra n o 342. Cf. J.C. Greenfield, Nergol dh špt, in A Green Leaf. Papers in Honour of Professor Jes P. Asmussen. Acta Iranica 2 e sér.28 (Leiden, 1988), p.135-143; Kaizer, Capital punishment, p.143-144; Healey, The writing on the wall, p.134-135; id., Aramaic Inscriptions, p.304-307. 10) Hatrene capital punishment according to literary sources The Book of the Laws of Countries. Dialogue on Fate of Bardaisan of Edessa, ed. H.J.W. Drijvers (Assen, 1965), 591 (cf. 608): sym nmws bh t r dkl dgnb bydt z wrt pn dmy šwy dntrgm Translation: In Hatra, there is the law established that everyone who steals a trifle, even of water, will be stoned. Misinterpretation (of dmy ) by Eusebius, Praep. Ev. 6.10.24: 7

ἐν Ἄτροις ὁ κλέπτων τι ἄξιον ὀβολοῦ λιθάζεται Translation: Among the Hatrenes the thief of an obol deserved to be stoned. 11) A god speaking legally at Palmyra (?) ---] bqrn m rbyt ---]lbwl wgd tdmr ---] nwky l nšt ---]qm m nwky ---]m qbl lh 5 ---] wmtẉtwt ---] bn yš w d ---] ky nh nw b rn ---] šy ---]lylnw rz 10 ---] l šrt ---] šrt Translation: --- --- ---] in the western corner [--- --- --- Ag]libol and the Gad of Tadmor [--- - -- ---] I, concerning this, will have let (someone) be fined [--- --- ---] if I [--- --- ---] I will lodge a complaint against him [--- --- ---] and the order of the fast [--- --- ---] man, and I will be informed [--- --- ---] with regard to us, in a small chest [--- --- ---] I will help [--- --- ---] he has revealed them the secret [--- --- ---] for ten [--- --- ---] ten. Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, n o 2767. Cf. M. Gawlikowski, Le tadmoréen, in Syria 51 (1974), p.91-103 ( selon toute apparence, c est la divinité qui parle ); Kaizer, The Religious Life of Palmyra, p.172. 12) A sacred law from Palmyra byrh dr šnt 3[--- kmry dy bl str wb l[šmn --- nš mnhwn ywm dy yhwn sm[ky --- gbr dy] mrzh dy yh bršhwn lmql[wt --- l gbr dy yhw h yd brš[hwn --- 5 s(l n) 3 sṛy ldhb wmn mnhwn [--- b drwn wyw št yrh l [--- wmn dy y d šbynyhwn yh w l[--- dy yhw h yd l dhb wyhym[n --- dy hymn bšth w p šrw [dy l] yšlt nš [--- 10 mwm b drwn wmn dy ym [b]hṃn yhẉb hṭỵ dd[ynrn --- w p] šrw dy kl gbr mn bny t qb dy ygnb mn bt b[l str --- lwhy dy yh wb h t y ddynrn ldhb w h r šb [--- yh šlyt gbr dy yg[wr] lmšt b drwn d dy [--- dy hn yh šh pr l b[y]t bl wbny t qb kmry[ --- 15 w lmntn lbl str md n dy ymd lgbr dy [mrzh --- ymd mṣ t gw l [h š]bn wmd n h rn l ym [--- lmbqrw wlmw[d mn dy] hṭỵw wlm bd pt[--- nš dy šn[--- ---]r wmn mn dy zl [--- mn mn dy y[--- ---] qdmy dy b[--- 20 wdy yhw [--- ---] ky yn[--- l[--- hy[--- l[--- Translation: In the month Adar (March) of the year 3[-- ---] the priests of Belastor and Baal[-Shamin --- ---] someone amongst them, the days on which there will be ban[quets --- -- - the member of] the marzeah who will be their head for the burnt-offering [--- ---] but a man who will be chosen as their head [--- ---] three Tyrian selas to the treasury and whoever 8

