| TITLE Letter of Marcus Aurelius and Commodus to the Athenian Gerousía |
| DATE 178-179, 182-183 CE |
| TEXT The Packard Humanities Institute (see SEG 21, 509; IG II² 1108). [57] προσε̣ῖ̣σ̣θε v τὰς μὲν οὖν εἰκόνας ἡμῶν τ’ αὐτῶν καὶ [τῶν ἡμῶν γυναικῶ]ν ποιήσασθαι βεβούλησθε χ[ρυσᾶς ἢ ἀργυρᾶς, ἤ] [58] τε μάλιστ’ ἐ[π]ὶ τῆς ἡμε[τ]έρας γνώμης συνιέντες βούλεσθε χα[λκαῖς εἰκόσιν ἀρκεῖ]σθαι, δῆλον δ’ ὡς ποιήσεσθε ἀ[νδριάντας οἵους] [59] κοινότε[ρο]ν οἱ πολλο[ὶ] προτομὰς καλοῦσιν, καὶ συνμέτρους [αὐτὰς ἐκτελέσετε τὰ]ς τέτταρας ἴσας ὡς ῥᾴδιον ε[ἶναι ἐν ταῖς ἑορταῖς] [60] ὑμῶν κ̣[αθ’ ἑκ]ά̣στην τ[ῶ]ν̣ συνόδων εἰσκομίζειν ἔνθα ἂν βο[ύλησθε αὐτὰς ἑκάστο]τ̣ε ὥσπερ δὴ καὶ εἰς τὰς ἐκκλ[ησίας· τοὺς βάθρους] [61] δὲ ἐπ[ὶ τούτοις] εἶναι τὸ [ἐπί]στ̣ημα τῶν ἡμετέρων ὀνομάτων [τῆς εἰς ἡμᾶς εὐνοίας ἕ]νεκα προσείμεθα, ἡδέω[ς ἀποδεχόμενοι τοι]- [62] αῦτ’ [ἀλλὰ τὰ θεῖα] καὶ τὰ δο[κ]οῦντα ἐπίφθονα ὀκνοῦντες ἐν ἅπ[ασι καιροῖς· διὸ καὶ νῦ]ν ὑμεῖν εὐγνωμόνως ἐμ[φανίζομεν ποιήσα]- [63] σ[θαι μόνον χαλκ]ᾶς ὡς [του]ῦτ’ ἂν εἴη μᾶλλον ἡμε[ῖ]ν κεχαρισμέ[νον· τοὺς δὲ ἄλλους τὴν αὐτῶν γνώμην ὑπ’ [αὐτῶν διδασκόμενος] [64] [δηλώσει ὑμεῖν Κ]αίλι[ος] Κουαδρᾶτος ὁ ἐπίτροπος ὑμῶν vacat [εὐτυ]χεῖτε vacat |
| TRANSLATION Oliver 1941, 116. Then in regard to the images which you have wanted to make of ourselves and of our consorts in gold or silver, or best of all, if understanding from our own proposal, you are willing to content yourselves with images of bronze, it is clear that you will make statues such as the many more commonly call protomai (busts), and you will execute them on a moderate scale, the four of equal size, so that it will be easy on your holidays at every gathering to transport them wherever you may wish on every occasion, as for example to the popular assemblies. And as for the bases, we permit the placing of our names upon these because of your good will toward us, for we gladly accept such honors but on all occasions we avoid the divine and those which seem to provoke envy. Therefore, also now we gratefully instruct you to make only bronze images, that this would be more pleasing to us. As for the other persons, Caelius Quadratus our procurator, who is being instructed by them, will inform you of their decision. |
| BIBLIOGRAPHY Dittenberger, W. (1878-1882). IG III Inscriptiones Atticae aetatis Romanae. Parts I-II. Berlin: Reimer, 1108 (partial edition) = IG III ad. 39a. Fishwick, D. (1991). The Imperial Cult in the Latin West. Studies in the Ruler Cult of the Western Provinces of the Roman Empire. Vol. II. 1. Leiden: Brill, 545. Kirchner, J. (1913-1940). IG II² Inscriptiones Graecae. Vol II et III. Inscriptiones Atticae Euclidis anno posteriors. Parts I-III. Berlin: Reimer (partial edition) = IG II² 1108. Meritt, B. D. (1933). “The inscriptions”. Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 2(2): 149-169. Meritt, B. D. (1961). “Greek Inscriptions”. Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 30(3): 205-292, no. 31. Oliver, J. H. (1941). The Sacred Gerusia. Baltimore: American School of Classical Studies at Athens, 108-120, no. 24. Oliver, J. H. (1961). “New Fragments of Sacred Gerusia 24 (I. G., II2, 1108)”. Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens 30(4): 402-3. Woodhead, A. G., ed., (1965). Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum. 21, 509. Amsterdam. |