TITLE
Mytilene honours the emperor Augustus 
DATE
Between 27 BCE –the princeps is called Augustus– and 11 BCE –the year of the death of his sister, Octavia the Younger, who is mentioned in the text. See: Rowe 2002, 134; Abascal 2014, 83; but also: Macmullen 2000, 15; Kajava 2008, 119; Chelotti 2011; Jones 2015, 105. 
TEXT
IG XII, 2, 58; IGRR IV, 39; OGIS 456; SEG 65, 669; and Labarre 1996, no. 21. See also: SEG 35, 907. The Packard Humanities Institute. 

[a.1] — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —ν δὲ κα- 
[2] — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —δας ἱερὰ 
[3] — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —εσθαι ἐν τε- 
[4] — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — γραψόντων εἰς α- 
[5] [— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — τὸν ὑμν]ηθέντα ὕμνον ὑπὸ 
[6] [— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — ἐ]ν ταῖς γινομέναις θέαις 
[7] [— — — — — — — — — τιθέναι δὲ κατὰ πενταετηρ]ίδα ἀγῶνας θυμελικοὺς 
[8] [— — — — — — — — — — — — — — τοῖς νικήσ]ασιν ἆθλα ὅσα ὁ Διακὸς νόμος πε- 
[9] [ριέχει — — — τοῦ ἐπὶ τῶν στεφ]άνων(?) καὶ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως καὶ τοῦ στεφανη- 
[10] [φόρου — — — — — — — πέμψαι δὲ — — —]ς καταγγελεῖς τῶν πρώτων ἀ<χθ>ησο- 
[11] [μένων ἀγώνων — — — ταῖς ἐπισ]ημοτάταις πόλεσιν. ἀναθεῖναι δὲ δέλτου[ς] 
[12] [ἢ στήλας τοῦδε τοῦ ψηφίσματος ἐχούσας τὸ ἀντίγραφον ἐν τῶ ναῶ τῶ κατασ]κευαζομένω αὐτῶ ὑπὸ τῆς Ἀσίας ἐν Περγάμω κα[ὶ] 
[13] [— — — καὶ Μυτιλήνη — — —]ω καὶ Ἀκτίω καὶ Βρεντεσίω καὶ Ταρραχῶνι καὶ Μα[σ]- 
[14] [σαλία καὶ — — — — καὶ Ἀν]τιοχήα τῆ πρὸς τῆ Δάφνη. τὰς δὲ κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν 
[15] [θυσίας — — — ἐν τῶ ναῶ τοῦ Διὸ]ς καὶ ἐν τῶ τοῦ Σεβαστοῦ. ὅρκον δὲ εἶναι τῶν δι- 
[16] [καζόντων καὶ τῶν — — — ὀμνυ]ομένων σὺν τοῖς πατρίοις θεοῖς καὶ τὸν Σεβασ- 
[17] [τόν. — — — ἐν τῶ ναῶ τοῦ Διὸς καὶ ἐν τῶ τῆς Ἀφροδί]της τὴν εἰκόνα τοῦ θεοῦ. τὰς δὲ τῶν γανων {²sic}² 
[18] — — — — — — — — — — — — — τεμένους εἶναι καὶ τἆλλα δίκαια καὶ τίμι[α] 
[19] [— — — — — — — — — — — κ]ατὰ δύναμιν τὴν ἑαυτοῦ. ἱερῶν δὲ ἐπὶ <τ>ράπε- 
[20] [ζαν — — — — — — — — — κατ]ὰ μῆνα ἐν τῆ γενεθλίω αὐτοῦ ἡμέρα καὶ π[α]- 
[21] [ρατιθέναι — — — — — τῶν] αὐτῶν θυσιῶν ὡς καὶ τῶ Διῒ παρίσταται. τρέ- 
[22] [φεσθαι δὲ τὰ ἱερεῖα — — — βόας — — —]ς ἐφελιωμένους {²sic}² ὡς καλλίστους καὶ με[τὰ] 
[23] [— — — μὲν ὑπὸ τῶν κατ’ ἐνια]υτὸν στρατηγ<ῶ>ν, δύο δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν [ἐπ]ι[σ]- 
[24] [τατῶν(?) — — — — — —] δὲ ὑπὸ τῶν ἀγορανόμων, τρία δὲ ὑπὸ τοῦ ἀρχιερέως 
[25] [— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — τοῦ] δημοσίου δραχμὰς ἑκάστω τετρα- 
[26] [κοσίας — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — δ]είκνυσθαι δὲ τοὺς τραφέντας 
[27] [— — — — — — — — — — τά τεθυσόμενα ἐν τ]οῖς ἀγῶσιν τρέφεσθαι τὸν ἴσο[ν] 
[28] [χρόνον — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —] τὴν γενέθλιον ἡμέραν αὐτο[ῦ] 
[29] — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — μηδενὶ διδομένου 
[30] [— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — τῶ σ]τεφανηφόρω καὶ τ[ῶ] 
[31] [— — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — καθ’] ἕκαστον ἔτος ἐν 
[32] — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —αι τίθεσθαι ἐπ[ὶ] 
[33] — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — — —ενα— — — 
                                                       {²vac.?} ² 
  