amongst them [--- ---] in the androna an agreement written on [--- ---] and whoever will collect their votes shall make known [--- --- whoever] will be elected to be in charge of the treasury and will be entrusted [--- --- who] is entrusted for this year s term and they also have established [that no-]one shall be entitled [--- ---] an oath by/in the androna and whoever swears in/by the hamana owes a penalty of [---] denarii [--- --- and they also] established that any man from the Bene Ate aqab who steals from the house of B[elastor --- ---] over him that he should owe a penalty of denarii to the treasury, and after seven [--- ---] the man who will participate in the drinking in the androna will be entitled [--- ---] that if it is necessary to distribute food at the house of Bel and the Bene Ate aqab, the priests [--- ---] or to give to Belastor anything that he measures out to the member [of the marzeah --- ---] he shall measure in the midst of the assembly to the account and anything else [--- ---] to make inquiry and to inform who have sinned and to do [--- ---] the man who [--- ---] and whoever [- -- --- --- Hillers and Cussini, Palmyrene Aramaic Texts, n o 0991. Cf. Kaizer, The Religious Life of Palmyra, p.168-169. 13) The testimony of Yarhibol --- wshd lh yrh bwl lh --- --- καὶ ἐπ οὗτοις μαρτυρηθέντα ὑπό τε Ἰαριβώλου τοῦ πατρίου θεοῦ καὶ τῶν ἡγησαμένων καὶ ὑπό τῆς πατρίδος ψηφίσμασι --- references in Kaizer, The Religious Life of Palmyra, p.146-148. 14) Legal tomb inscriptions from Hegra --- --- wmn y bd k yr dnh p yty 7 mh qns ldwšr lh mr n ksp sl yn h mš m h h rty wlmr n kwt knsh t dnh yhyb bbyt qyš byrh nysn šnt rb yn lhṛtt mlk nbtẉ rhṃ mh --- --- 10 Translation: --- --- And anyone who does other than this will be liable for a fine to Dushara the god of our lord, in the sum of five hundred Haretite sela s, and to our lord for the same amount, according to the copy of this deposited in the temple of Qaysha. In the month of Nisan, the fortieth year of Haretat (i.e. April, AD 32), King of the Nabataeans, lover of his people. --- --- J.F. Healey, The Nabataean Tomb Inscriptions of Mada in Salih [JSS Suppl. 1] (Oxford, 1993), n o 36. Similar references to a double fine, payable both to the god and to the king, in Hegra inscriptions n os 1, 19, 30, 34, 38. 9

15) Antiochus & his divine pals in Commagene Βασιλεὺς μέγας Ἀντίοχος --- --- --- τοῦτον τύπον ἰδίας γνώμης νόμον τε κοινῆς εὐσεβείας εἰς χρόνον ἅπαντα προνοίαι δαιμόνων στήλαις ἐνεχάραξεν ἱεραῖς. --- --- --- ἐγὼ πατρῴαν βασιλείαν παραλαβὼν εὐθέως Διός τε Ὠρομάσδου καὶ Ἁπόλλωνος Μίθρου Ἡλίου Ἕρμου καὶ Ἀρτάγνου Ἡρακλέους Ἄρεως τοῦτο νέ<ο>ν τέμενος παλαιᾶς δυνάμεως ἔκτισα καὶ τύχης ἐμῆς ἡλικιῶτιν θεῶν μεγάλων τιμὴν ἐποιησάμην, ἐν ἱερᾶι τε λιθείαι μιᾶς περιοχῆς ἀγάλμασι δαιμονίοις χαρακτῆρα μορφῆς ἐμῆς δεχόμενον θεῶν εὐμενεῖς δεξιὰς παρέστησα, μίμημα δίκαιον φυλάσσων ἀθανάτου φροντίδος ᾗ πολλάκις ἐμοὶ χεῖρας οὐρανίους εἰς βοηθείαν ἀγώνων ἐξέτειναν. --- --- --- περὶ δὲ ἱερουργιῶν ἀϊδίων διάταξιν πρέπουσαν ἐποιησάμην, ὅπως σὺν αἷς ἀρχαῖος καὶ κοινὸς νόμος ἔταξεν θυσίαις καὶ νέας ἑορτας εἴς τε θεῶν σεβασμὸν καὶ ἡμετέρας τιμὰς ἅπαντες οἱ κατ ἐμὴν βασιλείαν ἐπιτελῶσι. --- --- --- Translation: Great King Antiochus --- --- --- engraved for all time by the providence of the deities on sacred stelai this depiction