Cédric Brélaz
University of Fribourg, Institut du monde antique et byzantin, Faculty Member
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Each year, hundreds of new inscriptions on stone and on various materials are discovered throughout the areas corresponding to the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations. This fresh evidence is continuously renewing, and sometimes... more
Each year, hundreds of new inscriptions on stone and on
various materials are discovered throughout the areas corresponding
to the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
This fresh evidence is continuously renewing, and sometimes
challenging, our views on Greek and Roman history. «The
Journal of Epigraphic Studies» intends to play a major role in
this process and aims to foster the study of Greek and Latin
inscriptions, from the beginning of the alphabetic writing in
the Greek world during the 8th century BC down to Late
Antiquity and the Early Byzantine period. It welcomes the
publication of new material (in Greek, Latin, or in other
languages closely related to the Greek and Roman cultures)
from all parts of the Ancient World, reassessments of already
known inscriptions, as well as groundbreaking papers on
various aspects of Greek and Roman history relying mostly
on epigraphic evidence. «The Journal of Epigraphic Studies»
accepts articles written in English, German, French, Italian
and Spanish. Submitted articles are peer-reviewed by an
international Editorial Committee. Articles submitted for
publication in «JES», 2 (2019) should be sent by March 15,
2019 to: jes@libraweb.net. Articles should comply with the
specific editorial rules accessible through: www.libraweb.net.
various materials are discovered throughout the areas corresponding
to the Ancient Greek and Roman civilizations.
This fresh evidence is continuously renewing, and sometimes
challenging, our views on Greek and Roman history. «The
Journal of Epigraphic Studies» intends to play a major role in
this process and aims to foster the study of Greek and Latin
inscriptions, from the beginning of the alphabetic writing in
the Greek world during the 8th century BC down to Late
Antiquity and the Early Byzantine period. It welcomes the
publication of new material (in Greek, Latin, or in other
languages closely related to the Greek and Roman cultures)
from all parts of the Ancient World, reassessments of already
known inscriptions, as well as groundbreaking papers on
various aspects of Greek and Roman history relying mostly
on epigraphic evidence. «The Journal of Epigraphic Studies»
accepts articles written in English, German, French, Italian
and Spanish. Submitted articles are peer-reviewed by an
international Editorial Committee. Articles submitted for
publication in «JES», 2 (2019) should be sent by March 15,
2019 to: jes@libraweb.net. Articles should comply with the
specific editorial rules accessible through: www.libraweb.net.
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This paper is an attempt to assess the impact on the regional scale of the founding of a Roman colony at Philippi in 42 BC. It examines the meaning for the rest of the province of the settlement, in a specific part of Macedonia, of an... more
This paper is an attempt to assess the impact on the regional scale of the founding of a Roman colony at Philippi in 42 BC. It examines the meaning for the rest of the province of the settlement, in a specific part of Macedonia, of an exogenous community which was established there by the decision of the Roman central authorities. It raises the issue of the extent to which the regional equilibrium of the area ranging from the Strymon valley to the river Nestos was affected by the settlement of Roman citizens with regard to political power, demographics, society and economics. It also explores the relationships the Philippians (the colonists as well as the foreign residents) developed with neighboring cities, such as Amphipolis, Serres and Thasos, through family networks and economic exchange. Finally, it examines how the colony was progressively integrated into its provincial environment and through what kinds of cultural interactions it was connected to the surrounding cities. This paper argues that the importance of the Roman colony of Philippi was limited to Eastern Macedonia and that the wider region in which the colony was involved corresponded to an area reaching from Thessaloniki to Northwestern Asia Minor.
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Unlike in the West where the Roman municipal model was almost uniformly spread over the various provinces, Greek cities in the Imperial period were very pride of their own centuries-old political tradition and consequently were reluctant... more
Unlike in the West where the Roman municipal model was almost uniformly spread over the various provinces, Greek cities in the Imperial period were very pride of their own centuries-old political tradition and consequently were reluctant to adopt Roman institutions. However, many cities celebrated the emperor as their ‘founder’ or were renamed after a Roman emperor, such as, for example, ‘Kaisareia’, ‘Sebaste’ and ‘Hadrianopolis’. Other cities deliberately chose pictures referring to Roman foundation practices to appear on their coins (e.g. the scene of the ‘sulcus’) or took – formally or informally – the title of ‘koloneia’, normally reserved for communities which were part of the Roman State. This paper will argue that Greekness was not the only way to express and to foster collective identities in the local communities of the Roman East. Some cities, especially in the less deeply Hellenized areas, saw in the Roman rule an opportunity to reconsider ethnic belongings and were willing to cope with the requirements of the hegemonic power.