[b.1] εὐεργεσιῶν νομισ․․․․․․ εὐχα- 
[2] ριστίαν. ἐπιλογίσασθαι δὲ τῆς 
[3] οἰκείας μεγαλοφροσύνης ὅτ[ι] 
[4] τοῖς οὐρανίου τετε[υ]χόσι δό- 
[5] ξης καὶ θεῶν ὑπεροχὴν καὶ 
[6] κράτος ἔχουσιν οὐδέποτε δύ- 
[7] ναται συνεξισωθῆναι τὰ καὶ 
[8] τῆ τύχη ταπινότερα καὶ τῆ φύ- 
[9] σει. εἰ δέ τι τούτων ἐπικυδέσ- 
[10] τερον τοῖς μετέπειτα χρό- 
[11] νοις εὑρεθήσεται, πρὸς μη[δὲ]- 
[12] [ν] τῶν θεοποιεῖν αὐτὸν ἐπὶ [πλέ]- 
[13] ον δυνησομένων ἐλλείψει[ν] 
[14] τὴν τῆς πόλεως προθυμίαν 
[15] καὶ εὐσέβειαν. παρακαλεῖν 
[16] δὲ αὐτὸν συγχωρῆσαι ἐν τῆ [οἰ]- 
[17] κία αὐτοῦ δέλτον ἀναθεῖνα[ι] 
[18] καὶ ἐν τῶ Καπετωλίω δέ[λτον] 
[19] ἢ στήλην τοῦδε τοῦ ψηφ[ίσμα]- 
[20] τος ἔχουσαν τὸ ἀντίγραφ[ον]. 
[21] εὐχαριστῆσαι δὲ περὶ αὐτο[ῦ] 
[22] τοὺς πρέσβεις τῆ τε συγ[κλή]- 
[23] τω καὶ ταῖς ἱερήαις τῆς Ἑσ[τί]- 
[24] ας καὶ Ἰουλία {²⁶Λιουία}²⁶ τῆ γυναικὶ αὐτοῦ 
[25] καὶ Ὀκταΐα τῆ ἀδελφῆ καὶ τοῖς 
[26] τέκνοις καὶ συγγενέσι καὶ φί- 
[27] λοις. πεμφθῆναι δὲ καὶ στέφα- 
[28] νον ἀπὸ χρυσῶν δισχιλίων, ὃν 
[29] καὶ ἀναδοθῆναι ὑπὸ τῶν πρέσ- 
[30] βεων. εὐχαριστῆσαι δὲ ἐπ’ αὐ- 
[31] τοῦ καὶ τῆ συγκλήτω τοὺς πρέσ- 
[32] βεις προσενηνεγμένης αὐτῆς 
[33] τῆ πόλει συμπαθέστατα καὶ 
[34] τῆς πατρίου χρηστότητος 
[35] οἰκείως. 
TRANSLATION:
Rowe 2002, 133-134. 

