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Apamea in Syria in the Second and Third Centuries A.D.*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  24 September 2012

Jean Ch. Balty
Jean Ch. Balty
Affiliation:
Université libre de BruxellesMusées royaux d'art et d'histoire, Bruxelles
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Extract

‘While Trajan was tarrying in Antioch’—it was in the winter of A.D. 115, after the conquest of Armenia and the annexation of Mesopotamia, before setting out for the Tigris, Ctesiphon and the Persian Gulf—‘a terrible earthquake occurred; many cities suffered injury, but Antioch was the most unfortunate of all’.

Type
Research Article
Information
The Journal of Roman Studies , Volume 78 , November 1988 , pp. 91 - 104
Copyright
Copyright ©Jean Ch. Balty 1988. Exclusive Licence to Publish: The Society for the Promotion of Roman Studies

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References

1 Cassius Dio LXVIII, 24–5, here quoted in the Loeb translation of E. Cary.

2 Malalas 275, 3–8 (ed. Bonn).

3 Ibid. 275, 21–2. For an archaeological commentary and the results of the 1932–9 excavations, see Lassus, J., Les portiques d'Antioche = Antioch-on-the-Orontes V (1972), 7, 133–4 and 145–6Google Scholar.

4 Malalas 276, 1–2, with the comments of Downey, G., A History of Antioch in Syria from Seleucus to the Arab Conquest (1961), 223Google Scholar.

5 For the text of this inscription, see Rey-Coquais, J.-P., ‘Inscriptions grecques d'Apamée’, AAS 23 (1973), 40–1Google Scholar no. 1, pl. i, 1; cf. Balty, J. Ch., Guide d'Apamée (1981), 56Google Scholar, fig. 50 (hereafter Guide d'Apamée).

6 Rey-Coquais, art. cit., 41–6 no. 2, pl. 1, 2; cf. Guide d'Apamée, 205–6 no. 20, fig. 230.

7 For these connections, see Sullivan, R. D., ‘The Dynasty of Judaea in the First Century’, in ANRW II, 8 (1977), stemma facing p. 300Google Scholar.

8 Malalas 278, 20–279, 2; cf. Downey, op. cit. (n. 4), 218.

9 In Antioch, the paving of the main colonnaded street started at the southern end where a commemorative inscription was placed, on the Gate of the Cherubim, as we know from Malalas 280, 20–281, 6.

10 For the evidence of inscriptions on the consoles, see IGLS 1312–13; Van Rengen, W., ‘Inscriptions grecques et latines’, in Colloque Apamée de Syrie I (1969), 96–7Google Scholar no. 1, and id., ‘Nouvelles inscriptions grecques et latines’, in Colloque Apamée de Syrie II (1972), 104–6 nos 4–5.

11 Thomson, W. M., ‘Journey from Aleppo to Mount Lebanon by Jeble, el-Aala, Apamia, Ribla, etc.’, Bibliotheca Sacra 5 (1848), 685Google Scholar.

12 Gabriel, A., ‘Recherches archéologiques à Palmyre’, Syria 7 (1926), 81,Google Scholar fig. 2; Ostraz, A., ‘Note sur le plan de la partie médiane de la rue principale de Palmyre’, AAS 19 (1969), 109–20Google Scholar with detailed folding plan.

13 Lassus, op. cit. (n. 3), 146–7.

14 Van Rengen, ‘Nouvelles inscriptions’, cit. (n. 10), 106.

15 Guide d'Apamée, 72–3, figs 68–70.

16 Kraeling, C. H., Gerasa, City of the Decapolis (1938), 73, 401–2Google Scholar, pls VIII a–b, X–XI, xxx c and XXXI a.

17 Van Rengen, ‘Nouvelles inscriptions’, cit. (n. 10), 106.

18 Ibid.Contra: J.-P. Rey-Coquais, ‘Syrie romaine, de Pompée à Dioclétien’, JRS 68 (1978), 64–5.

19 See the commentary on the famous inscription from Pergamum by Habicht, Chr., Die Inschriften des Asklepieions = Altertümer von Pergamon, VIII, 3 (1969), 43–53Google Scholar (esp. 45, 48–50, 52) no. 21, pls 8–9.

