Emperors and Kings in procession

Sources on processions related to rulers in Hellenistic and Roman times

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Lysimachus’ pompe in Samothrace

Lysimachus’ pompe in Samothrace

TITLE:
Lysimachus’ pompe in Samothrace
DATE:
c. 301-281 BC
TEXT:
IG 12.8.150 = Syll.3 372 
EDITIONS/TRANSLATIONS:
IG 12.8.150 = Syll.3 372 
KEYWORDS:
Word used to mean procession:
πομπεύω (l. 26, πομπεύειν) 
Word used to mean the cult images:
βωμόν (l. 23) 
Gods or other entities named:
Lysimachos Euergetes (l. 24, Λυσιμάχου εὐεργέτου, “benefactor”)
Description of the cult images:
The altar sholud be as beautiful as possible (l. 25, [ὡ]ς κάλλιστογ)
Procession’s route:
It ended in the altar (there) set up in honor to Lysimachos (l. 28, ταύτηι)
Frequency with which the procession takes place:
Every year (l. 25, κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν)
Performers:
The nine archons and all the citizens wearing wreaths (l. 26-28, τοὺς ἐννέα ἄρχοντας [κ]αὶ στεφανηφορεῖν τοὺς πολίτας [πά]ντας)
References to the public attending the procession:
All the citizens wearing wreaths (l. 27-28, στεφανηφορεῖν τοὺς πολίτας [πά]ντας)
Rites related to the procession:
Sacrifices (l. 25, θύειγ) 
Allusions to conduct or forms of reverence:
Other remarkable elements:
The people of Samothrace voted and decided to honor king Lysimachos “for the protection that he exercised when he captured and turned over to the administrators of the sanctuary certain ‘sacrilegous people’ [(l. 4 [τ]οὺς ἀσεβήσαντας εἰς τὸ ἱερὸγ)] who had broken in and stolen dedications made by the kings  and other Greeks. (…) Lysimachos is praised for his piety (…). The main theme of the inscription is the contrast between the piety of Lysimachos and the impiety of the intruders” (Cole 1984, pp. 21-22)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
BÖMMER (1952), RE: s.v. Pompa. Herrscher, Vol. XXI.2, p. 1968, n.298

COLE, S. G. (1984): Theoi Megaloi: the cult of the Great Gods at Samothrace, Brill, Leiden, pp. 21-22

Eumenes II’s pompe in Delphi (Eumeneia)

Eumenes II’s pompe in Delphi (Eumeneia)

TITLE:
Eumenes II’s pompe in Delphi (Eumeneia)
 
DATE:
160-159 BC
TEXT:
Syll.3 671 = FD 3.3.238 

BRINGMANN, K. and H. VON STEUBEN (1995-2000): Schenkungen hellenistischer Herrscher an griechische Städte und Heiligtümer, 2 vols., Berlin

Cf. Sokolowski LSS 44; Laum 1914: no. 29; Daux FD III.3 238
EDITIONS/TRANSLATIONS:

Syll.3 671 = FD 3.3.238

Collection of Greek Ritual Norms: (English and French : A. JACQUEMIN, D. MULLIEZ and G. ROUGEMONT 2012: Choix d’inscriptions de Delphes, traduites et commentées. Études épigraphiques 5, Athens) 
KEYWORDS:
Word used to mean procession:
πομπή or its verbal form πομπεύω (l. 8-9, π[ομ]πευόντω; l. 20,  πομπεύσωντι)
Word used to mean the cult images:
βάσιν (l. 22, βάσις, “base” of the statue)
Gods or other entities named:
Apollo and Leto and Artemis (l. 5-6, Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ τᾶι Λατοῖ καὶ τᾶι Ἀρτέμιτι; Apollo again in l. 9)
Description of the cult images:
Procession’s route:
From the threshing floor/ from the circular place/”la place circulaire” (A. Jacquemin, D. Mulliez, G. Rougemont 2012, 167) (l. 9, ἐκ τᾶς ἅλωο[ς]). Cf. “The festival was also to include a procession departing from the so-called “Circular Area” (lit. circular “threshing-floor”) in the sanctuary” (vd. J.-M. Carbon and S. Peels)  
Frequency with which the procession takes place:
Every year on the twelfth day of the month of Herakleios (l. 2-3, ἐν τῶι Ἡρακλείωι μηνὶ τᾶ[ι] [δωδεκ]άται), and the procession took place exactly on the twelfth day at the second hour (l. 8-9, τᾶι δωδεκάται π[ομ]πευόντω ὥρας δευτέρας)
Performers:
The priests of Apollo and of the other gods, the prytaneis, the archons and the other magistracies, and the torch-bearers – ten men from each tribe (l. 9-11, οἵ τε ἱερεῖς τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος καὶ τῶν ἄλλων θεῶν καὶ οἱ πρυτάνεις καὶ ἄρχοντες καὶ [τ]ὰ ἄλλα ἀρχεῖα καὶ οἱ λαμπαδισταί, ἀφ’ ἑκάστας φυλᾶς ἄνδρες δέκα)
References to the public attending the procession:
Rites related to the procession:

