Opramoas

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Opramoas from Rhodiapolis was an outstanding benefactor ( Euerget ) in Lycia in the 2nd century AD . He is known mainly through the inscriptions traditional honor dossier at three outer walls of his Heroon was attached ( Tituli Asiae Minoris (TAM) II 905). It contains around 70 individual documents from the time of the Emperor Trajan to Antoninus Pius .

biography

Archiphylakia can be seen as one of the first stages of his career in Traian times. His father Apollonios II appeared in this early phase as a supporter of his sons when they took over offices in the Lycian League . One of his brothers, Apollonios III., Was - as in the late reign of Hadrian also Opramoas - at this time Lycian federal priest and possibly received Roman citizenship under Hadrian , which cannot be proven for Opramoas.

Opramoas was not only involved in his hometown, but also took on offices and functions in numerous Lycian cities and worked there as benefactors in the form of building and agon foundations, through donations of money or by carrying out gladiator fights or animal baiting. He donated two temples in Rhodiapolis. In Myra and Patara he took over Agonothesia , in Korydalla , the hometown of his mother Aglais alias Aristokila, he was three times high school .

Opramoas played a prominent role after the severe earthquake in Lycia in 141 AD, as he was instrumental in the rebuilding and renovation of buildings in Lycian cities. His aids for Limyra , Nisa , Myra, Pinara , Kadyanda , Telmessos , Xanthos , Kalynda , Balbura , Krya , Choma , Kyaneai , Arneai , Arykanda , Gagai , Olympos , Akalissos , Bubon , Symbra , Podalia , Phellos , Antiphellos , are known by name, Phaselis , Aperlai and Sidyma . In Korydalla he supported the grain distribution.

A large number of Lycian cities and the Lycian Federation honored Opramoas for his commitment during his life. These honors are still witnessed today by inscriptions of honor in the cities of Tlos , in the Letoon of Xanthos, in Phaselis and Myra. In the dossier of honor, Opramoas prides himself on having paid for the associated statues, which are no longer preserved. The governor Cornelius Proculus raised objections to honors for the year of the federal priesthood of Opramoas , which could only be overcome by the influence of the Xanthians on the new emperor Antoninus Pius.

The Heroon and its inscription

Near the Theater of Rhodiapolis, behind the stage building, are the ruins of a heroon that the English explorers Thomas AB Spratt and Edward Forbes rediscovered in 1842. It is a building with a footprint of 8 × 7 m, which probably served as a tomb for Opramoas and is known as the Heroon because of his outstanding services to Rhodiapolis and Lycia.

The extensive dossier of honor was recorded on limestone blocks, of which only a small part remained on the building itself when the ruins were rediscovered. However, most of the inscription blocks could be found in a collapse position between 1882 and 1894, so that it was possible to reconstruct the inscription. Due to the instability of the limestone, the inscription has suffered a lot since it was rediscovered, as the blocks remained unprotected in the open after being found. Today, therefore, only a few blocks and fragments that can be seen on site in Rhodiapolis are preserved.

For research on ancient studies, the value of the Greek inscription lies, among other things, in the detailed insight into the functioning of the Lycian league and in communication processes between the individual Lycian cities, the Lycian league and the Roman provincial administration as well as in the reconstruction of chronologies according to Lycian federal priests. The dossier also contains letters that the Emperor Antoninus Pius sent directly to the Lycian League. It is one of the longest preserved ancient inscriptions.

reception

The Belgian-French writer Marguerite Yourcenar points out Opramoas in her novel I tamed the she-wolf , published in German in 1953 . The memories of the emperor Hadrian (French original edition: Mémoires d'Hadrien , Paris 1951) played a supporting role.

literature

  • Christina Kokkinia: The Opramoas Inscription from Rhodiapolis. Euergetism and the social elite in Lycia (= Antiquitas . 3.40). Bonn 2000 (with a German translation and a commentary on the dossier of honor at his Heroon in Rhodiapolis).
  • Helmut Engelmann , Opramoas as Archiphylax (TAM II 3,905). In: Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik 153, 2005, 121–124.      
  • Thomas AB Spratt , Edward Forbes : Travels in Lycia, Milyas and the Cibyratis, in company with the late Rev. ET Daniell. Volume 1. Van Voorst, London 1847, p. 181 f. (to find the inscription; digitized version ).    
  • Michael Wörrle : City and Festival in Imperial Asia Minor. Studies on an agonistic foundation from Oinoanda (= Vestigia . Volume 39). CH Beck, Munich 1988.

Individual evidence

  1. ^ TAM II 905. In: Searchable Greek Inscriptions. A Scholarly Tool in Progress. The Packard Humanities Institute . Retrieved March 8, 2018 (ancient Greek).
  2. ^ TAM II 578. In: Searchable Greek Inscriptions. A Scholarly Tool in Progress. The Packard Humanities Institute. Retrieved March 8, 2018 (ancient Greek).
  3. ^ TAM II 579. In: Searchable Greek Inscriptions. A Scholarly Tool in Progress. The Packard Humanities Institute. Retrieved March 8, 2018 (ancient Greek).
  4. ↑ FdXanthos VII 66. In: Searchable Greek Inscriptions. A Scholarly Tool in Progress. The Packard Humanities Institute. Retrieved March 8, 2018 (ancient Greek).
  5. ^ TAM II 1203. In: Searchable Greek Inscriptions. A Scholarly Tool in Progress. The Packard Humanities Institute. Retrieved March 8, 2018 (ancient Greek).
  6. ^ IGR III 726. In: Searchable Greek Inscriptions. A Scholarly Tool in Progress. The Packard Humanities Institute. Retrieved March 8, 2018 (ancient Greek).
personal data
SURNAME Opramoas
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Benefactor (Euerget) in Lycia
DATE OF BIRTH 1st century or 2nd century
DATE OF DEATH 2nd century or 3rd century