THE MYSTERIES OF ARTEMIS OF EPHESOS
SYNKRISIS
Comparative Approaches to Early Christianity in Greco-Roman Culture
SERIES EDITORS
Dale B. Martin (Yale University) and L. L. Welborn (Fordham University)
Synkrisis is a project that invites scholars of Early Christianity and the GrecoRoman world to collaborate toward the goal of rigorous comparison. Each volume in the series provides immersion in an aspect of Greco-Roman culture, so
as to make possible a comparison of the controlling logics that emerge from the
discourses of Greco-Roman and early Christian writers. In contrast to older
“history of religions” approaches, which looked for similarities between religions in order to posit relations of influence and dependence, Synkrisis embraces a fuller conception of the complexities of culture, viewing Greco-Roman
religions and early Christianity as members of a comparative class. The differential comparisons promoted by Synkrisis may serve to refine and correct the
theoretical and historical models employed by scholars who seek to understand
and interpret the Greco-Roman world. With its allusion to the rhetorical exercises of the Greco-Roman world, the series title recognizes that the comparative
enterprise is a construction of the scholar’s mind and serves the scholar’s theoretical interests.
EDITORIAL BOARD
Loveday Alexander (Sheffield University)
John Bodell (Brown University)
Kimberly Bowes (University of Pennsylvania)
Daniel Boyarin (University of California, Berkeley)
Fritz Graf (Ohio State University)
Ronald F. Hock (University of Southern California)
Hans-Josef Klauck (University of Chicago)
Stanley K. Stowers (Brown University)
Angela Standhartinger (Marburg University)
The Mysteries
of Artemis of
Ephesos
Cult, Polis, and Change in
the Graeco-Roman World
GUY MACLEAN ROGERS
New Haven and London
Copyright © 2012 by Yale University.
All rights reserved.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Rogers, Guy MacLean.
The mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos : cult, polis, and
change in the Graeco-Roman world / Guy MacLean
Rogers.
p. cm. — (Synkrisis : comparative approaches to early
Christianity in Greco-Roman culture)
Includes bibliographical references (p. ) and index.
ISBN 978-0-300-17863-0 (alk. paper)
1. Artemis (Greek deity)—Cult—Turkey—Ephesus
(Extinct city) 2. Ephesus (Extinct city)—Religion.
I. Title.
BL820.D5R64 2012
282.080939′23—dc23
2012011998
A catalogue record for this book is available from
the British Library.
This paper meets the requirements of ANSI/NISO
Z39.48–1992 (Permanence of Paper).
10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1
For Nancy L. Thompson
Only you beneath the moon and under the sun
Wo bin ich? Ist’s Phantasie, daß ich noch lebe?
Oder hat eine höhere Macht mich gerettet?
Where am I? Is it a dream or am I still alive?
Or have I been saved by some higher power?
—Tamino, Die Zauberflöte, Act 1, scene 1
Contents
Preface: Anathema, ix
Maps, xiii
PART I: Muesis—Initiation
1: Continuity in Change, 3
2: Funeral Games, 33
3: Mysteries and Sacrifices, 61
PART II: Teletai—Rites
4: Mystic Sacrifices, 91
5: Kouretes eusebeis, 122
6: Kouretes eusebeis kai philosebastoi, 145
7: Kouretes eusebeis kai philosebastoi kai bouleutai, 171
8: “The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God,” 205
9: “Our Common Salvation,” 230
PART III: Epopteia—Viewing
10: Cult, Polis, and Change in the Graeco-Roman World, 259
Appendix 1: The Other Mystery Cults of the Polis, 293
Appendix 2: Cults of the Prytaneion, 303
Appendix 3: Chronological Chart of Kouretes, 309
Appendix 4: Chart of Mysteries and Change, 311
List of Abbreviations, 313
Notes, 315
Glossary, 437
Select Modern Bibliography, 441
CONTENTS
viii
General Index, 481
Index of Ancient Authors, 495
Index of Inscriptions, 497
Color plates follow page 118
Preface
A NATH E M A
Accipite et bibite ex eo omnes:
hic est enim calix sanguinis mei
novi et aeterni testamenti,
qui pro vobis et pro multis effundetur
in remissionem peccatorum.
Hoc facite in meam commemorationem.
And with those words, Father Griffin leaned over the row of blue-suited
thirteen-year- olds who kneeled before him at St. Theresa’s in 1964, and one by
one placed Jesus’s body on their tongues. Then, as he began to pour out small
cups of the savior’s blood for the boys to drink, the chorus at the back of the
church started to sing:
“Mysterium fidei . . .”
Thirty-six years later in the same church, moments before another line of
kneeling youths prepared to taste Christ’s body and blood, Father Kwiatkowski
spoke these words:
Take and drink this all of you:
for this is the chalice of my blood
of the new and eternal covenant,
which shall be poured out for you
and for the many in remission of sins.
Do this in commemoration of me.
Just as the Father recited the last line, the chorus at the back of the church broke
into song:
“The mystery of faith . . .”
When and how do a wafer and a cup of wine become the body and blood
of Christ? Are Jesus’s body and blood the same in Latin and English? Does it
ix
x
PREFACE
matter whether the savior’s body and blood are given to those receiving communion by a priest of Irish or Polish descent? Is a mysterium fidei the same thing as
a mystery of faith?
This is a book about cultic change in context. It tells the story of one ancient mystery cult, based upon all of the surviving evidence. The story ends with
the disappearance of the cult during the third century A.D. In the last chapter
of this book I set out what I think are some of the wider implications of this
study for our understanding of mystery cults, the Graeco-Roman polis, ancient
polytheism, anthropological theories of initiation rituals, and the fields of evolutionary psychology and neuroscience. Both initiates and hierophants of these
subjects should be interested in these implications.
A study that ends with a cult’s demise might be interpreted as a story of
failure; however, the opposite is the case. The story of the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis at Ephesos is a tale of almost unimaginable success. The
Ephesians celebrated the goddess’s mysteries from at least the mid-fourth century B.C. into the mid-third century A.D.—nearly six hundred years. If that is
religious failure, seldom can a cult have failed so successfully.
Of greater interest is the question of why this cult survived as long as it did.
In this book I argue that it was the Ephesians’ willingness to adapt the theology
and ritual practices of the cult to changed political, social, and economic circumstances that was the key factor in the cult’s success and longevity. Indeed,
I make the case that the flexibility of those who managed and took part in this
cult helps to explain why polytheism was the dominant system of belief for the
majority of the inhabitants of the Mediterranean world from the period of our
first evidence of Greek writing in the middle of the second millennium B.C.
until well into the fifth century A.D. Although the majority of the circa seven
billion people on the face of the earth today are adherents of one of the Abrahamic religious traditions, it is worth reflecting upon the fact that for most of
literate human history the majority of people for whom we have any material or
literary evidence at all have been polytheists.
A flexible system of belief and practice—founded upon the idea that a
multiplicity of divinities or divine forces govern the world and that human
beings and those divinities need each other, indeed may require each other for
salvation—best explained life both as lived and as imagined for the vast majority
of people who lived in the ancient Mediterranean world. Whether such a system
reflects and explains the reality of human experience more or less persuasively
than other options, such as henotheism, Abrahamic monotheism, or atheism,
will be up to readers to decide. A strategic comparison of some of these options
and a hypothesis about why the “religions of the book” finally were more per-
Preface
xi
suasive to the inhabitants of the ancient world is suggested in the conclusion
of this work.
It has been a long time since I envisioned writing a book about the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis at Ephesos. Health problems, other book
projects, house renovations, and professional peregrinations all have delayed
its completion. At times, it has seemed as if the great goddess herself has not
wanted me to reveal all, or perhaps even any, of her secrets. That I have now put
this work aside, if not quite finished it, is largely due to the divine or at least
heroic intervention of two old friends, Dieter Knibbe and Fergus Millar. After
listening to my claim for years that I have been searching for Artemis and her
secrets in the ruins of Ephesos, Dieter and Fergus have demanded that I stop
hunting the huntress and at least share the story of my pursuit with others outside the circle of my family and friends. I can never repay them for their inspiration, wisdom, and friendship.
It is with sadness that I additionally record my gratitude to Oxford friends
Christiane Sourvinou-Inwood and Simon Price, whose scholarship inspired my
interest in mystery cults. I deeply regret that I was not able to share this work
with them before they passed away. I am equally indebted to the work of Lionel
Bier, who died tragically before the appearance of his wonderful study of the
bouleuterion at Ephesos.
I also express my thanks to some of the true Viennese Ephesians, including
Maria Aurenhammer, Anton Bammer, Stefan Karwiese, Ulrike Muss, Ulrike
Outschar, Peter Scherrer, Hilke Thür, Gilbert Wiplinger, and Heinrich and
Susanne Zabehlicky. If I occasionally have differed from their interpretations
of the epigraphical and archaeological evidence from Ephesos, it is nevertheless
with a profound sense of my debt to all of them that I have reached my own conclusions.
At Yale University Press I thank senior editor Jennifer Banks and her assistant Piyali Bhattacharya for their encouragement and guidance. At a time when
fewer and fewer university presses are willing to publish large-scale works of historical scholarship, I have been very fortunate to find at Yale editors, editorial
assistants, copy editors, and trustees who remain committed to publishing serious, challenging, original scholarship. Among them I would like to single out
Jessie Dolch for her heroic copy editing and Susan Laity for the superb job she
did managing the editing of a large manuscript. The anonymous reviewers of
my manuscript for Yale University Press generously and expeditiously reviewed
the work and made many helpful suggestions to improve it. It was a pleasure
and an honor to be invited by Professor Lawrence Welborn to have my book
xii
PREFACE
appear within his Synkrisis series at Yale University Press. I am also grateful to
Bill Nelson, who drew the maps for my book, based upon my rough sketches.
If I have survived Artemis’s trials and tribulations to finish this work, however, it is almost completely due to the love and support of Dr. Nancy Thompson. Fortunately for me, Dr. Thompson, like Theano, is a priestess of prayers, not
curses. The completion of this book answers one I have heard quite often. Fecit.
Fecit.
Maps
Pergamon
Aigai
Myrina
Kyme
Temnos
Phokaia
SIPYLOS
AE G E A N
SEA
TMOLOS
Smyrna
Kaystros
Teos
Kolophon
Lebedos
MESSOGIS
Notion
Ephesos Magnesia Tralleis Nysa
Hermos
Erythrai
Samos
nd
e
Chios
N
Thyateira
Hierakome
Magnesia
Sardeis
Apameia
r
Maea
Hierapolis
Priene Amyzon Alinda Marsyas
Herakleia
Alabanda
Lade
T. Labraunda
Miletos Pedasa
Iasos Stratonikeia
Euromos
Pisye
Mylasa
Bargylia
Kildara T. Sinuri
Halikarnassos
Laodikeia
Apollonia
Tabai
Kaunos
0
30
60 mi
0
50
100 km
Map 1. Western Asia Minor during the “Hellenistic” era, adapted from Ma (1999).
KARABURUN YARIMADASI
ESKI ALAMAN
Göbekilise
Gölü
Akgöl
HEYBELI
ARAPÇI
INCIRLI
Tower
Selinusia
N
Harbor of
Panormos
Hermaion
Graves
Pagos
Astyagou
PA M U Ç A K
Kenchrios?
GULF OF
K U ÇS A D A S I
Aqueduct
Ruin
Ruins
PYGELA
Tumulus
Grave
RHION
Aqueduct
Aqueduct
ORTYGIA
Aqueduct
OTUZBIR
Tower
Ruins
Map 2. Area surrounding Ephesos, adapted from Lessing and Oberleitner (1978).
CEVASIRDAG
Ka
SYRIE
ros
yst
KURT TASI
SÖGÜTCÜKDAG
Aqueduct
Grave
Klaseas
Isa Bey Mosque
Basilica of John
Artemision
Selenus
Stadium
Peribolos
of Artemision
PAN
AYIRDAG
Harbor
baths
Grave
Byzantine
Quarry wall
Theater
Tetragonos
Agora
Aqueduct
Selenu
s
BEYLIK
Upper Agora
PION
(BÜLBÜLDAG)
Graves
Graves
Wall of Lysimachus
Graves
Stone
altar
Ruin
Ruin
Ruin
Ruins
Tower
SOLMISSOS
Graves
Marnas
Ruin
PANAGIA
KAPULÜ
Aqueduct
0
0
1
1
2 mi
2
3 km
Temple of Apollo?
H ARBOR
N
Fortification
Holy
Harbor
Harbor of Lysimachus
Artemision
Temple of Athena?
ARSINOEIA
Agora
ESO
S
Ro
ad
Stoa
e
cr
d
LEP RE AKTE
(BÜLBÜLDAG)
1175 ft
EPH
Marnas
(P AN
A Y I R D A G)
ANA
509 ft
Heroa
Sa
0
City Wall of Lysimachus
0
Magnesian Gate
Map 3. Ephesos around 294 B.C., adapted from Karwiese (1995).
500
1000
1500 ft
100 200 300 400 500 m
Temple of
Apollo?
H ARBOR
N
Stadium
Harbor
Baths
Artemision
Temple of
Athena?
Tetragonos
Agora
Theatre
Gate of Mazaios
and Mithridates
Triodos
Terrace House 2
LEP RE AK
TE
AKTE
Terrace House 1
Temple of Sebastoi
Upper Agora
Marna
s
(P A N A Y I R D A G)
Plateia
509 ft
Embolos
Pollio Monument
Prytaneion
Temenos of Augustus
and Artemis
Bouleuterion
Basilica Stoa
Temple of
Roma and Iulius
red
Sac
Doric
Colonnade
City Wall of Lysimachus
ad
Ro
Magnesian Gate
Map 4. Ephesos during the first century A.D., adapted from Karwiese (1995).
0
0
500
1000
1500 ft
100 200 300 400 500 m
H ARBOR
Harbor
Baths
Vedius
Gymnasium
Olympieion
N
Stadium
Artemision
Theatre Gymnasium
Temple
of Serapis?
Theatre
Palace?
Library of Celsus
(P A N A Y I R D A G)
509 ft
Stoa of
Damianus
Tetragonos
Agora
Embolos
LEP RE AK TE
(BÜLBÜLDAG)
1175 ft
Prytaneion
Temple of
Sebastoi
Bouleuterion
Upper
Agora
Baths of Varius
red
S ac
East Gymnasium
Ro
ad
0
0
City Wall of Lysimachus
Magnesian Gate
Map 5. Ephesos during the mid-second century A.D., adapted from Karwiese (1995).
500
1000
1500 ft
100 200 300 400 500 m
MAP KEY
Toponyms for identified monuments of Hellenistic-Roman Ephesos
(and numbers applying to Maps 6–10)
1. Blank number
2. Blank number
3. Harbor of Koressos
4. Sanctuaries of Zeus and Meter
5. Aqueduct of Aristion
6. City walls of Koressos
7. Stoa of Damianus
8. Grotto of the Seven Sleepers
9. Armenian chapel
10. Magnesian Gate
11. Hellenistic city wall
12. East gymnasium
13. Basilica at east gymnasium
14. Fountain House of Aristion
15. “Tomb of Luke”
16. Upper gymnasium
17. Tanks of Marnas Aqueduct
18. Upper agora
19. Doric Gate and Colonnade
20. Temple of Caesar and Rome
21. Basilica stoa
22. Bouleuterion
23. Temenos
24. Prytaneion
25. Banqueting house by the
prytaneion
26. Cathodos of the prytaneion
27. Chalcidicum
28. Pollio Monument
29. Hydrekdochion (water tank)
of Laecanius Bassus
30. Temple of the Sebastoi
31. Niche Monument
32. Memmius Monument
33. Hydreion
34. Round Monument on
Panayirdag
35. Herakles’s Gate
36. Embolos
37. Trajan’s Gate
38. Nymphaeum Traiani
39. Baths’ lane
40. Temple of Hadrian
41. Varius’s baths/baths of
Scholastikia
42. Lane of the Academy
43. Latrine and private house
44. Alytarch’s stoa
45. Hellenistic well
46. Hexagon/Nymphaeum
47. Octagon
48. Heroon of Androklos
49. Hadrian’s Gate
50. Terrace House 1
51. Terrace House 2
52. Foundations of the altar of
Artemis
53. Peristyle house
continued
54. Culvert Gate
55. Celsus Library/heroon
56. South Gate of Tetragonos Agora
57. Grave of Dionysios Rhetor
58. Brick vault
59. Round Monument
60. Plateia
61. Tetragonos Agora
62. Hall of Nero
63. West Gate of Tetragonos Agora
64. North Gate of Tetragonos
Agora
65. West Street
66. Medusa Gate
67. Serapeion?
68. Blank number
69. “Paul’s prison”; i.e., western
watchtower
70. Round tomb on Bülbüldag
71. “Grotto of St. Paul”
72. Theater Square with fountain
73. Arcadiane East Gate
74. Hellenistic well house
75. Theater
76. Banqueting house above Theater
77. Byzantine city walls
78. Plateia in Koressos
79. Theater gymnasium
(gymnasium of the Gerousia)
80. Apsidal building
81. Byzantine palace
82. Arcadiane
83. Arcadiane with colonnades
84. Four Evangelists’ Monument
85. Church on southern Arcadiane
86. Exedra
87. Harbor Gate of Arcadiane
88. Southern Harbor Gate
89. Northern Harbor Gate
90. Warehouses
91. Atrium Thermarum
92. Harbor Baths
93. Harbor gymnasium
94. Xystoi (Halls of Verulanus)
95. Church of Mary
96. Baptisterium
97. Bishop’s Palace
98. Olympieion
99. Acropolis
100. Macellum
101. Byzantine Fountain House
102. Hellenistic fortress and
Byzantine peristyle house
103. Crevice temple
104. Stadium
105. Church in stadium’s north gate
106. Vedius gymnasium
107. Byzantine Gate in city wall
108. Blank number
109. Blank number
110. South Street
N
77
103
77
98
99
96
90
89
105
97
92
90
87
100
102
95
104
93
88
107
81
91
86
3
94
80
85
77
106
101
84
78
6
83
66
82
71
79
73
65
63
64
72
74
75
4
67
61
70
BÜLBÜLDAG
55
56
57
53
58
54
52 49
48
47
46 51
45
77
62
60
59
43 42
39
41 40
44
38
50
37
36
32 35
31
30
28
29 110
76
8
5
PANAYIRDAG
9
34
77
33
27 26
25
24
23
22
20 21
18
19
16
17
7
15
14
11
12
0
13
0
500
1000 ft
100 200 300 m
10
Map 6. Overall city plan of the excavated site of Ephesos, with plan numbers of
monuments, adapted from Scherrer (2001). See Map Key.
38
37
36
35
22
33
32
25
24
23
26
27
21
31
28
20
18
30
19
29
110
17
Map 7. Detail plan of the upper agora, adapted from Scherrer (2000). See Map Key for numbers.
16
64
62
66
63
65
61
60
67
39
56
42
43
57
58
59
55
53
41
49
48 47
46
54
52
45
40
44
50
51
Map 8. Detail plan of the lower Embolos and Triodos, adapted from Scherrer (2000). See Map Key for numbers.
96
81
97
95
80
78
90
89
94
93
92
90
79
91
76
83
84
82
86
87
88
73
72
74
85
75
Map 9. Detail plan of the Theater and harbor district, adapted from Scherrer (2000). See Map Key for numbers.
106
100
105
104
99
101
102
Map 10. Detail plan of the area of the stadium, adapted from Scherrer (2000). See Map Key for numbers.
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P A R T
I
Muesis—Initiation
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CHAPTER 1
Continuity in Change
ON THE SIXTH OF THARGELION, or late April/early May, at the end of the
second century A.D., the Ephesians celebrated the birth of their patron goddess
Artemis in a magnificent grove of trees named Ortygia.1 In that grove were several temples, and within the older shrines were wooden images of the great goddess. A statue of Leto and her nurse Ortygia, holding Leto’s children, Artemis
and Apollo, stood in one of the later temples. Skopas of Paros, one of the greatest Greek sculptors of the fourth century B.C., had created the statue group
after 356.
During the celebration of Artemis’s birthday, Metrodoros, a citizen of the
polis, played a double pipe while libations were poured. Lucius Cosinnius Gaianus, a victor in the Ephesian Olympic games, then sounded his trumpet. Onesimos, whose son Artemon would succeed him, performed his acrobatic dance
while incense burned on an altar. A diviner, Publius Cornelius Ariston, a citizen
of Rome and a member of the city council, then inspected the livers of the sacrificial victims.
Above the sylvan landscape of Ortygia on top of Mount Solmissos, when
Hera tried to spy upon Leto giving birth to Artemis and Apollo, the Kouretes,
or “youths,” frightened Hera “out of her wits” by clashing their spears against
their shields. The hierophant Lysimachos Mundicius was the fourth member of
his family to have guided the white-robed initiates through their initiations and
revealed the secret of Artemis’s mysteries to them.
Epikrates, the sacred herald, then made the annual announcement: with
the help of the nurse Ortygia and the Kouretes, who had concealed the births
from Hera, Leto had given birth to Artemis and her brother Apollo. After her
travails, Leto rested beneath an olive tree nearby. Then, while the nurse Ortygia
held a child in each arm, Leto bathed in the Kenchrios River, which traversed
the grove.
After the births, wealthy youths of Ephesos provided sumptuous banquets.
As they had done for centuries, members of the council of elders (Gerousia)
3
4
MUESIS—INITIATION
sacrificed to the goddess. Now, thanks to the generosity of Tiberius Claudius
Nikomedes, the general advocate of the Gerousia, they made sacrifice to the emperor for the sake of his preservation. Once the sacrifices were over, the elders of
the polis celebrated their own feasts in the halls near the temple of Artemis the
Savior.
A torchlight procession lit up the night sky. Nearby, the Kouretes held
drinking parties, and perhaps inspired by wine from Artemis’s own vineyards,
performed their famous mystic sacrifices. Now that the Kouretes had defended
Leto and helped to conceal the births of her children from Hera for another
year, it was time for the goddess Artemis to bestow her favor upon the Kouretes
and the polis of Ephesos. Until next May, the great patroness was expected to
save her saviors. For hundreds of years the goddess had rewarded her Kouretes
and protected Ephesos.2
Yet, only a few decades later, not long after the prytanis, or president of the
prytaneion (seat of the prytaneis), Favonia Flaccilla had celebrated all the mysteries and given thanks to Hestia, Demeter, and Kore; to the Eternal Fire; to
Apollo and Sopolis; and to all the gods, the Kouretes apparently no longer made
the trek up Mount Solmissos to clash their weapons together, frighten Hera
away from Leto, and conceal the births of Apollo and Artemis.3 In fact, by the
middle of the third century A.D., the Ephesians apparently no longer celebrated
the birth of Artemis in the grove named after her nurse.
The subject of this book is the history of the celebration of the mysteries
of Artemis at Ephesos. Its purpose is to explain how and why the Ephesians
celebrated the birth of the great goddess Artemis for more than half a millennium, only to cease and desist, apparently forever, after the middle of the third
century A.D. This work is not a publication or register of all of the epigraphical
texts related to Artemis’s mysteries, either from Ephesos or abroad. Nor is it an
account of her worship at Ephesos or still more a history of polytheism within
the polis, similar to Robert Parker’s study of polytheism and society at Athens.4
Neither have I attempted to write an overall history of Ephesos. Readers interested in such general histories should consult the excellent works of Stefan Karwiese or Dieter Knibbe.5
Nevertheless, because of the approach I take to the study of the mysteries
of Artemis of Ephesos, as explained below in detail, this monograph does entail
presentation of various “fields of reference” or frameworks of referents, within
which, I will contend, the mysteries of Artemis must be interpreted.6 These include the formal, logical relationship between ancient votive religion and mystery cults, as well as some of the less widely appreciated implications of the socalled votive formula (Chapter 1); the military, political, and rhetorical struggles
Continuity in Change
5
among powerful Macedonian kings and their allies within Ephesos during the
early years of the “Macedonian Centuries” (Chapter 2); the foundation of the
new polis of Arsinoeia southwest of the Artemision (Chapter 3); the incorporation of Ephesos into the Roman province of Asia after 133 B.C. (Chapter 4);
the impact of the creation of the second Roman monarchy upon the greatest
city in Asia (Chapter 5); the astonishing urban growth of Ephesos during the
mid-second century A.D. (Chapters 6 and 7); the effects of various natural and
humanly wrought disasters upon Artemis and the Ephesians during the late
second and early third centuries (Chapters 8 and 9); and the Christianization
of the urban landscape of Ephesos after the beginning of the fourth century
(Chapter 10). The narrative boundaries of those fields of reference will be limited by both the evidence we have and the objectives of the study. Thus, this investigation of Artemis’s mysteries is simultaneously diachronic and synchronic,
or temporal and spatial. In fact, to the extent that it is now possible to re-create,
this book has been conceived from its origins as a disynchronous history of
the mysteries of Artemis at Ephesos. This disynchronous history results in a
reperiodization of Ephesian history that I hope might serve as a model for rethinking and denaturalizing Roman imperial history generally.7
The relationship between the fields of reference narrated here and the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries within the city in turn is relevant to many questions and controversies, not only about Graeco-Roman religion, history, and historiography, but also about anthropological theory, evolutionary biology, and
neuroscience.8 Among these are how we define ancient mystery cults; whether
initiates into mysteries or those who performed them comprised communities
in some sense, with identities that lasted beyond the celebrations (that is, were
the celebrations of the mysteries a centrifugal or centripetal force upon initiates
or performers with respect to the polis?); whether theories or models of ritual
derived from the study of other cultures can help us to understand initiations
into ancient mystery cults; how we describe and account for change in ancient
Graeco-Roman religion; and finally, whether ancient polytheism, including its
mystery cults, can be interpreted as an adaptive epistemology, and if so, what
that suggests about modern polemics which argue that religion and science belong historically and in reality to separate and incompatible epistemologies.
Although this book focuses upon the story of one mystery cult of one ancient polis, it is nonetheless a tale with far wider potential implications for the
study of the past and the present than might be assumed from my statement
of the book’s subject matter and primary scholarly purpose. In this case, “spotlight” scholarship illuminates the answers to a roomful of interdisciplinary
questions and issues just as well as, if not better than, the chandelier approach.9
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Of course, the most important reason for the wider significance of this study is
that at the center of our investigation into this mystery cult is none other than
Artemis of Ephesos herself.
ARTEMIS EPHESIA
Artemis of Ephesos (Artemis Ephesia) was one of the most popular and influential deities of the Graeco-Roman world, long before the secretary of the Ephesian assembly reminded the men of Ephesos, in the middle of the riot in the Theater of Ephesos incited by the Apostle Paul during the mid-first century A.D.,
that all the world knew that Ephesos was warden (neokoros) of the great goddess
Artemis and of the image that had fallen from the sky.10
Indeed, according to a less-biased observer, the very well-informed secondcentury A.D. traveler and geographer Pausanias, all cities worshipped Artemis
of Ephesos because of the size of her temple, because of the eminence of the
polis of the Ephesians, and because of the renown of the goddess who dwelled
there.11 That renown led more than fifty cities in Anatolia alone to put images
of Artemis Ephesia on their coins, and cults dedicated to worship of the Ephesian goddess have been found in many, if not in quite all, of the approximately
two thousand towns and cities of the Roman empire.12 On the other side of the
Mediterranean, for instance, in Massilia, there was an Ephesieion, which was
presumably a temple dedicated to Artemis Ephesia, and the Phocaean colonists
of Massilia preserved not only the artistic design of the original wooden statue
of the Ephesian goddess but also supposedly all the other usages that were customary in Artemis’s hometown.13 If the growth of Christianity had been halted
by some mortal illness, the ancient Mediterranean world might have become
Mithraic, as some modern scholars have opined.14 But before that happened,
Mithras would have to have competed with Artemis Ephesia for the honor of
being the most widely worshipped deity throughout the Roman empire, and in
most places the lady was there first.
Although the Ephesians honored the usual roster of Olympian divinities,
as well as a large array of other gods and goddesses in the city, their relationship
to Artemis was not just “one of those things”: she was the most important deity
in the polis; in the Ephesians’ own public pronouncements over the centuries,
she was the “tutelary goddess” of the polis, the “founder” of the polis, the “ancestral” goddess, famous for her palpable epiphanies, with whom the Ephesians
repeatedly claimed to have a special relationship, at times to their disadvantage
during the early Roman empire, as we shall see.15 Statues of Artemis Ephesia
represented the goddess wearing a mural crown that symbolized her ability to
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protect and even to save the city during times of trouble; and on Ephesian coins,
images of her home, the Artemision, served as emblems of the communal religious identity of the Ephesians.16 Her power, however, was not considered to be
solely local. In one inscription of the Roman imperial period, the goddess was
represented as the mightiest deity, a protector even of the imperial family.17
Her “new” fourth-century B.C. temple (the Artemision), designed by the
architects Paionios of Ephesos and Demetrios, “the slave of Artemis,” was perhaps the greatest of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world, was famous for
its asylum, and was referred to as the treasury of Asia during the second century A.D.18 It was filled with great works of art and also served as one of the primary archives of the city.19 The lintel of the original temple’s great door was so
large and heavy that the goddess herself was said to have put it in place.20
Finally, as far as the importance of the celebration of her mysteries on the
sixth of May is concerned, Richard Oster has observed that because of “Artemis’
close tie with the city of Ephesus, and because legend reported that it was the
site of her nativity, we can be sure that this was one of the largest and most magnificent celebrations in Ephesus’ liturgical calendar.”21 Artemis’s birthday party
every spring was an opportunity for the Ephesians to express their patriotism
and piety at the same time. In Ephesos the sixth of May was the Fourth of July
and Christmas rolled into one general festival (panegyris).
But even given the Ephesians’ special relationship with their savior goddess, the historical significance of Artemis’s nativity in Ortygia to the Ephesians,
the fame of her home, and the significance of her birthday party, what really
explains the longevity of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries in particular?
What happened at the celebrations? Was there some kind of “secret” revealed
to initiates into Artemis’s mysteries that has been lost? What is the explanation
for the cult’s success? And if Artemis of Ephesos was as popular and influential
as Pausanias claimed, why did the Kouretes cease to clash their weapons on their
shields every year to keep Hera away from Leto as she gave birth to Artemis and
Apollo on the sixth of May? In the conclusion of this work, a new theory about
the great secret of Artemis’s mysteries will be proposed, and explanations for the
success and ultimate failure of the cult will be offered.
THE EVIDENCE
Historians have long recognized the importance of the cult of Artemis of
Ephesos for understanding the history of Graeco-Roman polytheism, and mystery cults in particular. But no scholar has studied the mysteries of Artemis of
Ephesos in a systematic way since Picard, who essentially founded the study
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of Artemis’s mysteries in the modern world in 1922.22 But since the publication of Picard’s study, archaeologists have uncovered hundreds of new inscriptions and an abundance of archaeological evidence at the site of Ephesos. This
new evidence casts bright, if occasionally interrupted, light on the celebration
of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos.23 A comprehensive synthesis of all the
old and new evidence now allows us to glimpse the history of the celebration
of Artemis’s mysteries over more than five hundred years, from at least the time
of the Macedonian king Lysimachos until around the middle of the third century A.D. At no point in time over this very long period is enough evidence
available to reconstruct fully what happened during the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos. All that this study can provide is a series of tableaux
depicting what we know about the celebrations, framed within their historical
contexts. What we lack in terms of the density of the evidence for any one tableau at any one time, however, is perhaps partially compensated for by the relatively long chronological distribution of the evidence.24
Thus, during the period of the mid-fourth century B.C. when Ephesos was
still integrated within the administrative structure of the Persian empire, some
later literary evidence implies that the story of Artemis’s birth was associated
with the grove of trees called Ortygia southwest of the polis over the mountain
now known as Bülbüldag from around 356 B.C. (Map 2).25 Furthermore, a fragmentary inscription that dates, in its present form, to the reign of the Roman
emperor Commodus (A.D. 180 to 192), indicates that the mysteries of Artemis
were celebrated in the polis before the end of the fourth century B.C.26
But our first substantial evidence for any aspect of the celebration of
Artemis’s mysteries at Ephesos comes from an inscription dated to 302 B.C.27
This fragmentary inscription provides evidence about the role the Kouretes
played in securing some exemptions for the Artemision from Lysimachos’s officer Prepelaos. A series of decrees in the city honoring the friends and supporters of Demetrios Poliorketes (the famous “Besieger of Cities”) then helps us
to understand how and why Lysimachos’s foundation of Arsinoeia and his rearrangement of “the mysteries and sacrifices” by 294 B.C. must be understood
against the background of the Ephesians’ support for Demetrios and his policies
in the years from 302 to 294.28
From the inscription dated to the reign of Commodus we learn that after
Lysimachos moved the citizens of Ephesos to the site of his new polis and named
it Arsinoeia after his Egyptian wife Arsinoê, probably in 294 B.C., he likely rearranged the celebration of “the mysteries and sacrifices” around the worship of
a newly erected cult statue of Artemis the Savior in Ortygia. Finally, yet another
fragmentary epigraphical text from the third century B.C. reveals fundamental
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information about the institutional affiliation and function of the Kouretes,
who certainly later took part in the celebrations of the mysteries.29
In 29 B.C., the geographer Strabo (64 B.C. to A.D. 21) then furnishes one
of our handful of crucial nonfictive literary accounts of the story of Artemis’s
birth at Ephesos and the celebrations at Ortygia.30 Most significantly, Strabo
connects for us the hieros logos (sacred story) of Artemis’s (and Apollo’s) birth
to the grove of Ortygia, to Mount Solmissos, to the association of men known
as the neoi, and to the Kouretes. Through the Kouretes, I will argue, the sanctuary and the polis were linked to the births of Artemis and Apollo, to Leto and
Ortygia, to Hera and Zeus, and to the establishment of the Olympian order.
Because of those links, the question of who had the authority to say how the
Kouretes would celebrate the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos was a vital one for
both the sanctuary and the polis of Ephesos. Strabo’s account of the celebration
of Artemis’s mysteries in 29 B.C. also should be seen against the background of
the evolving relations between the Artemision and Ephesos from the time of the
polis’s incorporation into the Roman province of Asia.
Next, from a series of inscriptions dated from the period between 23/22 and
6/5 B.C., we can trace the outlines of an imperial policy about those relations.
These inscriptions indicate that Augustus defined carefully the rights and privileges of the Artemision with respect to the polis of Ephesos.31 The last of these
inscriptions preceded, by only a few years, the transfer of the Kouretes from the
Artemision to the newly built Augustan-era prytaneion, located in the area of
the upper agora of the polis. Circumstantial evidence then suggests that the removal of the Kouretes from the Artemision to the new prytaneion should be
seen as the culmination of Augustus’s policy. The point of that policy was to
hand over to an official of the polis of Ephesos the authority to decide not only
how some of the most important rituals of the mysteries were to be celebrated,
but also by whom. The transfer of the Kouretes to the prytaneion marked a
major turning point in the creation of a new structure and organization of authority within Ephesos.
Within a few decades from the time of this transfer, during the reign of
the emperor Tiberius, a series of epigraphical lists of those who served each year
as Kouretes at the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis commences.32 The
lists were engraved upon the architectural elements of the prytaneion, including the architrave of the Doric façade of the stoa, the shafts of its columns, and
its capitals. In these lists, the names of the yearly Kouretes usually follow the
name of the prytanis of the year. After the earliest lists, beneath the names of the
Kouretes, are inscribed the names of various hierourgoi (cult attendants, including priests and artists) who apparently helped the prytanis and the Kouretes to
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perform their cultic duties. The ritual and/or artistic titles (and responsibilities)
of these cult attendants are attached to their names. At least forty-six of these
lists are complete enough to be put into a relative chronological framework that
extends from the reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius (A.D. 14 to 37) until the
end of the second century.33 Twelve other lists belong within the same time span
but are often too fragmentary to be dated precisely.34
Despite many problems of chronology and restoration, from the information provided in these lists we may say something about the social, political, and
religious identities of the prytaneis, the Kouretes, and the cult attendants who
were responsible for the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos over
two hundred years at the very height of the Roman empire.35 In some cases we
can follow the careers of family members who served the cult over four generations. With the exception of Eleusis, in no other case from the Roman empire
do we have as much information about the hundreds of men and women who
supervised and performed the rituals of a mystery cult over such a long time.36
Even more importantly for our purposes, from the lists we can infer
what rituals were performed at the mysteries and how those rituals changed
over time.37 We may not be in a position to say that by changing the rituals
at Artemis’s mysteries the Ephesians changed the theology, as anthropologists
have asserted about the relationship between liturgy and theology in the cases
of other systems of religious belief; but we certainly can say from the lists of the
Kouretes and cult attendants how the celebrations themselves changed.
Furthermore, the lists do help us to understand what the Kouretes and the
prytaneis wanted others to think about their contributions to the cult. It has
often been argued, and rightly so, that piety within ancient polytheism was defined more by action than by belief. To be pious meant “to honor the gods by
offering prayers and sacrifices according to established precedents” rather than
to adhere “to a body of teachings, a clearly delimited project with its own identity.”38 Roman religion in particular recently has been represented as concerned
more with savoir-faire, or how to do things, rather than savoir-penser, or how to
think.39
The lists of Kouretes, however, are records, not only of what the prytaneis,
Kouretes, and cult attendants did, but also what they thought and believed, or
more precisely what they wanted those who read the records of their service
to the cult to think about what they had done and why they had done it. They
are therefore self-consciously and formally framed, epigraphical windows into
the interests and preoccupations of those who celebrated Artemis’s mysteries.40
They advertised the contributions of the prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult attendants to the yearly celebrations, both to their fellow mortals and to the gods
Continuity in Change
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themselves (above all to Artemis), in order to make claims about the place of
these individuals in society and also to define the nature of human relations
with the divine from their points of view.41 The medium of the Kouretes lists
is not the message. Rather, the message is who had power to create and control
the medium. For more than two hundred years (roughly A.D. 14 to 250) the
prytaneis and Kouretes had the power and resources to control the epigraphical
medium.
At the same time, in the absence of any other kind of text that programmatically sets out what rituals had to be performed at the celebrations of the
mysteries, the lists of Kouretes and cult attendants created a public record of
what was done each year at the mysteries, in comparison to which departures
from the now publicly inscribed tradition could thereafter be noted. They were
and are the written remains of the “bureaucratic system of religious administration” of at least part of what took place during the celebration of the mysteries,
and of the knowledge that was created through the performance of the rituals.42
Apart from the lists of Kouretes and cult attendants, we also have more
than a dozen substantial epigraphical texts related to the prytanis, who became
the official of the polis responsible for supervising the celebration of some of the
most important rituals and ceremonies that took place during Artemis’s mysteries after the transfer of the Kouretes to the prytaneion. At least some of these
prytanis inscriptions come from the period up to the middle of the third century. Sixteen other inscriptions add to our evidence about various other officials
involved in the celebration of the mysteries during this later imperial period.43
From the same time period as the first lists of Kouretes, the Roman historian Tacitus also supplies us with some revealing information about how the
Ephesians used the story of Artemis’s birth at Ephesos to advance the goals of
the polis in A.D. 26, based apparently upon some kind of written charter.44 Tacitus makes clear that, from the reign of Tiberius, the story of Artemis’s birth at
Ephesos, which formed the narrative core of the celebration of the mysteries of
Ortygia, was the central myth through which the Roman emperor, the Roman
Senate, and the polis of Ephesos negotiated their relations.45 From Tacitus’s account we may infer that the story of Artemis’s birth in the grove of Ortygia
was known to everyone, from Ephesian slaves to the most powerful men in the
Roman world, including the Roman emperor himself.
Therefore, we currently possess ninety-two texts (ninety inscriptions and
two major nonfictive literary accounts [Strabo and Tacitus]) directly related to
the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos. We can date all of these
texts more or less precisely from the late fourth century B.C. into the middle
of the third century A.D.46 Of course, the evidence about the celebration of
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Artemis’s mysteries provided in the inscriptions, just like the evidence from the
literary texts, has to be analyzed and used carefully.47 Many of the inscriptions
are fragmentary, and the inferences we draw from their evidence must be tentatively stated.
Moreover, inscriptions related to the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries,
simply because they are objects, obviously are not “objective” or somehow neutral. They are rather epigraphical representations of what those who took part in
the celebrations of the mysteries wanted people to think about how and sometimes even why they participated in those celebrations over time. In assessing
the value of the epigraphical evidence for understanding the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis, we have to keep in mind who the authors, or authorizers,
of the individual inscriptions were, and also who the intended audiences of the
inscriptions were.48 Where these texts were put up, how they were presented,
whether they appeared singly or in clusters, whether they could be read, and, if
so, by whom, whether they were accompanied by iconographic elements (such
as laurel bands or crowns or within gables), are among the questions that we
need to consider when we use these inscriptions as evidence for how and why
the Ephesians celebrated the mysteries of Artemis.49 Like works of art, these
“talking antiquities” not only refer to events,50 but are events themselves, constructed by their authorizers to be sure, but also viewed and read by readers
within various narratives about power and authority in the polis.51
At the time when the Artemision supervised the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis, texts related to the officials who certainly later played an essential role in the celebrations were inscribed upon the buildings of the sanctuary
itself. After the Kouretes had been transferred from the Artemision to the new
Augustan prytaneion of the upper agora, the lists of Kouretes—by their placement on the architectural elements of the prytaneion—advertised the polis’s
newly acquired authority over how central rituals of the mysteries of Artemis
were to be celebrated. Later, at the architectural apogee of the Graeco-Roman
polis in the middle of the second century A.D., after the polis made a decision
to expand the scale of the festival, the lists of Kouretes were carefully, and even
beautifully, incised, in large, elegant letters, on the columns and other architectural elements of the prytaneion. The shorter and less-well-carved texts related
to the celebrations of the mysteries from the second quarter of the third century A.D. were the public, and stylistically symbolic, expression of a reduced festival, celebrated by a less ambitious and less confident polis. At all times the style
of the publicly incised epigraphical texts related to the mysteries of Artemis
reflected wider developments within the polis, including the emergence of the
Graeco-Roman polis’s new ruling order.
Continuity in Change
13
Inscription (Die Inschriften von Ephesos IV 1023) dated from soon after A.D. 104,
the year of the C. Vibius Salutaris benefaction, when the polis expanded the rituals
that took place at the time of the general festival. The prytanis and three of the six
Kouretes listed in the inscription were Roman citizens. As was often the case, two
of Artemis’s Kouretes were also related to the prytanis.
We also can clarify and supplement the information about the celebration
of the mysteries of Artemis found in these texts with evidence from the rest of
the epigraphical corpus of Ephesos, including what we know about the celebration of other mysteries in the city, as well as the results of the continuing
archaeological excavations at the site. Both the “word” and the “dirt,” the “flesh”
of inscriptions and the “bones” of archaeology, contribute to the conclusions of
this study.52 In the new rhetoric of archaeological studies, the equal attention
paid to the identities of those who produced the word and the dirt, the bones
and the flesh, will mark this study as a postprocessual investigation.53
Finally, in some instances, when the rest of the evidence from Ephesos cannot help us to understand the material directly related to the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis (for example, when the ritual function of a cult title cannot be construed from its immediate epigraphical or archaeological context), we
can understand better the evidence for Artemis’s mysteries by using contemporary comparative epigraphical and material evidence for other ancient mystery
cults from nearby cities both in western Asia Minor, such as Smyrna, Pergamon,
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Tralleis, Priene, Erythrai, and Klazomenai, and from the Greek mainland, such
as Athens, as well as from modern studies of those cults. These data and the
modern studies of these cults provide the “encyclopedia,” or “lore and learning,”
about other mystery cults that can help us to interpret the Ephesian evidence.54
METHODOLOGY
The secondary literature about other ancient mystery cults, particularly the
best attested and perhaps most popular cults of Eleusinian Demeter, Dionysos, Magna Mater, Cybele and Attis, Isis, and Mithras, is immense and grows
yearly.55 Many of these works, such as K. Clinton’s classic 1974 study The Sacred
Officials of the Eleusinian Mysteries, have focused upon an individual cult or
the sacred officials or the iconography of a cult. Within the past decade a very
useful collection of essays analyzing new archaeological data, as well as a critical
reevaluation of the older evidence for several mystery cults, including the Eleusinian and Samothracian mysteries, has appeared.56 Significant new interpretations of the mysteries of Mithras are published almost yearly.57 As in other areas
of scholarship, regional studies have also begun to appear.58
Other studies, most importantly W. Burkert’s short but magisterial work
from 1987, Ancient Mystery Cults, have compared the practices of a select group
of some of the best-documented mystery cults.59 Indeed, because Burkert’s work
has proved to be so influential since its publication, it is important to review
here how Burkert approached the study of ancient mystery cults and what he
concluded about how they functioned.
First, Burkert dispelled several long-held scholarly stereotypes about mystery cults: that they were “late”; that they were “Oriental” in origin, style, and
spirit; and that they were religions of “salvation” in the later Christian sense of
the concept.60 Burkert showed convincingly that in fact mystery cults had been
around since the sixth century B.C.61 In other words, they were not, as some
scholars have assumed or claimed, solely a phenomenon of the period(s) after
Alexander’s conquest of the Persian empire or the Roman conquests of the regional Macedonian monarchies that emerged after Alexander’s death. Furthermore, the institution of Graeco-Roman mysteries cannot be traced verifiably to
Anatolia, Egypt, or Iran.62 Although Greeks and Romans may have thought of
Isis as an Egyptian goddess, the ritual form in which they worshipped her at the
celebration of her mysteries went back only to Greek practices.
Burkert also argued that Greek mysteries should not be seen as predestined
to move toward Christianity, which was fundamentally a religion of salvation.63
Bracketing especially the notable and important exception of the initiates into
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the Eleusinian mysteries, who, having seen, were “blessed among mortals on
earth,” while the uninitiated never had the “same lot once dead in the dreary
darkness,” there is no conclusive evidence that initiates into the vast majority of
Graeco-Roman mystery cults saw their initiations as helping ultimately against
the certainty of death or what came after death.64 Because scholars in the past
had so frequently interpreted ancient Graeco-Roman mystery cults within an
unconsciously Christianizing frame of reference, which assumed that cults concerned with “salvation” must be focused upon eschatological concerns, Burkert’s detachment of the study of ancient mystery cults from that particular frame
of reference was a particularly significant contribution to the scholarship on
mystery cults and polytheism generally.
Although never stated explicitly by Burkert, the fundamental methodological point here was and is that mystery cults need to be studied for their
own sakes, within the general framework of ancient polytheism, and not simply
as potential theological bridges, across which polytheists walked on their way
to their conversion to monotheism of the Abrahamic traditions. In the past
the study of mystery cults as a bridge to understanding the spread of JudeoChristian monotheism in the Graeco-Roman world almost inevitably has led
scholars to distorted interpretations of the means and ends of such cults.
The initiation rituals characteristic of some mystery cults, in other words,
did not express a universal ritual pattern that was part of God’s plan to prepare
the world for the coming of the great Christian mystery of the Eucharistic mass,
as Casel once argued, and initiates into Graeco-Roman mystery cults were not
necessarily proto- or crypto-Christians.65 They were rather typical polytheists,
acting as polytheists did, within the theological and ritual parameters of civic
religion.66 Indeed, if anything, as Philip Harland has shown in a series of brilliant studies that classical scholars have yet to fully digest or even to notice for
the most part, it was Christians, such as Paul and St. Ignatius, who were busy
during the first and second centuries A.D. appropriating what was public knowledge about the organizations and activities of mystery cults to speak of the identity of Christian assemblies, particularly in Roman Asia Minor, to Christians.67
The Apostle Paul, for instance, repeatedly asserted the reality of the rising of the
dead (anastasis nekron), but also the apocalyptic musterion of the coming of the
Lord (1 Cor 15). Two generations later, in his letter to the Ephesians, probably
written sometime during the reign of Trajan, Ignatius called the members of
the church of Ephesos represented by the bishop Onesimos “fellow initiates of
Paul.”68 The obvious reason why these Christian writers spoke or wrote the language of initiation was that they assumed that their target polytheist audiences
would be familiar with the terminology. (Needless to overemphasize, it does not
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follow from this that the theology or rituals of early Christianity were the same
as or fundamentally modeled upon those of mystery cults.)69
Having dismantled these scholarly stereotypes and distortions, Burkert
then set about constructing what he called a “comparative phenomenology” of
ancient mysteries.70 This comparative phenomenology was explicitly ahistorical. Burkert did not base his conclusions about the forms and functions of the
celebration of the mysteries of Eleusinian Demeter, Dionysos, Cybele, Isis, or
Mithras upon a diachronic account of the evidence for any one of the cults,
although all were presented, often brilliantly, against the general background of
the motivations and practices of votive religion.71
What Burkert meant by votive practice within Graeco-Roman religion
was the polytheists’ practice of making vows to the gods for some reason or to
achieve some goal and then fulfilling those vows by making dedications to the
gods (presumably after the gods had answered their prayers and/or sacrifices).
Mortals prayed or made vows to the gods, promising to dedicate objects such
as statues or inscriptions to them, in return for their favor (charis) with respect
to fertility (of crops, animals, and humans), economic prosperity, health and
safety, and many other desirable outcomes: do ut des (I give so that you might
give) in the Latin formulation.72 Or as Theophrastus put it, “One must sacrifice
to the gods for three purposes: to give honor, to show gratitude, or because of
one’s need for good things.”73 The point of giving something pleasing to the
gods, including prayers, libations, and sacrifices, was to establish a reciprocal relationship of trust with them that might lead to their favor.74
In motivation and function, Burkert argued, the practice of personal initiation into mystery cults was largely parallel to votive practice in other areas of
Graeco-Roman religion and should be seen against this wider background.75
Personal initiation into mystery cults was simply a new (or alternative) form of
votive practice in a similar quest for (immediate) salvation (as opposed to the
desire for salvation after death).76
Setting the accumulated evidence of his comparative phenomenology
against this votive framework, Burkert then concluded that ancient mysteries
were “initiation rituals of a voluntary, personal and secret character that aimed
at a change of mind through experience of the sacred.” Moreover, he contended
that in these ancient mystery cults, despite shifts, changes, and revolutions that
were occurring at the social, political, and intellectual levels, there were “traits
of identity maintained through continuous tradition.”77
In this book I present the evidence for one mystery cult, the mysteries of
Artemis of Ephesos, in chronological order over more than five hundred years,
as nearly as is possible. I have adopted this rigorously historical approach to the
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study of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos precisely because of my complete
agreement with Burkert’s fundamental insight into the framework within which
we must begin to interpret the practices and goals of ancient mystery cults, that
is, as parallel to, or better still as part of, votive practice in general within the
context of Graeco-Roman religious life in the polis. Studying Graeco-Roman
mystery cults from the beginning to show that they were typical of late antiquity; that they were “Oriental” in origin, style, and spirit; or that they were
spiritual in a way that the rest of polytheism was not is more than just a scholarly dead end because of the lack of evidence in support of such assumptions.
Worse, the initial formulation of the study itself hopelessly distorts how we read
the evidence and therefore compromises our ability to understand how and why
polytheists often paid substantial fees to be initiated into these cults, including
the mysteries of Artemis, over a thousand years.
In this study, the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos will be
explored first and foremost for its own sake, in its own contexts. By the latter
I mean the historical settings that once gave and (through scholarly exegesis
and reconstruction) continue to give meaning and significance to the individual
pieces of evidence for the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries. In practice, therefore, this is a diachronic study of the evidence for the celebration of Artemis’s
mysteries that provides as much of the synchronic framework as is necessary to
understand how and why the Ephesians celebrated those mysteries.78
This study is intended primarily as a contribution to the history of ancient
mystery cults, of the temple of Artemis and the polis of Ephesos, and of GraecoRoman polytheism, as they changed over time. It has not been conceived or executed fundamentally as an anthropological, sociological, or comparative study
of the mysteries of Artemis.79 Nonetheless, I hope that my conclusions about
how and why the ancient Ephesians celebrated the mysteries of Artemis for centuries will be of some interest to students of anthropology, sociology, and comparative religion who have ears to hear.80
As we shall see, my conclusions about how and, in some instances, why at
least some of the ancient Ephesians celebrated the mysteries of Artemis nevertheless will prove to be consistent with some of the conclusions reached by
scholars who have studied initiation rituals in other cultures, based upon a very
different understanding of what such rituals actually comprise. In fact, a more
recently developed approach to such rituals, centered upon the agency of the
practitioners and the creative tension between tradition and innovation in the
construction and execution of the rituals, perhaps will provide a better comparative fit than the classical anthropological model of initiation rituals as developed by Van Gennep and Turner, which focused upon the tripartite process
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of separation, liminality, and reincorporation of initiates.81 However, moving
beyond the potential explanatory power of such comparative studies of ritual, I
will suggest in my conclusion how this cult (and others like it) might be interpreted most fruitfully within the broad frameworks of the developing fields of
evolutionary anthropology and neuroscience.
How the Ephesians celebrated the mysteries of Artemis certainly cannot
tell us what the meaning(s) and purpose(s) of the celebrations were for those
who took part in them over hundreds of years, in particular for those who were
initiated into the mysteries. No Ephesian Lucius or Apuleius has left an account
of why he made the long walk up to Ortygia to witness, to see evoked, or to help
reenact the births of Artemis and Apollo. Nevertheless, setting in context the
evidence for how the Ephesians celebrated the mysteries will allow us to make
some plausible deductions about what the Ephesians hoped the celebrations
would achieve, at least in broad terms, if not over the entire period for which
we have evidence, then certainly at some key points. The organizational and
ritual choices made by those who had the power and authority to make decisions about how the mysteries were to be celebrated certainly helped to define
the interpretive range of the festival’s meaning and purpose.82
But before we begin to investigate how ancient Greek or Graeco-Roman
mystery cults worked in context in the ancient world, it is important to say
a little more about some of the operational and interpretive implications and
complexities of that deceptively simple formula do ut des, which Burkert understood to form the principal, logical structure of ancient votive religion practice
itself, including what went on in mystery cults.83 If we do not expose some of
these implications and complexities, we will not be able to understand certain
fundamental aspects of how the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis functioned over time.
THE VOTIVE FORMULA
First, what we call the “votive formula,” as translated above, could be taken to
imply a singular, individual subject of do—“I give.” And, of course, as we know
from thousands of inscriptions from Ephesos and elsewhere in the GraecoRoman world, private individuals, such as Alexander, the son of Attalos, who
dedicated an altar to theos Hypsistos (Zeus the Highest) in Ephesos, very often
made such dedications as votive gifts on their own behalf in return for the blessings or favor of the gods.84 Alexander dedicated the altar to theos Hypsistos,
presumably after the god had fulfilled his specific request.
From our post-postmodern perspective, votive practice in the Graeco-
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Roman world may be interpreted as a way that individuals such as Alexander
managed anxiety about the future or made time manageable by contract.85 But
the preponderance of evidence shows that most people in the ancient world
made vows to gods to achieve specific, well-defined, short-term goals, such as
avoiding illness, ensuring a bountiful harvest, completing a voyage safely, getting
rich, or attracting a desirable lover. If the goal was realized, the person who made
the vow dedicated a statue or an inscription (or something else) to the god(s) to
pay off the vow.86
As we read through the incalculable, but certainly colossal, number of written texts that document the making and paying off of such vows in both literary
works and inscriptions from antiquity, and wonder dazedly, if at times somewhat skeptically, at the millions of physical objects labeled “dedication” that fill
up the storerooms of museums throughout the world, it is easy to lose sight of
some of the more or less hidden theological assumptions about the world and
relations between mortals and immortals that the vast majority of these specific,
goal-directed examples of votive practice presume.
The most basic of these assumptions, of course, was that, not only did the
gods actually exist, they existed often in the very same spaces and at the same
time as mortals.87 In fact, as Cicero noted, the world was full of gods, and the
possibly infinite number of gods could be approached by mortals seeking to gain
their favor through the making of vows.88 Ancient polytheists may have been as
anxiety-ridden as their modern interpreters, but that does not mean that most
polytheists did not think that Artemis and Apollo and all the other immortals really existed, and in principle could not deliver upon what was asked of
them. The gods of the Graeco-Roman world were not just convenient, as Ovid,
a particularly imaginative interpreter of relations between humans and the gods,
understood.89 Greeks and Romans knew that the gods were alive and real because they saw them in their dreams and visions, and they were considered to be
immortal and very powerful.90
In fact, the extraordinary number of visitations by the gods caused some
polytheists, such as Alexandra, the priestess of Demeter Thesmophoros, to consult the oracle of Apollo in Didyma during the second century A.D.91 But the
existence and survival of innumerable votive texts and objects also imply that
the ancients thought that the gods, both seen and unseen, could and did help
with the resolution of those practical concerns and problems of life that the
vows represented as a kind of down payment upon. Most importantly, however, all the data suggest that through the technology of vows made, accepted,
and paid off, mortals and immortals were connected and even dependent upon
one another to achieve their aims. They belonged to a community of mortals
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and immortals with related, contingent interests. Lofty and powerful as theos
Hypsistos might be, he and Alexander the son of Attalos needed each other to
achieve their goals.
It is equally important for this study, however, to recognize that it was not
only private individuals and groups who made vows and set up inscriptions to
or for the gods in return for what had been received. We know that from the
fourth century B.C. at least, magistrates of poleis also very often made dedications or gave thanks to the gods after they had successfully executed civic duties
(including sacrifices) on behalf of the poleis they served.92 During the early
third century A.D. in Ephesos, for instance, the prytanis, gymnasiarch, and high
priestess Favonia Flaccilla gave thanks to Hestia Boulaia, Demeter, Kore, the
Eternal Fire, Klarian Apollo, Sopolis, and all the gods because they happily had
restored her safe and sound with her husband and children and her people after
she had “completed” all the mysteries for the year.93
After the transfer of the Kouretes to the prytaneion of Ephesos at the end
of the first century B.C., it became the duty of the prytanis, whose office was
located in the prytaneion, to celebrate some of the most important rituals of
the mysteries each year on behalf of the polis of Ephesos.94 While Favonia Flaccilla gave thanks to the gods in this inscription for returning her safe and sound
to her family after she had performed all the mysteries, it is critical to understand that Favonia had completed those mysteries not as a private individual
on her own behalf or even on behalf of her family—although she (and/or her
family) may have paid for the celebrations—but as an officer of the polis (the
prytanis) on behalf of the polis, and as empowered by it, even if we now think
that in doing so civic magistrates such as Favonia Flaccilla were participating in
a routinized system for the creation of symbolic capital that existed to maintain
asymmetrical relationships between economic and social unequals.95 Whatever
was the point of such institutionalized generosity, such examples of vows apparently made and paid should remind us that when we analyze examples of votive
practice as reflected or memorialized in dedications, it is vital to recall on whose
behalf and on whose authority the celebrations ultimately were undertaken and
executed.96
But carefully identifying who authorized the celebration of the mysteries is
important not only from the point of view of understanding lines of authority
and responsibility. It is crucial to keep in mind who was responsible for the performance of the rites of such cults because of the potential implications for the
authorizers of such performances if the celebrations could not be successfully
undertaken or completed for some reason or if the celebrations did not bring
about their desired results over time. Although the votive formula may resemble
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21
a kind of binding contract to us, in the end ancient polytheists understood that
the gods and goddesses were not obligated to provide their favor.97 A god or
goddess could give his or her help or withhold it.98 The ways of the gods were
indeed inscrutable, as their poets from the time of Hesiod frequently reminded
the Greeks.99 And if a deity did not give his or her support right away, mortals
could try, try again—or move on to other deities. Mortal relations with the gods
were an ongoing negotiation, not a contract.
That said, a related point that we need to recall is the timetable implied by
the existence of both individual and collective examples of votive practice.100 Of
course, in general, it is clear from thousands of votive inscriptions from Ephesos
and elsewhere that the worshippers of the Graeco-Roman gods did not undertake to make their vows with the very long-term view in mind, especially the
period after bodily death. Favonia made her dedication to the gods after she had
performed all the mysteries during her year in office. Her personal reward—
safe and sound restoration to her family—came at the end of her year in office,
certainly not after death. The bargain she apparently had made with the gods
named was that she would make a dedication to them if they restored her to her
family after she paid for the celebration of the yearly mysteries. Thus, at most
there was a year’s gap between when Favonia undertook to do what she had
promised to do and when her reward was expected. In general, vows in Ephesos
and elsewhere were made with short- to medium-term objectives in mind.101 An
apt addendum to the votive formula might be, “I give so that you might give,
and sooner rather than later, if you please!”102
Another point to stress, which the single, somewhat decontextualized example of the votive formula hardly reveals at all, is the experimental, indeed
adaptive character of the whole process that lies behind the logic of votive religion in practice.103 In fact, the whole system of making vows was essentially
experimental and adaptive in character—characteristics of ancient polytheism
that are seldom emphasized—and was focused on the results. If Favonia performed all the mysteries on behalf of the polis of Ephesos and the polis did not
receive the desired results, the polis could authorize further performances or
sacrifices without prejudice to the fulfillment of its goals or penalty from the
gods. The point was to keep trying until you got what you wanted. The gods did
not look down upon or away from poleis or individuals who tried too hard or
too often, or changed aspects of the rituals to get what they wanted.
The polis of Ephesos in fact frequently authorized changes to the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis in response to historical circumstances and
setbacks to the fortune of the polis. To continue to get the right results, Ephesos altered what we might call the “scientific” conditions of the experimental
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practice (from a modern, scientific perspective): what kinds of rituals were performed, what the route of the procession of initiates was, even who received
sacrifices during the celebrations. Whatever worked, worked. In fact, precisely
because the results were what mattered most, we should expect ritual flexibility
and change rather than continuity to characterize the celebrations of the mysteries over time in response to the results.104 One of the most important reasons
why the votive formula worked so well for countless millions of the GraecoRoman world over so many centuries is because its very formulation anticipated
and provided for, indeed presented, an incentive for change, including within
mystery cults.105 Although ancient polytheists had very different ideas about
how the world came into existence and developed, the adaptive character of
their ritual practices has been underestimated or overlooked entirely by those
who are invested in drawing stark contrasts between ancient and modern epistemological systems. As a matter of fact, the polytheistic epistemology and praxis
are far more congruent with the hypotheses of evolutionary biologists, sociobiologists, and mathematicians about how the world was created, evolved, and
is governed than many a scientist perhaps would care to admit.106 The religious
ideas and practices of the Ephesians were not genetically programmed by natural selection, but the votive memeplex (a unit of cultural inheritance, including
mystery cults) that the Ephesians created and followed survived because of its
absolute merit from their points of view, and because it made sense in and of
their world.107 The principle of reciprocity is “the foundation of our rational, scientific world” and also was that of the ancient Ephesians, as I will argue in my
conclusion.108
If Artemis could not produce what was desired, the Ephesians could move
on theologically and ritually to other gods and goddesses who might produce
better results.109 As a system of belief in general, Greek religion was not organized structurally to reward the devotionally single-minded over the long run.
Artemis and her divine colleagues bestowed their favors upon those players
who knew best how to play their devotional cards under ever-changing circumstances.110 Until death, mortals played the never- ending game of devotion at
times with and at times against immortals who always knew more and held
better cards, as Euripides and other poets frequently reminded their audiences.
Polytheists believed, and pantheists continue to believe, that organisms which
act in accordance with the forces or laws that govern the universe survive better
or best. Defying Zeus or the law of gravity is not a prescription for survival, at
least in this universe.
Finally, as we look at how votive practice worked in the context of mystery
cults, it is also vital to pay attention to the theonym or precise identity of the
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23
god or goddess to whom objects were vowed, as often articulated by the epithet
of the deity named, and in what historical circumstances the vow was publicized. Although the significance of such epithets might be obscured over time,
the cult epithet or epithets of the deity or deities invoked often constitute the
best and only evidence we have about how the deity and/or his or her sphere
of power within a circumscribed field was conceptualized by the dedicator(s)
under the circumstances. In the “thanks” inscription of Favonia Flaccilla, for instance, Favonia gave thanks to Apollo Klarios, or Oracular Apollo, rather than
to Apollo Iatros, or Apollo the Healer.111 Apollo’s epithet in the Favonia inscription may be a vital clue to how Favonia saw Apollo giving aid to her (and/or the
polis she was serving) and also the overall character of his cult within the prytaneion at the time.
As we shall also see, the fact that Favonia chose to thank in her dedication
not only a series of individually named gods of the prytaneion, some of whose
epithets are given, but also “all the gods” probably indicates that all of the gods
were thought to be needed to help Favonia fulfill her vow. Historically, such invocations were made in the Greek world either during crises or after danger had
been overcome.112
For the ancient Greeks the use of different epithets attached to the name
of a deity in an invocation could be used to acknowledge the purview, power,
and influence of the divinity; to establish the physical location of a divinity;
and/or to identify the different function(s) or areas of concern of the divinity.113
To understand what sort of conception of a god or goddess (or multiple deities)
a worshipper had in mind when he or she made some kind of offering or chose
to honor a divinity or divinities, we need to consider not only the name of the
divinity honored, but his or her epithet, the location where the approach to the
divinity was made, and who made it—in other words, the whole context, as best
we can reconstruct it.114 It is from analysis of all of these clues that we may be
able to advance descriptively plausible hypotheses about the historical circumstances that led to such dedications.
In motivation and function then, the practice of personal initiation into
mystery cults was not only parallel to votive practice in other areas of GraecoRoman religion; it was based upon the same logic of reciprocal giving, usually
arising out of terrestrial and pragmatic human needs, that the votive formula
always implies, but in all of its complexity and with all of its potential implications.115 The personal initiations into mystery cults, in other words, were made
from the votive formula or “recipe of reciprocity” for managing relations with
the gods.116
As we move along through our review of the evidence for the celebration
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of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos, it will be vital to keep in mind some of
the complexities and implications of the recipe, such as what the votive formula
might imply about the interdependence of mortals and immortals, about authority in the making and fulfilling of vows, about expectations related to the
timetable within which vows were expected to be paid off, about the experimental nature of the system, and about how the spheres of influence of the gods were
defined, in what circumstances.
Moreover, votive practice, including the initiations into some mystery cults,
self-evidently did not take place in a contextual or temporal vacuum. We should
not forget that behind every piece of physical or literary evidence that Burkert
assembled for his comparative phenomenology lies an individual story that can
be fully understood, or best understood, at least in theory, only in its own context.117 The mysteries are or were exactly what people said they were or represented them as being, in specific times and places: nothing more and nothing
less.118 If we are to understand what people thought the mysteries were and represented them as as fully as possible, we must at least attempt to put their representations back into their specific historical contexts.
In setting the practices of some of the best-attested mystery cults within a
comparative phenomenology, Burkert liberated the study of ancient mystery
cults from many untenable scholarly stereotypes and frames of reference. He
also helped to clarify some of the formal aspects of the practices and goals of the
five cults he surveyed and allowed us to locate those practices and goals within
the more general framework of Graeco-Roman polytheism. For these reasons,
all scholars interested in ancient mystery cults are fundamentally indebted to
Burkert’s study.
Yet, at the same time, the conclusions of a comparative phenomenology
of five cults, however magisterially executed, may tend to wash out significant
variations with respect to the foundations, organizations, ritual practices, and
theological goals that might be identified, not only between sanctuary-based
and/or publicly administered mystery cults and private cults, but among civic
cults.119 In fact, we probably should assume significant variations in all of these
facets of both public and private mystery cults given the very great numbers of
such cults that we know once existed.120 In Arcadia alone scholars have identified no fewer than thirteen sanctuaries with mystery cults during the Roman
imperial era.121 Furthermore, a study of the manteion (oracle) of Trophonius in
Boeotia, which makes the case that a cult which scholars have usually seen as
fundamentally oracular in character nevertheless had many features in common
with certain mystery cults, implicitly raises the question of how “mystery cults”
can be defined or differentiated from “regular” or civic cults, when the ancient
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commentators themselves have blurred the linguistic and therefore definitional
lines between (what perhaps only we see as) different kinds of cults.122 In the
face of such evidentiary diversity, how are we to define “the mysteries”?123
Second, and even more important (if that is possible), the ahistorical approach to the study of mystery cults (in whatever way they are defined) runs the
risk of, indeed perhaps even ensures that, we will not be able to understand how
and why these cults may have changed over time. If we do not set what actually
happened during the celebrations of what the Greeks and/or Romans called
“the mysteries” back into their own specific historical settings, from the beginning we forgo the possibility of understanding how and why these cults came
about, changed or developed or did not, and eventually died out, even after we
have rightly dispensed with the Orientalizing or Christianizing frames of reference.124 Precisely because the interpretation of mystery cults has proved to be so
exceptionally vulnerable to the intrusion of culturally influenced assumptions
or frames of religious reference, it is all the more necessary to reconstruct such
“stable points” of reality about how the cults operated as we can within specific
contexts.125 If we dispense with context, we inevitably will end up with a very
static view of the mysteries.126
Even if we look very briefly at some of the evidence for three of the mystery
cults that Burkert surveyed in his comparative phenomenology (the mysteries
of Eleusis, Isis, and Mithras), it becomes clear immediately that how and why
the cults functioned the way they did can in fact be understood fully only in the
context of the polis and its history, whether that context is known from historical sources or even from historical fiction.127
PHENOMENOLOGY IN CONTEXT
Crucially, in each of the three cases we glance at here, the celebration of the
mysteries was linked to the structure of authority of the polis (or city-state) or
to its physical structures or to its social structures and status hierarchies or to
all of the above. Moreover, in the case of Eleusis, at any rate, it is clear that decisions the Athenians took with respect to the cult were made to exploit the
value of the cult, and directly affected the cult. In fact, it would be surprising if
changes in at least some poleis and mystery cults did not go hand in hand, given
the recognized fact that within many Greek poleis it was the councils and assemblies of the poleis that had the legal and constitutional responsibility for
organizing, and even financing, the religious lives of the cities, including their
public festival calendars and sacrifices.128
Although in the case of the Eleusinian mysteries, according to the author of
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the Homeric Hymn to Demeter, it was the goddess Demeter herself who established the rites that she directed Metaneira to celebrate purely, Andocides relates that a law of Solon’s required the Boule of Athens to meet in the Eleusinion
in Athens on the day after the Eleusinian mysteries to review infractions that
took place during them.129 Athenian (polis) regulation of the Eleusinian mysteries therefore dates back to at least the early sixth century B.C. at the latest.
By the mid-430s B.C. the Boule and the demos of the Athenians, that is, the
sovereign assembly of Athenian citizens, passed a decree “urging” the allies of
the Athenian empire to bring first fruits of grain to the two goddesses (Demeter
and Persephone).130 To accommodate the increase in the amount of grain, it was
further decreed that three pits were to be constructed at Eleusis in accordance
with the ancestral custom, at whatever place seemed suitable to the hieropoioi
(sacred assistants) and the architect, out of the funds of the two goddesses.131
At least by the end of the fifth century B.C., the financial power of the sanctuary was in the hands of the epistatai (civic superintendents instituted around
446 B.C.) and the Athenian state.132 It is clear, therefore, that the demos of the
Athenians eventually acquired authority and control over the finances of the
sanctuary at Eleusis, where the initiations took place.
By 322 B.C. at the latest, the archon basileus (king archon) of Athens, then
an annual magistrate (who retained the religious functions of the early kings of
Athens), superintended the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries in cooperation, from shortly before the middle of the fourth century B.C., with two epimeletai (supervisors), elected by a show of hands of the Athenian demos, and
one representative from the two Eleusinian clans of the Eumolpidai and the
Kerykes.133
Although there is no evidence that the Athenian polis ever made decisions
about the sanctuary without having consulted these clans or at least their representatives, the vows of initiates, if undertaken as part of the process leading
to witnessing the secret rites (teletai ) in the Telesterion, ultimately could not
have been fulfilled at Eleusis without the financial oversight of the Athenian
demos and its democratically elected magistrates and officials. In Athens, as
Simon Price argued persuasively, religious reorganization accompanied political
change from the very early sixth century B.C.134 This statement holds true both
for mystery and nonmystery cults at Athens; it will be equally true at Ephesos.
The case of Lucius’s initiation into the mysteries of Isis (and later Osiris)
in Book XI of Apuleius’s Metamorphoses also provides an excellent fictive example from around A.D. 170 of how vows and prayers related to initiations into
mystery cults were made in the context of specific historical circumstances and
depended upon the institutions and officials of a specific town and/or polis
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for their fulfillment.135 Even in the imagined world of fiction, the operational
assumption is that initiations require the physical infrastructure of the polis. To
bring out this point as clearly as possible, it is worth reviewing Apuleius’s account of Lucius’s initiation in some detail.136
In Apuleius’s narrative, after Lucius had fled from his intended sexual union
with the woman from the public prison in the theater of Corinth, he arrived at
the Corinthian port of Cenchreae. Following his prayer to the goddess to be released from his dreadful four-footed form, the goddess accepted his prayer in
return for his pledge that the rest of his life be dedicated to her (XI.6).
After the ass ate the crown of roses and became Lucius once again, one
dark night, with lucid commands, the goddess herself plainly declared that the
day Lucius had always hoped for had come, the day on which she would grant
him his greatest prayer.137 She informed him how much he must spend on the
ceremonies of his initiation and further decreed that it was specifically the high
priest Mithras himself who would administer the rites of his initiation, since he
was joined to Lucius by a divine conjunction of the stars.138
Lucius then went straight to the high priest’s lodging, determined to demand his initiation into the sacred rites. The high priest took Lucius to the doors
of the spacious shrine. From books, in which the writing was in undecipherable
letters, kept in the great temple of the goddess, Mithras read out to Lucius the
preparations that had to be made for the initiation (XI.22). The priest then
escorted him, surrounded by an escort of devotees, to the baths nearby. After
Lucius took the customary full bath, he was cleansed with purificatory sprinkling.
When Lucius had been taken back to the temple and set at the feet of the
goddess, he was given secret instructions too holy to be uttered. He then fasted
for ten days and received gifts from the crowds. The uninitiated were dismissed,
and the priest led Lucius to the innermost part of the sanctuary. There, famously,
Lucius came to the boundary of death and, having trodden the threshold of
Proserpina, traveled through all the elements and returned. In the middle of the
night he saw the sun flashing with bright light and came face to face with the
gods below and the gods above and paid reverence to them from close at hand
(XI.23).
Lucius’s initiation into the mysteries of Isis makes sense only within the
overall story of his toils and dangers wandering through a particular region of
the Graeco-Roman world (Achaea/Macedonia) as an ass and of his release from
this state. Furthermore, the fictive narration of his initiation presumes the existence of a specific high priest, Mithras, who lives within some kind of dormitory
attached to the temple of Isis in the Corinthian port of Cenchreae.139
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Lucius’s initiation also requires special books that set out the proper preparations.140 The writing in the books is indecipherable to illiterate strangers. Local
baths, whether they were part of the temple complex or the town, are necessary
for bathing and purification.141 Finally, the initiation itself, described only in
allusive terms, takes place in the sanctuary. Without the (fictive) historical background of the Metamorphoses, and at least some of the institutional and even
physical structures of the town of Cenchreae, Lucius’s initiation into the mysteries of Isis is both inexplicable and impossible. Even in an imaginary world,
coming face to face with the gods above and the gods below ultimately depends
upon the infrastructure of the polis or a specific polis.142
Even though the ubiquity of its mysteries may distinguish what scholars call
“Mithraism” (more properly the mysteries of Mithras in late antiquity) from
other mystery cults, and initiations into the mysteries of Mithras at times have
been represented as somehow separate from the physical and social structures of
the Graeco-Roman city, a similar point can be made about initiations into those
mysteries. In fact, the vows and spectacular initiations of the cult of Roman
Mithras we know about are usually related to specific monuments, especially
the mithraeum, or the Mithraic cave (again, usually designated as spelaeum in
Rome, templum elsewhere).143 In one example from the city of Rome, a donor
adorned a cave “in order that the participants, united by joining hands, may joyously celebrate their vows for all time.”144 This hexameter makes clear that the
celebrations of the defined group of participants were focused upon this specific
cave. In Mediolanum, the land on which a Mithraic cave had been built was provided by a decree of the local town council.145
Moreover, imperial mithraea within cities often were linked integrally to
topographically related monuments honoring notables of the city, who belonged to the organizational structures of public service, and imperial and private families, which were the vital fabric of the empire.146 A specialist on the cult
cautiously has characterized as the quintessential city mithraeum the one in and
of the police barracks for the seconded detachments (the Castra Peregrinorum),
and as the quintessential Mithraist the imperial freedman and father and priest
of the unconquered Mithras of the imperial household L. Septimius Archelaus, or Alcimus, the slave vilicus (overseer) of Trajan’s Praetorian Prefect T.
Claudius Livianus, the dedicant of the earliest known icon of the bull-killing
Mithras.147 While the so-called Mithraic “religion” (or more convincingly the
cult of Mithras) may not have been widely accepted by the ruling elite of the Roman empire (that is, by senators and equestrians) up to the fourth century A.D.,
and the great majority of the syndexioi (those bound by the hand) in Ostia and
elsewhere were freedmen and/or their descendants, the cult of Mithras certainly
Continuity in Change
29
was not always one of outsiders to the political and social structures and hierarchies of the Graeco-Roman city.148 In fact, the mysteries of Mithras attracted
those “well integrated into the society of the Roman empire.”149 Nor were mithraea unfamiliar physical structures within the urban landscape of the cities of
the Roman empire (although “unpretentious” mithraea made of wood and turf
were also constructed on the outskirts of towns).150
These examples, taken from three of the cults that Burkert treated in his
comparative phenomenology, suggest that to understand as fully as possible
how and why these mystery cults functioned as they did, we need to interpret
the evidence for the practices of these cults, in some instances at least, as contextually and historically specific phenomena of the poleis and villages where these
practices took place. Our very brief review of some pieces of evidence related to
the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries is particularly suggestive. It clearly
is impossible to understand fully the organization and history of the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries without reference to the history of the polis of
Athens.151 Whatever were the origins of the celebrations of the Eleusinian mysteries, they became part of the polis religion of the Athenians.152 If this was the
case at Athens with respect to the Eleusinia, then perhaps we might wish to test
elsewhere the very definition of “mysteries” that emerged from the ahistorical
phenomenology of mystery cults. Were the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos,
for instance, also “initiation” rituals of a voluntary, personal, and secret character that aimed at a change of mind through experience of the sacred? What
exactly is the evidence that initiation rituals in the modern sense, that is, rites
of transition as opposed to cyclical rites (for instance), were central to the festival celebrated by the Ephesians?153 Is it correct that those who performed or
took part in the initiations did not achieve a distinct identity as a result of their
experiences? Were the “traits of identity” maintained through continuous tradition? If not, how and why did the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of
Ephesos change? And if the celebration did change, what was the significance of
that change for Ephesos, for Artemis, and for the Graeco-Roman world?
CONTINUITY IN CHANGE
Outside the case of Athens and the Eleusinian mysteries, which were celebrated
for an astonishing millennium without serious interruption before Alaric sacked
Eleusis in A.D. 395 and put an end to them, the example of Ephesos and the mysteries of Artemis perhaps provides the best opportunity to test Burkert’s definition of what mystery cults constituted, and also his conclusion that in mystery cults traits of identity were maintained through continuous tradition.154
30
MUESIS—INITIATION
The mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos are a good test case, not only because we
have abundant, if somewhat intermittent and inconsistent, evidence for their
celebration over more than half a millennium. The mysteries of Artemis provide us with an excellent opportunity to examine various hypotheses about how
these cults worked because, built upon a foundation of more than one hundred
years of archaeological excavation of the site and the publication of the materials from the excavations, including more than five thousand inscriptions, a series
of books devoted to synthesizing those materials is now available for the first
time. At last we have several excellent general histories of the city, monographs
about some of the key institutions and religious developments within the city,
and technically challenging geoarchaeological studies of the development and
habitation of the site.155 Virtually every aspect of the history and life of the city
has been or is being studied, including its almost predictably complicated and
perhaps unique “toilet culture.”156 These studies allow us to address questions of
environmental and material context, continuity, and change in the case of the
mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos in a way that would have been impossible only
a few years ago, and is still impossible in the cases of hundreds of other cults and
their sanctuaries of the Graeco-Roman world, precisely because only a tiny minority of these have been excavated and then studied in enough detail both to
“indicate a local profile distinct from the composite ‘panhellenic’ cults” and to
provide us with enough evidence to trace developments over time.157 In the case
of Ephesos, however, we are not in a situation where the number of interpretive
theories that can be generated about how and why the Ephesians celebrated the
mysteries of Artemis is in inverse proportion to the number of relevant, ascertainable facts.158 Ephesos certainly is now the most extensively excavated among
the major cities in the eastern Roman empire, and it is probably the most thoroughly studied as well, as the select modern bibliography, partial as it is, at the
end of this work makes dauntingly clear.159
In his short but stimulating book on Greek religion, the Dutch scholar
Jan Bremmer has remarked that the study of smaller and larger rituals has to
take into account many aspects: “the calendrical order, the spatial organization,
gender, social groups and relations, systems of classification, psychological and
emotional aspects, power aspects, the place of divinities, local peculiarities, the
internal logic, and commentaries of participants.”160 To this suitably Dutch call
for a “total” approach to the interpretation of Greek rituals, including mystery
cults, I would add that, above all, we need to think harder and deeper about the
issue of change over time.