The overseers sacrificed three full-grown oxen to Apollo and Leto and Artemis, and they managed the other sacrificial victims according to the instructions, and they used the meat for the public feast, as is customary; and they provided forty metretai of wine (l. 5-8, θυόντω δ[ὲ ο]ἱ ἐπιμεληταὶ βοῦς τρεῖς τελείους τῶι Ἀπόλλωνι καὶ τᾶι Λατοῖ καὶ τᾶι Ἀρτέμιτι, καὶ τὰ λοιπὰ ἱε[ρε]ῖα οἰκονομεόντω κατὰ τὰ διατεταγμένα, καὶ τὰ κρ[έα] καταχρείσθωσαν ἐν τὰν δαμοθοινίαν κα[θ]ὼς εἴθισται· οἴνου δὲ ἀναλισκόντω μετρητὰς τεσ[σα]ράκοντα) 

There was a race of torch-bearers from the gymnasium to the altar, and the winner set fire to the sacrifice (l. 15-16, ὁ δ[ὲ] δρόμος γινέσθω ἐκ τοῦ γυμνασίου ἄχρι ποτὶ τὸν βωμόν, ὁ δὲ νικέων ὑφαπτέτω τὰ ἱερά), and the tribe that won the torch-race received ten staters of silver for the sacrifice. 

The priests of Apollo, whenever they go in procession, prayed for the Eumeneia (l. 19-20, οἱ δὲ ἱερεῖς τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, ἐπεί κα πομπεύσωντι, κατευχέσθωσαν τὰ Εὐμένεια καθὼς νομίζεται). 
Allusions to conduct or forms of reverence:
Other remarkable elements:

In this decree the city and sanctuary of Delphi received generous gifts from one its patrons; in this case, Delphi received corn and money in return for holding a festival in honour of Eumenes II (Εὐμένης Βʹ), who ruled between 197 and 159 BC, and surnamed Soter meaning “Savior”; he was a ruler of Pergamon, and a son of Attalus I Soter and queen Apollonis, members of the Attalid dynasty of Pergamon. This dialogue between a city and its benefactor has been interpreted by Domingo Gygax (2016, p. 42) as a “negotiation, (…) he acted as he did partly because Delphi voted to award him great honors – honors that amounted to gifts as well as counter-gifts, and that obliged him to reciprocate”. 

The councillors in office inscribed this decree on the base of the statue of the king Eumenes II near the altar of Apollo, and they dispatched a copy to the king (l. ἀναγράψαι [δὲ τὸ ψάφισ]μα ἐν τὰν βάσιν τὰν ὑπάρχουσαν τοῦ βασιλέος παρὰ τὸν βωμὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος τ[οὺς ἐνάρ]χους βουλευτάς, καὶ διαποστεῖλαι ποτὶ [τ]ὸν βασιλῆ τὸ ἀντίγραφον τοῦ ψαφίσματ[ος])

One slightly later decree also studied in this project concerns a donation by Attalos II for the education of boys and honorific ceremonies and sacrifices, also including a procession, a banquet and a torch-race (vd. J.-M. Carbon and S. Peels)
 
Moreover, the Delphic foundation of Alkesippos (also studied in this project), a somewhat earlier document dated to 182 BC apparently served as a partial model for the foundations of the Attaleia and the Eumeneia.
BIBLIOGRAPHY:

BÖMMER (1952), RE: s.v. Pompa. Herrscher, Vol. XXI.2, p. 1967, n.289-293. 