of his own thought and law of common piety. --- --- --- After succeeding to my ancestral kingdom I immediately established this new sanctuary of the ancient power of Zeus Oromasdes and of Apollo Mithras Helios Hermes and of Artagnes Heracles Ares and I made the honour of the great gods grow in step with my own fortune, and I set up in sacred stone of a single compass alongside images of the deities the representation of my own form receiving the benevolent right hands of the gods, preserving a proper depiction of the undying concern with which they often extended their heavenly hands to my assistance in my struggles. --- --- --- I established an appropriate regulation concerning the sacred observances for them to be everlasting, so that all the inhabitants of my kingdom might offer together with the sacrifices required by ancient and common law also new festivals in reverence of the gods and in my honours. --- --- --- New inscription from Zeugma: C. Crowther and M. Facella, New evidence for the ruler cult of Antiochus of Commagene from Zeugma, in G. Heedemann and E. Winter (eds.), Neue Forschungen zur Religionsgeschichte Kleinasiens (Bonn, 2003), n o BEc, p.45-53. On the dynasty and its religious policies in general, see M. Facella, La dinastia degli Orontidi nella Commagene ellenistico-romana (Pisa, 2006). 10

16) Lady Justice & the king at Hatra 11

17) Interplay of power: Seleucid king, Roman emperor, and Zeus of Baetocaece Α) Imp(erator) Caesar Publius Licinnius Valerianus Pius Felix Aug(ustus) et Imp(erator) Caesar Publius Licinius 5 Gallienus Pius Fel(ix) Aug(ustus) et Licinnius Cornelius Saloninus Valerianus nobilissimus Caesar Aurelio Marea et aliis: Regum antiqua beneficia, consuetu- 10 dine etiam insecuti temporis adprobata, is qui provinciam regit, remota violentia partis adversae, incolumia vobis manere curabit. B) Ἐπιστολὴ Ἀντιόχου βασιλέως 15 Βασιλεὺς Ἀντίοχος Εὐφήμῳ χαίρειν ἐδόθη ὁ κατακεχωρισμένος ὑπομνηματισμός γενέσθω οὖν καθότι δεδήλωται περὶ ὧν δεῖ διὰ σοῦ συντελεσθῆναι. C) προσενεχθέντος μοι περὶ τῆς ἐνεργείας θεοῦ Διὸς Βαιτοκαικης ἐκρίθη συνχωρηθῆναι αὐτ εἰς ἅπαντα χρόνον, ὅθεν καὶ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ θεοῦ κατάρχεται, κώμην τὴν Βαιτοκαι*κη+νήν, ἣν πρότερον ἔσχεν Δημήτριος 20 Δημητρίου τοῦ Μνασαίου ἐν Σουργωνα τῆς περὶ Ἀπάμιαν σατραπείας, σὺν τοῖς συνκύρουσι καὶ καθήκουσι πᾶσι κατὰ τοὺς προϋπάρχοντας περιορισμοὺς καὶ σὺν τοῖς τοῦ ἐνεστῶτος ἔτους γενήμασιν, ὅπως ἡ ἀπὸ ταύτης πρόσοδος ἀναλίσκηται εἰς τὰς κατὰ μῆνα συντελουμένας θυσίας καὶ τἄλλα τὰ πρὸς αὔξησιν τοῦ ἱεροῦ συντείνοντα ὑπὸ τοῦ καθεσταμένου ὑπὸ τοῦ θεοῦ ἱερέως, ὡς εἴ- 25 θισται, ἄγωνται δὲ κατὰ μῆνα πανηγύρεις ἀτελεῖς τῇ πεντεκαιδεκάτῃ καὶ τριακάδι, καὶ εἶναι τὸ μὲν ἱερὸν ἄσυλον, τὴν δὲ κώμην ἀνεπίσ(τα) θμον μηδεμίας ἀπορρήσεως προσενεχθείσης τὸν δὲ ἀνετιωθησόμενόν τισι τῶν προγεγραμμένων ἔνοχον εἶναι ἀσεβείᾳ ἀναγραφῆναί τε καὶ τὰ ἀντίγραφα ἐν στήλῃ λιθίνῃ καὶ τεθῆναι ἐν τ αῦτ ἱερ. Δεήσει οὖν γραφῆναι οἷς εἴ- 30 θισται, ἵνα γένηται ἀκολούθως τοῖς δηλουμένοις. D) Ψήισμα τῆς πόλεως πεμ(φ)θὲν Θε Αὐγούστῳ Ἐπάνανκες δὲ ἀνέρχεται πάντα τὰ ὤνεια διὰ τῶν ἐνταῦθα καὶ ἐπὶ χώρας ἀγορητῶν πραθησόμενα καθ ἑ[κ]άστην ἱερομηνίαν πρὸς τὸ ἀδιάλε(ι)πτα ὑπάρχιν 12