As we shall discover, the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos apparently were not always organized to address eschatological concerns of
Continuity in Change
31
initiates. Rather, those who were in positions to shape the celebrations used
them to mediate and ritualize changes that had arisen out of conflict and competition in the polis, and to legitimate the positions of power and authority that
they held there. Whatever was intended, however, plague, famine, bad weather,
earthquakes, fires, economic recession, and finally barbarian invasion or raids all
necessitated changes in how the mysteries were celebrated. All of these changes
were mediated and ritualized with reference to the narrative of a sacred story
of mortal and immortal interdependence. The specific version of that story of
interdependence, even if it was not reenacted physically at the mysteries, was, I
will maintain, the secret, both to the success and, more surprisingly, to the ultimate failure of the cult.
There also were in fact traits of identity in the celebration of the mysteries
of Artemis. But these traits were maintained, as far as we can tell, not through
continuous tradition, but through rearrangement, reorganization, and revitalization, by kings, Roman emperors and governors, the polis of Ephesos, and
individual benefactors, all for their own reasons, which can be understood only
in their own contexts. In this cult there was therefore continuity—in change.
If this was the case with respect to the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis
of Ephesos, it is worth considering whether other mystery cults also need to be
studied in their own contexts, especially within the historical and institutional
framework of the polis, if we are to understand how they actually functioned
over time.
The drama of Artemis’s nativity had a very long run beneath the boughs of
Ortygia’s cypresses. At one time or another, some of the most famous actors from
the fourth century B.C. into the third century A.D. made guest appearances in
that grove or behind the scenes, including Lysimachos; Demetrios Poliorketes,
the Great Besieger; Mithradates VI of Pontos; Caesar Augustus; Tiberius; Commodus, who threatened to steal the show from Artemis on her birthday; and the
Gothic chieftains Respa, Veduc, and Thuruar. Of course, Artemis always had the
leading role. But the real stars of the show were Artemis’s grey-bearded youths,
the Kouretes, the story of whose shield-banging routine each year on top of
Mount Solmissos brought the crowds to Ephesos and Ortygia for centuries.
During the drama’s long run struggles occurred between rival management
groups. Those struggles brought about significant changes in the production
that reflected the tastes, styles, and theological beliefs of the managers. At the
same time, the polis kept an eye on the steady flow of cash that the revitalized
and revitalizing hit brought into the city. Sometime during the middle of the
third century A.D. though, the stars of the sacred drama apparently began to believe that performing their show-stopper no longer would make them wealthy
32
MUESIS—INITIATION
or perhaps even safe. The evidence that it would not do so was literally falling
around their ears. The goddess was not keeping her part of the bargain. Consequently, the Kouretes quit the big show on top of Mount Solmissos. After nearly
six centuries, the curtain fell for the last time on the mysteries and sacrifices. The
stars of the show exited the stage, not to applause, but to silence, and the goddess
herself learned the very hard human lesson that in the end, the strong truly are
at the mercy of the weak.
CHAPTER 2
Funeral Games
SOME SCHOLARS HAVE ASSUMED that mysteries of Artemis Ephesia were
celebrated by the end of the eleventh century B.C., after the arrival of the Athenian prince Androklos, the Ionian foundation of Ephesos, and the inception of
a Greek sanctuary at the site of the Artemision.1 That foundation, we now know,
was focused topographically upon the hill of Ayasoluk (site of the Bronze Age
Luwian town of Aspasa) and had expanded by the mid- eighth century into the
area known as Koressos, on the slopes of Panayirdag (ancient Tracheia), north
and east of the later stadium (Map 3).2 No evidence, however, substantiates the
assumption that the original Ionian settlers celebrated mysteries of the goddess.
However, even if the celebrations cannot be traced back as far as the time of the
Ionian settlement, perhaps they began during the period of Lydian domination
of Ephesos in the mid-sixth century B.C., after Croesus expelled the tyrant Pindaros, the inhabitants of the old Ionian polis moved to the area around the sanctuary (between Koressos and the southern foot of Ayasoluk), and the Lydian
king contributed self-inscribed columns decorated with reliefs (columnae caelatae) for the porch of the archaic temple of Artemis.3 But no material or literary
evidence supports this hypothesis either. Or, if there were no mysteries in the
Greek city during Croesus’s reign, possibly they were established after Croesus’s
defeat at the battle of Halys River in 546 B.C., when Ephesos was incorporated
into the Persian empire by the Persian general Harpagos.4 Again, there are no
supporting data. Or perhaps the rites commenced after Ephesos became a contributing member state of the so-called Delian League in 466.5 Once again,
the sources are mute. And if the mysteries cannot be dated to the fifth century B.C., surely they must have been celebrated in the polis by the time of the
most notorious event in the history of Ephesos, the burning of the Artemision,
allegedly by a madman named Herostratos, supposedly on the very night when
Alexander the Great was born (20 July 356 B.C.).6
But no archaeological, literary, or epigraphical evidence discovered thus far
proves that mysteries of Artemis were celebrated in the city before the fourth
33
34
MUESIS—INITIATION
century B.C. at the earliest. Unlike the case of Eleusis, where the story was that
Demeter herself showed the Eleusinians what became known as the mysteries
in gratitude for their hospitality in the distant past, at Ephesos there is no evidence that Artemis, Leto, or Apollo ever was believed to have bestowed the mystic rites upon the Ephesians, either during some mythological period or later.
On the contrary, although the priestly administration of the Artemision,
whose religious authority ultimately was sanctioned by the local satrap and the
king of Persia since the King’s Peace of 386 B.C., may have celebrated mysteries
of Artemis before the mid-fourth century B.C., only some later literary evidence
implies that the hieros logos of Leto giving birth to Artemis and Apollo with the
help of the nurse Ortygia was current in Ephesos by the middle of the fourth
century B.C.
Before that time, despite the massive amount of archaeological and literary evidence that we possess for the existence of the cult of Artemis in Ephesos,
and what the Ephesians themselves later believed, there apparently was no tradition in Ephesos concerning the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries, continuous or otherwise. Whatever secret or secrets initiates learned by celebrating the
mysteries of the goddess, those secrets apparently were first disclosed to them
much later than the Ionian foundation and far from the mother city of Athens.
Moreover, our evidence about the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos even during
the late fourth century B.C. is still relatively sparse and fragmentary. It is not,
however, an accident that our first piece of substantial evidence comes in the
form of a citizenship decree.
During the classical period, as is well known, except for situations of military emergency, it was relatively rare for poleis to incorporate groups or individuals (especially slaves) into their communities of citizens.7 By the early fourth
century B.C., however, poleis used citizenship honors for the partisans of various kings or royal officials to socialize them “by reinscribing them into the world
of the cities,” or less poetically, into the ever-changing world of who happened
to be in charge of a particular city at any given moment.8 Poleis such as Ephesos increasingly used such public epigraphical declarations of inclusion into
their citizen bodies as a way to declare support for or hostility toward Alexander’s competing “successors,” all the while maintaining the institutions of the
classical-era polis, including councils, assemblies, magistrates, and law courts.9
Our first encounter with the evidence for the existence of mysteries of
Artemis therefore occurs at the moment in Ephesos when the old polis ideal
of the city as a community of related (male) citizens with equal rights and responsibilities, the so-called isonomic polis, was already being challenged militarily and politically by men who held a very different conception of authority
Funeral Games
35
and power within the polis.10 We therefore cannot understand the significance
of even our first, fragmentary piece of epigraphical evidence for the celebration
of Artemis’s mysteries outside the context of the history of relations between
the polis of Ephesos and the Artemision and the wars of Alexander’s successors in the early years of the Macedonian Centuries, as one scholar has aptly rechristened the period between the death of the great king on 10 June 323 B.C.
and the absorption of the last of the regional Macedonian monarchies into the
Roman empire.11 When we first catch a glimpse of the mysteries of Artemis at
Ephesos, we see them against the historical background of ferociously ambitious
Macedonian kings and their rivals playing the Macedonian “Great Game” not in
far-off Afghanistan, but just across the Aegean Sea in Ionia.12 That is, they were
struggling among themselves to carve out and hold on to some of the first pieces
of Alexander’s empire in Asia, sometimes by arms, but often by marriages, with
strategically important cities, such as Ephesos, caught in the middle of the typically bloody Macedonian festivities.
T H E S TAT U E G R O U P O F S K O PA S
A passage in the Geography of Strabo, probably composed near the end of the
first century B.C., reveals that the story of Artemis’s birth in a grove of trees
named after Artemis’s nurse Ortygia was known in the polis of Ephesos, perhaps by the third quarter of the fourth century B.C. at the latest. At that time
the story of Artemis’s birth was the subject of a statue group in a temple in Ortygia, executed by one of the most famous sculptors in the contemporary Greek
world.
In his account of the Ionians and the Carians and the seaboard outside the
Taurus, Strabo wrote:
On the same coast, slightly above the sea, is also Ortygia, which is a
magnificent grove of all kinds of trees, of the cypress most of all. It is
crossed by the Kenchrios River, where they say Leto to have bathed
after her travails. For here is the mythical scene of the birth, and of
the nurse Ortygia, and of the holy place where the birth took place,
and of the olive tree near by, where they say the goddess first took rest
after the travails. Mt. Solmissos lies above the grove, where, they say,
the Kouretes were stationed, and by the din of their arms frightened
Hera out of her wits when she was jealously spying on Leto, and when
they helped Leto to conceal from Hera the birth of her children. There
are several temples in the place, some ancient and others built in later
36
MUESIS—INITIATION
times, and in the ancient temples are many ancient wooden images,
but in those of later times there are works of Skopas; for example, Leto
holding a sceptre and Ortygia standing beside her with a child in each
arm. A general festival is held there annually; and by a certain custom
the youths vie for honor, particularly in the splendor of their banquets
there. At that time, also, the association [archeion] of the Kouretes
holds symposia and performs certain mystic sacrifices.13
We shall return to the story related to Strabo about the birth of Artemis
and the celebration of the general festival held annually in Ortygia in Chapter 4
on the mysteries of Artemis during the late first century B.C. For that story apparently was conveyed to Strabo at the time of his visit to the polis during the
late first century and must be evaluated in its own historical context. Yet this
passage from Strabo’s work, although written during the late first century B.C.,
is the place to start our investigation into the mysteries of Artemis and may help
us to establish the latest date when the story about Leto, the nurse Ortygia, and
the births of Artemis and Apollo, which served as part of the narrative script for
the later celebration of Artemis’s mysteries, became associated with the grove of
Ortygia.14
As far as the location of the grove is concerned, since the early twentieth
century Ortygia generally has been identified by the majority of scholars with
modern Arvalya, a site in the hills off the modern road from Selçuk to Kuşadasi, about five miles southwest of the center of Ephesos on maps of the modern
archaeological excavations (Map 2).15 It is a brisk five-hour walk from the lower
agora of Ephesos over Bülbüldag (faster if one happens to encounter a Kangal,
or Turkish sheepdog). Today the site of Arvalya is rocky, and while parts of it
are wooded (mostly with evergreens), there is no discernible grove of cypress
trees. During the summer the bed and/or course of the Arvalya Çayi, which
presumably is the Kenchrios River mentioned by Strabo, is very difficult to find,
let alone follow. If Strabo’s references to the Kenchrios and the olive tree are emblems of the rich soil and abundant water springs of Ephesos, they are emblems
of a changed topography at Ortygia.16 There are traces of the remains of ancient
buildings on the site, but the area has not been systematically surveyed, or excavated.17 Following Keil’s dissenting article, Scherrer more recently has argued
that the Kenchrios River and thus Ortygia should be located south of Kuşadasi
in the Degirmen valley.18
In either case, Ortygia was located south of the present archaeological site
of Ephesos, well outside any of the city’s identified sets of circuit walls. Following the logic of Greek attitudes toward ownership of land, it should follow that
Funeral Games
37
The area of Ortygia, about five miles south of the city center of Ephesos, where stood
ancient temples and statues, and where the mysteries of Artemis were celebrated from
at least the fourth century B.C. into the third century A.D.
Artemis’s and Apollo’s births in Ortygia signify that they were the rightful possessors of Ortygia and in fact had inhabited the area before the foundation of
the Greek polis of Ephesos.
Given the identification of Ortygia’s location in any case miles away from
both the Artemision and what would turn out to be Lysimachos’s new polis,
it is worth considering that in ancient Greece Artemis’s sanctuaries were often
located in mountainous areas (such as Arvalya); another characteristic feature of
the sites dedicated to the goddess was their proximity to rivers and/or marshes.19
Indeed, one of Artemis’s most frequent epithets in the countryside was Limnatis (“Of the Marshes”).20 Rivers and marshes provided water for the groves of
trees that ancient sources also associated with Artemis’s sanctuaries.21 But such
rivers also were used by the Greeks to define the physical boundaries between
different political communities.22 Although unexplored scientifically, modern
Arvalya obviously does include at least some of the physical features characteristic of many of Artemis’s known extra-urban sanctuaries (mountain and river,
possibly providing water for trees), and ancient Arvalya was a contested border
area between poleis, as we shall soon see.
The next point to make about the passage is that, according to Strabo, Or-
38
MUESIS—INITIATION
tygia was the site of several ancient temples (naon archaion) that housed ancient statues (archaia xoana). Strabo is not specific about the dates of the ancient temples or statues, but xoana is certainly a term used to describe wooden
cult images of deities, datable to the early classical, if not archaic period.23 From
this we may conclude that Ortygia, where the mysteries of Artemis were celebrated by the mid-fourth century B.C. at the latest, was a site of cult activity
already during the classical period. Unfortunately, Strabo does not tell us who
the ancient temples were dedicated to or whose wooden images were inside the
temples. It is only for another, not very precisely dated, later period that he provides some more specific information. For it was in one of the temples dated
to later times that there were works of Skopas, including one of Leto holding a
scepter and Ortygia standing beside her with a child in each arm.24
If this statue group described by Strabo was placed in one of the “later
temples” in Ortygia during (or shortly after) the time when Skopas was working on commissions in Ephesos or Asia Minor, then the story of Artemis’s birth
in Ortygia must have been circulating within or around the polis by the third
quarter of the fourth century B.C. For Skopas is known to have been working
in Ephesos after 356 and then on other Asian commissions, including the east
frieze of the Mausoleum at Halikarnassos (Halicarnassus), into the 340s.25
Unfortunately, we do not know who set up the statue group of Leto and
Ortygia in the later temple. Nor do we have any information about the historical circumstances of the dedication. Indeed, none of the details that Strabo
provides about Skopas’s statue group explicitly evokes rituals of initiation. The
scepter Leto held was probably only a generic symbol of divine authority and
power and perhaps signifies nothing about the actual celebration of the mysteries. Moreover, Strabo does not say that “mystic sacrifices” were celebrated in
Ortygia at the time when the statue group was established. But the existence of
the statue group is still significant because it shows that the story of the births
of Artemis and Apollo was topographically associated with Ortygia (rather
than with Delos, which also claimed to be Artemis’s birthplace), the later site
of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos by the mid-fourth
century B.C.26 The topographical association of the mysteries with Ortygia, in
other words, was not the product of the rethinking or reinvention of old etiological myths that clearly took place in Ephesos and elsewhere during the early
Roman empire. A later epigraphical source then does imply that mysteries were
celebrated by the polis during the period between the dedication of Skopas’s
statue of Leto and Ortygia and 294 B.C.
Funeral Games
39
THE DECREE OF THE EPHESIAN GEROUSIA
A fragmentary decree of the Ephesian Gerousia, which was resolved sometime
during the reign of Commodus (A.D. 180 to 192), in its first few lines perhaps
suggests that, even before the foundation of the new polis of Arsinoeia by the
Macedonian king Lysimachos (around 294 to 289 B.C.), mysteries and sacrifices
were celebrated.
1 To Good Fortune
2 [Concerning the things which . . . proposes.]
[In those years at the beginning] right after the foundation of the polis
[Lysimachos the king,
3 having acquired supreme authority over the affairs of the polis,] all
the other things concerning the mysteries and the sacrifices and [concerning our sunhedrion
4 made an excellent arrangement with all reverence and love of] goodness . . .27
It is perhaps unwise to be too confident about information derived from a
fragmentary decree of the Ephesian Gerousia committed to stone hundreds of
years after the events purportedly described in the decree. Yet the publication
of the dossier or archive of Gerousia inscriptions from Ephesos during the early
1990s proves first that the Ephesian Gerousia in fact did keep records of past
decrees related to its activities, and second that the initiates of other mystery
cults in the city also kept written records of acknowledgments of their rights to
perform mysteries that dated back from the late first century A.D. to the period
when Ephesos was ruled by kings.28 There are therefore reasons to think that the
information provided in the decree of the Gerousia from the reign of Commodus is based upon documentary sources from the fourth century B.C. If so, and
if the restorations suggested by Herberdey are correct (especially his restoration
of the infinitive diakekosmekenai [“to make an excellent arrangement”] in lines
3–4), then this decree surely implies the existence of “all the things” concerning
mysteries and sacrifices before Lysimachos’s foundation of the new polis.29 Lysimachos, in other words, made an excellent arrangement of all the other things
concerning mysteries and sacrifices that already were taking place. He did not
create the mysteries and sacrifices.
Unfortunately, the inscription does not tell us how long before Lysimachos’s foundation of the (new) polis of Arsinoeia around 294 to 289 B.C.
“all the things” concerning the mysteries and sacrifices were taking place or what
form they took. If these mysteries and sacrifices were performed before 334 B.C.
40
MUESIS—INITIATION
(and thus before Alexander’s entry into the city that summer soon after the
Macedonian victory at the battle of the River Granikos), then the mysteries of
Artemis were celebrated during the period of Persian rule in Asia Minor and
their domination of the Artemision.30 The primary symbol of that domination
was the eunuch priest, called by Greeks the Megabuzos (whose title perhaps was
related to the Persian word bagabuxsa, “the one saved from the god” or “he who
serves god”), who perhaps had replaced a Greek priest of the Artemision after
the Persian conquest of the polis around 500 B.C.31
As for the substance of the celebrations of all the things concerning “the
mysteries and the sacrifices” at the time, elsewhere it has been argued that ta
musteria connote the festival of the mustai, or those who close their eyes or lips,
that is, first-time initiates.32 If this interpretation of the usage of ta musteria in
this inscription is correct, we may infer that there were mustai, or initiates, at
the festival already during the late fourth century B.C., although it must be said
that the decree of the Gerousia does not make this fact explicit.33 Nor does this
decree speak directly to the existence of teletai (initiation rites), or to the question of how Artemis herself was conceptualized at the celebrations during the
period of Persian domination or after it from 334 to 302.34
Later in Ephesos, as in other poleis where mysteries were celebrated, thusia
(line 3 of the inscription) can refer to animal sacrifices. But this is not certain
here. The close linguistic connection between mysteries and sacrifices in the inscription nevertheless hints at what may have been a formal and substantive arrangement: mysteries and sacrifices were made together during the celebration
of the general festival before and after the foundation of the new polis. At least
later we know that certain “mystic sacrifices” (of the Kouretes) formed an essential part of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis.
THE EUPHRONIUS DECREE AND THE KOURETES
We find our first potentially revealing item of information related to the Kouretes, who later played a major role in the general festival at Ortygia (as emphasized by Strabo), in a very well-preserved inscription. This inscription, originally
from the sanctuary of Artemis but later built into the proscenium of the Great
Theater of Ephesos, records a grant of citizenship for a certain Euphronius of
Acarnania in 302 B.C.:
1 It was decreed by the Boule and the demos. Herogeiton spoke: In regard to the matters about which the neopoiai [temple wardens] and the
appointed Kouretes discussed
Funeral Games
41
2 before the Boule and brought a decree of the Gerousia and of the
associated epikletoi [leaders] in favour of citizenship for Euphronius, it
seemed to the Boule.
3 Since Euphronius, son of Hegemon, of Acarnania, earlier has displayed toward the demos of the Ephesians both a friendly and zealous
attitude, and now
4 when an embassy was dispatched to Prepelaos by the Gerousia and
the epikletoi about the billeting of troops in the sanctuary and the right
of the goddess
5 to be exempt from duty, he has helped to arrange matters along with
the embassy so that the exemption is allowed to the goddess and since
in the rest of things on all occasions he is constantly
6 useful both publicly to the demos and privately to any of the citizens who appeal to him: may it be decided to praise Euphronius for
the good will
7 which he has both about the sanctuary and the polis, and to give to
him citizenship on an equal basis, to him and to his descendants, and
to inscribe the grant of citizenship to him
8 upon the sanctuary of Artemis where also the other grants have been
inscribed; furthermore, to assign him by lot to a tribe and to a
9 thousand [chiliastys], so that all may know that the demos of the
Ephesians honors benefactors to the sanctuary and to the polis with
the fitting gifts.
10 He was allotted to the tribe, Epheseus, and to the thousand, Argadeus.35
The Euphronius decree provides our first epigraphical reference to the
Kouretes, who held symposia and performed mystic sacrifices during the late
first century B.C., as Strabo later informs us. Of course we should not assume
that the Kouretes mentioned in the Euphronius inscription also held such ritual
drinking parties and conducted mystic sacrifices in 302 B.C. While it may be
reasonable to infer that the Kouretes at this time (302 B.C.) were involved in the
mysteries and sacrifices mentioned in the Gerousia inscription from the time
of Commodus (but referring back to the late fourth century B.C.), such activities are not mentioned in the Euphronius decree. If we adhere rigorously to our
stated methodological principle of presenting a chronological review and analysis of the evidence in order, we should not assume on the basis of the Euphronius inscription that the Kouretes of 302 also held symposia and sacrifices.
Still less should we assume (as some scholars have done) that the Ephesian
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MUESIS—INITIATION
Kouretes referred to in the inscription were the descendants of the Kouretes
who fought the Aitolians about the city of Kalydon according to Homer, because Oineus had not given due sacrifice to Artemis; or were related to those
Cretan Kouretes whom Diodorus later says deceived Kronos by the din of their
war dance during the birth of Zeus, cared for the baby on Mount Idê, sailed
to Cherronesos, expelled the Carians living there, and founded cities that the
Kouretes named after themselves.36 Although some scholars have attempted to
connect the Cretan or Carian Kouretes to the Ephesian Kouretes genealogically or historically, the evidence for such connections is tenuous at best.37 The
name “Kouretes” may have been exported from Crete to Ephesos during the archaic period, but by the fourth century B.C. the real Ephesian Kouretes of the
Euphronius inscription had developed into a distinctive association linked explicitly to the worship of Artemis.38
Nevertheless, as we will see, there are numerous detailed narrative parallels
between the tale Diodorus tells about the birth of Zeus on Crete and the story
we already have found in Strabo about the birth of Artemis in Ortygia. Moreover, what Diodorus has to say about how the Cretan Kouretes were connected
to the generation of the Titans, to Kronos and Rhea, and, above all, to the birth
of Zeus perhaps provides some background for understanding how stories
about the origins of the Ephesian Kouretes may have been seen as being politically or culturally useful to the Ephesians at the end of the first century B.C.
Such etiological stories may have been propagated by the Ephesians in the late
first century both to explain the origins of their Kouretes and to connect the
Ephesians themselves to an Olympian cosmogony, which validated the role of
Ephesos in the culturally competitive Graeco-Roman world.
But such narrative parallels do not establish a genealogical or especially an
historical link between the Cretan and Ephesian Kouretes. More importantly,
the story Diodorus relates about the birth of Zeus on Crete, just like the story
Strabo gives about the birth of Artemis in Ortygia, belongs to the context of
the first century B.C. and should be evaluated as evidence about values and their
dissemination in that context.
Nevertheless, because of the strong link between the Kouretes and the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis made by the later sources, it is important
to look carefully at exactly what role the Kouretes were playing in 302 B.C., if
only to begin to chart how the role of the association changed over time, leading to their performances during the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis by
the late first century B.C. Furthermore, to understand the significance of the
Kouretes’ actions in 302, we will need to look closely at the history of relations
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43
among Lysimachos, Demetrios Poliorketes, the Artemision, and the polis of
Ephesos from around 302 until 289. Ultimately, the history of those intertwined
relations will provide the only comprehensible context for understanding Lysimachos’s rearrangement of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries after he had
captured Ephesos by 294 B.C.
From lines 1–2 of the Euphronius inscription we discover that the neopoiai
and the appointed Kouretes discussed matters before the Boule and brought a
decree of the Gerousia and the associated epikletoi, undoubtedly in favor of citizenship for Euphronius.39 Since it was a decree of the Gerousia and the epikletoi that was brought forward for discussion, it is probable that the neopoiai and
the Kouretes had been appointed by those two bodies. The central matter for
discussion must have been whether Euphronius was deserving of Ephesian citizenship.40 What had Euphronius done for the temple of Artemis and the polis?
From line 4 of the inscription, we learn that the neopoiai and the Kouretes
brought a decree (in favor of citizenship) for a man who had helped to secure
two exemptions, when an embassy had been sent to Prepelaos by the Gerousia
and the epikletoi on behalf of the exemption of the sanctuary from billeting
troops in its buildings, and the right of the goddess Artemis to be exempt from
duty.
Unfortunately, the inscription tells us almost nothing about the internal
organization or exact institutional affiliation of the Kouretes in 302 B.C. We
cannot tell whether the Kouretes in the inscription constituted all the members
of a yearly association, a selection of members from an association, or a group
of “old boys” who nevertheless remained part of the association (as alumni), as
was the case later. In fact, we do not know whether these Kouretes even served
for a year, as the later canonical number of six Kouretes certainly did.
Our only real clue about the institutional affiliation of the Kouretes in
302 B.C. comes from their operational connection to the neopoiai in the inscription. The neopoiai mentioned in line 1 appear frequently in late-fourthcentury B.C. inscriptions from Ephesos. They were charged with inscribing the
names of new citizens on the wall of the Artemision, and they recommended
citizenship for individuals as well.41 It is only from later, more detailed, sources
that we learn that these officials were responsible for guarding and preserving the dedicated furniture and dedications of the temple of Artemis. (In the
Salutaris endowment of A.D. 104, described in more detail in Chapter 7, for
example, the neopoiai[oi] appear as guardians of the statues dedicated by the
donor: two of the neopoiai[oi] attended to the statues that were carried from
the pronaos of the temple of Artemis into the Theater and back at every assem-
44
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bly, during gymnastic contests, and on other days determined by the Boule and
demos.)42 Nevertheless, most scholars conclude that the neopoiai were functionaries of the temple of Artemis, even during the fourth century B.C.
The functional connection of the neopoiai to the Kouretes in the fragmentary inscription recording the grant of citizenship to Euphronius of Acarnania
suggests that the Kouretes also were essentially officials or functionaries of the
temple during this period, who nevertheless could be selected or appointed by
the Gerousia and the epikletoi to consider citizenship for a benefactor of the
temple and the polis.43 Notably, they are not called priests (hiereis) in the inscription.
At first sight then, the Euphronius inscription seems to provide rather limited evidence about the Kouretes. Nevertheless, a thorough review of the (typically complicated and confusing) military and political events of the period
that led to the decision to send an embassy to Prepelaos, following Diodorus’s
account in some detail, can help us to understand the full significance of the
Kouretes’ appointment in 302 B.C. This detailed review also furnishes the essential historical framework for understanding how and why the celebration of the
mysteries later became a focal point of contention between the sanctuary and
the new polis founded by Lysimachos.
LYS I M AC H O S , P R E P E L AO S ,
A N D T H E E M B A S S Y O F 3 0 2 B.C.
Just as Alexander the Great reportedly predicted on his deathbed in June
323 B.C., “funeral games” were celebrated in time-honored Macedonian fashion
after his death.44 Alexander’s officers and friends, including his former bodyguard Lysimachos (who styled himself a king by the summer of 304 B.C.) and
Demetrios Poliorketes (the ironically nicknamed Besieger of Cities), fought
each other far harder and with no less enthusiasm than they had battled the
Persians for the prize of Alexander’s possessions in Asia Minor, undoubtedly
because of Asia Minor’s wealth and strategic placement in the midst of Greece,
Macedon, and the world of the western Mediterranean and Egypt, the Levant,
Syria, Mesopotamia, Persia, and beyond.
Within Asia Minor, Ephesos perhaps occupied the key position. Located
just south of the Kaystros River (now known as the Küçük Menderes) before it
flowed into the gulf of Ephesos (and linked by mountain passes to the valley of
the Hermos River, the modern Gediz), the mid-fourth-century B.C. polis faced
the Greek world to the west but also was the terminus point of the Persian royal
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45
road leading eastward. At the same time, the polis lay astride the north-south
coastal road (Maps 1 and 2).45
Although his account comes from a later period, it is nonetheless worth
citing Polybius’s characteristically insightful assessment of the geographical and
strategic advantages of the polis, as seen by King Antiochus in 197 B.C. According to Polybius, Antiochus was very eager to get hold of Ephesos because of its
favorable position, that is, it stood “in the position of a citadel both by land and
by sea for anyone with designs on Ionia and the cities of the Hellespont, and is
always a most favorable point of defense against Europe for the kings of Asia.”46
Nor had the advantages of the polis’s physical setting and strategic importance escaped the notice of Alexander’s more immediate successors. As Diodorus informs us, by 302 B.C. these included Kassander, the king of the Macedonians; Antigonus in Asia; Lysimachos, who had been given the satrapy of Thrace
in 323; Ptolemy, the self-proclaimed king of Egypt (after 305/4); and Seleucus,
the ruler of the upper satrapies.47 In 302, Kassander, fearing the growing power
of the Greeks, sent envoys to Antigonus in Asia, asking him to come to terms.
Having been rebuffed, Kassander summoned Lysimachos from Thrace. Kassander and Lysimachos then sent embassies to Ptolemy and Seleucus, who agreed
to undertake a war against Antigonus.48
Kassander gave Lysimachos part of his army and sent with it Prepelaos as
general. Lysimachos then crossed from Europe to Asia with his army. Since the
inhabitants of Lampsacus and Parium came over to him willingly, Lysimachos
left them free. When he took Sigeum by force, a garrison was installed there.
Next, he gave Prepelaos six thousand foot soldiers and one thousand horse and
sent him to win over the cities of Aeolis and Ionia.49
While Lysimachos was busy investing Synnada, Prepelaos took Adramyttium and then, besieging Ephesos, frightened its inhabitants and captured the
polis in 302 B.C.50 According to Diodorus, Prepelaos left the Ephesians “free”
(according to the interpretation of some scholars) but burned all the ships in
the harbor since the enemy controlled the sea and the entire outcome of the war
was uncertain.51 After this (probably only a few months), Prepelaos secured the
adherence of the people of Teos and Kolophon but did not capture the cities.52
Nevertheless, he plundered their territories and then went on to take Sardis except for its acropolis.53
Antigonus heard of the crossing of Lysimachos while he was celebrating
great games and a general festival in Antigonia in Syria. Setting out from Syria
with his army, he made a rapid march against his enemies.54 After pursuing Lysimachos beyond Dorylaeum and hearing that Seleucus was coming from the
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upper satrapies with a great force, with the winter season at hand, Antigonus
sent some of his friends to Demetrios in Greece, ordering him to come with his
army as soon as possible.55
Demetrios Poliorketes was engaged against the forces of Kassander in Thessaly when the messengers of his father reached him with Antigonus’s orders.
Demetrios came to terms with Kassander at once and then, after preparing ships
for the transportation of the soldiers and equipment, set sail with his whole
fleet. After going through the islands, Demetrios put in at Ephesos.56
Disembarking his army and camping near the walls, Demetrios forced the
polis to return to its former status.57 He then dismissed the garrison that had
been introduced by Prepelaos and stationed his own garrison on the acropolis.
Having done so, Demetrios went on to the Hellespont.58 He recovered Lampsacus and Parium, and when he arrived at the entrance of the Pontus, he constructed a camp beside the shrine of the Chalcedonians. Leaving three thousand
foot soldiers and thirty ships to guard the region, he sent the rest into winter
quarters, dividing them among the cities.59
Based upon the narrative of Diodorus (although this vital point has been
overlooked at times by commentators), the embassy mentioned in the Euphronius inscription from Ephesos should be dated to the period in 302 B.C. after
Prepelaos, Lysimachos’s general, had taken the polis of Ephesos for Lysimachos
but before the end of that year, when Demetrios, the son and ally of Antigonus,
sailed to Ephesos and forced the polis to return to its former status, dismissing
the garrison that had been introduced by Prepelaos and stationing his own on
the acropolis.60
Who were the members of that embassy? It is reasonable to deduce that the
neopoiai and the appointed Kouretes, who later brought forward the decree of
the Gerousia and the epikletoi for discussion before the Boule, were themselves
included in the embassy sent to Prepelaos by the Gerousia and the epikletoi. As
members of the (ultimately) successful embassy to Prepelaos, the neopoiai and
the Kouretes certainly would have been in an excellent position to consider how
useful Euphronius had been in arranging matters along with the embassy so
that the exemptions were allowed to the goddess (line 5). They also would have
been well placed to make a formal recommendation for citizenship, first to the
Gerousia and the epikletoi and then on behalf of the Gerousia and the epikletoi, to the Boule and ultimately to the demos. If this hypothesis is correct, the
following reconstruction of the events in 302 B.C. may be suggested.
In that year, after Prepelaos had left the polis of Ephesos but before the end
of the year, when Demetrios sailed to Ephesos and forced the polis to return to
its former status (formally a democracy), the issue of the billeting of troops in
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47
the sanctuary and the right of the goddess to be exempt from duty arose. Like
his rivals, Lysimachos may very well have been looking around for whatever
sources of money he could lay his hands on to subsidize his wars.61 Undoubtedly, the impetus for raising the issue lay with the temple administration. It is
likely that some of the soldiers and officers left behind by Prepelaos had been
helping themselves to accommodations in the buildings within the sanctuary.
The soldiers (or their officers) also may have been questioning the tax- exempt
status of the sanctuary.62 Taxing the sanctuary would have created a very lucrative revenue stream for Prepelaos’s garrison, if not for Prepelaos or even for Lysimachos himself. In any case, we can be certain that the administration wanted
tax- exempt status for the sanctuary.
That relations were not completely friendly between the temple administration and the garrison of Prepelaos, and perhaps even Prepelaos himself, during his brief stay in the city in 302 B.C. is suggested by the fact that the temple
administration did not elect to send an embassy including its own chief priest
(the Megabuzos) and/or the virgin priestess of Artemis herself (whose priesthood may be dated as far back as the archaic period) to Prepelaos in 302.63 Surely
the temple administration could have done so. We know, for instance, that at
least one Megabuzos had attended the celebration of the Olympic games as a
representative of the city.64 Why is there no mention of the chief priest of the
Artemision or of the priestess of Artemis in the inscription dealing with the embassy that was sent to Prepelaos? The issues in question (the billeting of troops
in the sanctuary and the tax-exempt status of the goddess) undoubtedly were of
vital concern to them.
It may very well be that the explanation for this lies in events or interactions
between Prepelaos and the Megabuzos and priestess of the Artemision that
transpired while Prepelaos was in the city in 302 B.C. If so, however, these events
or interactions are unfortunately at present not visible to us. But if we take a
longer perspective, the fact that neither the eunuch priest of the Artemision nor
the priestess of Artemis apparently was directly involved in these diplomatic relations perhaps becomes explicable. Moreover, looking at these events in hindsight helps us to see subsequent relations between Lysimachos and the temple,
and Lysimachos’s rearrangement of the mysteries of Artemis, in a clearer light.
As far as the longer perspective on the roles of the Megabuzos and the chief
priestess of Artemis is concerned (as well as the history of the temple itself from
356 B.C. until the period in question [around 302 B.C.]), Karwiese has made all
of the essential points. The institution of the eunuch priests of the Artemision
had been associated with Achaemenid occupation of the city since the late sixth
century B.C.65 That association remained unchanged down to the middle of the
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MUESIS—INITIATION
fourth century B.C., whether the city was formally free or not. After Herostratos allegedly burned down the Artemision in order to achieve worldwide fame
on the night when Alexander the Great was born, some in Ephesos interpreted
the burning as a sign that the goddess was distancing herself from her Persiandominated home.66 Moreover, it is possible that the serving Megabuzos himself
was accused of negligence in the protection of the temple.67
Especially after the battle of Chaironeia in 338 B.C., when the Macedonian
threat to Persian domination of western Asia Minor became clear and present,
supporters of Persia and Macedon in Ephesos struggled against each other, with
the Artemision often serving as the focus of the struggle. In 336 B.C., the statue
of Philip II, which the pro-Macedonian party in the polis managed to have
erected within the sanctuary, was smashed, undoubtedly by supporters of Persian rule; and in 335 B.C. Syrphax and his son Pelagon were installed as tyrants
of the city by the satrap of Sardis, Autophradates.68
After the battle at the River Granikos, in the summer of 334 B.C. Alexander made his way from Sardis to Ephesos, where he restored the democratic
leaders exiled in 335 and transferred all dues previously paid to Persia to the
temple of Artemis.69 It was at this time that Alexander probably extended the
limits of refuge of the sanctuary (asylon) to a stadium, or around two hundred
yards.70 He also offered sacrifice to Artemis and held a procession of his troops,
fully equipped and in battle order.71 Notoriously, Alexander’s offer to pay all
the costs of rebuilding the temple (designed by the famous architects Paionios,
Demetrios, and Cheirokrates) both past and future, on the condition that he
should have the credit for it on the building inscription, was turned down on
the grounds that it would be inappropriate for a god to dedicate offerings to
gods.72 In reality, the priests may not have been convinced (or hoped) that Alexander and the Macedonians ultimately would be successful against Darius and
his grand imperial army. Diplomatically turning down Alexander’s offer to pay
for the costs of reconstruction was a way for the priests of the administration to
hedge their bets, as Alexander himself no doubt understood.
In keeping with Alexander’s new policy of replacing oligarchies with
democracies in those areas of Aeolis and Ionia that were still under Persian occupation (as a way of gaining and keeping support of the Greek cities of Asia),
Ephesos was left a democracy in Alexander’s wake, but it was a democracy dominated by Macedonian partisans.73 The brief tyranny of Hegesias, who was murdered by the three sons of Echeanax (Anaxagoras, Kodros, and Diodoros) in
323 B.C., did nothing to change Macedon’s (or the Macedonians’) fundamental
domination of the city and its government. Alexander the Great’s entry into
Ephesos during the summer of 334 therefore was a turning point, not only with
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49
respect to his own policy toward the Greek cities of Asia.74 After 334, while all
of the institutions of the classical-era polis of Ephesos continued to function,
the informal oligarchization of the polis (that eventually led to a Roman-style
hierarchization of society following the Roman conquest) began.75
In 302 B.C., given the somewhat ambiguous record of the sanctuary (or
some of its officials) with regard to Macedon and Macedonians, the temple administration apparently did not elect to include either the eunuch priest of the
temple, who was in some ways the living embodiment of Persia’s former rule of
Ephesos, or the priestess of Artemis on an embassy to be sent to the general of
one of Alexander’s very own bodyguards, despite the importance of the exemptions in question.
So, on behalf of the sanctuary, the Gerousia and the epikletoi (the former
an institution of the polis, even if new, and the latter perhaps constituted by
Prepelaos himself ) selected and sent the neopoiai and the Kouretes, who were
lesser functionaries of the Artemision, not priests or priestesses of Artemis, to
Prepelaos to ask for the desired exemptions. Euphronius helped to arrange matters along with the embassy so that the exemptions were granted to the goddess.
It is impossible to believe that the exemptions were approved without the consent of Lysimachos himself.
After the exemptions were granted, the neopoiai and the Kouretes were appointed by the Gerousia and the epikletoi to consider citizenship for Euphronius. They considered the question—a foregone conclusion in light of the success of the embassy—and then brought the expected positive recommendation
to the Gerousia and epikletoi. A formal decree of the Gerousia and the epikletoi
was then brought forward, first before the Boule, and then before the demos.
The decree passed, and Euphronius got his Ephesian citizenship. As was the customary practice at the time, according to the terms of the decree of the Boule,
the record of the award of citizenship was inscribed upon the hieron (sanctuary)
of Artemis.76 In terms of the characteristic political patterns of the period, the
whole episode underscores the increasing importance of personal diplomacy for
all the cities that were trying to keep on the right side of one or the other successor.77
Perhaps more significantly for our investigation, if the preceding reconstruction of the events in 302 B.C. is correct, we further can deduce that the
Gerousia and the epikletoi had at least some influence with Prepelaos and probably Lysimachos at the time, in whatever way and whenever the epikletoi had
been constituted. Moreover, as a result of the embassy, if not what had transpired in the city when Prepelaos was actually there, who the neopoiai and the
Kouretes were and what roles they played in the polis certainly would have be-
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come well known to Prepelaos and even to Lysimachos. At a minimum then, the
appointment of the Kouretes to consider Ephesian citizenship for Euphronius
brought them squarely into the middle of high-stakes relations among one of
the greatest and best-known sanctuaries in Asia; one of the oldest, most famous,
and strategically vital poleis on the western coast of Asia Minor; and one of the
most aggressive and dynamic kings in the Greek-speaking world. It is hard to
believe that the Kouretes who considered citizenship for Euphronius were not
grown men, already full members of the socioeconomic elite of the polis. What
they cannot have been were the true “youths” of mythological lore.
Before the year was out, however, the situation on the ground changed dramatically. Demetrios Poliorketes came back and recaptured the polis by the end
of 302 B.C. It is perhaps significant that we hear nothing further about the Kouretes or the mysteries of Artemis until Lysimachos was able to capture the city
yet again, perhaps as much as eight years later.
DEMETRIOS AND THE RECAPTURE OF EPHESOS
It is to the period after Demetrios’s capture of the polis, perhaps in the fall of
302, that an honorary decree of the demos (and probably the Boule) commending, crowning, and giving citizenship to Apollonides, an officer of Demetrios,
probably belongs.78 According to the terms of the decree, the grants to Apollonides were to be inscribed upon the sanctuary of Artemis (although the inscription was found later built into the proscenium of the Theater).79 The demos so
honored Apollonides probably because he reported the goodwill of the king to
the demos and because of the goodwill he (Apollonides) had toward the king
and the demos of the Ephesians.80 Before the enumeration of the honors voted
to Apollonides, in the first few lines of the decree, Demetrios probably was cited
as the cause of many and great goods concerning the Hellenes and the polis.81
The demos then expressed joy about the reported successes of the king and his
army and ordered Ephesians and all residents to wear garlands in honor of the
happy events that had been announced.82 The demos also directed the (Ephesian) Essenes, the priestess, and the oikonomos (treasurer) to sacrifice to Artemis
for the good news, and to pray.83
This inscription, which probably was ratified by the demos within months
of the citizenship decree for Euphronius of Acarnania, first of all shows just
how quickly the demos could (and did) adjust to military and political events
over which it had very little control.84 Given the turbulent military and political circumstances of the late fourth century B.C., even large and important
Greek poleis of Asia Minor such as Ephesos had to be prepared to generate de-
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crees praising rival Macedonian dynasts and their officers within months, if not
days. Against the large, experienced, and powerful armies and navies of Macedonian kings or warlords such as Demetrios Poliorketes, the Greek poleis of Asia
Minor deployed crowns, citizenship, and rhetoric, commemorated in honorary
inscriptions.85 The poleis’ use of such weapons is a sign, not of decay, but of their
continuing and essential vitality.86
In the decree for Apollonides, the demos of the Ephesians probably flattered Demetrios by identifying him with the cause of many and great goods
concerning the Hellenes and the polis of Ephesos. Through this piece of flattery the demos undoubtedly hoped to gain benefits from the man who now
was in control of the polis and had introduced his own garrison. But the substance of that flattery nevertheless helps us to understand, not only who supported Demetrios and opposed Lysimachos in Ephesos in 302 B.C., but also
why. Furthermore, it may help us to appreciate the situation in Ephesos when
Lysimachos finally returned by 294 and rearranged the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. Arsinoeia was founded in 294, and the mysteries were rearranged after the supporters of Demetrios in Ephesos had had eight years to
create epigraphical propaganda that justified Demetrios’s struggle against Lysimachos. What was the basis of the claim that Demetrios had been a cause of
many and great goods concerning the Hellenes and the polis of Ephesos in 302?
The primary justification for that claim must have been Demetrios’s treaty
with Kassander, concluded pending the acceptance of his father, just before
Demetrios sailed to Ephesos. According to Diodorus, in that treaty, among
other conditions, it was stipulated that the Greek poleis, not only those in
Greece, but also those of Asia, were to be free.87 (Declaring “freedom” or at
least self-determination of the Greek cities was a propaganda card that Antigonus and his ally Polyperchon had played earlier against Ptolemy, Kassander, and
Lysimachos in the islands and on the Greek mainland already in 315/14 B.C. to
gain influence among Greeks.)88 As one of the largest and most important poleis in Asia, Ephesos must have been included among the poleis covered by the
treaty. It is highly likely, therefore, that these were the “happy events” in honor
of which the Ephesians and the residents were directed to wear garlands in the
decree for Apollonides and for which good tidings the Essenes, the priestess,
and the oikonomos were probably directed to sacrifice to Artemis and pray.89
To whom in Ephesos would the news of the “freedom” of the Hellenic poleis have been welcome? In the decree for Apollonides it is the demos itself that
figures most prominently both in the flattery of the king and in the honors
voted to Apollonides. Beyond the demos, the other civic institutions or priesthoods mentioned are the Boule, perhaps referred to in the preamble and defi-
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nitely in line 18; the Essenes in line 6; the priestess in line 6; the oikonomos in
lines 7 and 15; and the neopoiai in line 20, where they are directed to inscribe the
grants made to Apollonides in the sanctuary of Artemis.90 What, if anything, do
we know about these institutions or officials at the time?
The organization and political character of the Ephesian Boule at this time
are unknown. Later on, it was a co- opting body of at least 450 members who
met a minimum census requirement, could afford a substantial entry fee, and
served for life.91 Although there seems to have been some local variation, the
general rule was that the minimum age for entry into the Boule was twenty-five
years.92 In Ephesos, at least by the reign of Hadrian, this was preceded by a dokimasia (official examination) of the potential member, as is implied in a letter of
Hadrian to the archontes and Boule, dated to the winter of A.D. 128/29, recommending the admission of a certain ship captain L. Erastus into the Boule and
promising to pay for his admission.93 At 450 members, the Ephesian Boule of
the imperial period was one of the larger councils in Asia Minor.94
The Essenes, the priestess, and the neopoiai were all functionaries of the
Artemision.95 The priestess was obviously one of the most important figures
in the administration of the Artemision, and the Essenes enrolled new citizens
into the tribes and chiliastyes of the polis, as they are found doing here and elsewhere.96 They also managed the money paid by new citizens and carried out
sacrifices to Artemis.97 The Essenes, the priestess of Artemis, and the neopoiai
conspicuously do not appear together in any inscriptions from the time when
Prepelaos controlled the city.
During the same time period as the inscription in honor of Apollonides,
the Boule and the demos directed the oikonomos to give silver for a crown to
Athenodoros, the son of Semon, a victor at the Nemea.98 Later, at least, the oikonomoi were treasurers in charge of sacred monies.99 Based upon this admittedly
somewhat scanty evidence, we can conclude only that there was at least some
support for Demetrios in the assembly, in the Boule, and among at least some
of the most important boards of priests or functionaries of the temple administration.
Such a conclusion may not seem to take us very far in our understanding of who supported Demetrios and opposed Lysimachos in 302 B.C. (and,
more importantly, of the significance of these facts for our understanding of
the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis). But it is worth pointing out that,
a few months before the publication of this decree in 302, when the garrison
of Prepelaos was still stationed on the acropolis of the polis, in the decree for
Euphronius, Lysimachos certainly was not cited as the cause of many and great
goods concerning the Hellenes and the polis of Ephesos. Nor did that decree
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disclose even a hint about a policy of freedom for Greek poleis in Greece, Asia,
or anywhere else. Nor was there any sign of real cooperation, let alone friendship, between the old priesthoods of the sanctuary (Essenes and the priestess of
Artemis) and Lysimachos.
In reality of course, as several scholars have pointed out, Antigonus and
Demetrios Poliorketes often defined the freedom of the Greek poleis in ways
that turned out to suit their own self-interests.100 “Freedom” did not preclude
the imposition of various financial obligations, garrisoning, and intervention in
the cities’ internal affairs.101 Yet, as the Apollonides decree clearly shows, through
their supporters in poleis such as Ephesos, Antigonus and Demetrios publicly
projected their own war propaganda. Such public propaganda was a characteristic development of the tensions within poleis during the post-Alexandrian
period over the all-important question of what attitude to adopt toward competing Macedonian successors.102
This was the situation within the polis of Ephesos until Antigonus, whose
son Demetrios had taken the city back from the forces of Prepelaos in 302 B.C.,
was killed at the battle of Ipsus (in Phrygia in west central Anatolia) in the summer of 301.103 Thereupon, “the victorious kings proceeded to carve up the realm
which Antigonus and Demetrios had ruled like the carcass of some great slaughtered beast.”104
As his share of the carcass, Lysimachos received the whole of Asia Minor
north and west of the Taurus Mountains; therefore, the settlement after Ipsus
in theory gave Lysimachos control of Ephesos again. On the ground, however,
the situation was very different. Many of the poleis on the coast of Asia Minor,
including Ephesos, remained in the hands of Demetrios or his officers for many
years.105 Above all, Demetrios, who survived the battle of Ipsus, retained a huge
fleet. Retaking and holding on to Ephesos proved to be a very difficult task for
Lysimachos.
After Ipsus it was in fact to Ephesos that Demetrios apparently fled. According to Plutarch, it was from the harbor of Ephesos that he then sailed
speedily to Greece, fearing that his soldiers would help themselves to the riches
of the sanctuary.106 His chief remaining hopes lay with Athens.107 Polyaenus,
however, tells a somewhat more complicated story.
After leaving Ephesos, Demetrios sailed first, not to Greece, but to Caria,
entrusting Ephesos to Diodorus, the garrison commander.108 After Diodorus
agreed to betray the polis to Lysimachos, Demetrios sailed back from Caria to
the harbor of Ephesos along with Nicanor. Nicanor summoned Diodorus as if
to discuss with him how he could safely order the soldiers to depart. When Diodorus boarded a small oared vessel and came near to Nicanor’s ship, Demetrios
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jumped up from the hold of the ship and sank the light vessel. Demetrios captured those who swam away and continued to hold Ephesos.109
Whether we believe Polyaenus’s story or not (and there is no good reason
not to credit it), epigraphical evidence shows that Demetrios (or his supporters) did hold onto the polis of Ephesos for several years at least. A citizenship
decree from the first few years of the third century B.C. acknowledges Demetrios’s general Archestratos in Klazomenai for his faithfulness to the interests
of the king and for saving the grain ships sailing to the polis (of Ephesos).110 For
his virtue and goodwill to the king and to the demos of the Ephesians, the Boule
and demos praised Archestratos, crowned him with a crown of gold, and proclaimed it at the Dionysia in the Theater. The agonothete (director of the games)
was directed to take charge of the proclamation of the crown.111 In addition,
Archestratos was given citizenship, the privilege of occupying a front seat at the
games, and exemption from duty on all articles that he imported or exported,
probably during both war and peace, and over land and sea.112 The neopoiai were
directed to inscribe the decree on the sanctuary of Artemis where the rest of the
grants of citizenship were inscribed.113
This inscription helps us to sharpen our understanding of the situation
within Ephesos after the publication of the decree for Apollonides. After the
public display of that decree, but before 294 B.C. (for reasons I will clarify
shortly), the Archestratos decree shows that the Boule and the demos of Ephesos still were rewarding individuals who were looking out for the interests of
Demetrios. The Archestratos decree surely belongs to the period when Demetrios still dominated the polis politically, even if the government was formally
democratic. Perhaps in return for that support of the demos, Demetrios’s general in Klazomenai had ensured that grain ships could reach the polis safely.
Why did Archestratos have to save the grain ships in the first place?
During the later, imperial, period, it was at times of shortage that grain was
imported to Ephesos (usually from Egypt). For example, during Hadrian’s reign,
the emperor, after providing for the needs first of the “ruling polis” (that is,
Rome), gave the Ephesians access to grain from the Egyptians.114 In the case of
the Archestratos decree, it was probably Lysimachos himself who had brought
about the grain shortage that Archestratos helped to relieve, as the king (Lysimachos) tried to claim his civic spoils from the dynasts’ settlement after the
battle of Ipsus. Other than investing the polis of Ephesos itself—an expensive
undertaking—perhaps the most effective way for Lysimachos to bring pressure
to bear upon the Ephesians was to cut the polis off from the cultivation of the
fertile plains of the Kaystros valley, the city’s local grain basket.
To the same historical context of grain shortages probably belongs a citi-
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zenship decree for Agathokles of Rhodes.115 In this decree the Boule and demos
granted citizenship to Agathokles and to his descendants. Agathokles, having
imported fourteen thousand measures of wheat into the polis, found that grain
in the agora was being sold at 6 drachmas for a medimnos (around fifty-five
pounds). Persuaded by the agoranomos (supervisor of the agora) and wishing to
please the demos, Agathokles sold all the grain more cheaply than it was selling
for in the agora.116 This inscription indicates that although Lysimachos may not
have been able to capture the polis of Ephesos, he apparently could create economic problems for its citizens.
The famous “debt law” of the polis, dated to 297 B.C., may well be connected
to assaults by Lysimachos upon Ephesian estates during “the common war” between Demetrios and Lysimachos.117 For in that law it was specifically stipulated
that all who had borrowed money upon mortgage of landed property after the
prytanis of Demagoras and the month of Posideon were entitled to plead “the
common war” like the rest. But the valuation of the property was related to
the times at which the loans were contracted and the transaction completed, in
order that, if any had made agreements when the “property had been laid waste
and the homesteads destroyed,” the valuations of them would represent the condition of the property at the time when the agreements were made.118
Surely this long and complicated inscription indicates that although
Archestratos, Demetrios’s general at Klazomenai, may have been able to help
relieve a shortage of grain in the city by sea, perhaps earlier in the conflict Lysimachos had inflicted considerable property damage upon the estates of the citizens of the polis during the common war and had caused major legal problems
between creditors and debtors in the city. It is unlikely that the owners of the
damaged estates would have easily or quickly forgiven Lysimachos for these assaults upon their property, not to mention their property losses if they were
forced to sell their lands to settle their debts to creditors.119
But the damage Lysimachos inflicted upon the polis during the war apparently was not limited to real estate. Another fragmentary citizenship decree from the period of Demetrios’s control of the polis (from around late 302
until 294 B.C.), for a man from Magnesia, makes clear that the warfare had its
human costs as well.120 In this decree the Boule and demos gave citizenship to
Thras[——] of Magnesia because, when the war befell the polis and “the lives
of freemen as well as slaves were being sacrificed,” he ransomed citizens who had
been captured and sent them back to their relations.121 Once again, the record of
the grant was originally ordered by the Boule and demos to be inscribed by the
neopoiai upon the sanctuary of Artemis.122
This text implies that the polis was not just a passive ally of Demetrios Po-
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liorketes. Citizens of Ephesos actually took active roles in the struggle against
Lysimachos, a struggle that exacted a toll within the citizen body of the polis
and perhaps among the slaves as well.123 Whatever the casualty figures, however,
as long as Demetrios’s fleet could sail into the harbor of Ephesos, Lysimachos
was unable to reestablish control of the polis.
Therefore, Lysimachos looked around for help against Demetrios’s navy.
Ptolemy, who was threatened both by Seleucus in Coele-Syria and by Demetrios
on Cyprus and in the Phoenician cities, offered an alliance that would bring
Lysimachos the naval forces he needed to root Demetrios and his friends out of
the Greek cities on the coast of Asia Minor. Lysimachos cemented the alliance
by marrying Arsinoê II, Ptolemy’s eldest daughter by Berenike I.124 In response,
Seleucus made a pact with Demetrios.
A decree of the Boule and demos of Ephesos, proposed by Philainetos, commended and granted citizenship to Nikagoras of Rhodes, who had appeared before the demos and addressed them about the “friendship” (oikeiotetos) that had
been established and about the “goodwill” (eunoias) that they (Demetrios and
Seleucus) bore toward the Hellenes. The alliance (philian) that formerly had
existed between him (Demetrios) and the polis was also renewed.125 The decree
was directed to be inscribed by the neopoiai onto the sanctuary of Artemis.126
With its emphasis upon friendship between Demetrios and Seleucus, goodwill
toward the Hellenes, and alliance with Ephesos, this decree obviously reflects
the propaganda of the new allies, as well as the viewpoint of Demetrios’s supporters in Ephesos.
Although the alliance between Seleucus and Demetrios broke down soon
after 297 B.C., Demetrios was still in control of the poleis on the western coast
of Asia Minor, including Ephesos, into the winter of 296/95, when he left for
Athens to pursue his ambitions in mainland Greece. An inscription dated to 295
at the latest reveals that at this time or earlier, Ainetos, the general of Demetrios
who was guarding the garrison in Ephesos, cooperated with the Boule and the
demos when they promised arms and assistance to a group of exiles from the
nearby polis of Priene who were acting as the garrison of a border stronghold at
Charax against Hiero, the tyrant of Priene.127 Since no money was available, the
expense was met by selling the rights of citizenship in Ephesos to qualified applicants. The price of citizenship was 6 minai (or 600 drachmas). This inscription
shows a close, working relationship between Ainetos and the demos of Ephesos,
even after Demetrios had left the polis.128
To understand how the creation of a particular epigraphical image of Lysimachos in the polis of Ephesos from 302 to 294 B.C. prepared the ground for
the subsequent literary presentation of the foundation of Arsinoeia and the
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rearrangement of the mysteries of Artemis as the act of an opportunistic and
ruthless tyrant, it is now useful to review and compare briefly the inscriptions
produced in Ephesos in 302, when Prepelaos’s garrison was established in the
polis, with the inscriptions from late 302 until 294, when Demetrios or his officers had established a garrison there.
The Boule and demos of Ephesos voted a decree of citizenship for Euphronius of Acarnania during the period in 302 when Prepelaos’s garrison still occupied the polis. The Gerousia, the epikletoi, the neopoiai, and the Kouretes all
were involved in the embassy that brought the sanctuary and the goddess her
precious exemptions. The process entailed the cooperation of two boards attached to the sanctuary and two institutions of the polis. The citizenship decree
for Euphronius, however, did not mention Lysimachos or any of his policies.
Euphronius, not Prepelaos or Lysimachos, was praised for the goodwill he had
concerning the sanctuary and the polis.
The Boule and the demos of Ephesos voted citizenship decrees for Apollonides, Archestratos, Agathokles, and Nikagoras, perhaps literally under the
shadow of the garrison established by Demetrios after he took the polis in late
302, but within a formally free and democratic polis. The Essenes, the priestess
of Artemis, the neopoiai, an oikonomos, an agonothete, and an agoranomos
either were involved in some of the actions for which these individuals received
Ephesian citizenship or took part in the legal processes by which the Boule and
demos awarded, or recorded the awarding of, citizenship for these individuals.
During the period from 302 until 294 some of the most important priesthoods or institutions of the sanctuary and the polis of Ephesos cooperated with,
or were implicated in, the rule of Demetrios Poliorketes.129 The mutual cooperation or implication of these institutions in Demetrios’s rule is neatly symbolized
by the grants of citizenship themselves, which, while voted by the Boule and
demos, were always inscribed upon the sanctuary. These boards or priests of the
sanctuary and the institutions of the polis ultimately may have cooperated with
Demetrios simply because his soldiers were stationed on the acropolis during
this time. However, especially if the decree praising the garrison commander
Ainetos for cooperating with the Boule and demos when they promised arms
and assistance to the exiles from Priene was not voted as part of a campaign
against an ally of Lysimachos, there may be some epigraphical evidence of commonality of military and political interest between Demetrios and the Ephesian
assembly as well. Either way, the incising of the citizenship decrees onto the
physical surfaces of buildings within the sanctuary made the sanctuary itself
into a medium of Demetrios’s propaganda.130
But whether the Ainetos inscription reveals some shared military or po-
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litical interest between Demetrios and the Ephesian assembly or not, the citizenship decrees from the period of Demetrios’s rule undoubtedly manifest a
consistent rhetorical content certainly not found in the Euphronius decree. In
the decrees both for Apollonides and for Nikagoras of Rhodes, the demos and
Boule referred to the goodwill of Demetrios concerning the Hellenes, including
the polis of the Ephesians. Moreover, as we have seen, in the decree for Apollonides, Demetrios may have been cited as the cause of many and great goods
concerning both the Hellenes and the polis of Ephesos. The primary “good” to
which the decree probably referred was Demetrios’s declaration of the freedom
of the Hellenic poleis. In effect, that declaration of freedom was an endorsement of the “democratic” party in Ephesos.
By contrast, none of the surviving inscriptions from the period when Prepelaos controlled the polis referred to Lysimachos or any of his officers as well disposed toward the Hellenes or to the polis of Ephesos. On the contrary, although
he is nowhere named explicitly, in all of the inscriptions related to the common
war, Lysimachos looms silently offstage as the accused defendant: Lysimachos
ultimately would decide whether the goddess would be exempt from the billeting of troops in her sanctuary and would receive an exemption from duty;
Lysimachos probably caused the grain shortage in the polis that Archestratos’s
grain ships relieved; Lysimachos drove up the price of grain in the agora that
Agathokles reduced; Lysimachos probably had laid waste to the property and
destroyed the homesteads mentioned in the debt law; Lysimachos caused the
deaths of freemen and slaves; and it was to Lysimachos that a ransom for captured citizens must have been paid.
In the inscriptions of the polis, Demetrios’s allies, the democratic faction
in the polis, projected an image of the Great Besieger as well disposed to the
Hellenic poleis, including Ephesos. Demetrios had freed the Hellenic poleis.
Lysimachos, on the other hand, had driven Ephesos to the brink of hunger, had
destroyed the homes and property of its citizens, and had been responsible for
the deaths of slaves and citizens. In sum, Demetrios’s supporters in Ephesos created epigraphically a “collective memory” of a war, from a highly partisan point
of view, that, by Strabo’s time, became a “cultural memory.”131
TH E R ETUR N OF LYS I MACHO S
How and precisely when Lysimachos or his general Lycus eventually captured
the polis of Ephesos is unclear. According to Polyaenus, Demetrios’s general
Ainetos had been using many pirates to ravage his neighbors. Lysimachos’s general Lycus bribed the pirate chief Andron, who brought Lycus’s soldiers in un-
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armed, in cloaks and worn garments and bound, as if he had captured them.
When they came near the acropolis, he commanded them to use the daggers
that they had hidden under their arms. After the guards of the acropolis gates
were killed, a signal was raised to Lycus’s men. They attacked, arrested Ainetos,
and captured Ephesos.132
In the version of the story told by Frontinus, it was Lysimachos himself who
was besieging the Ephesians. The Ephesians were assisted by a pirate chief named
Mandro, who used to bring ships laden with booty into Ephesos. Lysimachos
bribed Mandro to turn traitor and joined to him the bravest of Macedonians,
who were taken into Ephesos as captives with their hands tied. After these men
took arms from the citadel, they delivered the city to Lysimachos.133
Whether we accept Polyaenus’s or Frontinus’s account of the capture of
Ephesos, Plutarch informs us that news was brought to Demetrios while he was
campaigning in Laconia that Lysimachos had seized the poleis in Asia that belonged to him.134 Most scholars have assumed that Ephesos was among those
captured.135 Lund has argued persuasively that Lysimachos had succeeded in
realizing the kingdom officially assigned to him after Ipsus by the summer of
294 B.C.136
Unfortunately, however, explicit evidence for exactly when Ephesos came
under Lysimachos’s control is lacking. We know only that in the Milesian copy
of a decree of the koinon (league) of the “thirteen poleis of the Ionians” in honor
of Hippostratos, “the philos [friend or ally] of King Lysimachos,” for his services
as strategos (general) of the Ionians from 289/88 B.C., the new polis founded by
Lysimachos after his recapture of Ephesos is named Arsinoeia; this decree signifies that the formal, religious foundation of the polis, which may have involved
some kind of consecration of the site, had been completed before this inscription was put up.137 A very fragmentary inscription, dated to the Lysimachean
period, found in the harbor area confirms that the new foundation was known
as the polis of the Arsinoites.138 Coinage of Arsinoeia was minted for at least
eight or nine years.139
Lysimachos’s recapture of Ephesos, probably in 294 B.C., led to dramatic
changes for the polis. These changes, which will be discussed in detail in the next
chapter, included the construction of the city wall of Arsinoeia; the removal of
the inhabitants of the old polis of Ephesos to the site of the new polis of Arsinoeia; perhaps a reform of the government of the polis; and more certainly, a
rearrangement of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. To understand
these changes and their significance, it is important to keep in mind the friendly
relations Demetrios had enjoyed with important institutions of the polis and
the sanctuary.
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Above all, we need to appreciate that after 302 B.C. the Boule and the
demos of Ephesos and some of the key priesthoods and/or functionaries of
the sanctuary honored the friends and supporters of Demetrios in the city because Demetrios was supposedly the cause of many and great goods concerning
the Hellenes and the polis, and probably because Demetrios had supported the
“freedom” of the Greek poleis. Demetrios was advertised epigraphically as the
champion of the freedom of the Greeks by his democratic supporters within
the city. In effect, Demetrios’s friends in Ephesos very successfully projected a
“monumental historiography” of the common war that Demetrios ultimately
lost.140 Lysimachos’s rearrangement of the mysteries of Artemis, which formed
an integral part of his foundation of Arsinoeia in 294, must be seen against this
background of the Ephesians’ support for Demetrios and his democratic policies in the years from 302 to 294 and Lysimachos’s ultimate triumph over Demetrios’s supporters in the city. Artemis’s rearranged mysteries and sacrifices were
born during and out of the unstable early years of the Macedonian Centuries.
CHAPTER 3
Mysteries and Sacrifices
LYSIMACHOS HAD RECAPTURED EPHESOS by 294 B.C. at the latest. His
foundation of the new polis of Arsinoeia and his rearrangement of the celebration of the mysteries and sacrifices need to be understood against the complicated background of both his own struggles against Demetrios and the Ephesians’ support for Demetrios from 302 to 294.
From the decree of the Ephesian Gerousia, dated to the reign of the Roman
emperor Commodus (A.D. 180 to 192), we know that mysteries and sacrifices
were conducted in Ephesos before the foundation of Arsinoeia. The same decree
then provides our first substantial information about the actual celebration of
the mysteries of Artemis just after the foundation of the new polis between 294
and 289.
Another fragmentary inscription provides important evidence about the
institutional location and function of the Kouretes, probably during the third
century B.C. This evidence makes clear that, although the Kouretes were involved in the legislative processes and perhaps even the foreign relations of the
sanctuary and the polis in 302, they also played a significant role in the administration of the Artemision, its buildings, and the economy of sacrifice centered
at the sanctuary during the third century B.C.
Thus, mysteries and sacrifices were celebrated in Ortygia before, during,
and after Lysimachos’s foundation of Arsinoeia. But how they were celebrated,
and by whose authority, changed substantially after 294 as a direct result of Lysimachos’s actions. Very much against the wishes of the Ephesians, Lysimachos
began the liberation of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries from the sole authority of the priests and priestesses of the Artemision. It was also Lysimachos,
later remembered vividly, if wrongly, as the tyrannical figure who literally
flooded the Ephesians out of their ancient homes around the Artemision, who
made the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries into a cult of salvation managed
largely by the polis.1
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T H E F O U N D AT I O N O F A R S I N O E I A
After capturing Ephesos in 294 B.C. Lysimachos forced the Ephesians who had
lived around the sanctuary until the time of Alexander to move to the location
of his new polis, “directly near the sea,” as Pausanias later informs us.2 What
Pausanias meant by this phrase was the area along the currently unexcavated
plain west of the lower, Tetragonos Agora, between the shoreline and Bülbüldag (Map 3).3 In fact, in the Geography Strabo informs us that the move to the
new polis involved a sequence of six events or reactions to them: (1) Lysimachos
built a wall around the present polis; (2) but the people were not disposed to
change their homes to it; (3) he therefore waited for a downpour of rain; (4) he
then took advantage of the deluge and blocked up the sewers so as to inundate
the polis; (5) the inhabitants then were glad to make the change of location;
(6) finally he named the polis Arsinoeia after his Ptolemaic wife.4
Strabo’s description of Lysimachos waiting for a downpour and then blocking the sewers of the old polis to flood the Ephesians out of their homes undoubtedly contributed to Lysimachos’s reputation in antiquity for opportunism and ruthlessness. In Strabo’s Geography Lysimachos is presented, however
briefly, as a tyrant with a kind of grim sense of humor. He built the wall of the
new polis and then looked around for a way to get the Ephesians to move there.
Above all, it is central to Strabo’s account of the Ephesians’ move to the site
of Arsinoeia that Lysimachos blocked the sewers in order to inundate the old,
classical-era polis of Ephesos (which was clustered around the Artemision). This
manmade disaster at last forced the recalcitrant Ephesians to leave their homes
around the sanctuary.
Distracted by the image of the poor Ephesians forced to flee from their
flooded homes, modern interpreters of this passage usually have failed to note
that, even if we accept Strabo’s account of the sequence of events, the first act in
the sequence, the building of the city wall of the “present” polis, implies a prior
decision to found a new polis or at least to extend the walled territory of the old
polis before the rainfall. Moreover, in this brief passage Strabo never explains
Lysimachos’s decision to build a new wall in the first place. Surely, however, it is
important to assess the reasons why Lysimachos decided to build the new wall
and then to move the citizens of Ephesos to his newly walled polis.
A quick glance backward at the political and military situation in 294 B.C.,
after Lysimachos had retaken old Ephesos, helps to explain why he wanted the
Ephesians, who had lived immediately south of the sanctuary, and also on the
west slope of Ayasoluk Hill since the time of Croesus’s conquest of the city, to
move to the site of his new polis.5 At the same time, a frequently overlooked
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63
piece of contemporary literary evidence perhaps suggests that, whatever Lysimachos’s plans were, he was not immediately responsible for forcing the Ephesians out of their ancestral homes.
As we already have seen, by 294 B.C. Lysimachos had fought for at least
eight years to recapture Ephesos from Demetrios Poliorketes and his officers.
One of the primary reasons why he was not able to take the polis earlier was because of Demetrios’s ability to supply the classical polis from the sea, since the
polis was situated around the sanctuary and its harbor, known later to Athenaeus (who cites Kreophilos) as the hieros limen (sacred port/harbor).6 In the
end, as we have seen, Lysimachos was able to capture the polis only with the help
of Ptolemy and his navy.
But Lysimachos’s capture of Ephesos in 294 did not put an end to Demetrios’s ambitions along the coast of western Asia Minor. On the contrary, by the
winter of 289/88, Demetrios was building a massive fleet and had issued a new
coinage to pay for the fleet and soldiers to take part in his great campaign to recover the empire of Antigonus in Asia.7
At the time when the physical foundation of Arsinoeia probably was complete or nearly so, as we know from the appearance of the name of the new polis
of Arsinoeia in the Milesian decree for Hippostratos already cited, Lysimachos
thus had to face the prospect of fighting Demetrios yet again for possession of
the largest and most important polis on the coast of western Asia Minor (not to
mention other poleis such as Priene, whose territory was ravaged by Demetrios’s
soldiers during the invasion in 287/86, before Lysimachos could send help to his
allies).8
Because of Ephesos’s strategic importance, Lysimachos already had fought
for the better part of the previous decade to recover the polis. From his own experience he undoubtedly knew that the polis clustered around the Artemision
was vulnerable to assaults by sea. In fact, the classical polis could not be taken
and held without control of the sea. Having captured Ephesos at last, Lysimachos unquestionably would have wanted to make sure that his prize was not
as vulnerable to attacks from the sea.
The land of Croesus’s polis south and east of the sanctuary also sat then,
as now, on low ground.9 From a tactical point of view the low ground of the
area around the sanctuary also was not easy to defend. But the area around the
Artemision also suffered from another significant disadvantage, one perhaps
not fully appreciated by Strabo, who visited Ephesos long after its civic center
effectively had been moved up to Lysimachos’s new site of Arsinoeia (despite
all the complaints and Lysimachos’s bad epigraphical press). That disadvantage
must have contributed to Lysimachos’s thinking about the overall topographi-
MUESIS—INITIATION
64
cal situation of the old polis of Ephesos. Indeed, one nearly contemporary observer furnishes detailed evidence about that disadvantage. His evidence also
suggests how Strabo’s account of the foundation of Arsinoeia is seriously misleading, with respect to both Lysimachos’s actions and the events leading up to
the Ephesians’ departure from their homes.
Stephanos of Byzantium, in his entry on Ephesos in the Ethnika, quotes an
epigram of Duris of Elaia (who was born around 350 B.C. and lived late into the
second decade of the third century) about a deluge that apparently had struck
the polis:
Clouds of heaven, whence drunk you bitter waters
and with unbroken night deluged all?
This is not Libya, but the countless dwellings and the
wealth of prosperous years of unhappy Ephesos.
Whither then did the saving deities turn their eyes?
Alas for the most sung of the Ionian cities.
All, like the rolling waves, have been swept
into the sea by the rivers.10
In the epigram then, it was the bitter waters (hudata pikra) of clouds (in line 1),
along with the unbroken night, that deluged all (kateklusate) (line 2), sweeping
all into the sea by the rivers (eis hala sun potamois edrame peptamenois) (line 8).
Duris does not explicitly associate the deluge and the flooding of the rivers
with Lysimachos’s foundation of Arsinoeia. In the epigram, however, it certainly was unhappy Ephesos, the most sung of Ionian cities, not Arsinoeia, that
was flooded into the sea. For that reason, the natural disaster Duris describes
should be dated to the period before the foundation of Arsinoeia. It is therefore
tempting to associate Duris’s poetic tale of a deluge with the story Strabo relates
about a downpour and the move of the Ephesians to the site of the new polis.11
If Duris’s poem about a deluge and the consequent floods lies behind
Strabo’s account of the downpour and the foundation of Arsinoeia, then Strabo
(and/or his source) quite possibly has confused the actual order of events leading up to the move of the Ephesians to the new polis (or he reproduced the
anti-Lysimachean propaganda related to him by his Ephesian informants). He
also perhaps has obscured one of the most important reasons why Lysimachos
wanted the Ephesians to move from the area around the sanctuary.
Dieter Knibbe’s excavations of the Via Sacra of the polis and of part of
the stoa of the second-century A.D. magnate Damianus, between the temple
of Artemis and the east foot of Panayirdag, circumstantially support this reconstruction of how and why the Ephesians moved from the area around the
Mysteries and Sacrifices
65
sanctuary to the new site of Arsinoeia.12 Knibbe’s explorations have shown that
the pre-Lysimachean polis of Ephesos south of the Artemision was located on
top of the floodplain of the Marnas (Degirmen) and Selinous/Selenus (Abuhayat) rivers; at times, these two rivers flooded the entire plain.13 Knibbe’s excavations give further weight to the suggestion that it was primarily the flooding, especially of the Marnas, that led to the relocation of the inhabitants of
the old polis.14 In any case, over a long period of time, repeated flooding of the
rivers eventually would have silted up the classical polis’s harbor of Koressos
at the north foot of Panayirdag.15 According to the latest hydrological studies,
alluvium from the Selinous as well as silts from the Kaystros had been affecting the site of the Artemision and its associated harbor from the seventh century B.C.16 As a matter of fact we now know that the Selinous actually touched
the Artemision and that a dam had to be built to try to prevent fluvial sediments
from destroying the sanctuary.17 By the mid-fourth century B.C., when it was
not flooded, the area directly south and east of the Artemision must have been
wet in winter, swampy during the spring, and generally pestilential during the
summer.18
Lysimachos, then, probably did not build a wall for the new polis, wait for a
downpour, block the sewers to flood the Ephesians out of their homes, and then
force them to move to the new site between Bülbüldag and Panayirdag. Rather,
considering military, political, topographical, and climatic circumstances after
his capture of Ephesos by 294 B.C., he decided to found a new polis on the lower
slopes of Bülbüldag and Panayirdag and the valleys between them (Map 3).19
The rising heights of Bülbüldag (up to 1,175 feet [358 meters]) and Panayirdag
(approximately 509 feet [155 meters] on its southern side) were both higher
and drier than the low ground surrounding the Artemision.20 Moreover, at the
north foot of Bülbüldag (and west of Panayirdag), there was a (potential) deepwater harbor that could be developed by Lysimachos and the inhabitants of
Arsinoeia, and certainly was during the Roman imperial period.21
Building a defensive wall for the new polis may have been Lysimachos’s first
priority; a recent survey of the historical development of the Greek polis has
concluded that the building of such walls was a decisive moment in the foundation of most Greek poleis because defense was always of paramount importance
in the planning and construction of Greek poleis.22 Perhaps while construction
of the wall was in progress, there was a torrential rainstorm and the Marnas
and Selinous rivers flooded. Although Lysimachos and the Ephesians both must
have known about the susceptibility of the area around the sanctuary to flooding, they could not have anticipated such a deluge.
The image of Lysimachos blocking the drains of Ephesos to force the Ephe-
66
MUESIS—INITIATION
The twin peaks of Panayirdag and the valleys between Panayirdag and Bülbüldag,
where Lysimachos founded the new city of Arsinoeia.
sians out of their homes is probably the literary distillation of propaganda generated by Demetrios Poliorketes’s friends in Ephesos after Lysimachos’s return
in 294 B.C. (or his death thirteen years later).23 The image was and is calculated to suggest Lysimachos’s opportunism and ruthlessness, some of the classic attributes of an old-fashioned Greek tyrant, but has little value as evidence
about his plans or motives. Lysimachos could not have anticipated a drenching
of the magnitude of the one described by Duris. Nor was it necessary for Lysimachos to stop up the sewers of the old polis to force the Ephesians to leave
their classical-era homes. If Duris’s account refers to the situation after 294, the
flooding of the river(s) simply washed everything into the sea. The survivors
then had no choice but to move.
Based upon Duris’s epigram and Knibbe’s excavations, we might suggest
that Lysimachos planned the move to the new site first of all with the recent history of his conflict with Demetrios in mind. Nevertheless, once the struggle was
over for the time being, as he considered his own interests and those of the city
to be named after his wife, Lysimachos also must have recognized the physical
advantages that the higher valley(s) between Bülbüldag and Panayirdag offered
over the floodplain of the Marnas. It was based on these considerations that
Lysimachos decided to build his new wall and found the new polis.24
Mysteries and Sacrifices
67
In the long run, Lysimachos, like his dynastic rivals, may well have hoped
to use his new city as a source of tax revenues and manpower.25 But he was not
immediately responsible for moving the Ephesians to the higher ground of the
new polis. Credit for the immediate impetus belonged to the river god Marnas.
It may have seemed to the Ephesians that the saving deities had turned their eyes
away when Marnas flooded them out of their homes around the sanctuary. But,
as time would show, those deities saw where salvation and prosperity lay better
than the Ephesians themselves.
T H E C I T Y WA L L O F A R S I N O E I A
After we have established how and why Lysimachos decided to remove the
Ephesians from their dwellings around the Artemision to his new polis of Arsinoeia, the chronological context for the construction of the new city wall also
falls at least roughly into place. Although the classical polis of Ephesos certainly
was enclosed by some kind of wall at the time when Demetrios captured it from
Prepelaos late in 302 B.C., the building of the wall for the new polis could not
have been completed during the few months in 302 when Prepelaos briefly was
resident in Ephesos.26 Neither Prepelaos’s troops nor the Ephesians could have
finished during those few months a circuit of walls that eventually extended
over five and one-half miles and comprised more than seven million cubic feet
of stone.27
Of course, it is possible that Prepelaos began work on a new wall in 302.
But he never could have completed in a few months the city walls that eventually extended over the heights of Bülbüldag and Panayirdag (Maps 2 and 3).
The most recent surveys of those walls on Panayirdag have revealed two rows of
cuttings into the bedrock and single blocks of ashlar for the lowest row of the
9.5-foot-wide emplekton-style (ashlar filled with rubble) walls.28 On the southern part of Panayirdag these walls were constructed along a nearly straight eastwest line. Foundations of towers, measuring around 107 square feet, have been
found at spots along the circuit at strategic points or where the terrain changes.