BOMMELAER, J.-F. and D. LAROCHE (1991): Guide de Delphes. Le site (École française d’Athènes. Sites et Monuments 7), Athens

DAUX, G. (1935): “Sur la loi amphictionique de 380 av. J.C.”, RA,pp. 205-219

DAUX, G. (1936): Delphes au IIe et au Ier siècle, depuis l’abaissement de l’Étolie jusqu’à la paix romaine, 191-31 av. J.-C., Paris, pp. 682-685

DOMINGO GYGAX, M. (2016): Benefaction and rewards in the ancient Greek city. The origins of euergetism, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, p. 42

Attalus III’ Pompe in Elaea

Attalus III’ Pompe in Elaea

TITLE:
Attalus III’ pompe in Elaea
DATE:
138-133 BC
TEXT:
FRÄNKEL, M. (1895): Die Inschriften von Pergamon II, Berlin, num. 246 = OGIS I 332 = IvP I 246 
EDITION/TRANSLATION:

CANEVA, S. (2018): “Le retour d’Attale III à Pergame. Un réexamen du décret IvP I 246”, Epigraphica Anatolica 50, pp. 109-123 (French)

FRÄNKEL, M. (1895): Die Inschriften von Pergamon II, Berlin, num. 246 = OGIS I 332 = IvP I 246: 

KLAUCK, H.-J. (2000): The religious context of early Christianity. A guide to Graeco-Roman religions, Clark, London / New York, p. 276 (incomplete, English)

JONES, N. F. (1987): Public organization in Ancient Greece: a documentary study, American Philosophical Society, Philadephia, p. 355 (incomplete, English)

OGIS I 332 = IvP I 246

SCHNABEL, E. (2018): Jesus, Paul, and the Early Church: missionary realities in historical view, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, p. 337 (incomplete, English)
KEYWORDS:
Words used to mean procession:
πομπὴν (l. 15, πομπὴν ὡς καλλίστην, a splendid procession)

συμπομπευόντων (l. 16, vb. συμπομπεύω, “accompany in a procession”)
Words used to mean the cult images:
εἰκόνα (l. 9, εἰκόνα χρυσῆν; l. 23-24, ἐ̣[πὶ] δὲ τῆς εἰκόνος; l. 41-42, κ]α̣ὶ πολιτικῶν προσόδων δραχμὰς εἴκοσιν; l. 46, εἰκόνι <χρυσῆι>)

ἄγαλμα (l. 7, καὶ ἄγαλμα πεντάπηχυ τεθωρακισμένον; l. 21, ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ ἀγάλματος; l. 45-46, καὶ ἀγάλμα̣[τι πενταπήχει)
Gods or other entities named:
Asklepios Soter (l. 8, 13)
Zeus Soter (l. 10, 12),
Description of the cult images:
εἰκόνα χρυσῆν (l. 9, 46), ἀγάλμα̣τι πενταπήχει (l. 7, 46):
Cultic image (ἀγάλμα): five cubits high, showing Attalus III in his armour as he tramples upon the spoils of war, set up in the temple of Asklepios Soter, so that he may be a temple-companion of the god (l. 7-9, καὶ ἄγαλμα πεντάπηχυ τεθωρακισμένον καὶ βεβηκὸς ἐπὶ σκύλων ἐν τῶι ναῶι τοῦ Σωτῆρος Ἀσκληπιοῦ, ἵνα ἦ[ι]σύνναος τῶι θεῶι, στῆσαι δὲ αὐτοῦ)
Statue (εἰκόν): a golden statue of the king on horseback erected on a marble plinth beside the altar of Zeus Soter, the most prominent place in the agora (l. 9-11, εἰκόνα χρυσῆν ἔφιππον ἐπὶ στυλίδος μαρμαρίνης παρὰ τὸν τοῦ Διὸς τ̣οῦ Σωτῆρος βωμόν, ὅπως ὑπάρχηι ἡ εἰκὼν ἐν τῶι ἐπιφανεστάτωι τόπωι τῆς ἀγορᾶς)
There were made also honorific inscriptions:
on the cultic image (ἀγάλματος), the inscription read: “The assembled people honours king Attalos Philometor Euergetes, son of the divine king Eumenes Soter, on account of his skill and bravery in war, because he overcame our enemies” (l. 21-23, γενέσθαι δὲ καὶ ἐπιγραφάς, ἐπὶ μὲν τοῦ ἀγάλματος “ὁ δῆμος βασιλέα Ἄτταλον φιλομήτορα καὶ εὐεργέτην θεοῦ βασιλέως Εὐμένου σωτῆρος ἀρετῆ[ς] ἕνεκεν καὶ ἀνδραγαθίας τῆς κατὰ πόλεμον, κρατήσαντα τῶν ὑπεναντίων”);