20 IGLS 1312–13 and Van Rengen, ‘Inscriptions grecques et latines’, cit. (n. 10), 96–7 no. 1.

21 Rey-Coquais, art. cit. (n. 5), 66.

22 Τίτον Φλά(ουιον) Ἄππιον [Σ]ώπατρον τὸν ἀξιολογώτατον υἱὸν Σωπάτρου κτλ …

23 For a list of the governors of Syria, see Rey-Coquais, art. cit. (n. 18), 62–7.

24 See Schmidt-Colinet, A., ‘Skulpturen aus dem Nymphäum von Apamea/Syrien’, AA (1985), 119–33Google Scholar.

25 See Barlet, J., ‘Travaux au théâtre, 1969–1971’, in Colloque Apamée de Syrie II (1972), 150–2Google Scholar.

26 Lanckoronski, K., Städte Pamphyliens und Pisidiens I (1890), 179Google Scholar n. 1 (no. 64 cd).

27 For a schematic plan of the temple, see Balty, J., ‘L'oracle d'Apamée’, AntCl 50 (1981)Google Scholar, pl. 11, 2.

28 Respectively Libanius, Or. XLVIII, 14 (ed. Förster, in, p. 434) and Ep. 1351 (ed. Förster, XI, p. 400).

29 Balty, ‘L'oracle d'Apamée’, cit., 5–8.

30 Vita Hadr. 2, 9. Mordtmann, J. H., ‘Mythologische Miscellen’, ZDMG 39 (1885), 44Google Scholar was the first to draw attention to it.

31 Downey, op. cit. (n. 4), 219 n. 85.

32 Cassius Dio LXXIX, 8, 5.

33 For the date of this journey, see Downey, op. cit. (n. 4), 242–3.

34 Cassius Dio LXXIX, 8, 6.

35 For the historical context, see Downey, op. cit. (n. 4).

36 Cassius Dio LXXIX, 40, 4; first pointed out by Van Rengen, ‘Nouvelles inscriptions’, cit. (n. 10), 107.

37 IGRR 1, 4 = IG XIV, 2482 = CIL. XII, 1277; cf. Balty, art. cit. (n. 27), pl. 1, 1–2; Guide d'Apamée, 74, figs 71–2. For the quotation, Seyrig, H., ‘Antiquités syriennes, 93. Bêl de Palmyre’, Syria 48 (1971), 89CrossRefGoogle Scholar.

38 Balty, art. cit. (n. 27), 10 n. 31, pls 1, 3–11, 1; Guide d'Apamée, 75, figs 73–5.

39 See Balty, J., ‘Archéologie et témoignages littéraires’, in Colloque Apamée de Syrie II (1972), 209–12;Google Scholar ead., art. cit. (n. 27), 11–14.

40 Libanius, Or. LII, 21 (ed. Förster, IV, p. 35).

41 Eunapius, , Vitae soph., Iambl. 457Google Scholar (ed. W. C. Wright, p. 362).

42 Rey-Coquais, art. cit. (n. 5), 66–7 : ἐ̣πὶ̣ [κελεύ]σεως θεοῦ μεγίστου α̣῾γίου Βήλου.

43 Juvenal VI, 239; XIII, 98; XIV, 252; cf. Suda A 4107 (ed. A. Adler, 1, p. 376): Ἀρχιγένης, Φιλίππου, Ἀπαμεὺς Συρίας, ἰατρός, μαθητὴς Ἀγαθίνου, ἐπὶ Τραϊανοῦ ἰατρεύσας ἐν Ῥώμῃ, βιοὺς ἔτη ξγ´ καὶ συγγράψας πολλὰ ἰατρικά τε καὶ φυσικά.

44 Ps.-Oppian, Cyn. II, 100–8 and 150–1, here quoted in the Loeb translation of A. W. Mair; for the author himself, see Hamblenne, P., ‘La légende d'Oppien’, AntCl 37 (1968), 589–615Google Scholar.

45 Rey-Coquais, art. cit. (n. 5), 47–8 no. 10, 63–4, pl. V. 1.

46 IGLS 1349.

47 Tchalenko, G., Villages antiques de la Syrie du Nord 1 (1953), 381–2Google Scholar.

48 For this estimate, see Cumont, Fr., ‘The Population of Syria’, JRS 24 (1934), 188–9;Google Scholar more recently, , J. and Balty, J. Ch., ‘Apamée de Syrie. Archéologie et histoire, I’, in ANRW II, 8 (1977), 117–20Google Scholar.

49 Schlumberger, D., ‘Bornes frontières de la Palmyrène’, Syria 20 (1939), 52–63CrossRefGoogle Scholarpassim (esp. 58–9 and map, fig. 1).