A fortress was also built upon the peak of the northern part of Panayirdag, and
some kind of fortified garrison, which was attached to the city wall, was constructed on the eastern slope of the hill.29 The remains of the walls on the two
mountains match precisely with respect to both the course of the walls and the
building techniques used, thus indicating that the walls were built according to
a unified plan.30
A citizenship decree for a certain Athenis of Kyzikos alludes to at least some
of the work upon the Lysimachean wall.31 In this decree, originally displayed
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MUESIS—INITIATION
somewhere within the temenos (sacred space) of the Artemision, the Boule and
demos commended Athenis of Kyzikos and gave citizenship to him and to his
descendants because he was well disposed and continually useful both to the
demos as a whole and to citizens he met individually. He also was useful to the
polis at that time “about the building of the walls.”32
Another inscription, dated from around 290 B.C. and built into the south
wall of so-called Paul’s prison, which in reality was the western watchtower of
the circuit on Bülbüldag, details restrictions on the use of land adjacent to the
wall.33 This inscription records exemption from lease of certain areas contiguous to the wall, including a strip by the sea, freeways inside and outside the walls
and in front of the towers, the whole hill on which the so-called prison stood,
freeways of similar dimension from Astyagou Pagos (the hill of Astyages) to
the Hermaion, and the heights of Koressos (probably the ancient name of the
northern part of Panayirdag).34
It is uncertain when the walls referred to in these inscriptions were finally
completed. If we are compelled to date the completion of the city wall by the
appearance of the first inscription in which the name of the new polis Arsinoeia
appears, then the wall will have been finished by 289/88 B.C., the date of the
Milesian decree for Hippostratos already discussed. In that case, the wall would
have taken five or six years to finish. If, however, the decree refers only to the
time when the consecration of the new site of the polis had been conducted, it is
possible that the enormous construction project went on for much longer, very
possibly until the end of the 280s.35
However long it took to build the walls, specialists on fortifications during
the period have deemed the walls of Lysimachos’s new city to be the mightiest of
all contemporary fortification walls, strong to the point of brutality.36 The city
wall of Pergamon built by Philetairos, the fortress commander/ruler at almost
the exact same time that Lysimachos was building Arsinoeia’s walls, also was
constructed of ashlar masonry, but with almost no towers.37 The obvious conclusion is that the massive defensive wall system of Arsinoeia with the towers
that are visible to this day was not completed, or perhaps even begun, until after
294 B.C., when Lysimachos recaptured the polis of Ephesos.
In any case, when the walls of the new polis were completed, they enclosed
an area of about 988 acres. For comparative purposes we might cite the case of
Priene, another polis built on a grid plan on the slopes of a hill (because of the
silting up of the Maeander River), the walls of which enclosed an area of around
91 acres.38
The circuit of such walls usually enclosed areas greater than was first required for the original buildings and settlement of a polis, to ensure room for
Mysteries and Sacrifices
69
Part of the circuit wall of Lysimachos on Bülbüldag, which certainly was not
completed by 294 B.C.
subsequent expansion. It was also typical for city walls of this era to follow the
natural contours of the terrain and to include the high points of nearby hills to
give the citizens of the polis the advantage of holding the high ground in case of
attack.39 To this day the city walls of Arsinoeia can be seen to include the heights
of Panayirdag and Bülbüldag (Map 2), and they obviously enclosed spaces that
were not utilized for public purposes at the time of the new foundation (to
judge by the absence of archaeological remains on the slopes of Bülbüldag, for
instance).
It was presumably within this area of the new polis that the Ephesians who
had been flooded out of their homes around the sanctuary lived, along with
settlers from Lebedos and Kolophon, whose poleis, we are told, Lysimachos
had destroyed.40 The new polis of Arsinoeia thus represented a classic example
of synoikismos, the physical joining of what had been separate settlements.41
Within the walls of the new polis the area near the new harbor was laid out
on a grid plan (which we associate with the fifth-century B.C. Milesian town
planner Hippodamus, though such urban grids predated the fifth century by
decades, if not hundreds of years), and construction of the lower agora (on land
that once had been underwater and then gradually was reclaimed from the sea)
also was begun (Map 3). Most recently, scholars have identified a course of terra-
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MUESIS—INITIATION
cotta pipes dated to the first half of the third century B.C. that was used to bring
water into the city laid out by Lysimachos.42
The commercial function of the lower agora has been confirmed by the archaeologists’ discovery and reconstruction of what apparently is either a magazine or warehouse on the agora’s southwest corner that has been dated to the
early third century B.C.43 There is no doubt, therefore, that the construction of
the lower agora was part of the Lysimachean city plan of Arsinoeia, as we probably would expect anyway, given the paramount importance of marketplaces
in Greek city life.44 A recent analysis of the excavated streets and buildings that
were part of the original, Lysimachean plan of this agora has suggested that it
was laid out on a rectangular grid plan of two blocks, each of which originally
measured 160 by 224 feet.45
Although not yet confirmed by archaeological excavation, there also can
be no doubt that Lysimachos’s plan included at least an upgrade, if not an expansion, of the street known later as the Plateia (Broadway) that ran along
the northern edge of the agora, connecting it (eventually) to the Theater, and
farther west, to the exit from the polis, through the Koressian Gate, and on to
the Artemision, about 1.24 miles away to the northeast (Map 3). During the
early Roman empire the Plateia became the main section of the street artery that
ultimately linked the temple, the lower city with its harbor, and the upper city
with its temples and public buildings.46
The geometrical subdivision of the area of the agora and the juxtaposition
of the agora and the harbor indicate that Arsinoeia (like nearby Priene on one
of the foothills of Mount Mycale at roughly the same time) was laid out in accordance with at least some of the principles of Hippodamian urban planning
and/or its fourth-century refinements, such as design based upon mathematical
or theoretical principles; the grouping of buildings and/or areas of the city in
a clear, functional relationship; and planned monumentality to exploit terrain
for visual effect.47 The subsequent development of the Theater, northeast of the
agora along the Plateia, clearly was designed to take advantage of the views to
the north, west, and south from the slopes of Panayirdag.48
Although more archaeological work needs to be done, the evidence produced thus far suggests that the urban plan of Arsinoeia, like other contemporary foundations, was conceived of as a unified and integrated whole for the sake
of unity and cohesion.49 That plan, however, was not executed out of some abstract love of geometry.50 Rather, the design of the plan, including especially the
massive city walls, assumed an unstable world of interstate warfare and assemblies of citizens and public spectacles, competitions, and commerce conducted
communally in public; that is perhaps the broader cultural meaning of Arsinoeia’s urban design.51 Its spatial organization therefore implied the existence
Mysteries and Sacrifices
71
of soldiers, citizens, and traders interacting with each other in ways shaped by
the spaces created by Lysimachos.52
Can we infer anything about how those spaces and the use of the buildings in them may have functioned to structure and sustain political, social, and
economic hierarchies? In the absence of explicit testimonia, it is difficult to say
how the actions of the newly synoicized people(s) living and working within
the spaces or using the buildings built by Lysimachos or his architects may have
communicated anything about their relative social, political, economic, or gendered positions within Arsinoeia.
What we can say is that, if the synoicism of Arsinoeia within the massive
walls of Lysimachos was the work of a ruthless tyrant, it is important to remember that, as the great A. H. M. Jones pointed out many years ago, it was not
only Lysimachos who acted ruthlessly in this regard. Megalopolis, founded in
368 B.C., was born out of the synoicism of a number of smaller cities in southern Arcadia.53 Closer to Arsinoeia, Antigonus himself also was interested in creating a number of great cities by the amalgamation of smaller ones.54 The foundation of Antigoneia, for instance, represented the synoicism of no fewer than
seven other cities in the Troad.55 Most revealingly of all, Lysimachos’s great rival
for control of Ephesos, the champion of the Ephesian democratic party Demetrios Poliorketes, founded Demetrias in Thessaly by resettling the inhabitants
of Nelia, Pagasae, Ormenion, Rhizous, Sepias, Olizon, Boibe, and Iolkos into
his new city.56 The forcible settling of the populations of Ephesos, Lebedos, and
Kolophon within the walls of Arsinoeia was hardly a unique or unprecedented
event at the time. Lysimachos’s synoicism may have been cruel, but it was not an
unusual event in the world of Alexander’s successors.57
But living within the walls of Arsinoeia after 294 B.C., what kind of politeia (government) did the Arsinoites enjoy? Perhaps because of the brevity of
its consecrated existence as Arsinoeia, it has not been easy for scholars to determine what kind of government or constitution the city possessed formally. The
issue is nevertheless important for the history of Artemis’s mysteries because, as
we shall soon see, it was within the framework of the structure of authority of
Arsinoeia’s new government and its relationship to the Artemision that Lysimachos rearranged the celebration of the mysteries.
THE POLITEIA OF ARSINOEIA
Largely based upon Strabo’s statement that in the polis of Lysimachos the
Gerousia and the epikletoi administered all things, many scholars understandably have concluded that the government of the polis under Lysimachos was
oligarchic in nature.58 Other scholars, however, have argued that the evidence
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MUESIS—INITIATION
for Lysimachos’s support for tyrants and oligarchs in Greek cities has been overstated.59 Influenced by Strabo’s brief gloss, scholars on both sides of this debate
often have ignored the fact that Lysimachos or his officers captured the polis of
Ephesos not once, but at least twice, in 302 and in 294 B.C.60 The question therefore is not simply whether Lysimachos organized an oligarchic government in
Arsinoeia in 294 and after, but also whether he or Prepelaos did so in 302 when
Prepelaos was in Ephesos for a few months. The issue is important because there
is no doubt that the Gerousia played an influential part both in the polis of
Ephesos in 302 and in the new polis of Arsinoeia after 294. And even more importantly for our purposes, after 294 the Gerousia certainly participated in the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis.
According to Diodorus, as we have already noted, after Prepelaos captured
Ephesos in 302, he left the Ephesians “free” (according to some scholars) but
burned all the ships in the harbor since the enemy controlled the sea and the
entire outcome of the war was uncertain.61 What does Diodorus mean by his
statement that Prepelaos left the Ephesians free? If the Ephesians were free, is
Diodorus’s statement contradicted by the evidence of the previously discussed
citizenship decree for Euphronius? In that decree the Gerousia and the epikletoi are revealed to have sent an embassy to Prepelaos in 302 about the billeting
of troops in the sanctuary and the tax-exempt status of the goddess. But does
the appearance in the Euphronius decree of the Gerousia and the epikletoi—
sending out an embassy to Prepelaos, probably appointing the neopoiai and the
Kouretes to investigate the qualifications of Euphronius for citizenship, and
bringing a decree to be voted upon by the Boule and the demos—mean that
Prepelaos had installed an oligarchic government, composed of the Gerousia
and the epikletoi, in Ephesos in 302?
The Euphronius inscription shows first that the Gerousia and the epikletoi existed in Ephesos in 302 B.C. and were playing key roles in the politics
of the sanctuary and the polis eight years before Lysimachos (or Lycus) captured Ephesos and the king founded Arsinoeia.62 But the citizenship decree for
Euphronius does not prove that Prepelaos set up an oligarchic government in
Ephesos in 302. All that the inscription has to mean about the role of the Gerousia and the epikletoi in the polis in 302 is that Prepelaos may have given to the
epikletoi and the Gerousia the responsibility for sending embassies to him after
he had left the polis in 302.63 Giving the Gerousia and the epikletoi such responsibility perhaps implies close, friendly relations, but it does not imply that these
two bodies were the sovereign power in the polis, at least formally.
In support of this proposal it should be recalled that the citizenship decree for Euphronius very clearly reveals that the decree of the Gerousia and the
Mysteries and Sacrifices
73
epikletoi had to be submitted to the Boule and to the demos for ratification.
The demos and the Boule, in other words, were functioning in the polis in a
dual legislative capacity. The Boule considered legislation brought to it by institutions such as the Gerousia and either rejected or passed the legislation. If this
were not the case, what was the point of epigraphically recording the Boule’s
participation in the granting of citizenship? If the decree were passed by the
council, it was then sent on to the demos for a vote. After Prepelaos left Ephesos
in 302, the demos remained the sovereign legislative power, at least with respect
to internal matters such as citizenship.64
Although he installed a garrison in the city, Prepelaos probably did leave
Ephesos free to consider and ratify its own decrees about internal affairs. He
may well have given the responsibility to conduct certain “foreign” relations, related to exemptions of the Artemision, to the epikletoi and the Gerousia.
If this hypothesis about the government of Ephesos in 302 B.C. is correct,
the Gerousia and the epikletoi should be seen essentially as institutions that
were empowered (by Prepelaos or Lysimachos) to mediate relations between
the sanctuary and the polis on the one hand, and possibly between the sanctuary and the polis and Prepelaos himself on the other, during the time when
Prepelaos and his adherents could exert political or even military pressure upon
Ephesos.65 But the Gerousia and the epikletoi did not administer all things in
302, nor were they the sovereign power in principle.
The Euphronius decree may tell us something about Prepelaos’s or Lysimachos’s relations with the Artemision in 302 B.C., but it cannot be used to
show that an oligarchic government ruled Ephesos in that year. Therefore, there
is no contradiction between Diodorus’s statement about the status of the polis
with respect to its internal constitution and the citizenship decree for Euphronius. Even while Prepelaos’s garrison remained within the city, the Boule and
the demos continued to meet and draft and ratify decrees proposed by other
institutions about relations with Prepelaos.
This arrangement certainly did not last for very long. Late in 302, after disembarking his army and camping near the walls, Demetrios Poliorketes “forced”
the polis to return to its “former status.”66 What was the “former status” of the
polis? If the aforementioned reconstruction of Prepelaos’s arrangement is correct, then, at a minimum, what Demetrios did was to take the initiative and/or
responsibility for sending out embassies away from the Gerousia and the epikletoi. Nor were they to serve as mediators between the sanctuary and the polis
or between these institutions and Demetrios. In the new order, the priests and
priestesses of the Artemision took responsibility for relations both with Demetrios and with the polis. Similarly, the Boule and the demos dealt directly with
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MUESIS—INITIATION
Demetrios and his supporters. This might be deemed freedom, but from the
point of view of Demetrios’s supporters within the city.
The surviving epigraphical record suggests that this was what Diodorus
meant by the return of the polis to its “former status.” There are no inscriptions
from 302 to 294 B.C. in which the Gerousia and the epikletoi play a major role
in the affairs of the polis. On the other hand, from the period when Demetrios
was in control of the polis, we have the series of decrees for the supporters of
Demetrios already reviewed, including the ones for Apollonides, Archestratos,
Agathokles, and Nikagoras, in which these men were honored by many institutions of the polis and, in at least one case, the Apollonides decree, by priests and
priestesses of the Artemision. Under the shadow of (now) Demetrios’s garrison
from 302 until 294, the polis was as “free” to democratically pass decrees honoring Demetrios’s friends and allies as it had been before Prepelaos captured it.
This remained the situation until about 294, when Lysimachos finally regained control of the polis. Strictly speaking, it is only to the period after 294
that Strabo’s statement about the Gerousia and the epikletoi administering “all
things” probably should apply. For it was the polis of Arsinoeia, not Ephesos,
that Lysimachos founded after 294.
In none of the inscriptions usually dated after 294 B.C., including the citizenship decree for Athenis of Kyzikos, who was useful to the polis at that time
about the building of the walls, do the Gerousia and epikletoi appear administering all things in the new polis.67 The conclusive contemporary evidence in
support of the idea that Lysimachos formally set up an oligarchic government
(dominated by the two groups we have been discussing) in Arsinoeia is therefore nonexistent. As we have seen, though, there is good epigraphical evidence
for the active role of the Gerousia and the epikletoi in the “foreign” affairs of the
polis of Ephesos in 302. But even that evidence did not show that the Gerousia
and the epikletoi administered all things in Ephesos in that year. The Boule and
the demos continued to function legislatively, both in 302 and after 294.
Ironically, given Strabo’s statement, almost completely overlooked epigraphical evidence may reveal how the members of the imperial Gerousia characterized Arsinoeia’s form of government: from the perspective of hindsight,
the government of Arsinoeia was neither a democracy nor an oligarchy, but the
rule of one man. That evidence also may show that, in the polis of Arsinoeia,
while the Gerousia may not have administered all things, Lysimachos made sure
that the members of the Gerousia took an active and continuing part in the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries.
Mysteries and Sacrifices
75
MYSTERIES AND SACRIFICES
The first few lines of the very fragmentary decree of the sunhedrion of the
Gerousia, which has been dated to the reign of Commodus (A.D. 180 to 192),
nevertheless may shed light on the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis just
after the foundation of Arsinoeia. The first six lines of the Greek text have been
read by the editors of Die Inschriften von Ephesos as follows:
2
3
4
5
6
ἀγαθῇ τύχῃ.
[περὶ ὧν
13–15 εἰσφέρει· ἐν μὲν τοῖς ἄν]ωθεν ὑπὸ τὸν οἰκισμὸν τῆς πόλεως
[χρόνοις Λυσίμαχον τὸν βασιλέα, κύριον]
[γεγονότα τῶν τῆς πόλεως πραγμάτων, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα] πάντα περί τε μυστηρίων
καὶ θυσιῶν [καὶ περὶ τοῦ συνεδρίου ἡμῶν ἄριστα δια-]
[κεκοσμηκέναι πάσῃ εὐσεβείᾳ τε καὶ φιλαγα]θίᾳ,
ἱδρυσάμενον δὲ καὶ νεὼ καὶ ἄγαλμα Σωτείρ[ας Ἀρτέμιδος διατετα-]
[χέναι τοὺς] μετέχοντας τοῦ συ[νεδρίου πάν]τας ἐκ τῶν κοινῶν τῆς γερουσίας
χρημάτων ἕκ[αστον
λαβόντας εὐωχεῖν καὶ]
[θύειν] τῇ θεῷ·
Only a brave (or possibly rash) historian could confidently use the evidence
from the first six lines of such a text to draw conclusions about the celebrations
of Artemis’s mysteries, since the unbracketed sections of these lines might be
translated as follows: “to good fortune” (line 1); “at the foundation of the polis”
(2); “all the things concerning both the mysteries and sacrifices” (line 3); “erecting both the temple and the cult statue of the Savior” (4); “those who were
members of the sunhedrion from the common funds of the Gerousia each” (5);
and “to the goddess” (6).
Yet the situation is not quite as hopeless as it might seem, because of what
we know about the history and epigraphy of Ephesos; and once we take that history and our knowledge of Ephesian epigraphy into account, a reasonably plausible and fuller translation of the text is possible that allows us to make some
inferences of importance for our investigation.
The first and most important fact about Ephesos’s history is that we know
of only two formal polis foundations at the site: that of the original Ionian polis,
and that of the polis of Arsinoeia (described above). We have no other evidence
of any other official and officially advertised foundation at the site. There was,
however, no Gerousia at the time of the Ionian foundation to which a decree of
the Gerousia would be referring. Nor is there any other reference to the Ionian
foundation or its story, such as reference to Athens or Androklos, in the rest of
the text. From this, it follows that the foundation referred to in line 2 is that of
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MUESIS—INITIATION
Arsinoeia. And it was for that reason (among others) that Heberdey restored
the name of Lysimachos the king in the bracketed section of line 2.68 It further
follows that “all the things concerning the mysteries and sacrifices” belong temporally to the period of the early-third-century B.C. foundation.
Next, if Lysimachos’s name is correctly restored in the space in line 2, he
must be the one who was the erector (hidrusamenon) of both “the temple and
the cult statue of the Savior” in line 4. No other individual is named in the unbracketed space. Heberdey restored “the Savior” in the genitive singular on the
basis of a reference to the temple of the Savior found later in the inscription at
line 18, in which the definite article makes clear that the gender of the Savior is
feminine.69
In addition, Heberdey restored Artemis’s name in the genitive also after
“Savior” in line 4 because of the references to the goddess in line 6 and later in
the inscription at line 8 to a sacrifice to the guide or leader (of the polis) “prokathegemoni.” No other goddess in the city was ever referred to in any other extant
inscription as the “guide or leader of the polis”: that honor belonged to Artemis
alone. With these facts and their implications in mind, a reasonable translation
of the restored text that slightly revises Oliver’s earlier translation might run as
follows:
1 To Good Fortune
2 [Concerning the things which . . . proposes.]
[In those years at the beginning] right after the foundation of the polis
[Lysimachos the king,
3 having acquired supreme authority over the affairs of the polis,] all
the other things concerning the mysteries and sacrifices and [concerning our sunhedrion
4 made an excellent arrangement with all reverence and love of] goodness and erecting both the temple and the cult statue of the Savior
[Artemis
5 he ordered] that all those who were members of the sunhedrion from
the common funds of the Gerousia each [should receive . . . to feast
6 and to sacrifice] to the goddess.
If Heberdey’s restorations and Oliver’s translation are reasonably persuasive, what are the implications for our understanding of Lysimachos, the foundation of Arsinoeia, and the mysteries?70 In line 2 there is definitely a reference to the time of the foundation of the polis and possibly the years following.
Although the prepositional phrase related to the exact time when the events
thereafter described requires a restoration, the prepositional phrase concerning
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77
the foundation itself does not. The significance of this is simply that from the
perspective of the authors of this decree, at the end of the second century A.D.,
what Lysimachos did in 294 B.C. was not a refoundation of Ephesos.
Rather, the inscription refers to “the foundation of the polis.” That polis
must be Arsinoeia, as Strabo understood. Lysimachos did not refound Ephesos;
rather, he was the founder of a new polis altogether, Arsinoeia.71 Moreover, if the
prepositional phrase related to the exact time when the events described thereafter in the inscription has been restored correctly, it follows that Lysimachos
made his rearrangement (?) of the mysteries and sacrifices and possibly the sunhedrion just after the inhabitants of the old polis of Ephesos and the uprooted
citizens of Lebedos and Kolophon had moved to the new site of Arsinoeia.
In sum, this imperial- era decree of the Gerousia is an invaluable, if frustratingly fragmentary, source of information about Lysimachos’s foundation of
Arsinoeia and its immediate aftermath. For that reason, it also may be used with
due caution to check at least some of the information that Strabo has passed
along to us about the foundation.
At the end of line 2 and continuing into line 3, Lysimachos possibly was
described as being the “supreme authority over the affairs of the polis.” This
phrase requires a complete restoration, and it obviously is unwise to place too
much interpretive weight upon such a restoration. However, if the restoration
is correct, it might suggest how Lysimachos’s position in the new polis was seen
later by the authors or authorizers of this decree. From their perspective, there
was no debate about whether Arsinoeia had an oligarchic government or where
sovereignty lay. Lysimachos simply was the ruler of the new polis.
Much more certainly, in lines 3 and 4 the text reveals that after the foundation of the polis, Lysimachos probably made some sort of rearrangement about
“all things concerning the mysteries and sacrifices.” At first sight this phrase
might seem to refer, not just to the mysteries of one divinity, but to all things
concerning mysteries and sacrifices; that is, to all the mysteries and sacrifices
carried out at the time, possibly of all the divinities for whom such cults were
organized. This is certainly conceivable. But another imperial-era inscription of
a priestess of Artemis uses a similar linguistic formulation to describe her celebration of panta ta musteria—all the mysteries or rites—of the goddess alone.72
In the case of no other mystery cults in Ephesos do we find a similar linguistic
formulation. The phrase in the inscription of the Gerousia, then, may very well
refer only to mysteries and sacrifices that took place during the celebration of
Artemis’s mysteries, and this is precisely how Picard understood the phrase in
his work. Thus far no scholar has provided a more convincing reading or interpretation of the phrase. Moreover, as the reference to the guide of the polis in
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line 8 later makes clear, the text is clearly referring to the cult of none other than
the great goddess herself.
But what exactly does the decree of the Gerousia tell us about how Lysimachos apparently rearranged all things concerning the mysteries and sacrifices
and the sunhedrion of the Gerousia for the best with all reverence and love of
goodness? Unfortunately, the inscription does not reveal in detail how he did
this. It is perhaps significant, however, that in the phrase used in the decree,
the mysteries and sacrifices (both genitive plurals) are explicitly linked. Strabo,
it should be recalled, writing at the end of the first century B.C., informs us
that “mystic sacrifices” took place during the celebration of the mysteries in Ortygia.73 Can comparative data help us to understand the phrase?
Pausanias, who wrote during the middle of the Roman imperial era, referred to “mysteries and sacrifices” taking place during the celebration of the
mysteries of Despoina (“Mistress,” the daughter of Poseidon and Demeter) at
Lykosoura.74 At that festival, according to Pausanias, the Arcadians sacrificed
“numerous and abundant victims. Each one of them sacrifices whatever animal
he has; instead of slicing the throat of the victims as in other sacrifices, each one
detaches a random member of the sacrificial animal by cutting it.”75
In the decree of the Ephesian Gerousia, then, we perhaps are looking at a
very specific, possibly unrestrained form of sacrifice(s) (that is, sacrifices made
not in accordance with the normal procedure of cutting the animals’ throats
first) substantively distinguished from whatever comprised the “mysteries”
themselves. But the linguistic connection between mysteries and sacrifices in
both the decree of the Gerousia and Strabo’s account perhaps hints at some kind
of formally recognized relationship between the two; the sacrifices mentioned
were ones that were considered to be part of or simultaneous with the mystic
rites.76 In any case, Strabo’s account of sacrifices taking place during the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis is confirmed for a later period by the cultic
office titles of the Kouretes and the cult attendants, which were recorded on the
Doric columns and other architectural elements of the prytaneion from at least
the reign of Tiberius.77
Whatever the mysteries and sacrifices mentioned in the decree of the Gerousia comprised, in line 4 the inscription reveals that probably Lysimachos erected
(hidrusamenon) “a temple and a cult statue of the Savior,” possibly Artemis (if
Heberdey’s restoration and Oliver’s translation are correct). Later in the inscription reference is made to halls about the temple of the Savior.78
Lysimachos’s probable erection of a cult statue of Artemis the Savior, mentioned in the context of an inscription clearly referring to the celebration of
the mysteries, would bring our understanding of the function of the cult at the
Mysteries and Sacrifices
79
time squarely within the general theological framework of other contemporary
Greek mystery cults. As Burkert has observed, one of the most important motives for making vows to such gods in these cults was salvation (soteria in Greek,
salus in Latin), although it was usually a quite practical, here-and-now kind of
salvation that was sought.79
However Artemis was conceptualized at the celebration of the mysteries
before 334 B.C. (when the chief priest and priestess of Artemis probably directed the celebrations of the mysteries or after, up to 294, when the Artemision
was no longer under Persian rule), the decree of the Gerousia perhaps suggests
that just after 294 Lysimachos conceived of Artemis in the context of the celebration of the mysteries as a kind of goddess of salvation, similar to other gods
and goddesses of salvation worshipped in other contemporary Greek mystery
cults.80 If Lysimachos erected a shrine and a cult statue of Artemis the Savior,
where were they situated? And why might he have taken such actions?
Thus far neither the shrine nor the statue has been discovered. The passage in Strabo we already have encountered in Chapter 2, however, may suggest
where to look for them. It is important to review the relevant sections of the
Geography:
On the same coast, slightly above the sea, is also Ortygia, which is a
magnificent grove of all kinds of trees, of the cypress most of all. . . .
There are several temples in the place, some ancient and others built
in later times, and in the ancient temples are many ancient wooden
images, but in those of later times there are works of Skopas; for example, Leto holding a sceptre and Ortygia standing beside her with
a child in each arm. A general festival is held there annually; and by a
certain custom the youths vie for honor, particularly in the splendor of
their banquets there. At that time, also, the association [archeion] of
Kouretes holds symposia and performs certain mystic sacrifices.81
On the basis of this passage, we already have concluded that the focal point
for the celebration of mysteries of Artemis was Ortygia (Map 2).82 Did Lysimachos set up his shrine and cult statue of Artemis the Savior in Ortygia?83
Since Strabo dates the ancient temples with the many ancient wooden
images to an unspecified time before the temples built in later times, in which
there were works of Skopas, we can safely rule out of consideration the ancient
temples with their wooden images.84 Lysimachos did not put up any of them.
But it is at least possible that he did build one of the “later” temples. Certainly
the word that Strabo uses for the temples built in later times (naon) is simply a
variant of the same (common) word used in the decree of the Gerousia.85
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But what about the statue of the Savior? If Lysimachos erected a statue of
Artemis the Savior, then obviously it is not Skopas’s famous statue of Leto and
Ortygia, which we probably should date to some time just after 356 B.C., when
Skopas was perhaps in Ephesos.
Nevertheless, Skopas’s artistic theme, Leto with her nurse Ortygia and
the two children, is an obvious reference to the sacred story of Artemis’s birth,
which certainly later formed the fundamental narrative (oral and/or written)
script of the celebration of the Ortygian mysteries. The placement of this statue
in a temple in Ortygia two generations before Lysimachos’s erection of a temple
and statue of Artemis the Savior is suggestive. Where else would Lysimachos
have put a shrine and statue of Artemis the Savior, if not in the grove where
there were other ancient and more modern temples and in which there was
already a famous statue of the mother and the nurse of the goddess? Given Lysimachos’s at best ambiguous past relations with the Artemision, as set out above,
placement of the statue within the Artemision would seem to be an unlikely
alternative.
Accounting for Lysimachos’s erection of a cult image of Artemis the Savior
might follow from our presentation of the “funeral games” he had fought to
gain control of Ephesos. Lysimachos’s dedication of a statue of Artemis the
Savior probably in Ortygia makes perfect sense as a votive payoff for his military victory over Demetrios and his partisans in the city. Artemis in fact was
well known as a patroness of warriors from the classical period onwards and was
famous for helping soldiers on the battlefield.86 There were many stories from
the fourth century B.C. about how Artemis had intervened at critical moments
during battles or wars.87 Indeed, the idea that she could appear on a battlefield
and turn the tide of the battle was current in Asia Minor into at least the late
second century A.D.88
If the celebrations of the mysteries were rearranged around worship of
Lysimachos’s newly erected statue of Artemis the Savior, who had helped to
bring him victory in battle or war (perhaps against Demetrios), the celebrations would have served to remind the participants of how Artemis had helped
Lysimachos to capture Ephesos, and perhaps how she might be expected to aid
those who worshipped her along with him in the future.89 In any case, among the
participants in the cult must have been citizens of his new polis, including the
transferred Ephesians as well as the synoicized Lebedians and Kolophonians.
Lysimachos may very well have intended that worship of Artemis the Savior
would help to integrate all the new citizens of Arsinoeia into the new polis.90
This is not a far-fetched or unparalleled hypothesis about the organization or
reorganization of a cult. Elsewhere, it has been argued that the promotion of
Mysteries and Sacrifices
81
the cult of Apollo and Hyacinthos at Amyclae into the greatest of all Laconian
religious events was the action that led to the founding of a new social organization in Sparta. It was the act that essentially created the Lacedaemonian polis.91
Moreover, another tangible piece of evidence suggests that Lysimachos was
interested in extending the territory of his new polis to the same general area
south to southwest of Arsinoeia where the grove of Ortygia lay. Specifically, we
have yet another citizenship decree, originally inscribed upon the sanctuary, for
a certain Melanthius of Carian Theangela, who was sent by Lysimachos to guard
the fortress of Phygela, or Pygela (located in part of modern Kuşadasi), one of
the towns (or more properly villages) incorporated into Lysimachos’s new foundation of Arsinoeia (Map 2).92 Although some scholars have dated this inscription to 302 B.C., based upon my reconstruction of events as set out above, this
inscription probably should be dated to the period from 294 to 289 when Lysimachos was firmly in control of the polis.
The significance of this inscription is that it shows Lysimachos projecting
his authority in the direction of Phygela. As we have seen, the site of Ortygia
also was south to southwest of the new polis, in a grove of trees traversed by the
Kenchrios River, between Arsinoeia and Phygela. Whatever building installations were in Ortygia before Lysimachos’s foundation of Arsinoeia, it is possible
that Lysimachos set up a shrine and a cult statue of Artemis the Savior there in
Ortygia after the new foundation, both as a sign of his regard for Artemis as a
goddess of salvation who had helped him to achieve military victory and also to
help consolidate or reaffirm an old territorial claim in that southwestward direction.
As a parallel precedent, we may adduce the example of the celebration of the
Eleusinian mysteries, where it is clear that the yearly processions from Athens
to Eleusis on the western edge of Attica (in an especially fertile area and at the
“live” frontier with Megara) were used by the Athenians for political reasons,
essentially to tie Eleusis, a border deme, to Athens.93 Perhaps even more relevant,
we know that Lysimachos was honored by the sanctuary of Samothrace for protecting the Samothracian sanctuary from robbers and in connection with the
sacred lands of the sanctuary on the Samothracian peraia (land or place opposite) on the mainland.94 Previously, in other words, Lysimachos had used his influence and power to promote the security and territorial claims of a mystery
cult.
If we look outside of Ephesos, the shrines of many early city-states, particularly those of Artemis, lay outside their city walls in their hinterlands, often close
to the boundaries of the cities, and (it has been argued) were used as markers of
the city-states’ territories, median points to which the citizens of poleis returned
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periodically to derive strength from their origins, relive their foundations, and
ensure their continuity.95
The location of Lysimachos’s shrine and statue in Arsinoeia, his reasons for
dedicating them, and his interest in the area south of his new polis only can be
hypothetically inferred from the historical circumstances and parallel actions.
But the decree of the Gerousia makes somewhat more certain what Lysimachos
intended the members of the sunhedrion of the Gerousia to do during the celebration of the mysteries after the foundation of the new polis. In lines 4 to 6
of the fragmentary text we learn that Lysimachos, as part of his arrangement of
all the other things concerning the mysteries and sacrifices, and concerning the
sunhedrion, ordered that all the members of the Gerousia should receive (some)
money from the common funds of the Gerousia, probably to feast (euochein)
and to sacrifice (thuein) to the goddess (but requiring restorations).96 The form
of the sacrifice is not specified in what is legible; the possible association with a
banquet suggests an animal sacrifice. Such banquets after sacrifice are also found
during the celebration of the mysteries of Dionysos, Eleusis, Meter, especially
Isis and Serapis, and Mithras.97 Later on, at the time when Strabo was writing,
we know that the “youth” association, or neoi, of Ephesos held splendid banquets in Ortygia during the celebrations of the mysteries.98 Both anthropologists and historians have identified sacrificial rituals during which sacrifices to
gods are made in exchange for the benefits they can bestow, followed by a communal meal, at which the meat of sacrifices was eaten, as among the most common of all rites of exchange.99
We learn later in the inscription that the members of the Gerousia feasted
and sacrificed to the goddess for a very long time, presumably during the celebrations of the mysteries. The custom was neglected in later years because of a
lack of funds.100 The feasting was resumed at the time of the publication of the
decree of the Gerousia, sometime during the reign of Commodus (A.D. 180 to
192), after a certain Tiberius Claudius Nikomedes, the general advocate of the
sunhedrion, provided the sufficient means.101
Apart from its details about the renewal of feasts and sacrifices by the
Gerousia, what this inscription makes clear is that Lysimachos was very concerned with the celebration of the mysteries and took special care to make sure
that the members of the Gerousia participated in the general festivities during
the celebration. The historical background detailed above reveals why this was
the case.
In 302 B.C., after Prepelaos left the polis of Ephesos, the Gerousia and the
epikletoi, it will be recalled, had sent out the embassy to Prepelaos on behalf of
the sanctuary. Furthermore, it was a decree of the Gerousia and the epikletoi
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83
that was brought to the Boule by the neopoiai and the Kouretes recommending
citizenship for Euphronius. Euphronius apparently had helped to arrange matters with the embassy so that the exemption was allowed. After Demetrios Poliorketes recaptured the polis by the end of 302, the Gerousia and the epikletoi
disappear from the public epigraphy of the polis as far as we know at this time.
The Gerousia then reappears in that epigraphy, just after the foundation of the
new polis of Arsinoeia, in the decree of the Gerousia from the reign of Commodus.
Although, as we have shown, the Gerousia and the epikletoi did not administer all things in the polis either in 302 or 294, of all of the institutions (or associations) in the polis, these two were the ones that perhaps were most favorably
disposed to Prepelaos and Lysimachos and vice versa. In any case, they were the
mediators between the sanctuary and Prepelaos in 302. It was probably in light
of the mediating role that they had played in 302 that, after the foundation of
Arsinoeia by 294, Lysimachos made sure that the Gerousia at any rate should
take a very active and visible role in the celebration of the mysteries, which he
now assumed responsibility for rearranging.
At the same time, it is important to remember that Lysimachos did not
completely sever the link between the sanctuary and the celebration of Artemis’s
birth.102 To do so would have been a very radical, and perhaps unthinkable, step.
The associations of Artemis with her great home, in whatever way she was seen
or celebrated, were longstanding and continuous and never were completely
severed. Even during the Roman imperial period, after the polis of Ephesos had
assumed the general authority for the celebration of the mysteries, the priestesses of Artemis remained involved at least periodically in the mystery cult.
Moreover, a fragmentary inscription perhaps from the early third century B.C.
makes clear that the Kouretes, Artemis’s later protectors, still were connected
to the sanctuary long after the death of Lysimachos.
THE KOURETES AND THE LIBANOTOPOLION
In this fragmentary inscription some kind of agreement is recorded between
those renting out (misthosamenoi) a building where frankincense was sold (libanotopolion) and the renters.103 Keil, who originally published the inscription, believed that the building probably was located within the Artemision.104 Two (?)
of the neopoiai and probably six Kouretes attested to the fairness of the agreement about leasing rights of the frankincense sales (for sacrifices) in lines 3 to 7.
What is the significance of this fragmentary inscription for our understanding
of the role of the Kouretes at this time?
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First, in this inscription we find the Kouretes once again working together
with the neopoiai, the later temple wardens of the Artemision, as we did in the
case of the Euphronius decree from 302 B.C. Since in all of our evidence from
the period the Kouretes are found acting together with the neopoiai, and the
neopoiai are known to have been based in the Artemision, in this inscription
we find confirmation of our earlier inference that the Kouretes also were based
in the Artemision.
Here, however, the Kouretes and the neopoiai do not take part in any embassies or assess the merits of an individual for a grant of Ephesian citizenship, as
they did in 302. Rather, they operate together during the early third century B.C.
in some kind of a notary capacity related to the sale of incense, one of the primary substances used during sacrifices. As we shall discover, incense certainly
was used during the performances of the Kouretes on Mount Solmissos during
the Roman imperial period.
It is perhaps even more significant that we find probably the names of six
Kouretes in this inscription, all native Greek citizens of Ephesos, as is to be expected. If there is room for the names of six Kouretes in lines 6 and 7 of the inscription, as we shall see, there would be continuity in terms of the number of
yearly Kouretes from the third century B.C. into the early Roman imperial era.
There were certainly six Kouretes in the yearly sunhedrion of Kouretes from the
reign of the Roman emperor Tiberius.
The role of the Kouretes as revealed in this inscription strengthens the case
that, while the Kouretes could be engaged in the legislative processes of the (old)
polis, and perhaps even in diplomatic missions that led them into the very center
of power politics in the world of Alexander’s would-be successors, they also were
directly involved in the business of sacrifice centered in the Artemision. While
they might bring a decree of the Gerousia and the epikletoi before the Boule
for consideration, the Kouretes also served as notaries, presumably of the Artemision, which was their fundamental institutional, and probably even physical,
base of cultic operations at the time.
During the early Roman imperial era, when our information for the identities and responsibilities of the Kouretes increases dramatically, we no longer
find the Kouretes based in the Artemision or so directly occupied with the process of awarding citizenship to the benefactors of the sanctuary and the polis.
Nor do they act as notaries of the great temple.
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A R T E M I S T H E S AV I O R
As ruler of the new polis of Arsinoeia, Lysimachos undoubtedly was involved
in the planning and construction of some of the essential elements of the urban
infrastructure of a typical Greek polis of the fourth century B.C.—that is, walls
and the lower agora. That infrastructure assumed a dangerous, competitive
world.
He also may have erected a shrine and a statue of Artemis in her role as
Savior, perhaps in the grove of Ortygia. Through these acts, Lysimachos perhaps intended to send out a series of messages about his conception of Artemis
and his new polis. First, he may have wanted to announce to all that he viewed
Artemis (and wanted others to see her) as a goddess of salvation, a deity whose
ability to provide military aid made her essentially similar in this respect to other
gods and goddesses of salvation worshipped in other contemporary Greek mystery cults. By erecting an actual shrine and a cult statue of the goddess, he also
may have wanted to make it clear that his interpretation of Artemis as a Greek
goddess of salvation should be a permanent feature of the civic religion of the
new polis.
Second, Lysimachos probably wished to project his interpretation of Artemis as a Greek goddess of salvation outside the physical boundaries of the ancient, Persian-dominated home of Artemis and the old classical polis of Ephesos. If the statue and the shrine were located in Ortygia, as I believe they were,
Lysimachos extended his interpretation of Artemis as a Greek goddess of salvation and martial aid to an area that bordered on territory claimed by other,
not necessarily friendly, poleis. Lysimachos perhaps used the placement of the
statue of Artemis the Savior and the shrine to make (or reestablish) a claim to
the grove of Ortygia and its environs, which thereby were linked spatially to
his new polis.105 In that sense, Lysimachos’s rearrangement of the mysteries and
sacrifices was an essential part of his founding his new city and was every bit as
important as the construction of its walls, streets, and marketplace.106
Lysimachos’s most important message, however, was perhaps that the
priests and priestesses of the Artemision no longer would decide by themselves
how Artemis was to be worshipped during the annual celebration of her birth.
They were not going to be the only ones to dictate what kind of goddess she was
or for whom. Lysimachos himself would have his say.
In turn, the citizens of Lysimachos’s new polis, who celebrated the mysteries after 302 B.C., including the old Ephesians but also the former Lebedians
and Kolophonians, would have seen that it was not just priests and priestesses
of the Artemision who mediated relations with the goddess or even defined
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her through the performance of rituals. Indeed, Lysimachos may very well have
rearranged the celebration of the mysteries and sacrifices to take place around
his newly erected cult statue of Artemis the Savior in Ortygia, at the ancient,
extra-urban sanctuary, to help integrate and perhaps even to initiate the new
citizens of Arsinoeia (at least some of whom had no historical connection at
all to the Artemision) into a unified structure of religious authority within the
new polis.107 That new structure of religious authority was organized to function
literally outside of the physical boundaries but also the theological authority of
the Artemision within the new polis of Arsinoeia.108 To ensure that everyone
got this last point in particular, as part of his rearrangement of the mysteries
and sacrifices, Lysimachos probably ordered the members of the Gerousia, his
supporters in the polis back in 302 B.C., to feast and to sacrifice to the goddess
every year at the yearly festival (from their common funds). If all of this is correct, Lysimachos did not build community through ritual by avoiding reference to what had happened in the past. Rather, perhaps by his dedication of
a statue of Artemis the Savior and certainly by the central role he gave to the
elders during the celebrations, he channeled his interpretation of what had happened and why into the celebrations of the mysteries. Artemis the Savior had
“saved” Lysimachos and his followers, and they had become her worshippers
at the mysteries. Those who took part in some sense were implicated in Lysimachos’s military victory over Demetrios Poliorketes and his democratic supporters in the city, including significant players within the administration of the
Artemision. The celebrations directed people’s attentions and loyalty toward
a new and powerfully performed model of mortal and immortal interdependence, based on Artemis’s ability to bestow military victory upon her supporters
and on a new representation of power and authority in Ephesos/Arsinoeia.109 In
fact, the former was the justification for the latter.110 The worship of Artemis as a
goddess of salvation during the celebration of the mysteries was fundamentally
connected to Lysimachos’s military victory in 294 B.C.
Were people aware subsequently that the celebrations were somehow
caught up with the history of Lysimachos’s triumph, that when they worshipped Artemis the Savior at the rearranged mysteries and sacrifices they were
somehow complicit in his struggle and (temporary) victory for “possession of
the sign”?111 We have no direct evidence that those who celebrated the mysteries
after Lysimachos’s death associated their experiences with him and his struggles
against Demetrios. But some evidence suggests that the conflict and its resolution were encoded ritually into the celebrations. For, as we shall see, according
to the decree of the Gerousia from the time of Commodus, the custom of the
Gerousia sacrificing and feasting at the festival that went back to the time of
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87
Lysimachos’s rearrangement “lasted for a very long time.”112 It is difficult to believe that later Ephesians who knew the history of the polis from 302 to 281 B.C.
would not have seen the participation of the Gerousia in the festival according
to Lysimachos’s order at least as a reminder of how the festival came to be celebrated the way it was.
In hindsight, the decree of the Gerousia therefore can be made to speak to a
series of far more important developments in the history of the Artemision and
Ephesos/Arsinoeia than just the narrow and somewhat complicated issue of
whether Lysimachos established an oligarchic government in Arsinoeia in 302
or 294 B.C. From that decree we know that mysteries and sacrifices took place in
Ephesos before the foundation of Arsinoeia. At that time, perhaps because the
Ephesians literally lived in the shadow of the great temple, the lines of authority
between the sanctuary and the polis were not clearly articulated, especially with
respect to the worship of Artemis. First, Lysimachos physically separated the
Ephesians from the Artemision, moving them, willing or not, to his new polis.
More importantly, however, he absorbed into himself at least part of the authority to determine how Artemis was going to be seen and worshipped at the
mysteries and by whom. He also saw to it that at least part of the responsibility
for celebrating the mysteries of Artemis lay with an institution of his new polis,
and he furthermore instructed the members of that institution exactly how to
worship Artemis during the mysteries.113 In doing so, Lysimachos clearly articulated who the sovereign power in the new polis really was. If an isonomic message, inextricably associated with the classical ideal of a body of citizens with
equal rights and responsibilities, had been encoded into the performance of the
mysteries before Lysimachos’s time, that message was now complicated or challenged by his arrangement of the mysteries and sacrifices and the prominent role
of the Gerousia during their celebrations that he organized.114
The creation of Arsinoeia, therefore, was far more than another example
of metonomasia, that is, the renaming of an existing city after a dynast’s own
name or the name of one of his relatives in order to imprint the dynast’s name
upon the land he claimed to control in perpetuity.115 Lysimachos founded a new
(physical) polis away from the Artemision, and within that new polis he created
an interwoven structure of political and religious authority outside the Artemision and its administration. Against the will of the Ephesians, Lysimachos
helped to liberate the Ephesians, and even Artemis herself, from the authority
of the Artemision.
Lysimachos was killed at the battle of Korupedium (“the Plain of Plenty”)
in 281 B.C., fighting against a Seleucid-Ptolemaic coalition. His Ptolemaic wife
Arsinoê escaped from Ephesos in disguise, ending up in Egypt, where she mar-
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ried her full brother Ptolemy II Philadelphus around 274, having done much to
wreck all the work that Lysimachos and his son and putative successor Agathokles had done to build up their empire in Asia Minor.116 Thereafter, the name of
Lysimachos’s new polis, Arsinoeia, was changed back to Ephesos, the name of
the old polis that once clustered around the sanctuary. Artemis had indeed defeated Arsinoê.117 And at least some of the Arsinoites may have returned to their
ancestral homes around the Artemision. But if they did so, they were swimming
against the currents of both the Marnas and history.
The religious authority Lysimachos had withdrawn from the Artemision
and handed over to the Gerousia was not returned to the Artemision. Rather,
institutions of the polis, especially the Gerousia, but later still the Boule and
finally the Ephesian demos, gradually accepted Lysimachos’s most important
gift to them and took more direct responsibility for mediating relations with
Artemis in the context of celebrating her birthday, within what was a kind of
classic “bipolar city”—a polis with two sanctuaries for the worship of Artemis:
the Artemision, around which the old classical city had clustered, but also, once
again, Ortygia, the religious center of Arsinoeia.118 Six hundred years later the
members of the Boule would find out the real cost of Lysimachos’s present.
In the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk there is displayed what has been identified as a fine-grained white marble portrait head of Lysimachos.119 The portrait
is similar to ones of Lysimachos depicted on coins during the early third century B.C., and it has reminded scholars of the works of Lysippos.120 A wreath of
olive branches, a symbol of victory, crowns Lysimachos’s head.
P A R T
I I
Teletai—Rites
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CHAPTER 4
Mystic Sacrifices
MORE THAN TWO HUNDRED YEARS PASSED between the time of the publication of the agreement about the libanotopolion, perhaps during the early
third century B.C., and our next piece of explicit and somewhat detailed evidence about the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos. That evidence is the gloss written by the geographer Strabo after his visit to Ephesos in
29 B.C.1 During the intervening centuries, following in the footsteps of Lysimachos, a series of ambitious and competitive Seleucid and Ptolemaic successors to the empire of Alexander the Great in Asia Minor sought to dominate the
polis of Ephesos militarily or politically or both.
The most successful and memorable of these were Antiochus I “Soter,”
who saved Ephesos and many other Greek cities in Asia Minor from marauding Galatians shortly after the battle of Korupedium; then Ptolemy II Philadelphus, who used dynastic feuding after the death of Antiochus I in June 261 B.C.
as an opportunity to occupy Miletos, Halikarnassos, and Ephesos; Antiochus II
Theos, who died in Ephesos in the summer of 246 and whose tomb may well be
the so-called Mausoleum of Belevi; Antiochus III, who famously gave refuge to
Hannibal in the city during the winter of 196/95; and then Eumenes II of Pergamon, during whose reign, in the wake of the defeat of Antiochus III by the
Romans and by the terms of the Peace of Apameia, Ephesos was annexed into
the Pergamene kingdom.2
This summary list proves that Alexander’s would-be successors agreed fully
with Polybius’s judgment of Ephesos’s strategic value already cited.3 In an era
when the power and acceptability of a king were defined by success in costly
warfare, a rich Greek polis located at a strategic point on the coast of Asia Minor
was bound to attract the attention of generations of players of the Macedonian
Great Game.4 From the point of view of Ptolemaic kings such as Ptolemy II,
Ephesos was an ideal base for a fleet in the eastern Aegean, which could be used
to stir up trouble for Seleucid or Antigonid kings who might contemplate extending their empires in the direction of Egypt.5
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A short (but highly complicated) monograph could be written focused
upon the military, political, and economic relations between all of these successors and Ephesos, as well as its neighboring poleis in Asia Minor.6 However, because there is so little internal archaeological and epigraphical evidence for the
urban development and internal politics of the city for the period, such a monograph would need to trace out and untangle such relations within a broader
historical frame of continuing conflict; economic stagnation, at least during
the third century; and then intensification of activity after around 200 B.C.,
perhaps connected to the increasing appearance of Romans and/or Italians in
Asia Minor, including in Ephesos.7 For our purposes, since we have no substantial evidence for the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries from the death of Lysimachos until after the creation of the Roman province of Asia, the incorporation of the polis of Ephesos into the Roman province of Asia following the
death of Attalus III Philometer of Pergamon in 133 B.C. is the key event; and the
history of the city within the province for the next hundred years is the critical field of reference for resuming our detailed investigation of the mysteries of
Artemis of Ephesos.8
In 133 B.C. and thereafter, because of the wealth of the Artemision and the
strategic position of Ephesos, the sanctuary and the polis drew the interest of
Roman governors and generals who vied to control “the most sung” of Ionian
cities. Indeed, by the late first century B.C. Ephesos had become the geographical focal point of the last rounds of the Roman civil wars. As soon as Octavian
emerged as the victor in those wars, he went to Ephesos and turned his attention
to the legal privileges of the Artemision.
Although the Artemision had some of its privileges confirmed or restored
by the man who effectively ruled the Roman empire after 30 B.C., it also was
perhaps due to the direct intervention of the first Roman emperor that the
Kouretes were removed from their traditional institutional base in the Artemision and were relocated physically to the new prytaneion of the city.9 That
new prytaneion was sited a considerable distance away from the Artemision,
on the northwestern edge of a sacred precinct that Augustus himself gave permission for the Ephesians to dedicate to Rome and his adoptive father, Iulius
Caesar.10
After they moved to their new home, the Kouretes certainly held symposia
and performed mystic sacrifices during the celebrations of the mysteries of
Artemis by the authority of the prytanis. The prytanis, not the priests and priestesses of the Artemision alone, now decided how the Kouretes would celebrate
the mysteries. This was an extension of a change in the structure of authority in
Ephesos that Lysimachos started in 294 B.C. Much later, during the third cen-
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93
tury of the Roman principate, sacrifices were made not only to the great goddess
but also on behalf of the Roman emperors during the celebration of Artemis’s
mysteries. To begin to understand the story of how and why Artemis came to
share her birthday party with the Roman emperor, we first need to review some
of the effects of Roman rule upon the polis of Ephesos and the Artemision after
the creation of the Roman province of Asia.
F R O M AT TA L U S I I I U N T I L A C T I U M
While technically remaining a “polis free and immune” (that is, tax-free), as it
had been under Pergamene rule probably since 167 B.C., Ephesos was one of the
original assize centers of the new Roman province of Asia designated by Aquillius, where the Roman governor held court on a regular basis.11 The city thereafter remained a conventus center of the province of Asia well into the third century A.D.12 Nevertheless, the theoretical freedom and financial immunity of the
polis did not prevent ambitious Roman citizens from trying to take advantage
of the ambiguous relationship between it and the Artemision.13
At the end of the second century B.C., for instance, the report of a dispute
over revenues claimed by the tax collectors known as the publicani and officials
of the temple of Artemis at Ephesos perhaps sheds some light on the evolving
relationship between the Artemision and the imperial government twenty years
or so after the formation of the province. In 104 B.C. the Ephesians sent the famous geographer Artemidoros to the Senate in Rome to protest tax collectors
forcibly converting revenues for their own use from lakes (probably located at
the mouth of the Kaystros River) that had been designated as sacred (Map 2).14
In the end the lakes, and presumably the revenues from them, were returned to
the domain of the goddess.15 During the later Roman republic these tax collectors tried to impose taxes upon the lands of the free cities and even the estates
of famous temples.16
Only five years after the proconsulate of the famous pontifex Q. Mucius
Scaevola, probably in 94/93 B.C., which the Asians memorialized by establishing a festival called the Mucia, the greed of those tax collectors apparently gave
at least some of the Ephesians a good reason for welcoming Mithradates VI of
Pontos into their city as a “savior and benefactor.”17 During his stay in the city,
Mithradates gained the support of some of the priests of the Artemision by
shooting an arrow from the roof of the temple of Artemis and then granting to
the sanctuary the right of inviolability as far as the spot where the arrow came
down.18
In reality, the priests may have had little choice but to accept Mithradates’s
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dramatically contrived increase of the area of asylum. Unfortunately for the
priests and the Ephesians, however, their acceptance of the extension of the asylum rights of the temple was construed shortly thereafter as a clear first sign of
their support for Mithradates, and his most infamous act. For the expansion of
the right of inviolability probably took place just before Mithradates issued his
notorious secret order to his satraps and city governors that they should “set
upon all Romans and Italians in their towns, and upon their wives and children
and their freedmen of Italian birth, kill them and throw their bodies out unburied, and share their goods with King Mithradates.”19 Indeed, Mithradates
probably issued the order while he was in Ephesos.20
In response to Mithradates’s call, the Ephesians, we are told, first overthrew
the Roman statues in their city and then played an enthusiastic part in the massacre of all Romans and Italians in Asia, including freedmen, women, and children.21 According to Appian, the Ephesians tore fugitives away from images of
the goddess in the temple of Artemis (thereby ignoring the fugitives’ right to
asylum) and slaughtered them on the spot.22 Although the magnitude of the
Asian “Vespers” may have been exaggerated in nationalistic Roman sources,
thousands of Roman and Italian businessmen and/or immigrants who had
come to Asia in the wake of Caius Gracchus’s reforms of Aquillius’s original
organization of the province undoubtedly perished.23
The Ephesians later maintained that they had submitted to Mithradates
only out of fear, but the Roman general Sulla did not accept their excuses for
accepting the gifts of Mithradates or heeding his call to kill all the Romans in
Asia. For the role the Ephesians had played in the massacre, Ephesos was deprived of its freedom in 84 B.C. and shared fully in the fine of 20,000 talents
that was imposed.24 This fine probably covered taxes for the previous five years,
as well as the costs of the war.25 Sulla punished the Ephesians especially severely
because, with “servile adulation of Mithradates,” they supposedly had treated
the Roman offerings in their temples with indignity.26 In hindsight, the massacre—and its punishment—was a landmark event within a developing narrative of how Romans living within the imperial diaspora related to their civic
neighbors and placed Romans resident in provincial cities such as Ephesos at the
center of intercity rivalries and the “quest for status, honor, and prosperity.”27
It is not a coincidence that while patrons of cities in the Greek east, including Ephesos, are rare or nonexistent during the second century B.C., both
around the time of, and certainly after the Asian Vespers, several patrons, such
as the proquaestor L. Licinius Lucullus, patron of both Synnada and Ephesos,
make appearances in the epigraphical record of the city.28 The polis of Ephesos
and the sanctuary needed influential friends in Rome during the first century.
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95
Included among these was L. Antonius, quaestor (financial magistrate) in Asia
in 50 B.C. and proquaestor in 49, the younger brother of the famous triumvir,
honored as a patron and probably benefactor of Artemis and the polis in an inscription dated to 50 B.C., who had preserved the sacred rights of the goddess
“with integrity and justice.”29
Ephesos did not recover its formal freedom until around 47 B.C., and financial recovery took even longer.30 In fact, economic revival came to Ephesos (and
more generally to the western edges of the province of Asia) only after Pompey
defeated the pirates at Korakesion off Kilikia in 67 B.C. and thus allowed Ephesos and the other ports of Asia Minor to pursue their trading interests across the
Mediterranean without fear.31
When Caesar and Pompey embarked upon the civil war in 49 B.C. that
eventually destroyed the Roman republic, the city of Ephesos and most of western Asia Minor remained at peace. Twice, however, Caesar prevented his political and military rivals from removing funds from the temple of Artemis. The
first time, the news that Caesar had crossed the seas with his legions led to the
departure of Scipio from Ephesos and ended his plans to withdraw money from
the temple.32 Later, when Caesar had arrived in Asia, he found that the former
proconsul T. Amplius Balbus had attempted to remove sums of money from the
temple but had fled when interrupted by his (Caesar’s) arrival.33
In Ephesos during the late summer of 48 B.C. Caesar received ambassadors
of the Ionians, Aeolians, and other peoples of lower Asia and pardoned them.34
During his few weeks in Ephesos Caesar remitted one-third of the tax Asia
previously had paid, abolished the old method of collecting direct taxes in the
province through contracts let out to corporations of publicani, and replaced
it with a system by which amounts raised by the communities themselves were
paid to a Roman quaestor. The cities, peoples, and tribes of Asia subsequently
honored Caesar with a statue at Ephesos. In the inscription of the statue Caesar
was praised as “the descendant of Ares and Aphrodite, a god made manifest
and the common savior of human life.”35 It is likely that Ephesos had its liberty
restored to it at the time.36 Cults in honor of Rome and of one of the followers
of Caesar, P. Servilius Vatia Isauricus, who was proconsul of Asia in 47/46 B.C.,
were also established, in the latter case indicating that Isauricus was honored as
a divine hero already during his lifetime (at a time when monuments honoring
Roman generals and governors in Asia Minor were still relatively rare).37 It is
furthermore possible that the so-called Round Monument on Panayirdag is a
heroon (hero shrine) dedicated to Caesar’s amicus (friend) (Map 6, no. 34).38
After the defeat of M. Iunius Brutus and C. Cassius Longinus, the assassins of Caesar, at the battle of Philippi in 41 B.C., Antony, who previously had
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claimed a somewhat dubious descent from Herakles, reinvented himself more
plausibly as a new Dionysos.39 As part of his tour of cities, the new Dionysos
came to Ephesos, where “women dressed as maenads, men and youths as satyrs
and Pans all led the way before him, and the city was filled with ivy and thyrsus
wands, with the music of the flute, pipes and lyre. All welcomed him as Dionysos bringer of joy, gentle and kind.”40
While he was in Ephesos, however, Antony discovered that Brutus and Cassius, as well as some of their followers, had found refuge within the sanctuary
of the Artemision.41 Antony spared all but two of these followers (Petronius,
who had been privy to the murder of Caesar, and Quintus, who had betrayed
Dolabella to Cassius at Laodicea) and then, after making a splendid sacrifice to
Artemis, assembled the Greeks and other tribes around Pergamon and settled
upon nine years’ taxes payable in two years as the punishment for their support of Brutus and Cassius.42 Antony then demanded payments not only from
the free and subject cities, but also from client kings and minor rulers. Perhaps
as compensation for the cooperation of the priests of the Artemision, Antony
doubled the area of asylum surrounding the temple established by Mithradates,
which thereby included part of the polis itself.43
Around this time we also know that the rights and sanctity that pertained
to the temple or precinct of Artemis Ephesia at Ephesos were recognized by
the Roman Senate.44 Probably in early 38 B.C. Octavian wrote to the Ephesian
magistrates, Boule, and people urging them to assist the Plarasans and Aphrodisians in the recovery of property (and/or slaves) looted from them in the war
against Labienus, in particular asking the Ephesians to return a golden Eros that
had been dedicated by Caesar himself and that apparently had been set up as an
offering to Artemis.45
During the final stages of the struggle between Antony and Octavian,
Antony and Kleopatra spent the winter of 33/32 B.C. in Ephesos, joined there
by three hundred Roman senators (including such prominent men as Gaius Sossius and Gnaeus Domitius Ahenobarbus) and a huge fleet of more than eight
hundred war and merchant vessels.46 At this time Ephesos was the topographical
focal point of opposition within the Roman empire to Octavian and his supporters.
The discovery of a colossal head of Antony, perhaps meant to imply that
he was somehow larger than life, that was found in a channel next to the foundations of the small peripteros (temple) on the west side of the upper agora has
suggested to some of the archaeologists of Ephesos that Antony may have embarked upon a building program in the area of the upper city.47 If this is so, his
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97
building program in Ephesos was halted by his defeat at the decisive battle of
Actium on 2 September 31 B.C.48
After achieving his victory at Actium, Octavian immediately went to Ephesos and spent approximately six months there.49 At that time Ephesos therefore became the political focal point of the Graeco-Roman world.50 During this
period Octavian punished the cities in Asia that had aided his opponent by levying payments of money and taking away the authority over their citizens that
their assemblies possessed.51 Many cities also had benefits conferred upon them
in the aftermath of Actium, however, and Ephesos apparently remained nominally free.52
It is against the immediate background of the battle of Actium, and Octavian’s presence in Ephesos after it, that Octavian’s permission (probably granted
after he had moved along from Ephesos to the island of Samos during the winter of 30/29 B.C.) for the dedication of a sacred precinct (temenos) in Ephesos
to Rome and to his father Caesar, whom he named the hero Iulius, should be
understood.53
In fact, according to Peter Scherrer’s “realistic” first attempt at a city plan
of Ephesos based upon careful measurement of streets and buildings, both the
lower agora, or Tetragonos Agora, and the new upper agora/temenos were laid
out on equal, square grid plans during the reign of Augustus, in which the grids
were divided into blocks of 179.79 English or 185 Roman feet (Map 4).54 In
the case of the Tetragonos Agora, the new Roman-style square grid was superimposed on top of Lysimachos’s rectangular grid plan that had been designed
essentially for commercial uses (Maps 6 and 8, no. 61).55 The upper agora/
temenos, which was measured out within the flat saddle between Panayirdag
and Bülbüldag, had twelve blocks running east to west across it (Maps 6 and 7,
no. 18).56 Although renovations and rebuilding occurred in both areas (upper
agora and lower agora) after an earthquake struck the city in A.D. 23, for the rest
of the Roman imperial period the equal grids of the Tetragonos Agora and the
upper agora/temenos essentially were reserved for public buildings from Augustus’s reign.57
Unfortunately, Dio does not record to whom Octavian gave his permission
to dedicate the temenos in 29 B.C. Dio’s language (echrematize, or “gave permission”), however, may imply that the initiative did not lie with Octavian.58 Although it is not explicitly attested, one possibility must be that it was the Italian
businessmen and/or the conventus civium Romanorum (association of Roman
citizens) in Ephesos (if those groups are different) that initiated the establishment of the sacred precinct.59 If the conventus did indeed take the initiative, it
Grid of the Tetragonos Agora from the peak of Bülbüldag; it was probably laid
out on a new grid plan during the reign of Augustus over the agora that was part
of Arsinoeia.
Grid of the upper agora—where Octavian gave permission for the creation of a
temenos dedicated to Rome and Iulius Caesar—from the heights of Bülbüldag.
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99
would be an important example of how a Roman diaspora community (living
in the shorter shadow of Actium but also in the longer shadow of the Asian Vespers) served as a mediator between the ruler and the ruled within the Roman
empire. If, however, it was Octavian himself who simply enacted the creation of
the cults, then he can be seen here as the organizer and demarcator of what was
a Roman religious practice and what was Greek.60
But whoever was behind the initiative, according to Dio, he (Octavian)
commanded (prosetaxe) the Romans resident in Ephesos to pay honor to the
two divinities.61 If Dio meant Roman citizens by his use of the phrase “Romans
resident in Ephesos,” perhaps we should conclude that it was Roman citizens,
and not noncitizen Italian businessmen living in the city, who were the initiators
of the double cult.
The original cultic focus of that worship within the temenos perhaps was
the small, prostyle peripteral temple on the upper agora’s west side (now eradicated to its foundations). That temple may originally have been intended for
worship of Isis, but now (in 29 B.C.) it was reconstructed into a temple for the
worship of Roma and Iulius (Maps 4, 6, and 7, no. 20).62
A few years after Octavian had returned to Rome (and the Roman Senate and the people had voted to add the unprecedented epithet of Augustus to
the name of the victor at Actium), further evidence of the effect of Octavian
upon Ephesos can be found in a list of priests, perhaps in the cult of the goddess
Roma (Dea Roma) from 26 or 25 B.C. From the inscription we learn that a certain Apollonios Passalas was responsible for setting up a statue of Sebastos (the
Greek translation of Augustus) and the dedication of the temenos.63 The statue
of Augustus may have been put up somewhere within a joint temenos (with
a Rhodian peristyle) of Augustus and Artemis along the northern side of the
upper agora of Ephesos (Maps 4 and 7, no. 23).64 As was so often the case elsewhere, Artemis was introduced into the middle of the polis within an agora or
at some meeting place.65 If the priests listed in the inscription are from the cult
of Dea Roma, it is revealing that not one of them is a Roman citizen.
To approximately the same time period can be dated the construction of
the “large and austere” bouleuterion (council chamber) of the city to the east
of what may have been the sanctuary of Augustus and Artemis, followed by the
building of the new prytaneion (office of the prytanis and sanctuary of Hestia)
to its west (Maps 4, 6, and 7, nos. 22 and 24).66 It is perhaps not wholly a coincidence (or a result of the random survival of evidence) that from a nearly contemporary inscription we learn that the imperial freedman C. Iulius Nikephoros gave money for sacrifices to Roma and Artemis at the altar of Hestia before
the year 27 B.C. (and later became prytanis for life).67
The bouleuterion, where the city council, including many of the imperial-era
Kouretes, met and approved several construction projects that affected the route
of the procession up to Ortygia to celebrate Artemis’s mysteries. See also Plate 2.
The prytaneion, where the cult of Hestia was located and the Kouretes’ inscriptions
were displayed.
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101
Basilica stoa, built by A.D. 11, along the northern side of the upper agora.
The three-aisled “basilica stoa” in the Ionic order, south of the prytaneion
(originally with no fewer than sixty-seven columns on its front side), and the
bouleuterion were paid for by C. Sextilius Pollio and were finished around
A.D. 11 (Maps 4, 6, and 7, nos. 21 and 22).68 A two-aisled colonnade built in
the Doric order on the south side of the square apparently belongs to the same
building plan (Maps 4, 6, and 7, no. 19).69
A portrait of Augustus of the “Prima Porta” type, wearing a civica corona
(oak-leaf wreath) awarded to him as rescuer of the Roman people in 27 B.C.,
dates to the same period as the construction of the basilica stoa and probably
was set up somewhere in it.70 Later, during the reign of Caligula or perhaps
Claudius, within a room of the chalcidicum (roofed annex) at the eastern end
of the basilica stoa were displayed monumental seated statues of Augustus and
Livia in godlike attire meant to suggest their identification with Jupiter/Zeus
and Juno/Hera.71
No doubt as a kind of tribute to Pollio for his benefactions to the city
(which also included subsidizing, along with his wife Ofillia Bassa and his stepson C. Ofillius Proculus, the construction of a new course of pipes that brought
additional water flow into the five-mile-long aqueduct known in antiquity as
the Aqua Throessitica), his tomb was constructed (by his stepson) within the
city itself, just north of the area where the so-called Domitian Square was to be
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located (Maps 4, 6, and 7, no. 28).72 Pollio’s benefactions are early examples of
the most expensive kinds of gifts that benefactors bestowed upon their cities in
ever-increasing numbers during the first two centuries A.D.73
T H E R O M A N SA N C TUA RY O F T H E U P P E R AG O RA
Thus, over a forty-year period between about 29 B.C. and A.D. 11, the upper
agora of Ephesos was transformed into a sanctuary for the worship of some
of the traditional divinities of the Greek polis and also new Roman gods. At
exactly the same time that Augustus and his architects were at work in Rome
drafting a new urban image of Rome that was intended to underscore that city’s
position as “the theatre of the world,” men such as C. Iulius Nikephoros and
Sextilius Pollio, Roman citizens of Ephesos who were living out their lives in the
eastern Roman diaspora, appropriated the imperial imagery and created their
own Roman “theater” in imitation of Augustus’s marble city.74
A Greek citizen of Ephesos born in the year of Actium who walked up the
218 or so yards from the lower end of the street known as the Embolos to the
upper agora in A.D. 11 easily could have imagined himself to have entered a Roman city superimposed upon a Greek one, complete with a Roman-style forum
(with its characteristic monumental axiality), laid out on a relentlessly regular
grid of blocks, with a colonnaded stoa that combined traditional Greek architectural elements with Roman ones, sanctuaries of Greek and Roman heroes
and gods, and perhaps even a kind of Senate building, or curia (the bouleuterion).75
At least some of these architectural elements were intended, not only to
embellish and beautify the area of the upper agora, but to direct and control
how people both saw and experienced the urban landscape.76 The temenos dedicated to Roma and the hero Iulius in particular was obviously designed to create
a physical setting for sacrifices and other ceremonies in honor of these Roman
divinities/heroes. The locals who carried out these rituals within this space and
architectural context in some sense must have been integrated into the structures of imperial power and authority by their repeated actions.77 The laying
out of the temenos with its public buildings therefore was a way of communicating the power, grandeur, and values of Augustus’s Rome.78 It reproduced
and imprinted those qualities spatially and architecturally and also was a kind
of public stage for the articulation of local hierarchies and identities as people
acted and interacted with each other in the spaces and the buildings of the new
sanctuary.79 It was no accident that within this transformed space the Ephe-
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103
sians shortly thereafter developed a new epigraphical vocabulary of piety with
respect to the Roman emperors. The buildings and the inscriptions were different media used to express the same message of integration and aspiration.
It was presumably at the very same time that this transformation of the
Ephesian urban landscape was taking place that, on his way to Corinth, Strabo
visited Ephesos and gathered his material for the gloss on the mysteries that he
would include in his Geography, which was written up at some time between
A.D. 18 and 24.80
S T R A B O A N D O R T Y G I A I N 2 9 B.C.
In the passage we already have examined for the information it contained about
the story of Artemis’s birth in Ortygia that was current during the early third
century B.C., Strabo also provides evidence for the celebration of symposia and
mystic sacrifices at the general festival held in Ortygia in 29 B.C.:
On the same coast, slightly above the sea, is also Ortygia, which is a
magnificent grove of all kinds of trees, of the cypress most of all. It is
crossed by the Kenchrios River, where they say Leto to have bathed
after her travails. . . . A general festival is held there annually; and by
a certain custom the youths [neoi ] vie for honor, particularly in the
splendor of their banquets there. At that time, also, the association [archeion] of the Kouretes holds symposia and performs certain mystic
sacrifices.81
This passage presents the most important evidence for the connections between the story of Artemis’s birth, the general festival held in Ortygia each year,
and the symposia and mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes, just a few years after the
battle of Actium. According to Picard, it was at the general festival, or festival of
everybody (panegyris), described by Strabo that the reenactment of the birth of
Artemis, which Picard christened “le drame de la Nativité,” and the celebration
of the mysteries by the Kouretes took place.82 Although, as we shall see, there is
no explicit evidence that a reenactment of the birth of Artemis (and presumably
Apollo) ever occurred during the general festival, thus far no scholar has convincingly challenged the link Picard made between the general festival in Ortygia every year, the Kouretes, and the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis.
That stated, the information Strabo provides about the celebration of the
mysteries at the general festival during the late first century B.C. is rather limited.83 The fact that Strabo gives only a very brief report about the symposia and
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mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes may be surprising at first, especially since he apparently knew Ephesos and Ortygia well, brief as his visit to the city might have
been at the time.
However, Strabo’s concision may be explained either by restraints upon
public disclosures about such mystic sacrifices or by literary objectives, or by
both considerations. The context of the passage, in the middle of a geographically ordered review of the principal Ionian cities, and Strabo’s explicitly stated
purpose in composing his Geography, “to record what was noble and great, practically useful, or memorable, or entertaining,” would suggest that Strabo did
not intend to provide a very detailed description of such celebrations, despite
the fact that the nature of his work was chorographic, rather than purely geographic, that is, to supply facts and details that went beyond toponymic and cartographic innovations.84 Rather, he was interested here in recording the mythological associations of the grove of Ortygia and other associations insofar as they
illuminated points that were relevant to what was intended only as a somewhat
brief topographical survey.85
Thus, for instance, we do not get from Strabo the kind of colorful detail
about this general festival that Dio Chrysostom later provides about the panegyris at the Isthmian games, in which the orator describes crowds listening to
speakers around the temple of Poseidon, writers reading their works aloud,
poets reciting their poems, jugglers performing tricks, fortune tellers telling fortunes, lawyers perverting judgments, and peddlers peddling whatever they had
to sell.86
Moreover, even when Strabo does give some more detail, such as in his description of the topography of Ortygia, modern scholarship has not been able
to advance our knowledge very far. The site of Ortygia itself, for example, while
tentatively identified, has not been excavated, as we have noted. Nor does Strabo
furnish much information about the associations or cultic practices that he says
took place during the celebration of the mysteries. To understand these associations and cultic practices better, we must turn to the epigraphical evidence from
the archaeological excavation of Ephesos, as well as to some comparative data
from other sites.
THE NEOI
The neoi who Strabo says vied for honor in the splendor of their banquets during the general festival belonged to what may have been designated as a thiasos (cult association) for the worship of a god or goddess at the end of the first
century B.C.87 Although in literary sources and inscriptions such associations
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often were associated with the worship of Dionysos, similar associations (thiasoi ) were devoted to the worship of many different gods and goddesses.88 In
Ephesos these neoi were distinguished from the ephebes (originally boys in their
late teens) in the city by the late second century B.C., and the only substantial
clue we have about their activities, before Strabo’s reference to their banquets at
the festival, derives from the appearance of several of their gymnasiarchs in the
epigraphical record.89 During the second century B.C., for instance, the gymnasiarch Diodorus was praised in a decree of the Boule and demos for having
encouraged the neoi to develop their “fitness” and “diligence” both mentally and
physically.90 This decree for Diodorus makes clear that the education of the neoi
was both physical and moral in the broadest sense of the latter concept, and that
these qualities were supported by the council and the assembly.91
A later gymnasiarch, Herakleides Passalas, the father of Apollonios Passalas, who, as we have seen, dedicated a statue of Augustus in the joint temenos
of Augustus and Artemis in the upper agora, along with his neoi made a dedication to Augustus as the founder (ktistes) of the polis (and also altered the
Mazaios and Mithridates Gate to keep floods out of the lower agora).92 It is
very likely that Herakleides Passalas was gymnasiarch of the gymnasium with
which the neoi of the inscription were associated. (Elsewhere, at Mylasa for instance, during the second century B.C., neoi are attested as having their own
gymnasium.)93 Since we know that holding the gymnasiarchy was costly, we can
assume that the family involved in Ephesos was one of considerable wealth.94 A
second, undated inscription, a dedication to Hermes by Hekatokles, the gymnasiarch of the neoi, who had been crowned by the demos and the neoi, again
implies a connection between the neoi and the demos of the polis.95
The neoi, then, as they appear in the epigraphical record of the city, were involved in the traditional education (paideia) of the late Macedonian/early Roman imperial institution of the gymnasium in Ephesos, including its program of
physical and moral education, that the polis organized and supervised.96 Being
a member of the association was an indication of belonging, if not to the socioeconomic elite of the polis, then at least to the body of free adult male citizens,
one of whose everyday foci of communal activity was the gymnasium.
Although the gymnasium of the neoi in Ephesos has not been positively
identified, given the euergetistic connections between the known gymnasiarchs
of the neoi and the cults of the temenos described by Dio, it surely must be
plausible that the gymnasium of the neoi is the unexcavated complex that lies
on an axis due east of the basilica stoa (Maps 6 and 7, no. 16).97 Epigraphical
evidence shows that there was a gymnasium in this area as far back as the third
century B.C., and we know that Cicero’s friend Atticus was honored by this
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gymnasium as a benefactor.98 Although this gymnasium complex has not been
thoroughly studied, we know that it eventually contained four large bathing
rooms, halls with mosaic floors, and a palaestra.99
Although Strabo does not say so explicitly, we perhaps may speculate that
at least some of the neoi (like the younger ephebes) belonged to the socioeconomic elite of the late Macedonian/early imperial polis.100 The verb philokalousi,
which Strabo uses to describe how the Ephesian neoi participated in the festival,
does not appear in the epigraphical corpus of the city, but it clearly belongs to
the vocabulary of adult euergetism and competitive munificence. This piece of
speculation is supported by what we know about the neoi in other cities at the
time.
Epigraphical evidence from Asia Minor and the Greek mainland from the
late Macedonian and early imperial periods reveals that young men joined the
neoi in Greek cities after they had completed the ephebeia (which could begin
before young men were eighteen, as we infer from the reference to Habrocomes,
who was about sixteen years old when he joined the ephebes in Xenophon’s
Ephesiaca) and that, in theory at least, these “young adults” could remain neoi
until the age of fifty, when they entered the Gerousia.101 In Smyrna during the
Roman imperial era, the neoi formed a sunodos (association) associated with the
Gerousia that undertook the care of memorials (tomb monuments) or to whom
fines were paid for tampering with such memorials.102 In some cities the neoi
had their own gymnasia; in others they shared gymnasia with other youth associations.103 Outside of Ephesos gymnasiarchs of the neoi often were praised in
honorary inscriptions for preserving order and good behavior among the members of the association.104
In some instances these men acted in association with younger “studentathletes.” In Beroia in Macedonia, for instance, between 200 and 170 B.C., three
neoi and three paides (boys) were selected to organize torch races in honor of
Hermes and, as leaders of a running team, were paid for the team’s oil.105 In
Sestos, the neoi, along with the paides, ephebes, and paideutai (probably other
teachers), honored a teacher of geometry.106 It follows that the activities of the
young men were not confined to athletic pursuits and that being a member of
the neoi outside of Ephesos often entailed spending money on the activities of
the association.107
Are the feasts of the neoi at the general festival in Ephesos in early May remarked upon by Strabo also indicative of their initiation into the mysteries?
Were the neoi of Ephesos also mustai? Evidence from Ephesos and elsewhere
about banqueting at the mysteries suggests that the Ephesian neoi could have
been among the initiates. The noun Strabo uses (euochias) to describe the ban-
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107
quets of the neoi is precisely the same word used later to describe the banquets
of the Gerousia at the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis that Tiberius
Claudius Nikomedes reendowed during the reign of Commodus.108 Closer to
the time of Strabo’s gloss (between 2 B.C. and A.D. 2) we know that Kleanax, the
prytanis and priest of Dionysos Pandemos in Kyme, gave a banquet (euochise)
in the sanctuary of Dionysos, probably during the penteteric celebration of
the mysteries, for citizens and Romans and nearby residents and foreigners.109
Moreover, banquets of initiates certainly are very well attested in other mystery
cults.110 In Athens it seems to have been the norm for young men of “good” (that
is, well- off ) families to have become initiates into the mysteries.111
Against this interpretation of the evidence, however, we should remember
that similar sumptuous banquets could take place outside the context of rites of
passage at a festival, such as the one we find in the endowment of the freedman
Stertinius Orpex, who subsidized a banquet for the winners of a lottery of the
Gerousia (probably during the mid-first century A.D.).112
Additionally, outside of Ephesos, at Stratonikeia, for example, we know
that euochia can be translated in the specific sense of a celebratory feast but also
can refer to a party or even general gaiety, subsidized by private benefactors.113
Even closer to Ephesos, during the mid-first century A.D., Tiberius Claudius
Damas, the president of the Boule of Miletos, proposed a decree concerning
two banquets, neither of which was specifically concerned with the celebration
of mysteries.114
All of this internal and external evidence suggests that we cannot be certain that the neoi were initiates into the mysteries of Artemis. If they were not,
their participation in the festival is simply a reminder that more happened during such a general festival than “mystic sacrifices,” just as we should expect and
indeed as we know was the case from later evidence. From a theoretical point of
view, the function of the banquets might have been to “realize” a sense of group
identity, to mark or dramatize one point of the “vertical” accession of the men
into the (male) citizen body of the polis, as well as perhaps (from a modern perspective) to aid in the construction of polarized gender roles for the society.115
We should not exclude a multiplicity of functions, both at the same time and
changing over time.
