4 - Fun and Games in Roman Ephesos: The Vedii, the Agonistic Festivals, and the Imperial Cult

Summary

Over generations members of the Vedii family served as magistrates (panegyriarchs, agonothetes, etc.) of important local agonistic festivals, and as high priests and priestesses of the imperial cult temples of Ephesos. In these capacities they organized different aspects of festivals, paid for prizes and associated festivities, and were in the public gaze for the period of their tenure. Regarding the imperial cult, inscriptions and other evidence may point to their ownership of a ludus, or gladiatorial training school, in the Ephesos as late as the mid-third century. This chapter argues that the holding of festival magistracies was another very significant euergetic opportunity for members of city elites, like the Vedii.