50 See R. Martin's commentary on Libanius' Antiochikos in Festugière, A. J., Antioche païenne et chrétienne (1959), 50Google Scholar; cf. Liebeschuetz, J. H. W. G., Antioch. City and Imperial Administration in the Later Roman Empire (1972), 92Google Scholar.

51 For the possible plan of an original insula, see Balty, J. Ch., ‘Notes sur l'habitat romain, byzantin et arabe d'Apamée’, in Colloque Apamée de Syrie III (1984), 473Google Scholar fig. 1.

52 Lastly, on this point, Balty, J. Ch., ‘L'urbanisme de la Tétrapolis syrienne’, in Hellénisme au Proche-Orient, 1Google Scholar. Iraq, Syrie, Liban, Jordanie (in the press).

53 Guide d'Apamée, 181 fig. 197.

54 Vandenabeele, Fr., ‘Sondages dans la nécropole nord d'Apamée, 1969–1970’, in Colloque Apamée de Syrie II (1972), 90Google Scholar, pls XXI–XXII, 1; cf. Guide d'Apamée, 172 and fig. 195.

55 Van Rengen, ‘Nouvelles inscriptions’, cit. (n. 10), 98–102 nos 1–2, pls. XXV–XXVII; Guide d'Apamée, 198–9 nos 11–12, figs 188–94 and 217–20.

56 For these common stelae, see Van Rengen, , ‘Inscriptions grecques et latines’, cit. (n. 10), 97–8Google Scholar; Guide d'Apamée, 192–5 nos 2–8, figs 207–13.

57 Rey-Coquais, J.-P., Inscriptions grecques et latines découvertes dans les fouilles de Tyr (1963–1974), 1. Inscriptions de la nécropole = BMB 29 (1977), 152–61Google Scholar.

58 Van Rengen, W., ‘Epitaphe grecque d'un ąδρωπκιστής à Apamée de Syrie’, in Studia varia Bruxellensia (1987), 119–24Google Scholar.

59 See Ceran, W., Rzemieslnicy i kupcy w Antiochii i ich ranga spoleczna (II polowa IV wieku). Artisans et commerçants d'Antioche et leur rang social (2e moitié du IVe siècle de notre ère) = Archiwum filologiczne 19 (1969)Google Scholar.

60 Liebeschuetz, op. cit. (n. 50), 52.

61 For these events, see Downey, op. cit. (n. 4), 236–43.

62 Dio Chrysostom, Or. XXXIV, 48.

63 Cassius Dio LXXIX, 30, 2; on his career, see Pflaum, H.-G., Les carrières procuratoriennes équestres sous le Haut-Empire romain (1960), 638–42 no. 237Google Scholar.

64 CIL x, 6569; cf. Helbig4 1, 233 (E. Meínhardt).

65 For its history during the Hellenistic period, see el-Zein, M., Geschichte der Stadt Apameia am Orontes von den Anfängen bis Augustus, diss. Heidelberg (1972)Google Scholar, passim.

66 Rémondon, R., La crise de l'Empire romain. De Marc Aurèle à Anastase (1970), 80Google Scholar.

67 Bellinger, A. R., The Syrian Tetradrachms of Cara-calla and Macrinus = ANS Num. Stud. 3 (1960)Google Scholar, especially 21–9.

68 I am indebted to R. S. O. Tomlin, Wolfson College, Oxford, for this suggestion concerning Batao's name and its probable Dalmatian origin.

69 Unpublished inscription: ‘…oris noctis II defu(n)ctus Aegeas, cuius corpore conditum Catabolo <ti>tulum positum Apamiae’.

70 Cassius Dio LXXVIII, 34, 2.

71 For some rare parallel representations of the second and third centuries, see Speidel, M., ‘Eagle-Bearer and Trumpeter’, BJb 176 (1976), 124–36Google Scholar figs 1–5.

72 For similar caskets on Roman military tombstones elsewhere in the Empire, see Picozzi, M. G., ‘Una stele di legionario ad Albano Laziale’, ArchCl 31 (1979), 167–84Google Scholar (esp. 180–2), pls LXIV–LXVII.

73 E. Ritterling, s.v. legio, in RE XII, 2 (1925), 1481.

74 E. Honigmann, s.v. Syria, in RE IV A2 (1932), 1686, 1692; Downey, op. cit. (n. 4), 249 and n. 77.

75 Cassius Dio LXXVIII, 37, 3.

76 For these battles, see respectively Downey, op. cit. (n. 4), 267 n. 162 and Grousset, R., Histoire des Croisades et du Royaume franc de Jérusalem II (1935), 462–4Google Scholar.