In sum, the sumptuous banquets of the neoi at the general festival mentioned by Strabo were public ceremonies that marked these young—to youngish—men out for others to see as one very broad age subset (ages eighteen to
fifty) of the polis’s adult male elite and were not necessarily part of an official
initiation into the mysteries.116
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THE ARCHEION OF THE KOURETES
At the time when Strabo visited Ephesos and gathered material for Book XIV
of his Geography, the Kouretes apparently comprised an archeion. Although
the term “archeion” might connote the residence of magistrates, or an archive
in Ephesos, as we often find it referred to in funerary inscriptions, in Strabo’s
gloss on the general festival the term probably signifies a board of civic officials
or priests or (less likely) a group of elected magistrates, as it does in a fourthcentury B.C. Milesian decree on isopoliteia with Phygela.117
On the basis of the fact that over the course of the first two centuries of the
imperial era a significant percentage of the Kouretes turn out to be male relatives of the yearly prytaneis, it is likely that the Kouretes were not elected (since
it is hard to believe that such clusters of relatives would be elected consistently
over decades), but rather were family “volunteers” selected by the prytaneis.
Thus, by the early first century A.D. at any rate, the Kouretes came to be a kind
of voluntary association for cultic worship, well attested elsewhere but perhaps
similar to the Demetriastai (worshippers of Demeter) found in Ephesos and
elsewhere.118
According to Strabo, at the general festival the archeion of the Kouretes
held symposia and performed certain mystic sacrifices.119 Symposia of Kouretes
are attested in an inscription from Varna, and there is visual evidence of drinking during initiation rituals into the Dionysiac mysteries from the fresco of the
Villa of the Mysteries at Pompeii from around 50 to 30 B.C.120 The consumption of wine also was at the very center of most Bacchic rites, or orgia.121 It is not
surprising that symposia took place during the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis. In fact we know that Artemis owned sacred estates where wine was
produced, and it is certainly possible that some of Artemis’s own vintages were
served at the symposia of her Kouretes.122 How these symposia at Ephesos figured in the actual celebration of the mysteries is more difficult to say.123 If the
Ephesian Kouretes followed normative, classical Greek practice, perhaps all we
can plausibly infer is that their symposia followed the main meal (deipnon).124
The “mystic sacrifices” that Strabo describes undoubtedly were central to
the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. According to Knibbe, the sacrifices
consisted of animal sacrifices, accompanied by incense and drink offerings.125
Evidence from the lists of Kouretes indeed reveals that incense was burned and
libations were poured during the festival from the reign of Tiberius onward.126
And sacrifices were routinely conducted during the celebration of mysteries
elsewhere. Pigs, for instance, were sacrificed during the preliminary stages of
the Eleusinian mysteries.127 Then, after the night of visions, there was a sacrifice
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of bulls.128 Animal sacrifices also formed an essential part of the celebration of
the mysteries in the cults of Meter and Mithras.129
Unfortunately, Strabo does not inform his readers what made the Kouretes’
sacrifices “mystic.” The adjective that he uses (mustikas), in the accusative plural, however, belongs to a semantic cluster of related terms that includes the
verb commonly used (in its various conjugated forms) in literary accounts
and inscriptions to describe the act of initiating individuals into the mysteries
(muein), the abstract noun describing the process of initiation (muesis), and
the noun designating an initiate (mustes, mustai in the plural).130 The “mystic”
sacrifices Strabo describes therefore are ones conducted as part of an initiation
ceremony, as Picard rightly argued.131 Given the context of the sacrifices (general
festival on the sixth of May held in Ortygia), it is hard to believe that the great
patron goddess and perhaps her brother Apollo were not the objects of the mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes.
That said, what Strabo does not provide his readers with in his brief gloss on
the birth of Artemis and the activities of the Kouretes is any sense of what the
significance of the nativity story and its evocation or possible dramatization at
the festival may have been for the Artemision or the polis in 29 B.C.132 Indeed,
despite Picard’s compelling evocation of an annual nativity, it has to be emphasized that Strabo does not say that the Kouretes in 29 B.C. reenacted the role
they played in the etiological myth he relates. In that myth the Kouretes did
perform what clearly was some kind of apotropaic dance and/or “noise magic”
to ward off Hera and to conceal the births of Artemis and Apollo. Such noise
magic belongs within the larger category of weapon dances that are attested
in Greek art and literature from the eighth century B.C. to the early imperial
period.133 At the end of the first century B.C., Dionysios of Halikarnassos, for
instance, compared the leaping and capering dance of the Roman Salii to that
of the Greek Kouretes.134
But we do not know whether the Kouretes in 29 B.C. (or later) performed
a weapon dance (pyrriche) in imitation of what Strabo says happened in Ortygia at the births of Apollo and Artemis, for the purpose(s) of stimulating an
epiphany of the goddess, honoring her, or training the young men of the city for
warfare.135 There is no evidence, in fact, that any of the participants in the Ephesian festival at the end of the first century B.C. acted out any of the parts of the
hieros logos of Artemis’s mysteries, as initiates into the Eleusinian mysteries
clearly did when they went looking for Kore and as initiates into the Samothracian mysteries did when they searched for Harmonia.136
In the absence of more detailed information or an explanation from Strabo
or contemporary Ephesian sources, the myth of the nine Kouretes on Crete
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as related by another first-century writer, Diodorus Siculus, in Book V, Chapters 60–71, of his Bibliotheke perhaps is suggestive at least of what the presence and activities of the Ephesian Kouretes at the general festival in 29 B.C.
may have evoked, beyond what is implied by their symposia and mystic sacrifices.137 As previously stated, there are extensive narrative parallels between the
very full account Diodorus gives about the birth of Zeus on Crete and the outline of the story we already have found in Strabo about the birth of Artemis in
Ortygia. In fact, the parallels are so striking and sustained that some scholars
have attempted to establish a direct genealogical link between the Cretan and
the Ephesian Kouretes found in the two stories.138 But no concrete evidence
proves that the Ephesian Kouretes were descended from the Cretan Kouretes,
and the origins of the Ephesian Kouretes, at present, are “irretrievable.”139 However, even if no direct genealogical link can be established convincingly, we perhaps may use Diodorus’s detailed and somewhat convoluted tale of the Cretan
Kouretes’ role in the birth of Zeus to understand how and why the story of the
Ephesian Kouretes may have been important to the sanctuary and the polis of
Ephesos during the late first century B.C.
At the beginning of Book V, Chapter 65, Diodorus cites unnamed sources
who recorded that after the Idaean Dactyli, there were nine Kouretes. Some
writers reported that these Kouretes were born of the earth, but others claimed
that they were descended from the Idaean Dactyli. These Kouretes made their
homes in mountainous places that were thickly wooded and full of ravines.140
Because the Kouretes excelled in wisdom, they discovered many things of
use to humanity. They were the first to gather sheep into flocks, to domesticate
several other kinds of animals, and to make honey. They also introduced the art
of shooting with a bow and the ways of hunting animals. Moreover, the Cretan
Kouretes showed humankind how “to live and associate together in a common
life, and they were the originators of concord and of orderly behavior.”141
The Kouretes on Crete also invented swords and helmets and the war dance,
by means of which they raised a great alarm and deceived Kronos. When Rhea,
the mother of Zeus, entrusted him to the Kouretes unbeknownst to his father
Kronos, they took Zeus under their care and nurtured him.142
In Chapter 66, because Diodorus proposed to set forth the affair of Zeus’s
birth in more detail, he then takes up the account of the birth at an earlier point
in the Cretan cosmology. According to Diodorus, the Cretans reported that
the Kouretes were in the prime of life when the Titans were still living in the
Knosian lands, where there were foundations of a house of Rhea and a cypress
grove consecrated to her from ancient times.143
Diodorus then gives the names of the Titans (Kronos, Hyperion, Koios,
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111
Iapetos, Krios, Okeanos, Rhea, Themis, Mnemosyne, Phoebe, and Tethys) and
explains, “Each of them was the discoverer of things of benefit to mankind, and
because of the benefaction they conferred upon all men, they were accorded
honors and everlasting fame.”144
In Chapter 67, Diodorus records what his sources said about Hyperion, the
birth of Leto from Coeus and Phoebe, the birth of Prometheus to Iapetos, and
Prometheus’s discovery of those things that gave forth fire and from which it
could be kindled. Chapter 68 begins with a statement about the births of Hestia, Demeter, Hera, Zeus, Poseidon, and Hades to Kronos and Rhea, followed
by accounts of what Hestia and Demeter had brought to humanity and the honors and sacrifices accorded to them. The chapter closes with reports about the
discoveries of Poseidon and Hades.
At the beginning of Chapter 70 we return to the story of the birth of Zeus.
According to Diodorus, some said that Zeus had succeeded to the kingship of
his father Kronos in the manner prescribed by custom and justly. Others recounted a myth that an oracle had been delivered to Kronos regarding the birth
of Zeus which stated that the son who would be born to him would wrest his
kingdom from him by force.145
Because of the oracle, Kronos did away with the children whom he begot.
But when Zeus was born to the Titaness Rhea, by the din of their war dance
the Kouretes raised a great alarm and deceived Kronos.146 Rhea then concealed
Zeus from Kronos in Mount Idê, entrusting the rearing of the infant to the
Kouretes, who lived in the neighborhood of the mountain.147 The Kouretes took
Zeus under their care and bore him off to a cave where they gave him over to the
nymphs with the command that they minister to his every need. The nymphs
nurtured the child on a mixture of honey and milk and brought him up at the
udder of the goat named Amaltheia.148
Diodorus then reports that many evidences of the birth and upbringing
of the god remained on the island. When Zeus was being carried away by the
Kouretes while still an infant, the umbilical cord fell from him near the river
known as Triton. That spot had been made sacred and called Omphalus after
the incident. In like manner, the plain about it was known as Omphaleium.
Moreover, on Mount Idê, where Zeus was nurtured, the cave in which he spent
his days was made sacred to him; and the meadows around the cave, which lay
upon the ridges of the mountain, were also consecrated to him. The god himself,
wishing to preserve an immortal memorial of his close association with the bees,
changed their color, making it copper with the gleam of gold. Moreover, since
the bees had to range over wintry stretches at a very great altitude, Zeus made
them insensible to winds and heavy snows.149
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After Zeus took over the kingly power from Kronos, he conferred benefactions of the greatest number and importance upon humankind. He was the
first of all “to lay down rules regarding acts of injustice and to teach men to deal
justly one with another, to refrain from deeds of violence, and to settle their differences by appeals to men and to courts of justice.” In short, he contributed in
abundance to the practices that were concerned with obedience to law and with
peace, prevailing upon good men by persuasion and intimidating evil men by
threat of punishment and by their fear.150
There are certainly numerous topographical and narrative parallels between
the very full (if somewhat confusing) story Diodorus reports about the Cretan Kouretes and what Strabo briefly relates about the Ephesian Kouretes. A
grove of cypress trees, a river, and a prominent mountain are topographical features common to both stories. The Titans on Crete had their dwelling in the
land about Knosos, at the place where there were the foundations of a house
of Rhea and a cypress grove consecrated to her. Ephesian Ortygia was a magnificent grove of trees, mostly of cypress (according to Strabo). When the Cretan Kouretes carried away Zeus, the umbilical cord fell from him near the river
known as Triton. As we have seen, the Kenchrios River figured prominently in
the story of Leto giving birth to Artemis and Apollo in Ortygia; it was where
Leto bathed after her labors.151 Perhaps most significantly, the abode of the Cretan Kouretes was in the neighborhood of Mount Idê; the Ephesian Kouretes
were stationed above Ortygia on Mount Solmissos.
There also are obvious narrative parallels between the two nativity stories
told about the Kouretes. According to Diodorus the Cretan Kouretes raised a
great alarm by their war dance and so deceived Kronos. They then took Zeus
under their care and saw to his nurture. In Strabo’s account of the birth of
Artemis in Ortygia, by the din of their arms the Ephesian Kouretes frightened
Hera when she was jealously spying on Leto and helped Leto to conceal from
Hera the birth of her children.152 Both sets of Kouretes provided some form
of apotropaic assistance at the birth of a deity. The threat of violence (but not
actual violence) by armed warriors and deceit are also common to both stories.
The Cretan and Ortygian Kouretes were essentially armed guards or guardians
of the birth of deities. It was their willingness to take up arms and defend either
Zeus or Apollo and Artemis that in effect saved the deities.
On closer inspection, however, some crucial differences also can be seen
between the stories about the two sets of Kouretes. The Cretan Kouretes deceived Kronos; the Ephesian Kouretes frightened Hera and then concealed the
birth of Leto’s children from her. Moreover, the narrative focus of the Cretan
story is upon the Kouretes’ care of the infant Zeus; Strabo says nothing about
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the Ephesian Kouretes caring for Artemis and Apollo after the birth. The main
benefits that the Ephesian Kouretes bestow upon Leto and her children are
frightening Hera and concealing the birth. Beyond these, there is no story of
other benefits made to humankind, at least in the story Strabo gives. We hear
nothing about the Ephesian Kouretes gathering sheep, domesticating animals,
or making honey. They do not introduce the art of shooting with a bow or hunting animals. Despite the obvious semantic resonance of their name, if the Ephesian Kouretes showed humankind how to live and associate together in a common life and were the originators of concord and of orderly behavior, Strabo
does not say so.
The two stories linked the two sets of Kouretes to related, but also chronologically distinct, generations of gods. The story of the Kouretes in Diodorus
connected the Cretan Kouretes to the generation of the Titans, to Kronos and
Rhea, and above all to the birth of Zeus. Strabo linked the Ephesian Kouretes
much more closely to the next generation, first to Zeus and his sister/wife Hera,
but much more intimately to Leto and the birth of Leto’s children, Artemis and
Apollo. Diodorus’s story of the Cretan Kouretes deceiving Kronos and nurturing Zeus belonged to the time when Kronos still ruled. The myth of the Ephesian Kouretes frightening Hera belonged to the time after Zeus had overthrown
the rule of his father. Most importantly, the story of the Ephesian Kouretes
especially was associated temporally and substantively with the established rule
of Zeus and the other Olympian deities.
Comparing the role of the Cretan Kouretes in the birth of Zeus to that of
the Ephesian Kouretes in the birth of Artemis helps to bring out how the Ephesian Kouretes connected Ephesos to the rule of Zeus and the second generation
of Olympian deities. Even if the Ephesian Kouretes of 29 B.C. did not perform
a weapon dance or any of the other acts that Strabo attributed to the original
Ephesian Kouretes, the Kouretes’ very presence at the festival and the activities
for which we have evidence, including the symposia and mystic sacrifices, alone
must have evoked the divine nativity story and connected the celebration backward in time to the births of Artemis and Apollo, to Leto, and to Zeus.153
The Ephesian Kouretes had helped to bring the second generation of
Olympian deities into existence through their assistance to Leto. Unlike the
Cretan Kouretes, the Ephesian Kouretes had not helped to make the rule of
Zeus possible, but they certainly helped to transfer that rule down into the next
generation. The Ephesian Kouretes, in other words, embodied the connection
between the celebration of the mysteries; the Artemision, which supervised
those celebrations at the time; and the fully established Olympian order.154
In broad terms, then, the story of the nativity in Ortygia exemplified a
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model of Olympian dependence upon the Kouretes. Without the defensive assistance and deception of the Kouretes, Leto might not have given birth successfully to Artemis and Apollo. When the latter-day Ephesian Kouretes held
their symposia and mystic sacrifices at the general festival, the story of how the
original Kouretes had saved Leto, Artemis, and Apollo and helped to consolidate the Olympian order must have been evoked in the minds of initiates and
spectators, even if the myth itself was not reenacted along the lines that Picard
imagined. As Sarah Johnston has argued in her article about the Homeric Hymn
to Hermes and its performative context, myths narrated in institutionalized settings and sequences of actions at festivals could convey the same message(s) to
audiences without maintaining exact parallels.155
What might have been the significance, then, of the evocation of the story
of Artemis’s birth in Ortygia around 29 B.C., whether it was related to Strabo
or somehow evoked at the general festival? Or, to ask the question in a different
way, what were the synchronical tensions that such a diachronical theory of origins served as a code to express?156
After the turmoil of the previous decade or so, in 29 B.C. the Ephesians
had good reasons to emphasize the role that the Kouretes had played in defending Leto, Artemis, and Apollo and helping to establish the Olympian order. As
we have seen, in 41 B.C. Antony, the new Dionysos, had doubled the area of
asylum surrounding the temple of Artemis. Although this extension came as
a form of compensation, we can assume that it was welcome to the priests of
the Artemision. Moreover, the increase came partially at the spatial expense of
the polis. Antony and Kleopatra also spent the winter of 33/32 B.C. in Ephesos,
joined by their allies within the senatorial order and a huge fleet. After Actium,
it was to Ephesos that Octavian (who encouraged the idea that he was favored
by Apollo, god of discipline, morality, and moderation, since shortly after the
battle of Naulochus in 36 B.C.) came first.157 Given the warm welcome Antony
had received from the Ephesians, it can be surmised that the polis and especially the Artemision had reason to fear the attitude of the boy butcher (adulescens carnifex). After Antony’s expansion of the asylum of the Artemision, what
would be Octavian’s attitude toward the Artemision and Artemis?
It may have been prudent for the priests of the Artemision in 29 B.C. to emphasize the connection of the Kouretes (who were based in the Artemision to
that point in time) to the story of Artemis’s and Apollo’s births in a grove nearby
and to the Olympian order, rather than to focus upon their relations with Octavian’s most dangerous Roman enemy and his Ptolemaic consort, and the privileges that he (Antony) had granted to the Artemision.
At the time when the Romans were developing elements of a new, ecu-
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menical justification for their rule that located the establishment of Augustus’s
veiled monarchy firmly within the Olympian order, the story of how the Ephesian Kouretes warded off Hera and helped to consolidate the Olympian order
and dynasty may also have been a subtle way of providing a kind of parallel
claim about the role of the Ephesians in the establishment of Augustus’s order
and dynasty.158 In the disordered world of the late first century B.C., just after
a period when many in the Roman empire, including figures such as Horace
and Virgil, worried that the world was doomed, the myth of how the Kouretes
helped to secure Olympian rule may have been a way of grounding and justifying Ephesos’s place in the Roman empire’s restored order.159 The evocation of
the story at the general festival, through the Kouretes’ symposia and mystic sacrifices, could be taken as a kind of reminder that the Kouretes/Ephesians were
on the right side, indeed had taken a proactive role, in the establishment of the
parallel Olympian/Augustan orders. Such a reminder might help Octavian to
forget or overlook Ephesos’s longstanding connections to, indeed periodic rule
by, the Ptolemaic dynasty and Egypt in general. Those Egyptian connections,
which went back to the fourteenth century B.C., when Ephesos was a Luwian
city named Aspasa, were diplomatically forgotten in the aftermath of Actium
and the new world order. After 31 B.C. both Romans and Ephesians had reasons
to remember their pasts and Egyptian connections differently.
Whoever was responsible for providing Strabo with the information that
he used in his brief gloss on the role of the Kouretes in the birth of Artemis, and
for whatever reason(s), Octavian/Augustus himself, Roman proconsuls, and
imperial legates certainly restored some of the revenues of the goddess, reestablished the boundaries of the sanctuary, and then limited some of its sacred privileges. By the end of the first century B.C., the emperor also at least had signed
off on the idea that the administration of the Artemision no longer would be
the sole arbiter of how Artemis’s birth was to be celebrated.
AU G U S TU S A N D T H E A RT E M I S I O N
It is probable that Pompey, the assassins of Caesar, and Antony all had appropriated funds ultimately generated from Artemis’s fields for use in their struggles
against Caesar, the Triumvirs, and finally Octavian himself.160 These appropriations form at least part of the background to our understanding of Augustus’s
subsequent relations with the Artemision. In 23/22 B.C., during the proconsulate of Sextus Appuleius, Octavian, now referred to as Augustus Caesar, restored
to the goddess revenues from sacred fields.161 Two boundary stone inscriptions,
from the modern villages of Büyük Kale and Küçük Kale, probably refer to
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the restoration of the revenues under Augustus.162 We also possess three of the
actual boundary stones from this restoration, found in Küçük Kale and Çatal
(just south of ancient Larisa).163
The inscription from 23/22 B.C. is particularly significant, because it shows
first that the emperor could and did intervene in the financial affairs of a sanctuary located within a province that supposedly had been given back to the Senate
and the Roman people.164 The inscription is quite emphatic on this point. The
restoration of the revenues was made “by the judgement of Caesar Augustus”
(lines 7–8).165
Augustus undoubtedly was motivated by a desire to see to it that the “Treasury of Asia” was placed on a secure financial footing after the attempts of his
Roman predecessors to make unscheduled withdrawals. The temple of Artemis
had to be financially solvent if Ephesos, and Asia as a whole, were to remain at
peace.166 But if Augustus showed little hesitation about involving himself in the
financial affairs of the goddess, presumably both to her and his own ultimate advantage, he showed no less willingness to circumscribe her rights in other areas.
According to Strabo, Augustus Caesar nullified Antony’s extension of
the asylum of the sanctuary after Antony had doubled the area included after
Mithradates’s expansion of it (thus including part of the polis itself ); the right of
asylum was returned to the standard radius of one stadium (about 606 feet).167
Although it has often been overlooked, this passage in Strabo implies that before Antony’s extension of the asylum, the sanctuary and the polis were at least
physically separate entities. This undoubtedly was one of the intended effects
of Lysimachos’s foundation of Arsinoeia.168 Antony’s extension of the asylum
of the sanctuary, which extended Mithradates’s enlargement, had broken down
both the physical and legal boundaries between the sanctuary and the polis.
Augustus nullified Antony’s extension of the asylum area, according to
Strabo, because Antony’s extension of the refuge had proved harmful, putting
the polis in the power of “criminals” (that is, his opponents). The clear implication of Strabo’s statement is that Augustus was concerned that criminals were
claiming the right of asylum of the sanctuary within the physical space of the
polis. “Criminals” were hiding behind Artemis’s legal skirt. The problem was
one of law and order for the polis. It is possible, in fact, that the impetus for the
nullification came from the polis itself.169
Augustus Caesar therefore reestablished the physical and, by implication,
legal boundary between the sanctuary and the polis, at least with respect to
the right of asylum. He thereby provided an example of how individuals in antiquity distinguished between spaces in which different sets of rules applied to
behavior, according to whether the spaces were under the authority of a temple
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117
administration (or deity) or a polis.170 Following the logic of the policy of Lysimachos, Augustus literally redrew a line on the ground between the Artemision
and the polis. For the sake of the polis, Augustus trimmed Artemis’s legal skirt,
even though, by the mid-second century A.D., at least according to Kleitophon,
the hero of Achilles Tatius’s novel, the sanctuary had once again become a refuge
for criminals.171
Although we do not know exactly when Augustus nullified Antony’s extension of the asylum of the sanctuary, from a bilingual inscription found in place
by Wood during the late 1870s, we know that by 6/5 B.C. there was an Augusteum, perhaps next to or within the precinct of the Artemision.172 In that year,
at any rate, Augustus caused the temple of Artemis and the Augusteum to be
surrounded by a wall. The cost of the wall was to be defrayed from the sacred
revenues of the goddess.173 The legate Sextus Lartidius had been put in charge of
the work. It is possible that this inscription marked the new, Augustan boundaries of the asylum of the temple. This inscription also reveals that, perhaps after
limiting the area of asylum of the sanctuary and separating the sanctuary from
the polis, Augustus once again intervened directly in the financial affairs of the
sanctuary as well.174
Two inscriptions from the same year (6/5 B.C.), from the peribolos (perimeter wall) of the Artemision, perhaps add some additional information about
Augustus’s cancellation of Antony’s extension of the asylum of the temple.175
Under the direction of the legate Sextus Lartidius once again, Augustus had
caused to be erected to Artemis sacred boundary pillars of the roads and watercourses. It is likely that these inscriptions reflect the perceived need to define the
limits of the authority of the goddess over the roads that led to the temple. The
purpose of the sacred stelai (stone slabs) mentioned in the two inscriptions was
to mark the length and width of the roadways claimed by the goddess.176 Demarcating these boundaries should be interpreted as an act that was favorable
to Artemis.177
Another very fragmentary inscription, also to be dated to the reign of Augustus, refers to the work (probably) of the surveyors who marked the boundaries that had been restored by Augustus referred to in the previous two inscriptions (nos. 1523 and 1524).178 In this fragmentary inscription (no. 1525), the
authors record that they had set up a fifteenth stele against the sacred land; a
sixteenth against the temples, where the stone fence was, opposite to that which
had been set up; a seventeenth stele against some other boundaries; and then,
in like manner, the eighteenth, nineteenth, twentieth, and twenty-first stelai,
opposite other specified landmarks. The full inscription undoubtedly gave a
complete list of all the stelai that marked off the land of the goddess. Unfortu-
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nately, because of the inscription’s fragmentary nature, we cannot tell exactly
where the sacred land of the goddess ended and that of the polis began.
Yet another fragmentary inscription, broken into two parts—the first
found built into a wall in the city of Selçuk and the second discovered in Ephesos itself—probably also refers to the work of the surveyors during the reign of
Augustus. In a context that cannot be completely reconstructed, there are references to the horistai (probably some of the actual boundary stones); some kind
of financial manager, probably of the sacred monies of the deities; and perhaps
places or stelai on the left side of the sanctuary.179 In the second fragment of the
inscription, we find references to the placing of stelai, the financial manager
again, the act of setting up the stelai, and the first boundary stone. It is possible
that this fragmentary inscription gives a record of the management of the process of setting up the boundary stones by the surveyors.
In line 7 of the first fragment (no. 3513 [a]), the inscription perhaps suggests
that the work described was paid for out of the sacred revenues, just as we have
discovered that Augustus ordered in the case of the wall surrounding the sanctuary and the Augusteum.180 In fact, it is possible that this fragmentary inscription
is the record of that work.
The evidence from Strabo and the fragmentary inscriptions reveals that,
although citizens of Ephesos may have taken the initiative in the organization
of the double cult of Roma and Iulius in 29 B.C., by 6/5 B.C. the emperor Augustus himself and his legate were intervening directly in the affairs of the Artemision. His restoration to the goddess of the sacred revenues from the fields
must be seen against the background of the use of those revenues by his Roman
predecessors and rivals. Augustus wanted to deny the use of those revenues to
any potential political rivals or troublemakers. At the same time, he must have
wanted to put the sanctuary on a firm financial basis.181
Because of his fear of “criminals” operating with legal impunity within the
polis, Augustus also limited the asylum area of the sanctuary, which his predecessors had caused to overlap with the territory of the polis itself. The effect of
this measure was to draw a hard physical and legal line on the ground between
the sanctuary and the polis. Moreover, as we have seen, there are some indications that he ordered the wall and the boundary stones that marked that line
to be paid for by the sanctuary.182 It is against this historical background that
the removal of the Kouretes, whom we first met in the citizenship decree for
Euphronius of Acarnania in 302 B.C., to the newly built prytaneion of the polis
should be understood.
Plate 1. This nearly ten-foot-tall statue of Artemis, known as the “Great Artemis,”
stood in the courtyard of the prytaneion in the city by the early second century A.D.
The pendants hanging from her chest probably represent the testicles of bulls sacrificed to her during the celebrations of the mysteries. The Ephesians believed that the
testicles gave Artemis the procreative power to act as midwife for the birth of bees,
which were associated with the souls of initiates. From the sacrifice of the bulls and
the birth of the bees initiates into the mysteries of Artemis learned that there was
life in death.
Plate 2. The Bouleuterion was where the city council of Roman imperial Ephesos met
and set the legislative agenda of the polis. By the mid-second century almost a quarter
of the city councilors were, or had been, members of the association of Kouretes who
celebrated Artemis’s mysteries every spring in the grove named Ortygia a few miles
southwest of the city.
Plate 3. Every year seven to eight hundred thousand visitors make their way up to the
Meryemana Evi, or “Home of Mother Mary,” on Bülbüldag, or Nightingale Mountain, only a few miles from where the Ephesians celebrated the mysteries of Artemis
for more than half a millennium. Many Christians and Muslims identify the Meryemana Evi as the place where Jesus’s mother, Mary, lived, died, and was buried, based
on the visions of Anna Katharina Emmerick of Coesfeld in Westfalia. The written
prayers and requests for divine help of pilgrims are left tied to a fence beneath the
sanctuary's chapel.
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THE TRANSFER OF THE KOURETES:
TH E L EGAC Y OF LYS I MAC HO S
Our first piece of evidence that the Kouretes had moved from the Artemision
to the prytaneion derives from an inscription dated to the reign of Tiberius
(A.D. 14 to 37).183 The inscription presents a list of six Kouretes during the
prytany of Nikomachos Theudas.184 In principle, therefore, the transfer of the
Kouretes could be dated to this time. Nevertheless, there are circumstantial reasons for believing that the transfer took place around the turn of the first century B.C. or shortly thereafter.185
Such a date certainly would fit much more closely with the construction
period of the prytaneion. The most recent excavators of the prytaneion, where
Hestia’s hearth was located and the Eternal Fire (Pur Aphtharton) burned (in
rooms 2–4), have dated the construction of this new structure to the Augustan
era, specifically to the last decade of the first century B.C. (Maps 4, 6, and 7,
no. 24).186
The transfer of the Kouretes to the prytaneion (perhaps specifically to a
new base of operations in rooms 5 and 6) in the middle of the reign of Augustus
also fits well into the pattern of Augustus’s publicly documented interactions
with the Artemision.187 As we have seen, Octavian/Augustus himself was directly involved in managing the revenues and sacred rights of the Artemision
from 29 B.C. right up to the time when construction on the prytaneion already
must have begun. There then seems to have been a new initiative undertaken
around 6/5 B.C., well after (then) Octavian had significant dealings with the
sanctuary in the immediate aftermath of the battle of Actium.
We also have evidence of his interest in and use of Artemis and especially
Apollo—the youthful god, warlike patron of young men, and healer—as promoters of his cause since at least 36 B.C.188 Moreover, Octavian had been involved in restoring temples and also reviving ancient priesthoods well before his
censorship of 28 B.C., during which he later claimed to have restored or rebuilt
no fewer than eighty-two temples in the city of Rome (besides building several
others).189
For all of these reasons, Knibbe, who published the inscriptions from the
prytaneion in an exemplary volume of Forschungen in Ephesos, has hypothesized that the transfer of the Kouretes should be associated with the policies
of Augustus. Specifically, Knibbe has argued that the move was part of the new
political order in Ephesos established by Augustus. In this order, the temple of
Artemis was stripped of its political role in the life of the city. While the sacred
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fields of Artemis were restored, the area within which the temple claimed the
right of asylum was limited.190
Another part of the Augustan political policy was to move the Kouretes
from the temple of Artemis to the prytaneion, which was to be the cultic focal
point of “Roman” Ephesos.191 In this area of the polis, the monumental building complex of the Augustan era described above, including the three-aisled
basilica stoa along the western side of the sanctuary, symbolized the unification
of foreigners and Roman citizens as residents of the free city of Ephesos (Maps
6 and 7, no. 21).192 This urban space was both the product of actions by those
who constructed the temenos and the buildings within it and also, thereafter,
the spatial medium of subsequent actions, including all the cultic activities that
took place within the buildings.193
Once they were based at the prytaneion, the Kouretes are no longer found
recommending citizenship for foreigners such as Euphronius of Acarnania to
the Boule of Ephesos, as they had done during the late fourth and/or early third
centuries B.C.194 We also do not find the Kouretes of the imperial era sent out on
embassies to powerful military officers. Nor do we discover them attesting to the
fairness of leases, as they had done during the early third century.195 Therefore,
the transfer of the Kouretes from the Artemision to the prytaneion undoubtedly removed from the Artemision an association that had played a role in the
politics of the city since the fourth century B.C. But the removal of the Kouretes
to the prytaneion also stripped the Artemision of some of its religious authority.
If Knibbe is right about who was behind the transfer of the Kouretes, Augustus minimally sanctioned, or possibly even directed (either in person or
through one of his governors or agents, such as Vedius Pollio), the removal of
the archeion most closely associated with the story of the birth of Artemis from
the Artemision and placed it under new management, specifically the prytanis, within the prytaneion.196 The prytanis, as an elected official of the polis,
reported not to the administration of the temple but to the Boule and to the
demos.197 The Megabuzos, who may or may not have had a role in the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis during the fourth century B.C., in any case
seems to disappear altogether from the epigraphical record during the Roman
imperial period, and when the Kouretes left for their new home in the prytaneion, they seem to have left behind in the sanctuary the neopoiai, the Essenes,
and the oikonomoi, whom we found operating in association with the sanctuary
during the late fourth or early third centuries B.C.
The transfer of the Kouretes to the prytaneion was part of a general redistribution of authority and space in Ephesos that was both political and religious because those two spheres of action were inextricably intertwined in the
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121
diffused and embedded religion of the Greek polis founded by Lysimachos.198
In that redistribution, even as the priests and priestesses of the Artemision had
some of the revenues of the goddess restored to them by Augustus, they lost
at least some control over the celebration of her birth. Most significantly, they
were deprived of the authority to prescribe categorically how her mysteries
would be celebrated and so how the goddess would be defined at the celebration of her mysteries. If we are right about the impetus behind the transfer of
the Kouretes from the Artemision to the prytaneion, it was none other than the
first Roman emperor himself who sanctioned this change. The celebration of
the mysteries of Artemis thereafter was implicated in that Roman intervention,
and, not surprisingly, the worship of Artemis at the mysteries was soon afterward theologically entwined with first reverence for, and finally worship of, the
Roman emperors. It will be made clear subsequently that the impetus for that
change lay, not with the emperors, but with the Ephesians themselves. Artemis’s
wealthy Roman Kouretes created a new hierarchy of piety within the cult that
mirrored and legitimated their own values and positions of authority.
THE EPHESIAN REVOLUTION
The removal of the Kouretes from the Artemision to the prytaneion of the
temenos/upper agora of Ephesos thus was one of the defining moments in
the history of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, not to mention in
the history of the city itself. That moment happened at the same time that the
Ephesians, or more specifically, wealthy Roman freedmen and the council of
Roman merchants in Ephesos, were busy creating a new urban space “zoned”
for the worship of Roman gods and heroes in the upper agora and also were
redefining the use of the lower agora of Lysimachos’s foundation.199 Indeed, it
was a revolutionary moment that ultimately led to the creation of a new association of Artemis’s “youths,” the vast majority of whom thereafter were Roman citizens and members of the Boule. Their participation in the festival, and
the subsequent publication of the Kouretes’ lists on the architectural elements
of the new prytaneion, was an unmistakable indication of how the world had
changed in favor of Octavian/Augustus and his adherents and was inextricably
connected to Octavian’s victory at Actium. It was not long after the battle of
Actium that the urban, architectural, and epigraphical face of Ephesos and the
festival began to bear the organizational, social, theological, and ritual imprints
of Octavian’s military and political victory.
CHAPTER 5
Kouretes eusebeis
WHEN STRABO VISITED EPHESOS in 29 B.C., the neoi put on splendid
banquets in Ortygia during the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. The
Kouretes also held symposia and performed mystic sacrifices. The Kouretes’
presence and cultic activities at the general festival must have evoked Strabo’s
story of how the original Kouretes had protected Leto’s giving birth to Artemis
and Apollo and ultimately had helped to expand and solidify Olympian rule.
The celebration of the mysteries thus included a yearly reminder of the connections between the Ephesians and the Olympian dynasty.
The Artemision had been the institutional base of the archeion of the
Kouretes from at least the fourth century B.C. Augustus and his governors and
friends separated the Artemision from the polis of Ephesos physically and also
legally, at least with respect to the issue of asylum. Augustus then minimally
sanctioned the removal of the Kouretes from the Artemision to the prytaneion,
the cultic and administrative center of the rapidly developing upper agora of
Ephesos. The Kouretes took along with them the authority of the priests and
priestesses of the Artemision to decide exclusively how the birth of Artemis
was to be celebrated at the mysteries. By the end of the first century B.C., the
prytanis supervised some of the most important rituals that took place during
the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries, including the activities of the Kouretes.1
After the polis assumed control of at least some of the rituals and musical
accompaniment to the celebration of the mysteries, it did not hesitate to make
changes to those celebrations in light of its goals during the first century A.D.
Although those changes may not always have affected the actual reenactment
of Artemis’s birth—if any such reenactment took place—the implications of
the changes must be seen against the background of the polis’s use of the story
of Artemis’s birth at Ephesos to safeguard some of its legal privileges before the
Roman Senate. By the middle of the reign of Tiberius (A.D. 14 to 37) the sacred
story of Artemis’s birth was the defining event in the Ephesians’ account of their
own history, and the polis used the story to justify and demonstrate publicly its
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Kouretes eusebeis
123
authority and power to its own citizens, to its civic rivals in Asia, to the Roman
Senate, and even to the emperor. The celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis
indeed became a ritual fusion of both the lived-in and dreamed- of orders of
reality in Ephesos.2
THE LISTS OF KOURETES AND THE
EVIDENCE FROM THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS
By the reign of Tiberius, yearly lists of Kouretes were being inscribed upon the
various architectural elements of the Doric façade of the stoa that led into the
prytaneion of the upper agora, including its architrave, its column capitals, and
the shafts of the columns (Maps 4, 6, and 7, no. 24).3 In these lists the names of
the yearly Kouretes usually followed the name of the prytanis of the year.4 The
office of the prytanis can be traced back epigraphically as far as the early fourth
century B.C. in Ephesos.5 Before the time of the prytaneis whose names appear
atop the lists of Kouretes, however, we know very little about the prytaneis, except that all of the early ones whose names have been preserved are male, the
vast majority were peregrines (free citizens of Ephesos), and some also served as
priests of Rome, Dionysos Phleus, Apollo Pythios, and Asclepios or as agonothetes of the Dionysia (director of the local Dionysian festival).6 At least some
sons followed their fathers into the office, and some of the early prytaneis were
wealthy enough to sponsor acts of public euergetism or to serve in other public
offices.7 By the time that the prytaneis appear above the names of the Kouretes
in the inscriptions from the new prytaneion, the yearly prytany (prytaneia) was
one of the most important and prestigious offices of the polis, and later on at
least, some of the wealthiest men and women in the polis undertook the office.
From the “Summary of Ancestral Law” (discussed in Chapter 8) which can be
dated to the late second or perhaps early third century A.D., we know that the
responsibilities of the prytanis were far more than purely honorary. The prytanis was actively involved in performing rites and sacrifices to the gods throughout the year.8
From the earliest lists of Kouretes we also see that beneath the names of
the Kouretes were inscribed the names and ritual office titles of various cult
attendants (later called hierourgoi ) who apparently helped the prytaneis and
Kouretes perform certain rituals or artistic tasks at the celebrations of the mysteries (if not on other occasions) as we know from their office titles.9 During the
early first century A.D. the priests and artists included among the hierourgoi of
the prytaneion took over most of the actual ritual tasks that the Kouretes themselves probably had performed earlier at the mysteries. From the office titles of
Reerected columns of the Doric façade of the stoa of the prytaneion.
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125
the individual cult attendants, we may deduce what kinds of rituals were performed during the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries from the reign of Tiberius into the third century A.D.10
Unfortunately, only two of the surviving lists of the Kouretes from this
period can be dated precisely (to the years A.D. 92/93 and 104) as a result of
analysis of other datable inscriptions that confirm when the prytaneis of the
relevant years held office.11 Nevertheless, sixty other lists of Kouretes can be
fitted into a relative chronology of six stages in the development of the association based upon changes in the given order of the ritual offices held by the cult
attendants.12 The inscriptions of this relative chronology date from the reign of
Tiberius into the first half of the third century A.D.
Despite many chronological problems, from the information provided in
these lists, in addition to what we learn about the rituals that took place at the
celebration of Artemis’s mysteries, we may say something about the social, political, and religious identities of the prytaneis who supervised the celebration
of the mysteries, about the Kouretes who held symposia and performed “mystic
sacrifices” at the mysteries, and about the cult attendants who conducted rituals at the mysteries over a two-hundred-year period. In some cases, we are able
to supplement what we know about individual prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult
attendants from other sources, especially contemporary inscriptions of the polis
discovered by the excavators of the site.
Over the course of the first two centuries A.D. the yearly lists of Kouretes
and their cult attendants put up by the prytaneis gradually covered most of the
southward-facing surfaces of the six columns (in antis, or with a row of columns
between the antae, or pilasters) of the stoa of the prytaneion of Ephesos, as well
as other architectural elements of the building. As such, the lists inscribed upon
the limestone surfaces of the prytaneion constitute an ensemble of texts that we
truly “read over the shoulders” of the Ephesians two thousand years later.13
The majority of the surviving lists were carefully, and even elegantly, inscribed. Some of them were inscribed within gables or included laurel bands or
crowns beneath them.14 Framing the lists within gables and adding crowns to
them symbolized the public character of the prytaneis’, Kouretes’, and cult attendants’ service to the polis and also perhaps civic rewards for meritorious service.
But, as will become clear, the significance of the lists extends well beyond
their public, decorative function and style. Their public presentation was intended to make a claim about, and provide epigraphical corroboration for, the
sacred story of Artemis’s and Apollo’s births at Ephesos (rather than at Delos)
and created, for the first time, as far as we know, a kind of yearly account of what
was deemed to be normative and prescriptive with respect to the celebrations of
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Kouretes’ inscription (Die Inschriften von Ephesos IV 1037) from the prytany of
C. Iulius Princeps during the mid-second century A.D., inscribed on one of the
capitals of the Doric façade of the stoa of the prytaneion, beginning on the abacus
and extending down over the echinus onto the fluting of the column shaft.
the mysteries by the prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult attendants.15 The publication
of the lists, in other words, made the celebrations implicitly, if not explicitly, historical. Readers or “reading communities” of these grammatically simple, somewhat formulaic Greek texts, who would not have had to be fully literate to read
them, could identify who had celebrated the mysteries, could see what had been
done from year to year, and could compare what had been done in the past with
the present if they spent more than a few seconds gazing at the lists.16 In fact, the
texts themselves became a written tradition for what was supposed to happen at
the mysteries. In outline, at least, the lists established a kind of canon of rituals
and made it possible for people to develop a sense of that canon—and of course
who was in charge of constructing it.17 Indeed, the yearly inscribing of who had
done what at the mysteries identified who had the authority to do what should
be done at the festival, and also made those who celebrated the mysteries on the
polis’s behalf members of a kind of diachronic epigraphical community that had
celebrated the mysteries.18
The finely carved lists of prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult attendants from the
prytaneion, which appeared there regularly only after the decisive battle of Ac-
Kouretes’ inscription (Die Inschriften von Ephesos IV 1034) dated
between A.D. 130 and 140, within a gable.
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Kouretes’ inscription (Die Inschriften von Ephesos IV 1018) dated between A.D. 98 and
101, with a crown to the right of the list of cult attendants, perhaps indicating some
kind of recognition of meritorious service.
tium, were essentially simple ancient billboards that advertised the polis’s control of the celebration of Artemis’s birth. The Kouretes’ lists constituted what
anthropologists have called the textualization, but even more importantly the
historization, of rituals and authority for the mysteries.19 They represented the
engraved social memory of the celebrations, as the prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult
attendants wished them to be memorialized on behalf of the polis.20
T H E C U L T AT T E N D A N T S A N D T H E
C E L E B R AT I O N O F T H E M Y S T E R I E S
DURING THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS
The earliest list of Kouretes from the prytaneion is dated to the prytany of the
peregrine Nikomachos Theudas. Nikomachos’s prytany probably took place
during the reign of Tiberius.21 This list sets out the names of six Kouretes and
names only one cult attendant, a certain Alexandros, who is described as a
spondaules (pipe player).22 Based upon this office title, Alexandros presumably
played the reed-blown double pipe (aulos), which was held out in front of the
player, in this case while libations were poured.23 In the Bacchai of Euripides
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the origins of the double pipe are traced back to the time of Zeus’s birth on
Crete. In that story, the Korybantes/Kouretes invented the drum, and mixing
its sounds with that of the Phrygian aulos, gave it to Rhea.24 The instrument
thus was associated specifically with a divine nativity.
Ancient writers described the sound emanating from the two pipes as they
were played together as shrill, blaring, or booming.25 Music associated with the
double pipe was “loud and raucous,” the opposite of the music associated with
the lyre.26 Nevertheless, playing such an instrument would have required training and musical talent.27 The cult office of the spondaules thus could not have
been simply honorary in nature.
The pouring of the libations while the spondaules played perhaps preceded sacrifices.28 Certainly these pipers often played their popular instrument
on many solemn cult occasions, and we should recall that Artemis’s brother
was especially, though obviously not exclusively, associated with music and
dance among the gods.29 Both in ancient Greece and in other cultures, music
and dance were performed at rituals to please or entertain the gods.30 Military
dances and processions also were performed to the accompaniment of music of
the aulos.31
We probably should assume that the six Kouretes mentioned in this earliest list performed, or at least took part in, the other duties associated with the
celebrations in Ortygia described by Strabo, including sacrifices.32 If we do not
make this assumption, the evidence of this earliest list of Kouretes would appear
to stand in contrast to the information provided in Strabo’s gloss, in which the
archeion of Kouretes was described as holding symposia and performing certain
mystic sacrifices during the yearly festival.33 “Mystic sacrifices” would seem to
imply more than just the pouring of libations during a double pipe recital.
Unless we wish to argue that the Kouretes stopped performing such mystic
sacrifices after the time when Strabo got his information about the celebration
of the festival, only to resume such sacrifices a few decades later in the middle
of the first century A.D., as later lists of Kouretes imply, we should assume,
along with Knibbe, that the earliest list of Kouretes simply does not elaborate
upon the other tasks such as animal sacrifices, incense burning, and drink offerings that were performed by the association of Kouretes at the festival.34 The
Kouretes probably performed these ritual tasks when they were organized as an
archeion of the temple of Artemis before the reign of Augustus and then continued to do so after they were reconstituted as a sunhedrion based at the new
Augustan-era prytaneion.
A relatively contemporary list of Kouretes from the prytany of Artemidoros (another peregrine) may support this assumption about the cult responsi-
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bilities of the Kouretes. In this list from the reign of Tiberius, one member of
the association is described as a hymnodos and another as a hierokeryx.35
A hymnodos was presumably some kind of choral singer. Historically, such
choral singers sang hymns accompanied by lyre and/or flute music in order to
summon the gods.36 The hymns sung by hymnodoi might be associated with a
festival or a sacrifice, might be meant as a petition or thanks, or could be meant
just to honor a deity.37 Apart from the lists of Kouretes, hymnodoi in Ephesos
are associated with the temple of Artemis in the edict of the Roman proconsul
Paullus Fabius Persicus dated around A.D. 44.38 After the time of that decree
these singers were recruited from among the city’s ephebes, which should mean
that they could come from diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.39 An inscription on a sarcophagus for a linen weaver, for instance, identifies the occupant as
a gerousiast (member of the council of elders), lampadarch (official in charge of
a torch race), and hymnodos.40 Not all choral singers, then, were of bouleutic
economic status.
On the other hand, during the second century A.D. we find that the hymnodos M. Aurelius Artemidoros sang songs in praise of Artemis on cult occasions,
and we know that a group of choral singers including T. Claudius Aristion,
probably the son of the famous benefactor (discussed in Chapter 7), performed
as a member of the hymnodoi for Hadrian during his visit to Ephesos in 123.41
At least some hymnodoi, therefore, also came from the very top of the civic
sociopolitical hierarchy during the second century. At relatively the same time
(during the reign of Hadrian) there was an association of initiates called “the
initiates before the polis.”42 This association included a priest of Dionysos, a
hierophant, an epimeletes (supervisor or assistant), a mustagogos (leader of initiates), and a hymnodos.43
Outside of Ephesos, we discover twenty-four hymnodoi from Smyrna
taking part in the provincial cult in A.D. 124 and thirty-six belonging to the
cult of Augustus and Roma in Pergamon.44 Additionally, in Smyrna there were
choral singers of the god Hadrian, of the Gerousia, and perhaps of Dionysos
Breiseus, as well as hymnodoi such as Claudius Melampos, whose associations
are not clear.45 From near Thyateira there were choral singers for Cybele.46 Thus
at least in Smyrna choral singers could serve different gods and/or institutions.
The hierokeryx at Ephesos was not a sacrificial assistant attached only to
the association of the Kouretes, but an older cultic herald of the sacred.47 Apart
from the lists of Kouretes, a hierokeryx, often explicitly of Artemis herself, appears in Ephesian inscriptions outside the religious context of the celebration of
the mysteries of Artemis from the second half of the fourth century B.C. until
at least the time of Gordian III, receiving portions from animal sacrifices and
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131
accompanying statues of all the gods in processions.48 The appearance of several
heralds who also had served as agoranomoi (supervisors of the weights and measures used in the market, among other duties) suggests that at least some heralds came from the mid-tier of the local elite.49 The office of the agoranomos was
typically a mid-ranking civic magistracy in the cities of Roman imperial Asia
Minor.50
From a parallel perspective, however, in the Eleusinian mysteries the aristocratic family of the Kerykes provided the hierokeryx, who was considered to be
a priest, or had the status of a priest, as early as the classical period.51 During the
early second century A.D., the sacred herald in Athens made the announcement
of the prorrhesis (official proclamation) of the beginning of the celebration of
the mysteries.52 Euphonia, or a pleasant voice, was considered to be a desirable
characteristic of the sacred herald of the Eleusinian mysteries.53 Shouting (pleasantly) above the din of the assembled initiates to get their attention during the
celebration of the Eleusinia was one way a sacred herald might have to use his
beautiful voice.
During the second century, appointment to this priesthood in Eleusis was
by election, and the sacred herald served for life.54 Practically every one of the
sacred heralds during the Roman imperial period also came from a family of
civic, religious, or academic distinction.
If the sacred herald at Ephesos had a similar status and performed the same
functions as the sacred herald at Eleusis, then from this early list of Kouretes we
may infer that the Ephesian sacred herald was a priest who perhaps made the
announcement of the beginning of the festival, gave instructions to the initiates,
and called for silence.55 There is no evidence that the sacred heralds from the
early-first-century A.D. lists of Kouretes were drawn from one family within the
polis.56 The lengths of the service of some later holders of this position, however,
suggest that these priests were employed by the prytaneion for life.57
The appearance of the office of the sacred herald in the early lists of Kouretes
suggests that initiation rituals took place at the celebrations of the mysteries
of Artemis during the reign of Tiberius. Based only upon such an analogy of
function, it obviously is impossible to say whether the initiations supervised at
least in part by the Ephesian hierokeryx were voluntary, personal, and secret and
whether such initiations aimed at a change of mind through experience of the
sacred.58
Overall, we may infer minimally from the early lists of Kouretes that there
was some kind of musical recital or double piping while libations were poured at
the festival during the reign of Tiberius. The libations perhaps were poured before sacrifices were made. Mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes certainly had taken
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place in 29 B.C. at the yearly festival. After A.D. 14 a choral song was also sung
and perhaps initiation rituals were held. The sacred herald may have opened up
the festival with an official proclamation and given instructions to the initiates.
Unfortunately, we know nothing about the political, social, or economic
status of Alexandros, the first cult servant mentioned in the lists of Kouretes.
The earliest lists of Kouretes, however, do reveal some interesting and perhaps
even surprising information about the legal and political status(es) of the early
imperial prytaneis and Kouretes.
T H E P R Y TA N E I S A N D K O U R E T E S
DURING THE REIGN OF TIBERIUS
We are able to identify only three prytaneis during the same period to which
the earliest lists of Kouretes are dated: Nikomachos Theudas, Artemidoros, and
Lucius Staidios Attalos.59 The first two seem to have been peregrines though we
know nothing more about them. Staidios was no doubt a Roman citizen, perhaps with some kind of family connection to Pergamon (as is suggested by his
cognomen). What is significant for us about him, however, is not his possible
regional connections. Rather, it is worth noting from this earliest list that Staidios, like so many other prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult attendants during his prytany and later, publicly declared his Roman citizenship by using the tria nomina
(praenomen, nomen, and cognomen) on the list. Thereby he and the Kouretes
and cult attendants associated themselves with Rome and its legal/political
structures of authority in the spatial context of a prytaneion that housed Hestia’s Eternal Fire, the symbol of the city’s health and well-being, and in the cultic context of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries.60 Identifying themselves as
Romans in such contexts clearly was a way for these individuals to project and
reproduce Roman power in the local context.61 In and of itself this might not
seem remarkable or significant, until we remember that Ephesos had been part
of the Roman province of Asia for almost 150 years before lists in which citizens
of Ephesos taking part in a traditional cult of the city chose to identify themselves as citizens of Rome. Actium and Augustus’s reign not only stimulated the
growth of the epigraphical habit; they led to the creation of a new language of
identification with Rome, the emperors, Roman governors, and the structures
of Roman power.
In the complete lists of Kouretes that have been dated to the reign of Tiberius, four and three out of six Kouretes respectively bear the tria nomina of Roman citizens.62 This is the first tangible evidence discovered thus far that Roman
citizens were actively involved in the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of
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133
Ephesos. In the absence of parallel or contemporary lists of members of other
Ephesian sunhedria, it is difficult to say whether this represents a high percentage of Roman citizens for a cultic association at the time or not.
We know, however, from a relatively contemporary inscription put up by
the Demetriasts (who probably were initiates into the mysteries of Demeter
and/or Kore in the polis), that one of the benefactors they honored for their
benefactions to the city and their association was a priestess of Sebaste Demeter
Karpophoros named Servilia Secunda. From this we may conclude that Roman
citizens or women who came from families of Roman citizens were involved in
supporting the cult of Demeter at the very same time that we find the first Roman citizens among the Kouretes (and entailing similar projections of power).63
Overall, however, there is no epigraphical or literary evidence that Roman
citizenship was widespread in the city at the time, and we should remember that
it was not until the reign of Domitian that wealthy Greek provincials entered
into the highest ranks of Roman society in significant numbers.64 In fact, it was
not until well into the second century A.D. that men of eastern provincial origin
began to gain entry into the Roman Senate in large numbers.65 For that reason
it is perhaps somewhat surprising to find that so many of the Kouretes who appear on the very earliest lists of Kouretes were citizens of Rome.66
At the same time, it is important to keep in mind that two of six and three
of six of the Kouretes from the first lists of Kouretes clearly were of peregrine
status;67 that is, they were indigenous Greek citizens of the polis and not simultaneously Roman citizens. Furthermore, Greek citizens of the polis continued to
serve as Kouretes until our evidence disappears.68 The first few lists of Kouretes
show that the door to celebrating Artemis’s birth was open to the Roman citizens of Ephesos. But this door most certainly had not been shut to the purely
Greek citizens of the polis. Indeed, Greek and Roman/Greek Ephesians served
side by side in the polis in all of the institutions, priesthoods, and associations
for which we have evidence.
The reason why we suddenly find Roman citizens of Ephesos serving as
priests of a Greek mystery cult is probably not because Greek Ephesians decided
to open up positions of authority within the cult to Roman citizens. The Greeks
of the early Roman imperial era were not early advocates of cultic affirmative
action. Rather, Roman citizens possessed the capital necessary to help pay for
the cult’s continued operation.
From the second list of Kouretes we are able to develop a kind of political,
economic, and social profile of the early imperial Kouretes. In this second list
from the reign of Tiberius, one of the Kouretes, Theophilos, is known to have
come from a family that was active in at least the internal politics of the polis.
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His grandfather, Memnon, had been secretary during the reign of Augustus.69
One of his father’s brothers, Alexandros, had set up an honorary inscription
(and possibly statue) in the agora for M. Aurelius Cotta Maximus Messalinus,
the proconsul of Asia around A.D. 25/26, as his personal friend and benefactor.70
Another brother, Asklepiades, was apparently involved around 4/3 B.C. in setting up a statue for an unknown recipient along with the prytanis Protogenes,
who also was an agonothete of the Dionysia.71
Theophilos, in other words, belonged, if not to the socioeconomic class in
the city that could qualify for and afford membership in the Boule, then certainly to the group of families that could sponsor these comparatively inexpensive acts of euergetism.72 Beyond indications of the political status and wealth
of some of the Kouretes, the early lists of Kouretes also help us to understand
how the piety of Artemis’s guardians was publicly defined.
THE PIETY OF THE KOURETES
In all of the early lists of Kouretes, Artemis’s youths are described as eusebeis.73
As Steven Friesen has shown, eusebeia (the abstract noun to which the adjective
is related semantically) is a term with a long history in the epigraphical record
of Asia.74 During the Macedonian and Roman periods, eusebeia generally signifies the proper attitude or the disposition that one ought to have toward a
deity.75 Historically, such an attitude or disposition had been demonstrated in
Greek religion by keeping ancestral customs.76 Piety, according to Isocrates, for
instance, consisted of “changing nothing of what our ancestors have handed
down.”77 In this case, on the basis of the evidence from Strabo in 29 B.C., what
could have been handed down to the Kouretes during the reign of Tiberius
might have been knowledge of the custom of holding symposia and performing the mystic sacrifices. Is it possible that the epithet eusebeis signifies that the
Kouretes had been initiated into the mysteries of Artemis, as opposed to just
taking part in or performing at the celebrations?
An inscription from Smyrna may provide an important parallel. There, we
find priestesses, probably of Demeter Karpophoros, praised for providing all the
things necessary “for reverence toward the goddess and for the feast of the initiates.”78 Not far from Ephesos, then, eusebeia was used as part of the vocabulary
to describe the proper attitude of sacred officials involved in the celebration of
mysteries. Moreover, in Samothrace, those who had reached the first stage of initiation into the mysteries usually were designated as mustai eusebeis in inscriptions from the late Hellenistic period into the second century A.D.79
While it surely is a plausible inference that the Ephesian Kouretes had been
Kouretes eusebeis
135
initiated into Artemis’s mysteries, the fact that the term mustai is never used as
one of the Kouretes’ epithets in the inscriptions from the prytaneion should
make us cautious about assuming that those who are called eusebeis in the lists
had been initiated or possibly had achieved some level of initiation. In fact, we
really do not know whether there were officially differentiated stages of initiation within the mysteries of Artemis, as there clearly were in other cults, such as
in those of the Eleusinian mysteries or the mysteries of Mithras.
The self- description of the Ephesian Kouretes as eusebeis nevertheless
should be taken to indicate what they wanted readers of the lists to believe
about their piety with respect to Artemis, on the basis of their participation in
the celebration of the mysteries, including the symposia and the mystic sacrifices.80 If we understand the use of the adjective “pious” in this way, we can see
its deployment here and in subsequent lists, not just as a neutral self-description
of the men who played the part of the Kouretes; rather, the Kouretes chose to
be described epigraphically as “pious” as part of a public, rhetorical strategy
to present themselves to readers as possessing a communally shared religious
quality or virtue that justified and legitimated the positions of authority and
power that they held within the civic hierarchy of Ephesos.81 They had the “right
stuff ” to be Artemis’s defenders for the year: that is, family connections, money,
and civic status, in addition to the appropriate sense of piety. In subsequent
lists we will discover how the Kouretes’ piety with respect to Artemis came to
be redefined in a way that also took into account the power of the Roman emperors.82 It was not an accident that that redefinition was advanced by the pious
members of an association that increasingly was self- defined by the Roman citizenship of its members.
TH E PROC ESS IONA L ROUT E
The early lists of Kouretes present our first solid evidence for the active participation of “pious” Roman Ephesians in the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis of Ephesos. Even as the first Roman citizens served as Kouretes, contemporary archaeological evidence reveals that the Ephesians also were making
some other changes in how the mysteries were celebrated.
Specifically, during the reign of Tiberius the polis of Ephesos altered the
processional route from the urban center of Ephesos up to Ortygia, where the
banquets of the neoi and the symposia and mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes
took place, at least in 29 B.C. At first sight, such changes might seem to be
peripheral to the actual celebration of the mysteries, including the rituals and
artistic performances that the lists of Kouretes confirm were taking place after
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A.D. 14, such as the pouring of libations, double pipe music, possibly sacrifices,
choral music, and initiations. Nevertheless, these changes do signify the polis’s
willingness and authority to make changes which affected the celebrations that
it deemed were necessary or consistent with its other goals.
Ephesos does not seem to have suffered greatly from the violent earthquake
that Tacitus claimed caused twelve important cities in Asia to collapse during
one night in A.D. 17.83 But in A.D. 23 another strong tremor unquestionably
shook Cibyra and very probably Ephesos too.84 We know that the Theater suffered damage, as did the stadium. At least one of the city’s long- distance aqueducts (either the Aqua Throessitica or the Aqua Iulia) was damaged and required extensive repairs.85 The damage to some of Ephesos’s most important
public buildings was serious enough that the repairs do not seem to have been
completed until the end of the Iulio-Claudian dynasty.86 Private houses on the
lower slopes of Bülbüldag also seem to have been destroyed. In the aftermath
of the destruction, new residential units replaced the private dwellings on the
terraced lower ridges of Bülbüldag (Maps 4, 6, and 8, nos. 50 and 51).87 (Eventually, six of these units comprised the huge 32,291.73-square-foot block, or insula,
known today as Terrace House 1; the seven units of Terrace House 2 eventually
spread out over an area of around 43,055.64 square feet.)
At the same time, the Ephesians used the natural disaster as an opportunity
to enlarge the area of the Lysimachean (and Augustan- era) lower agora, which
also had been heavily damaged in the earthquake and had to be rebuilt from the
foundations upward.88 The much-enlarged Tetragonos Agora, as it was called by
the first century A.D., was square with an open courtyard, measuring 367.45 feet
in length (Maps 4, 6, and 8, no. 61).89 The square itself measured 505.25 feet on
each side.90 This enlargement of the Tetragonos Agora (which went on into the
reign of Claudius) necessitated moving the Plateia (the modern “Marble Street,”
as it was nicknamed by its excavators) to the east (Maps 4, 6, and 8, no. 60).91
The new Plateia had to be carved farther eastward into the lower slopes of Panayirdag. Thereafter, the Plateia became a kind of monument in and of itself, one
that linked the area of the Triodos—or meeting place of the Plateia, the road to
Ortygia, and the Embolos—to the Theater and its associated buildings, and was
a status symbol for the city.92
The implications of these changes to one of the most important spaces in
the city of Ephesos for the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis in Ortygia are
clear. Moving the Plateia eastward meant that the Gate of Mazaios and Mithridates (Maps 6 and 8, no. 56), erected (that is, paid for) in 4/3 B.C. by the two
imperial freedmen in honor of the demos and their patrons Augustus, Livia,
Agrippa, and Iulia, could no longer serve as the triumphal arch on the side of
Kouretes eusebeis
137
The enlarged Tetragonos Agora and Plateia, with the façade of the Celsus Library/
heroon in the background.
the Triodos (Maps 4 and 6 and 8, no. 49).93 Before A.D. 23 it could only have
been from this point that the sacred procession had left the city on its way along
the road up to Ortygia.94 After 23 the Mazaios and Mithridates Gate in effect
became the South Gate of the Tetragonos Agora, and a monumental altar of
Artemis at the Triodos measuring approximately seventy-nine by twenty-eight
feet was erected farther to the south to mark the spot from which the sacred
procession now would have to leave the built-up area of the city up the road to
Ortygia (Maps 6 and 8, no. 52).95
In a series of brilliant studies, Hilke Thür has shown that Artemis’s altar
at the Triodos was located only a few feet away from both a late-secondcentury B.C. heroon of Androklos, son of the Athenian king Kodros, the
founder of the Greek polis (Map 6, no. 48), and the adjacent “Octagon,” which
really was a tomb, constructed in imitation of the Alexandrian lighthouse of
Pharos, for Arsinoê IV (the youngest sister of Kleopatra VII), who had been
murdered in the city in 41 B.C. on Antony’s orders (Map 6, no. 47).96 (In the
sarcophagus of the Octagon’s burial chamber the excavators of the site discovered the skeletal remains of a sixteen-year-old young woman.)97
Anyone coming along the Plateia from the north after A.D. 23 to join
the procession up to Ortygia on the sixth of May would have walked along a
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The road up to Ortygia from the area of the Triodos, where the altar of Artemis was
located along the road.
new road to the altar of the Triodos. Similarly, if the Kouretes marched down
the Embolos from their institutional home in the prytaneion on their way to
Mount Solmissos on the sixth of May after A.D. 23, they would have met the
Plateia farther up today’s Marble Street to the east. Proceeding from either direction, initiates, priests, or spectators would have been drawn to a point in the
city at which Artemis’s birth and the foundation of the Greek city were monumentally, artistically, and ritually evoked each year on the sixth of May.
In sum, not long after Augustus apparently moved or approved the removal of the Kouretes to the prytaneion, the ancient processional route from
the polis of Ephesos up to Ortygia and Mount Solmissos was altered substantially.98 Furthermore, an altar and presumably statue of Artemis were set up at
the Triodos, where sacrifices to the goddess undoubtedly were made every year
on the sixth of May, at least after A.D. 104. For this was the point from which
those who took part in the processions up to Ortygia departed from the recently
developed part of the city.99 The altar at the Triodos thus is an example of a “stational” reference point created by the Ephesians to draw attention to the spot
and the rituals performed there.100
Far from diminishing the importance of this part of the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis, these changes to this area of the city after the earthquake
Kouretes eusebeis
139
of A.D. 23 actually drew attention to the holy intersection of the three roads
where the celebrants met each year and sacrificed before leaving the city on their
way up to Ortygia. Later, when a new Triodos Gate and the Celsus Library/
heroon were constructed in this area, the significance of this most important
juncture in the polis again increased dramatically.
Although we do not have any explicit documentary evidence, it is certain
that these changes in the physical route of the sacred procession up to Ortygia
could have come about only after discussion, and then formal votes, taken by
the members of the Boule and then the assembly of Ephesos.101 Only the Boule
and demos could have brought about such changes to one of the busiest intersections in the city. Moving the Plateia eastward, in particular, was not a minor
construction project. The Boule and demos, including the artisans and traders
who formed its voting core, certainly must have understood what the implications of their votes were for the route of the sacred procession up to the site
where the mysteries of Artemis were celebrated.102
It might perhaps be argued that these alterations of the processional route
up to Ortygia had very little effect upon the actual performance of the symposia and mystic sacrifices that Strabo says took place at the annual festival, or
upon the rituals implied by the office titles of the Kouretes in the earliest lists of
Kouretes. Moreover, they occurred within the broader context of the enlargement of the Tetragonos Agora after the earthquake of A.D. 23. According to this
line of argument, the changes with respect to the processional route really were
tangential to the celebrations of the mysteries and do not signify any special
attention paid by the Ephesians to the yearly celebrations on Mount Solmissos.
But this line of argument misses the essential point.
The Boule and the demos of Ephesos had the authority and power to make
changes that affected the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, not only with
regard to the supervision of the Kouretes, but also with respect to the route of
the procession each year up to Ortygia. Moving the Plateia eastward and erecting an altar of Artemis at the Triodos shows that the Boule and demos were
fully engaged in making changes that affected the celebration of the mysteries
from the early imperial period.103 Moreover, contemporary literary evidence reveals that the Ephesians were not only peripherally concerned with the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, if changing the processional “choreography” of
the route up to Ortygia is mistakenly conceived to be of minor importance.104
Rather, they were vitally concerned with the story of Artemis’s birth, which
formed the essential sacred story of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis,
and with its overall significance for the polis.
That literary evidence proves that both the Ephesians on the one hand and
TELETAI—RITES
140
the Roman Senate on the other knew how important the story of Artemis’s
birth at Ephesos was for the Ephesians. It also implies that it was the polis rather
than the Artemision which now saw that its legal rights were connected to the
story of the births of Artemis and Apollo in Ortygia.
T I B E R I U S , T H E R O M A N S E N AT E ,
AND THE BIRTH OF ARTEMIS
According to Tacitus, writing sometime between A.D. 115 and 123, rights of
temple asylum were once again causing problems throughout the Greek cities
by A.D. 26:105 “The temples were filled with the dregs of the slave population;
the same shelter was extended to the debtor against his creditor and to the man
suspected of a capital offence; nor was any authority powerful enough to quell
the factions of a race which protected human felony equally with divine worship.”106 It was resolved, therefore, that the cities (civitates) in question should
send their charters and ambassadors (iura atque legatos) to Rome. The Ephesians
were the first to appear before the Roman Senate to argue their case. They informed the Senate that,
Apollo and Diana were not, as commonly credited, born at Delos.
In Ephesos there was a river Cenchrius, with a grove Ortygia; where
Latona, heavy-wombed and supporting herself by an olive-tree which
remained to this day, gave birth to the divine twins. The grove had been
hallowed by divine injunction; and there Apollo himself, after slaying
the Cyclopes, had evaded the anger of Jove. Afterwards Father Liber,
victor in the war, had pardoned the suppliant Amazons who had seated
themselves at the altar. Then the sanctity of the temple had been enhanced, with the permission of Hercules, while he held the crown of
Lydia; its privileges had not been diminished under the Persian empire;
later they had been preserved by the Macedonians—last by ourselves.107
Although the speech of the Ephesian ambassadors often has been taken to
refer to the right of asylum of the more famous dipteral temple that the Ephesians had built over a period of 120 years to replace the temple that had burned
down in 356 B.C. (the so-called Artemision), based upon the description of the
site in the speech, it is more likely that the Ephesian ambassadors were making
a case about the asylum rights of a temple in Ortygia. The entire logic of the
case the ambassadors made to the Senate for the asylum rights of the temple in
question, based upon a chronological account of first divine and then human
injunctions, refers to topographical reference points related to Ortygia.
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141
It was the grove of Ortygia that had been hallowed by divine injunction
(monitu sacratum nemus), and it was there (illic) that Apollo had evaded the
anger of Zeus after slaying the Cyclopes. The god Apollo himself was, in effect,
the first suppliant to take advantage of the temple’s asylum. Moreover, Liber
had pardoned the suppliant Amazons who had seated themselves at the altar
(aram), and the sanctity of the temple (templo) had been enhanced (auctam) by
Hercules. Following suit, the Persians, the Macedonians, and the Romans had
preserved that sanctity.108
The ambassadors from Ephesos perhaps were arguing about the asylum
rights of one of the “many” temples in Ortygia noted by Strabo.109 If so, the passage is highly significant for us, because it shows that the civitas, which surely is
the Latin translation of polis, took responsibility for ensuring that the rights of
the temple in Ortygia were respected. Neither the Artemision nor any of its officials are mentioned in the story related by Tacitus. In A.D. 26 the polis, not the
Artemision, was using the sacred story behind the celebration of the mysteries
of Artemis for its own legal purposes.110
Tacitus does not say specifically whether the claims of the Ephesian ambassadors were upheld. He only informs us that the Senate ordered the applicants
to fix brass records inside the temples of the rulings they had made both as a
solemn memorial and as a warning not to lapse into secular intrigue under the
cloak of religion.111
The incident Tacitus relates minimally reveals that the Ephesians had made
the Roman Senate and presumably Tiberius, who was an avid student of history
and literature and a well-known philhellene, aware of the story of Artemis’s
birth in Ortygia.112 As we have seen, that story served as the essential narrative
script for the celebration of the mysteries. More importantly from the point
of view of our inquiry, in A.D. 26 the polis presumably sent the ambassadors
to the Roman Senate to make the case for the asylum rights of the temple in
question. The ambassadors of the polis took responsibility for how the story of
Artemis’s birth was to be used to assert those rights. In that sense, the story of
the goddess’s birth in Ortygia was more than just a “myth of place.” The Ephesians believed and wanted the Roman Senate to believe that the grove had been
hallowed by divine injunction, and that divine injunction was the ultimate justification for their legal claims.
The episode in A.D. 26 does not show that the Senate or the emperor and
his governors acted directly upon the institutions that celebrated the mysteries,
as Octavian/Augustus had done. We do not find Tiberius moving or sanctioning the move of an association, such as the archeion of the Kouretes, out of the
Artemision or, more to the point, punishing the polis.
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On the other hand, Tacitus also informs us that when an opportunity arose,
the emperor and the Senate did not increase the religious prestige of the polis
at this time. On the contrary, it was precisely because Artemis, her cult, and the
story of her birth at Ephesos so dominated the customary religious traditions of
the polis that the emperor decided not to allow the Ephesians to build a temple
dedicated to him in the city.113
In response to the successful prosecution of Gaius Silanus in A.D. 22 and
Lucilius Capito in A.D. 23, the cities (urbes) of Asia had decreed a temple to
Tiberius, Livia, and the Senate.114 However, the Senate did not make a decision about which city should be awarded the privilege of erecting the temple
for three years. In 26 ambassadors from eleven cities debated before Tiberius
and the Senate in Rome, Tacitus tells us, “with equal ambition, but disparate resources.”115
The cases of Ephesos and Miletos were rejected because the veneration of
Diana in Ephesos and Apollo in Miletos was seen to dominate the poleis.116 In
the end, the deputies of Smyrna, who emphasized the help they had given Rome
during wars in Italy and their erection of a temple to the city of Rome in 195 B.C.
(the earliest shrine in Asia to the personification), won the honor. The Roman
patres selected Smyrna as the site for the temple.117 (It might also have helped
that the Smyrnaeans conspicuously had not participated in the Asian Vespers.)
This incident from about the middle of Tiberius’s reign shows that, from
the point of view of the Roman Senate, the polis of Ephesos was seen as dominated by the worship of Artemis, as it clearly was.118 It is difficult to believe that
the Roman Senate could have reached such a conclusion without the agreement
of the emperor himself. Within Ephesos, Artemis was more than first among
equals.
Taken together, these two nearly contemporary incidents reveal that a quarter of a century after Augustus sanctioned the removal of the Kouretes from the
Artemision, the polis of Ephesos was using the sacred story of Artemis’s mysteries to justify its legal rights to the Roman Senate. Not surprisingly, the Senate, and probably the emperor himself, having listened to such claims in one
context, in another later context, after further debate, concluded that worship
of Artemis dominated the polis, although it is more than reasonable to assume
that the Romans were aware of Artemis’s cultic domination of Ephesos long before the two episodes reported by Tacitus.
Nevertheless, because the sacred story of Artemis’s birth amidst the cypresses of Ortygia was the foundation for important legal rights of the polis,
and because that story also provided a kind of locally specific resource which
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143
could be used in the competition against the Ephesians’ urban rivals in Asia
Minor, the tale of Artemis’s birth became far and away the most important historical event in Ephesos at this time. The enactment or, minimally, the evocation
of that story each year at the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis therefore
not only served as a kind of narrative script in relation to which individuals
were initiated into the mysteries, as we know was happening from the earliest
lists of Kouretes. From the point of view of the polis, the celebration of the mysteries simultaneously reinforced and justified legal, political, and religious relations between the polis, the Roman Senate and emperor, and the other cities of
the Roman province, well before Dio Chrysostom, Aelius Aristides, and other
writers provide such striking evidence for the jealousies and disputes over city
titles, diplomatic protocols, and privileges among poleis in Asia Minor, including Pergamon, Ephesos, and Smyrna.119 If, as has been asserted, the moment of
performance is the moment of reproduction, at the birthday party of Artemis
the polis of Ephesos reproduced, but also ordered and justified, its intertwined
sacred and secular relations with its neighbors and with Rome.120 The Ephesians
had learned their history through performing the sacred story of Artemis’s birth
and then performed that understanding for the Roman Senate and emperor on
the largest urban stage.121
PIETY AND POWER
As early as the reign of Tiberius, then, at the very same time that the polis was
altering the processional route up to Mount Solmissos, the sacred story of
Artemis’s birth in Ortygia was not only the ritually evoked story through which
the Ephesians connected themselves to Artemis and her Olympian family. It
was the oral and possibly written script that the Ephesians used to negotiate
their legal, political, and religious relations with their city rivals in Asia, with
the Roman Senate, and with the Roman emperor himself.122
Even as the polis was asserting its authority to use the sacred story of
Artemis’s birth in Ortygia for its own benefit, a clearly defined political and
legal profile of the Kouretes who celebrated the mysteries begins to emerge.
Roman citizens of Ephesos, some of them of sufficient means to sponsor acts
of public euergetism, now played the traditional role of the Kouretes for the
first time, as far as we know. To the pedestrians walking along the basilica stoa
of the upper agora, the lists of Kouretes from the reign of Tiberius signaled
the fact that men of simultaneous Ephesian and Roman citizenship now served
somehow as the mythological, shield-banging Kouretes, the defenders of Leto,
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Artemis, and Apollo, at the annual festival in Ortygia. The lists of Kouretes were
the public media by which these new self-identified Roman Kouretes advertised
and justified the positions of power and authority they held within the polis,
through the piety toward Artemis that they shared with their fellow citizens.
Soon the piety of the Kouretes was redefined in a way that took into account
the nearly divine power of the Roman emperors.
CHAPTER 6
Kouretes eusebeis kai philosebastoi
THE KOURETES’ LISTS REMAIN our primary source of information for the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis after A.D. 37. As we shall see, however,
the lists dated from 37 to 98 provide much more information about the celebrations than earlier ones. After the reign of Tiberius we find expanded lists
of cult attendants, with their ritual or artistic office titles attached, below the
names of the yearly Kouretes and the prytaneis. From the description of the
titles we can deduce what many of the rituals and other performances carried
out at Artemis’s mysteries entailed.
The expanded lists of cult attendants signify a reorganization of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis by the polis. The polis reorganized the celebration as one facet of the overall restructuring of the administration of the cults
of the prytaneion. This restructuring included a rearrangement of how those
deities who had cults in the prytaneion were to be staffed and serviced. The polis
probably reorganized the celebrations of the mysteries among other cults to
bring them into competitive conformity with the organization of other popular
contemporary mystery cults, such as the Eleusinian mysteries. While the polis
no doubt celebrated the mysteries first and foremost to achieve its theological
goals, a simultaneous object of the reorganization of the celebrations perhaps
was to reap increased financial benefits.
From the early imperial period the restructured Ephesian cult included
some new and perhaps distinctive features. As was the case elsewhere, in Ephesos Roman citizens could become initiates into the mysteries of Artemis. But in
Ephesos, from the very early imperial period, Roman citizens also helped to initiate others into Artemis’s secrets. Moreover, in the public context of commemorating their contributions to the celebration of the mysteries, the Kouretes made
clear that their piety was defined, not simply by having been Kouretes, or even
having done what Kouretes traditionally had done during the celebration of
the mysteries, such as holding symposia and performing mystic sacrifices. Their
sense of piety was also defined for those who read their honorary inscriptions by
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repeated expressions of reverence for Artemis and the Roman emperors. For the
Kouretes, to be pious was a function, not only of deeds, but also of beliefs, or,
more precisely, of the records of both, and their public declarations of religious
reverence for the Roman emperors signified a major development with respect
to public expressions of piety in the city.
The epigraphical commemoration of their piety probably should be associated with what we know about the political and social identities of the
Kouretes themselves. It can hardly be a coincidence that by the end of the first
century A.D. most of Artemis’s yearly defenders were citizens of Rome and that
the Roman emperors were progressively incorporated into the yearly celebrations. The hierarchization and oligarchization of Ephesian society, of which the
Roman-era Kouretes became the living embodiment, was projected theologically into the celebrations of the mysteries.
T H E L I S T S O F K O U R E T E S F R O M A.D. 3 7 T O 9 8
Although we possess other inscriptions that cast light on the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos during the first century A.D. or the cultic responsibilities of prytaneis at the time, most of our information about the celebration of the mysteries after the reign of Tiberius derives from the yearly lists of
Kouretes. On the basis of the enumeration of the ritual offices held by the cult
attendants, whose names and offices continue to follow the lists of the Kouretes,
Knibbe assigned twelve lists of Kouretes to a second stage in the development
of the association.1 These lists can be dated to the period between A.D. 37 and
96 or 98.2
The majority of these lists were inscribed upon the column shafts of the
stoa of the prytaneion. A systematic review of the placement of the lists from
the early imperial period reveals that they were displayed to be visible from the
courtyard of the prytaneion (Maps 4, 6, and 7, no. 24).3 Most of the lists from
the first century A.D. also were self- evidently carved with some care, as can
clearly be seen to this day, two millennia later.
Altogether then, we currently possess an average of one list of a prytanis,
Kouretes, and cult attendants for every five years over approximately a sixty-year
period from the beginning of the reign of the Roman emperor Gaius to perhaps just after the death of Domitian. If we assume that a list of Kouretes was
inscribed somewhere on one of the surfaces of the prytaneion each year during
this time period, then the total number of lists that have come to light thus far
represents about 20 percent of the lists that presumably once existed from the
period under discussion.
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147
Kouretes’ inscription (Die Inschriften von Ephesos IV 1010) from the prytany of
T. Claudius Nysios, dated before A.D. 92, on the architrave of the Doric façade
of the restored prytaneion. The large lettering and evident care with which the
inscription was incised indicate that it was meant to be noticed and read.
Given the fact that we have less than a quarter of the potential lists from
the period, the inferences we can draw at this time about the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos based upon the surviving inscriptions obviously cannot be conclusively stated. Rather, what we can deduce about the festival from the evidence must be taken to indicate general trends. These general
trends subsequently may be brought into sharper focus through the discovery
of new texts from the period.
Even given the limitations of the evidence, however, an obvious and consistent formal change in the lists of Kouretes after the reign of Tiberius is the
expanded roster of cult attendants that follows directly after the names of the
Kouretes. Although there are some minor variations in the order of the offices
of the cult attendants enumerated over the period, in the lists of Kouretes from
37 until 98, following the names of the Kouretes we usually find in order a hieroskopos, a hierokeryx, an epi thumiatrou, a spondaules, and, in list no. 1015, a hierophantes among the cult attendants.4
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T H E C U L T AT T E N D A N T S A N D T H E
C E L E B R AT I O N O F T H E M Y S T E R I E S
O F A R T E M I S F R O M A.D. 3 7 T O 9 8
These office titles of the cult attendants from this period indicate the duties of
priests or cult officials who inspected sacrificial victims (hieroskopos), served
as a sacred herald (hierokeryx; see Chapter 5), performed a dance while incense was burned (epi thumiatrou), played the double pipe while libations were
poured (spondaules), and initiated people into the mysteries (hierophantes).