πᾶσι τοῖς ἀνιοῦσ<ι>ι προσκυνηταῖς, ἐπιμελομένου τοῦ τῆς πόλεως ἀγο- 35 ρητοῦ μηδὲ ἐπιχειροῦντος ἥ ὀχλοῦντος προφάσει παροχῆς καὶ τέλους καὶ ἐπηρείας τινὸς ἥ ἀπαιτήσαιως ἀνδράποδα δὲ καὶ τετράποδα καὶ λοιπὰ ζῶα ὁμοίως πωλείσθω ἐν τ τόπῳ χωρὶς τέλους ἥ ἐπηρείας τινὸς ἥ ἀπαιτήσαιως. E) Οἱ κάτοχοι ἁγίου οὐρανίου Διὸς τῆς ὑπὸ τῶν ε- 40 βαστῶν εἴς τε τὸν θεὸν εὐσεβείας καὶ τὸν τόπον ἐλευθερε*ί+ας τὴν θείαν ἀντιγραφὴν ὑπὸ πάντων προσκυνουμένην προέταξαν. Translation: A (mid-3rd century subscript in Latin) Imperator Caesar Publius Licinius Valerianus Pius Felix Augustus and Imperator Caesar Publius Licinius Gallienus Pius Felix Augustus and Licinnius Cornelius Saloninus Valerianus the most noble Caesar, to Aurelius Mareas and others: the provincial governor will take care that the ancient privileges granted by the kings, confirmed also by the custom of subsequent times, will remain inviolate for you and suppress the aggression of the opposing party. B (letter of king Antiochus to his governor Euphemus) Letter of king Antiochus: King Antiochus to Euphemus, greetings. The appended memorandum was issued: may you now carry out accordingly what needs to be done. C (memorandum of Antiochus, attached to the above letter B) Having been informed about the power of the god Zeus of Baetocaece, I decided to grant him for all times, from which also the power of the god stems, the village of Baetocaece, which previously Demetrius, the son of Demetrius, son of Mnassaeus owned in Tourgona in the satrapy of Apamea, together with all appurtenances and the revenues of the current year so that the revenues it yields may be used for the monthly sacrifices and the other expenses that concern the support of the sanctuary by the priest, who was appointed by the god, as is customary; monthly festivals shall be held, immune from tax, on every 15th and 30th of the month, the sanctuary shall be granted asylum, and no forces may be stationed in the village, as no objection has been raised. If anyone acts against the above, he will be guilty of impiety. The copies may be written on a stone stele and erected in the same sanctuary. It will now be necessary to write to those that normally receive notice so that things may be carried out as indicated. D (civic degree addressed to Augustus - part of it only, with its heading later inserted) Decree of the city, sent to the divine Augustus. It is necessary that all goods go up via the market officers here and in the countryside for sale each month on the sacred market days in order that they may be available without interruption for all the worshippers going up; the market officer of the city shall be in charge but not interfere or press them under the pretext of requisition, taxation, exaction or reclamation; likewise, slaves, cattle and other animals shall be sold in the place without taxation, exaction or reclamation. E (recording of those responsible for the engravement of the dossier) The katochoi of the sacred heavenly Zeus have recorded at the beginning the divine rescript, venerated by all, a manifestation of the piety of the divine emperors towards the god and of their liberality towards the place. 13

