<rs type="textType">Letter</rs> of Quintus Oppius

Description of Monument

Pilaster (0.66 x 0.81) inscribed on two faces. The west face has been damaged above and on all edges, and is pierced by a round hole near the left edge towards the top. It is in two planes, one stepped back from the other, and bears 503b; the north face bears 8.24. Pilaster capital (0.27 x 0.98 x 0.27) with heavy moulding above the face.

Description of Text

a. inscribed on the face of the capital; b. inscribed on the pilaster, one column on each of the stepped faces.

Letters

second century A.D.; a: av. 0.018; b: av. 0.02.

Date

Document: 85 B.C. (prosopography, content); inscription second century A.D. (lettering, context)

Edition

Κόϊντος Ὄππιος Κοΐντου υἱὸς ἀνθύπατος Ῥωμαίων στρατηγὸς Πλαρασέων καὶ ~~Ἀφροδεισιέων~~ ἄρχουσιν βουλῇ δήμῳ χαίρειν

εδο Ἀντίπατρος Ἀδράστου Περείτας Ἀπολλωνίου Ἀρτεμίδωρος Μύωνος, Διονύσιος Μήνιδος Τειμοκλῆς Ζήνωνος πρεσβευταὶ ὑμέτεροι, ἄνδρες καλοὶ καὶ ἀγαθοί, συνέτυχόν μοι ἐν Κῷ καὶ συνεχάρησαν, τό τε ψήφισμα ἀπέδωκαν ἐν ᾧ διεσαφεῖτο χαίρειν ὑμᾶς μεγάλως ἐπὶ τῇ ἐμῇ παρουσίᾳ, ὅπερ ἐγὼ ὑπὲρ τῆς ὑμετέρας θελήσεως εἴς με τά τε δημόσια πράγματα ἡμέτερα ἀσφαλῶς πιστεύω· καθ’ ὃν γὰρ και ρὸν ἐκ Λαοδικήας πρὸς ὑμᾶς ἔπεμψα γράμματα ὅπως στρατιώτας πρός με ἀποστέ λητε, ἐν πρώτοις ἀπεστεί λατε, τοῦτο δὲ ἐποιήσατε κα θὼς ἐπέβαλλεν συμμά χοις ἀγαθοῖς καὶ φίλοις δήμου Ῥωμαίων ποιῆσαι, τῶν τε ἀποσταλέντων πρεσβευτῶν ἐργασίᾳ καλῇ καὶ πλείστῃ ἐχρησάμην δι’ ἃς‚ αἰτίας‚

φροντίζω καὶ ἐν ἀρ χῇ καὶ ἰδιώβιῳ ὅ περ ἂν σωζομένης τῆς ἐμῆς πίστε ως ποιῆσαι ὑμεῖν δύνωμαι τοῖς τε δημο σίοις πράγμασιν ὑμετέροις εὐχρηστῆσαι καὶ ἀεί τινος ἀγαθοῦ παραίτιος γενέσθαι· ὅπως τε τῇ συνκλήτῳ τῷ τε δήμῳ τὰ ἀφ’ ὑμῶν πεπραγμένα ἐστίν ὅταν εἰς Ῥώμην παραγένωμαι διασαφήσω· οἱ αὐτοὶ πρεσβεῖς παρεκάλεσαν ὅπως ἐξῇ τῇ ἐμῇ πατρωνήᾳ καὶ ὑμεῖν χρῆσθαι τούτους ἐγὼ ἀνεδεξάμην καταλογῆς ἕνεκεν τῆς ὑμετέρας πόλεως, ἐμὲ τοῦ δήμου τοῦ ὑμετέρου πατρωνα ἔσεσθαι

Apparatus

Translation

Quintus Oppius, son of Quintus, proconsul of the Romans, praetor, sends greetings to the Magistrates, Council and People of Plarasa/Aphrodisias.

...], Antipatros son of [? Adra]stos, Pereitas son of Apollo[nios], Artemidoros son of Myon, Dionysios son of Menis, Timokles son of Zenon, your ambassadors, fine and good men, met me in Kos, congratulated me and gave me the decree in which it was reported that you are very much pleased at my presence - as I certainly believe, in view of your good intentions towards myself and our public affairs; for on the occasion when I wrote to you from Laodikeia that you should send me soldiers, you were among the first to send them and your conduct was exactly what was due from good allies and friends of the Roman people; and I made use of the fine and unstinted activity of the ambassadors whom you sent. For these reasons I am taking care, both as a magistrate and in a private capacity (?), to do whatever I can, while preserving my good faith, to help you and your public affairs, and always to procure your advantage; and shall see to it that whenever I am in Rome I make clear to the Senate and People the things (which) have been done on your part. The same ambassadors begged that you too should be allowed to enjoy my patronage. I accepted them because of my regard for your city and undertook the position of patron of your People.

Commentary

See Aphrodisias and Rome, pp. 16-20, and bibliography.

Locations

Theatre: a fallen, b in situ at the west corner terminating the south wall of the north parodos Findspot Museum

Text Constituted From

transcription (Reynolds), publications.

History of Recording

Recorded by the NYU expedition (67.549 & 67.550)

Bibliography

Published by Reynolds, Aphrodisias & Rome, doc. 3, whence SEG 1982.1097, BE 1983.364, AnnEpig 1984.859; discussed by Bowersock, Gnomon 56 (1984), 51 (l. 24), whence SEG 1984.1043; by Jones, AJP 106 (1985), 264 (ll. 33a-35), whence SEG 1985.1081 from all of these McCabe PHI Aphrodisias 63 .

Photographs

a (1977)

b (1976)