The responsibilities of the hierokeryx have been discussed. The job of the hieroskopos was to inspect and read the entrails of the sacrificed victims. The apparently more complete description of the third cult attendant after the names
of first-century A.D. Kouretes, the akrobates epi thumiatrou, suggests that this
attendant was concerned with incense offerings that were combined with a cultic dance during sacrifices for Artemis.5 Since the smoke from the burning of
incense was not a “food” shared by mortals with the god(s), the offering of incense perhaps can be interpreted as a sacrificial ritual that signified the participants’ proclamation of the immortality and superiority of the gods.6 Whatever
the burning of incense implied, however, for our investigation the appearance of
the hierophant in the last position among the cult attendants is by far the most
significant development.
At Eleusis, which provides the most detailed parallel, at least during the
Roman imperial period, the hierophant was a priest who was elected and then
served for life, usually after a distinguished career.7 He could be married, although he practiced chastity during the celebration of the mysteries.8 Because
the hierophant had a large speaking role during the secret ceremonies within
the Telesterion, and alone pronounced the secrets to the initiates, a pleasing or
melodious voice was considered to be a desirable attribute for a hierophant.9
Together with the daduchos (torch bearer) on the first day of the mysteries,
the Eleusinian hierophant announced the mysteries from the Stoa Poikile in
the Athenian agora through the services of the sacred herald, was responsible
for the direction of the procession, and probably marched at its head.10 At least
some hierophants were involved in organizing part of the sacred drama. Around
the end of the first century B.C. in Athens, one hierophant is found setting up a
list of married men “selected by the hierophant to care for making the bed and
setting the table for Pluto.”11
At the celebration of the rites in Eleusis the hierophant showed the sacred
objects (ta hiera) to the initiates and also revealed certain spoken secrets (ta legomena) to them.12 Hippolytus of Rome, probably writing during the early third
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149
century A.D., claimed that during the Eleusinian mysteries the hierophant cried
out, “A holy child is born to the lady Brimo, Brimos.”13 At least originally, before the term “muesis” came to be applied to the entire process of experiencing
the mysteries in Eleusis, the fundamental contribution of the hierophant to the
celebrations was the performance of the rites, including the revelation of the
“secret” that took place in the sanctuary.14
Sometime between A.D. 138 and 167/68, the hierophant Titus Flavius Paianieus initiated the emperor Lucius Aurelius Verus while holding the mysteries.15
According to both Plutarch and Dio Chrysostom, almost exact contemporaries
writing during the early Roman empire, the office of the hierophant was the
most important and most respected priesthood in Athens.16
If the hierophant from the lists of Kouretes in Ephesos performed similar
functions, then the appearance of this priest in these lists is our first conclusive
evidence that the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos included
the revelation of secrets to the initiates by a priest, who served for extended periods, if not for life.17 The revelation of such secrets to initiates was one of the defining characteristics of ancient mystery cults.18
From these first-century A.D. lists, especially the evidence for the participation of the hierophant in list no. 1015, which dates from between A.D. 95 and
98, it is therefore clear that the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos included initiations at the end of the first century.19 Although it is not possible to describe those initiations in any detail, from the lists of first-century cult
office titles it is possible to set out at least some of the rituals that were included
among the ceremonies performed in Ortygia by the end of the first century: sacrifices and a reading of the entrails of the victims, announcements and instructions given to the initiates, the burning of incense and a cultic dance, pipe music
while libations were poured, and the disclosure of secrets to initiates.20
These first-century lists of offices of the cult attendants unfortunately do
not give us enough information to conclude how the rituals performed by the
cult attendants in Ortygia were organized, at least sequentially. We do not know,
for instance, whether the dance preceded or followed the sacrifices. The lists of
office titles essentially provide only a bare outline of what must have been a wellorganized sequence of rituals and ceremonies, perhaps leading up to an evocation or actual reenactment of Artemis’s and Apollo’s births.21
At first sight, it may seem odd that the lists of rituals performed at the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos during the first century as implied by the office
titles of the cult attendants do not seem to make any direct reference to what
often has been assumed by Picard and others to be the central drama of the
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celebration of the mysteries, that is, a reenactment of the mythological births of
Artemis and Apollo as described by Strabo. A specific reference, for instance, to
pyrrhic dancers in the lists of Kouretes might cinch the case for historians that
such a reenactment occurred.
But this apparent oddity can be explained if we recognize that the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis in Ortygia each year undoubtedly comprised
far more than a reenactment of the birth of Artemis, if there was such a reenactment. A reenactment of the birth with the yearly Kouretes playing their
traditional roles in the birth scene may have been only the culminating act of
the celebration(s) at the general festival, just as what went on in the Telesterion
in Eleusis was only the grand finale of the Eleusinian mysteries, and not every
single ritual that took place at the celebrations was epigraphically commemorated. An alternative hypothesis, of course, is that the very title of the association of the Kouretes on the lists was thought to be a kind of ritual epigraphic
shorthand for their reenactment of the birth scene. We simply do not know.
In either case, however, any possible reenactment was not the whole experience of the initiates or of all of the rituals that comprised the mysteries. Indeed,
as we know from the lists of Kouretes, even if the birth of Artemis in Ortygia
was reenacted, it certainly was not the whole spectacle, let alone the whole “experience” of the mysteries of Artemis, for either the organizers or the initiates.22
The experience of the mysteries, for the initiates at any rate, as was the case elsewhere, would have been the result of taking part in all of the various ceremonies,
rituals, and sacrifices that occurred each year, not to overlook the procession up
from the city to the cypress grove in Ortygia.23
That this was the case at Ephesos from the very early imperial period is confirmed by Strabo’s brief gloss on the celebration of the mysteries and sacrifices,
in which he mentions the sumptuous feasts of the young(ish) men and the symposia and mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes, all held annually in Ortygia. Nowhere are these banquets, symposia, and mystic sacrifices mentioned explicitly
in the lists of the first-century Kouretes and cult attendants. Yet Strabo considered those banquets, symposia, and mystic sacrifices to be the most noteworthy
features of the general festival.
Nevertheless, on the basis of the first-century lists, we surely may conclude
confidently that the cult attendants helped to administer initiations, which
probably did include the disclosure of at least some secret(s), during the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos.
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R I T UA L E X P E R T I S E , FA M I L Y R E L AT I O N S ,
A N D T H E P O L I T I C A L S TAT U S O F T H E
F I R S T - C E N T U R Y A.D. C U L T AT T E N D A N T S
Because the ritual tasks the cult attendants performed at the mysteries of
Artemis required ritual expertise or skill, we find the same men serving in the
same offices, often for decades, during the early imperial period. Moreover, as we
shall demonstrate, these ritual experts apparently often passed along their expertise to their sons, who succeeded them in their cultic offices.
In the office of the hieroskopos, one man, Marcus, served from the middle
of the first century A.D. until between 94 and 97.24 L. Granius Capito was the
hierokeryx in the middle of the first century, perhaps from the reign of Claudius
into the rule of Nero.25 Thereafter, we find Menodotos as hierokeryx from between 54 and 59 until between 94 and 97.26 He was followed, in the last list from
this stage in the development of the association, by Theudas.27 Olympikos performed the duties of the (akrobates) epi thumiatrou from the middle of the first
century A.D. probably until that century’s last decade.28 After his tenure Attikos took over the responsibilities of the office until between 95 and 98.29 Metras
continued as the spondaules from at least 54 to 59 until probably the last decade
of the first century A.D.30 Afterward, Parrasios served for at least one year before
A.D. 92.31 Trophimus replaced him until between 95 and 98.32
Some of these tenures in office may seem to have lasted for suspiciously
long periods of time, especially considering that, largely because of the expenses
involved in holding city offices in Asia Minor during this period, the trend was
for officials to hold offices for shorter periods of time, that is, for months rather
than for years.33 Short-term office holding was the general rule.
But we should remember that the Athenian Aristokles served as hierophant
of the Eleusinian mysteries for at least thirty-one years (and perhaps for thirtyfive years) during the early second century B.C., and Nestorius, who initiated
Eunapius shortly before the destruction of the Eleusinian cult, was hierophant
from before A.D. 355 until not long before 392.34 Hierophants were tenured,
full professors of secrets. Closer to Ephesos, in Erythrai for instance, Zosime,
the priestess of Demeter Thesmophoros and Herse, served for forty years.35 By
definition, the ritual offices of those who performed at the mysteries in both
Athens and Ephesos required either artistic talent or knowledge of traditional,
cultic practices, or both. We actually should expect the hierourgoi of such cults
to have served the cults for extended periods of time. Although it is true that
many Greek priesthoods did not require any special ritual expertise, and some
priesthoods were temporary positions, in certain cults the priesthoods or ritual
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offices were not temporary, and knowledge of how the rituals of the cult had
been performed, and of how to perform them in the traditional way, was a requirement of the positions.36 The cult attendants of the prytaneion in Ephesos
did not comprise a clergy in the later Christian sense of the word (that is, priests
who took vows of chastity and other commitments that applied in all situations
over time), but neither were they ritual amateurs, whatever the modern term
“amateur” may be taken to mean.
Later on, as subsequent lists demonstrate, the duties of at least some of
these ritual attendants in Ephesos apparently became hereditary within families. In the case of the Lysimachi Mundicii, sons followed fathers into the office
of the hierophant for four generations.37 Artistic or musical talent might not be
passed down through the generations, but knowledge of how to perform certain
rituals could be.38
Unlike the Kouretes, the cult attendants were not necessarily related to the
prytanis, who apparently selected the Kouretes from among those of his or her
male relatives who could afford the annuity. Rather, since the cult attendants
really were ritual or artistic experts, there was no necessary familial connection
between them and the prytanis. But this does not mean that the legal or political statuses of the cult attendants were necessarily lower than those of the
Kouretes at this time. Nor were they always poorer.
In the lists of cult attendants that date from the time of Claudius until
around A.D. 98 (nos. 1004–15), of ten named cult attendants (Marcus, Ariston, Capito, Menodotos, Theudas, Olympikos, Attikos, Metras, Parrasios, and
Trophimus), three, Marcus, Capito, and Ariston, bore the tria nomina of Roman citizenship.39 If these men were Roman citizens of Ephesos, as we probably
should assume, unfortunately neither their tribal affiliations nor their chiliastyes are given. However, the case of Capito, who appears first in list 1002.7 as
a hierokeryx among the Kouretes and later, in lists 1004.10, 1006.8, and 1007.4,
among the cult attendants as a hierokeryx, provides the strongest evidence both
for the cult attendants taking over ritual tasks that the Kouretes originally may
have performed and for the relative political and social equality of the Kouretes
and the cult attendants during the early first century A.D. Unlike many of his
colleagues, Capito apparently was a man who had some specialized ritual expertise. Neither his fellow Kouretes nor his successors had such expertise, and after
Capito we rarely find men who are both Kouretes and cult attendants.
Among Capito’s cult attendant colleagues, only Ariston, from list 1015,
dated between A.D. 95 and 98, is known to have been a member of the Boule.40
For that reason we cannot know at what age the rest of the contemporary cult
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153
attendants gained their positions. Nor do we have any information about the
marital status of these men. Nothing else is known about the families, benefactions, or other cult affiliations of these first-century A.D. cult attendants.
These cult attendants emerge, then, as ritual and/or artistic specialists who
were hired, undoubtedly by the prytanis on behalf of the polis, to perform the
cultic or artistic tasks of their offices for extended tenures, on the basis of their
knowledge or talent. For their services the cult attendants probably were paid
salaries, even if such salaries were not enough to allow them to make a living
from religion.41 Unlike the Kouretes of the same era, although some of the cult
attendants were Roman citizens, they were not defined publicly as consistently
by their membership in the Boule or by their Roman citizenship.42 Nor do the
lists of Kouretes reveal how the piety of the cult attendants was (re)defined during the first century, as they do in the case of the Kouretes themselves. How and
why did the Kouretes and the cult attendants essentially become two separate
associations?
T H E R E O R G A N I Z AT I O N O F T H E
C E L E B R AT I O N O F T H E M Y S T E R I E S
According to the hypothesis advanced by Knibbe, after the reign of Tiberius
the prytanis directed many sacrificial tasks related to the cults housed in the
prytaneion.43 The Kouretes helped the prytanis to perform these sacrifices.
Supervised by the prytaneis, the Kouretes were called upon to appear on cult
occasions other than the celebrations on Mount Solmissos.44 However, as the
association of Kouretes settled into its new institutional home and the membership of the association changed, many of the Kouretes lacked the necessary technical, ritual qualifications to carry out the many sacrificial tasks now directed by
the prytanis from the prytaneion. The Kouretes now qualified for membership
in the association less by means of their ritual or cultic expertise and more by
their wealth and status. Since the new Kouretes of the first century A.D. lacked
the necessary ritual qualifications to execute the expanded cultic responsibilities
of the prytaneion, the prytanis was forced to employ ritual experts to help with
the cultic requirements.45
The first-century prytaneion therefore employed sacrificial specialists for
extended periods of time who serviced the cultic requirements of the gods and
goddesses of the prytaneion, including those that occurred during the celebrations of the mysteries.46 These specialists did not pay to get their positions;
rather, they were paid for their artistic or ritual services. But since the cult atten-
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dants were so closely associated with the Kouretes and their performances, it
was thought to be appropriate to include the names of these ritual experts, along
with their offices, at the bottom of the yearly lists of Kouretes.
It may well have been the case that the Kouretes took on additional cultic performances during this period.47 They quite possibly made guest appearances at other festivals, although it must be said that we have no record of them
doing so as a group at this time, or at any other time for that matter.48 It also
may be correct that the early imperial Kouretes formed part of a cultic union
that served the needs of Artemis and Hestia, the mysteries that took place in
Ortygia, and the rites and sacrifices of the rest of the cults of the prytaneion.
Since it is impossible to prove a negative, we cannot show conclusively that the
cult attendants whose ritual offices and names were attached to the bottom of
the lists of Kouretes did not take part in other rituals and sacrifices directed by
the prytanis.49
We should remember, however, that the names and office titles of the cult
attendants appear as a group almost exclusively throughout the entire chronological run of our evidence from the reign of Tiberius into the third century A.D.
underneath the lists of Kouretes. We do not find the same group of cult attendants definitively listed together as a group in the record(s) of any other explicitly identified cult during this time. Moreover, it was not doubted by Knibbe or
by any other scholar familiar with the evidence that the first cultic responsibility
of the Kouretes had been, and continued to be, the celebration of the mysteries
of Artemis. What made the Kouretes famous were their symposia and mystic sacrifices in Ortygia, as Strabo’s gloss on the annual festival surely implies;
the Kouretes were fundamentally associated with the myth of Artemis’s and
Apollo’s births in Ortygia.50 Whatever was the case elsewhere, in Ephesos the
Kouretes never were presented fundamentally as priests or acolytes or defenders
of any god or goddess other than Artemis.
For that reason, and because the designated job titles of the cult attendants
such as hierophant and hierokeryx imply rituals associated with the celebration
of rituals at mysteries at Ephesos and elsewhere, we are entitled to assume that
the first-century lists of Kouretes set out tasks carried out by both the Kouretes
and the cult attendants during the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, if
not also during other mysteries supervised by the prytanis, for which there is no
direct proof at least at this time.
In sum, the lists of Kouretes and cult attendants from the second half of the
first century A.D. may not refer exclusively to individual rites or performances
that took place only during the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis in the
grove of Ortygia, but the lists surely cannot exclude reference to such rites or
Kouretes philosebastoi
155
performances during the celebration.51 It would be absurd to maintain that the
Kouretes and the cult attendants performed the tasks implied by their office
titles at every other kind of festival supervised by the prytanis, but not during
the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries, at which general festival Strabo’s gloss
proves the Kouretes performed their “mystic sacrifices.”
On the contrary, until we have evidence that the Kouretes and the cult attendants represented on the lists of the prytaneion acted or performed together
as a group at other festivals, the most conservative and economical hypothesis
surely is that the lists of Kouretes and cult attendants inscribed on the architectural elements of the prytaneion commemorated the Kouretes’ activities during the celebrations of the annual general festival described by Strabo, the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, with the help of the listed cult attendants,
which Strabo specifically linked to the story of Artemis’s and Apollo’s births in
Ortygia.52 This conservative hypothesis in no way alters Knibbe’s fundamental
and sound insight that the expanded list of cult offices signifies a reorganization
of the cult. What can we say about the causes of that reorganization?
As a hypothesis, we probably should interpret the appearance of the expanded lists of cult attendants at the bottom of the lists of Kouretes first as
a reflection of the polis’s rethinking of the organization and goals of the cult
in the wake of the opening of the prytaneion and the transfer of the Kouretes
from the Artemision. Before the transfer, the main role of the Kouretes at the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis had been to hold their symposia and to
perform their mystic sacrifices, as observed by Strabo. After the transfer, some
of the most important tasks and rituals of the celebration of the mysteries were
brought under the overall management of the polis, although we know that
priestesses of Artemis, who still were based within the Artemision, at times were
involved in the celebrations of the mysteries from before the first neokorate of
the polis (around A.D. 82, indicating official imperial acknowledgment of the
city’s caretaker status of an important imperial temple).
For instance, the priestesses of Artemis, Vipsania Olympias and her adoptive sister Vipsania Polla, the daughters of Lucius Vipsanius Neo and Claudia
Pythos, were honored by the Boule and demos because they “completed the
mysteries and sacrifices in a dignified way” before the first neokorate of Ephesos.53 The sisters also had wreathed the shrine (naos) and all of its precincts on
the days of the manifestations of the goddess, made the public sacrifices and
distributions to the Boule and Gerousia, and gave in addition the sum of 5,000
imperial denarii for repairs.54 A later-first-century priestess of Artemis, Ulpia
Euodia Mudiane, also completed the mysteries and undertook the expenses.55
Such evidence has surprised some scholars and may seem to contradict the
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idea that the prytanis and the polis had taken over supervision of at least some
of the rites and ceremonies that comprised the celebration of the mysteries. But
the contradiction is largely in the minds of modern scholars. Given the fact that
the Artemision was the cultic center for the worship of Artemis in Ephesos even
after the construction of the new, Augustan- era prytaneion, the celebration of
the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos could never be completely separated from
the Artemision or its priestesses. What had occurred during Augustus’s reign
was not cultic divorce, but rather legal separation, with custody of some cultic
functions retained by the Artemision, and/or occasions when the priestesses
“completed” the mysteries, as well as the priests and artists documented in the
Kouretes’ inscriptions.56
In fact, the cases of the priestesses of Artemis Vipsania Olympias, her sister Vipsania Polla, and Ulpia Euodia Mudiane are revealing, not because they
show that there was some kind of struggle between the Artemision and the
prytaneion for control over the celebration of the mysteries, but first because,
in the cases of the sisters, the honorary inscriptions once again make an explicit
reference to “the mysteries and the sacrifices” (just as we have found in Strabo’s
gloss) and second because the inscriptions for the sisters and Ulpia Euodia Mudiane show that the priestesses all belonged to the same socioeconomic order in
the polis as the first-century prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult attendants.57 All three
priestesses were members of families of Roman citizens capable of sponsoring
acts of public munificence in the city. Whether they were based in the Artemision or the prytaneion, the citizens of Ephesos who paid for, “completed,”
and/or performed at the mysteries came from among families of Roman citizens by the mid-first century ready, willing, and able to sponsor such acts. The
reorganization of the celebration of the mysteries during the first century probably should be understood as a manifestation of competition among those families, as well as between the polis and its civic competitors.
During the reign of Tiberius, as we already have seen, the Kouretes probably continued to hold their symposia and perform their mystic sacrifices in
Ortygia. They may also have played their traditional, etiological role(s) up on
Mount Solmissos, banging on their shields to keep Hera away from Leto, although we do not have direct evidence for this performance.58 As we know
from the earliest lists of Kouretes in Ephesos, at least some of the Kouretes were
ritual experts, such as the sacred herald Capito.59 That the polis, or the assembly, at any rate, was reflecting upon the story behind the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, and how it related to the legal rights of the city, is confirmed
by Tacitus’s account of the Ephesian ambassadors’ speech about the births of
Artemis and Apollo in Ortygia before the Roman Senate that we have reviewed.
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157
The context of that speech was explicitly competitive. Other ambassadors from
different cities in Asia made speeches about legal privileges connected to their
temples at the same time.
In light of this competitive situation within Asia, after the reign of Tiberius the polis or effectively its legislative institutions, the Boule and the assembly, perhaps made a decision to reorganize the celebrations of the mysteries of
the goddess, whose temple the Ephesians recently had argued should retain its
traditional rights of asylum. The Boule first, and then the assembly, after discussion, probably determined to bring the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis
into conformity with the organization of rituals within other contemporary
mystery cults, including, and especially, their characteristic initiation rituals. The
polis of Ephesos may have settled upon this course of action in a bid to rival the
popularity, prestige, and prosperity of other famous and successful contemporary mystery cults.
These included the cults of nearby Asian poleis such as Smyrna, where we
know that the mysteries of Dionysos Breiseus and Demeter were actively promoted by well- organized associations of initiates from the first century until
the mid-third century A.D., and Pergamon, where Roman male citizens transformed the traditional cult of Demeter from a polis- oriented women’s cult
to a Panhellenic mystery cult in imitation of the great mysteries of Eleusis at
Athens.60 And of course many contemporary mystery cults on the Greek mainland, such as the mysteries celebrated at Eleusis, offered well-organized, sequential initiation rituals worthy of imitation.61
The Ephesians could not have been unaware of the fact that the celebration
of the Eleusinian mysteries attracted hundreds, if not thousands, of fee-paying
initiates to Athens each year around the end of September, from Boedromion
13 to 23. (Philostratos, at any rate, observed that the population of Athens was
greater than that of any other Greek polis during the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries.)62 Those non-Athenians who came to Athens either to become
initiates or simply to watch at least part of the festivities, such as the famous Iacchos procession, must have drawn attention to Athens by their presence, provided a temporary boost to the city’s economy, and, of course, increased the
city’s long-term prestige. To rival such cults, especially the initiation rituals that
formed the dramatic centerpiece of the Eleusinian mysteries, required technical, ritual expertise, which the early imperial Kouretes of Ephesos apparently
increasingly did not possess.
The cult attendants whose names and ritual office titles we find appended
in a largely consistent order to the lists of Kouretes thus (I would hypothesize)
were hired by the Ephesians through the prytaneis to supply artistic and espe-
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cially ritual expertise during the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis and
perhaps during other rituals in other cults too. As employees of the prytaneion,
the cult attendants, who were professional ritual experts, were sent off to Ortygia each year to help initiate eager customers into Artemis’s mysteries. The
Kouretes, who quickly became true ritual amateurs in the course of the first century A.D., were left by the polis perhaps to bang on their shields atop Mount Solmissos, certainly to drink wine together, and to perform their traditional mystic
sacrifices. When we read between the lines of the first-century lists of Kouretes,
what we see, then, is the professionalization and the beginning of the commercialization of the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis, as directed by the
polis of Ephesos through the prytaneis.63 The Ephesians modernized the mysteries in part to construct and reinforce a distinct, local identity but also to make
the experience of initiation available to the population of a city that Seneca
observed was the second largest in the eastern Roman empire by the mid-first
century.64 At the same time, the way the first-century Kouretes expressed their
sense of piety about celebrating the mysteries of Artemis signifies the beginning
of another change, which was to have far greater implications for Artemis and
for the polis of Ephesos than even the commercialization of her birthday party.
THE PHILOSEBASTOI KOURETES
At some time between A.D. 54 and 59, the Kouretes wished or allowed themselves to be represented publicly, not only as eusebeis, or reverent with respect
to Artemis, as they had done in the past, but also as philosebastoi, or devoted to
the Roman emperors.65 Since, as noted, we possess only about 20 percent of the
Kouretes’ lists from the first century A.D., it is perhaps impossible to reconstruct
too specific a context for this development. Yet it is important to try to explain
how and why the Kouretes began to be described differently in the lists incised
onto the stone surfaces of the prytaneion, if for no other reason than that the
Kouretes defined themselves or were publicly described as philosebastoi in the
vast majority of lists thereafter. Either way, the adoption of the epithet philosebastoi represents a substantial change in the public representation of Artemis’s
Kouretes. This change needs to be explained.
The use of the epithet eusebeis to describe the Kouretes in the very earliest lists indicated a sense of dutiful piety in relation to the goddess Artemis. As
such, the epithet no doubt was a clear indication of their belief in her divinity
and power. But the linguistic choice also was intended to establish a shared sense
of appropriate piety with other members of the demos and readers of the texts.
Kouretes philosebastoi
159
The epithet philosebastos appears far less frequently in the surviving public
inscriptions of Ephesos before the reign of Domitian and the dedication of the
provincial temple of the Sebastoi in A.D. 89/90.66 We find the epithet employed
as early as the late first century B.C. applied to a certain Herakleides, the grandfather of the secretary of the demos (another Herakleides), but the inscription
does not provide enough information for us to say why the grandfather was
thought to be devoted to the emperor.67 Since we do not know about any acts
that may have been cited to justify applying this epithet to the grandfather of
the secretary, it is perhaps best to take the use of the epithet here simply as implying a general attitude of devotion toward the first Roman emperor.
During the same period, we also discover the epithet attached to the name
of a prytanis, Hieron Aristogiton, who perhaps built one of the entryways to the
Theater out of his personal funds.68 Once again, the inscription unfortunately
furnishes no information that may help us to understand how the prytanis may
have manifested his piety with respect to the emperor Augustus. Hieron Aristogiton’s act of euergetism while he was prytanis had nothing to do with an imperial statue or shrine, for instance, and we are told specifically that the work
was dedicated to the demos.69
But even if the Aristogiton inscription does not allow us to make a link
between a specific act of euergetism and the appearance of the epithet philosebastos, it nevertheless still may help us to sharpen our understanding of the epithet’s use. After Aristogiton’s name in the first line of the inscription, the additional epithet of hagnos (ritually pure) is added just before the appearance of the
epithet philosebastos in the second line.70 The close connection between hagnos
and philosebastos here supports the hypothesis that the epithet philosebastos
implies a specifically religious devotion to the emperor rather than, say, just a
feeling of friendship or loyalty. The expression of such religious devotion implies
that the emperor was conceived of as possessing some kind of divine quality.
Parallel epigraphical evidence from the first century A.D. strongly reinforces the idea that the use of the epithet hagnos along with a compound epithet, while certainly not excluding political, military, cultural, or other forms of
loyalty or devotion, perhaps implies primarily an attitude of religious devotion.
From an honorary inscription for the proconsul of A.D. 78/79, C. Laecanius
Bassus Caecina Paetus, we learn that L. Herennius Peregrinus was in charge of
setting up the honors.71 In lines 16–17 of the inscription, Herennius Peregrinus is called hagnou kai philartemidos. In this first-century inscription, not only
do we possess an almost exact parallel to the close connection between hagnos
and a compound epithet, as we have found in the Aristogiton inscription, but
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there also is no doubt about the implications of the compound epithet here.
Although philartemis (devoted to Artemis?) may be intended to convey a range
of attitudes, religious piety must be the primary one.
At least one other roughly datable example of the use of the epithet philosebastos in a public inscription from Ephesos helps us to understand some other
possible implications of the epithet’s use before it became the regular description of the Kouretes sometime during the reign of Nero. During the reign of
Claudius, the Boule and the demos dedicated a statue of Messalina or Agrippina
Minor.72 From the dedicatory inscription, which was inscribed on the base beneath the statue, we learn that Alexandros Memnon, philosebastos agonothete
of the games of the emperor and secretary of the demos, was the manager of the
project.73 When we have some specific information that helps us to understand
the application of the epithet philosebastos to an individual in a public inscription at the time of the epithet’s appearance in the lists of Kouretes, we find the
epithet used to describe an individual who not only had the direct responsibility
for setting up a statue of the wife of the emperor, but also directed, and possibly
even paid for, games celebrated in honor of the emperor.
If we now look outside of Ephesos, from the period even before the Ephesian Boule and demos dedicated the statue of Messalina or Agrippina, inscriptional evidence strengthens the argument that the epithet philosebastos was
epigraphically associated with individuals or associations directly involved in
honoring the Roman emperor. A little more than a decade after the ambassadors of the polis of Ephesos had unsuccessfully argued their case for the privilege
of erecting a temple to Tiberius, Livia, and the Roman Senate, the polis found
itself passed over once again in a competition to build an imperial temple. On
this occasion, however, it was not the cities of Asia that had decreed a temple
for the emperor; rather, the emperor himself initiated the cult.
According to the third-century A.D. historian Cassius Dio, Gaius ordered
that a sacred precinct should be set apart for his worship at Miletos in the province of Asia.74 Gaius did not award the privilege of instituting the new provincial temple to Ephesos because he thought that Ephesos was dominated already
by the cult of Artemis. Therefore, Artemis’s dominant position in the polis cost
the Ephesians the opportunity to institute a new cult, just as it had done during
the reign of Tiberius.
As it turned out, the new cult at Miletos differed markedly from the provincial cult established earlier in Smyrna. From an inscription about a statue
dedicated to Gaius, found near the southwest corner of the temple of Apollo at
Didyma, we learn that in the Milesian cult, unlike the case of the cult in Smyrna,
Gaius apparently was worshipped as a god.75 This worship of a living emperor in
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161
a provincial cult in Asia was unprecedented.76 In general, provincial cults tended
to be more conservative in this regard than the strictly municipal or private cults
of the Roman emperors. Perhaps more directly relevant to future developments
in Ephesos, in line 21 of the inscription from Didyma, the neopoioi who were responsible for setting up the statue of the emperor in Didyma are called philosebastoi, or devoted to the emperors. Outside of Ephesos, then, and not very far
away geographically, before the Ephesian Kouretes adopted the epithet, there
was a publicly prominent regional precedent for the application of the term to
priests or officials specifically linked to the imperial cult.
In fact, back in Ephesos itself, during and after the reign of Domitian, the
epithet philosebastos, or philosebastoi in the nominative plural, came to be applied not only to individuals whose attitudes or acts proclaimed them to be devoted to the emperor or his family, but also to whole boards of civic officials such
as the strategoi (at least nominal military leaders of the polis) or even to civic
institutions such as the demos, and the demos and Boule.77 In these instances
there usually was some direct connection between the application of the epithet
and public acts honoring the emperor or his family.78
But before it came to be the characteristic epithet of the Kouretes during
the reign of Nero, as far as we know, the epithet philosebastos was used in public inscriptions put up in Ephesos to describe individuals who were thought to
have an attitude of religious devotion toward the Roman emperor, or wanted
others to think that they possessed that attitude. During the same period the
epithet also could be deployed to characterize individuals who had acted upon
that devotion, dedicating statues of members of the imperial family or celebrating games in honor of the emperor. What the epithet was not applied to before
the reign of Domitian and the dedication of the provincial temple of the Sebastoi in A.D. 89/90 (with its acroliths probably of Domitian and Vespasian, and
certainly of Titus) was groups of priests or associations attached to cults of gods
or goddesses other than the imperial cult.
The language of devotion to the emperors that we find in the early lists of
Kouretes cannot be connected to any known individual acts of piety or euergetism with respect to the emperors on the part of individual Kouretes during the
first century A.D. Because we cannot connect the first-century Kouretes to specific acts of cultic devotion paid to the emperors, we should conclude therefore
that the recurrence of the epithet philosebastoi in the lists of Kouretes signifies
a general attitude of religious devotion to the emperors, similar in substance to
the kind of devotion implied by the use of the same epithet in the examples previously discussed.79
In sum, the use of the epithet philosebastoi was an expression of the Kou-
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retes’ religious devotion to the emperors, based upon a general belief in their
power, which could be compared only to that of the goddess Artemis herself.80 Just as the earlier Kouretes’ use of the epithet eusebeis was part of a public strategy to present themselves as possessing a communally shared quality or
virtue that legitimated the positions of authority and power they held in the
polis, the addition of the epithet philosebastoi was intended by their successors
to link themselves in the minds of people (who could read) to the power and
even religious aura of the Roman emperors. Its use was a local manifestation of
the creation of a common religious language in the Roman empire by which
individuals, civic associations, cities, and towns great and small established dialogues among themselves, with Rome, and above all with the emperors, in light
of their own specific pantheons and histories.81 The purpose of creating that language was to acknowledge the power of Rome and also to support the Roman
emperors in their efforts to ensure the peace and prosperity of the empire. Those
who took part in the creation and publication of the dialogues thereby linked
themselves with those efforts.
What led the Kouretes, the historical guards of Leto, Artemis, and Apollo,
to change the public representation of their piety at this time? When we look
at who was responsible for the mystic sacrifices on Mount Solmissos during the
first century A.D., a clear picture of who the Kouretes were emerges, and the
religious devotion of the Kouretes to both Artemis and the Roman emperors
becomes explicable.
P O L I T I C A L S TAT U S , FA M I L Y R E L AT I O N S , A N D
CITIZENSHIP AMONG THE FIRST-CENTURY
A.D. K O U R E T E S A N D P R Y TA N E I S
Some of the Kouretes from the first-century A.D. lists were members of the governing council of the polis (and in general those who had held civic offices are
listed first). So, in the earliest inscription from the second group, the peregrine
Alexandros appears as a member of the Boule.82 In a later list from the same
group we find two more Kouretes, Demetrios and Menokritos, also identified
as members of the Boule.83 In the same text, the Koures Dionysodoros is identified as a former prytanis.84 The prytanis of the year of a later list, but perhaps
from before A.D. 92, Tiberius Claudius Nysios, was an agonothete for life of the
Ephesian Olympics and clearly a wealthy man.85 So too were at least some of the
other first-century prytaneis, such as Publius Vedius Antoninus, the “Adoptivefather” of the Vedius dynasty in the city, who was prytanis around 96 to 99.86
Whether the original Ephesian Kouretes were thought to have been born
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163
from the earth, or to have been youths, like the Cretan Kouretes who protected and reared Zeus, the first-century Ephesian Kouretes definitely were not
“youths.”87 Nor were they earth-born. Rather, they were members of the elite,
“respectable” families that gradually came to dominate the governance of Ephesos and other cities in Asia Minor from their seats in the councils after the midfirst century.88
In fact, clusters of demonstrably human relatives can be found in these firstcentury lists of Kouretes, and many of these relatives were related to the prytanis of the year. These clusters of relatives were sometimes enumerated first in
the texts.89 During the reign of Claudius or Nero, for instance, four sons of the
prytanis of the year, Charidemos, probably served as Kouretes.90 Between 54 and
59 one of the Kouretes, Halys, was the brother of the prytanis for the year, Tiberius Claudius Arieos.91 Another member of the same yearly association, Tiberius
Claudius Erastus, was the son of the same prytanis.92 The father of the prytanis Dionysodoros, as well as an uncle and a nephew, also can be found in a list
of five Kouretes from the second half of the first century.93 Between 93 and 96,
during the prytany of C. Flavius Iustus, the grandfather C. Antius Rufus, the
father T. Flavius Attalus, and the uncle C. Antius Rufus of the prytanis served
as Kouretes.94 Finally, between 95 and 98, two sons of Alexandros, Chrysogonos
and Sunpheron, were Kouretes and probably were related to the prytanis of the
year.95
In fact, in five of the twelve preserved lists from the first century A.D., relatives served among the Kouretes.96 Moreover, in all five cases, at least some of the
Kouretes also were related to the prytaneis for their years.97 From this evidence
we may infer first that during this period the prytaneis were heavily involved in
selecting the Kouretes for the year. Before taking office, the prytanis picked the
(willing) Kouretes for the forthcoming year from among his or her brothers,
uncles, or other male relations. These male relations probably paid a fee in advance of their office holding. Their fees perhaps were used to help pay the costs
of maintaining the activities of the association, including especially subsidizing
the symposia and the famous mystic sacrifices.
Considering the fact that in almost half of the known cases we find clusters
of male relatives serving in the yearly association, we can conclude that during
the first century groups of wealthy Ephesian families apparently bore at least
part of the financial burden of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis from
year to year. While the celebrations were supervised by an elected officer of the
polis, and/or at times by the priestess of Artemis, as we have seen, it was really
the private wealth of families of prytaneis and Kouretes that kept at least some
of the rites or ceremonies of the cult going and made the celebrations happen.
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This phenomenon fits into a wider pattern, with its roots in the early fourth
century B.C., whereby the generosity of families across generations ensured that
the traditional practices of the polis were maintained.98 As such, the appearance
of clusters of related prytaneis, Kouretes, and even cult attendants over generations (as we shall see) in the lists constituted one very public manifestation
of the familialization, if not the general “domestication,” of public life in Asia
Minor during the imperial period.99
These family groups in Ephesos may have approached the celebrations competitively, with richer families trying to put on more elaborate celebrations during the years when they dominated the yearly association of members. These
propositions are not completely speculative. Strabo, it will be remembered, tells
us that at the celebration of the general festival, the neoi vied for honor by the
sumptuousness of their banquets.100 This surely must mean that their families
vied for honor; that is, they tried to outdo each other by putting on bigger and/
or better feasts. There was a competitive element to the celebrations at least as
far back as 29 B.C. A kind of unofficial, informal, but very real competition
within the polis to see who, or which family, could put on the most elaborate,
costly, or memorable celebration of the mysteries of Artemis during the first
century A.D. should not be excluded. Later, some prytaneis certainly bragged—
epigraphically—about how they had celebrated the mysteries during their years
in office.
The celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos did not function
outside the competitive framework of public euergetism, which permeated all
aspects of Graeco-Roman imperial society, especially within the Greek cities of
Asia Minor. Tensions existed, not only between the wealthy and poor, but between the wealthy and the wealthier during the long “Roman peace.” Although
it was not the only stage where this competition of the well-to- do was played
out, Ortygia certainly was one of the most desirable venues for local euergetai
(“do-gooders”), such as the families of prytaneis and Kouretes, to display their
devotion and munificence on behalf of the polis and themselves precisely because of its historical and mythological associations. Increasingly, many of those
self-interested do-gooders were citizens of Rome.
More than half of the known prytaneis from this period were citizens of
Rome, and out of fifty-eight Kouretes who can be securely identified from the
first-century lists, twenty-six were Roman citizens.101 Moreover, the percentage of Kouretes with Roman citizenship definitely increases from the texts belonging to the period of the Iulio-Claudian dynasty to the lists dated from the
reigns of Vespasian to Domitian.102 Nearly one-third of the Kouretes from the
reigns of the Iulio-Claudian emperors were Roman citizens.103 In the inscrip-
Kouretes philosebastoi
165
tions from the reign of Vespasian to Domitian more than half of the Kouretes
possessed the Roman tria nomina.104
It would be interesting to know whether a similar pattern pertained with
respect to other mystery cults in Ephesos or in nearby cities during the same
period. What we do know is that within Ephesos there was a priestess of Sebaste
Demeter Karpophoros named Servilia Secunda (cited previously) who is mentioned in an inscription from the reign of Tiberius, in which the Demetriasts in
the polis honored benefactors who were also priests and priestesses.105 Certainly,
mysteries of Demeter and Kore were celebrated in the city during the late first
century.106 Given her name, Servilia Secunda was probably a Roman citizen or
came from a family of Roman citizens. We also know that C. Licinnius Maximus was priest of the Eleusinian goddesses during the late first or early second
century A.D. and that at the same time T. Varius Nikostratos was priest for life
of Dionysos Phleus, for whom mysteries also were celebrated.107 Both men obviously were Roman citizens. And in Smyrna, by the reign of Nero, there was a
sebastophant (“revealer” of Augustus) and probably an agonothete for life of
the goddess Roma and the god Augustus Caesar Zeus Patroos, and an archiereus megistos (highest priest) Tiberius Claudius Hero[——], who clearly was a
wealthy Roman citizen.108
Unfortunately, suggestive as these individual pieces of evidence from Ephesos and nearby are, in the cases of the other mystery cults in Ephesos, we do not
have enough information to be able to trace in detail over time the kind of clear
and irrefutable pattern of wealthy Roman citizens progressively dominating a
priesthood or the most important association of a mystery cult, as we are able
to do in the case of the Ephesian Kouretes.109
Peregrines never were completely absent from the lists of Kouretes. In some
later years either the peregrines were in the majority or there were only peregrines. Nevertheless, the steady increase in the numbers of Roman citizens in
the lists that continues well into the second century A.D. shows that the association of Kouretes definitely began to be dominated by Roman citizens during
the Flavian dynasty. A similar observation can be made about the prytany as also
revealed in the lists of Kouretes.110
Of course, in these first-century lists, no distinction is made between Ephesian Roman citizens and peregrine citizens who were pious with respect to
Artemis and devoted to the emperors. All the Kouretes of the yearly lists were
equally pious with respect to the goddess and equally devoted to their Roman
rulers. That was precisely the point the Kouretes were trying to make clear to
passersby. Whatever their individual political or legal statuses, as Kouretes in
this context the members of the association belonged collectively to one asso-
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ciation of pseudo-youths (perhaps only from our point of view) who celebrated
Artemis’s mysteries and were devoted to the Roman emperors. The identities of
the Ephesian Romans and peregrine Ephesians were fused into one association
of Artemis defenders during the celebration of the mysteries.111
The language of devotion to the emperors displayed in the later first-century
lists of Kouretes therefore shows the extent to which the godlike power of the
Roman emperors not only had led to the creation of new cults with entirely new
priests in the Roman province of Asia, but also had had effects upon old cultic
associations, traditional cults, and the ways in which members of those traditional cults permitted themselves and their sense of piety to be represented to
the public.112
In the lists of Kouretes from the reign of Nero, then, we are confronted
with, and, much more immediately, the first-century inhabitants of Ephesos
were confronted with, the development of a new public vocabulary of piety in
Ephesos. The Kouretes developed that language of piety to define and articulate
relations between the great patron goddess of the polis and the Roman emperors. The Kouretes’ eusebeia with respect to Artemis provided the benchmark
definition of the proper attitude toward a deity (into whose mystic rites they
may have been initiated). Their piety toward her was defined by the fact that
they had kept the custom of performing their traditional activities at the mysteries. Their attitude toward the Roman emperors was one of religious devotion,
due to the emperors’ ability to bestow benefits that in some sense were godlike in magnitude.113 But it was a religious devotion that still was linguistically,
and therefore theologically, distinguishable from their attitude with respect to
Artemis, at least during the celebration of her mysteries. Later, that too would
change.
If we look outside of the evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis, the evidence for the incorporation of the idea of the divinity of the
emperors into the rituals of other mystery cults in the polis is equally striking.
In a letter dated to A.D. 88/89, from Lucius Pompeius Apollonios addressed to
the Roman proconsul L. Mestrius Florus, for instance, we learn that mysteries
and sacrifices were made “to Demeter Karpophoros and Thesmophoros and to
the gods Sebastoi by the initiates in Ephesos, every year with great purity and
lawful customs, together with the priestesses.”114 In the letter Apollonios goes
on to claim that the practices were protected by kings and emperors as well as
the proconsul of the period, as contained in their enclosed letters.115 The letter
concludes with Apollonios petitioning the proconsul on behalf of those obligated to accomplish the mysteries that he (probably should) acknowledge their
rights.116 Here, midway through the reign of Domitian, there is no ambiguity.
Kouretes philosebastoi
167
In this inscription, Demeter and the emperors are accorded equal divine status
based upon sacrifices made to the different deities during the celebration of the
mysteries of this cult. Thus far, the surviving evidence for the other mystery cults
in the city active at this time, including those of Dionysos, does not provide us
with detailed information about how worship of the emperors was integrated
into the rest of the cults.117
But for all the importance of Demeter to the polis (and the story of its
foundation by descendants of the kings of Athens), the ritual integration of the
Roman emperors into the celebration of her mysteries cannot be seen as having
the same significance as the incorporation of the emperors into the celebration
of the mysteries of Artemis at Ortygia. The sixth of May was the most important date in the Ephesian year, and the story of Artemis’s birth at Ephesos was
the theological trump card that the polis of the Ephesians had played during the
early imperial period to press their legal, political, and religious claims before
the Roman Senate and emperor, implicitly and sometimes explicitly against the
claims of the rival cities in Asia Minor. Unfortunately for the Ephesians, their
trump card was so powerful that it repeatedly trumped their own hand. For
that very reason, it is perhaps not accidental that, although the Kouretes were
proclaiming their devotion to the emperors by the reign of Nero, the complete
theological and ritual incorporation of the emperors into the most important
mystery cult in the polis did not take place for at least another 150 years. The
lists of Kouretes reveal that the emperors were on their way to being thought
of as the divine equals of Artemis during the first century A.D. at the celebration of her mysteries, but they were not there yet. Artemis was still the founderpatroness.
At the same time, it is equally important to point out that the appearance
of the epithet philosebastoi in the Kouretes’ inscriptions from the reign of Nero
predates, perhaps by thirty years, the dedication of the precincts of the temple of
the Sebastoi on a huge, raised podium measuring about 164 by 328 feet, on the
southwest corner of the upper agora of Ephesos in A.D. 89/90 (Maps 5, 6, and 7,
no. 30).118 Furthermore, the Kouretes’ public announcement of their devotion
to the Iulio-Claudian emperors also preceded by more than thirty years the appearance of local coins on which the Ephesians proclaimed themselves twice
neokoros, or caretaker of Artemis and the Sebastoi.119
The consecration of the temple of Flavian emperors certainly represented
the culmination of a transformation that had begun when Octavian gave permission for the Ephesians to dedicate a temenos for Roma and Iulius Caesar just
after the battle of Actium. It is worth pointing out, however, that a generation
before the province of Asia located the provincial temple of the Flavian em-
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perors in Ephesos and before the Ephesians were advertising themselves to the
world as equal caretakers of Artemis and the Flavian emperors on the coinage
of the polis, the Kouretes already were proclaiming their devotion to the emperors. It is true that in the Kouretes’ inscriptions from the mid-first century A.D.
the Roman emperors were not accorded a status equal to that of Artemis. Nor
were the Iulio-Claudian emperors called gods in the lists of Kouretes. Yet the
Kouretes’ proclamation of their devotion to the Iulio-Claudian emperors in the
lists from the reign of Nero clearly parallels the ritual assimilation of the Roman
emperors into the celebration of other mysteries in the city and anticipates the
language used later in inscriptions from Ephesos and other cities of the province, which document the creation of a provincial cult explicitly dedicated to
the Roman emperors, both living and dead.
The message of the earliest lists of Kouretes from the time of Tiberius had
been clear: scaring away Hera each year and so ensuring the births of Artemis
and Apollo at the celebration of the mysteries (if only through ritual evocation)
was an act of piety for which the Kouretes deserved the epithet of eusebeis.
By their yearly act of piety, Artemis’s defenders, the Kouretes, on behalf of the
polis, hoped to secure the favor of their great goddess.
It was into this time-hallowed and hallowing script of reciprocal exchange
between the Ephesian Kouretes and the Olympians, and its yearly commemoration in the lists of Kouretes, that the emperors now were brought, not, to be
sure, at first on an equal basis with the goddess, but nevertheless openly and
with some external indications that the day would come when the goddess and
the Roman emperors would be seen somehow as equals in this holy calculus of
exchange during the celebration of her birth. In that sense, it could be argued
that by the early first century A.D. the celebrations of the mysteries had been
politicized ritually, insofar as they constructed, displayed, and even promoted
the power of the emperor and also the interests of a distinct constituency or
subgroup within Ephesian society, the Ephesian/Roman Kouretes, who memorialized that power and at the same time justified their own.120 The new divine
hierarchy celebrated at the mysteries sacralized the power and authority of the
new Kouretes.
In the longer run, however, the integration of the Roman emperors into the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis and the sacralization of the Kouretes’ authority in the polis would have some unforeseen and portentous consequences
for the Kouretes, Artemis, the Roman emperors, and the polis itself. As Actaion
discovered, getting too close to Artemis could have unintended consequences.
We shall turn to those consequences later. But before the lesson of Actaion’s example became clear to all, the polis continued to make changes in the celebra-
Kouretes philosebastoi
169
tion of the mysteries of Artemis, thereby asserting its authority over the cult. At
the very end of the first century A.D., the polis perhaps matched the Kouretes’
redefinition of their piety by another change to the great processional route up
to Ortygia.
A R T E M I S AT T H E T R I O D O S
We already have described how the polis altered the processional route to Ortygia during the reign of Tiberius. An altar of Artemis at the Triodos was also
built. At this altar the initiates and the Kouretes probably sacrificed each year
before they made their way up to Ortygia and Mount Solmissos.121
Later in the same century, once again as a result of a new building project in
the same area of the city, the polis perhaps made another, even larger adjustment
to the processional route. In this case, because of the construction of a temple,
identified controversially as a Serapeion on the basis of two inscriptions found
there (Maps 6 and 8, no. 67), the Ephesians moved the road to Ortygia to the
southwest, up the lower slopes of Bülbüldag.122
Work on the new sanctuary, according to one reconstruction of the process, probably commenced during the 80s or the early 90s A.D. at the latest.123
Whenever the work was begun, as soon as the foundations of the new prostyle
temple (set on a podium) were laid, the old road up to Ortygia would have
been unusable. Decades before the so-called Celsus Library was built directly
over part of the old road to Ortygia, the work on the so-called Serapeion would
have made it impossible for the sacred procession to use the road that, until that
time, skirted the southwest side of the expanded Tetragonos (lower) Agora.124
A new road to Ortygia, parallel to the old road, must have been built as soon as
the Ephesians began to work on the new temple complex.
The construction of the new road also had implications for the route of the
sacred procession, even while the procession was still moving within the city. As
soon as the road to Ortygia was moved to the southwest, the altar of Artemis
at the Triodos no longer would have marked the spot at which the procession
coming from the direction of the Theater turned at a right angle and headed
due west up to Ortygia. To make that right-angle turn now, the procession had
to march along farther, well past the Mazaios and Mithridates Gate (or South
Gate of the agora), across the true intersection of the Plateia and the Embolos.
Although it is probable that the sacred procession still sacrificed to Artemis
at the altar of the goddess at the Triodos, the fact that the polis constructed a
monumental gate at an oblique angle to the meeting point of the Plateia and
the Embolos, exactly at the spot where the three roads now met, only a few years
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later shows that the Boule and assembly understood very well that moving the
road up to Ortygia to the west during the reign of Domitian had been an important change. To emphasize the significance of the change, the polis placed a
statue of the great goddess herself on top of that monumental gate.
There Artemis stood, as the decades rolled by, looking out over the Kouretes
and the initiates as they began the climb up to the sacred grove, until sometime
after Constantius II ordered the removal of the statues of all the pagan deities
from cities in 354, when a Christian named Demeas pulled down the image of
the “daimon” and in her place put up the Cross of Christ.125 The accompanying inscription read: “Demeas, tearing down the deceitful image of the daimon
Artemis, set up this sign of truth. He honored God who drives away idols, and
the Cross, the victorious, immortal symbol of Christ.”126 Despite what Demeas
intended, like other Christians who carved crosses on “pagan” buildings that
they feared were inhabited by powerful daimons, by placing the Cross of Christ
atop this gate, Demeas only drew attention to the significance that this sacred
spot once held for the Christians’ vanquished theological foes.127
CHAPTER 7
Kouretes eusebeis kai
philosebastoi kai bouleutai
BY THE END OF THE FIRST CENTURY A.D. the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis included sacrifices and the reading of the entrails of victims,
announcements and instructions given to the initiates, the burning of incense
and a cultic dance, and some kind of pipe music, while libations were poured.
Secrets were also disclosed to initiates.
During the early second century the Ephesians continued to make changes
to the festival. First, more music apparently was added to the ceremonies in Ortygia. More importantly, perhaps in response to an increase in the number of
prospective initiates, a second hierophant and another diviner joined the association of cult attendants that was responsible for performing rituals and ceremonies at the mysteries. After A.D. 104 newly endowed lotteries and distributions to citizens and members of institutions of the polis, as well as a procession
of gold and silver statues carried through the streets of the polis on Artemis’s
birthday, also contributed to the festivities on the sixth of May.1 The changes
to the personnel who celebrated the mysteries, and the polis’s approval of new
civic rituals, timed to coincide with the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis,
probably indicate that the annual general festival had become larger and more
popular than it had been during the first century. During the middle decades of
the second century the polis continued to exercise at least some control over the
celebration of the festival and was no less inclined to make changes that affected
the route of the sacred procession up to Ortygia than it had been earlier.
By the middle of the second century, the number of Kouretes in the yearly
association grew from six to nine. As their predecessors had done, these nine
Kouretes publicly expressed their devotion to the great goddess and to the Roman emperors at the end of their year in office. Furthermore, as we shall show,
the percentage of Kouretes who were Roman citizens and members of the council also increased once again over the course of the second century. By A.D. 160
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the Kouretes comprised a very significant bloc of voters within the Boule of
Ephesos. The very same Ephesian Romans who assumed the title of Kouretes
each year on the sixth of May also looked out for the interests of the polis in the
bouleuterion.
The celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis reached their most elaborate
form during the same period of the mid-second century that the city achieved
its economic and architectural apogee.2 By A.D. 160 Artemis’s birthday party
was the most important event of the year within Asia’s most splendid city.
THE EVIDENCE FROM THE
E A R L Y S E C O N D C E N T U R Y A.D.
The lists of Kouretes provide most of our evidence for the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos after the end of the first century. On the basis of
the further development of the ritual offices of the cult attendants in these lists,
Knibbe allotted thirty lists of Kouretes and cult attendants to a third stage in the
evolution of the association.3 Within this third stage of development were three
substages.4 Overall, these thirty lists can be dated from between A.D. 95 and 98
into the reign of Antoninus Pius.5 The majority of these lists from the end of
the reign of Domitian to 161 were inscribed upon the columns and entablature
of the prytaneion’s Doric façade. There does not appear to be any programmatic
artistic design or pattern behind their engraving upon the stone surfaces.
Even if the last list in Knibbe’s third group came from the last year of
Pius’s reign (161), we would have lists of Kouretes for approximately half of
the period between 98 and 161. Moreover, if we add the three lists of Kouretes
from Knibbe’s fourth group (which also can be dated to the same time period)
to the thirty lists of Group III, as well as the most recently discovered Kouretes’
list, which should be dated to the reign of Pius, then we currently possess lists
of Kouretes and cult attendants for more than half of the years of the middle of
the second century.6
The thirty lists of Kouretes belonging to the third group represent both our
greatest density of evidence and the most consistent distribution of evidence
for the prytaneis, the Kouretes, the cult attendants, and the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos over any fifty-year period during which we have
any evidence. In addition, several other inscriptions from the same period, especially the endowment of C. Vibius Salutaris, dated precisely to 104, help to provide additional information about other civic rituals timed to coincide with the
celebration of Artemis’s mysteries and about the families and careers of other
individuals involved in the celebration of those mysteries during the early sec-
Kouretes bouleutai
173
ond century.7 Numismatic, literary, and archaeological evidence from the same
period also casts some light on the celebrations. In sum, the evidence for the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos is by far our richest during
the period of the mid-second century.
T H E C U L T AT T E N D A N T S A N D T H E C E L E B R AT I O N
O F T H E M Y S T E R I E S O F A R T E M I S F R O M A.D. 9 8
INTO THE REIGN OF PIUS
The third group of Kouretes’ lists, dated to the period between 98 and the reign
of Pius (138 to 161), shows more changes with respect to the internal organization of the cult attendants than any other previous group of lists from any
other time period. These alterations took place both at the level of the division
of cultic responsibility between the cult attendants and the Kouretes during the
celebrations of the mysteries and among the cult attendants themselves. It is important to look carefully at these complicated changes to the organization of the
cult attendants in particular because of what they imply about the celebration
of the mysteries during the early second century. After looking at the evolution
of the roster of cult attendants, we will return to the question of what actually
went on at the mysteries during this period. A hypothesis about the changes to
the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries during the second century then will be
advanced.
At the first level, the differentiation of the cult attendants from the
Kouretes on the basis of the cult attendants’ ritual expertise, which began after
list no. 1004, dated probably from the time of Claudius or Nero, was effectively
completed during this period. None of the Kouretes who appear in the lists of
the third group, dated from 98 to 160, have office titles next to their names that
would indicate some artistic or ritual expertise, as some of the Kouretes possessed earlier.8 After the middle of the first century, the Kouretes and the cult
attendants effectively became separate associations of officials or priests and artists, although both associations were based in the prytaneion and both certainly
worked or performed under the direction of the prytanis.
The case for a clearly articulated division of cultic responsibility between
the cult attendants and the Kouretes at this time is strengthened by the appearance of a new description of the cult attendants from list no. 1017, dated between 97 and 100. In that list, the cult attendants are designated as hierourgoi.9
Thereafter, in all of the complete lists from this group, the cult attendants appear under this new title, essentially as a separate association from the Kouretes.
In the epigraphical corpus of Ephesos, hierourgoi are almost always found
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TELETAI—RITES
in inscriptions related to the Kouretes. However, they also are mentioned in a
dedicatory inscription, apparently for Demeter Thesmophoros and Kore.10 The
association of the hierourgoi with Demeter and Kore may be significant for several reasons. First, from the previously mentioned letter of L. Pompeius Apollonius to the proconsul L. Mestrius Florus in 88/89, we know that there were
mysteries and sacrifices to Demeter Karpophoros and Thesmophoros and to the
god emperors by the initiates.11 Another fragmentary inscription from A.D. 140
makes clear that mysteries were celebrated for Demeter well into the period of
the third group of Kouretes’ inscriptions.12 Finally, at least during the third century, there clearly was a statue of Demeter Thesmophoros in the prytaneion.13
Since the hierourgoi are found associated with two cults of the prytaneion,
both of which celebrated mysteries during the second century, it is tempting to
conclude that at this time the hierourgoi were designated by the prytanis, on
behalf of the polis, as a group of ritual and (or) artistic experts, organized and
detailed specifically to perform rituals at the mysteries, including the mysteries
of Artemis and Demeter.
The association of the cult attendants with the Kouretes in these inscriptions (from Knibbe’s review), however, indicates that what is being commemorated is the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, which we know were “completed” by the priestess of Artemis Ulpia Euodia Mudiane during the late
first or early second century and were “renewed” and “instituted in the traditional manner” by an unnamed priestess of Artemis during the late second
century A.D.14 There is no completely convincing evidence that the Kouretes,
whose names always precede the names and offices of the cult attendants on the
second-century lists, ever took part in the celebration of the mysteries of other
gods or goddesses, such as the mysteries of Demeter and Kore. Moreover, the
office titles of at least some of the hierourgoi in the second-century lists are not
paralleled among the ritual assistants known to have helped celebrate mysteries
connected with the cult of Demeter and Kore elsewhere, such as Eleusis. Conversely, some of the offices referred to in later contexts (which will be treated in
chronological order) clearly belong to the context of Demeter’s cult.15
The complete separation of the cult attendants from the Kouretes and their
consolidation into a distinct association of ritual experts known as the hierourgoi during the early second century may have come about as a result of an increased ritual workload, as Knibbe has argued.16 Careful examination of further
changes within the internal organization of this newly designated association of
ritual experts perhaps provides additional support for Knibbe’s “workload” hypothesis. There certainly were more changes to the internal organization of the
association of cult attendants throughout the first half of the second century, as
Kouretes bouleutai
175
well as to the internal organization of the association of Kouretes. These alterations signify that the Ephesians were making changes in the celebrations of the
general festival in Ortygia.
As noted previously, the appearance of the hierophant among the cult attendants in list no. 1015 indicated that initiation rituals certainly were part of
the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis by 95 to 98. Thereafter, we can judge
the relative importance of the priest who disclosed the secrets to the initiates
at the mysteries by the position of this office in the enumeration of the cult
attendants and their offices in the following lists.17 After appearing to the right
of the rest of the offices of the cult attendants in list no. 1015, dated from between 95 to 98, in the next list, the hierophant Mundicius heads the list of cult
attendants. In all the complete lists from no. 1017, dated from between 97 and
100, to list no. 1035, dated to about 140, the hierophant then follows the important hieroskopos, or diviner (perhaps the equivalent of the Latin haruspex),
who inspected the entrails of the sacrificed victims.18 From list no. 1036 until no.
1042A, probably to be dated near the end of the reign of Pius, the hierophant is
listed first among the hierourgoi even on those occasions when there were two
diviners among the hierourgoi.19
A second indication of the importance of the office of the hierophant to the
cult comes near the end of this group. List 1038, dated after 150, has two hierophants, Mundicius the bouleutes (city councilor) and his son, Mundicius.20 Because a father and son are hierophants at this time, it is just possible to argue that
the doubling of the office here really is just an indication of a father preparing
a son to take his place in the cultic organization. With this hypothesis, the fact
that both father and son are hierophants signifies nothing about the workload
of the office.
However, two unrelated hierophants, L. Octavius Metrodorianus and
Mundicius IV, also appear in lists 1043, 1044, and 1045 from the reign of Pius.21
In these three cases, the office of the hierophant is combined with the office of
the hagnearch.22 According to Knibbe’s understanding of this office, the hagnearchy was some kind of anonymous (“ungenannte”) cult position, possibly
involving purifications, that, although it appeared among the lists of Kouretes
before 92, merged into the office of the hierophant among the cult attendants
by around 96 to 99, only to reappear as a separate office by 105 to 120.23 The
hagnearchy then combined with the office of the hierophant again after 120.24
Finally, when it appeared yet again as a separate office during the reign of Pius,
the hagnearchy was more important than the office of the hierophant.25
Whatever the job of the hagnearch was, and whatever its importance was
relative to the position of the hierophant, what is certain and significant for us is
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that by the reign of Pius, there were two hierophants, as is apparent in the contemporary lists of the cult.26 It may have been the case that two hagnearchai/
hierophantai were needed as advisors to the prytanis at the time about cultic
matters. But if all the hagnearchai/hierophantai did was to advise the prytaneis
about cultic matters, why was it necessary to retain the title of hierophant at all?
Surely such advisors could have been appointed simply as a hagnearch.
But that was not the title of the office. It was a joint office title, hagnearchai
kai hierophantai. The holders of this office perhaps advised the prytanis on cultic matters, thereby fulfilling one part of the obligations of the office. But we
cannot and should not overlook the implications of the other half of the job description, which was that of a hierophant.
As we have seen, the essential job of the hierophant was to disclose the secrets of Artemis to initiates during the celebration of the mysteries. Since this
was the central concern of the hierophant, we may hypothesize that the doubling of the number of hierophants during the reign of Pius does signify an increased workload in the area of the hierophant’s ritual expertise. We should conclude that more hierophants were needed at this time because more people were
eager to learn Artemis’s (and possibly other deities’) secrets. This conclusion may
be supported by a clear increase in the number of inscriptions that relate to the
celebration of other mysteries in the city during this time, including those of
Demeter and Kore, Dionysos, Zeus Panhellenios, and Hephaistos.27 Dionysian
rites in particular seem to have attracted large groups of initiates and supporters of the cult at this time. Because of the increase in the number of prospective
initiates, by 150 the polis added a second hierophant to the payroll of the prytaneion. A parallel doubling of the second most important office among the cult
attendants supports this hypothesis about the cause of adding a second hierophant to the ritual staff of the prytaneion.
Two diviners appear in the Kouretes’ lists dated from 150 to the last decade
of the second century.28 Their appearance in list 1038, from after 150, coincides
with the first appearance of two hierophants in the catalogue.29 It is possible
that the appearance of a second diviner in the lists simply was the result of an
expansion of sacrifices taken on by the prytaneion as a whole. But it is much
more likely that the hiring of a second diviner signifies more sacrifices at the
mysteries, given the context in which the priest appears (lists of Kouretes) and
his close connection to the hierophants, who definitely were priests essentially
associated with the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, as is minimally suggested by their appearance in the lists of Kouretes.
Further elaboration of the organization of the hierourgoi during this period
is shown by the appearance of the salpiktes, or trumpeter, in Group III, after
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177
list 1029, dated from 105 to 120. In at least thirteen of fourteen lists in the third
group where this office appears, the salpiktes is the last or second to last cult
attendant listed, usually just after the spondaules. The three skilled artistic performers (akrobates, spondaules, and salpiktes) consistently occupied the fourth,
fifth, and sixth positions in the lists throughout this third group, following the
cult attendants who pronounced the secrets, read the entrails, and kept order.30
From this fact, we may perhaps conclude that by this time, at the end of the first
quarter of the second century, a kind of hierarchy of offices within the association of cult attendants had developed.31 In this hierarchy, offices that required
ritual expertise came first, followed by the offices entailing artistic talent in the
first instance.
Outside of the lists of Kouretes, the salpiktes appears only twice in the corpus of Ephesian inscriptions: first, as one of the cult officials who receive gifts
representative of their position in cultic matters from the prytanis in the “sacrificial law,” from the third century; and second, in an undated list of religious
officials, where the title of the office is apparently salpiktes olympioneikes.32
In 1922 Picard argued that these trumpeters provided sacred musical accompaniment to the “dance of the arms” at the mysteries of Artemis.33 Knibbe
doubts this hypothesis, largely because a simple man like Parasios, a victor in the
competition of the salpiktai in the Ephesian Olympics, was the first to be definitively recorded filling the post.34 The undated list of religious officials cited
above would seem to support Knibbe’s idea that the holders of the office attached to the prytaneion (and the list of cult attendants that developed during
the second century) were borrowed or recruited from among the winners of
trumpeting contests at the Ephesian Olympic festivals.35 At the same time, Landels has pointed out that in all types of literature from the sixth century B.C.
onwards, the trumpet appears usually, although not exclusively, in a military
context.36 On other occasions, however, such trumpets were used as public address instruments, sounded, for instance, to call for silence at large gatherings.37
It is therefore possible that the trumpet player added to the association of cult
attendants of the prytaneion of Ephesos either blew his trumpet during the
Kouretes’ apotropaic weapon dance, which might qualify broadly as a military
context (if such a dance took place), or summoned the initiates, perhaps to form
a procession.38
In either case, however, the appearance of this musician in list 1028 and
after (105 to 120) indicates some kind of increased pomp during the celebration
of Artemis’s mysteries. There can be no doubt that this office, like the offices of
the akrobates and the spondaules, required some musical training and talent.39
Thus, half of the offices of the cult attendants during the first half of the second
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century were filled by trained and/or skilled artistic performers, such as dancers,
singers, and musicians.
At the same time that these changes in the organization of the cult attendants were taking place, further developments were also occurring within the association of the Kouretes, perhaps near the end of the period under discussion.
To the period between 150 and 192 belongs the first appearance of the office of
the hebdomokoures, or “seventh Koures,” first among the list of Kouretes.40 The
holder of the office, Ithagenes III, later appears designated as a Koures among
the cult attendants, and still later, among the attendants, as Koures and also
some other kind of officeholder for life.41
It has not been easy to understand the function of the seventh Koures.
Knibbe has suggested that he may have been the Koures who represented the
association of the Kouretes at the other ceremonies supervised by the prytanis.42
This is a possible explanation, but the switch of the office, held by Ithagenes,
from the list of the Kouretes to the list of the cult attendants may indicate that
although the seventh Koures originally was a special, representative member of
that association, the seventh Koures soon became a permanent member of the
hierourgoi.
An alternative hypothesis, which does not exclude the “representative”
theory, is that the title of “seventh Koures” was essentially honorific in nature,
and the designation or selection of a seventh Koures is a sign that this association was affected by the same trend toward at least some internal institutional
hierarchization that was characteristic of many other associations and offices
during the period. The gymnasiarchy, for instance, was included among other
positions in the polis in which holders were designated as holding the “first
office” by the late first century A.D.43 Perhaps the title of seventh Koures was a
marker of superior status or wealth among the association of Kouretes. We do
not know.
Whether the seventh Koures was a representative of the association or the
title signifies higher status within the association (or both), the enduring importance of the office can be deduced from the fact that in the sacrificial law of the
third century, the seventh Koures was listed among the other cult specialists to
whom the prytanis was directed to give gifts representative of their positions in
cultic matters.44 At that time, therefore, the seventh Koures clearly was singled
out from among the other Kouretes for special honors.
Whatever the status of the seventh Koures was within the association, further changes within the association of Kouretes at this time are not in question.
Eight Kouretes appear in the most recently discovered list.45 Four of the eight
were related to the prytanis of the year, T. Po. Vedius Marcellus.46 In the second
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179
to last list from Knibbe’s second group, dated to the reign of Pius, nine Kouretes
are named.47 All nine were members of the Boule and neopoioi.48 This inscription is also one in which two hagnearchs and hierophants appear, distinct from
both the nine Kouretes and the cult attendants.49 Among the cult attendants,
Onesimos also served as a dancer, along with his son, by decree, probably of the
association of the Kouretes.50 All of these details point toward an expansion of
the association at the time and give some indication that the association took
responsibility for the personnel of the cult attendants.
What are the overall implications of these complicated changes in the lists
of the cult attendants and the Kouretes during the second century for our understanding of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos? It may be
that some of the variations that appear in the texts are related to yearly circumstances and exigencies that at present are beyond recovery. But some broader
trends can be identified. First, although at times individuals such as Ithagenes
served among the Kouretes and then the hierourgoi, the appearance of the title
hierourgoi, used to describe the cult attendants first around A.D. 100, indicates
that the process of differentiating the roles of the Kouretes and the cult attendants at the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries on the basis of ritual expertise
now was basically complete.51
Perhaps more importantly for us, the lists of Kouretes from the early second
century include offices of cult attendants whose titles—hierophantes, hieroskopos, hierokeryx, epi thumiatrou, spondaules, and salpiktes—elsewhere indicate
the duties of priests or artists who disclosed secrets to initiates at the celebration
of mysteries, inspected the entrails of sacrificial victims, kept order at the mysteries, danced during the burning of incense, played the double pipe while libations were poured, and sounded the trumpet, respectively.52 From a comparative perspective, we may note that in Pergamon we know from an inscription
engraved upon a monument dedicated to Hadrian that hymn singers celebrated
mysteries that included sacrifices, banquets, the use of sacrificial cakes, incense,
and lamps for the image of the Sebastos.53 In other words, mysteries in a nearby
polis included sacrifices and rites that were at least generically similar to the ones
that we infer were happening during the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries in
Ephesos.
The addition of the trumpet music to the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries
perhaps added something substantial to the pomp and ceremony of the festival,
even if the trumpeter was not added to the roster of personnel who performed
at the mysteries to help drown out the wailing of the newborn divinities, as
some scholars have imagined, perhaps a little too imaginatively. Far more significant for our purposes was the increase in the numbers of hierophants and
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diviners. Two hierophants may have been included among the cult attendants
as early as 105 to 120.54 There certainly were two hierophants at times after 150.55
Similarly, after 150 two diviners frequently are included.56
These increases in the numbers of the cult attendants would have entailed
additional expense to the prytaneion, as the prytanis, on behalf of the polis,
would have had to pay the trumpeter, the second hierophant, and the second
diviner for their services. Keeping this in mind, the only credible hypothesis
about the expansion of the roster of cult servants during this period is that the
polis added these new priests and artists to the hierourgoi because of an increase in cultic activity centered at the prytaneion. These activities may well
have been related to a number of cults in operation within the prytaneion for
which we have evidence of activity during the second century, including those
of Apollo Klarios and Sopolis, or Savior of the polis.57 A rising tide of piety may
have helped to float all cults. But there is even more substantial evidence for increased attention and resources devoted to the cult of Artemis in the prytaneion
at this time.
BULLS AND BEES
For to this time period belong four cult statues of Artemis Ephesia unearthed
by Miltner in 1956 during his excavations of the prytaneion: the famous “Beautiful Artemis,” found carefully buried in a side room (no. 5) of the prytaneion;
the “Great Artemis,” toppled over in the courtyard (where it once stood) perhaps by an earthquake or knocked over by Christians; and the “Small Artemis”
and a copy of it, from the vestibule of the stoa (Small Artemis) and the courtyard (copy). These cult statues have been dated from the reign of Trajan (Great
Artemis) to the Hadrianic–early Antonine (Beautiful Artemis) and midAntonine periods (Small Artemis and copy).58 All four statues probably were
set up in the courtyard and hall of the prytaneion.
The specific type of the so-called Great Artemis can be traced back to representations of the goddess on coins and pottery stamps dated to the second century B.C. but ultimately may have been modeled on the seventh-century B.C.
wooden cult image of the goddess that was housed in the temple of Artemis.59
Artemis’s role as protector of the city is signified by the three-tiered headgear,
or polos, the goddess wears in the second-century A.D. statue (even if the polos
itself is an older symbol of Phrygian female divinity). On the topmost tier are
representations of temples, including the Artemision.
Scholars continue to argue over the question of whether the oval pendants
that hang from Artemis’s chest represent the scrota of bulls, rows of the Hittite
The “Great Artemis,” now exhibited in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk
(inv. no. 712). See also Plate 1.
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leather bag known as “kursa,” hilltops, or amber pendants that were attached to
the original wooden statue of the goddess in the Artemision.60 If the pendants
are scrota, they might be a reference to sacrifices of bulls that took place during
the celebrations of the mysteries.61 The Hittite leather bag would be a symbol of
fecundity, while rows of hilltops might signify Artemis’s role as a mountain goddess.62 It was on just such a hilltop (Ortygia) that her mysteries were celebrated
every spring.
The so-called Beautiful Artemis also has the rows of pendants hanging from
her chest, but the hinds at her sides, as well as the representations of animals (including lions, bulls, goats, griffins, and sphinxes) on her dress, make clear that
Artemis’s identity as mistress of the wild animals, or Potnia Theron, was being
emphasized here. If the tassel-shaped objects in front of the hinds are the ends
of bands that once hung from the statue’s wrists, they might be a reference to
the strands of wool that visitors to Greek sanctuaries such as the Artemision
who were seeking asylum wrapped around sticks. More certainly, the signs of
the zodiac represented on Artemis’s upper chest are a clear reference to the seasons and the course of the year.63 The signs might in turn be connected to the
timing of the festival.
The Small Artemis (and its copy) also has pendants on her chest, and her
lower body is wrapped in a tight garment with protomes of animals on it, but
the statue lacks the signs of the zodiac that are so prominent on the chest of the
Beautiful Artemis.64
Thus all of the statues of Artemis Ephesia found by Miltner in the prytaneion have distinct iconographic features and can be interpreted individually as
evoking Artemis’s different functions and spheres of power. Yet we should not
overlook the fact that all of the statues share certain features in common, most
suggestively the pendants on Artemis’s chest and bees on the sides of her skirt,
and we should also recall that the statues were set up within the prytaneion from
the reign of Trajan into the Antonine dynasty. If we think about the statues and
their common features in their specific physical context and consider their function in association with the rituals that we know were performed for Artemis’s
cult at the direction of the prytaneis from the reign of Tiberius at least, it is
tempting to link the common iconographic features of the scrota and the bees
with the sacrifices that we know to have been directed by the prytaneis from the
early imperial period, namely, the mystic sacrifices performed by the Kouretes
and the cult attendants in Ortygia on the sixth of May.
Indeed, although Strabo does not mention what form these mystic sacrifices took, as we have noted, some scholars have suggested that the scrota on
the statues were representations of the real scrota of bulls that were sacrificed
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183
to Artemis during the celebration of the mysteries.65 According to this theory,
after the sacrifices the scrota were hung on the ancient wooden statue to give
procreative strength to the goddess. The goddess as midwife then provided the
assistance needed for bees (with whom Artemis is also associated) to be born
out of the bulls. These bees were identified with the souls of the initiates into
Artemis’s mysteries. Thus, the purpose of hanging the scrota on the statue during the celebration of the mysteries (and their later representation on the statues) was to suggest to initiates how their souls were reborn into a new life generated through the bull or more simply how there was “life in death.”66 If this
interpretation of the relationship between the mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes
and the statues of the prytaneion is correct, then the mystic sacrifices were intended to function in a way similar to the silent display of the reaped ear of grain
to the epoptai (watchers) by the hierophant during the Eleusinian mysteries.67 In
both cults, initiation promised the revelation of how there was a new life after
death.
Whatever scholars ultimately decide about the significance of the pendants
that hang from Artemis’s chest and the rest of the iconographic elements of
these magnificent statues, there can be no doubt that these statues were and are
indicators of the resources the Ephesians were willing to devote to the cult of the
goddess within the prytaneion, and thus the vitality of the cult at the time. Although we do not have figures, it is obvious that both the Beautiful Artemis and
the Great Artemis were very expensive statues to produce: the Great Artemis is
9.51 feet tall, and the Beautiful Artemis stands at 5.71 feet. Both were sculpted
from premium, fine-grained white marble.
There can be no other plausible reason why the polis would have commissioned such expensive images to be installed within the prytaneion, and why the
prytanis would have decided to employ another musician, another hierophant,
and another diviner during the second century. The increased cost implied by
the addition of these statues and the ritual and artistic experts is best explained
by an increase in cultic “business” that must have paid for the added expenditure.
Business in this context, the epigraphical record of those who helped to
celebrate the mysteries of Artemis and/or possibly other deities as well, can only
mean a substantial increase in the number of initiates to whom the hierophants
disclosed the secrets and also an increase in the number of sacrificial victims
whose entrails needed to be read by the diviner.68 An increase in the number of
initiates also would imply an increase in the profit from the fees that the prospective initiates would have paid to their initiators.69
Based upon the doubling of the number of hierophants and diviners, a
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rough but not illogical guess would be that the numbers of initiates and sacrificial victims had doubled from the time during the first century when one
hierophant and one diviner were sufficient for the needs of the celebration of
the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos, as well as the other cultic responsibilities
of the prytanis.70
Similarly, the increase in the number of Kouretes from the traditional six
to nine is perhaps another indication of cultic expansion. It is certain, in any
case, based upon the evidence of the endowment of C. Vibius Salutaris from
A.D. 104, that the demos and Boule approved the creation of additional civic
rituals and sacrifices timed to coincide with the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis each year on the sixth of May, which clearly would have added to the
festivities on the birthday of the goddess.71 For as a result of the endowment of
Salutaris, every year on the day when Artemis’s birthday was celebrated by the
Kouretes and the cult attendants of the prytaneion after 104 a complex scheme
of lotteries and cash distributions was doled out to individuals and civic institutions of the polis, and a procession of thirty-one gold and silver type statues and
images, including ones of Plotina and Trajan (who visited Ephesos in 113), made
its way along a circular route from the temple of Artemis following the sacred
processional way through the city.72 In fact, it is by inference from the Salutaris
endowment that we date the celebration of the mysteries to the sixth of Thargelion, or late April/early May.73
Among the recipients of the lotteries or distributions that took place on the
fifth or sixth of Thargelion certainly were members of the Boule and the Gerousia, the ephebes and the Ephebarchos (leader of the ephebes), the theologoi (declaimers of sacred stories), the priestess of Artemis, the hymnodoi of the goddess, the paides (boys) and paidonomoi (supervisors of the boys), the thesmodoi
(singers), and the akrobatai (dancers).74 According to the terms of the endowment, the priestess of Artemis was given 18 denarii on behalf of the hymnodoi
of the goddess for distribution on the birthday of Artemis.75 In the addendum
to the main bequest, it was stipulated that the winners of the supplementary
lottery of the members of the Boule were to make a sacrifice to Artemis on her
birthday, and other lottery winners were to pray in the temple of Artemis.76
The guards of the Artemision, two neopoioi, the temple beadle, the chrysophoroi (sacred victors), and a sacred slave of Artemis, assistant to the weight
master, picked up the silver type statues and images dedicated by Salutaris from
the pronaos of the temple of Artemis and bore them along on a route to the
Magnesian Gate and then along the processional route through the streets of
the city; past the bouleuterion and the prytaneion on the northern side of the
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185
upper agora; then down the Embolos to the intersection with the Plateia; then
due north up to and into the Theater, where the statues were placed on inscribed
bases; and then back out of the city through the Koressian Gate and home to
the Artemision.77 Later, perhaps from the reign of Hadrian onward, according
to one theory, the statues were borne along on the processional route in a sacred
cart that appears on coins of the city.78
There is no doubt, then, that by the terms of the Salutaris endowment, the
polis intended to increase the number of rituals that took place after A.D. 104
on Artemis’s birthday, including a new sacrifice and prayer in the temple of
Artemis itself. Exactly how the civic rituals, sacrifice, and prayer related to the
rites supervised by the prytanis at the performance of the mysteries is not clear.
Numismatic evidence from the reign of Hadrian, however, shows that the polis
continued to draw attention to the story of Artemis’s and Apollo’s births in Ortygia soon after the time of the Salutaris bequest. Indeed, during the early second century A.D. the polis minted coins that may very well have referred specifically to Skopas’s famous statue group noted by Strabo of Artemis, Apollo, Leto,
and Ortygia.79 Coins from the reign of Antoninus Pius certainly show Artemis
and Apollo together, a clear reference to the local nativity story.80 The minting and presumed circulation of these coins during the second century show
that the polis considered Artemis’s nativity in Ortygia to be just as important
to the identity and self-image of the city at this time as it had been almost a century earlier when the Ephesian ambassadors had related the story of Artemis’s
birth in Ortygia to the Roman Senate to secure their rights.