IGLS VII, n o 4028. Translation following B. Dignas, Economy of the Sacred in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor (Oxford, 2002), p.74-84 and p.156-67. Cf. A. Baroni, I terreni e privilegi del tempio di Zeus a Baitokaike (IGLS, VII, 4028), in B. Virgilio (ed.), Studi Ellenistici I (1984), p.135-167; A.I. Steinsapir, Rural Sanctuaries in Roman Syria. The Creation of a Sacred Landscape [BAR Int. Ser. 1431] (Oxford, 2005), p.31-45. 18) Eight months at court: villagers from Beth Phouraia before Julius Priscus in Antioch (AD 245) Translation: In the consulship of Autokrator Kaisar Marcus Julius Philippus Sebastos and Maesius Tittianus, five days before the Kalends of September, in the year 293 [of the era of Antioch], on the 28 th day of the month Loos, at Antioch, colony and metropolis, in the Baths of Hadrian: To Julius Priscus, the most perfect prefect of Mesopotamia, exercising proconsular power, from Archodes son of Phallaios, Philotas son of Nisraiabos, Vorodes son of Sumisbarachos, and Abezautas son of Abediardas, from the imperial village Beth Phouraia, the one near Appadana: Having a dispute with our fellow villagers, Lord, concerning land and other things, we came here to plead our case before Your Goodness and, after we attended your tribunal for eight months, our case was introduced, as Your Greatness remembers, on the 9 th day before the Kalends of September the day just passed. Your, our benefactor, having heard part of the case, decided that you would render judgment when, blessedly, you would be in the area. Since, therefore, the case has not thus far obtained resolution, and our fellow villagers are trying to expel us from the lands on which we reside and to force the issue before judgment, and since the divine constitutions, which you more than all others know and venerate (αἱ θεῖαι διατάξεις, ἅς τε πρὸ πάντων γνωρίζων προσκυνεῖς), ordain that those finding themselves in possession of goods should remain so until judgment, for this reason we have fled to you and we ask you to command by your subscription that Claudius Ariston, an illustrious man, procurator in the area of Appadana, who superintends the diocese, should preserve everything unharmed and should forbid the use of force before your blessed visit to the region, when, obtaining our desire, we will be able to render Your Fortune our eternal thanks. I, Aurelius Archodes, son of Phallaios, have submitted the petition, and on behalf of the others, too. Subscription of Julius Priscus, the most perfect Prefect of Mesopotamia, exercising proconsular power: Ariston, the illustrious man, will examine your petition. I have read. Petition of Archodes son of Phallaios, and Philotas son of Nisraiabos. P.Euphr. 1 = D. Feissel and J. Gascou, Documents d archives romains inédits du Moyen Euphrate (III e s. après J.-C.) in Journal des Savants (1995), n o 1, p.67-84. Cf. C. Ando, Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire (Berkeley - Los Angeles - London, 2000), p.73ff. 14