on the statue (εἰκόνος), the inscription read: “The assembled people [honours] king Attalos Philometor Euergetes, son of the divine king Eumenes Soter, on account of his skill and prudence, so advantageous in matters of state, and because of his generosity to the people” (l. 23-26, ἐ̣[πὶ] δὲ τῆς εἰκόνος “ὁ δῆμος βασιλέα Ἄτταλον φιλομήτορα καὶ εὐεργέτην θεοῦ βασ[ιλέ]ως Εὐμένου σωτῆρος ἀρετῆς ἕνεκεν καὶ φρονήσεως τῆς συναυξούσης τὰ πράγ̣[μα]τα καὶ μεγαλομερείας τῆς εἰς ἑαυτόν”) 
Procession’s route:
From the prytaneion to the temple precinct of Asklepios and of the king (l. 15-16, ἐκ τοῦ πρυτανε[ί]ου εἰς τὸ τέμενος τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ καὶ τοῦ βασιλέως)
: each year (l. 14-15, κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν) on the eighth day of the month, on which he entered Pergamon (l. 13-14, τὴν δὲ ὀγδόην, ἐν ἧι παρεγένετο εἰς Πέργαμον, ἱεράν τε εἶναι ε̣[ἰ]ς ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον); cf. “une procession annuelle du pryta-née au sanctuaire d’Asklépios, suivie par un banquet des magistrats” (Caneva 2018, p. 111)
Frequency with which the procession takes place
Each year (l. 14-15, κατ’ ἐνιαυτὸν) on the eighth day of the month, on which he entered Pergamon (l. 13-14, τὴν δὲ ὀγδόην, ἐν ἧι παρεγένετο εἰς Πέργαμον, ἱεράν τε εἶναι ε̣[ἰ]ς ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον); cf. “une procession annuelle du pryta-née au sanctuaire d’Asklépios, suivie par un banquet des magistrats” (Caneva 2018, p. 111)
Performers:
the priest of Asklepios (l. 15, τοῦ ἱερέως τοῦ Ἀσκληπιοῦ) and the customary persons taking part (l. 15, συμπομπευόντων τῶν εἰθισμένων), the archons (l. οἱ ἄρχοντες)
References to the public attending the procession:
Rites related to the procession:
sacrifice (l. 17, θυσίας); when the sacrifice has been offered and has produced good omens, the archons shall gather in the temple (l. 17-18, παρασταθείσης θυσίας καὶ καλλιερηθείσης συναγέσθωσαν ἐν τῶι ἱερῶι οἱ ἄρχοντες)
Allusions to conduct or forms of reverence:
The eighth day of the month, on which he entered Pergamon, is to be sacred for all time (l. 13-14, τὴν δὲ ὀγδόην, ἐν ἧι παρεγένετο εἰς Πέργαμον, ἱεράν τε εἶναι ε̣[ἰ]ς ἅπαντα τὸν χρόνον)
Other remarkable elements:
This inscription, which was found near Elaea, provides vivid evidence of the god-like honours given to some Hellenistic kings during their lifetime including the procession of Attalos III Philometor Euergetes, who bequeathed his state to the Romans in his will. The procession and everything else was paid with the fund of the Asklepieion (l. 19, ἀπὸ τοῦ πόρου τοῦ Ἀσκληπιείου)
BIBLIOGRAPHY:
Bömmer (1952), RE: s.v. Pompa. Herrscher, Vol. XXI.2, p. 1965, n.279

CHANIOTIS, A. (2003): “The divinity of Hellenistic rulers”. In: Erskine (ed.), A Companion to the Hellenistic World, Blackwell, Oxford 2003, pp. 431-445

KLAUCK, H.-J. (2000): The religious context of early Christianity. A guide to Graeco-Roman religions, Clark, London / New York, p. 276

JONES, N. F. (1987): Public organization in ancient Greece: A documentary study, American Philosophical Society, Philadephia, p. 355

NOCK, A. D. (1930): “Σύνναος θεός”, Harvard Studies in Classical Philology 41, p.23

SCHNABEL, E. (2018): Jesus, Paul, and the Early Church: missionary realities in historical view, Mohr Siebeck, Tübingen, p. 337