Altogether, the evidence from the early second century suggests that the
polis’s reorganization of the mysteries of Artemis by the end of the first century, which we have suggested was undertaken in a spirit of interpolis competition, had produced the intended results by the middle of the second century.
By the end of the reign of Tiberius, the polis of Ephesos had figured out that if
Athens and other poleis could draw attention to themselves and make money
from the performance of their special, local mysteries, it too could enrich itself
by revealing Artemis’s secrets to more initiates.81 To judge by the twin criteria of
numbers of initiates and sacrificial victims offered, by the middle of the second
century the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis perhaps had doubled in
size. The civic rituals of the Salutaris endowment also would have added to the
sense of piety at the general festival, where levity also was not absent. For by the
mid-second century A.D., if the fictional account of Achilles Tatius reflects historical reality, during the “festival of Artemis” there were drunkards everywhere
and the agora was filled by a great mass of humanity.82
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P O L I T I C A L S TAT U S A N D R I T U A L E X P E R T I S E
O F T H E C U L T AT T E N D A N T S
The cult attendants who tended to the needs of initiates during the second century continued to be described in the lists as hierourgoi, or priests/cult attendants.83 Nine of the twenty cult attendants who performed ritual tasks for the
prytaneion during the early second century were Roman citizens.84 During the
reign of Pius several Roman citizens were also among the hierourgoi, including
L. Octavius Metrodorianus, Mundicius IV and V, P. Aelius Sumphoros, and
possibly Paulinus Agrippa in the last list.85
At least four of the cult attendants during the early second century had been
or were members of the Boule.86 In the middle of the century, the hagnearch and
hierophant L. Octavius Metrodorianus was a bouleutes.87 Lysimachos Mundicius IV probably inherited his membership in the Boule from his father, and it
is likely that this was an honor conferred upon him while he was still an adolescent.88 One cult attendant, Tryphon, was a member of the Gerousia (and thus
was older than fifty).89 The salpiktes P. Aelius Sumphoros was listed as olympioneikes during the reign of Pius. This title probably indicates that he was a winner
in the Ephesian Olympic games.90
Taken together, these facts signify that the political and perhaps financial
standing of the cult attendants had increased over that of their predecessors.91
Perhaps somewhat surprisingly, given their ritual expertise, during the same
period none of the ritual experts or artists enumerated in the lists of Kouretes is
presented as holding other priesthoods or cultic offices.
As we have seen from the description of their offices, we know that the cult
attendants of the early second century were either experts at their ritual tasks
or artists. In many cases the ritual expertise of an individual cult attendant was
handed down within families. The Mundicii, for example, served as hierophants
for at least four generations.92 For nearly a century the members of this RomanEphesian family revealed the secrets of the mysteries to initiates. The hierokeryx
Epikrates also apparently passed along his knowledge of how to keep the initiates in order during the ceremonies to his son Epikrates.93 During the reign of
Pius, L. Octavius Metrodorianus was a hagnearch and hierophant, probably in
the year of his father’s prytany.94
In fact, many of the cult attendants continued in the ritual footsteps of
their fathers. Lysimachos Mundicius V was a hagnearch and hierophant in the
last list from the reign of Pius.95 His father Lysimachos Mundicius IV had fulfilled the same double function in the two previous lists.96 Onesimos and his son
Artemon served together as hieroi epi thumiatrou (priests or guild members for
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187
the burning of incense) by a decree of the sunhedrion of the Kouretes.97 Surely
the decree of the association validated the practice of fathers sharing their offices
with their sons, in effect preparing the sons to take over their fathers’ positions
within the cult (and the prytaneion).
T H E K O U R E T E S F R O M A.D. 9 8
INTO THE REIGN OF PIUS
Continuing the trend we already have traced, the Kouretes of the early second
century allowed themselves to be represented as philosebastoi, or devoted to
the emperors, in the yearly lists.98 As far as we know, this practice continued
throughout the reign of Pius.99
This public representation of the Kouretes is perhaps not surprising when
we consider the legal and political statuses of the Kouretes who appear in the
lists of the early second century. Of 110 Kouretes who can be securely identified
from the year 98 into the reign of Pius, no fewer than 70 were Roman citizens.100
Although most of the inscriptions from the reign of Pius are in a fragmentary
state, we know that in the first list there were perhaps four Roman citizens out
of an unknown total.101 In the second list (no. 1044), eight of the (now) nine
Kouretes were Roman citizens.102 In the last list from Knibbe’s original publication of the lists during this stage in the development of the sunhedrion (no.
1045), at least two of the Kouretes were Roman citizens.103 In the most recently
published list, which certainly belongs to Pius’s reign, at least six, and probably
seven, of eight Kouretes were citizens of Rome.104
Compared with the twenty-six of fifty- eight Kouretes who were Roman
citizens in the second phase of the development of the association (A.D. 37
to 98), the percentage of Roman citizens in the early- to mid-second-century
group of Kouretes (Group III) shows a vast increase. To highlight this increase
we might point out that in the five consecutively numbered lists from 130 until
the mid-second century, twenty-seven of (a potential) thirty Kouretes were
citizens of Rome.105 Roman citizens clearly dominated the association of the
Kouretes by the middle of the second century, during the same time period
when almost all known prytaneis and priestesses of Artemis either were Roman
citizens or came from families of Roman citizens.106
One way to emphasize the significance of this domination by Roman citizens of the association most clearly identified with the celebration of Artemis’s
mysteries is to point out that scholars rightly have drawn our attention to the
remarkable fact that, of the total number of epigraphically attested initiates at
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Samothrace, a little over one-quarter are Romans, and in Pergamon the overwhelming majority of dedicants of inscriptions related to the celebrations of the
mysteries of Demeter possessed Roman citizenship.107 In Ephesos, however, by
the mid-second century, more than three-quarters of the men who helped initiate others into the mysteries were citizens of Rome. Therefore, Roman citizens
were thoroughly integrated into the structure of religious authority of this cult
and indeed the polis itself.
These Roman Kouretes also played important roles in the government of
the polis. At least 45 of the 110 securely identified Kouretes from the earlysecond-century lists were members of the Boule.108 For the five consecutively
numbered lists from around A.D. 130 until the prytany of Servilius Menander,
of thirty possible Kouretes, at least seventeen were members of the Boule.109
In perhaps the earliest list from the reign of Pius, at least one Koures,
L. Octavius Metrodorianos, was a bouleutes.110 In the most complete list (no.
1044) from Pius’s reign, all of the Kouretes enumerated were members of the
Boule.111 In the latest list, Octavius appears again as a bouleutes.112 Seven of eight
of the Kouretes from the most recently discovered list were bouleutai.113 It is
worth noting that in these inscriptions the bouleutic status of these Kouretes
is publicly advertised. There was no attempt to hide the fusion of their political and religious power and authority within the polis.114 On the contrary, these
Kouretes were openly Ephesians/Romans, mythological warriors/councilors.
If we assume that on average there were six Kouretes each year from 130,
there would have been approximately 180 past and present members of the association within a generation of thirty years.115 If we then estimate that the percentage of Kouretes who belonged to the Boule was constant from 130, it would
mean that at least 108 members of the association were also city councilors by
160.116 Nearly one-quarter of the more than 450 bouleutai of Ephesos perhaps
were or had been Kouretes by the second half of the second century.117
If we further assume that the minimum fortune required for membership
in the council was 100,000 sestertii, or 25,000 denarii, it would follow that the
total combined wealth of the councilors who were current or former members
of the association of the Kouretes was 10.8 million sestertii, or 2.7 million denarii, out of a total minimum wealth of the membership of the Boule of 45 million
sestertii.118 To put this sum into perspective, we can point out that, according to
one estimate, the minimum combined wealth of the 450 members of the council in Ephesos could have supported 36,000 individuals yearly at a subsistence
level.119 Perhaps even more telling, by another estimate, the minimum wealth of
just the 108 members of the Kouretes’ association in the middle of the second
century A.D. would have sufficed to pay for all the public buildings and ameni-
Kouretes bouleutai
189
ties of a city the size of Pompeii (around twenty thousand), with almost 2 million sestertii to spare.120
When we consider that many members of the Ephesian Boule during the
mid-second century must have possessed fortunes that far exceeded the minimum census requirement for admission to the council, it becomes obvious that
the Boule to which the majority of Kouretes belonged was essentially a club of
millionaires by ancient standards of wealth, even if the majority of them were
not among the super rich who owned estates worth at least 5 million denarii.121
Artemis’s defenders, then, were synonymous with the one hundred thousand
or so decurions of the Roman empire, who possessed most of the wealth of the
Roman world.122 To be sure, within the Roman empire there were those, such
as the members of the Roman Senate and the equestrian order, who as a group
were wealthier still by a wide margin. But there seems little reason to doubt that
the second-century A.D. Kouretes did belong to the wealthiest 1 percent of the
empire’s population of somewhere between fifty-five and sixty million.123
Although there is no evidence that the Kouretes of the second century ever
voted together in the council on any issue as a bloc, it is nevertheless difficult to
believe that they did not at least pay attention to matters raised in the council affecting the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis when they sat in the bouleuterion and considered decrees to be voted upon.124 If the definition of the polis
religion model is one in which the cults of a city, including the cult of Artemis,
were controlled and presided over by priests (or members of cult associations)
drawn from the governing body of the city, then polis religion or the civic compromise version of the polis religion model certainly was alive and very well in
Ephesos during the second century A.D.125
But it was not only within the bouleuterion that Artemis’s and Apollo’s
aging youths were publicly visible. The Kouretes of the period served in many
of the governing institutions of the polis, undertook expensive liturgies, were
members of other publicly visible associations, and supported other popular
cults as well.
At least eight of the Kouretes from the early second century simultaneously
were members of the Gerousia; that being the case, we can conclude that at
least some of the Kouretes were older than fifty.126 Several Kouretes also served
as prytaneis and therefore would have supervised the celebration of the mysteries themselves along with performing all the rest of the duties required of the
office.127 Holding the prytany was, of course, a sign of wealth, since the prytaneis
were expected to help subsidize the traditional cultic responsibilities of the prytaneion, and epigraphical evidence shows that the men and women who held
the prytany during this period were among the richest citizens of the polis.128
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Dionysios, the son of Nikephoros, was one of the Kouretes between 130 and
140 and eventually served as a prytanis, paraphulax (chief of security), and secretary of the Boule.129 The Koures Tiberius Claudius Prorosius was secretary of
the demos soon after 104.130
Tiberius Claudius Claudianus, who appears in a list of Kouretes from between 100 and 103, was probably an agoranomos (supervisor of the agora).131
Tiberius Flavius Aeneas, a Koures during the early second century, was also an
agoranomos.132 The office of the superintendent of the market was a middlelevel civic magistracy, thus suggesting that Claudianus and Aeneas belonged to
the middle tier of the socioeconomic hierarchy of the polis.133 L. Stedius Aphrodisios and Dionysios served as guards of the peace.134
One Koures of this era, Alexandros, was an Ephebarchos.135 Two more
Kouretes served as leaders of the local gymnasia: P. Carsidius Pamphilio, one
of the Kouretes from around 130 to 140, was a gymnasiarch, probably of the
so-called gymnasium of Vedius;136 and A. Larcius Iulianus, who was perhaps
one of the Kouretes during the reign of Pius, was gymnasiarch of all the gymnasia.137 Another, P. Aelius Menander, was an archiatros (leader of the doctors).138
Although the majority of physicians probably belonged to the plebs media, or
socioeconomic middle class of the polis, more prominent or successful doctors
of the sunhedria of doctors in Asia Minor, such as the archiatros Calpurnius
Collega Makedon of Pisidian Antiocheia, could be wealthy enough to become
members of the bouleutic order.139
C. Tucceius Alexander, one of the Kouretes from the first quarter of the second century, also appears in a list of neopoioi.140 Dionysios, the son of Nikephoros, one of the Kouretes from between 130 and 140, was also a neopoios of
Artemis.141 All nine of the Kouretes named in the second list from the reign of
Pius were neopoioi.142
In the latest of the lists (no. 1045), C. Volumnius Hermogenes appears as a
hieroneikes (victor).143 At this time the hieroneikai at Ephesos probably formed
part of an association along with the chrysophoroi.144 Certainly the association
included individuals, such as the athlete Kallikrates, who had been victors at
games specifically designated as sacred.145
At least some neopoioi and/or chrysophoroi, however, were well off and belonged at least to the middle level of the Ephesian socioeconomic hierarchy, as
we know from the honorary inscription of the Ephesian Boule and demos for
the neopoios and chrysophoros Aurelius Baranos, who had subsidized a banquet for the council, all the sunhedria, and a selection of 1,040 citizens.146
Artemidoros Gonatas served as a member of the Kouretes three times and
also superintended the construction of an altar of Sopolis in 120.147 P. Carsidius
Kouretes bouleutai
191
Pamphilio appears on a list of Kouretes that is dated from 130 to 140 and also
was honored by the Boule and demos for his efforts as prytanis, gymnasiarch,
and panegyriarchos (superintendent) of the festival of the Great Pasithea.148
All of these offices held by the Kouretes of the mid-second century would
have marked them out among their contemporaries as belonging to the class
of honestiores, or (euphemistically) “more honest citizens,” rather than the undifferentiated class of humiliores, or “more humble people,” at least according
to Roman imperial legislation and contemporary perceptions of status, if not
Greek law.149 In some cases, where we know that Kouretes also were members of
other associations but not members of the council, a degree of social mobility is
indicated by the evidence cited.
Family members who served as Kouretes continued to support the celebration of the mysteries from A.D. 96 to 99 into the mid-second century. In a list
of Kouretes from sometime between 96 and 99, the Kouretes P. Vedius Olympikos, P. Vedius Diadumenos, and P. Vedius Ateimetos were no doubt relatives of
the prytanis from the year, P. Vedius Antoninus, who later became the tribunus
militum (military tribune) of Legio I Italica, an Asiarch, and secretary of the
demos.150
In 104, three Epigonoi (father, son, and brother) appear among the list of
six Kouretes.151 Around 105, the Kouretes C. Licinnius Vibianus and C. Licinnius Euarestus were related to the prytanis of the year, C. Licinnius Iulianus.152
Soon after 104 Tiberius Claudius Prorosius and his nephew Tiberius Flavius
Dionysios Sabinianus served together as Kouretes.153
Toward the middle of the second century, while a son named Epikrates
served as one of the Kouretes for the second time, the father of the same name
appears as the sacred herald among the cult attendants.154 Finally, sometime
probably before 137/38, an uncle of the prytanis of the same year, P. Carsidius
Pamphilio, appears among the Kouretes.155
Family connections among the Kouretes were just as frequent during the
reign of Pius as they had been previously. At least two of the Kouretes from the
second list during the reign of Pius, C. Flavius Theophilus Proerosianus and
C. Flavius Dionysius Proerosianus, belonged to the family of Tiberius Claudius
Prorosius Phretorianus.156 As we have pointed out, that family in particular had
been largely responsible for the subsidization of the association of the Kouretes
a generation earlier (soon after 104).157 Looking ahead somewhat, an uncle of
C. Flavius Dionysius Proerosianus, Flavius Dionysius, appears in another list of
the expenditures of the prytanis for the Gerousia and the Kouretes during the
reign of Commodus.158
The brothers T. Flavius Perigenes and T. Flavius Perigenes the younger, who
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appear in the same list from Pius’s reign (no. 1044), belonged to the family of
the Asiarch T. Flavius Pythion.159 T. Flavius Pythion had been responsible, at
least in part, for putting up statues of C. Antius A. Iulius Quadratus, the proconsul of Asia around 109/10, and Iulia Polla, the sister of the proconsul.160
Finally, at least four of the eight Kouretes from the most recently published list
were brothers or near relations of the prytanis Tiberius Publius Vedius Marcellus.161
As had been the case during the first century, not only did members of the
same family serve as Kouretes during the same year, but in several instances the
prytaneis and the Kouretes of the year were closely related. By the middle of
the second century the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos was,
in effect, a family affair. Or, to put the emphasis on a different characteristic activity of those families, it was a tradition of a class of wealthy families, passed
down through the generations, perhaps expected by and of them. And most of
those families were families of Roman citizens.
Of course, the wealthy families of Roman citizens who celebrated Artemis’s
mysteries as prytaneis, Kouretes, and priestesses of Artemis were expected to
help subsidize those celebrations. At times the prytaneis paid for many of the
expenses of their office, including the celebrations of all the mysteries, out of
pocket and boasted about these expenditures in inscriptions put up after leaving
office.162 Furthermore, as we have noted, individual Kouretes paid an annuity,
and that annuity no doubt also helped to pay for the celebration of the “mystic
sacrifices.”
In return, the prytaneis, Kouretes, cult attendants, and priestesses and their
families who subsidized and also performed at the mysteries of Artemis received public attention and honor. The initiates and the wider public undoubtedly would have recognized, both from their performances at the mysteries and
from their inscriptions, that groups of families essentially paid for the celebration of the annual festival and in some sense were responsible for the initiates’
opportunity to learn Artemis’s secrets. Not only were the yearly celebrations
occasions when some of the families of the governing Graeco-Roman aristocracy of Ephesos displayed their wealth to the masses, but during the second century wealthy Ephesian/Roman families set themselves up publicly on behalf of
the polis as the visible mediators between the prospective initiates and the great
goddess herself. Thus behind, or rather during, the celebration of the mysteries,
the inequalities of wealth, authority, and power within Ephesian society were
both displayed and performed publicly in front of the eyes of the initiates.163 If
the initiates into Artemis’s mysteries actually took part in some kind of reenactment of the etiological myth of the cult, as we know initiates into other mys-
Kouretes bouleutai
193
teries did, then they in some sense participated in, or acted out, those inequalities of Ephesian society. They may not have minded participating in such ritual
dramatizations of socioeconomic disparities, as long as the wealthy citizens of
the polis were footing the bill for the meat and the wine.
What we know, however, is that families of wealthy Ephesians such as the
Phretoriani or the Marcelli made the experience, whatever it was, of initiation
into Artemis’s secrets possible. (Based upon far less evidence, a similar conclusion about the celebrations of the mysteries of Demeter and Kore, and also Dionysos, is very likely.)164 They were responsible for whatever benefits or insights
came to the initiates and to the polis from the celebrations. In turn, their wealth
and dominant position in Ephesos were justified publicly by the yearly publication of the lists of Kouretes and cult attendants.165
In sum, the celebrations of the mysteries ritualized and naturalized the
highly stratified economic and political order of mid-second-century Ephesos,
and the publication of the yearly lists of the Kouretes literally set in stone the
wealth and authority of Artemis’s Roman Ephesian Kouretes.166
THE WIDER CONTEXT OF EUERGETISM
Evidence for the wider euergetism of the early-second-century Kouretes confirms that many members of the association were wealthy. To cite a couple of
examples, P. Carsidius Pamphilio, who appears in a list of Kouretes from around
130 to 140, was honored by the Boule and demos as a munificent man on behalf
of the fatherland.167 Dionysios, son of Nikephoros, one of the Kouretes from
the same time, was honored by the Boule and demos for many benefactions to
the polis, including furnishing oil for the upper gymnasium for four months
(Maps 6 and 7, no. 16).168 Hierarchically organized distributions of oil and/or
grain, wine, or cash to part or all of the citizen body were among the most popular forms of elite public gift giving during the Roman imperial period and could
entail quite large sums of money.169 Dionysios’s ability to provide oil for one of
Ephesos’s main gymnasia for four months marks the Koures as a rich man.
The benefactions of Artemis’s defenders fit into a wider pattern of what was
ultimately self-interested public giving by wealthy Ephesian/Roman citizens of
the polis during the early second century A.D. The public munificence of these
citizens resulted in the topographical and architectural transformation not only
of the entire physical area of the polis founded by Lysimachos on the lower
slopes of Bülbüldag and Panayirdag and the valleys between them, but especially of the section of the city from the temple of the Flavian Sebastoi down the
Embolos to the corner where the Embolos met the Plateia, and also of the rela-
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tively undeveloped area of the harbor.170 Moreover, the Ephesian benefactors
who brought about the transformation of the lower Embolos neighborhood
in particular presented their benefactions to the public in rhetorical terms that
often paralleled the Kouretes’ repeatedly expressed devotion to both Artemis
and the Roman emperors.
Just at the turn of the century, for example, P. Quintilius Valens Varius, the
secretary of the Boule, built a public bath on the northern side of the Embolos (Maps 6 and 8, no. 41) and later, probably along with his wife and daughter Quintilia Varilla, the priestess of Artemis, dedicated a latrine in the adjacent insula to the west to Ephesian Artemis, Hadrian, and the neokorate demos
(Map 6, no. 43).171 Baths obviously were among the most popular recreational
and social centers in the cities of Graeco-Roman Asia Minor, especially during
the second century, though subsidizing the construction of such large structures was comparatively rare because doing so was often extremely expensive.172
Varius’s gift of the public bath indicates that he (and his wife) belonged to the
upper tier of the Ephesian ordo (socioeconomic class rank).
Probably between 102 and 104, Tiberius Claudius Aristion, who served as
high priest of Asia three times, prytanis, secretary of the demos in 92/93, warden of the temple from 89 to 91, and gymnasiarch, and his wife Iulia Claudia
Laterane, priestess and daughter of Asia and herself prytanis, dedicated the construction of a water pipe or conduit (which brought freshwater approximately
210 stades from what is today the village of Büyük Kale to the so-called Fountain [Nymphaeum] of Trajan on the north side of the Embolos) to Ephesian
Artemis, Trajan, and the fatherland (Map 7, no. 38).173 The columnar façades of
the monumental two-story fountain building (where the pipe terminated in the
city) were constructed according to the architectural traditions of the scaenae
frons (stage front) of late Hellenistic and early Roman imperial theaters. Statues
of a reclining satyr, Dionysos, Aphrodite, Nerva, and Androklos, the founder of
the Ionian polis, once decorated the façade.174 In the central niche of the lower
story stood a larger-than-life-sized statue of the emperor Trajan. From an opening built into the statue pedestal water flowed out into the main pool of the
fountain.175
At approximately the same time, Aristion and Claudia Laterane dedicated
another fountain on the south side of the street leading from the Magnesian
Gate to the upper agora, this time to Ephesian Artemis, Trajan, and the demos
(Map 6, no. 14).176
Aristion clearly was the single most important public benefactor in the city
during the early second century. The fact that thus far Aristion, who famously
was deemed by the Roman governor and writer Pliny to be the princeps Ephe-
Kouretes bouleutai
195
siorum (first of the Ephesians), has not appeared in any of the surviving lists of
Kouretes as a member of the association empowers us to speculate that although
the early-second-century Kouretes were drawn from wealthy families of Roman
citizens who qualified financially for membership in the council, they perhaps
did not come from among the very wealthiest or most prestigious families in
Ephesos.177 They were not selected from among hoi protoi (“the firsts”) who were
at the very top of the socioeconomic hierarchy during the mid-to-late second
century, let alone from among the dekaprotoi (“ten first men”), the ten richest
members of the council.178
This inference may be supported during the second half of the second century by the fact that the greatest benefactors of the city during that time period,
the Vedii, also did not play a dominant role in the cult, at least until the time of
the later-second-century “renewal” of Menemachos (see Chapter 8). It perhaps
follows from this insight into the relative wealth of association members that
becoming one of the Kouretes for a year was something that some council members did every year, essentially for the same reasons that well- off men served as
various magistrates in the city or sponsored acts of euergetism. Playing one of
the Kouretes for a year and helping to subsidize the celebrations of the mysteries was a line on the résumé of a member of the ordo who was building up a
local reputation for philotimia (love of public honor). The wealthiest among the
Kouretes might become prytaneis. As should be expected of men and women
who were obligated by tradition to pay for all of the traditional sacrifices of the
prytany, in the epigraphical corpus the prytaneis emerge as the wealthiest citizens of the polis at this time, the occupants of the highest rung on the civic ladder of wealth and status.179
Eventually, Aristion was commissioned by Tiberius Iulius Aquila Polemaeanus to finish the library/heroon of his father, Celsus.180 Since the so-called
Celsus Library was not completed until between 117 and 123, and we do not find
Aristion’s name mentioned in inscriptions after its completion, we can infer that
Aristion died around this time, after holding the majority of the most important
offices of the polis and the province and having adorned the polis or fatherland
with “many and great buildings” from his own funds over a career that lasted for
three decades. For these benefactions the polis honored him with inscriptions
and a statue.181
Before he died, however, it was presumably as a result of the envy generated
by these benefactions that an informer was suborned against Aristion, whose
case eventually was heard by Trajan himself in Centumcellae (Civitavecchia),
as noted by Pliny.182 Although Aristion was acquitted as a “generous man and
harmlessly popular,” his case was a reminder then as now that playing too great
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TELETAI—RITES
Temple dedicated to Ephesian Artemis, Hadrian, and the demos.
a role on the crowded and competitive urban stage could engender phthonos (ill
will, envy, and jealousy).183
In 114 the neokorate polis of the Ephesians set up a propylon (gate) near
the Fountain of Trajan to honor Ephesian Artemis and Trajan (Map 7, no.
37).184 The gate may have been part of a building program designed to honor
the emperor when he visited the city after the conclusion of the Parthian war.185
In front of the bath complex of Valens Varius, Valens and his daughter Varilla
then dedicated a temple to Ephesian Artemis, Hadrian, and the demos, the socalled Hadrian’s Temple, although the structure apparently was not completed
until after Trajan’s death, and its function has not yet been completely resolved
(Map 8, no. 40).186 One compelling theory of its artistic program—which takes
into account the monument’s many apotropaic elements, above all, the magnificent bust of Tyche emerging from an acanthus in its entablature—proposes
some kind of message about the hereafter.187 What seems more certain at present
is that its arched entablature, framed by a triangular pediment as the central and
most remarkable feature of its façade, derives from architectural traditions of
Syria after Alexander’s conquests, and not those of Rome.188
In the area of the lower Embolos, funerary monuments were also constructed. Under the flight of stairs leading to the hall of the Tetragonos Agora,
the Milesian rhetor, sophist, and two-time procurator T. Claudius Flavianus
Kouretes bouleutai
197
Medusa from the temple dedicated to Ephesian Artemis, Hadrian, and the demos.
Dionysios was interred (Map 8, no. 57).189 His tomb was already a local landmark by the time of Philostratos, who noted that it lay on or just off the agora
of Ephesos.190
In the harbor district, around 131, C. Claudius Verulanus Marcellus, the Asiarch, and his wife Scaptia Firmilla, the high priestess of Asia, along with their
son, Claudius Verenicianus, donated marble panels for the walls of one of the
porticoes surrounding the open space known as the xystoi (where the Ephesian
Olympic games may have been held) in honor of Artemis Ephesia, Hadrian as
Olympian Zeus, and the demos of the Ephesians (Map 9, no. 94).191 The prytanis, paraphulax, and neopoios Dionysios, son of Nikephoros, also gave some
precious marble columns.192 Gifts of such architectural elements to be added to
preexisting buildings were common forms of public gift giving in Ephesos and
elsewhere in Asia Minor during the imperial period, in part because such gifts
were nowhere near as expensive as paying for a new building.193 Also during the
reign of Hadrian, on the northern side of the so-called harbor bath complex,
which eventually covered an astonishing 753,473 square feet, work was begun on
the Temple of Hadrian as Olympian Zeus. This was the temple (in the Corinthian order) for which the polis received its second neokorate (Map 6, no. 98).194
During the reign of Antoninus Pius (the 150s), P. Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus, along with his wife, Flavia Papiane, the high priestess of Asia,
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dedicated his renovation of the bouleuterion to Ephesian Artemis, to the emperor, and to the polis of the Ephesians (Map 7, no. 22).195 The reconstruction
of the stage building featured a kind of portrait gallery of the Antonine imperial
family, as well as mythological figures. Statues of the donors probably were set
up on each side of the orchestra, and the inscriptions detailing the benefaction(s) of the donors were also displayed on the stage building.196
Between 147 and 149, again with his wife Flavia Papiane, Vedius Antoninus
had constructed a bath-gymnasium complex north of the stadium in Koressos
dedicated to Ephesian Artemis, the emperor Antoninus, his house, the first and
greatest metropolis of Asia and neokorate polis of the Ephesians, and the sweetest fatherland (Maps 6 and 10, no. 106).197 Within the complex were erected
statues of the donor and his family, along with images of gods, goddesses, and
later the city founder Androklos, now displayed in the Archaeological Museum
of Izmir.198 Reclining, larger-than-life-sized statues of the river gods Kaystros
and perhaps Kenchrios adorned the sides of the large pool of the coldwater bath
of the complex.199 If the identification of Kenchrios is correct, this statue obviously would have evoked the sacred story of Artemis’s birth.
Another group of benefactors in the mid-140s, one of whom may have been
an imperial priest, as we surmise from the fact that a well-preserved statue of a
priest was found in the complex, built the east gymnasium near the Magnesian
Gate, apparently as rivals to Vedius and the gymnasium he and his wife subsidized just within the city wall on the city’s northern edge (Map 6, no. 12).200 (In
the Roman imperial period, Vedius’s gymnasium was known as the gymnasium
in Koressos.) Such episodes are an indication both of the rivalries that existed
among the wealthy at the time and of the “gymnasial” renaissance of the period,
which helped to define “what it meant to be a Greek citizen of a Greek polis
during the Roman Empire.”201
Even by the beginning of the reign of Hadrian, civic benefactors thus had
filled the entire area of the lower Embolos with temples, nympheia, honorary
tombs, and gates that replaced private dwellings.202 At least some of these benefactions fit into a broader pattern of public benefactors in Asia Minor making
small- to medium-sized gifts to their cities; these gifts sometimes added features to preexisting structures.203 But other cases involved the construction of
entirely new buildings, and the benefactions must have required huge outlays
of cash. The mid- to late second century A.D. truly was the era of the large civic
gift in Ephesos, often of more than 1,000 denarii or even an entire building.204
Most importantly for this study, many of these new structures were dedicated
to Artemis and/or to the emperor(s) in terms that were very similar to the language of devotion deployed originally in the city in the lists of Kouretes. Serving
Kouretes bouleutai
199
as one of Artemis’s defenders and decorating the city with architectural jewels
were publicly represented as expressions of piety toward Artemis and the emperors by the rich. This should not be, and has not been, seen as surprising in
any way, given the fact that many of these public benefactors, including the
vast majority of Kouretes, were Roman citizens of at least bouleutic wealth.
What perhaps has been less well appreciated about the transformation of the
urban landscape along the Embolos by the Graeco-Roman elite of Ephesos during the second century is that at least some of the benefactions that made the
monumental embellishment of the upper city possible also necessitated further
changes in the celebration of the mysteries of the great patroness goddess.
T H E S A C R E D WAY
Construction of the building known later as the Serapeion may have begun by
the beginning of the second century (Maps 5, 6, and 8, no. 67).205 Although it
is not established definitively who subsidized this building, or to which deity or
deities it was dedicated, it is clear that the temple was situated directly on top of
the site of the former road up to Ortygia. The building of the temple therefore
implied a conscious decision to move the sacred road up to the grove of Ortygia.
If construction of the building certainly was under way in the 90s, the plan
to alter the route of the procession to Ortygia may have been contemplated
even earlier, perhaps during the 80s. If this were the case, then this anticipated
change to one major facet of the celebration of the mysteries, the route of the
sacred procession within the city, belongs perhaps to the later part of the second
phase in the evolution of the association of cult attendants, as we have established that development.206 Whenever work began on the “Serapeion,” however,
the construction of another, much more famous monument in the area also had
major implications for the celebration of the mysteries.
Around 110, Tiberius Iulius Aquila Polemaeanus (consul in that year) prepared a heroon/library in honor of the consul suffect of 92 and proconsul
of Asia in 106/7, Tiberius Iulius Celsus Polemaeanus, although the building
was not finished for another ten years, by the benefactor and Asiarch Tiberius
Claudius Aristion (Maps 5, 6, and 8, no. 55).207 This magnificent heroon, known
later and today as the Library of Celsus, perhaps was able to hold twelve thousand book rolls in its niche-cupboards and originally featured bronze statues
that personified the main literary virtues of Celsus, including Wisdom, Virtue
or Excellence, and Knowledge, and some other quality (replaced later by an
inscription honoring the Forethought of a certain Philippos) in the niches of
the lower story of the monument.208 Its construction in effect blocked another
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Inscription (Die Inschriften von Ephesos VII, 2, 5103) from the base of an equestrian
statue of T. Iulius Celsus Polemaeanus, the honoree of the heroon known as the
Celsus Library. This is one of the few Latin inscriptions thus far found in the city.
The epigraphical habit in Ephesos was almost always expressed in Greek.
section of the old processional route to Ortygia. If the road up to Ortygia had
not already been moved to the south of the edge of the sanctuary (of the Serapeion?) in the 90s, it must have been moved far enough south in the early second century to avoid both the sanctuary and the Celsus heroon. That move can
only have been made as a result of a decision of the polis.209
Furthermore, the construction of the heroon for Celsus implied that the
Triodos would have to be moved farther up the lower hillside of Bülbüldag, to
the south and east. After 114, at the site of the new Triodos, a propylon known
now as the Gate of Hadrian but perhaps originally dedicated to Trajan was built
at an oblique angle to the intersection of the Plateia and the Embolos (Maps 6
and 8, no. 49).210 A statue of Artemis was positioned perhaps beneath the statues of other gods, members of the imperial family, and donors that were placed
in the inter-columniations adjacent to the large arch and on the top story of this
monument, which resembled a Roman triumphal arch.211 The now lost statue
of Artemis therefore would have looked out over this crucial space in the city.
From this spot, under the gaze of the goddess, the sacred procession, perhaps
bearing a cult image of Artemis as well, would have marched each year on the
The Celsus Library/heroon from the Tetragonos Agora, with the peak of Bülbüldag
in the background.
“Hadrian’s Gate” at the Triodos.
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sixth of May up to Ortygia, perhaps after sacrificing at the altar of Artemis just
south and west of the new Celsus heroon.212
THE LIGHT OF ASIA
The polis’s expansion of the general festival in Ortygia took place during the
greatest period of urban and civic development in the long history of Ephesos.
In fact, the polis’s decision to enlarge the festival undoubtedly should be seen
as but one expression of that overall historical development, necessarily coordinated with other aspects of it. By the beginning of the reign of Hadrian, civic
benefactors, usually Roman citizens of Ephesos, already had transformed the
entire area of the lower Embolos, filling it with graceful new temples; nympheia
that bubbled with clean, fresh water brought down from mountain heights
both near and far; magnificent honorary tombs; and majestic gates. Many of
these new structures were dedicated to Artemis and/or to the Roman emperor(s). The city received still more beautiful buildings in this area while Hadrian
was emperor. But the zenith of urban development and grandeur, the city’s architectural belle époque, was reached during the reign of Antoninus Pius (138
to 161), thanks in large part to the generosity of the family of the Vedii. Public
munificence, with its still visible results, bloomed in Ephesos at the very same
time that it flowered most fully elsewhere in Asia Minor.213
The transformation of the area of the lower Embolos, especially during the
second century, necessitated further changes to the processional route of the initiates up to the grove of Ortygia where Artemis’s secrets were revealed. If that
road had not already been moved to the south of the edge of the sanctuary of
the Serapeion in the 90s, it must have been moved far enough south in the early
second century to avoid both the sanctuary and the Celsus heroon by around
110. None of this could have been done without the blessing, or more accurately,
the legal sanction of the Boule and the assembly.
Moreover, we can infer additional changes with respect to the cult and how
it functioned at this time from the relatively abundant epigraphical evidence. By
the early second century, although they retained the same name, the Kouretes
no longer performed at least some of the ritual or artistic tasks during the festival that they had carried out a century earlier. This fact should serve as a warning. We cannot assume continuity of cultic function or practice, even when the
titles used to describe the associations that helped to celebrate the mysteries
remained exactly the same. Rather, what roles such associations played in the
celebrations, and questions such as how they qualified to play those roles, can be
deduced only from the interpretation of specific pieces of evidence dated to the
Kouretes bouleutai
203
exact chronological context. The significance of this point for the study of other
mystery cults, and other cults as well, cannot be overemphasized. Thus, while
we might assume that a cult of Artemis’s brother Apollo was established within
the prytaneion from the beginning, we only have epigraphical evidence for the
existence of a manteion (oracle) in the prytaneion from soon after A.D. 104. Evidence for Sopolis’s cult within the prytaneion dates from 120.
From the second-century epigraphical evidence, we also can see that although the Kouretes of the second century no longer were cultic experts, they
did fit very well politically and economically into the socioeconomic profile of
the new ruling class of rich Roman citizens of Ephesos who were busy transforming the urban landscape of the city during the early second century. They
also shared more than a little of their religious sensibility.
Almost three-quarters of the Kouretes during the first half of the second
century were citizens of Rome. These Kouretes were also deeply involved in the
government of the polis. Nearly half of the members of the association were
members of the Boule. Especially toward the middle of the second century,
Roman citizenship and membership in the Boule became the defining characteristics of Artemis’s wealthy families of “youths” that those not-so-young
men wished to advertise in the yearly lists of Kouretes. The lists of prytaneis,
Kouretes, and cult attendants were public attempts to claim and affirm a position within the civic hierarchy of Ephesos. They were ordo-claiming and ordomaking, but also history-making, because they represented the complete integration of wealthy Roman citizens into positions of authority within the cult.214
Given these facts, it is difficult to argue persuasively that the mid-secondcentury Kouretes or the prytaneis who supervised the Kouretes’ activities were
individuals somehow alienated from Ephesian society, or likely sponsors of religious experiences (let alone “conversions”) that were designed and performed to
encourage initiates to separate themselves socially or theologically from GraecoRoman society, other polytheists, or polytheism itself. Rather, it is far easier to
credit the hypothesis that during the celebrations of the mysteries in Ortygia,
Artemis’s mid-second-century defenders displayed or replicated the imagined
and real structures of authority within the polis of Ephesos but also simultaneously reaffirmed belief in the essential idea of human and divine interdependence that was exemplified by the sacred story of Artemis’s birth.215
It is also perhaps not altogether surprising that, with one exception, in every
complete list for this period, Artemis’s warriors were represented as Kouretes
eusebeis kai philosebastoi. By the middle of the second century the very same
Roman citizens of Ephesos whose collegial title associated them with the story
of the mythological Kouretes who once warded Hera off from Leto, Artemis,
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and Apollo also comprised a very significant proportion of the everyday government of the polis. The authority and power of this new ruling class of Ephesian/
Roman citizens were grounded ritually in the protection they bestowed upon
the patroness goddess each year during the celebration of her birth in Ortygia.
In return, the goddess undoubtedly was expected to confer her blessings upon
the initiates, as well as upon the polis of Ephesos. Around the middle of the second century, the skyline along the Embolos and the Plateia showed that at no
other time in the history of the city had Artemis and her fellow Olympians been
so generous with their blessings. By 160 the polis of Ephesos, with some justification, could claim to be the greatest city in Asia. Never had the “light of Asia”
shone more brightly.
CHAPTER 8
“The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
DURING THE MIDDLE DECADES of the second century A.D., the same
wealthy Roman male citizens of Ephesos served as Artemis’s Kouretes each year
on the sixth of May and helped to run the government of the polis on a daily
basis. They were part of the council that approved the expansion of the festival
and also gave their votes in favor of the massive and massively expensive construction projects that transformed the skyline of the lower city. Although we
cannot now partake of the experience of the initiations that these Roman Ephesians created, the architectural remains of their decisions, including the remarkable Celsus Library/heroon, but even more relevant to our concerns the gate
at the intersection of the Triodos, still can be admired today along the lower
Embolos, as these signature monuments have been meticulously reconstructed
over the past hundred years by the Austrian and Turkish excavators of Ephesos.
Although the men who decreed the expansion of the festival and the building projects along the Embolos qualified for membership in the Boule according to a minimum wealth requirement, their resolutions and policies, indeed the
authority of the local government, all were grounded and reinforced ritually in
their performances each spring at the mysteries of the patroness goddess of the
polis. New initiates, moving in procession past the magnificent complex of new
buildings at the juncture of the Embolos and the Plateia on their way up to Ortygia, reasonably might have concluded that the Kouretes, who took part in the
festival each year and then voted on the laws of the polis, understood very well
how to secure Artemis’s blessings, as well as those of the rest of the gods and
goddesses who individually and collectively helped to ensure the welfare of the
polis.
Yet within just a few years, another group of potential initiates might have
reached a very different conclusion. After 162 the celebrations of Artemis’s
birthday were scaled back in some respects, and some of the key participants
in the celebrations cut back or interrupted altogether their customary practices
during the festival. Moreover, large-scale building in the city slowed markedly
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during the same period. Perhaps most disturbingly, just after the polis had expanded the festival to its greatest extent, clear signs appeared that the patroness
herself was having trouble attracting worshippers to her great home. The scaling
back of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis fits all too well into a larger
picture of a downturn in the fortunes of the polis after 162, not to mention
other areas of the Roman empire. Although we cannot identify all of the causes
of this downturn and link them to specific problems within the polis, there is
no doubt that by the end of the reign of Commodus, Ephesos was no longer the
expanding, prosperous city it had been a few short decades before. In Ephesos,
the crisis of the third century arrived almost one hundred years early.
THE EVIDENCE FROM THE
L AT E S E C O N D C E N T U R Y A.D.
After a comparatively rich supply of evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis between A.D. 98 and 162, the vein of Kouretes’ lists unfortunately runs dry very quickly after the reign of Antoninus Pius (138 to 161). From
the period between 162 to the end of the second century, we simply do not have
full lists of Kouretes in the customary epigraphical form that dated from the
early first century: that is, an inscription with the name of the prytanis of the
year followed by a list of Kouretes, and then the cult attendants named, with
their offices next to their names. Rather, what we possess for the later second
century are, to be optimistic, fragments of lists.1 In many cases, we are not even
sure whether the surviving fragments belong to lists of Kouretes or to other
kinds of inscriptions.
However, we can make some deductions about the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis during this time from information derived from other kinds
of epigraphical texts. The first inscription documents a “Summary of Ancestral
Law” of the polis related to traditional sacrifices carried out by the prytanis.2
Two inscriptions from the reign of Commodus then record attempts by benefactors to restore the association of the Kouretes to a state of financial stability
and to reinvigorate the participation of the members of the Gerousia in the celebration of the mysteries.3
Still other inscriptions and literary sources from the period after 162 may
help us to understand how and why the Boule and the demos, and some rich
private benefactors, tried to increase reverence for Artemis and to deal with a
series of disasters that struck the city in 166/67.4 The uneven quality of our information about Artemis’s mysteries during the late second century may simply
be a function of the random survival of evidence or changes with respect to the
“The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
207
epigraphical habits of the Ephesians. But since we find a similar pattern in the
cases of other cults in the city at the time, it is far more likely that the inconsistent nature of our evidence for the celebrations is indicative of an unsettled era.
T H E C E L E B R AT I O N O F T H E M Y S T E R I E S
O F A R T E M I S D U R I N G T H E L AT E
S E C O N D C E N T U R Y A.D.
The fragmentary lists of Kouretes that perhaps can be dated to the late second century reveal only that the name of the association of the cult attendants
remained hierourgoi and that there was a diviner among the cult attendants.5
From the appearance of the diviner in the fragments, we are entitled to conclude that there continued to be sacrifices during the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis during the second half of the second century (and/or other
occasions as well).
As was the case previously, at least some of the Kouretes from these years
were related to the prytanis of their year.6 The Kouretes continued to be represented as pious and devoted to the emperors, and at least some of them also were
members of the Boule.7
Based upon such scraps of information, it might not be wise to speculate
too much about traits of identity maintained through continuous tradition
within the cult.8 Fortunately, however, other kinds of epigraphical texts can be
used to help us understand how the Ephesians changed the celebration of the
mysteries of Artemis after 162, most likely in response to new economic, environmental, and political realities.
T H E A N C E S T R A L L AW
Far more rewarding for our investigation is the so-called Summary of Ancestral Law, which was inscribed on a stone slab in front of the Great Theater of
Ephesos.9 It is not presented as a decree of the Boule and demos, but it is impossible to believe that it did not have the sanction of the polis, dealing as it
does with the cultic responsibilities of the prytanis, who was an elected official
of the polis. The epigraphical display of the summary clearly belongs to a wellknown tradition of Greek cities periodically amending or expanding lists of ancestral customs and then codifying them in calendars of the year’s sacrifices and
festivals.10 The text’s emphasis (in line 15) upon performing tasks according to
ancestral practices may very well be an indication that such practices had been
interrupted or perhaps modified.
TELETAI—RITES
208
Although this text sometimes has been dated to the early third century, a
strong case can be made for dating it to the late second century, based upon its
enumeration of cultic and artistic offices. As we will see, the offices of the ritual
experts named in the Summary of Ancestral Law closely resemble the offices of
the hierourgoi found in the mid- to late-second-century lists of Kouretes, rather
than the rosters of offices set out in the admittedly fragmentary lists of Kouretes
from the third century, which show marked and unmistakable changes.11 It is
worth presenting a complete translation of this well-preserved inscription:
With Good Fortune
Summary of Ancestral Law
That the prytanis shall light a fire on all the altars and burn incense
and sacred aromatic herbs, offering to the gods on the customary days
sacrifices numbering 365 in all, of which 190 shall be with the heart
taken out and the thighs removed, and 175 shall be entirely dedicated,
all this from his own resources. The public hierophant shall guide and
teach him on each point as to what is customary for the gods.
That they shall sing the paean at the appropriate sacrifices, processions and nocturnal festivals in the ancestral fashion, and shall pray on
behalf of the sacred Senate and People of the Romans and the People
of the Ephesians.
Another portion:
That the prytanis shall give to the hierophant the customary portions of every sacrifice offered to the gods—the head, tongue, and the
skin—for his experience and the importance of his assistance; to the
Sacred Herald and the pipe player and the trumpeter and the second
hierophant and the diviner from entrails and the Seventh Koures baskets of food corresponding to their assistance.
But if the prytanis fails to do any of the individual points specified
above, he shall pay for the adornment of the statue of Demeter Karpophoros standing in the prytaneion, to whom the temple belongs, and
for the repair of that building, 10 Daric Staters. The Kouretes and the
hierophant shall take action in case each matter is not carried out as has
been provided.12
This fascinating text thus sets out the procedure for the prytanis to make
sacrifices to the gods on customary days; gives some idea of the cultic responsibilities (and fiscal obligations) of the prytanis, and of some of the priests of the
prytaneion, such as the hierophant; and details what the priests and/or artists
“The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
209
of the prytaneion are to receive for their assistance to the prytanis.13 It also provides remarkable evidence for the minimum level of wealth required to hold the
Ephesian prytany during the late second century and the importance of paeans
during sacrifices, processions, and nocturnal festivals sponsored by the polis;
and confirms our earlier argument about the importance of the position of the
hierophant compared with that of the other priests and cult attendants of the
polis.14 Moreover, by this time it is clear that the hierophant was advising
the prytanis about cultic requirements outside the context of the celebration of
the mysteries. Perhaps most remarkably, the summary belongs to a very short list
of texts from the Roman empire that so clearly reveal that not all public officials
of Graeco-Roman cities at the time had the training or knowledge to perform
the ritual responsibilities of their offices.15 To maintain their ancestral laws with
respect to cults, cities did depend upon priests such as the hierophant to provide
technical expertise and historical knowledge. Not all Greek priests were amateurs. Some of the priests described in this work possessed specialized knowledge about cultic traditions, requirements, and procedures. Moreover, when we
consider the question of literacy and the transmission of knowledge in the cities
of the Graeco-Roman world, we should ask ourselves why, if only a small percentage of the citizen body could read, the polis decided to have the summary
displayed epigraphically. Such texts should cause us to be cautious about assuming very low rates of literacy.
For the purposes of our investigation, however, what is most significant is
that the text essentially provides us with a list of most of the same cult attendants who, as we have seen from the lists of Kouretes, had helped the prytaneis
and the Kouretes to celebrate the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos since at least
the reign of Tiberius.16
It might be argued that since the law sets out regulations for 365 sacrifices
to the gods on the customary days, the priests and cult attendants named later
in the text (in lines 6–7) cannot be assumed to have provided their services
only at the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. While this is surely a plausible assumption, it is equally reasonable to assume that the customary sacrifices
mentioned cannot have excluded sacrifices to Artemis at the mysteries during
the general festival on the sixth of May. Since the sacrifices that took place during the general festival described by Strabo were evidently among the most important and significant of the year for the prytanis and for the polis, we can
conclude that the priests and cult attendants mentioned in the text took part in
sacrifices during the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis.17
Moreover, as we already have established, the hierophant in particular,
while having the knowledge of cultic matters to guide the prytanis about what
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was customary for the gods (since the prytanis was only an elected official of
the polis and not an expert about cultic or ritual matters), was a priest especially
associated in Ephesos and elsewhere with the celebration of mysteries.18 The
priests and cult attendants listed in the Summary of Ancestral Law obviously
did take part in the sacrifices of other cults.19 However, given their office titles,
and the similarity between those titles and the titles of the cult attendants from
the lists of Kouretes, it would be unreasonable to presume that the priests and
artists listed in the summary did not help to celebrate the mysteries of Artemis
during the last quarter of the second century.
In addition, the appearance of the seventh Koures in the main body of
the law, and the association of the hierophant with the Kouretes at the end of
the text in the oversight clause, are further indications that, although this text
clearly refers to sacrifices to be conducted outside the context of the celebration
of the mysteries, we cannot and should not assume that the personnel named
did not perform those ritual tasks at the mysteries that their office titles imply.
The Kouretes, of course, had been famous for their symposia and mystic sacrifices at the mysteries since 29 B.C. at the very latest.
If the priests and cult attendants named in the Summary of Ancestral Law
performed at the mysteries of Artemis at the end of the second century, what
rituals were included among the celebrations at the time? Based upon the list of
office titles of the priests and musicians set out in the law, we can say that there
were secrets divulged to initiates (two hierophants), announcements made to
initiates (sacred herald), pipe music (auletes), trumpet music (salpiktes), sacrifices and the reading of entrails (diviner), and perhaps some kind of performance by a Koures or a representative of the association of Kouretes (seventh
Koures).
In the text, “they” also were directed to sing the paean at the appropriate
sacrifices, processions, and nocturnal festivals in the ancestral fashion and to
pray “on behalf of the sacred Senate and People of the Romans and the People
of the Ephesians.”20 Although paeans could take many forms and were performed in different circumstances, historically they were hymns associated with
Artemis and especially Apollo, who we know had a cult within the prytaneion
of Ephesos (along with his sister) by this time.21 Such paeans often addressed the
divinities invoked during times of danger and/or uncertainty; and although the
genre of paean had no hard and clear-cut boundaries, there was a firm core that
had to do with salvation.22 It may be that the appearance of the clause about the
paean here should be taken as a kind of reminder about the performance of the
paean on a number of occasions within the polis during the times that gave rise
to the publication of the summary.
“The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
211
From the evidence already reviewed, we know that at the time of Strabo
and probably afterward there were sacrifices by the Kouretes, a procession up to
Ortygia, and nocturnal festivities, including the symposia of the Kouretes and
the banquets of the neoi during the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis.23
If the celebrations were included among any of the appropriate sacrifices, processions, and nocturnal festivals covered by this clause in the summary, then we
might deduce that a paean was sung at the mysteries at the time. Certainly we
have seen that pipe music was included at the festival from the date of the very
earliest list of Kouretes.24
Of far greater significance, there may have been a prayer “on behalf of the
Roman Senate and the People of the Romans and the People of the Ephesians.”
This public, “cultic prayer” (as opposed to a “free” prayer), which probably was
spoken aloud, explains the purpose of the sacrifice(s), and its association with
public sacrifice is a sign of the prayer’s importance.25 It also constitutes further
evidence for the incorporation of Rome and Roman institutions into the celebrations of Artemis’s birthday and other occasions. The fact that it was the polis
itself that implicitly commanded that this prayer be made shows who was responsible for that incorporation. If we consider the content of the prayer, it
seems to imply some sort of equivalence, and also common interest, between
the Roman Senate and people and the Ephesians.
If we compare the list of rituals implied to have taken place at the mysteries
during the late second century by the Summary of Ancestral Law with the rituals that the fragmentary lists of Kouretes from the reign of Pius suggest took
place at that time, we may note the following differences.26 The two hagnearchs
from the reign of Pius do not appear in the summary. The main hierophant was
apparently the advisor to the prytanis about what was customary for the gods by
the last quarter of the second century. As was the case during the reign of Pius,
there were still two hierophants. From among the hierourgoi, the artist who
danced while incense burned (akrobates epi thumiatrou) has dropped out. The
role of the musician who played the double pipe while libations were poured
(spondaules) may have been taken over by the simple piper. There is also only
one diviner in the Summary of Ancestral Law.
Overall, then, there are indications of both continuity of personnel and
practice and some changes. For our purposes, what is most important is that
there is clear evidence that initiation rituals continued at the celebration of the
mysteries during the late second century. On the other hand, the absence of a
second diviner perhaps indicates a reduction in the number of sacrifices supervised by the prytanis compared with the case during the middle of the second
century. Elsewhere, it was usually during times of financial uncertainty, or even
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of “national crisis,” that the need to reestablish the terms of such ancestral customs, including lists of traditional sacrifices, was acted upon.27
Some kind of economic weakness may also be indicated by what is probably
a relatively contemporary inscription that mentions a priestess of Artemis (perhaps named Aurelia) who had “renewed all the mysteries of the goddess” and
instituted them according to the “ancient practice.”28 It is in this inscription,
probably dated to the second half of the second century, that we find confirmation that the phrase “all the mysteries” or “all the rites” (panta ta musteria) in
lines 3–4 can refer solely to the mysteries or rites of one goddess (tes theou) in
line 4. “All the mysteries” are not necessarily all the mysteries in the city—that
is, those of Artemis—but also of Demeter and Kore, Dionysos, and Sopolis.
“All the mysteries” or “all the rites” can be those of one goddess alone. What this
should mean is that at the time “all the mysteries” comprised all of the rites or
ceremonies on the sixth of May and not, for example, just the revelation of the
secret by the hierophant. Once again, we should recall that Strabo wrote about
mysteries and sacrifices (both in the plural).
Equally important for us here, this inscription probably indicates that the
priestess, whose full name is unfortunately missing, renewed the celebration of
Artemis’s mysteries in what was thought to be the traditional fashion; the epigraphical proclamation of the renewal implies some sort of interruption of the
traditional practice. Although we cannot be certain that it was a financial problem that led to the renewal, it must surely be possible that a lack of funds had led
to some kind of interruption of “all the rites.” We know that other priestesses of
Artemis had made distributions during their priesthoods and given (with their
family members) the polis 5,000 denarii.29 Perhaps it was from this sum that the
rites were subsidized, and at some unknown point no priestess or family could
be found who was able or willing to subsidize the rites. We cannot be certain.
Two other important texts of the period, however, support the idea that some
kind of retrenchment specifically with respect to the yearly festival had taken
place.
T H E “ R E N E WA L ” O F M E N E M A C H O S
Despite the fact that we do not possess anything approaching a full set of lists
of Kouretes for the period from 162 to 192 (or even a representative sample, for
that matter), it is nevertheless clear that the association survived into and after
the reign of Pius. We know this to be the case from another kind of inscription
in which they appear, not as members of a yearly association that celebrated the
“The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
213
mysteries of Artemis proclaiming themselves to be pious and devoted to the emperors, but as the beneficiaries of a scheme to reendow the association itself.30
This inscription informs us that the prytanis and ekdikos (advocate of the
sunhedrion of Kouretes) M. Aurelius Menemachos had renewed the sacred association of the Kouretes; he also gave distributions to the Gerousia. Eighteen
prytaneis had collected 6,400 denarii, which they dedicated to those who had
been Kouretes.31
In the inscription there follows a list, unfortunately fragmentary, of eightyfive either current or former Kouretes. (The list therefore confirms our earlier
hypothesis that the association as a whole was composed of current and former
members.)32 Sixty-two of these eighty-five (or 73 percent) current or former
members of the association were Roman citizens.33 Unlike the case of the lists
of Kouretes, if these Kouretes were members of the Boule or held other public
offices, it is not noted; however, two Kouretes were identified as hierophants.34
Because the inscription includes current and former Kouretes, we do not know
whether these men were Kouretes who became hierophants or the other way
around.
There are other examples of benefactors distributing money to members
of councils or the Gerousia in the cities of Roman Asia Minor to give the hierarchy of the city a financial or monetary expression, and elsewhere the councils of elders in particular seem to have received more distributions on more
occasions than any other category of social groups, save for the order of councilors.35 But it is not quite clear what led Menemachos to renew the association of Kouretes and to give donations to the Gerousia, though we may infer
from references to logistai (auditors) of the mid-second-century Gerousia in
imperial letters that the finances and/or accounts of the Gerousia were subject
to repeated audit.36 The fact that Menemachos and the eighteen other prytaneis
dedicated 6,400 denarii to those who had been Kouretes suggests that the association of Kouretes (which may include all current and former members of the
association) was in need of financial support at this time to carry out its activities, including perhaps the symposia and mystic sacrifices. From this we might
infer that there had been some kind of difficulty, or perhaps even an interruption of their activities, due to insufficient funds. Menemachos’s “renewal,” in
other words, actually signifies an interruption of practice or discontinuity.
If we posit that Menemachos and the former prytaneis dedicated the 6,400
denarii to those who had been Kouretes not as a single payment, but as part of
an endowment that would generate interest over time to help subsidize the activities of the association on a yearly basis, and further assume a rate of return
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of 9 percent as is stated throughout the Salutaris endowment from earlier in the
century, then the 6,400 denarii of the “renewal” would have generated about
576 denarii per year.37 This figure may give us a rough idea of how much it cost
during the late second century for the Kouretes to perform the mystic sacrifices
and symposia that Strabo tells us they performed each year at the general festival
around 29 B.C. (if those were the activities of the Kouretes that Menemachos
was endowing).
For the purposes of our inquiry, however, what is more certain and significant is that Menemachos renewed the association of the Kouretes during his
prytany. This was a financial revitalization of an existing association, not the
creation of a new association or a redefinition of its function, as far as we can
tell, let alone an attempt to endow the entire citizen body, for which there is
no evidence.38 While the initiative may have been Menemachos’s, it is difficult
to believe that the scheme of resubsidizing the Kouretes could have been done
without at least the tacit blessing of the polis. After all, the prytanis supervised
and was responsible for the maintenance of the cults of the prytaneion on behalf of the polis, albeit at great expense to himself or herself.
Apparently in return for his financial support, the most holy association
of Kouretes-heralds, which was probably an association within the larger association of Kouretes, honored the prytanis, Asiarch, and personal advocate
Menemachos. The archontes (leaders) of the association were directly responsible for setting up the honorary inscription.39 From this honorary inscription
we therefore can infer, as we have deduced from the existence of the seventh
Koures previously, that there was some kind(s) of structural differentiation
within the association and that, although the association of Kouretes may have
been experiencing financial difficulties at the time, at least some members of an
association within the larger association could afford the cost of putting up an
honorary inscription for their benefactor.
THE ENDOWMENT OF NIKOMEDES
Menemachos’s financial renewal of one of the associations that played a key role
in the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis was not an isolated phenomenon
during the reign of Commodus. From the first few lines of another inscription, the decree of the Ephesian Gerousia—which has been discussed already in
the context of the evidence it provided for the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis during the late fourth century B.C. but which is dated to the reign of
Commodus in its surviving form—we learn that a second benefactor, Tiberius
Claudius Nikomedes, the general advocate of the sunhedrion of the Gerousia,
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made it possible for the Gerousia to return to its ancient custom of reverencing and sacrificing to Artemis and also to reverence and make sacrifice to the
Roman emperor Commodus.40
As stated previously, Picard argued convincingly decades ago that the customary banquet and the sacrifice of the Ephesian Gerousia to Artemis, which
Lysimachos ordered to be paid for out of the Gerousia’s common funds (in
lines 4 through 6), coincided with the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis.41
From the rest of the decree, which is far less fragmentary after line 6, we learn
that the members of the sunhedrion of the Gerousia had feasted and sacrificed
to the goddess for a very long time but that the custom was interrupted in later
years because of a lack of funds.42 Exactly when the custom was interrupted is
not stated, but this inscription remains by far our best evidence that at least
some of the rituals that had traditionally taken place during the celebration of
Artemis’s mysteries had been halted for financial reasons. Because of the munificence of Nikomedes, however, the Gerousia returned to its ancient custom,
reverencing and sacrificing both to Artemis and to Commodus. The sacrifices
to Artemis were made to her in her capacity as guide or leader of the polis. Her
role as the most important deity and focus of worship at Ephesos, which we have
seen attested from the early first century even from the perspective of outsiders,
is once again confirmed here. The annual sacrifice “to the supreme lord and
most visible of gods Imperator Caesar Marcus Aurelius Commodus Antoninus
Augustus Pius Felix” in the same context was on behalf of his perpetual preservation.43
Despite the fact that the Ephesians heaped honors upon the Roman emperors such as Antoninus Pius, whose birthday was celebrated for five days with
shows and a distribution of money to citizens for sacrifices in Ephesos, and bestowed extravagant titles upon emperors such as Commodus, here the members of the Gerousia (or the authorizers of the published form of the decree) in
the end distinguished their theological conceptions of Artemis and the Roman
emperor during the festival, although both received sacrifices.44 The decree is
therefore a reminder that sacrifice may define not only a hierarchical distinction between gods and humans, but also one between traditional gods and god
aspirants.45 Since an increased hierarchization has been identified as one of the
characteristics of mid- to late-second-century A.D. imperial society, it is tempting to see the Ephesians’ distinction between the sacrifices made to Artemis on
her birthday and those made on behalf of the emperor on the same occasion as
a projection of the pervasive social principle of hierarchy onto the divine plane,
at least within this, the most important cult of the polis.46
Interestingly, two contemporary texts related probably to the celebrations
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of the mysteries of Dionysos in the polis may reveal first, that during Commodus’s reign mysteries were performed in honor of Dionysos, Zeus Panhellenios,
and Hephaistos, and second, that those who had been initiated into Dionysos’s mysteries, the sakephoroi mustai philosebastoi of the founder god Dionysos
Koreseitos, commemorated Commodus as the new Dionysos.47 If that was the
case, within the contemporary mystery cult of Dionysos, the theological line
between the god and the emperor had reached a vanishing point from the perspective of this association of initiates.48 Conflating the emperor with the god
Dionysos was one thing, however; equating Commodus with Artemis apparently was quite another.
Be that as it may, in the decree ratifying the Nikomedes endowment, it was
further stipulated that someone, whose identity we do not know because of the
lacuna in the text at line 14, was directed to arrange for a torch procession to
take place at the banquets and for the members of the association to share in the
feast at the ritual repasts.49 Torch processions and ceremonies during the celebrations of mysteries, such as the one ordered in Nikomedes’s endowment, were
common from the fifth century B.C. to the mid-second century A.D. The most
famous literary example is perhaps the Iacchos procession at the Eleusinian mysteries, which Aristophanes parodied in The Frogs. In The Frogs, we recall, Dionysos encounters initiates into the Eleusinian mysteries in Hades who are depicted
robed in white and bearing torches. They sing and dance and tempt the slave
Xanthias with the smell of pork from pigs sacrificed during the mysteries.50
Perhaps the best nonfictive parallel comes from the Andanian mysteries of
Messenia. In the case of the procession at these mysteries the law specified that
a public benefactor, Mnasistratos, lead the way, followed by the priest of the
gods whose mysteries were being celebrated, together with the priestess, then
the director of the games, the priests of the sacrifices, and the flute players. After
them, sacred virgins drew the carts bearing the chests that contained the sacred
things of the mysteries. Then came the mistress of the banquet for the worship
of Demeter and the assistants, the priestess of Demeter of the hippodrome, and
the priestess of Demeter in Aigila. Then followed the priestesses, one by one, as
assigned by lot, then the priests, as assigned by the council of ten. Animals for
sacrifice were also led in the procession, including a pregnant pig for Demeter, a
ram for Hermes, a young pig for the great gods, a boar for Apollo Karneios, and
a sheep for Hagna.51
In the middle of the second century, according to Lucian, the mysteries of
the False Prophet Alexander also included torchlight ceremonies on the third
day. On that day, called the Torch Day, came the marriage of Podalirius and
Alexander’s mother. The finale of the day was Alexander’s love affair with Selene
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217
as acted out by Rutilia, the wife of one of the imperial procurators, Rutilianus.
Before the eyes of her own husband, Rutilia/Selene and Alexander/Endymion
exchanged kisses and embraces and would have exchanged even more, according
to Lucian, if lots of torches had not been burning.52
These fictive and nonfictive parallels show that in arranging for a torch procession during the festival when the mysteries of Artemis were celebrated, Nikomedes was borrowing from a ritual vocabulary common to contemporary mystery cults.53
As has been pointed out previously, banquets after sacrifice are also found
during the celebration of the mysteries of Dionysos, Eleusis, Meter, especially
Isis and Serapis, and Mithras.54
Finally, from the decree of the Gerousia we also learn that the distributions
to the citizens were to take place in the halls about the temple of the Savior (if
the editorial restorations are correct).55 Such distributions to citizens were a
relatively common form of public munificence by wealthy benefactors during
the imperial period.56 If the hypothesis advanced previously is correct, these distributions perhaps took place in Ortygia, around the temple housing the cult
statue of Artemis the Savior, dedicated by none other than Lysimachos himself.
What, then, is the overall significance of Nikomedes’s endowment for our
understanding of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis during this period,
assuming that the text printed in Die Inschriften von Ephesos has been plausibly
restored?
First, during the reign of Commodus the members of the Gerousia reverenced and sacrificed to Artemis and to the emperor during the celebrations of
the mysteries of Artemis. During the festival, banquets of the elders were held,
as well as a torch procession, possibly for the first time. Distributions to the
citizens also took place about the halls of the temple of the Savior, probably
Artemis.
Perhaps most importantly and without doubt, however, from the endowment of Nikomedes we can infer that at this time there was a determined private
effort to make sure that one of the most important and best documented associations and/or social organizations in the polis renewed its ancient custom of
taking part in the festivities that took place during the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis. This private effort should be seen as resulting from some kind
of financial weakness on the part of the Gerousia. As we now have seen, during
the reign of Commodus the associations of both the Kouretes and the Gerousia
needed benefactors to allow their members to participate in the celebrations of
the festival.
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ARTEMIS AND THE POLIS
Looking out over the city in 161, the Kouretes, perhaps in common with their
initiates, could have been forgiven for not anticipating the kinds of problems
that were about to confront their association, the goddess they worshipped,
and the polis they helped to govern. In fact, right up to the end of Pius’s reign,
the lists of Kouretes continued to be engraved regularly and carefully upon the
architectural elements of the prytaneion. Some of the most elegantly incised
of these lists come in fact from the last few years of Pius’s rule.57 In these inscriptions there is not the slightest hint of any trouble looming on the horizon.
Rather, as we have seen, these texts revealed that the Ephesians were expanding
the size of the festival up to around A.D. 161.
The doubling of the number of hierophants and diviners, the increased
number of Kouretes, and the addition of the trumpet player to the roster of
the cult attendants all indicated that the polis had decided to make the celebrations of Artemis’s birthday party larger and more elaborate than ever before.
The Boule and assembly never would have enlarged the size of the festival unless there was evidence of increased interest on the part of prospective initiates
and/or spectators. If cultic business was not good, that is, unless there were a
sufficient number of people who wanted to partake of the experience of initiation into Artemis’s mysteries, the Ephesians would not have decided to increase
the costs of putting on the festivals, as they did up to about 161. Increasing these
costs by adding more entertainment and sacrifices must have been done in anticipation of steady, or even higher, profits from the initiation fees of future initiates, and of course, from the money spent by those who may not have been
initiated but simply came to the city to watch the show and join in the party. By
the late second century the Ephesians perhaps had gotten used to seeing their
profit margins from the festival grow at a regular and agreeable rate.
As we also have seen, the Ephesians’ expansion of the festival took place
in the wider context of a coordinated urban renewal of the area of the lower
Embolos. Although the high point of large-scale public building in imperial
Ephesos undoubtedly was reached just after the middle of the second century (in terms of both quantity and expense), construction of major public
edifices went on right into the early years of the 160s.58 In scale, these new
structures sometimes overshadowed their predecessors from the early second
century. For instance, as noted, after the construction of the gymnasium of
Vedius around 161 a rival group of benefactors had built the massive east gymnasium near the Magnesian Gate of the polis (Map 6, no. 12). The euergetistic
competition between Vedius and the builders of the east gymnasium eventu-
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219
Inscription (Die Inschriften von Ephesos IV 1042) from the reign of Antoninus Pius
(A.D. 138–61). Some of the most carefully incised lists of Kouretes date from this time,
when the city perhaps reached its architectural apogee.
ally elicited the intervention of the emperor himself, who settled the issue in
Vedius’s favor.59
Altogether, Ephesians could work out, purge toxins, listen to lectures, gossip, and display their wealth and social statuses in no less than six publicly or
privately subsidized baths and/or gymnasia by the mid-second century A.D.,
including the Harbor gymnasium, one of the largest gymnasium complexes in
the ancient world.60 For the bathers, benefactors such as the prytanis Dionysos
regularly provided free oil.61 For those who wanted more than a swim, a visit to
what may have been a brothel (paidiskeion) within the baths of Varius was just
a few short steps away, at the bottom of the Embolos.62 It unquestionably was
good to be rich in Ephesos during the middle of the second century, and perhaps
even moderately well off as well.
The grain ships from Egypt sailed into the enlarged harbor of the city on
a regular basis, and the wheat off-loaded there kept the mid-second-century
population of around two hundred thousand fed for the most part above subsistence level, to judge by the fact that from the entire second century we have
only one or two public indications of popular discontent with respect to the
grain supply.63 Many citizens dined off fashionable “Arrentine” tableware that
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was made and stamped just up the river valley in Tralleis. Wool weavers, linen
makers, potters, and traders of every kind grew rich or richer from the export
of their products. These traders shared in the increased aggregate production
throughout the Roman empire at the time.64 We should never forget that from
its very beginning, Ephesos was a port town, a reality that is sometimes easy to
overlook, given the distance of the modern archaeological site from the sea because of the silting of the Kaystros River over the centuries.
A regular program of local, provincial, and international games and festivals
provided entertainment and diversion. To judge by the number of statues for
athletes and erotes in the city—such as the remarkable six-foot-plus-tall bronze
figure of the athlete cleaning his strigil that perhaps stood in the so- called
Marble Hall of the Harbor Baths, or the remarkable Eros who once begged for
the gazes of those who passed by the basilica stoa of the upper agora—the majority of Ephesians were more concerned with who won or lost at the games and
toward whom Eros might be persuaded to direct one of his arrows, than with
local political infighting or what was going on in Rome.65 Those who delighted
in watching gladiators split their opponents’ skulls had regular opportunities to
witness deadly combats, as we know from the excavation of a remarkable gladiators’ cemetery in the city.66
If pursuing such diversions left the Ephesians hot and thirsty, they could
pause to revive themselves at any one of the many sanctuaries of the nymphs that
were conveniently located throughout the city and were supplied by water from
one of the city’s seven aqueducts.67 In the upper agora alone people could find
fresh, running waters from the Klaseas and Marnas Rivers at the nymphaeum
subsidized by the proconsul of A.D. 92/93 P. Calvisius Ruso Iulius Frontinus, or
at the two fountains of the water tank (hydrekdochion) of another first-century
governor (78/79), C. Laecanius Bassus, in the welcome shade of its aediculated
façades.68
Those who could afford to live in one of the residential units of Terrace
House 2 could retreat to the cool, vaulted rooms on the south side of their peristyle courtyards. Clients and guests who visited these terraced mansions found
themselves escorted into courtyards that featured paintings of mythological
scenes, such as the discovery of Achilles on the island of Scyros, or of famous
philosophers such as the Athenian Socrates and the Spartan Cheilon (units
4 and 5).69 These decorations no doubt were intended to inspire admiration
for the paideia (education/culture) of the owners. Inspiration of other kinds
could be stimulated by drinking, not only the high-quality local wine known as
Latoreia, probably made in the area around the now magical modern village of
Şirince, but also expensive wines that we know the owners of these urban man-
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221
sions imported from as far away as northeastern Italy.70 Alto Adige apparently
had its admirers on the coast of Asia Minor.
The city had already received its second imperial neokoria (wardenship) between A.D. 131 and 135 from Hadrian, and since early in the reign of Antoninus
Pius, Ephesos had been implicitly recognized by the emperor officially as the
“first of Asia,” a status that the Ephesians immediately began to represent on
the coins of the city, much to the annoyance of the citizens of Pergamon and
Smyrna.71 Perhaps in gratitude for the Ephesians’ celebrating his birthday for
five days and naming two of the polis’s tribes after him and his adoptive father
Hadrian, Pius also gave Ephesos the title of “Metropolis of Asia.” The Ephesians’
practice of calling their city “thrice neokoros” (caretaker), despite the fact that
they had received only two imperial awards officially, eventually produced a letter to the Ephesians, in which Antoninus Pius himself tried to persuade the citizens of Pergamon and Smyrna to respect the Ephesians’ official title(s) in their
official correspondences.72 The emperor’s letter probably was seen as a victory
by the Ephesians in the never-ending game they played with and against their
neighbors for imperial recognition and prestige. (The game would continue into
the reign of Valerian.)
In 162 Lucius Verus himself came to the city, and the city apparently made
a good impression upon him.73 The following year Verus returned and probably
married Lucilla, the daughter of Marcus Aurelius, there.74 Just as had been the
case after the battle of Actium, Ephesos easily could have been seen at the time
as the urban focal point of the eastern provinces of the Roman empire.75
In 161 the Kouretes appear to have been prospering; the building boom of
the mid-second century was continuing, in some cases on an even greater scale;
and the emperor himself was making a habit of visiting the city. Among the empire’s estimated 61.4 million inhabitants, the Ephesians no doubt counted themselves among those most favored by the gods.76 In short, Ephesos in A.D. 162
was a prosperous, cosmopolitan port city, frequented by travelers, merchants,
and traders from around the Mediterranean world, not to mention members of
the imperial family. Anyone who was anyone visited Asia’s greatest city at some
point: to see the Artemision, to come face to face with the image of the great
goddess herself, perhaps to be initiated into her mysteries, or just to watch those
who were. Within the very competitive premier league of cities in the secondcentury A.D. Roman empire, Ephesos ranked near or at the top, with no apparent fears of relegation.
And yet, within a few years, although the evidence is far from unambiguous, we find the first indications that perhaps neither Artemis nor the polis was
prospering in quite the same way as they had done during the middle decades
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222
of the second century. The problems of the association of the Kouretes and the
Gerousia need to be seen first within this broader context of mixed signals about
the health of the great goddess and her city.
THE NURSE OF ITS OWN EPHESIAN GOD
From the period between 162 and 164 we have an edict of the proconsul Gaius
Popillius Carus Pedon confirming a decree brought to him by the Boule and
demos that the days of the festival of the Artemisia were to be sacred and that
public business would not be transacted on them.77 The well-preserved section
of the subjoined decree of the Boule and the demos approving a motion of
Laberius Amoenus to enhance the reverence for the Ephesian month named
after Artemis is worth quoting extensively to understand the Ephesians’ justification for the measure:
Since the god Artemis, patroness of our city, is honored not only in
her native city, which she has made more famous than all other cities
through her own divinity, but also by Greeks and barbarians, so that
everywhere sanctuaries and precincts are consecrated for her, temples
are dedicated and altars set up for her, on account of her manifest
epiphanies. But this is the greatest testimony of the reverence for her
that there is a month named after her, Artemision in our city, Artemisios among the Macedonians and other Greek tribes and their cities:
in this month are held festivals and cessation of public business, especially in our city, the nurse of its own Ephesian god. The demos of the
Ephesians, considering it fitting that the whole month which bears the
divine name should be sacred and dedicated to the female god, has resolved through this decree to regulate its religious observance. Therefore it was decided that the whole month of Artemision be sacred in all
its days, that there be held during these days every year in this month
the festivals, both the festival of the Artemisia and the cessation of
public business throughout the whole month, since the whole month
is dedicated to the god. In this way, with the god honored more highly,
our city will remain for all time more famous and more blessed.78
After the decree of the Boule and demos, there followed an honorary decree, erected by Lucius Faenius Faustus but awarded by the fatherland. The honorary decree was put up for Titus Aelius Marcianus Priscus, the provider of the
games and the president of the great Artemisia; the first to have held the festival in its entirety, having obtained a truce for the whole month named after the
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223
divinity; establisher of the Artemisian contest; increaser of rewards for contestants; and erector of statues for victors.79
It is possible to read the edict of the proconsul, the decree of the Boule and
demos, and the honorary inscription for Marcianus Priscus as evidence for the
vitality of the cult of Ephesian Artemis during this period both in Ephesos and
abroad, and even as a relatively rare example of official, civic proselytism within
Graeco-Roman polytheism, in light of the competition among cities in Asia
Minor for titles and prestige.80 On this reading, the edict belongs to a competitive discourse of civic and sacral inflation. But the very rarity of such documents
arouses some suspicion, and a somewhat less sanguine interpretation of the motivation for the resolution is also possible.
The decree of the Boule and the demos certainly is one of the most extraordinarily clear examples in all of Greek imperial epigraphy of why a goddess is
honored by a polis the way she is—that is, because of Artemis’s manifest epiphanies—and the decree also makes clear how the polis conceived of its special relationship to its patron deity. In line 22 the polis names itself as “the nurse of its
own Ephesian god.”81 A few lines later it is stated that with the god more highly
honored, the polis will remain for all time “more famous and more blessed.”82
In return, the polis stays more famous and blessed forever: the reciprocal logic
of the votive formula in operation is wonderfully explicit and manifest.
Because the Ephesians tell us in the decree, we know what Artemis was intended to get out of this exchange—increased reverence. But what about the
Ephesians? What did they expect to get out of the votive transaction? One benefit clearly was that the polis would remain more famous. But exactly how was it
to be more blessed?
Laberius Amoenus apparently argued, in putting forward the motion for a
vote, that Artemis was honored not only in her native land, but also by Greeks
and barbarians, so that everywhere shrines and sanctuaries were established for
her on account of her epiphanies and a month was named after her. If this were
true, why was it necessary for the Boule and demos to enhance the reverence for
Artemis at this time? What exactly was the polis’s motive in having the month
of Artemision declared to be sacred in A.D. 162?
To answer these questions, we need to consider both some of the expressed
and, perhaps more importantly, some of the unexpressed effects of having the
whole month of Artemision voted to be sacred. From the edict of the proconsul we learn that on the days declared to be sacred, there would be no public
business.83 What this meant in practice was that courts were to be closed and
public exactions of money were prevented.84 Dedications and other kinds of exchanges carried out at festivals, however, were both legal and encouraged, just
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as the fatherland did in honoring Marcianus Priscus for increasing the rewards
for victors at the perfected form of the Great Artemisia. More sacred days during the month of Artemision meant more festivals, more sacrifices, presumably
more participants at the festivals, and finally more profits for the polis and its
citizens, who organized and serviced such festivals.85 For what kind of festival
could exist without a market to serve the needs of those who attended?86 We
know, for instance, that during the celebration of the Andanian mysteries after
91 B.C., a special market was organized to sell food to the public, and the market supervisor was even told how much he could charge people for baths.87
With public business halted and the courts closed by Roman edict during
the newly declared sacred month of Artemision, the Ephesians could get down
to the much more serious business of making money off the celebration of the
festivals to be held throughout the month; and at least some craftsmen and
traders may actually have worked harder on such days, providing festival participants with goods and services.88 But hard work brings in hard cash. The primary
motive of making the whole month sacred may have been reverence toward the
goddess, but what was good for the reverence of Artemis was also good for the
financial well-being of the polis of Ephesos, as this remarkable inscription surely
implies.89
If this interpretation of the decree of the Boule and demos is correct, behind the Ephesians’ attempt to increase reverence for Artemis at this time lay
piety, perhaps some anxiety about her prestige in a theologically competitive
world, and almost certainly some more pressing concerns about the profits the
Ephesians were making from her prestige.90 To suggest that the decree of the
Boule and demos reveals some anxiety about the overall health of the cult of
Ephesian Artemis and the bottom line of her supporters may seem to place too
pragmatic or materialistic an interpretation upon the evidence. Of course, the
impetus behind the decree of the Boule and demos may have been piety, pure
and simple. However, it is also possible that, as was so often the case in Greek
cities, piety and pragmatism were intertwined, and enthusiasm for the latter was
not a sign of a purely instrumental attitude toward the former. From the point
of view of the Ephesians, real reverence for Artemis and their profits went hand
in hand. A decline in Artemis’s popularity directly affected their business, and
their business was to increase her popularity.
Is there any other evidence that either the goddess or her promoters, or
both, were feeling some kind of pinch at the time?