77 Fr. Lammert, s.v. skorpion, in RE III A1 (1927), 584–7.

78 S. Mazzarino, s.v. lanciarii, in De Ruggiero, E., Dizionario epigrafico IV, 1 (1942), 365–7Google Scholar; van Berchem, D., L'armée de Dioclétien et la réforme constantinienne (1952), 107Google Scholar; Hoffmann, D., Das spätrömische Bewegungsheer und die Notitia Dignitatum = Epigr. Studien 7 (1969), 218–20;Google Scholar cf. Berchem, van, Studii Clasice 24 (1986), 158Google Scholar n. 20.

79 Fr. Lammert, s.v. phalanx, in RE XIX, 2 (1938), 1645.

80 Vita Alex. Sev. 50, 5: ‘fuerat et falangem triginta milium hominum, quos falangarios vocari iusserat’.

81 For the special links existing between the II Parthica and the other units garrisoned near and in Rome, see Ritterling, art. cit. (n. 73), 1478.

82 Hirschfeld, O., Die kaiserlichen Verwaltungsbeamten bis auf Diokletian (1905), 398–9Google Scholar.

83 Van Rengen, ‘Inscriptions grecques et latines’, cit. (n. 10), 101.

84 Vita Carac. 6, 7.

85 See Mateescu, G. G., ‘I Traci nelle epigrafi di Roma’, Ephem. Dacorom. 1 (1923), 57–290Google Scholarpassim; Detschew, D., Die thrakische Sprachreste (1957)Google Scholar, s.v., passim. I have so far been unable to consult Besevliev, V., Die Personennamen bei den Thrakern (1970)Google Scholar.

86 For example: Alexander, Antigonus, Appianus, Cassander, Cinegetus, Dionysius, Glaucias, Hermodorus, Tryphon, Zeno.

87 Ferri, S., Arte romana sul Danubio (1933), 275Google Scholar fig. 354, 34' fig. 451.

88 Cassius Dio LXXXIX, 34, 5.

89 Van Rengen, ‘Inscriptions grecques et latines’, cit. (n. 10), 100 himself following the commentary of IGLS 1361; id., ‘Nouvelles inscriptions’, cit. (n. 10), 98.

90 Prentice, W. K., Greek and Latin Inscriptions = Publ. Amer. Arch. Exped. Syria III (1908), 143 no. 131Google Scholar; cf. Guide d'Apamée, 38 fig. 31.

91 For an account of these finds, see my preliminary report ‘Apamée (1986): nouvelles données sur l'armée romaine d'Orient et les raids sassanidés du milieu du IIIe siècle’, CRAI (1987), 213–41.

92 Ibid. 229.

93 Ibid. 239.

94 For an illustration of such battles on the well-known graffiti of Dura, see most recently Goldman, B. and Little, A. M. G., ‘The Beginning of Sasanian Painting and Dura-Europos’, Iranica Antiqua 15 (1980), 283–98Google Scholar, fig. 2, pls I–VII.

95 For full discussion of the date, see Balty, art. cit. (n. 91), 229–39.

96 CIL XIV, 2282. For the abbreviation, I would prefer ‘C(laudia) Apamia’ to ‘c(ivitate) Apamia’.

97 Cassius Dio LXXIX, 34, 1–5.

98 Van Rengen, ‘Nouvelles inscriptions’, cit. (n. 10), 103–4 no. 3.

99 IGLS 1346; cf. R. Mouterde, CRAI (1952), 355–63; D. van Berchem, ibid. (1973), 123–6.

100 See Honigmann, E. and Maricq, A., Recherches sur les Res Gestae Divi Saporis (1953), 13 and 146 no. 9Google Scholar; Maricq, A., ‘Classica et onentalia, 5. Res Gestae Divi Saporis’, Syria 35 (1958), 308–9 and 338 no. 9Google Scholar = Classica et orientalia (1965), 50–1 and 80 no. 9.

101 See Carson, R. A. G., ‘The Hama Hoard and the Eastern Mints of Valerian and Gallienus’, Berytus 17 (1967–1968), 123–42Google Scholar, pls XXXV–XXXVII.

102 Jerome, Chron. p. 224 (ed. R. Helm).