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Three main ethnic groups lived in the Roman colony of Philippi: Thracians, the native people established in the area as early as the Archaic period, Greeks, who came from Thasos to control parts of the continent during the Classical... more
Three main ethnic groups lived in the Roman colony of Philippi: Thracians, the native people established in the area as early as the Archaic period, Greeks, who came from Thasos to control parts of the continent during the Classical period and then from Macedonia after the city of Philippi was founded by Philip II in 356 BC, and the Italian colonists settled there by Mark Antony after the battle of 42 BC. The archaeological and epigraphic evidence shows that the various deities worshipped in Philippi also had the same three origins: Thracian, Greek, and Roman (see, for instance, the Hero Aulonites, Apollo, and Jupiter Optimus Maximus). It is often assumed that each group of gods was worshipped by a specific category of the Philippian population according to ethnic identity, and that Roman deities were mainly worshipped in town, while most cults for Thracian gods were to be found in the countryside. In this paper, I will reassess this statement through a reappraisal of the numerous inscriptions documenting the religious life in the colony. I will argue that there was in Philippi no limitation of any deity to a group depending on the ethnic or social identity of the worshippers, or on the location of the votive and cultic practices. This doesn’t mean, however, that all cults in Philippi were necessarily syncretic and that there were no cultural or social differences between worshippers. But, because of the huge variety of deities and religious practices known in Roman Philippi, the study of the cultic landscape of the colony requires a more nuanced analysis going beyond the ordinary ethnic and socio-legal categories used to describe the different parts of the local population. Moreover, special attention will be paid to the local Christian community during the three first centuries after its creation by the Apostle Paul in order to compare the social composition of the Pauline ekklesia with the audience of the other religious associations attested in the colony.
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The Roman colony of Philippi in Macedonia is celebrated in the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ as the first city (‘polis’) to have been visited by Paul on European soil. This paper will examine the urban context of Paul’s stay and activity in... more
The Roman colony of Philippi in Macedonia is celebrated in the ‘Acts of the Apostles’ as the first city (‘polis’) to have been visited by Paul on European soil. This paper will examine the urban context of Paul’s stay and activity in Philippi raising two major issues. First, it will reassess the topography of Paul’s deeds in the centre of the town in the light of new archaeological finds and of the discovery of new inscriptions. Second, it will deal with the sociology of the urban population in order to identify among which parts of the people living in Roman Philippi Paul found his first followers. Paradoxically enough, the first preachings of the Apostle did not take place in the town, but ‘outside the city gate’, near the river where Judaizing women used to gather to pray on the Sabbath. This will lead us to explore the relationship between the town – and its population including the Pauline community – and the immediate periphery, as well as the countryside. I will argue that, despite the apparent centrality of Paul’s preaching in the narrative of the ‘Acts’, early Christianity in Roman Philippi was a very limited phenomenon involving only a small (and marginal) part of the whole Philippian population and territory at that time.
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This paper deals with Augustus’ policy towards local communities in Asia Minor. It addresses the issue of Augustus’ action with regard to the founding of cities in this area with a focus on constitutional matters. First, the paper raises... more
This paper deals with Augustus’ policy towards local communities in Asia Minor. It addresses the issue of Augustus’ action with regard to the founding of cities in this area with a focus on constitutional matters. First, the paper raises the question of what the legal consequences were for local communities being newly named after Augustus. Another issue concerns the constitutional pattern used by Roman imperial authorities in order to found new Greek cities. In the second part, the paper deals with the founding of Roman colonies by Augustus in Asia Minor. Apart from the usual colonial foundations, one can notice several different options, such as double communities, individual allotments, the refoundation of already existing colonies, and Greek cities deliberately imitating the Roman colonial model. The paper concludes that Augustus’ involvement in founding new cities was rather limited. Augustus’ policy towards local communities in Asia Minor was on the whole positive and essentially pragmatic. This led Augustus to maintain the variety of local statuses and to cope with on-the-ground realities.
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La vingtaine de colonies de vétérans et de civils qui furent créées dans les provinces hellénophones à l’époque césaro-augustéenne ne sont pas les seuls établissements de citoyens romains ayant existé dans la moitié orientale de l’empire.... more
La vingtaine de colonies de vétérans et de civils qui furent créées dans les provinces hellénophones à l’époque césaro-augustéenne ne sont pas les seuls établissements de citoyens romains ayant existé dans la moitié orientale de l’empire. D’autres formes de communautés, divergeant du modèle de la colonie de déduction, sont encore attestées dans ces provinces. L’existence de ces communautés pose toute une série de questions aussi bien pratiques que juridiques. L’enquête portera en particulier sur le cas des doubles communautés, sur les communautés de citoyens romains installées dans des cités pérégrines, sur les déductions viritanes et sur les colonies dites honoraires. Outre la définition politico-constitutionnelle de ces établissements, nous soulèverons différents problèmes ayant trait à leur organisation matérielle et spatiale : comment ces communautés ont-elles coexisté avec les cités pérégrines ? Comment leur territoire s’est-il formé ? Quel était le statut des terres appartenant aux citoyens romains ? En s’interrogeant sur ces exemples atypiques de colonies, nous serons amené à souligner l’hétérogénéité de la présence romaine en Méditerranée orientale, ainsi que la diversité des solutions juridiques mises en œuvre tant par les autorités impériales que par les cités grecques.