Another decree, dated to the same time period as the decree of the Boule
and demos about the month of Artemision, also perhaps suggests further concern about the popularity of the cult of Artemis.91 In this case, however, the ini-
“The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
225
tiative was taken with specific reference to ceremonies that took place on the
very day when the mysteries of Artemis were celebrated. From this inscription
we learn that the sacred herald of Artemis began to distribute offerings of oil,
not only once a year on the sixth of May, as had been the practice previously, but
on the sixth day of every month.92
Once again, it is possible to interpret this initiative as evidence of increased
devotion to Artemis. The decree certainly reveals that the herald, or his financial
backers, was willing to expend resources on the cult. But it is more likely that
this inscription shows that the officers of the cult were trying to buttress the
popularity of the goddess. The officials probably were handing out free oil more
frequently to increase the numbers of people taking part in the rituals of the
cult or benefiting from them. In effect, these distributions amounted to a form
of cultic welfare for the Ephesians. If the populace was so devoted to Artemis’s
worship, as the motion of Laberius Amoenus discussed above implied, why were
such handouts necessary? Truly pious adherents of the cult surely could have expended their own money to anoint or clean themselves on the sixth day of every
month if they wished to do so. Moreover, in the long run, distributions of oil
on the sixth day of every month, while drawing attention to the traditional day
of Artemis’s birth in May, might also have had the paradoxical effect of diluting
the importance of those distributions on the sixth of May itself. If oil was distributed on the sixth of every month, what was so special about the distribution
on the sixth of May?
It is against this admittedly ambiguous contemporaneous background of
Ephesian attempts to keep up or even enhance reverence for Artemis, and perhaps to increase the numbers of her worshippers or their habits of devotion, that
our evidence for the return of the two Roman legions at the end of the Parthian
campaign of Lucius Verus and Marcus Aurelius in 166/67 should be seen; for
those legions brought the “plague” (possibly smallpox) to Ephesos, as well as to
other poleis in western Asia Minor, and eventually to the most northerly provinces of the Roman empire (the disease’s effect upon individual provinces and
cities such as Rome continues to be debated).93 Although the appearance of the
imperial army initially may have brought some immediate economic benefits
to some Ephesian businesses (which might profit from the presence of so many
soldiers), the plague undoubtedly had devastating effects throughout the population, not to mention the Roman empire generally.94 (Dio, for instance, relates
that in Rome during the reign of Commodus, some two thousand inhabitants
died daily of the plague.)95
In fact, some demographers have argued that the plague halted the growth
of the Roman empire’s population, which had risen slowly throughout the first
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two centuries of Roman rule.96 By the end of the second century A.D., the population of the empire perhaps had been reduced by six million inhabitants.97 The
Antonine plague may have sent more people down to the underworld than the
Black Death would kill in the mid-fourteenth century.98
As was the case elsewhere in Asia, the seriousness of the situation in Ephesos in A.D. 167 is revealed most clearly by the evidence for the Ephesians’ reaction to the outbreak. In response to the appearance of the plague in the city,
probably because the Greeks had identified Apollo as the god who could both
send and prevent plagues since the classical period, the Ephesians apparently
consulted Artemis’s brother about what to do, or perhaps more specifically had
made a “situational” apotropaic request, in the form of some kind of public
prayer of the polis.99 A large hexametrical inscription, presented as an oracle of
Apollo, whose oracular shrine was situated within the prytaneion from at least
after 104, apparently preserves the record of the response given to the Ephesians
by Apollo in Claros.100 The advice of the god was to bring a gilded statue of the
goddess Artemis to a sanctuary in the Hermos valley and to praise her glory with
the singing of hymns.101
The remedy for the devastating plague offered by Artemis’s brother, in
other words, was for the Ephesians to reunite Artemis with her brother and to
sing songs of praise to the great goddess. This was the oracular seal set upon what
we now interpret as the collective decision of the Ephesians about how to deal
with the crisis.102 As from time immemorial, Artemis was made accountable or
responsible at the very least for the restoration of the health or well-being of the
Ephesians, with an assist given to her younger brother. It was essentially up to
Artemis to save the Ephesians.
Another inscription, probably put up a few years later, in honor of the
famous sophist, benefactor, and secretary of the demos in 167 Titus Flavius
Damianus (the husband of Vedia Phaedrina, the daughter of Marcus Claudius
Publius Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus) perhaps provides some evidence about whether singing the praises of the goddess had been enough to
persuade her to relieve the disastrous situation in 166/67.103 In the inscription,
Damianus is praised for having provided wheat for the Roman army when it
was staying in Ephesos, apparently for no fewer than thirteen months.104 Singing praises of Artemis alone was not enough, it seems, to bring the army or the
city back from the brink. The active intervention of human benefactors such as
Damianus was required to deal with the crisis of 166/67.
For Damianus, the imperial and civic rewards would be promotion to
equestrian rank by Septimius Severus, honorary inscriptions, and a marble
statue of the great man representing him as a high priest of the imperial cult in
“The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
227
Ephesos, which perhaps was placed in the east gymnasium.105 For Artemis, according to Knibbe, there was the expansion of the altar of Artemis at the Triodos into a kind of combination of victoria Caesaris (victory of Caesar) (as we
know from a fragmentary inscription that refers to an area for the monument)
and a memorial cenotaph for Lucius Verus (who had died in Aquilea in 169), but
with Artemis/Selene enshrined above reliefs of a battle between Romans and
barbarians (perhaps from the Parthian war), some kind of assembly of the gods,
personifications probably of the provinces of the Roman empire, the adoption
of Antoninus Pius by Hadrian in 138 and Verus and Aurelius by Pius, and finally
the apotheosis of Verus himself.106
In this hybrid building, which usually is called the Parthian monument,
Artemis was given the credit for the military victory over the Parthians.107 According to this interpretation, the monument (the reliefs of which are displayed
in the Ephesus Museum in Vienna) stole as much of the glory for the victory as
possible, while avoiding the far more immediate and painful facts of Artemis’s
recently demonstrated inability to protect her worshippers from the plague that
the victorious Roman army had brought to the city and from the ensuing famine. But even if this interpretation of the Parthian monument is correct, which
is far from certain, it still begs the question of why it had been necessary for
Damianus to come to the Ephesians’ aid if Artemis herself cared so deeply about
the starving populace and could do anything about their problems. Is there any
evidence that Artemis’s failure to help the Ephesians at this time had any real
effects upon their attitude toward her?
It was probably during the last decade of the second century that Damianus
built (that is, paid for) an extraordinary new covered colonnade forty-two feet
wide for the Via Sacra, or Sacred Road, connecting the sanctuary with the polis
of Ephesos, both from the Artemision to the polis at the Koressian Gate and
also to the Magnesian Gate, a distance of more than 1.55 miles (Map 6, no. 7).108
Excavations of the Via Sacra along the slopes of Panayirdag to the Magnesian
Gate in 1992 revealed that, above the road, built on foundations of blue limestone (about 16.4 feet deep), were set brick pillars (forming squares of 12.14
feet) supporting barrel vaults.109 Although the surface of the road itself was left
unpaved, at least part of the stoa was constructed of white marble.110
According to Philostratos, who was Damianus’s student and thus in a position to know, although the portico of the road was inscribed in honor of Damianus’s wife, Vedia Phaedrina, the purpose of building this astonishing covered
highway between the upper city of Ephesos and the Artemision was that the
sanctuary should not lack worshippers in case of rain.111 Geologists and historians at Ephesos have associated the rain described by Philostratos with the ex-
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plosion of Mount Taupo on the north island of New Zealand in A.D. 186. The
explosion apparently projected so much ash and dust into the atmosphere that
the climate of the entire world became colder, and many regions experienced
heavy rainfall. According to this theory, the downpours from the climate change
apparently had been making the walk from the polis to Artemis’s home a wet
and unappealing one for worshippers.112
But of course Zeus Huetios (Zeus of the Rains) had been hurling his
thunderbolts and unleashing his showers over the plain between the Artemision
and Lysimachos’s polis for centuries. If the “bitter waters” of clouds, however
ash laden, could dissuade Artemis’s worshippers from visiting the Artemision,
the goddess was in far more trouble than Damianus or her other supporters in
the city could admit in public inscriptions. By the end of the second century,
regardless of what was written in the public inscriptions of the polis about the
sanctuaries and precincts consecrated for her everywhere, Philostratos’s testimony has to imply that the patroness was having trouble attracting visitors to
her own home.
R E V I VA L
The polis of Ephesos and private benefactors, such as Menemachos and Nikomedes, put extraordinary amounts of energy and money into the effort to renew the cultic associations dedicated to the worship of the great goddess of
the Ephesians at the yearly festival. Similarly, and perhaps for some of the same
reasons, but with the added impetus of dealing with the effects of a plague and
possibly hunger in the city, the Boule and the demos of Ephesos, and later private benefactors such as Damianus, tried to sustain and even increase reverence
for Artemis at the very same time. In doing so, Damianus assumed a role on the
urban stage of Ephesos similar to that played by other famous sophists- cumbenefactors elsewhere, such as Marcus Antonius Polemo in Smyrna and, most
conspicuously, Herodes Atticus in Athens and Corinth.
The polis of Ephesos and its patriotic benefactors met the crisis of the late
second century with courage, resolve, and belief in the power of their great patroness and guide to help the polis. Indeed, some of the causes and symptoms of
the crisis of the third century—including warfare and its effects on the civilian
population, the presence of the Roman army in towns and cities, the slowdown
of public building, plague, and famine—already afflicted the Ephesians during
the late second century and stimulated an energetic local response.113
Despite the fact that they lived during suddenly uncertain times, the Ephesians continued to endow their beloved city with some new public buildings,
“The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
229
and they also supported the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries. No one had
given up on Ephesos or Artemis yet, and the polis still offered new initiates the
opportunity of learning Artemis’s secrets in Ortygia each year in May, albeit at
a festival that had been reduced in some respects. Yet, their very efforts indicate
that the Ephesians were finding it more difficult to sustain their traditional cultic practices. More often than not, references to ritual “revival” should be interpreted as an indication of interruption, rather than of continuity.114
During the third century, despite the efforts of the demos, the Boule, and
private benefactors, in the face of devastating and irrefutable evidence that the
goddess finally lacked the power to protect both her own protectors and even
her own property, the Kouretes apparently gave up the struggle to scare Hera
away from the nativity for yet another year. After the middle of the third century, the Kouretes laid down their shields for good, and the polis of Ephesos
forever ceased to play the role of nurse to its very own goddess.
CHAPTER 9
“Our Common Salvation”
AFTER ENDURING FINANCIAL PROBLEMS, plague, and then famine during
the late second century A.D., the Ephesians nevertheless renewed or reendowed
the associations responsible for celebrating the mysteries of Artemis. These revitalizations, however, were not completely successful.
After the turn of the century the Ephesians once again had trouble subsidizing the traditional sacrifices of the year, including the ones that took place
on Artemis’s birthday, and wide variations in the number of yearly Kouretes
suggest changes or instability within the association. On behalf of the polis, the
prytaneis carried out another major reorganization of the cultic personnel of
the prytaneion, and there is a marked change in theological emphasis in the inscriptions of the third-century prytaneis. Several of these prytaneis returned to
the themes of salvation or safety in their inscriptions; however, these thematic
notes were framed neither in military nor in public and communal terms, but
in private and familial ones.
The financial difficulties of the prytany and the association of the Kouretes,
the consolidation of the cult personnel of the prytaneion, and the change in the
content of the third-century inscriptions all should be seen against the wider
background of the history of the polis of Ephesos during the third century. In
particular, the pattern of public building in the city from A.D. 200 to the middle
of the third century parallels some of the trends and changes we will follow with
respect to the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis.
Evidence both for major public building by the members of the GraecoRoman ruling elite of the city and for the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis by the Kouretes ceases more or less simultaneously in Ephesos by 262.
That was the year of the unthinkable, when Artemis’s home was devastated by a
fire for the second time in the city’s history and then was plundered by barbarians under the very eyes of the Ephesians. The Ephesians still worshipped their
patroness goddess after the double catastrophe of 262, and eventually public
building occurred in the city once again. That new building phase, however,
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“Our Common Salvation”
231
was not subsidized by wealthy polytheists, such as the second-century magnates
Tiberius Claudius Aristion or Vedius Antoninus. Rather, as was the case elsewhere, the great architects of the urban stage during the next building revival of
Ephesos were almost all Christians, and the buildings they inscribed their names
upon were churches.1 More directly relevant to our inquiry, there is no evidence
that the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos took place ever again
after 262.
T H E E V I D E N C E F O R T H E C E L E B R AT I O N
OF THE MYSTERIES OF ARTEMIS FROM
T H E T H I R D C E N T U R Y A.D.
After the scraps of Kouretes’ lists from the late second century, it is a pleasant
surprise to find slightly more abundant evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis during the third century. If there is more evidence, however,
its interpretation nevertheless presents considerable difficulties. As in the past,
nearly all of the relevant evidence is epigraphical. Unfortunately, almost all of
the relevant inscriptions are very fragmentary. In addition, the dates of almost
all of the texts are difficult to establish with any certainty.2 For these reasons,
the inferences we draw from the evidence related to the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis during this period must be considered to be tentative. Paradoxically, as we shall see, some of the fragmentary texts of the third century
nevertheless do allow us to gain at least some insights into aspects of the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries that earlier, more complete, and more precisely
dated texts sometimes have not.
Thus, from just after the end of the first decade of the third century, we have
an epigraphical fragment of what may be part of an oracle.3 In this fragment the
overall purpose of celebrating the mysteries may be stated for the first time in
the entire record of the evidence we have for the celebration of the mysteries.
Then, from a few years later, after a gap of several decades stretching back to
the late second century, we possess a couple of fragmentary lists of Kouretes.4
From these we can deduce what kind of rituals took place at the celebration of
Artemis’s mysteries up to about 214/15. As in the past, these fragmentary lists
also help us to understand what the legal and political statuses of the early-thirdcentury Kouretes and cult attendants were.
Then, although they are not lists of Kouretes, at least in the epigraphical
form in which we have come to recognize such lists, two other lists of religious
officials, mentioning Kouretes and cult attendants, nevertheless help supplement our information about the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis during
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approximately the same period as the fragmentary lists of Kouretes.5 The second
of these two inscriptions belongs to some kind of transitional stage in the organization and management of the cultic personnel of the prytaneion, if not the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. During and after this transitional stage,
the internal organization of the association of the Kouretes also seems to have
evolved significantly.6
A number of “thanks” inscriptions, most of them authorized by prytaneis
at the end of their years in office, but also a few put up by kalathephoroi (basket
carriers) after they had served in their capacities, then signify a dramatic shift in
the way the prytaneis in particular commemorated their activities while holding
one of the most important offices in the polis of Ephesos. These thanks inscriptions help us to understand how the prytaneis saw the act of “completing” the
mysteries.7
From two honorary inscriptions we then will see how the private subsidization of the mysteries was once again required to keep the cult going during the
reign of Alexander Severus and also how the Kouretes, who perhaps had taken
part in the celebrations of the mysteries since 302 B.C. at the latest, survived as
an association until at least A.D. 239.8 A reference to a sacred herald and to a
hymnodos in an honorary inscription for Gordian III may signify that the cult
remained active into the 240s.9 A funerary inscription for a priestess of Artemis
then may signify that mysteries were completed into the 250s.10 That inscription
brings us close to the date of the destruction of the Artemision.
The nature of the evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis
during the third century, including the small number of fragmentary lists of
Kouretes in the old style, none of which is inscribed as carefully or elegantly as
the Kouretes’ lists from the mid-second century, furnishes us with a somewhat
confusing, disjointed, and incomplete picture of the celebrations of the mysteries at the time. This picture may be the result purely of the absence of documentary evidence from the third century. In Ephesos and elsewhere, the third
century A.D. is somewhat of a documentary black hole. More likely, however,
the documentary record is a reflection of historical reality. The very different
kinds of often fragmentary texts are an accurate reflection of the Ephesians’
struggle to keep the cult and, it turns out, other mystery cults alive during a time
of troubles.
Building inscriptions, the results of the archaeological excavations of the
site, and selected literary sources then will help us to understand the wider context within which that struggle took place and also why the Ephesians gave up
the fight after more than five centuries of maintaining the cult, not through
continuous tradition, but through periodic renewal.
“Our Common Salvation”
233
T H E C E L E B R AT I O N O F T H E M Y S T E R I E S O F
A R T E M I S D U R I N G T H E T H I R D C E N T U R Y A.D.
From a fragmentary inscription, probably to be dated to the year 211/12, which
perhaps preserves at least part of the text of a question to an oracle, we learn that
a prytanis had celebrated the “mysteries and sacrifices” probably for the sake
of “our common salvation” (if the editorial restorations in Die Inschriften von
Ephesos are correct).11 In a linguistic context that cannot be reconstructed completely, this text, which was found in an unspecified spot in the prytaneion, also
mentions the Kouretes twice and may contain some sort of injunction against
Kouretes who somehow denigrate (something that is not known).12
The language in this early-third-century text about “mysteries and sacrifices” (which does not require substantial or controversial editorial restorations)
closely parallels what we have argued was the linguistic formula Strabo used to
describe the celebration of the Kouretes’ mystic sacrifices at Artemis’s mysteries
nearly 250 years earlier. The same formulation appears in the honorary inscriptions of the priestesses of Artemis, Vipsania Olympias and her adoptive sister
Vipsania Polla, who “completed the mysteries and sacrifices in a dignified way”
before the first neokorate of Ephesos.13 We also should recall that in the decree of the Gerousia from the reign of Commodus, but referring back to the
foundation of Lysimachos, it was stated that Lysimachos had made an excellent
arrangement concerning “the mysteries and the sacrifices.” In sum, this thirdcentury inscription echoes what was probably the formal, linguistic designation
of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries.
In addition, this fragmentary third-century text perhaps provides the only
surviving evidence for what the goal of completing the mysteries and sacrifices
was: “our common salvation.” Whose common salvation is implied by the partially restored phrase of the text? The prytanis, as we know, was an elected officer of the polis whose office involved paying for and at least supervising the
completion of the 365 sacrifices listed in the Summary of Ancestral Law from
the late second century. Without evidence from the inscription to the contrary,
we should deduce that the prytanis completed the mysteries and sacrifices for
the common salvation, not on his or her own behalf, but on behalf of the polis
that the prytanis served.
This fragmentary inscription from 211/12 may also recall the soteriological theme of the fragmentary inscription detailing the renewal of the feasts of
the Gerousia during the mysteries of Artemis from the reign of Commodus,
particularly its likely reference to the cult statue of the Savior Artemis.14 That
statue, it will be remembered, perhaps had been set up by Lysimachos himself
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after 294 B.C. Two (alas) fragmentary items of epigraphical evidence, separated
by five hundred years of history and arising from very different historical contexts, nevertheless may hint that, amidst all the great changes in the celebration
of Artemis’s mysteries, both a Macedonian dynast, perhaps, and at least one
third-century prytanis considered that the purpose of celebrating those mysteries was salvation. Whose salvation Lysimachos had in mind we are not certain. It was suggested earlier, however, that his possible erection of the statue of
Artemis the Savior in Ortygia was fundamentally linked to his military success
and the integration of the new, mixed population of his foundation into Arsinoeia. As far as the third-century prytanis was concerned, the issue perhaps was
the salvation of the polis and also some kind of “denigration” by the Kouretes.
What, if anything, do we know about the rituals that must have been performed
during this time to ensure the salvation perhaps referred to in the third-century
inscription? Can the texts documenting those rituals help us to understand anything about the context in which it was thought to be appropriate to give thanks
for the polis’s salvation or to include an injunction against the Kouretes denigrating something or someone?
From the two very fragmentary lists of Kouretes dated to the same time
period as the oracle text (the first quarter of the third century), we discover
only that a hierophant was among the cult attendants.15 The appearance of the
hierophant here should signify that the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis
included initiation rituals at this time. Five or six Kouretes are listed.16 A Caesar,
whose name is missing, probably had undertaken the prytany.17
When Roman emperors previously had undertaken the costs of the prytany
in Ephesos, this had occurred during times of financial trouble for the polis, on
whose behalf the prytaneis performed the sacrifices.18 In the present instance we
may deduce either that no publicly minded individual could be found who was
minimally willing or possibly able to pay for the 365 sacrifices that the prytanis
was obligated to make during the year of his or her prytany according to the
terms of the Summary of Ancestral Law, or that the polis itself lacked funds to
subsidize the traditional costs of the prytany, including the sacrifices to Artemis
at the mysteries.19
Probably from only a few years later, in the inscription of the hestiouchos
(supervisor of the sacred hearth) Eutyches, we learn that the costs of the prytany had been undertaken by the goddess Artemis herself.20 Of course, this inscription actually signifies that part of the treasure of the cult of Artemis had
been used to pay for the sacrifices that the prytanis normatively was obligated
to pay for and make by law.21 Once again, either no citizen had come forward
who was willing or able to subsidize the sacrifices laid out in the late-second-
“Our Common Salvation”
235
century Summary of Ancestral Law or the polis itself lacked the revenues. The
fact that it was necessary for first a Caesar, and then the goddess herself, to pay
for these sacrifices twice within a five-year period must indicate either that the
costs of fulfilling the duties of the magistracy were simply too great for any
potential candidates or that the polis was experiencing financial difficulties.22 In
either case, when these two inscriptions were inscribed, only Caesar or the goddess Artemis apparently could afford to pay for the public sacrifices specified in
the summary. Taken together, these two texts clearly indicate that the polis was
having difficulty maintaining its traditional, customary cultic practices.
Confirmation that this was indeed the case derives from the epigraphical
publication of what may have been a speech or some kind of programmatic
declaration of a prytanis about the duties of the prytanis. The now fragmentary text, which was inscribed on the north wall of the Hestia Hall (room 1)
of the prytaneion, states probably that the nomoi patrioi (ancestral customs)
of the polis were written up in the archives and that all citizens, especially the
prytaneis, should do the whole of what was customary according to the ancestral practices. Included among these, it was written that it was necessary for the
prytanis to light the fire in the year on all the altars and to bring to the gods the
sacred offerings, the hearts and thighs having been taken out of 190 (sacrificial
victims), and 175 totally dedicated, and the hierophant to teach the prytanis
about each or to give sacred staters (coins or weights).23
Although the text is heavily restored, it is nevertheless clear that, similar to
the Summary of Ancestral Law of the late second century, the speech or declaration of the prytanis specified what the cultic responsibilities of the prytanis were
and enjoined the hierophant to instruct the prytanis about his or her duties or
to pay some kind of fine. The publication of such a text is surely an indication
that the prytanis responsible believed that it was necessary to once again set out
what the traditional practices of the polis required of those who held the office.
Obviously, the repeated publication of such reminders is not indicative of cultic
continuity.
In the second list of Kouretes from about 214, no cult attendants are listed,
but we know that the prytanis was C. Iulius Epagathus, a wealthy man.24 This
inscription also refers to an architect of “the goddess in the prytaneion.”25 This
is perhaps a reference to a renovation of Artemis’s shrine within the prytaneion.
At least five Kouretes are listed, including the protokoures (first Koures) Truphon.26
Although we know that the office of the protokoures went back at least
to the reign of Antoninus Pius, the office is found much more frequently in
the inscriptions related to the Kouretes during the third century.27 The proto-
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koures, who usually appears first among the Kouretes in these later inscriptions,
was probably the senior member of the yearly association and, like the seventh
Koures from the second-century inscriptions, may have represented the association from time to time.28 Identifying individuals as holding the highest position or being in effect the senior member of an association by adding the prefix
“proto-” to the office title went back to the fourth century B.C. in Asia Minor.29
During the imperial period hierarchies of initiates into mystery cults also appeared, as the appearance of titles such as archimustes or musteriarches (leader
of the initiates) from Carain near Attalea in Pamphylia makes clear.30
Given the fact that several of the third-century protokouretes were known
to have held other offices in the city that involved expenditures of wealth, it is
also likely, if not quite provable, that the protokouretes were disproportionately
responsible for subsidizing the activities of the association at the time.31 Perhaps the protokoures was the wealthiest member of the association. The focus
upon this office within the association in the epigraphical record during the
early third century could suggest that a few rich individuals within the association were now expected to step up and assume financial responsibility for the
activities of the association.
Somewhat more informative about the celebrations of the mysteries of
Artemis is the list of the religious association dated to around 213.32 In this inscription, among the hierourgoi we find a hierophant and hagnearch, perhaps
another hierophant, a trumpeter, and a piper.33 The hierophant and hagnearch
was an advisor to the prytanis, as we have seen. As in the past, the second hierophant probably was responsible for conducting the initiations of the cult.
The number of Kouretes enumerated in this inscription, thirteen, is the
highest total to be found in any surviving list of Kouretes, if this fragmentary
inscription is in fact a list of the members of the yearly association rather than an
expanded list of members.34 It is possible to interpret this dramatic expansion in
the number of Kouretes (from the traditional number of six) as evidence for the
vitality of the cult at this time. The probable appearance of a second hierophant
may be another temporary indication of cultic expansion. However, it is more
likely that the appearance of the thirteen Kouretes in this inscription is an indication of financial problems within the yearly association. Thirteen Kouretes
may have been required at the time of this inscription to subsidize the yearly
activities of the association, particularly in light of the well-documented financial difficulties of the office of the prytanis, who clearly was expected to pay for
the traditional sacrifices, as is set out in the Summary of Ancestral Law, and, as
we know, also helped to subsidize the celebrations of all the mysteries. If there
were thirteen members of the yearly association at the time of the publication
“Our Common Salvation”
237
of this text, perhaps the extra Kouretes paid for parts of the celebrations that
the prytanis could not, or would not, pay for in that year. We cannot be sure.
Whatever the explanation is for the appearance of the thirteen Kouretes in this
list of officials, in later inscriptions we do not find as many Kouretes serving in
the association for a year.
Next, the fragments of an inscription (or perhaps several) on a base found
in the prytaneion belong to a transitional phase in the organization of the personnel of the prytaneion, if not in the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis
itself.35 Among the fragments we find some of the old cult officers specifically
associated with the celebration of the mysteries—such as the sacred herald,
probably the dancer, certainly the piper, and perhaps a trumpeter—mixed in
with other cultic officers, including an aromatophoros (spice bearer), a melodos
(singer), and a kalathephoros.36 These are the only references to an aromatophoros and a melodos in the corpus of Ephesian inscriptions.37
The kalathephoros, or ritual basket carrier, appears several times, usually
in the context of thanks inscriptions of hestiouchoi, after the beginning of the
third century.38 As is well known, kalathephoroi were central to the celebration of the mysteries in other cults, especially the celebration of the Eleusinian
mysteries.39 Baskets also played a prominent role in the famous synthema (password) of the Eleusinian mysteries: “I fasted, I drank the kykeon, I took out the
covered basket [kiste], I worked and laid out into the tall basket [kalathos], and
from there into the other basket [kiste].”40 There is no evidence, however, that a
basket carrier or a basket with sacred objects in it, such as were part of the celebrations of the Eleusinia, was ever part of the celebrations of the mysteries of
Artemis at Ephesos.41
In the inscription(s) from the base, then, we have evidence for a change, at
the very least, in the way some of the cult attendants who heretofore certainly
had celebrated the mysteries of Artemis were presented epigraphically. More
probably, at this time the old cult attendants, some of whose office titles went
back to the reign of Tiberius, were merged or consolidated into a larger group
of hierourgoi, who performed at various mysteries, including perhaps the epigraphically well-attested celebrations of the mysteries of Demeter and Kore.42
Such a merger could not have taken place without the approval of the prytanis,
who always had supervised the cult attendants of the prytaneion, or of the polis
itself. The administrative consolidation or centralization of personnel fits into a
wider pattern of responses to financial and other kinds of pressures that became
characteristic of the “long” third century of the Roman empire.43 It is also worth
noting that the archaeologists who have studied the building phases of the prytaneion most recently have concluded that the prytaneion suffered significant
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damage during the second quarter of the third century A.D. (perhaps because
of earthquakes?), which required extensive alterations; it is possible, therefore,
that the early-third-century consolidation of the personnel of the prytaneion is
connected to the damage to the building.44
After the consolidation, the prytanis still supervised the cult attendants of
the prytaneion, as inscriptions from the period after the completion of the administrative reorganization make clear. However, while the inscriptions from
this period provide some evidence about the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis, because of the merger of the cult attendants, and the uncertainties arising from that consolidation about differentiation of functions, we no longer can
deduce what rituals took place specifically at Artemis’s mysteries from the office
titles of the cult attendants. All of the consolidated cult attendants may have
taken part in the celebrations of all of the mysteries, or groups may have been
detailed for different mysteries. We simply cannot tell from the evidence.
Although we know that the mysteries of Artemis continued to be celebrated after the consolidation of the cult attendants, the prytaneis certainly represented the celebration of the mysteries differently. In his “thanks” inscription, the prytanis M. Aurelius Agathopous, for instance, gave thanks probably
to Hestia Boulaia (Hestia the Councilor) and to all the gods, and to the fortune
of the polis, after he had celebrated the mysteries along with his wife and children and staff.45 In the dedication it is implied that Agathopous and his family
bore the cost of the celebration.46
In another inscription Agathopous gave thanks to the god, to Mistress Soteira, and to the fortune of the Gerousia because he had kept his faith to the
Gerousia together with all of his family, being at once secretary and gymnasiarch, probably of the gymnasium of the Gerousia, which has been identified as
the gymnasium opposite the Theater (Map 9, no. 79).47 This inscription may
imply that Agathopous had supervised the finances of the Gerousia. It is also
possible that the Mistress Soteira of this inscription is to be identified with the
statue of Artemis the Savior we encountered in the inscription of the Gerousia from the time of Commodus but referring back to the foundation of Lysimachos.48 In both cases, the Savior is associated specifically with the Gerousia.
Nevertheless, although the mysteries of Artemis probably were among the mysteries Agathopous celebrated, there is no mention of Artemis, the Kouretes, or
any of the cult attendants. Rather, it is most likely Hestia Boulaia who stands
out in his thanks inscription. The epithet once again highlights the connections
between the prytaneion and its cults and the council.
Similarly, in the thanks inscription of the basket carrier Onesime from after
212, thanks are given to Hestia Boulaia, to the Eternal Fire, to Demeter and
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239
Kore, probably to Apollo Klarios, and to some other god, whose identity cannot be established because of a break in the text.49 Once again, Artemis is not
mentioned in this text, which incidentally supports the idea that kalathephoroi
should be associated essentially with the cult of Demeter and Kore.
The “thanks” inscription of the prytanis Favonia Flaccilla from after 214/15,
however, perhaps reveals the most about the relative status of the celebration
of Artemis’s mysteries after the consolidation of the cult attendants. In her inscription, which most likely is the pay- off of a vow made by the prytanis at the
beginning of her year in office, Favonia Flaccilla gave thanks to Hestia Boulaia,
to Demeter and Kore, to the Eternal Fire, to Sopolis, and to all the gods because
they restored her safe and sound to her husband Acacius and her children and
people after she had celebrated all the mysteries for a year.50
It is noticeable yet again in this inscription that Hestia, Demeter, Kore, and
Sopolis, indeed all the other gods, are prominent—except for Artemis, whose
cult had been established within the prytaneion from its very foundation. In
fact, after all of the traditional lists of Kouretes in which the name of the prytanis was routinely followed by Kouretes and then cult attendants, the formal
changes in the prytaneis’ inscriptions during the third century A.D. must signify
a deeper shift, rather than simply a change in styles of epigraphical presentation.
The Flaccilla inscription, while certainly not excluding the idea that Artemis’s
mysteries continued to be celebrated, perhaps hints that Hestia, Demeter and
Kore, the Eternal Fire, Apollo Klarios, and the other parhedroi (cultic occupants) of the prytaneion had begun to move ahead of Artemis in importance,
at least with respect to the celebrations of the mysteries and other traditional
rituals subsidized and managed by the prytanis on behalf of the polis, possibly
including the mysteries of other deities such as Demeter.51 Indeed, the vast majority of inscriptions found in or around the prytaneion naming Hestia, Demeter and Kore, the Eternal Fire, and Apollo Klarios date from the period after
A.D. 200.52
The Flaccilla inscription may also indicate that some kind of crisis loomed
over the polis, or perhaps had been weathered. Under any circumstances, a
prytanis who had successfully completed her or his year in office might have put
up an inscription thanking the gods and goddesses whose cults were housed in
the building where the prytanis’s “office” was located. To thank all the gods for
a safe return to a family, however, was extraordinary and suggests that the aid
of all the gods was needed to achieve that goal of safe return. It is hard to believe that such collective divine power was needed to accomplish Favonia Flaccilla’s safe return unless the polis was experiencing some kind of trouble. And
indeed, in his study of such invocations to “all the gods” during the classical
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“Thanks” inscription (Die Inschriften von Ephesos IV 1060) of the prytanis
Favonia Flaccilla.
period, Jacobi concluded long ago that such collective invocations were made
only when the greatest danger was looming over the entire state or when the
danger was overcome and victory had been gained.53 Either way, Favonia Flaccilla’s thanks inscription indicates that she completed “all the mysteries” under
difficult circumstances.
Favonia’s list of Kouretes also discloses some major changes in the organization of the association of Kouretes, the celebration of “all the mysteries,” and
the cult attendants. Those who served as Favonia’s five Kouretes were Euandris, a member of the Gerousia; Perigenes, philosebastos secretary; Amyntianus,
philosebastos; Fabius Cyriacus, hestiouchos; and Fabia Zosime, kalathephoros.54 The hestiouchos was the supervisor of the hearth; the kalathephoros was
a woman who had the honor to carry the sacred basket in the procession of
Demeter.55 This inscription, which, for once, is not fragmentary, would seem to
indicate that it was not possible to find the traditional number of six individuals able or willing to undertake service in the association at this time, and that
Kouretes now, for the first time as far as we can infer, were performing ritual
tasks for other cults as well.
What this may mean in practice is that the prytanis could not find six of
her relations either wealthy enough, or willing, to spend their money on the
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241
requirements of the cult, as had been the practice during the first and second
centuries. We already have argued that the appearance of the protokoures in the
inscriptions related to the cult during the third century A.D. may be an indication that the association increasingly was forced to rely upon the wealth of rich
individuals to support its cultic activities. Moreover, apart from the problem
of finding six individuals willing to serve as Kouretes, it is also possible that the
association suffered from a lack of support from the prytaneis themselves during this period, as the Menemachos renewal already discussed also implies.
It is true that in many of the “thanks” inscriptions of the prytaneis, the prytaneis specifically drew attention to the fact that they had celebrated the mysteries.56 But we already have seen that there were other signs that the Ephesians
were having trouble finding individuals who could take on the responsibilities
and expenses of the prytany. The indications of the financial difficulties of the
association of the Kouretes, which in fact go back to the late second century,
must be set against the wider framework of the evidence for the financial problems of the office of the prytanis, who supervised the Kouretes on behalf of
the polis since the reign of Tiberius at the latest. Moreover, the problems of the
office of the prytanis fit into wider patterns of decreased public spending by the
benefactors of Ephesos during the third century, as we shall show.
The Flaccilla inscription then sets out the names of the mantelarioi, who
passed out the towels (on unspecified occasions): Damo, Priscilla, Nunechis,
and Luciane.57 There is no precedent in the second-century lists of Kouretes for
the names of (probably) slaves who handed out towels. (In Ephesian inscriptions, when only one name is given, the person in question usually is a slave.)
After these revealing texts from the first quarter of the third century, unfortunately we lose track of how and why the prytaneis celebrated “all the mysteries.” A now very fragmentary honorary inscription from after 214/15 perhaps
only reveals that the mysteries were celebrated throughout the Severan period at
the personal expense of the possible prytanis and leader of the Boule honored.58
More certainly, another honorary inscription, this one for the neopoios and
Koures Zotikos, reveals that the sunhedrion of Kouretes persisted and that “all
the mysteries,” which minimally should mean the mysteries of Artemis too,
were celebrated to the end of the 230s.59 Finally, we have a funerary inscription
for a priestess of Artemis named Vedia that was put up by her father, perhaps in
the middle of the third century.60 In the inscription, her father, the equestrian
Vedius Servilius Gaius, honored his potheenotaten daughter (exciting a tender
longing), who completed the mysteries.61 Thereafter, evidence for the celebration of any mysteries in the city disappears.
Although this investigation has been specifically focused upon the celebra-
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tion of the mysteries of Artemis, it is worth emphasizing that both the archaeological and epigraphical evidence for all mystery cults in the city ceases after the
first half of the third century A.D. Whatever these cults offered or explained
to initiates, after about 250 people apparently were not buying or selling those
explanations. The reason why this apparently was the case will be addressed in
Chapter 10.
Because of the fragmentary nature of many of the epigraphical texts and
uncertainties about the dating of the texts, the inferences we may draw plausibly
from them about the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis during this time
can be only provisionally offered, pending the discovery of new, more complete
texts. New and more detailed evidence may help us to understand these thirdcentury texts better. Nevertheless, the extant evidence supports the following
conclusions about the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis from A.D. 200
to the middle of the century.
First and most obviously, perhaps, “the mysteries and the sacrifices” of Artemis continued to be celebrated during the early third century A.D., into at
least its third decade. There had been mystic sacrifices when Strabo wrote and
also mysteries and sacrifices just after Lysimachos’s foundation of the polis of
Arsinoeia. In the early third century the mysteries and sacrifices were completed
by at least one prytanis, possibly on behalf of the common salvation of the polis.
More specifically, before the consolidation of the cultic personnel of the
prytaneion, the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries included initiations. There
also were announcements from a master of ceremonies (the sacred herald),
trumpet and pipe music, some kind of dance, and the pouring of libations.
There were five or six Kouretes at this time, and the protokoures perhaps
helped to subsidize the activities of the association. The office of the prytanis
had to be undertaken by Caesar and then Artemis during the early years of the
third century A.D. This is a sure sign either that the traditional benefactors of
the cults of the polis were experiencing financial troubles or that the polis itself
had experienced some kind of economic challenge.
Probably in the middle of the second decade of the third century, the cultic offices of the prytaneion were somehow consolidated. Such a consolidation
must have been approved, if not actually organized, by the prytanis on behalf of
a polis that was suffering from financial difficulties (and possibly damage to the
building itself ). The polis must have authorized this fundamental change in the
organizational structure of the prytaneion. At the same time, the number of
the yearly Kouretes may have been temporarily expanded, perhaps to help subsidize the traditional activities of the association.
As a result of the merger of the cultic personnel of the prytaneion, however,
“Our Common Salvation”
243
it is impossible for us to distinguish what rituals took place exclusively at the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis from the office titles of the cult attendants that appear in subsequent inscriptions.
After the merger, we know that the mysteries of Artemis still were celebrated, at times at the expense of the prytanis. However, the emphasis in the
inscriptions that document their continued celebration is not upon Artemis,
but upon Hestia, Demeter, and Kore, goddesses who traditionally had helped to
provide worshippers with their “daily bread” at Ephesos and elsewhere and perhaps were approached with concerns about what happened after bodily death.62
Demeter’s “gift” in other mystery cults was the promise of a privileged life after
death for those who had experienced her mysteries.63
The theme of common salvation had been sounded by a prytanis before the
consolidation of the cult attendants as the goal of celebrating the mysteries and
the sacrifices, but that soteriological theme later was redefined. Personal safety
was later presented by another prytanis, not as the polis’s common goal of celebrating the mysteries, but as a private and personal reward bestowed upon a
prytanis by the gods after she had celebrated all the mysteries. The reward for
completing all the mysteries was not the common salvation of the polis, but the
prytanis’s safe return to her family. That conclusion, at least, is what the prytanis Favonia Flaccilla considered to be worth recording on the inscription documenting the successful completion of her prytany.64
During this later period in the history of the cult, there were five Kouretes
in the yearly association, and the prytaneion employed at least some slaves to
assist at cultic meals. The mysteries were celebrated throughout the Severan
period, at times at the personal expense of benefactors.
Thus, “all the mysteries,” including the mysteries of Artemis, were celebrated for at least another two generations after the date of our evidence for
the financial problems of the Kouretes and the Gerousia during the late second
century. The efforts of the late-second-century benefactors of the Kouretes and
the Gerousia, and of the third-century prytaneis, apparently were successful up
to a point.
T H E L E G A L A N D P O L I T I C A L S TAT U S O F T H E
T H I R D - C E N T U R Y A.D. C U L T AT T E N D A N T S
Our information about the priests and artists who served in the offices of the
cult attendants at the mysteries of Artemis during the third century before
the reorganization of the personnel of the prytaneion is extremely limited. In
the fragmentary list of Kouretes from about 214/15, the hierophant M. Aurelius
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Telephus also was a bouleutes.65 As a Roman citizen and a member of the town
council, Telephus obviously was a man of some economic and political standing in the polis.
In the list of religious officers from around 214/15, under the title of hierourgoi we find C. Iulius, hierophant and hagnearch; Aur. E[——]a[—]apis Varus,
hierophant; possibly someone named Hieroitonos; Marcellus, a salpiktes olympioneikes (victor in the trumpet contest at the Olympic games); Aur. Chrysa[ ;
T. Cl. Euprepes, a spondaules; and Menodotos hieros[.66 C. Iulius, Aurelius
Varus, Aurelius Chrysa?, and Tiberius Claudius Euprepes must have been Roman citizens.
Based upon this very limited information, we may conclude that at least
some of the offices of the cult attendants during the third century were filled
by free Roman citizens. The list of cultic officials also confirms that some of the
third-century cult attendants certainly belonged to the body of Roman citizens
in the city that had been enlarged in A.D. 211/12 through the Antonine Constitution.67
In addition, at least some of these third-century cult attendants were of
bouleutic status. Just as had been the case during the late second century, during the third century the office of the hierophant in particular seems to have
drawn individuals of prominence to it, for reasons clarified by the terms of the
Summary of Ancestral Law. In that summary the hierophant emerged as the
most important advisor to the prytanis in all matters related to public sacrifices
conducted by the office of the prytanis. The hierophant was a major beneficiary
of those sacrifices as well. Given these facts, it is hardly surprising that the thirdcentury hierophants were prominent men in the polis, who held Roman citizenship and were members of the Boule.
T H E L E G A L A N D P O L I T I C A L S TAT U S O F
T H E T H I R D - C E N T U R Y A.D. K O U R E T E S
At least some of the third-century Kouretes came from the same political, economic, and social levels of the polis as had their second-century predecessors.
In the fragmentary list of Kouretes dated about 214/15, at least three, and more
likely four, of the Kouretes were Roman citizens.68 At least three of the men who
represented Hera’s mythological defenders were members of the Boule.69 Another Koures, Iulius Marcianus, is listed as being a member from the Gerousia.70
This Koures was involved in setting up an honorary inscription for the prytanis
and Asiarch M. Aurelius Menemachos, who, as we have seen, was a benefactor
both of the association of the Kouretes and of the Gerousia.71
“Our Common Salvation”
245
In the second list of Kouretes dated to the first quarter of the third century,
all four Kouretes named were probably Roman citizens, including L. Octavius
Truphon, who also was secretary of the demos, boularchos (leader of the Boule),
and related to the prytanis of the year.72 So too was C. Iulius Epagathus, who
appears in a list of priests from the time of Commodus, and Aurelius Aristion,
who was philosebastos, secretary of the demos, and a member of the Boule.73
L. K{.}assius Amarantus was philosebastos and secretary of the demos.74
Flavius Agathangelos was also philosebastos.75 As this second list of Kouretes
also makes clear, the early-third-century Kouretes were as publicly devoted to
the Roman emperors as had been their second-century brethren in the association.
If we look at the combined list of cultic personnel from about 213, out of
thirteen Kouretes, at least nine were Roman citizens, including the protokoures
Publius.76 After 215 and the reorganization of the cult attendants in the prytaneion, three Kouretes—Amuntianus, Cyriacus, and Zosime—may have been
Roman citizens.77 Although there may have been a lag of several years, the appearance of peregrines among the Kouretes probably should date this inscription to the time before the Antonine Constitution (making all free inhabitants
of the Roman empire legal citizens) came into full effect.78
We also know from two inscriptions that fell outside of Knibbe’s relative
chronology, but that clearly belong to the last phases of our current evidence,
that even the very last of the documented Kouretes were often important men
in the polis. Q. Lollius Dioscurus was both a protokoures and the secretary of
the Boule.79 If anything then, Lollius perhaps came from a higher socioeconomic level of the Boule than the vast majority of the second-century members
of the association who qualified for membership in the council.
Finally, M. Fulvius Publicianus Nikephoros, also a protokoures, was one
of the major third-century public benefactors in the city.80 If he was not as rich
as the second-century Ephesian tycoon Vedius Antoninus, he was nevertheless
very well off.81 Publicianus had been a prytanis, Asiarch (at the same time that
he was prytanis), agonothete (festival director) of the great Hadriana and the
Epinikia (possibly of Maximinus Thrax), secretary of a sunergasia (guild) five
times, and advocatus fisci (advocate for the imperial treasury) during the reign of
Severus Alexander.82 Associations set up two honorary inscriptions for him, including one by the “cloth-dealers of the agora” for having adorned their fatherland with many great buildings.83 Among other euergetistic activities, Publicianus had paid for the erection of three statues dedicated to colleagues in the
imperial administration but also had paid for the southern harbor gate (Map 9,
no. 88) and seems to have been in charge of the reconstruction of the colonnades
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TELETAI—RITES
that ran along the Plateia after a fire or earthquake (Map 8, no. 60).84 Specifically,
Publicianus allocated at least eighteen spaces between columns (diastyla) along
the rebuilt colonnade to at least eight known work or trade associations in the
city.85 He clearly was a very rich man, who was prominent within the province.
His case also reminds us that rich men still lived within the city during the first
half of the third century.
Thus, even the fragmentary inscriptions from the third century after the reorganization of the cultic personnel of the prytaneion present us with a familiar legal, political, and economic picture of those who comprised Artemis’s defenders and at least some of the prytaneis. Although the social and political
value (though not the potential legal benefits) of holding Roman citizenship
may have been somewhat diluted after 211 and the Antonine Constitution, it
is nonetheless true that the Kouretes, both before and after that date, were first
of all characterized by their Roman citizenship. Moreover, the same Kouretes
more often than not were members of the bouleutic order of the polis. Many
were related to the prytaneis they served, as well as to each other. Certainly some
of them were capable of sponsoring acts of public euergetism apart from their
contributions to the cult of Artemis in the prytaneion. Their actions need to be
seen in a wider context.
PUBLIC BUILDING AND THE POLIS
D U R I N G T H E T H I R D C E N T U R Y A.D.
Indeed, to be properly appreciated, the financial difficulties of the prytany and
the association of the Kouretes, the consolidation of the cult personnel of the
prytaneion, the third-century prytaneis’ focus upon divinities who could help
with both daily needs and what happened after death, the family and personal
safety, and the euergetism of individual Kouretes are all phenomena that should
be set against the wider background of the history of the polis of Ephesos during the third century. The pattern of public building in the city from 200 to the
middle of the century in particular parallels some of the trends and changes we
have observed with respect to the celebration of the mysteries.
Just after the beginning of the third century the so-called Theater gymnasium was erected (Map 9, no. 79), but a few years later, in 205, repairs on the
awning of the Theater itself were made.86 During the reign of Caracalla, the
Olympieion, now proved definitively to have been one and the same as Ephesos’s second neokorate temple authorized by Hadrian in A.D. 129, was repaired
(Map 6, no. 98).87 Then, probably in the same year (211/12) in which the unnamed prytanis had celebrated the mysteries and sacrifices probably for the sake
“Our Common Salvation”
247
Arcadiane and the harbor from the Theater, showing where the sea met the lateimperial quayside.
of the common salvation of the Ephesians, the halls of the Tetragonos Agora
were constructed, a sign incidentally that trade within the city continued to
flourish into the first quarter of the third century (Map 8, no. 61).88 It is also possible that the heretofore unexcavated twelve-sided monument was built in the
area west of the stadium (Map 10, no. 100). Based upon the “Syrian” shape of its
central structure, Peter Scherrer has suggested that this enigmatic monument
was not a macellum (provision market), as some previous scholars have thought,
but rather some kind of installation for the cult of Caracalla, who granted Ephesos a third neokorate temple (only to take it back later).89
After this, during the reign of Severus Alexander or Maximinus Thrax,
M. Fulvius Publicianus Nikephoros subsidized a number of construction
projects, including the areas for the different artisans along the Koressian
section of the Plateia (Map 9, no. 78).90 During the same period the prytanis
M. Aurelius Artemidorus gave 20,000 denarii to clean the harbor, the silting up
of which, and other maintenance issues, had caused the Ephesians difficulties
periodically since the reign of Attalus II Philadelphus (159 to 138 B.C.) and later
often required the attention of Roman governors to resolve.91 Obviously, the
silting of the city’s harbor(s) represented an ongoing challenge to the Ephesians.
Some time after A.D. 230, repairs to the apartments that comprised Terrace
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House 2 were made, probably after a series of earthquakes that began during
the early Severan dynasty (Maps 6 and 8, no. 51). Almost all of the individual
apartments were furnished with new frescoes and marble paneling, in place of
the mythological figural paintings that had been chosen for the public spaces of
these residences earlier. In four of the seven residential units of Terrace House 2,
paintings of the nine Muses appear simultaneously at this time (unit 3). At the
same time another owner had the lower walls of his home’s triclinium (the dining
room), the so-called Theater Room, decorated with alternating scenes from the
Orestes of Euripides and the Sikyonios of Menander (Terrace House 2, unit 1).92
Above these scenes from Greek tragedy and comedy was a splendid (though
now only partially preserved) representation of the wounding of Philoctetes.
The artistic choices the owner made are indicative of his desire to impress guests
with his knowledge of and identification with the literary culture of classical
Greece. The glass mosaic of Dionysos and Ariadne from the exedra (niche D)
of residential unit 2 in Terrace House 2, however, is surely the most spectacular
evidence of how rich benefactors continued to wish to associate themselves and
their dwellings with classical myth well after the Severan earthquakes.
Probably during the same period a second harbor gate was built, and further
repairs to the sunscreen of the Theater were carried out between 238 and 244
(Maps 6 and 9, no. 75).93 Also, an inscription discovered in the wall of the northern parados of the Theater commemorates the restoration of the pronaos of the
Nemeseion from the funds of Iulia Potentilla during the secretariat of Aurunceius Mithridates.94 Aurunceius was a prytanis, hierokeryx of Artemis, gymnasiarch, and secretary of the demos.95 Earlier in the century, perhaps around
200, the polis had used funds from Potentilla’s bequest to pave the plaza in
front of the “auditorion.”96 It is possible, though not certain, that the auditorion, a Greek transliteration of the Latin “auditorium” (only the U-shaped
foundations of which have survived), was constructed after the propylon (the
so-called Gate of Hadrian) was erected by about A.D. 114.97 Some scholars have
argued that the U-shaped monument was the site of the proconsul’s tribunal,
but others have questioned this hypothesis, wondering how legal cases involving magistrates, legal advisors, jurors, and professional orators could have been
heard within the shallow space (approximately nineteen feet) of the building.98
Then, after our definitive evidence for the existence of the association of
Kouretes already has ended, around A.D. 250 the northern harbor gate was built
(Maps 6 and 9, no. 89).99 Finally, during the reign of Gallienus (around 262), repairs were undertaken to the marble walls of the enormous double “apartment,”
measuring about 26,910 square feet, along the Embolos that had belonged to
“Our Common Salvation”
249
alytarch (festival steward), neokoros, and priest of the cult of Dionysos C.
Flavius Furius Aptus (Terrace House 2, unit 6; Maps 6 and 8, no. 51).100
Although some major new building projects were undertaken during the
early third century, there is more evidence for the renovation or renewal of public and private roads and buildings in the city at the time rather than new constructions or new architectural elements added to existing buildings. The evidence for building in Ephesos during this period matches very well with the
statistical data for the overall decline in public benefactions within Asia Minor
generally, especially after A.D. 220.101 Comparison of the benefactions during
the first three centuries of Roman rule in Asia Minor clearly shows that the
number of large-scale public benefactions in Asia Minor declined dramatically
during the early third century.102
On the whole, the ambitions of the early-third-century civic benefactors of
Ephesos seem to have been less grand than those of their mid-second-century
counterparts. There also seem to have been fewer such benefactors. Perhaps because of the general economic malaise in the city after 193, or perhaps because
of a decline in the number of actual producers or surpluses (caused by the epidemics that began during the reign of Marcus Aurelius), the pool of individuals
either willing or able to subsidize major new building projects in Ephesos seems
to have diminished, if not completely dried up.103 The evidence for the dryingup of that pool of ambitious public builders dovetails chronologically with the
evidence for the decline in the numbers of individuals who were willing to take
on the financial burdens of the office(s) of the prytany and the association of
Kouretes.
Whereas in the middle of the second century several benefactors, such as
Tiberius Claudius Aristion or Vedius Antoninus, were able to pay for the construction of wholly new structures in the city and many clusters of relatives
were willing to serve as prytaneis and Kouretes, during the third century we can
identify only one truly major urban benefactor in Ephesos, M. Fulvius Publicianus Nikephoros. We also know that at times six men, related or not, willing to
serve as the mythological protectors of Leto, Artemis, and Apollo could not be
found. There definitely were years in which no individual was willing to undertake the expenses that the prytanis was legally obligated to fulfill. During the
early third century, the vitality and the prosperity of at least some traditional
cults, including, apparently, the cult of Artemis in the prytaneion, increasingly
depended upon the energies and wealth of a few individuals rather than upon
the resources and public-spirited enthusiasm of a wider and deeper group of
wealthy families of Roman Ephesians who, as we have seen, had supplied the
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polis with prytaneis and Kouretes throughout the second century. It may well
have been the case that some families were as rich as, or perhaps even richer
than, they had ever been in Ephesos (as they were elsewhere), but fewer families
seem to have been simply rich, and it is very likely that the number of people
who were now living at subsistence level increased.104
Moreover, during the very last phases in the epigraphical record for the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, we have unmistakable indications that
the theological focus of the mysteries now shifted to soteriological aspects of
the cult. Those aspects had been present at the very beginning of our evidence,
albeit with a different sense of how salvation was conceived. During the early
imperial period, although the prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult attendants may have
understood Artemis primarily as a goddess of salvation, they did not emphasize
her salvific powers in the public records of their service to the goddess. During
the third century, in the context of the financial difficulties of the Kouretes, the
Gerousia, and the office of the prytanis, Artemis’s ability to provide salvation
to her worshippers once again became the focus of the cult. It was not a coincidence that other gods and goddesses, whose cults may have offered initiations
leading to hopes of a better afterlife, also became more prominent in the epigraphical record of the prytaneion at the same time, though, as evidence for
those cults also shows, none of them was to survive the shocks of the mid-third
century.105
Overall, then, in Ephesos although there were some significant new undertakings, the first half of the third century was a period of renovation, with respect to both the buildings of the polis and its traditional cults. Private benefactors did subsidize public building in the city at the same time that the
early-third-century protokouretes and prytaneis were paying for the celebration of the mysteries. However, although some new buildings were erected at
the time, there were fewer of them, and on the whole the wealthy benefactors
of Ephesos tended to spend their money on the repair or renovation of existing structures rather than on the construction of new buildings. In a parallel
development, fewer individuals seem to have been willing to serve as prytaneis
or Kouretes, and the ones who were expended their resources on keeping the
cult going on a reduced scale, certainly not on expanding the size of the festival.
The early third century was a time of propping up old rituals and old buildings,
rather than of creating new ones or embellishing what already existed. Only a
handful of new structures discovered at the archaeological site of Ephesos thus
far can be dated to the Severan dynasty and what followed for the rest of the
third century.
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251
All of this fits into a broader picture of demographic contraction within
the Roman empire as a whole that was connected to the deleterious social and
economic effects of warfare, growing military expenses, increased tax pressures,
the coercion of workers and state interventions after 235, and further serious
episodes of the plague between 250 and 270, notwithstanding what the exact regional variations and differences may have been.106 Whatever effects the plague
had over the Roman empire, Alexandria and Egypt, which supplied a now unknown but certainly significant proportion of the grain that fed the population
of Ephesos, seem to have been particularly devastated during the reign of Gallus
(251 to 253).107 Then, probably in the year 262, the polis of Ephesos suffered from
a pair of shocks from which it never recovered completely as a fundamentally
polytheistic Graeco-Roman city in which the mysteries of a number of gods
and goddesses were subsidized and managed by families of wealthy EphesianRoman citizens of bouleutic status.
T H E C ATA S T R O P H E
In the year 262 a major earthquake struck the city.108 In fact, it was so powerful
that virtually the entire Mediterranean world was affected to some degree.109
According to the author of the Historia Augusta, however, the cities of Asia felt
and experienced the disaster most keenly: “The sound of thunder was heard, but
it was more as though the earth was roaring than like Jupiter thundering. And
many buildings were swallowed up with their inhabitants, and many people
died of fright.”110
Taking into account rhetorical exaggeration, we may see reports of such
seismic activity as an indication of the “bond” between the natural environment
and the living and building systems of a sedentary civilization.111 The Ephesians
who survived the immediate destruction, only to live for decades amidst the
shattered remains of their once gloriously endowed city, perhaps had a different
perspective on that bond.
What had once been the sumptuous private houses of the Ephesian elite
have provided the clearest evidence so far of the specific effects of this major
seismic event upon the city. Sculptural and architectural decorations of the
Roman-style domus excavated in Terrace House 1, for instance, whose rooms
(except for A and C) had been decorated earlier with expensive wall and floor
revetments of marble, seem to have been dumped into a well after the event.112
In unit 7 of Terrace House 2 the excavators found the columns of the apartment’s peristyle lying broken on the floor in ash and other burnt materials. In
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room 38 D the mosaic floor was cracked and had moved horizontally (Maps 6
and 8, no. 51). The western wall of the room had been moved from 3.94 to 5.91
inches northward, and the marble veneer of the north wall had been dislocated
upward and broken apart.113 Thumiateria (incense burners) found in the debris
indicate that they were in wide use just before the earthquake struck. Careful
analysis of the pottery and coins found in Terrace House 2 confirms that all of
this devastation was done by an earthquake in the third quarter of the third century.114 Afterward, while some rooms seem to have been used as living quarters,
a large part of the area in which some of Ephesos’s wealthiest citizens unquestionably lived was filled in with rubble, and other sections of the insulae (block
of apartments) were simply left in ruins.115
Northwest of the terrace houses, in the two-aisled eastern hall or stoa (in
Doric style) of the Tetragonos Agora, as well as in the library hall of the Celsus
heroon and the atrium in front of it, archaeologists have also argued for extensive damage (Maps 6 and 8, nos. 61 and 55).116 The interior room of the Celsus
Library/heroon seems to have been destroyed and not reconstructed. Eventually, the building apparently was converted into a kind of monumental fountain.117 The eastern temenos hall of the “Serapeion” was reduced to rubble as
well (Maps 6 and 8, no. 67).118 There may also have been minor damage to the
Theater, whole sections of the stadium, the bouleuterion, and the basilica of the
upper agora (Map 6, nos. 75, 104, 22, and 21).119 The harbor too probably was
affected, because at this time the Ephesian silversmiths honored Valerius Festus
for “making the harbor larger than King Croesus had done.”120 In reality, Festus
may well have been honored for subsidizing the rebuilding of walls damaged
during the earthquake of 262.121 The xystoi (sports plaza) in the so-called Halls
of Verulanus, where the Ephesian Olympic games perhaps were held, seem to
have been destroyed and abandoned at this time, until they were later reused
for residential quarters (Map 6, no. 94). The so- called Byzantine Palace also
was damaged in ways that the excavators of the site are still assessing (Maps 6
and 9, no. 81).122 Excavations of the walls of the Damianus stoa also have shown
that subterranean chambers of this magnificent stoa were being used for grave
chambers by the late third century at the very latest. From this fact Knibbe has
hypothesized that Damianus’s stoa also may have been destroyed at least in part
during the earthquake of 262 (Map 6, no. 7).123 Finally, repairs to collapsed sections of the aqueduct of Aristion near the Mausoleum of Belevi also may be
associated with this seismic event.124
Most importantly for our investigation, however, according to the latest
theory, the earthquake caused the roof of the temple of Artemis to collapse
“Our Common Salvation”
253
(Map 5).125 The wood from the roof perhaps caught fire from the flames of
the altar inside the temple, and the great home of the patroness goddess then
burned down.126 This time, there was no useful madman such as Herostratos to
blame for the disaster. But there was worse.
While the Ephesians were occupied with the cleanup effort, Goths, led by
their chieftains Respa, Veduc, and Thuruar, sailed across the strait of the Hellespont, and after wasting many populous cities of the province, came to Ephesos
where they set fire to the temple of “Diana,” according to the mid-sixth-century
historian and Gothic apologist Jordanes.127 The anonymous author of the Scriptores Historiae Augustae supplies the additional detail that the Scythians (as he
designated the portion of the Goths who carried out the raid) also plundered
the temple.128
The plunder presumably included the accumulation of valuable votive dedications to the great patroness goddess made by her worshippers from around
the Mediterranean world from the time of the construction of the original
temple around 560 B.C., if not before (which deposits we know that the Ephesians had catalogued up to the mid-second century at least).129 We can get some
idea of the value of those dedicated items from some of the objects that the
Goths either overlooked or failed to find. Perhaps suggestive are the two exquisite 2.02- and 3.11-inch-high golden statuettes of the goddess Artemis dated to
the early seventh century B.C. that archaeologists have uncovered.130 In fact, as
we pointed out at the beginning of this work, the temple was famous all over the
Mediterranean world for its wealth. Dio Chrysostom says that the money deposited in the temple was that, not only of the Ephesians, but also of “aliens” and
of people from all parts of the world, including commonwealths and kings.131
That money, as we have seen, also was used when needed to pay for carrying out
the traditional sacrifices of the polis. To the extent that the temple and its accumulated wealth served as the cultic reserve bank of Ephesos, and even Asia, as
Aelius Aristides explicitly stated, the Goths broke the treasury of the city and
the province itself.132 It was one of the largest, easiest, and most shocking heists
in history.
The Ephesians began reconstruction in the city soon after these blows.
However, although we know that Artemis’s cult was actively supported both at
the site of the Artemision and within the city until about A.D. 401, when her
home allegedly was despoiled by John Chrysostom (according to Cyril of Alexandria), the Artemision was not rebuilt after the disaster of 262.133
Whether the Artemision was destroyed by a fire after the earthquake or
one set by Goths, the blow to Artemis’s prestige and reputation during the mid-
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third century was enormous. The guide of the polis most conspicuously had not
protected the polis of her defenders from the earthquake, and then the savage
Goths had plundered her home and sailed away with her treasures, the accumulation of votive offerings made to her by those who had seen her as a source of
safety and security over the course of more than a millennium. Nor had the god
emperors, who had been integrated into the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries,
done anything to protect the temple or the polis.
It can hardly be a coincidence that evidence for the production of marble
statues in the city ceases for decades after the catastrophe, and both the epigraphical habit and building activity, especially as subsidized by individual benefactors in the city, also come to a virtual halt at exactly the same time, only to
resume about fifty years later, but on a reduced scale in both cases.134 From the
second half of the third century, we currently possess a handful of dedications
(to Maximinus Thrax, Gordian II and Tranquillina, the Tetrarchs, Diocletian,
and Galerius), and we know that the rationalis (financial officer) Iulius Antonius erected a statue of Diocletian next to a fountain he restored.135 Bronze statues of the tetrarchs Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius I, and Galerius were also
erected in front of the so-called Temple of Hadrian by the proconsul of Asia,
Iunius Tiberianus.136 Another proconsul, Artorius Pius Maximus, adorned the
fatherland with many great works and restored the Augustan gymnasium.137
But large-scale, public building in the city only began again during the early
fourth century, and it usually was emperors who footed the bills.138
Production of the fine local tableware known as Sigillata B also stopped
completely at this time (late third century), a sign that the earthquake affected
the area around Ephesos too, as the kilns used to produce this ware were located
in the countryside.139 Finally, although elsewhere the number of private dedications to Roman and local gods perhaps “show that the traditional religious
bonds were still strong,” in Ephesos the number of votive dedications made,
not only to Artemis, but also to her fellow gods and goddesses, that can be securely dated to the second half of the third century is minimal, especially when
compared with the number of ex-votos from the first two centuries of imperial
rule.140 Some scholars would correlate high numbers of surviving ex-votos during those centuries with consistent, widespread, deeply felt feelings of piety.141
Temples were accidentally or intentionally destroyed with surprising frequency in the ancient world.142 But what happened in Ephesos in A.D. 262 was
not just another disaster to be added to the list. The earthquake and the destruction of the Artemision registered on a different scale altogether. The Artemision
was one of the Seven Wonders of the ancient world and also had functioned as
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255
Reconstructed Ionic column from the “later” Artemision (second half of the fourth
century B.C. into the third century A.D.), which was destroyed and then plundered
by Goths in A.D. 262.
the common treasury not only of Ephesos, but of Asia, in Philostratos’s famous
phrase.143 It was the Vatican and Fort Knox of Ephesos. Its destruction left the
polis with nowhere to go if no wealthy individual or family volunteered to pay
for the traditional yearly sacrifices of the city.
In the post-9/11 world, it hardly needs to be emphasized how the destruction and desecration of the iconic physical structure of a great city, not to mention other private and public structures, can have profound psychological
and spiritual effects upon people.144 Like New Yorkers on 12 September 2001,
Ephesians woke up the day after the destruction of the Artemision and walked
through the rubble-filled streets of a city whose signature monument had been
destroyed. The decisions and choices made by the survivors after such blows—
how to account for what had happened, who to hold responsible, whether to
rebuild—are at least as significant for understanding short, medium, and longterm historical change as the events themselves. Unlike Venice’s famous Campanile di San Marco, which collapsed in 1902, Artemis’s home had not come down
like a gentleman, and the council of Ephesos never rebuilt the Artemision where
it was, as it was (com’era, dov’era), as the Venetians rebuilt their bell tower.145
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IN MEZZO AL MAR
Financial problems that had been addressed and perhaps met during the late second century came back to challenge the Ephesians again during the early third
century. These problems seem to have sapped the ambition of the ruling class
of the polis, of which the Kouretes comprised a considerable proportion. Then,
after the middle of the third century, a devastating earthquake leveled public
and private buildings throughout the city, and in 262 invading Goths plundered
the burned-out shell of Artemis’s home. To these disasters, the Roman Ephesians who both governed the polis of Ephesos and scared away Hera at the birth
of Artemis every year at the mysteries had no answer, ritual or otherwise. Suddenly, the Ephesians found themselves living in mezzo al mar, or in the middle
of the sea.146 This time, Artemis’s brother Apollo provided no helpful oracles,
and no flute or bells could be found to save the Ephesians from disaster. Nor
was the great goddess herself able to protect her own defenders, or even her own
home, for that matter. Were Artemis and Apollo still listening? Was she even
there in her home?147 Famous and honored for her manifest epiphanies, in 262
the most manifest goddess was nowhere to be seen. Surviving amidst the rubble
of their once beautiful city, did the Ephesians still live beneath the eyes of their
patroness and the god emperors?
P A R T
I I I
Epopteia—Viewing
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CHAPTER 10
Cult, Polis, and Change
in the Graeco-Roman World
NOW THAT WE HAVE REVIEWED the evidence in chronological order, we
will return to the questions posed at the beginning of this investigation. The
first of these was whether the mysteries of Artemis at Ephesos involved initiation rituals, and the second was whether traits of identity were maintained in
the cult over time. Our answers to these questions will lead into a discussion of
the connections among authority, rituals, and theology in the mysteries. Next,
we will consider the question of change and the polis within the Graeco-Roman
world. In the following section we will advance a hypothesis about the secret
of Artemis’s mysteries—a hypothesis that will help to explain both the success
of the cult and also why the Kouretes ceased performing the mystic sacrifices.
We then will draw out some of the implications of the cult’s demise for our
understanding of the religious transformation of the Graeco-Roman world during the third century A.D. Following that we will suggest how our descriptions
of the history of the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis challenge recent
anthropological, sociological, and scientific theories of ritual, evolutionary psychology, and neuroscience.
I N I T I AT I O N R I T U A L S O F A V O L U N TA R Y ,
P E RS ONA L , A N D S EC R ET C H ARAC T E R
A I M E D AT A C H A N G E O F M I N D T H R O U G H
EXPERIENCE OF THE SACRED?
There were temples and wooden cult images of Artemis in Ortygia from ancient times. But no conclusive evidence exists that mysteries of Artemis with
initiation rituals were celebrated there until after the Artemision burned down
for the first time, supposedly on the night in July 356 B.C. when Alexander the
Great was born. During the mid-fourth century B.C., Skopas’s statue group of
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EPOPTEIA—VIEWING
Leto holding a scepter and her nurse Ortygia standing beside her with a child
in each arm evoked the story of Leto giving birth to Artemis and Apollo in Ortygia. However, the existence of the statue group by itself does not prove that
initiation rituals took place at the time.
Mysteries and sacrifices certainly were celebrated in the old polis of Ephesos
before Lysimachos founded his new polis of Arsinoeia by 294 B.C. away from
the Artemision on the lower ridges and valley between Bülbüldag and Panayirdag. These celebrations perhaps included animal sacrifices. But we do not know
specifically whether initiation rites were part of the celebrations of the mysteries
then or how those who celebrated the mysteries and sacrifices during this period
conceived of Artemis in the context of performing those mysteries and sacrifices.
After 294 B.C. members of the Gerousia feasted and sacrificed to Artemis
during the celebrations of her mysteries, perhaps worshipping her as a goddess
of salvation. Yet even these feasts and sacrifices of the elders from the fourth
century B.C. do not necessarily add up to initiation ceremonies. Such rites are
not specifically mentioned in the decree of the Gerousia from the reign of Commodus.
Around 29 B.C. the neoi, members of a cult association of men in the city
who perhaps had their own gymnasium in the upper city, held sumptuous banquets during the celebration of the general festival, and the Kouretes held symposia and celebrated “mystic sacrifices.” The participation of the cult association
of the neoi in the general festival has suggested initiation ceremonies to some
scholars, and the “mystic” sacrifices of the Kouretes are indicative of some kind
of initiation(s).
Sacrifices definitely took place at the celebrations of the mysteries from the
reign of Tiberius. After A.D. 14 some kind of choral song was also sung. Probably
initiation rituals were held, as we can infer from the appearance of the sacred
herald in the lists of Kouretes at the time. During the first century A.D. the mysteries included sacrifices, the reading of the entrails of victims, announcements
and instructions given to initiates, the burning of incense and a cultic dance, and
pipe music played while libations were poured. By A.D. 96 or 98, secrets were
disclosed to initiates by a hierophant.
From A.D. 105 to 120, the Ephesians had added trumpet music to the performances at the mysteries. As early as this time a second hierophant was attached to the personnel roster of the priests and artists who officiated or performed at the mysteries. Thereafter, initiation rituals on a larger scale continued
into the early second century A.D.
A second hierophant regularly revealed Artemis’s secrets to initiates during
Cult, Polis, and Change
261
the mysteries after A.D. 150. A second diviner also read the entrails of sacrificial
victims. The number of Kouretes was increased, from six at the end of the first
century A.D. to nine during the reign of Pius.
During the second half of the second century A.D., the festival included
initiations, announcements to initiates, pipe and trumpet music, sacrifices, and
the inspection of entrails of sacrificial victims. By 162 more initiations than ever
before took place during Artemis’s mysteries. One or more of the Kouretes also
took part in the celebrations, as we know from the fragmentary list of Kouretes
and the Summary of Ancestral Law.
After A.D. 180 the members of the Gerousia reverenced and sacrificed both
to Artemis and to the emperor Commodus on behalf of his perpetual preservation. There was a torchlight procession, and the members of the Gerousia also
feasted during the festival. A prayer also may have been recited on behalf of the
Roman Senate and the people of the Romans and the people of the Ephesians.
There were initiation rituals at the celebrations right up to the consolidation of the cultic personnel of the prytaneion in the middle of the second decade of the third century A.D. In 211/12 the prytanis completed mysteries and
sacrifices on behalf of the common salvation of the polis.
After the consolidation of the cultic personnel of the prytaneion, mysteries
and sacrifices were still subsidized by the prytaneis. The mysteries of Artemis
were celebrated throughout the Severan period, at least into the last few years
of the third decade of the third century A.D. and possibly up to the time of the
final destruction of the Artemision in 262. Whether these later celebrations included initiation rituals is unknown. Thereafter, we have no conclusive evidence
that the mysteries of Artemis were celebrated.
To sum up, although initiation rituals may have taken place at the mysteries
from the mid-fourth century B.C., the existence of such rites is better attested
beginning from around 29 B.C. We have no conclusive evidence that initiation
rituals of a secret character took place during the celebrations until nearly the
end of the first century A.D. Of course, it is possible that such secret initiation
rituals were central to the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis throughout
the first century A.D. or even before, but the Ephesians did not leave a record
of those secret rituals that has survived or been discovered. An alternative hypothesis is that secret initiation rituals did not commence until the end of the
first century A.D. Thereafter, however, initiation ceremonies of a secret character
occurred at the yearly festival on the sixth of May up to roughly the middle of
the third century A.D.
At no time over this period do we know whether any of these initiation
ceremonies were voluntary and personal. As a matter of fact, we have no idea
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what, if any, admission requirements existed for those who wished to be initiated into the mysteries at any time. Were children able to take part, as they
clearly were elsewhere?1 We just do not know. However, it surely must be the
case that no one was compelled to become an initiate.
It is almost impossible to say whether minds were changed by what went on
at the mysteries. Unfortunately, we have no texts that allow us to identify such
changes. If I have been correct about the theological message of the nativity
story and its evocation at the festival, however, we can infer that the purpose of
evoking the story was to give people a specific sense of the community of mortals
and immortals (which will be described in detail below) and how the Kouretes/
Ephesians had been responsible for establishing that community. Whether witnessing a ritual evocation of this story encouraged a change of mind for anyone
cannot be determined on the basis of the existing evidence.
Nowhere is it explicitly stated in any of the literary or epigraphical sources
that the initiates experienced the sacred, for instance, by seeing or participating
in a reenactment of Artemis’s and Apollo’s births or the Kouretes’ scaring Hera
away from Leto. Nevertheless, the participation of the Kouretes at the festival,
including their symposia and mystic sacrifices, and the other rites we have traced
in detail over the centuries does indeed suggest that the Ephesians provided
those who took part in the ceremonies with some experience of the sacred or an
opportunity to reflect upon that sacred story.
T R A I T S O F I D E N T I T Y M A I N TA I N E D T H R O U G H
CONTINUOUS TRADITION?
Although our absolutely conclusive evidence for initiation rituals at the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos goes back no farther than the
early Roman imperial period, were “traits of identity” nevertheless maintained
through continuous tradition in this mystery cult?2
The most obvious trait of identity was the story of the births of Artemis
and Apollo in Ortygia. It was evoked by Skopas’s statue group during the midfourth century B.C., and Strabo explicitly associated the story with Ortygia during the late first century B.C. The participation of the Kouretes in the festival
from the late first century B.C. into the mid-third century A.D. minimally must
have recalled the sacred story. During the first century A.D. the polis of Ephesos repeatedly invoked the tale to justify its legal rights and claims. We have no
reason to believe that the fundamental narrative elements of the nativity story
were altered from the fourth century B.C. to the third century A.D.
At the level of ritual, however, the picture is quite different. The tradition
of celebrating “mysteries and sacrifices” went back to the time before the foun-
Cult, Polis, and Change
263
dation of Lysimachos’s polis of Arsinoeia in 294 B.C. Just after that foundation,
the mysteries and sacrifices were rearranged. The custom of the members of the
Gerousia sacrificing to Artemis and feasting together at the festival lasted for a
very long time. At what point before the reign of Commodus the members of
the Gerousia stopped feasting and sacrificing to Artemis at the mysteries is not
known.
Once again, in 29 B.C. there were banquets of “youths” and symposia and
mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes. We do not know whether the banquets of
these men or the symposia and mystic sacrifices of the Kouretes were the same
as or similar to the feasts and sacrifices that were carried out by the elders after
the foundation of Arsinoeia and continued for a very long time at the festival.
Evidence for initiations and sacrifices then can be documented periodically at
the festival from the early imperial period into the mid-third century A.D.
Sacrifices, linguistically associated with mysteries in a variety of texts, were
central to the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos from the early
third century B.C. into the middle of the third century A.D. This trait of identity within the cult, however, was largely a function of the fact that sacrifice was
central to votive religion in general, within which, as Burkert has rightly pointed
out, this cult and other mystery cults were an optional choice.3 Sacrifice was the
essential technology of communication and exchange by which human beings
attempted to manage relations with the gods. It is not surprising that it is the
“canonical” ritual element in the celebrations of the mysteries.4 It would be remarkable if sacrifices did not take place during them.
Unfortunately, we cannot say how the sacrifices that took place as part of
the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries may or may not have been different from
the kinds of sacrifices that occurred as part of other rituals and ceremonies of
other nonmystery cults within the polis. Strabo did identify certain “mystic sacrifices” that were performed by the Kouretes at the general festival in Ortygia
around 29 B.C., but he did not specify what those sacrifices entailed.
Whatever Strabo meant, the case has been made in this work that even
the generic trait of sacrifice within this cult and whatever other more specific
“traits” there were within the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries, such as the
feasts of the elders, were maintained, not through continuous tradition, as far
as the surviving evidence discloses, but through rearrangement, renewal, or resubsidization, frequently by private means and often with significant differences
with respect to the past ritual practices of the cult.
Thus, there were traits of identity within this cult; yes, yes, Sarastro rules
here.5 But the history of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos is not fundamentally a story about traits of identity maintained through
continuous tradition. Rather, in this history there was both the constraint of
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tradition at work, in particular the essential script of the births of Artemis and
Apollo in Ortygia rather than on the island of Delos, and also creativity and
innovation, especially with respect to the rituals comprising the celebrations, a
phenomenon that scholars who have studied the celebration of initiation rituals
in Benin and elsewhere over time also have observed.6
Moreover, direct outside intervention from figures such as Augustus affected the celebrations, as did pressures from within Ephesian society that
changed how Artemis’s mysteries were performed.7 Imposed “Romanization,”
that is, a clearly identifiable case of Roman imperial intervention into the affairs
of a city, affected the celebrations, but the “Romanized” celebrations in turn
transformed what Roman religion during the empire became.8
Insofar as we have been able to trace even one trait of ritual identity within
the cult—the trait of sacrifice—we have seen how that trait was redefined,
reinvented, and renewed periodically by individuals, such as Lysimachos,
Menemachos, or Nikomedes, or by institutions, such as the Artemision or the
polis of Ephesos, for their own reasons. These reasons can be understood only
in specific historical contexts, just as Mnasistratos did in the case of Andania
in Messenia around 91 B.C., or just as the Ohen (priest) who commissioned a
printer to produce an exclusive cloth for him to use at his annual performance
at an initiation shrine in 1991 in Benin City, Nigeria, altered part of the initiation ceremony for his own reasons—in the Ohen’s case to distinguish his performance and initiation from that of other priests.9 Qui transtulit sustinet (he
who transplanted sustains).
The rearrangements, renewals, and reendowments of the mysteries of
Artemis of Ephesos included the invention of altogether new ritual traditions
during the celebrations (in Hobsbawm’s sense), as well as revitalizations of rituals or the associations that performed those rituals.10 It was the Ephesians’ willingness to reinvent the ritual practices of the cult that best explains its success
and longevity. It has been well observed by an authority on the transformation
of Gallic religion that all religions survive only by repeated re-creation and rerepresentation, in the course of which elements that have become objectionable are shed and new ones added.11 Ritual “invariance,” which anthropologists
sometimes have seen as one of the defining characteristics of rituals and rituallike behavior, was not the general rule for the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries.12
It might be argued that it was precisely such redefinitions or renovations of
the cult of Artemis that were much more likely to be publicized epigraphically
and that continuity was far less likely to be noted in public inscriptions at least.
But, as we now have seen, even in instances where we have evidence for aspects
Cult, Polis, and Change
265
of the cult nearly on a yearly basis, such as the activities of the Kouretes and
cult attendants during the late first century A.D., changes at the level of both
ritual practice and theology occurred repeatedly.13 The evidence for other mystery cults in Ephesos, as well as outside the city, leads to the very same conclusion about those cults as well. Cultic continuity simply cannot and should not
be assumed.
What the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos actually comprised, therefore,
can be defined or construed only in the historical contexts in which they were
celebrated. In Eleusis it was not simply the display of the harvested ear of wheat
that was the central act and defining theological moment of the mysteries, but
its appearance at a particular time and place, as part of a particular complex of
rituals.14 So too in the case of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of
Ephesos, what perhaps made the sacrifices at the general festival “mystic,” to use
Strabo’s formulation, was the fact that they were made at a certain time of year
(sixth of May) and in a particular place (Ortygia), as part of a specific set of initiation rituals during the celebration of the general festival, which was ascribed
a meaning and significance, such as the quest for salvation by the polis that organized the festival or by the individuals involved for their own reasons.