fr. i 
4 . . . having written in / . . . of the hymn by / . . . among the existing 
spectacles / . . . theatrical contests / 8 . . . as many prizes as the law 
pertaining to Zeus / . . . and of the high priest and of the stephane- / 
[phoros . . . ] heralds of the first [contests] that will be / [held . . . ] 
to the most famous cities, to put up plaques / 12 [ . . . in the 
temple?] being put up to him by Asia in Pergamum and / . . . and 
Actium and Brundisium and Tarraco and Ma[s/salia . . . ] and 
Antioch near Daphne. The annual / [sacrifices . . . ] and in the 
temple of Sebastos. That there is to be an oath of the /16 
[judges . . .] with the ancestral gods, and Sebastos / . . . the image of 
the god. That those of the / . . . of the shrine or precinct and the 
other rights and privileges / . . . according to his own ability. That 
on the table of the offerings /20 . . . each month on his birthday and 
/ . . . of the same sacrifices, as is offered also to Zeus. That are / [to 
be reared bulls? . . . ] mottled[?] as beautiful and large as possible / 
[ . . . by the annual] generals, two by the epi / 24 [statai by the . . . ] 
agoranomoi, three by the high priest / . . . four [hundred] drachmai 
to each from the public treasury / . . . That the reared are to be 
displayed / [ . . . in] the contests to be reared the same / 28 
[time . . .] his birthday / . . . giving to no one / . . . the 
stephanephoros and / . . . each year / 32 . . . to be placed on 
  
  
fr. ii 
34 for benefactions . . . return. That it is a characteristic of his customary 
greatness of mind to take into account that things that are by 
fortune and by nature humbler can never be made equal to those 
that attain a heavenly reputation and possess the authority and 
power of gods. But if anything more glorious than these is 
discovered in later times, the zeal and the piety of the city shall fail 
in none of the things that can deify him all the more. 
48 That the envoys call on him to allow a plaque to be put up in his 
home and, in the Capitolium, a plaque or a stele bearing a copy of 
this decree. That the envoys offer thanks concerning him to the 
Senate and the vestal virgins and his wife, Julia [sic], and his sister, 
Octavia, and his children and relatives and friends. 
60 That a crown be sent of two thousand gold pieces, which should be 
presented by the envoys. That the envoys properly in his presence 
offer thanks to the Senate for having conducted itself most 
sympathetically toward the city and for its traditional kindness. 
BIBLIOGRAPHY
Abascal, J. M. (2014). “El Decreto de Mytilene y Tarraco. Una nota”. Studia Historica. Historia Antigua 32: 77-89. 83. 

Bömmer (1952), RE: s.v. Pompa. Herrscher, Vol. XXI. 2, 1966, n. 280. 

Buraselis, K. (2017). “On the rhetoric of Imperial Majesty. Elements of the Ideological Interaction between Emperor and Imperial Society on the Basis of Civic Decrees, Imperial Pronouncements and Literary Testimonies in the Greek East”. In: A. Heller and O. M. van Nijf, eds., The Politics of Honour in the Greek Cities of the Roman Empire. Leiden-Boston: Brill, 386-396. 

Chelotti, M. (2011). “Brindisi e Augusto”. In: S. Cagnazzi, M. Chelotti, A. Favuzzi, F. Ferrandini Troisi, D. P. Orsi, M. Silvestrini and E. Todisco, eds., Scritti di Storia per Mario Pani. Bari: Edipuglia, 101–109. 

Jones, C. P. (2015). “The Earthquake of 26 BCE in Decrees of Mytilene and Chios”. Chiron 45: 101–122. 

Kajava, M. (2008). “Alcune note sulle Deltoi, capitoline e altre”. In: M. L. Caldelli, G. L. Gregori and S. Orlandi, eds., Epigrafia 2006. Atti della XIVe Rencontre sur l’Epigraphie in Onore di Silvio Panciera con Altri Contributi di Colleghi, Allievi e Collaboratori. Roma: Quasar, 115–120. 119.
 
Labarre, G. (1996). Les Cités de Lesbos aux Époques Hellénistique et Impériale. Paris: Institut d’Archéologie et d’Histoire de l’Antiquité, no. 21. 

Macmullen, R. (2000). Romanization in the Time of Augustus. New Haven – London: Yale University Press, 15.  

Rowe, G. (2002). Princes and Political Cultures. The New Tiberian Senatorial Decree. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press, 133-135.