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The nearly thirty colonies which were founded by the Roman State in the Eastern Mediterranean from the age of Caesar to the reign of Augustus are relevant instances to examine the way collective identities were formed in Antiquity as well... more
The nearly thirty colonies which were founded by the Roman State in the Eastern Mediterranean from the age of Caesar to the reign of Augustus are relevant instances to examine the way collective identities were formed in Antiquity as well as the role the perception of the past was playing in this process. Founded by the father of Alexander the Great in 356 BC, who gave his name to the city, Philippi saw in 42 BC the crucial battle between Caesar’s heirs and the republican army of Brutus and Cassius. It was then turned into a Roman colony by Mark Antony and was the first European city to be visited by Paul, who created there a Christian community which proved to be one of the most faithful to him. This paper aims at seeing how this triple origin (Macedonian, Roman and Christian) was celebrated during the Imperial period and how these three elements interacted with one another in order to shape local memory and identity in the colony.
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This paper deals, in the context of the founding of colonies in the Eastern provinces of the Roman empire at the end of the first century BC, with the impact the settlement of Latin speaking Roman citizens in Greek cities had on the... more
This paper deals, in the context of the founding of colonies in the Eastern provinces of the Roman empire at the end of the first century BC, with the impact the settlement of Latin speaking Roman citizens in Greek cities had on the language spoken by local people, who were deprived of civil rights and who were turned into simple residents (incolae). The case of Philippi in the province of Macedonia is the starting point of the survey. Unlike most Eastern colonies, where incolae kept using Greek, the peregrine population living on the territory of Philippi occasionally used Latin for epitaphs and dedications. This peculiarity is due to the fact that Eastern Macedonia, unlike most regions where Roman colonies had been established in the East, was not yet fully Hellenized in the Imperial period. The sensitivity of Thracian incolae to Latin helped reduce the pressure of the Greek speaking environment on the colony of Philippi. However, the remarkable permanence of Latin in Philippi did not prevent the colony, as all Roman colonies in the East, from becoming in the Early Byzantine period a Christian town where Latin had totally been supersed by Greek.
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While most Greek cities still had efficient military structures and were able to wage wars during the 1st cent. BC, the pacification of the Empire by Augustus lead to the disappearance of all local militias. This paper deals with the fate... more
While most Greek cities still had efficient military structures and were able to wage wars during the 1st cent. BC, the pacification of the Empire by Augustus lead to the disappearance of all local militias. This paper deals with the fate of the century-long Greek military tradition in the Roman Imperial period. It argues that, in spite of Roman sovereignty in the field of war, Greek cities had been preserving paramilitary institutions (such as epheby) and keeping alive the memory of their glorious deeds in past wars. The remembrance of their lost military independence, and especially of their victories during the Persian Wars, and the valorization of every action related to defense (such as the catch of criminals and the contribution to imperial military campaigns) aimed at emphasizing the autonomy Greek cities still enjoyed within Roman provincial administration and helped shape Greek collective identities under Roman hegemony.
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This paper looks at some Greek and Latin inscriptions from Eastern Macedonia, from the ancient city of Serres and from modern Eleutheroupoli, which was situated on the territory of the Roman colony of Philippi. These texts are known... more
This paper looks at some Greek and Latin inscriptions from Eastern Macedonia, from the ancient city of Serres and from modern Eleutheroupoli, which was situated on the territory of the Roman colony of Philippi. These texts are known thanks to copies dating back from the end of the 18th century. Unpublished documents kept at the Gennadeion Library in Athens show that these inscriptions were seen for the first time by the French consul in Athens Fauvel, who sent copies of them to the geographer Barbié du Bocage in Paris. Barbié du Bocage then asked the famous Italian scholar Visconti about the understanding of the inscriptions. One of these texts had remained unpublished so far and the correspondence between Fauvel, Barbié du Bocage and Visconti provides new information on the origin of the other, as well as on the working method of antiquarians in pre-independent Greece.
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In Athens, the practical applications of the distribution of citizens according to the Solonian property classes were gradually left behind during the 4th century BC. But civic life in the Greek cities came to be dominated in the... more
In Athens, the practical applications of the distribution of citizens according to the Solonian property classes were gradually left behind during the 4th century BC. But civic life in the Greek cities came to be dominated in the Hellenistic and Imperial periods by groups of notables monopolizing public offices. Those élites distinguished themselves from ordinary people through wealth. This paper aims at looking at the consequences on institutions and on political mentalities of the difference existing in the post-classical cities between rich citizens and citizens who were not wealthy enough to become members of the Council and to offer benefactions. Special attention is paid to the words used in formal contexts and by the notables to describe those people who were in practice kept away from power and were usually considered as “poor”. Although it was very often used by the élites, this naming never proved official and, in a public context, notables preferred to stress on the theoretical homogeneity of the civic body.