The mystery of the sacrifices at the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries was
made by the context. That context was structured overwhelmingly by the polis
itself, which the celebrations in turn helped to articulate each year.15 Because the
framing context, the polis, including its socioeconomic and spatial organization,
was in a state of perpetual change, so too was the celebration of the festival.16
Whatever those changes were, however, this study has revealed that the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis at Ephesos were fundamentally part of the embedded character of polis religion in practice. For that reason, the celebrations
cannot be understood outside the context of the polis and its history, just as the
three examples of the operation of other mystery cults that we examined briefly
at the beginning of this work suggested.17 Study of the urban and historical contexts of the mysteries under any and all skies is not and should not be peripheral
to their interpretation. The context is vital and central.18
AU T H O R I T Y , R I T U A L S , A N D T H E O L O G Y
I N T H E C E L E B R AT I O N O F T H E M Y S T E R I E S
OF ARTEMIS OF EPHESOS
If Artemis’s mysteries were celebrated in Ephesos before 334 B.C., the Megabuzos (the eunuch priest of the Artemision) perhaps would have been the individual responsible for organizing them. It is interesting to note that no text until
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the Roman imperial period suggests that the priestess of Artemis “completed”
the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos.
Persian rule of western Asia Minor ended for all intents and purposes in the
summer of 334 B.C. after Alexander the Great’s stunning victory at the battle
of the Granikos River. Between 334 and 294 B.C., probably because the Ephesians lived around the Artemision, lines of cultic authority, that is, who was supposed to do what, between the sanctuary and the polis of Ephesos with respect
to the worship of Artemis were not as clearly differentiated as modern scholars
would perhaps prefer them to be. Nevertheless, we probably should infer that
the administration of the Artemision directed the celebration of the mysteries
and sacrifices that we know took place before 294 B.C., even after the period of
Persian rule had come to an end. We have no idea what specific form these mysteries and sacrifices took or how they may have reflected the interests or theological conceptions of the officials or priests of the Artemision who completed
them.
Lysimachos’s rearrangement of the mysteries and sacrifices after the foundation of Arsinoeia in 294 B.C., especially his order that the members of the
Gerousia should feast and sacrifice to Artemis each year at the celebration of
the mysteries, can be understood only against the background of his own ambiguous relations with at least some of the priestly boards of the Artemision
in 302 B.C. and of the Ephesians’ support for Demetrios Poliorketes and his
“democratic” policies in the years from 302 to 294.
After 294 Lysimachos took part of the authority to determine how Artemis’s
mysteries were going to be celebrated away from the priests of the Artemision
and absorbed that authority into himself. He probably rearranged the mysteries
and sacrifices around his newly erected cult statue of Artemis the Savior in Ortygia, perhaps to help integrate the new citizens of Arsinoeia, including former
Lebedians, Kolophonians, and Ephesians, into a unified structure of authority
within the new polis of Arsinoeia.
Lysimachos intended that structure of authority to function outside of the
Artemision, within the new polis of Arsinoeia. Central to this new structure of
authority, and symbolic of it, was his order that the members of the Gerousia,
his supporters in the polis back in 302, should feast and sacrifice to Artemis,
probably conceived of as a Greek goddess of salvation, every year at the festival.
Lysimachos not only was the founder of the new polis of Arsinoeia. For
that new polis he created an interwoven structure of political and religious authority outside of and away from the physical space and administrative structures of the Artemision and its priesthoods. A very good brief can be advanced
that Lysimachos was the father of the modern, Greek polis of Ephesos, as 1.7
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267
million tourists annually see and experience it in its urban outline today, and
also was the inventor of the mysteries of Artemis as a generically Greek cult of
salvation.19
Indeed, it could be argued that as a cult of salvation the mysteries of Artemis
essentially were an invention of the period after Alexander’s conquests, and like
so many other facets of ancient Greek culture at the time, arose, not out of
some quest for reassurance about a better life after death, but from a specific,
contemporary situation of conflict, competition, and warfare.20 Neither before
nor directly after Lysimachos’s rearrangement is there any convincing evidence
that the mystery cult was focused upon eschatological issues. Rather, Artemis
the Savior was sculpted out of military victory, and it may very well have been
as a deity who could provide salvation in the form of military victory that she
was conceptualized by Lysimachos. Military conquest does indeed have effects
not only upon the consciousness of the conquered, but equally upon that of
the conqueror, as Jean and John Comaroff have shown in a series of suggestive
studies of encounters between British missionaries and the Southern Tswana
peoples of South Africa during the nineteenth century.21
The question of who determined how the mysteries of Artemis were to
be celebrated during the late first century B.C. has to be seen against the background of Roman high politics during and after the end of the Roman civil
wars. Augustus separated the Artemision from the polis of Ephesos physically,
and legally with respect to the issue of asylum, allegedly because (his enemy)
Antony’s extension of the asylum area of the sanctuary had proved harmful,
putting the polis in the power of criminals (that is, Augustus’s adversaries).
Then, as another part of his policy of redefining relations between the sanctuary and the polis, Augustus, going far beyond what Lysimachos had done almost
three centuries before, at the very least sanctioned the removal of the Kouretes,
the officials of the Artemision most closely associated with the celebration of
Artemis’s birth as described by Strabo, from the Artemision to the prytaneion.
At the same time, another large element of the authority of the Artemision
to decide how the birth of Artemis was to be celebrated at the mysteries every
year was handed over to the prytanis of the polis. Thereafter, on behalf of the
polis, the prytaneis in part had the authority to determine, not only how the
mysteries of Artemis were to be celebrated, but also what kind of Artemis was
to be worshipped at the festival. The new structure of authority of this mystery
cult after the end of the first century B.C. was sanctioned, if not actually established, by the Roman government for its own political reasons, ultimately based
upon Augustus’s personal experiences and rivalry with Antony, for which Ephesos had been a focal point. At the end of the first century B.C., the question of
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who was to be in charge of celebrating Artemis’s mysteries was linked directly
to Octavian’s victory in the Roman civil wars.
It was hardly a coincidence that after the new structure of authority in
Ephesos was approved by the Roman government and put into place physically,
the Kouretes, the association identified most closely with the celebrations of the
mysteries of Artemis, essentially became a club of families of well-to- do Roman
citizens. The Roman Ephesian members of the club, many of whom also were
lifelong members of the polis’s government, thereafter dutifully proclaimed
their reverence to Artemis, but also their devotion to the Roman emperors, in
the inscriptions that commemorated their services to the cult each year. The
Kouretes thereby defined their piety for others, not only by their actions up on
Mount Solmissos, but by the epigraphical record(s) of their ritual actions. They
also publicized a record of what had been done by the prytaneis, Kouretes, and
cult attendants in the past and implicitly what should be done in the future. The
vast majority of these prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult attendants were members of
the governing elite of the polis. Through their contributions to the cult, above
all the rituals they performed during the mysteries, they sacralized the power
and authority they held within the hierarchy of Ephesian society.
At a time when not many Roman citizens lived in Ephesos or Asia Minor
generally, it certainly was an extraordinary phenomenon that the majority of
Artemis’s “youths” during the first century A.D. were citizens of Rome. It is
worth reemphasizing in this regard that no citizen of Ephesos would hold the
Roman consulate for centuries. By that time hundreds of Roman citizens had
served as Artemis’s Kouretes.
Beginning with the reign of Tiberius, the prytanis then reorganized the
celebration of the mysteries of Artemis for the polis. The ceremonial and ritual
requirements of the celebrations were divided up between the Kouretes and a
growing list of cult attendants who, by the end of the first century A.D., provided ritual expertise and accompanying musical entertainment/background
for the festival. Sacrifices still took place, but they were no longer performed by
the Kouretes, as they had been when Strabo wrote his gloss on the cult.
By this division of responsibility within the cult, the prytanis and the polis
of Ephesos brought the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries into congruity with
the organizational structure of other successful, contemporary mystery cults.
Successful mystery cults required ritual experts. The polis reorganized the celebration of the mysteries perhaps out of a sense of rivalry with other poleis,
which were successfully producing and marketing their own mystery festivals.
We have solid evidence for such rivalry, related to religious traditions and the
legal rights of cities in Asia, during the reign of Tiberius. In A.D. 26 the polis of
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269
Ephesos sent ambassadors to the Roman Senate to make the case for the asylum
rights of a temple that probably was located in Ortygia. Through its ambassadors, the polis took responsibility for how the story of Artemis’s birth was to be
used publicly to assert its legal rights before the Roman Senate. To prove their
case, the Ephesian ambassadors cited a series of injunctions, enhancements, and
preservations of privileges that perhaps found ultimate expression in some kind
of charter.
As early as the reign of Tiberius, then, the sacred story of Artemis’s birth
in Ortygia, which served as the basic narrative script for the celebration of the
mysteries, as we know from the participation of the Kouretes, became the primary oral and written text through which the Ephesians connected and reconnected themselves each year to Artemis and to all the benefits she might bestow
upon them. However, the Ephesians also used the sacred story, it seems, in a new
way. They negotiated their legal, political, and religious relations with their city
rivals in Asia, with the Roman Senate, and with the Roman emperor himself
with specific reference to that story about Artemis’s birth in Ortygia.
During the reign of Tiberius the polis of Ephesos also altered the sacred
processional route from the city up to Ortygia where the mysteries were celebrated, moving the Plateia eastward and minimally allowing the erection of an
altar of Artemis at the Triodos. Almost from the beginning of the imperial era
the polis managed the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis within the wider
framework of its legislative procedures and agenda, including the progressive
unification and coordination of the urban landscape into a consciously conceived whole that was connected by the armature of the Embolos/Plateia axes.
During the reign of Domitian, the polis further developed the area of the Triodos as the space where a highly visible sacrifice to Artemis perhaps took place before the procession made its way up and over the hill to celebrate the mysteries.
By the middle of the second century A.D. the Ephesians once again had expanded the size of the general festival. This expansion, measured by the criteria
of more music, more initiates, more sacrifices, and even more Kouretes, is perhaps exactly what the members of the Boule and assembly of Ephesos intended
when they reorganized the celebrations during the first century A.D. The polis’s
decision to enlarge the size of the festival should be seen as one expression of
the ambition and overall development of the polis, coordinated with all other
aspects of it, including especially the reconstruction of the area of the lower,
southwest corner of the Embolos.
The reconstruction of the area of the lower Embolos, particularly during
the second century A.D., necessitated further changes to the processional route
of the initiates up to the cypress grove of Ortygia. If the road up to Ortygia had
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not already been moved to the south of the edge of the sanctuary of the “Serapeion” in the 90s, it must have been moved far enough south in the early second
century A.D. to avoid both the sanctuary and the Celsus heroon. None of this
could have been done without the legislative approval of the council and the assembly of the polis.
The polis of Ephesos expanded the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis
to its greatest extent by the end of the reign of Antoninus Pius. In A.D. 162
the celebrations included more music, more initiations, and more sacrifices
than ever before. There also were more Kouretes to scare Hera away from Leto,
Artemis, and Apollo. The expanded lists of yearly Kouretes and cult attendants
from the middle of the second century A.D. documented the polis’s decision to
enlarge the festival essentially for competitive reasons. The publication of these
lists can be compared usefully to the production and publication of other mass
media that signified, for instance, the transformation of the El Rocio pilgrimage
in Spain from a religious ritual into a tourist spectacle.22
During the late second century A.D. the annual festival was scaled back
in some respects, but there was also ritual innovation, such as the paean sung
and the prayer on behalf of the Roman Senate and the people of Rome and the
people of the Ephesians. The prytanis Menemachos’s endowment of the sacred
association of Kouretes and his distributions to the Gerousia, and the feasts
and sacrifices of the Gerousia to Artemis and to Commodus that Nikomedes
reendowed, were attempted reinvigorations of the cult. Nikomedes’s reendowment certainly added novel features to the festival, including the sacrifice to
Commodus and the torchlight procession. The sacrifices to Commodus that
Nikomedes ordered on behalf of his perpetual preservation in particular clearly
constituted an innovation that nevertheless capped off the Ephesians’ gradual
incorporation of the emperor into the celebration of Artemis’s birth.
These attempted reinvigorations of the cult during the late second century A.D., which the polis explicitly or implicitly approved, must be seen against
the background of the evidence we have reviewed for the financial problems
of the associations of the Kouretes and the Gerousia during this time, for the
anxiety some Ephesians expressed about the continued popularity of Artemis
at the time, and also for the disasters that struck the polis after A.D. 166, including the plague and possibly a famine. It was in response to these disasters
that the polis of Ephesos and also private benefactors such as Menemachos and
Nikomedes expended their energy and money to renew and revitalize the cultic
associations dedicated to the worship of Artemis and the Roman emperor at the
mysteries during the late second century A.D. Other private benefactors, such as
Flavius Damianus, also tried to increase the reverence for Artemis at the same
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271
time. In doing so, these benefactors were continuing a tradition of private giving
to support their cities and their cults that went back to the second century B.C.
or perhaps even earlier.23
Both the reduction of the festival size and the innovations in ritual were
part of the historical process whereby the Ephesians altered or added to their
rituals to reflect or adapt to their historical circumstances and the socioeconomic facts of their changing world. These alterations and adaptations were the
best they could do in their environment, as they understood it.
Mysteries and sacrifices were celebrated during the early third century A.D.
perhaps for the sake of the common salvation of the Ephesians, and initiations
formed part of the celebrations. However, we know that on one occasion these
celebrations had to be subsidized by Caesar and on another by the goddess herself. It was possible to continue to celebrate the mysteries and sacrifices only
through extraordinary imperial and even divine intervention. After the consolidation of the cultic personnel of the prytaneion, the mysteries and sacrifices still
were celebrated, at times at the expense of individual prytaneis. After the middle
of the third century A.D., a devastating earthquake leveled large sections of the
city, and in 262 invading Goths plundered Artemis’s home. Only then did the
very self-conscious attempts to rearrange, renew, and resubsidize the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries by individual benefactors, priestesses of Artemis,
and prytaneis on behalf of the polis cease. Not coincidentally, cessation of the
attempts to renew the celebrations led Artemis’s benefactors to kick the epigraphical habit of commemorating their contributions to her cult.
CULT, POLIS, AND CHANGE I N
THE GRAECO-ROMAN WORLD
The celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos cannot be reduced
simply to a series of templates of the changing political or social order of Ephesos.24 Nevertheless, and in spite of repeated appeals to unchanging tradition,
the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries always were implicated in contemporary conflicts and issues, both at the practical level of ritual means and at the
theoretical level of theological goals.25 For that reason, the celebrations of the
mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos are most persuasively interpreted as attempts
to mediate changes over time, to ground those changes in an authoritative past,
and then to secure the blessing of Artemis for those changes through the performance of rituals.
While people may have learned about the cult and the changes that the
performances mediated by participation in or viewing of these performances,
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knowledge of the cult and how it changed over time also was reflected in literary sources, legal charters, and, most importantly, a large number of epigraphical texts that dealt with evidence for the cult from the early third century B.C.
into the middle of the third century A.D. The epistemic basis for what went on
in this cult therefore was not limited to participation. All of these media were
epistemologically reinforcing. Precisely because historians have so often ignored
or argued against the significance of written texts for Graeco-Roman religion,
however, it is worth underscoring here that in the case of Artemis’s mysteries,
written texts were crucial to the maintenance and vitality of the cult, even if we
do not know whether writings were read out to initiates, as we know happened
at Pheneus in Arcadia.26
Our first substantial evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis appears at the twilight of the isonomic polis of Ephesos. Lysimachos’s
rearranged mysteries and sacrifices, and specifically the feasts and sacrifices of
the elders, ritualized his triumph over Demetrios Poliorketes. Artemis the Savior
in Ortygia could be seen as the sign and symbol of that military triumph. It was
around her worship that Lysimachos perhaps attempted to create a new citizen
body of Arsinoeia, composed of displaced Ephesians and synoicized Lebedians
and Kolophonians.
The management of key facets of the celebrations by the prytaneis after the
late first century B.C. was the direct result of Roman imperial intervention. In
some sense, the celebrations mediated military and political changes that went
back to Ephesos’s integration within the Roman province of Asia. Mysteries
supervised and performed by Roman citizens based in the prytaneion were implicated in Octavian’s victory over Antony at Actium, the resolution of the Roman civil wars, and Augustus’s curtailing of the privileges of the Artemision.
After the battle of Actium supervision of the celebrations of the mysteries of
Artemis was assumed by the members of the city’s Graeco-Roman elites, and
the festivals became another opportunity for them to demonstrate their places
within the increasingly hierarchical structure of the polis.
During the second century A.D. Ephesian/Roman prytaneis and Kouretes/
bouleutai expanded the scale of the festival to make it competitive with other
successful contemporary mystery cults and progressively incorporated the Roman emperors into the celebrations. Christine Thomas has shown that a parallel
development occurred with respect to the cults of Demeter and Kore in Pergamon at the same time.27
Under renewed pressure during the third century A.D., the polis and individual benefactors in Ephesos tried various measures to reestablish the connection between themselves and the gods, only to find first that no one was at home
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and then that there was no home. It was only at this point that the Ephesians
apparently stopped trying to mold their world through the celebrations of the
great festival.
The real tradition of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries was for those
who were in positions of power to appropriate and redefine the essential practices and purposes of the cult, according to their present circumstances and the
goals of those who dominated the polis, even if the language used to describe the
changed practices within the cult was exactly the same.28 The ritual syntax of
the festival changed according to the interests of the impresarios.29 Necessity
is the mother of innovation—or small additions to existing accumulations, if
not invention.30 As we have shown, although the Greek word used to describe
the sacrifices that took place at the mysteries of Artemis was the same from
the time of Lysimachos until the mid-third century A.D. (thusia), how those
sacrifices were carried out, what those sacrifices constituted, and for what purpose changed repeatedly according to the question of who authorized and completed them.31 Change was not the exception but the rule, just as it was in Pergamon and also in Athens.32 The Kouretes themselves are the most striking case
in point.
Although we know that the Kouretes had been associated with the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis since the fourth century B.C., exactly what they
did at the celebrations, and especially who they were within the polis, evolved
significantly. During the fourth century the Kouretes had been Greek priests
or officials of the Artemision who had been sent on diplomatic missions. They
were involved in issues such as the billeting of soldiers in the Artemision, the
tax- exempt status of the sanctuary, and qualifications for the awarding of citizenship. Later, at least, the Kouretes performed ritual tasks that required significant technical expertise during the celebrations, but this practice ended during the early first century A.D. By the middle of the second century A.D. the
vast majority of the Kouretes were Ephesian/Roman citizens who also were life
members of the local city council, and many of them were public benefactors as
well. Holding symposia and conducting mystic sacrifices were the activities of
the most “respectable” elements of imperial Ephesian society. And yet the members of the association in 302 B.C. and the early Roman empire were all known
at least epigraphically as Kouretes or “youths.” In reality, the only thing that the
Kouretes of 302 B.C. and A.D. 100 had in common was that, as far as we can tell,
none of them was actually a “youth.”
We simply cannot infer who people were, what went on, or who did what in
mystery cults on the basis of language alone, or even of comparative philology.
Neither the “recursion” of symbolist anthropology nor the “hermeneutic circle”
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of comparative philology is enough.33 Linguistic analysis of the Langue and the
comparative philological method, especially when applied to the six mystery
cults most frequently studied heretofore, are necessary but not ultimately sufficient.34 To understand how these cults functioned, we also need to set the individual pieces of evidence, “the evolving stream of mental and public representations of the mysteries,” within the historical contexts that give them meaning
and significance, as best we are able to do so.35
What flowed down the generations in Ephesos were discrete representations to be sure: mental, largely written, representations of aspects of the mysteries, communicated to contemporaries and now to us by way of publicly displayed texts that have survived to be interpreted in context.36 Indeed, although
knowledge about what the celebrations of the mysteries comprised may have
been passed down orally from generation to generation by the family members
who performed cultic or artistic tasks on the sixth of May, or may have been
learned through participation in the celebrations by those who were initiated,
the vast majority of the surviving representations of what the mysteries constituted or reconstituted were and still are written texts, including works of literature, civic charters, and, above all, inscriptions.37 The institutional and physical
contexts in which these representations were formed, published, and even transmitted to us is, of course, the polis and now its remains.
Only the historical and contextual approach to the study of mystery cults
has allowed us to understand how and why the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos
came about and developed over more than half a millennium of rearrangement
and reinvigoration of tradition by the polis of Ephesos and various individuals
(as Appendix 4 exemplifies in summary form).38 The historical context is the
gravitational force that shaped how the mysteries were celebrated, in Ephesos
and at other sites, such as Andania.39 In Andania and Ephesos the mysteries
were indeed bound up with the history and identities of these cities.40 This at
least was the secret behind the long life of the cult, if not the great secret that
was revealed to the initiates in Ortygia each year from the early Roman imperial
period.41
Moreover, it is only the historical approach to this phenomenon within
votive religion in general that permits us now to assess the significance of the
demise of this cult for the polis of Ephesos, for polytheism, and for the GraecoRoman world. This is perhaps the most important methodological insight
gained from our divine drudgery in search of Artemis’s mysteries.
Can we get any further than the insight that, because the mysteries were
fundamentally constructed within the polis, and the polis was constantly changing, the mysteries too were changing?
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THE SECRET OF THE MYSTERIES
Although we cannot trace all of the causal links and connections, the evidence
suggests that the polis of Ephesos stopped celebrating the mysteries of its patroness goddess because of far more serious problems than its occasional inability to find a prytanis who was able to undertake the financial burdens of
the office or the fact that there were years when six men from wealthy Ephesian
families could not be found who were willing to pay the annual annuity and play
the role of the Kouretes at the festival.42 The financial requirements of the prytany and the association of the Kouretes may have become factors in the demise
of the cult after the late second century A.D. The crucial factor in its demise,
however, was neither individual nor even institutional financial weakness, important as finances were to the successful operation of this and all other “public”
cults that depended upon private family wealth. Rather, the financial problems
followed on from, and perhaps were a result of, a series of disasters that beset
the polis, first during the late second century A.D. and again, with even greater
intensity, during the third century. Among these were a plague, a famine, perhaps climatic changes, invasion, an earthquake, and finally, the coup de grâce for
this cult at any rate, the destruction of the Artemision itself. It certainly is the
case that we can speak of an accumulation—to use a word favored by evolutionary biologists—of events and then human choices that led to a major change in
practice.43
Many historians are happiest or feel safest when they describe and account
for historical change(s) arising out of human choices that are made in complex,
contingent situations over time that often have unintended consequences; we
describe change(s) using such allegedly neutral terms as “transition” and “transformation.”44 Following in Darwin’s very large intellectual footsteps, we prefer
historical change to be slow and we hope imperceptible to our predecessors and
colleagues.45 And indeed we have identified some changes in this study that resulted from the fact that the Ephesians over the centuries were caught between
the two long-term natural processes of sedimentation and sea intrusion at the
site of the city that gave them little choice but to develop ways of coping with
these processes. But historians should never forget that life, especially local life,
in the ancient Mediterranean world was often shaped by more abrupt, radical changes—ones that appeared as suddenly as a torrential rainfall, the first
tremors of a massive earthquake, or the sight of invaders’ ships on the horizon.
I therefore would postulate that behind the unwillingness of the Kouretes
to go back up Mount Solmissos again on the sixth of May to scare off Hera
from Leto after the middle of the third century A.D. (even if this was evoked
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only at the festival) was a breakdown of the agreed-upon terms of the bargain
that defined the votive formula of do ut des. Those terms, as we noted in Chapter 1, logically applied to the operation of mystery cults, as well as to all other
forms of votive religion in practice, including the operation of both public and
private cults, if that is a valid binarism, which probably is not the case. As we
have seen, behind the simple formulation of the votive formula lay a series of
implications related to the timing of what was hoped for or expected from the
exchanges, their experimental quality, and even the influence or power of mortals over the gods through prayer, sacrifice, and other acts of piety. Above all,
the logic of the votive formula implied that mortals and immortals belonged to
one, interdependent community, based upon a reciprocal relationship of favor
that extended over time, even if the tradition of complaining about the gods not
respecting the bonds of reciprocal favor went back to the very origins of Greek
culture and literature.46
The formula nevertheless suggested that if mortals correctly followed the
procedures of sacrifice and other acts of devotion to the gods, then their sacrifices and prayers ultimately should not be in vain. We may therefore hypothesize
that, following a series of disasters during the late second and early third centuries A.D., when Artemis (and the god or godlike Roman emperors) did not
answer the Ephesians’ repeated sacrifices for safety and prosperity at the mysteries with her (or their) favor (charis), and could not protect her own home
and treasure, from the point of view of the Ephesians, Artemis especially in
effect had broken or was unable to fulfill her side of the negotiated agreement
that the celebration of her mysteries both enacted and renewed each year.47 She
was not acting according to the expected rules of behavior for gods, by which
she should have bestowed benefits upon those who gave her the sacrifices and
honors to which she was entitled.48 The “most beautiful things” were no longer
forthcoming from the foundress to the Ephesians, who had claimed publicly
over the years to be the “nurse” and neokoros (caretaker) of the goddess.49 That
she either could not or would not produce those beautiful things was grounded,
not only upon theological speculation, but upon bitter experience.50 Mortals
certainly might accept the idea that Artemis and the other Olympian deities did
not want things to go in the same way that human beings wanted. Indeed, from
a functional point of view, one of the competitive advantages of Graeco-Roman
polytheism over rival belief systems surely was its fundamental acceptance of the
testable and very well-supported idea that the gods do not love all of us equally;
therefore, our individual trials and tribulations in no way represent a challenge
to the logic of the epistemic system of polytheism. Rather, they reinforce its
logic.
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But the destruction of Artemis’s home was evidence not just of divine
favoritism, indifference, inscrutability, or an alternative plan; it presented an
altogether different kind of challenge or stress spike to the cultural “housekeepers” of both reason and piety.51 It is perhaps impossible for us to truly appreciate how devastating to the Ephesians their experience of seeing the destruction of the temple of Artemis must have been.
At the level of theodicy, Artemis’s failure could be interpreted as signifying
the very end of the promise of renewal and divine favor that the ritual evocation
or even reenactment of her birth each year in Ortygia was perhaps intended to
both symbolize and guarantee. The willingness of the Kouretes/Ephesians to
take up arms and stand up to Hera had made possible the successful births of
Apollo and Artemis, just as the willingness of the family of Keleos to take in
wandering Demeter ultimately had led to her reunion with Kore and the establishment of the Eleusinian mysteries. The ritual evocation of Artemis’s birth in
Ortygia each year at the mysteries in some sense made initiates participants in
that story and implied that relations of mutual benefit between the Ephesians
and their patroness went back very far. Indeed, their fates or destinies were intertwined.52 At a guess, this idea, that the gods and mortals as a whole were dependent upon one another and that the Ephesians had played a key role in consolidating the Olympian dynasty, was the “secret” revealed to initiates, or better still
experienced by them, with the help of Lysimachos Mundicius (mentioned in
the opening tableau of this book) and the other hierophants, at least during the
Roman empire. This sense of human- divine reciprocity was the mental habitus
of both the Ephesians and, by imaginative implication, the goddess herself. It
may also have been the explanation for the success of this cult, and others like it,
such as the Eleusinia, which dramatized powerful and lasting models of human
and divine interaction.53 Artemis’s initiates were “born and born again” (natus
et renatus) into a human/divine community of caring for, and even saving, each
other.54 Millennia before the Latin inscription unde origo inde salus was carved
onto the pavement in front of Santa Maria della Salute in Venice, the Ephesians
understood and ritually celebrated the idea that from the sacred story of the
Kouretes’ saving Artemis and Apollo came their own salvation.
The message of that story of reciprocal salvation was that the Ephesians
needed the favor of Apollo and Artemis. But the gods, including Leto, Artemis,
and Apollo, once had needed the Kouretes/Ephesians too. Without their help,
the births of Apollo and Artemis might not have taken place, and the Olympian
order itself might never have been established or projected into the next divine
generation. The Kouretes’/Ephesians’ readiness to take up arms on behalf of
Leto, Apollo, and Artemis had helped to put the world in order. Evoking or per-
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haps even reenacting the story of the births of Artemis and Apollo explained to
initiates how this had happened and justified the special place of the Ephesians/
Kouretes and Ephesos in the authoritative order of the Olympian past, and
therefore the present as well. Performing the mysteries and then commemorating those performances epigraphically was the way that the Kouretes inscribed
themselves into the master narrative of interdependence upon which the salvation of the polis and perhaps the world itself ultimately depended.55 Artemis
and her brother were at times the saviors of the Ephesians, but the Ephesians
also had been the saviors of the gods. At some level, rehearsing the sacred story
of Artemis’s and Apollo’s births in Ortygia with the aid of the Kouretes each
year must have served to flatter the Ephesians, and to reassure them about their
connection to powerful, potentially life-saving gods. Just as at Eleusis, so too in
Ephesos, performing the mysteries was an assertion of meaning and control over
the chaos of life, if not the inescapable fact of death.
The celebrations therefore were not just a mainstay of the order of the
world as the Ephesians imagined it. They were the sacralized order, which the
Kouretes/Ephesian governors of the polis during the Roman imperial period
not only subsidized, but also played a crucial role in acting out ritually in public, thereby legitimating their own positions of power within Ephesian society,
over generations.56 The internal economic spasms, natural disasters, and external attacks the Ephesians faced during the third century A.D. were direct challenges to that constructed order, an order in which the ancient Greeks believed
the gods, especially Artemis, the “tutelary goddess” of the polis, had always been
intimately and directly involved.57
Committed empiricists and experimentalists that they were, in the face of
negative results, the Ephesians repeated their ritual experiment (repeatedly revivified or actually “deroutinized” the celebrations of the mysteries by ritual
innovations) until it was proved that Artemis was not answering their prayers
and sacrifices, even after they had altered at least some of the terms of the ritual
formula.58 It also was not an accident that as the troubles mounted during the
early third century A.D., well before the destruction of the Artemision in A.D.
262, the prytaneis began to emphasize Demeter, Kore, and other goddesses and
gods of the prytaneion rather than Artemis in their “thanks inscriptions.” On
behalf of the polis the prytaneis were reaching out to other deities who might
produce better results, particularly with respect to meeting life’s basic daily requirements. Pious and practical as ever, the prytaneis, on behalf of the polis,
shifted their attention to gods who might help, if not in the afterlife, then here
and now, with the next meal.59
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279
The fact that Artemis did not produce the goods from the Ephesians’ perspective did not lead to an immediate repudiation of polytheistic votive religion.
Nor is there any evidence that in response to the crisis of the late second century
or the difficulties of the early third century A.D. the Ephesians began to allegorize their understanding of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries or reinterpret them in light of Neoplatonic philosophical speculation, as we know happened in the case of other mystery cults in the Graeco-Roman world.60 Rather,
all of the evidence suggests that the Ephesians never questioned the logic of the
votive formula until Artemis’s unwillingness or inability to give back was demonstrated beyond a shadow of a doubt in A.D. 262. After the catastrophes of
that year the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis apparently suffered the
most radical form of deroutinization—namely, cessation.61 The disjunction between what ought to have been, namely, that Artemis and the Ephesians helped
each other, and what was, that neither apparently could, became too great.62
Events that could not be ignored falsified the model of mortal and immortal
interdependence and reciprocity that the celebrations evoked, enacted, and renewed each year. The Kouretes’ belief in the efficacy of the mysteries and sacrifices to produce favor from the goddess apparently broke,63 or the structures of
preindustrial life overwhelmed the Kouretes’ will to try one more time.64 The
Kouretes, in effect, went theologically bankrupt and the cult became extinct,
as apparently did other associations that supported some of the other mystery
cults in the city. For it is a remarkable fact that although we know that mysteries
of Iacchus, Demeter, Kore, Dionysos, Mithras, and Isis (among other divinities) were celebrated in Eleusis, Rome, Lerna, Aegina, and elsewhere into the
late fourth century A.D., our evidence not only for the celebration of Artemis’s
mysteries but also for all other mysteries in the polis of Ephesos ends at virtually
the same time, by the late third century.65 We do not have enough evidence to
build a case for why the other mystery cults in the city disappeared at this time,
but we do know that the supporters of all the other cults came from the same
sociopolitical tier of the civic hierarchy as the Kouretes.
TH E KOUR ET ES ’ LAST DA NC E
Artemis’s failure to answer the prayers and sacrifices of the Ephesians, and then
the irrefutable demonstration of her weakness in A.D. 262, had implications
beyond the obvious consequences of the poor results for those members of the
polis who had been given or had assumed authority to negotiate or mediate relations with the goddess on behalf of the polis in the context of celebrating her
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mysteries. These implications are of some significance for scholars wanting to
understand the transformation of the Mediterranean world during the later
Roman empire.
After the transfer of the Kouretes to the Artemision during the reign of
Augustus, it was the prytanis, on behalf of the polis of Ephesos, who largely assumed authority for the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, aided by the
cult attendants and the Kouretes. By the middle of the second century A.D. the
very same Roman Ephesians who took on the roles of Kouretes also helped to
govern the rich and prosperous polis. In that sense the prytaneis, Kouretes, cult
attendants, and priestesses of Artemis who we know completed “all of the mysteries of Artemis” at least on occasion, if not the initiates, were members of a
community: those families and/or individuals who often had used their own
private resources to subsidize and even perform the mysteries each year for hundreds of years.66 It was through these performances and their epigraphical commemoration that initiates and citizens of the city were initiated not only into
Artemis’s mysteries, but also into the history and culture of the polis. A similar
pattern of private support for the celebration of the mysteries of Demeter and
Dionysos also can be observed.
Artemis’s subsequent failure to protect the polis or herself inevitably must
have undermined confidence both in the order that the celebration of her mysteries displayed and modeled and in the social prestige and authority of her
saviors within the polis, leaving the field open for a new set of mediators between the divinities and humans to try to produce better results.
Artemis’s warriors, the Kouretes, were essentially homologous with the governing order of the Graeco-Roman polis, indeed were the real socioeconomic
and administrative backbone of that order, despite the stratification of wealth,
social status, and individual prestige even within that order. Therefore, Artemis’s
inability to fulfill her half of the votive bargain threatened to tear the interwoven fabric of religious authority and political power that Lysimachos had
bestowed upon the Ephesians very much against their wishes in 294 B.C., and
which Augustus officially had sanctioned when the Kouretes were transferred to
the prytaneion of the polis. When Artemis did not protect the Kouretes or the
Ephesians, and finally did not save her own home, it was not just one mystery
cult or its priests that were undermined. The Kouretes and the governing order
of the polis were virtually identical, so when the Kouretes could not stimulate
an effective response from Artemis or the Roman emperors to whom sacrifices
were also made during the mysteries by the late second century, the authority
of the politically active, Graeco-Roman ruling class of the polis of Ephesos was
compromised.
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281
That ruling class, as we have seen, was composed at least in part of a number of wealthy men and women of Roman-Ephesian families who had been
willing to devote their private resources to the subsidization of the cult and also
had sponsored many other acts of euergetism from the reign of Tiberius; we
know this had been done throughout the imperial period by similar families of
wealthy Graeco-Roman citizens in other poleis of Asia, including Smyrna and
Pergamon.67 They were part of that fortunate 5 percent or so of the total population of the Roman empire in whose hands most of the empire’s wealth was
held.68 Although their contributions to the civic infrastructure may have provided only the icing upon the “richly decorated” urban cake, and it is possible
that cities such as Ephesos in principle could have met the subsistence needs of
its citizens by levying taxes, without those contributions the building boom and
artistic embellishment of the mid- to late-second-century A.D. city would not
have happened.69 And, when these wealthy citizens stopped making their benefactions, public building in Ephesos virtually ceased. A similar pattern of euergetistic decline can be seen elsewhere, in both western and eastern provinces.70
We may be amused at the image of Ephesos’s (presumably) portly, middleaged millionaires dressing up like armed youths, perhaps performing a war dance
around Leto giving birth to Artemis each spring in Ortygia and then quaffing
large quantities of her sacred wine while gorging themselves on bulls’ steaks.
But we should remember that those same greying, bibulous gentlemen, with
their beloved wives and children, largely made possible the “perfect moment”
of Ephesos’s developed urban form, when the historical and natural potential
of the site Lysimachos chose for the city was exploited to the greatest degree,
just as we know that the architectural and artistic glories of Renaissance Genoa,
Florence, Rome, and Venice were paid for by rich families, whose members
usually do not look undernourished in their portraits.71 In second-century A.D.
Ephesos and in Genoa during the Rinascimento, to compare two port cities, the
potentiores (more powerful) could have invested their wealth in beast shows or
cuckoo clocks. Instead, they left their fellow citizens and posterity the skylines
of the Embolos and the Strada Nuova. Civilization may not always follow gold,
but without it, civilizations of terrace houses or palaces rarely occur.
In Ephesos, as soon as Artemis began to fail to deliver the desired results
during the late second century A.D., part of the theological justification of the
authority of the related men, women, and children who made Ephesos the light
of Asia was undermined. In short, Artemis’s failure called into question the justification for the interwoven fabric of religious and political authority within
imperial Ephesos. The threads of the comfortable old coat of polis religion or
the civic compromise, the fusion of religious and political authority in the polis,
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as embodied in the Kouretes/bouleutai, began to unravel.72 For the first time
in centuries the “natural” order of the world, the highly stratified, hierarchical order of Roman imperial Ephesos that had been dominated by the order of
councilors to which the Kouretes belonged, came into question.73
Within a few generations, at the top of the new order stood, not the “pious
and emperor-loving” Kouretes, but the new euergetai, the “poor-loving” Christian bishops of Ephesos.74 That shift was more than a revolution of social imagination. It reflected the facts of power. Generosity to the poor was both an ideology and a justification of authority and privileges. If the poor had not existed,
which they certainly did, they would have to have been invented, as they certainly
were, as a kind of constituency.75 Meanwhile, the Kouretes’ institutional heirs,
the city councilors of the fourth century A.D., still made dedications to notables
such as the proconsul Messalinus (who “saved the immense circle of the theatre”
and “built a solid support”) or the doctor Alexandros, whose headless statue
stands to this day on a plinth along the Embolos.76 But increasingly, the councilors were made subject to financially crushing compulsory services, including
collecting taxes; by imperial order the bishops were exempt. The Kouretes/bouleutai were replaced by the Christian “aristocracy of the exempt.”77
The decline in the prestige of the curial order preceded and led to a transformation of the civic landscape.78 Although the bouleuterion was still used
during the fourth century (albeit with a Christian cross carved into the face of
the large lintel above the entryway from the corridor to the east end of the east
parodos), by the mid-fourth century A.D. the prytaneion was a ruin (after the
earthquakes in 358 and 368), its statues of Artemis buried beneath the rubble,
its architectural elements carted off to build or embellish the baths of the pious
Christian benefactor Scholastikia and other monuments of Ephesos’s increasingly Christianized urban center.79 Scholars have now identified more than
ten churches that were built within the “civic area” of Ephesos, all dated to the
period between the fourth and sixth centuries, most of them erected on top of
preexisting structures.80
The upper agora ceased to be the theater in which the powerful acted out
their public identities and linked themselves to the ruling power. New urban
foci of civic identity, authority, and the expression of piety—such as the bishop’s
residence, the episcopal Church of the Virgin Mary (built literally on top of and
from the ruins of the portico on the south side of the Olympieion), the governor’s palace, and a commemorative shrine for the evangelist and Apostle John
on Ayasoluk Hill—were built up in the area north of the Arcadiane from the
blueprint of a different (and also evolving) sacred story (Map 9). Within the
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283
walls of the Church of the Virgin Mary, for instance, the ecumenical councils
of 431 and 449 were held, at which the nature of the Holy Trinity was discussed
and the question of whether divinity had a singular or dual nature was disputed
by the new mediators of the divine.81 By the mid-fifth century pious pilgrims
were flocking to the altar of John’s basilica on Ayasoluk to collect the healing
dust stirred up by the breath of the sleeping saint.82
Public epigraphy made a comeback after its decline during the late third
century, but most public inscriptions in Ephesos and elsewhere were put up
in honor of imperial officials, not for and by local elites.83 As was also the case
abroad, the production of honorific statues declined dramatically during the
third century; and those statues that were put up began to be placed along the
major traffic arteries of the city, especially the Embolos, rather than in the public
squares, as had been done during the early imperial period.84 The larger-thanlife-sized statue of the fifth-century A.D. governor nicknamed Stephanos (based
upon an inscription on a nearby statue base) that was placed on the south side
of the Embolos is the best-preserved example of the broader change.85 Positioning these statues of emperors wearing cuirasses, governors (such as Stephanos,
usually dressed in late antique Roman togas or in military cloaks), and prominent citizens along the thoroughfares of the city on tall bases redefined public
space in light of new values, rituals, and processions. Moreover, the portraits
of these emperors, governors, and local magnates, with their adjusted physiognomies, no longer were naturalistic representations of the faces of people, but
rather of their spirits.86
Both small-scale and life-sized mythological statuary disappeared from
public and private spaces. Although some of the rooms of the magnificent terrace houses were reinhabited during and after the fourth century, none of the
new owners commissioned rooms of Muses or glass mosaics of Dionysos and
Ariadne.
The story of the demise of the cult investigated here is one important episode within a broader narrative of change within Graeco-Roman society in the
Roman empire—a change not from a Weberian, traditional society, in which
religion has a central place, to a more secular society; but from a hierarchical and
oligarchic but still interdependent human and divine society, in which mortals
and immortals depended upon and even saved each other, to a more “vertical”
and centralized society, at least ideally, based upon the belief in the dependence
of all creatures, rich and poor, on the generosity of an all-powerful giver.87 The
ultimate act of generosity by that giver had been God’s sunkatabasis (“condescension”): sending his son down to earth. Such a giver, it must be obvious, had
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Fence and prayers of pilgrims at Meryemana Evi. See also Plate 3.
no need of mortal saviors, however rich they might be. Nor was the saving grace
of Christ given on the basis of human actions, such as building fountains or
gymnasia.
After A.D. 262 the new hieros logos of solidarity between humans and an
all-powerful god evidently made better sense of life both as lived and as it should
be to an increasing number of Ephesians, and to other inhabitants of the Roman
empire. Although polytheists continued to congregate at the site of the Artemision to worship the ancient wooden image of the great goddess into the early
fifth century, they had to do so in secret, and by A.D. 428 many of the great polytheist sites of western Asia Minor had lost their shrines, had their ancient images
destroyed, or both.88 We cannot be sure exactly when Demeas had the statue
of Artemis at the Triodos in Ephesos pulled down and replaced by a cross (see
Chapter 6), but we know that in 435 the Roman emperors signed an edict condoning the destruction of such images.89 It was during this era too that someone
carved crosses onto the foreheads of the portrait statues of Augustus and Livia
that had been placed at the eastern end of the basilica stoa during the late first
century B.C.90
Yet during the fifth and sixth centuries, more than four miles south of
Ephesos, high up on the western slope of Aladag, grew the popular cult of Mary
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285
the Theotokos, “she who gave birth to god.” Through Mary and the story of her
suckling of Jesus, the all-powerful god was made human and humane, much to
the displeasure of the Syrian cleric and bishop of Constantinople Nestorius.91
Five hundred years after Strabo recounted the sacred story of the Kouretes scaring Hera away from Leto during the birth of Artemis, the Ephesians connected
themselves once again to the divine through the story of a mother who gave
birth to a deity and were just as ready to riot on her behalf as they had been in
support of the “daimon” Artemis when the Apostle Paul visited the city in the
middle of the first century A.D.
More than two thousand years after the geographer made his pilgrimage to
Ephesos, Jewish, Christian, and Muslim pilgrims make their way up the steep
road to the Meryemana Evi, or House of Mother Mary, to visit the site (Kapuli
Panaya) and house where the virgin, who had been brought to Ephesos by Saint
John according to legends accepted by 431 at the very latest, lived and died at the
age of fifty- one. There, not far from where modern pilgrims believe Mary was
laid to rest, they leave their handwritten prayers for salvation tied to the fence of
her sanctuary. Like Ephesos, the goddess of salvation had arisen from the ashes
of her home. Sempre crolla ma non cade (she is always collapsing but never falls
down).
THEORIES, MODELS, AND MEMETIC SELECTION:
THE RECIPE OF RECIPROCITY
These conclusions about what the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos actually constituted, how they should be interpreted, and what the history of the cult signifies do not fit neatly within any one of the traditional anthropological or sociological theories or models of ritual. We now have seen that the celebration of
Artemis’s mysteries at different times and sometimes simultaneously could be
interpreted functionally as belonging to the subset of rituals known as rites of
passage or calendrical rites or rites of exchange or affliction or feasting or political rites, depending upon the situation, if not the character of the evidence itself.
But at all times the celebrations of the mysteries cannot be understood,
it has been argued, without some consideration of the question of who constructed them and to what end.92 The medium is not the message. Nor is it
the key to understanding these mystic rites. Rather, the key to understanding
Artemis’s mysteries is to identify who authorized, performed, and commemorated them. For this reason, a more recently developed approach to understanding ritual, centered upon the agency of those who structure rituals and
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the creative tension between tradition and innovation in the construction and
execution of the rituals themselves, perhaps provides a better, though still insufficient fit.93
“Performance” or “praxis” models of ritual posit that ritual does not mold
people; rather, people construct or struggle to construct rituals to mold their
world.94 Fundamental to almost all such efforts is an appeal to some more authoritative order that is assumed to lie behind the present.95 The making and
remaking of rituals is a central activity of those who are involved in making history, often based upon an appeal to tradition.96
The rituals created by those who are making history usually do not build
community simply by expressing sentiments of collective harmony. Rather,
they do it, as Lysimachos, Augustus, and the polis of Ephesos all did, by channeling conflict, focusing grievances, socializing participants into more embracing codes of symbolic behavior, negotiating power relations, and, ultimately,
forging images by which the participants can think of themselves as an embracing unity.97 The celebrations, therefore, were sites and occasions of both
contestation and “communitas” and, above all, the making of a new master historical narrative.98 Throughout our investigation we have seen individuals, institutions, and the polis of Ephesos making history through their celebrations of
the mysteries, often in or out of the context of conflict. In sum, the celebrations
were part of the creation and evolution of an epistemology or rather series of
epistemologies expressed through consciously related texts, monuments, and
urban reconfigurations that resulted from, among other developments, fundamental shifts in the locations and structures of power and authority during the
early Macedonian and late Roman republican periods.99 The outlines of a third,
“Christian” epistemology in the city have been sketched in the immediately preceding pages. Can these changing epistemologies of Ephesos be put into an even
broader context? Are there tracks of sociobiology, if not biology, in the epigraphical footprints of the Kouretes?100 Indeed, can votive religion itself, of
which mystery cults were a specialty option, be understood within an evolutionary epistemology?
Micro- and macro-evolutionary biologists, psychologists, anthropologists,
and zoologists certainly have argued that conventional Darwinian selection of
genes might have favored psychological predispositions or hard-wired propensities that produced and continue to produce human culture and religion, and its
multiplicity of rituals as by-products.101 But they concede that natural selection
is unlikely to have shaped the details, that is, the specific varieties of religions and
their practices.102 To understand how and why such varieties occur, we need to
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look not only or perhaps primarily at genes, but at their possibly linked (according to “dual-inheritance” theory) cultural equivalents or analogues, memes.103
Memes are “instructions for carrying out behavior, stored in brains (and other
objects) and passed on by imitation.”104 They operate (according to memetic
theory) in essentially the same way that genes do in selection theory: the memes
that survive are ones that are good at getting copied within the general meme
pool.105 Cooperating memes link up to form cartels, which exist in competition
with other cartels. A memeplex is a set of memes that can survive better as a
group than on their own.106 Survival and domination may be functions of direct
appeal or compatibility with other memes in the general meme pool within the
selective environment of the memes or the organism as a whole.107 Memes, cartels, and memeplexes are successful or unsuccessful in specific environments or
contexts. So, to modify Ariew’s modification of O’Brien’s modification of Aristotle’s dictum, “as in nature, so in art—and religion.”108 Is it possible to read and
tell the story of Artemis’s mysteries and ancient Graeco-Roman votive religion
memetically, if not genetically?
The meme of the mysteries of Artemis was that the goddess and mortals
were dependent upon each other. This was the behavioral instruction, copied
from the “reciprocal altruism” recipe of the votive formula, that survived and
was transmitted by the Kouretes, both vertically, from generation to generation
of kin, and horizontally, among peers, who copied the Kouretes/altruists, both
because of the meme’s direct appeal and because of its compatibility with other
cartels of similar memes (for example, other mystery cults) that made up the
votive religion memeplex in the ancient Mediterranean environment.109 Those
other cults also encoded messages about the close, mutually beneficial relations
between mortals and immortals. The individuals who copied and passed those
messages along through their behavior did so in an environment of competition
and cooperation because that was the optimal strategy for the survival and reproduction of the memes. In Ephesos, though, the meme of the mysteries and
sacrifices to Artemis explained most successfully life as it was and also as it was
imagined, or hoped to be: mortals and immortals needed each other.
Within the overall meme pool were other developing and competitive cartels of memes, such as Judaism and Christianity (in their diverse forms) after the
first century A.D. In certain ways, most obviously in their rejection of the polytheists’ pantheon, these memes were fundamentally different from the memeplex of polytheism, although these competitive memes looked then to some,
and still look to many, similar to the memes of polytheism, precisely because
Christians such as Paul and St. Ignatius were some of the most successful reverse
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engineers in the history of religion(s): they pulled apart the ritual and theological components of the mystery cults and then used the language of those components to help sell the replication of their own quite different memeplex of
Christianity.110 The Christian memeplex remained recessive until the external
host environments or organisms (polis and Roman empire) changed to their
favor (and/or mistakes or recombinations occurred).111 Cultural transmission,
diffusion, and change take place in a multimodal adaptive landscape.112
Through the process of memetic selection, when the once dominant memes
of polytheism, including the specialty option of the “mysteries and sacrifices,”
either would not or could not adapt to the new circumstances (or maintain
homeostasis, in the language of biology) despite inventions initiated by individuals that became collective innovations, or guided variation through the process of trial and error, they lost out in the great memetic struggle, taking down
with them what this study has shown was the overall authority behind the polytheistic memeplex in Ephesos since the battle of Actium—the related families
of Kouretes/bouleutai.113 The recessive memes and their bearers, the bishops,
became dominant within the organism of the polis. By implication and definition, the new memeplex represented a better strategy for survival for the majority. From the perspective of behavioral ecology, the triumph of Christianity
in Ephesos and elsewhere represents an adaptation by “decision-rules.”114 That is
the inference to the best explanation.115
The story of the mysteries of Artemis thus can be told as a Darwinian tale
of heredity, variation, and selection—and de-selection or replacement by a more
successful memeplex or strategy for survival, the Abrahamic traditions. Despite
the fact that the testable evidence suggests that all of the basic assumptions of
the Abrahamic memeplex about how life was created and developed on earth
are both untestable and highly improbable at best, and certainly no more probable than those of the Kouretes and their fellow polytheists, the majority of the
seven billion or so humans living on the face of the earth today are carriers and
replicators of the Abrahamic meme, and their numbers apparently are growing
daily.116
Although some scholars have raised the question of whether religion itself
might cease to exist as a result of the third step in information processing, the
creation of the Internet and self-created technology, following from the revolutionary inventions of language and writing, for now, the genes of the majority of
humanity still run on an Abrahamic leash, fashioned and fastened by the pious
and emperor-loving Kouretes’ rivals.117 No human society ever documented has
lacked some form of religion, and one day even the robots who run the world
may need a religion to explain the genesis of their creators.
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THE LIMITS OF KNOWLEDGE
The drama of Artemis’s birth on the stage of Ortygia had an exceptionally long
run. Indeed, the history of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis is not
essentially a story of failure, but of extraordinary success on the urban and
human stage, where the drama of human wealth and inequality had been played
out over the millennia.118 If ritual is a kind of social mechanism for fooling ourselves, the performative means by which people attempt to solidify meaningful
illusions in the face of life’s anomie; or if ritual belongs to the bizarre phenomenology of superstition; or if the rituals of mystery cults are mutually compatible
memes within memeplexes; then we only can conclude that the Ephesians were
extremely adept at constructing such meaningful illusions, superstitions, and/or
units of cultural inheritance within the structural constraints of their preindustrial, “prescientific” world.119 Precisely because the vast majority of Ephesians,
like most of the inhabitants of the Roman empire, lived one failed harvest or one
locust swarm away from starvation, they never succumbed to Nietzsche’s ludicrousness of action: they could not afford the philosopher’s nihilism. Rather,
the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries attracted the interest and inspired the
piety of countless men and women over more than five hundred years. Although
these men and women played their own roles in the celebrations for their own
reasons, most of which we do not and never will know, their participation in
the celebrations suggests that they indeed preferred to “cling to the surplus of
causality and sense” rather than to give in to meaninglessness or the still darker
mysteries of chaos or M-theories.120
In this work we have been able to suggest what the meaning or purpose
of the celebration of the mysteries was for only a handful of individuals out of
countless numbers over many centuries.121 Because of the nature of the evidence,
most of what we can know about Artemis’s mysteries comes from the top down.
We have little or no evidence for the participation of the homines tenuirores in
the mysteries of Artemis, let alone “rather thin women.”122 We cannot be certain
whether these individual men and women saw or felt that what happened in
Ortygia each spring connected the peripheral territory of the polis to its center,
marked individual stages of their lives, or affirmed community integrity.123 One
suspects, though, that their preoccupations were less abstract and rather more
human: money; love; and survival. Despite this limitation, however, what this
book has shown is that changes in the structure of authority within the polis
brought about significant changes in the celebrations. We have no idea what the
majority of the new initiates and those who already had been initiated made of
the celebration in any given year. We do not know whether a distinction was
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made between the “Great” tradition of those wealthy Ephesians who shaped
the celebrations and the “Little Traditions” of the thousands who took part in
them.124 The subaltern experience of Artemis’s mysteries—if there was such a
thing—is a blank slate heretofore precisely because the archaeologists thus far
have produced no texts or artifacts that allow us to re-create it.
Were some dramas more extraordinary than others? Was what the neoi enjoyed at their banquets “the good turtle soup or merely the mock,” to quote one
of Yale’s wittiest graduates? Were minds changed about future prospects, either
during life or after, as initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries seems to have
promised? Was knowledge created through secrecy in this cult? Did the rituals
of this cult produce ontological transformations?125 Was “doing” actually “believing,” as anthropologists have asserted about ritualized actions?126 Was there
a moment during the initiations when initiates, like the female initiate into the
Dionysian mysteries depicted on the megalographic frieze in the Villa of the
Mysteries at Pompeii, wanted to flee and hide themselves in the laps of their initiators?127 Indeed, were both men and women initiated, such as happened in the
mystery cults of Dionysos and the Andanian mysteries? Was there some kind of
final viewing, an epopteia, as occurred during the celebration of the Eleusinian
mysteries, that seemed to symbolize the meaning of the initiation for some?128
Like Lucius, did the initiates have to buy special robes for their initiations that
might have contributed to a temporary reordering of the civic hierarchy?129 Did
taking part in the celebrations help to reconfigure the “cognized” environment
of the initiates, as Beck has argued happened to Mithraic “cosmonauts”?130 Did
taking part in the initiations lead to the creation of a moral elite, as Gordon
has argued happened as a result of initiation into the mysteries of Mithras?131
Or was initiation into this mystery cult more like receiving a series of blows, as
Leukippe memorably described the experience, after having been set upon by
Melite’s enraged husband Thersander?132
Perhaps contrary only to our expectations, or because of the survival of
only certain kinds of evidence, the surviving data hint that it was the Kouretes
themselves who were transformed by their experiences.133 They were the “persons” produced by the performance of the rituals, and their ongoing identities
as Artemis’s protectors were quite literally set in stone to be seen from antiquity
until this very day.134 Although the other mystery cults of the polis have not been
the subject of this investigation, it is striking that initiates into at least some of
these cults did advertise themselves as having distinctive identities, such as the
Demetriastai for the polis.
But there apparently was no ekklesia in the Christian sense of the word that
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291
formed out of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis, let alone a politeia, an
alternate state within or even opposed to the state, separable from the GraecoRoman polis itself, such as that imagined and propagated by the Apostle Paul.135
An association potentially less subversive of the dominant order of the polis
than the imperial-era Kouretes is hardly imaginable. Nor were the celebrations
of the mysteries of Artemis during the Macedonian and Roman periods some
kind of compensatory phenomenon that provided a kind of replacement for
the sense of belonging or attachment that individuals once had felt toward the
civic community and its religious structures. Rather, the celebrations were central to the creation and maintenance of the civic community and its relations
with the great foundress. Celebrating the mysteries was certainly a centripetal
force within the polis for those who subsidized and performed them.136 In the
end, that was the problem.
But before the problem became acute, did the experience of Artemis’s mysteries offer the initiates a “profound and emotionally powerful experience of the
divine”?137 Did they develop a particularly intimate and privileged relationship
with the deities into whose mysteries they were initiated, leading them to expect special blessings?138 Did the initiates feel differently, perhaps better, about
themselves or their prospects either before or after death at the end of the festival? At present, we have no way of knowing the answers to these questions.
Unlike the case of the Eleusinian mysteries, those who experienced Artemis’s
secret(s) perhaps observed their vows of verbal secrecy (if they took such vows)
all too well for the purposes of historians.139 Or more likely, they were unwilling or unable to put into words what they had experienced. To understand what
they felt, you simply had to be there or to be one of the initiates, as Aristotle
famously wrote about the experience of initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries.140 What we know is only that it was claimed publicly that the mysteries
to the goddess had been successfully performed.141
The extraordinary experience of initiates into Artemis’s mysteries is beyond
our understanding, just as Lucius/Apuleius implied in the case of initiation into
Isis’s mysteries in Book XI of the Metamorphoses and as Evans-Pritchard concluded about the meaning of comparable rites to the Nuer of southern Sudan.142
None of us has ever experienced the initiations, let alone the rest of the aesthetic framework, including the combination of scents, lights, and sounds, experienced by those who made their way up to Ortygia and took part in the mysteries and sacrifices.143 Mere anthropologists and historians do not have access
into the interior experiences of those who willingly set out on such journeys.
And if recent neurological theories of consciousness are proved to be correct,
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the experiences of initiates were finally indescribable to each other even during
the same initiations.144 Experiencing the mysteries and sacrifices were and remain ineffable qualia. Qualia can’t be qualified.
All we know is that prospective initiates made the long hike up to Ortygia
from Ephesos every year for centuries from the time that Lysimachos captured
the city with the help of the pirate chief Mandro. Sometime after the beginning
of the third century A.D. the prytaneis of Ephesos, such as Favonia Flaccilla,
began to look toward other deities to help them to achieve their goals. And
at some point, perhaps during the middle of the third century A.D., after the
Goths had sailed off with their booty from Artemis’s temple, the stars of the
sacred drama apparently began to believe that playing the part of Artemis’s defenders no longer would lead them or the polis to prosperity or even safety. Did
she still care? The goddess clearly no longer was fulfilling her part of the bargain.
Could she even protect herself ? Her home was a smoldering ruin. And so, after
more than half a millennium, the Ephesians canceled the drama of the nativity,
never, apparently, to be revived.
Appendix 1
The Other Mystery Cults of the Polis
It has often been assumed that mystery cults were functioning within Ephesos
from the archaic or classical periods; and indeed, there are some indications that
such cults may have been present in the city from the fifth century B.C. at least.
For instance, the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk displays a fifth-century B.C. red
clay figurine of Harpocrates—Horus, the son of Isis and Osiris—with his right
forefinger raised to his lips, perhaps symbolizing the silence or secrecy required
of initiates into the cult.1 And cistophoric coins of the second (188 B.C.) and
first centuries B.C. in Ephesos showed the basket that was borne along in processions in honor of Isis during celebrations of the mysteries of Isis and Osiris.2
But these early indications, tantalizing as they are, do not provide conclusive evidence. It is not until we get to the fourth century B.C. in some cases, and to the
Roman imperial period in others, that we have proof of mystery cults in the city.
The best attested of these are the cults of Demeter and Kore (and the Sebastoi),
Dionysos, Aphrodite Daitis, and Samothrace.
Demeter and Kore (and the Sebastoi)
According to Herodotus, after the naval battle at Lade in 494 B.C., the crews of
the damaged Ionian ships, having come ashore and crossed into Ephesian territory, came upon Ephesian women who were celebrating the Thesmophoria at
night.3 From this anecdote we can infer that Demeter was worshipped within
Ephesos already by the early fifth century B.C., although it should be noted that
Herodotus nowhere mentions mysteries or mystic rites of Demeter.
We know of the existence of a priest of Karpophoros Ge, named Isidorus,
around 20/19 B.C., although this goddess is probably not to be connected directly with the cults of Demeter and Kore.4 References to Demetriastai, or “before the city Demetriastai,” in inscriptions during the reign of Tiberius (around
A.D. 19–23),5 may suggest that the Demetriastai before the polis were members
of an association of initiates, because later we find Demetriastai before the polis
and mustai of Dionysos Phleus mentioned together in an inscription found in
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the village of Ayasoluk (now Selçuk).6 In the inscription from the reign of Tiberius, the worshippers of Demeter arranged for images or statues of their benefactors to be set up in a publicly visible place.7
A priestess of Sebaste Demeter Karpophoros named Servilia Secunda is also
mentioned in the inscription from the reign of Tiberius in which the Demetriasts in the polis honored benefactors who were also priests and priestesses.8
Given her name, Servilia Secunda was probably a Roman citizen or came from
a family of Roman citizens. Originally, the addition of the epithet “Sebaste” to
Demeter’s name may have suggested Demeter’s protection of the empress, but
by the time of this inscription it may simply have signified royalty.9
More substantially, a letter to the proconsul Lucius Mestrius Florus from
Lucius Pompeius Apollonios from A.D. 88/89 (discussed in Chapter 6) refers to
rites (musteria) and sacrifices being performed in Ephesos by mustai to Demeter
Karpophoros (Fruitbearer) and Thesmophoros (Lawbearer) and to the god emperors each year with great purity and lawful customs, together with the priestesses.10 In the letter Apollonios claims that the practices were protected by kings
and emperors as well as the proconsul of the period, as contained in their enclosed letters.11 The letter concludes with Apollonios petitioning the proconsul on behalf of those obligated to accomplish the mysteries that he (probably
should) acknowledge their rights.12
The letter thus signifies that mysteries and sacrifices to Demeter Karpophoros and Thesmophoros and to the emperors were being carried out by initiates
by the late first century A.D.;13 that the mysteries and sacrifices at least to Demeter Karpophoros and Thesmophoros must date to the period when Ephesos was
under the power of kings, although we do not know how far back before the
formation of the Roman province and Ephesos’s incorporation into the province the practices date; and that some kind of written record or dossier of letters
acknowledging the rights of the initiates was available to be cited by Apollonios
on behalf of the initiates. An altar dedicated to the god emperors and to the
mustai by Serapion the secretary of the Boule and his children probably during the reign of Antoninus Pius indicates that the imperial mysteries were celebrated at least into the mid-second century A.D.14
An inscription from the late first century or early second century A.D. then
mentions a priest for life of Dionysos Phleus (T. Varius Neikostratos) and the
Eleusinian goddesses (C. Licinnius Maximus).15 These surely must be Demeter and Kore and suggest mysteries in some sense related to those performed
at Eleusis. Another inscription, dated to A.D. 120, refers to Rutilius Bassus, a
priest of Demeter Karpophoros.16 This inscription mentions the dedication of a
naos, or shrine of Demeter, and the things in front of it by Rutilius Bassus;17 and
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an altar of Plouton, Demeter Karpophoros, and Kore was found on the southeastern slope of Panayirdag.18 Roman citizens and benefactors such as Rutilius
Bassus were obviously people of some wealth and status. Outside of Ephesos,
for instance in Smyrna, priests and priestesses of Demeter appear to have been
wealthy as well.19
There are references once again to Demetriastai before the polis and to mustai of Dionysos Phleus,20 and to mysteries of Demeter, in the endowment of the
priest of Demeter P. Aelius Menekrates for Demeter and the god Men dated to
about A.D. 140 found in Tire.21 In the inscription Menekrates is commemorated
for having dedicated income from shops he owned to buy a basket set in silver
for use during the procession that took place during the celebration of Demeter’s mysteries.22 He also dedicated a silver sign to be carried in processions preceding the mysteries and a sacred banquet for the god Men.23
During the reign of Commodus, from a list of priests who probably belonged
to some kind of cult association we know of the existence of a priest of Demeter
and also of Kore.24 Thus, in Ephesos, the evidence from this time period shows
that the original Athenian custom of having a minister of a goddess be a woman
was not observed.25
Another imperial- era inscription, whose find-spot is unknown, refers to
Koure Plouteos.26 A third-century A.D. fresco of Demeter seated on a throne
and clad in a chiton (tunic) and himation (outer garment), which was found in
a shop on the “Street of Domitian,” is now displayed in the Ephesus Museum in
Selçuk.27 Finally, there is a reference to Demeter Karpotokos (Giving Birth to
Fruit) in a late antique dedicatory inscription of Flavius Anthemius Isidorus.28
Dionysos (and Zeus Panhellenios and Hephaistos)
According to the Ephesian representatives sent to Rome in A.D. 23 to plead
on behalf of the asylum rights of their sanctuary, Bacchus was an early visitor
to Ephesos: he had pardoned the Amazons whom he had defeated at the altar
(perhaps in Ortygia).29 More certainly, the festival of the Dionysia is attested in
the city from the classical period,30 and reverence toward Dionysos continued
in the city from the second century B.C. (when images of the god appeared on
cistophoric coinage) to around 39 B.C., a date to which Karwiese has attributed
further numismatic evidence of veneration.31 Most famously, we should recall
that after the defeat of Brutus and Cassius at Philippi, Antony came to Ephesos
in 41 B.C. and found the Ephesians celebrating the Dionysia; he was greeted by
women dressed as Bacchants and by men and boys dressed as Satyrs and Pans.32
But most of our evidence for the cult(s) of Dionysos in Ephesos and all of the
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evidence for the celebrations of mysteries of Dionysos there, which are very
well attested epigraphically elsewhere in Asia Minor, begins after the battle of
Actium.
Around 25/24 B.C. Presbon, the son of Antaios, was priest of Dionysos
Phleus Poimantrios (Shepherding the Flock).33 At the end of the first century A.D., or at the beginning of the second century, there was a priest for life of
Dionysos Phleus, T. Varius Neikostratos (a cult associated with that of the Eleusinian gods).34 During the reign of Trajan some kind of Dionysian association
dedicated a monument to Dionysos and to Trajan, perhaps implying that Trajan
himself was a member of the association of worshippers.35 The appearance of
a palaios geron (some kind of older cult official) in the inscription may signify
that the association was involved in the celebration of the mysteries of Dionysos, although this is not certain.36 (In Smyrna there were similar associations of
mustai, sunmustai [ones initiated along with others], or thiasotai [Bacchic guild
members] who were dedicated to the worship of Dionysos [and Demeter and
Kore] and also looked out for the needs of the members of the association).37
During the reign of Hadrian, Dionysios Periegetes refers to Dionysian
choruses of dancing women in Ephesos.38 An inscription from the agora attests
to the celebration of some kind of winter festival in honor of Dionysos between
A.D. 140 and 150, and another undated inscription from the agora refers to a
Baccheion, where the devotees of the cult perhaps assembled.39 Because of inscriptions that perhaps originally were incised somewhere in or around the banqueting hall on Panayirdag, or on the wall revetments of the single-room building directly south of it, Keil argued for at least one meeting place of devotees of
Dionysos on Panayirdag (Map 6, no. 76).40 Strabo tells us that the association of
the technitai (artists) of Dionysos was based in Ephesos after fleeing from Teos,
and we know from an inscription dated to the reign of Pius that the technitai
about Dionysos were present in the city at the time.41 C. Flavius Furius Aptus
was perhaps a priest in the cult of Dionysos Oreios Bacchios during the reign of
Marcus or Commodus.42
There were mysteries of Dionysos celebrated during the reign of Hadrian,
as well as an association of initiates called “the initiates before the polis.”43 The
association included a priest of Dionysos, a hierophant, an epimeletes (some
kind of manager), a mustagogos (leader of initiates), and a hymnodos.44 An undated inscription refers to a dedication of wands to Dionysos by the hierophant
Mundicius and his son the agonothete Mundicius.45
In addition, many fragments of lists of the mustai of Dionysos before the
polis during the reign of Hadrian have been found in the Theater of Ephesos.46
These lists refer to a priest, an official who was enthronios (enthroned during
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the rites), a hudraulos (perhaps a musician), a hierologos (a declaimer of a sacred
story), and a thursophoros (wand bearer) and many other individuals who sacrificed.47 An undated inscription attests to boukoloi (cowherds) of Dionysos in
the form of a bull.48 In the bouleuterion of the upper city the figure of a silenus
(one of Dionysos’s usual companions) supports the construction of the skene
building; on the head of the silenus is a basket (kiste or liknon) that contains a
phallos and crescent.49 The most striking image in all artistic representations of
the celebrations of Dionysian mysteries is the erect phallos in a winnowing basket.50 A reference to Achilles Tatius’s hero Leukippe (wearing the clothing of
Melite during an all-night festival), who is called a Bacchant by Sosthenes, may
imply that at least part of the Dionysian mysteries were celebrated at night after
the mid-second century A.D.51
During the reign of Commodus the sakephoroi (wearing the coarse, goat-hair
cloth of the sect) mustai emperor-loving of the propatoros (founder) god Dionysos Koreseitos honored the new Dionysos (Commodus) with a statue.52 The
reference to Koreseitos may indicate that a sanctuary for Dionysos was connected with the cult in the section of the city known as Koressos.53
A list of priests, probably of members of an association for the worship of
Dionysos, from the reign of Commodus, names C. Iulius Epagathus as a priest
of the founder god Dionysos (as well as Dios Panhellenios and Hephaistos);54
this perhaps means that we should understand there to have been mysteries of
Dionysos, Zeus Panhellenios, and Hephaistos at the time.55 In the list also appears (probably) the office of the hagnearch, an epimeletes of the mysteries, and
a hierophant.56
The priest of Dionysos Phleus T. Varius Neikostratos was a Roman citizen
and secretary of the demos of Ephesos.57 The priest of the cult of Dionysos during the reign of Hadrian, Claudius Romulus, was a Roman citizen and also a
prytanis sometime between A.D. 100 and 103.58 The hierophant Claudius Eubius was also a Roman citizen,59 and the Roman citizen and epimeletes of the
mysteries M. Antonius Drosus had dedicated a statue of an athlete and also appears repeatedly in a list of mustai of Dionysos for the polis.60 The mustagogos
Theodotos Proklion, on the other hand, was a peregrine, as was his hymnodos
son, Proklos.61 The priest in the cult of Dionysos from the reign of Commodus, M. Aurelius Menemachos, was also a high priest (Asiarch) and prytanis.62
C. Flavius Furius Aptus, perhaps a priest in the cult of Dionysos Oreios Bacchios, was alytarch (festival steward) of the Ephesian Olympics, as well as the
owner of luxury apartment no. 6 in Terrace House 2, which featured two statues
of Aphrodite that flanked the staircase which led from the atrium of the apartment to a private basilica.63 In fact, Dionysian imagery is found all over Terrace
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House 2, whose inhabitants belonged to the socioeconomic elite of imperial
Ephesos, and a 6.56-foot-high statue of Dionysos was set up in a prominent
location at a fountain house on the north side of the Embolos.64 From a comparative perspective, Lucian states that the “cowherds” of Dionysos who danced
during the Bacchic rites in Ionia and Pontus included men of the best birth and
first rank.65
An inscription from the reign of Commodus indicates that by the late second century A.D. the initiates of Dionysos Phleus were associated with the Demetriastai before the polis.66 At the time the association included a priest (for
life), the Roman citizen Titus Aurelius Plutarchos, a hierophant and Roman
citizen P. Claudius Aristophanes, and an epimeletes, Saturneilos.67
In the list of priests from Commodus’s reign Epagathus was also a prytanis,
secretary of the demos, and hymnodos, boularchos, and architekton (architect
or builder) of the goddess.68 The hierophant Patroklos was a peregrine.69
In the lists of initiates of Dionysos before the polis the Roman citizen M. Aurelius Drosus was an epimeletes of the mysteries and dedicated a statue of an
athlete.70 M. Antonius Artemidorus was ergepistates puthionikes hiereus (perhaps some kind of superintendent of works for the cult).71 Unfortunately, the
lists are too fragmentary for us to establish how many of the initiates were Roman citizens and what public offices they held.72
Aphrodite
Although images of Greek-styled Aphrodite were the most popular of all ideal
sculpture in the city during the Hellenistic and Roman periods, and we know
that there was a temenos of the goddess and a temple of Aphrodite Hetaira,
we know nothing about the details of her mysteries.73 Our only tangible piece
of evidence is that during the third century A.D. brother and sister initiates of
Aphrodite Daitis had set up an altar for the goddess.74 Aphrodite Daitis has
been identified with Aphrodite Automata or Epidaetida mentioned by Servius,
but this is not certain.75
Samothrace
In the “Customs law” for the province of Asia, which has been dated between
A.D. 54 and 59, there is mention of a Samothrakion.76 This shrine has not been
discovered, but its existence should indicate the celebration of rites, perhaps
musteria, in honor of the well-known Samothracian gods in Ephesos by the
mid-first century A.D. (the date of the Customs law).
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Summation
Mysteries of Artemis, Demeter and Kore, the Roman emperors, Dionysos,
Zeus Panhellenios, Hephaistos, and Aphrodite were certainly celebrated at one
time or another within the polis of Ephesos. The evidence for the mysteries of
Artemis is treated in chronological order in the chapters of this book; most
of it dates to the period after the reign of Tiberius. Indications of the existence
of other mystery cults date to the fourth century B.C. at the earliest, but the vast
majority of the evidence for the cults is also dated from the Roman imperial
period, as can be seen from the chart “Distribution of Evidence for Mystery
Cults of Ephesos.” This may be a result of a change in the epigraphical habit
within the city, or it could signify that these cults became more popular after
around 29 B.C.
It is striking how different the evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of
Demeter, Kore, the emperors, Dionysos, and Aphrodite is from our evidence for
the personnel involved in the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries in Ephesos, and
also how different the evidence for the celebration of all of these Ephesian mysteries is from the evidence for the celebration of the Athenian Eleusinian mysteries, to take the most famous example. If we compare the Ephesian mysteries
of Artemis with those of the Ephesian mysteries of Demeter and Kore, and the
Athenian Eleusinian mysteries, we can see that all three cults had initiates, but
only the Ephesian cult had “Demetriastai before the polis,” or some equivalent.
Also, the Ephesian cult had priests of both Demeter and apparently Kore.
On the other hand, there are no references in the Ephesian material specifically associated with Demeter’s mysteries to the Eleusinian torch bearer (daduchos); the priestess of Demeter and Kore (hiereia Demetros kai Kores); the sacred
herald (hierokeryx); the altar priest (hiereus epi bomo); the female hierophants
of Demeter and Kore in Eleusis (hierophantides); the exegetes of the Eumolpidai (exegetai Eumolpidon); the priest who maintained the fire (Purphoros); the
official in charge of statues and cult objects (Phaiduntes); the priest known as
the Panages; the priest who carried the statue of Iakchos (Iakchaogos), which was
a personification of the mystic cry; the priest of the god and the goddess Pluto
and Persephone (hiereus Theou kai Theas); the priest of Triptolemus (hiereus
Triptolemou); the priestess of Pluto (hiereia Ploutonos); the hymn singers (Humnagogoi); the priest who carried the stone (hiereus Lithophoros); and the hearth
initiates (paides aph hestias). Many of these Eleusinian priests received payments
for their services at the mysteries; for instance, the altar priest was paid 1 obol
per initiate around 460 B.C.77 We know nothing substantive about the compensation received by the hierourgoi of Artemis’s cult in Ephesos until at least
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the late second century A.D.78 (Differences with respect to priests in the cults of
Demeter and Kore also can be observed between Eleusis and Lerna.)79
Nor is there any evidence of the adoption of the hieronymy, that is, the replacement of the name of the priest by his priesthood, in Ephesos, as Clinton
has argued began in the Eleusinian cult by 148 B.C.80 Moreover, there is no evidence that in Ephesos it was from two clans, such as the Eumolpidai and the
Kerykes in Athens, that the priests and other personnel who celebrated the mysteries of Demeter and Kore were drawn.
The evidence for the mysteries of Dionysos in Ephesos commences during
the late first century B.C. and stretches into the third century A.D. None of
the lists of Kouretes mentions an epimeletes or a mustagogos (as we find in the
inscriptions documenting the mysteries of Dionysos in Ephesos). Clearly, the
cults of Dionysos and Artemis were different cults that, although having some
priests in common (or with the same titles), included different priests with different duties and rituals. While the appearance of the hymnodos and the hierophant among the officers of the association dedicated to the worship of Dionysos indicates that vocal and/or choral music and initiations were included
during the celebrations of Dionysos’s mysteries at the time (as we have seen also
during Artemis’s mysteries), nowhere in any of the texts related to the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries is there a reference to a “guide of the initiations”
(mustagogos).
Because of the vast differences between the forms and the numbers of our
sources, as well as what they reveal about the various mystery cults that we
know existed at one time or another in Ephesos, it is very difficult to compare
these cults. For instance, for the cults of Demeter and Dionysos we have no evidence at all comparable to the lists of prytaneis, Kouretes, and cult attendants
for Artemis, from which we not only can reconstruct what rites were included
among the mysteries and sacrifices at the mysteries of Artemis, but also can
know who supervised and participated in the celebrations over two hundred
years. On the other hand, for the mysteries of Artemis we possess nothing like
the lists of initiates that we have for the mysteries of Dionysos. To the extent
that the evidence does allow us to make comparisons, we can see that these were
different cults, with different organizations, and different rituals, which probably should be attributed to the fact that the cults were more or less loosely associated with related but very different sacred stories about the different gods.
Whether there were traits of identity maintained in the mysteries of Demeter
and Kore and Dionysos is almost impossible to say, because we simply do not
have enough evidence over time to support such a conclusion. As a matter of
fact, although in both Miletos and Ephesos the tradition seems to have been
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301
that the cult of the Eleusinian deities was introduced into the cities by the original Athenian founder/immigrants, there is no conclusive evidence for the mysteries of Demeter in Ephesos during the classical period.
We can see, however, that the cults of Demeter and Kore and Dionysos were
gradually infiltrated by wealthy Roman citizens of Ephesos who used their own
financial resources to support the cult, just as we have seen occurred in the case
of Artemis’s mysteries. Interestingly, in the case of the mysteries of Demeter and
Men, we know that at least one supporter of the cult, Menekrates, used revenues
from his factories to subsidize aspects of the celebrations; it was not just money
from landed property that was used to keep the cult going. We also can see that
in the cases of the cults of Demeter, Kore, and Dionysos, organizations devoted
to promoting the worship of the deities evolved. The existence of such organizations, at times epigraphically represented as promoting an ideology, such as
the Demetriasts for the polis, suggests that at least some of these associations
did maintain public, communal identities that lasted beyond the rites that they
celebrated. Most significantly, none of the Greek or Graeco-Roman mysteries
seems to have survived beyond the mid-third century A.D.
Distribution of Evidence for Mystery Cults of Ephesos
Aphrodite
Demeter
Kore
Dionysos
Samothrace
Period 1:
400–50 B.C.
Period 2:
50–1 B.C.
9b?
Period 3:
A.D. 1–50
4337
Period 4:
A.D. 50–100
213
Period 5:
A.D. 100–150
1270
Period 6:
A.D. 150–200
1600?
20
1210,
3252
1270?,
3329?, 275,
1211, 1601,
1602, 1268?
293, 1600,
1595
continued
APPENDIX 1
302
Distribution of Evidence for Mystery Cults of Ephesos (continued)
Aphrodite
Period 7:
A.D. 200–250
Demeter
Kore
Dionysos
1212
Note: Numbers are the inscription numbers in Die Inschriften von Ephesos.
Samothrace
Appendix 2
Cults of the Prytaneion
Hestia Boulaia
There is no doubt that there was a cult of Hestia in the prytaneion from its foundation.1 Current epigraphical attestation, however, begins only near the end of
the first century A.D. and then continues into the third century. Thus, Hestia
Boulaia (Of the Council), suggesting the close relationship between the goddess
and the Boule of the polis, is praised, thanked, and/or prayed to by a number
of male and female prytaneis, hestiouchoi (supervisors of the hearth), and kalathephoroi (basket carriers).2
The Eternal Fire
Although closely associated with Hestia Boulaia in inscriptions from the prytaneion, and often interpreted as symbolizing Hestia, thanks are given to the
Eternal Fire independent of Hestia in several inscriptions from the late second
into the early third century A.D.3
Artemis
In addition to the lists of Kouretes and the four cult statues of Artemis (discussed in Chapter 7), all of which cumulatively testify to the presence of
Artemis’s cult in the prytaneion since the reign of Tiberius, we also possess an
inscription from after A.D. 214/15 that refers to an architekton (architect or
builder) of the goddess in the prytaneion.4
Demeter and Kore and/or Demeter Karpophoros and Kore
It may be correct that there was a cult of Demeter and Kore and/or Demeter
Karpophoros and Kore in the prytaneion from its inception, but as it stands the
epigraphical evidence for the location of the cult within the prytaneion dates to
the late second and third centuries A.D.
303
304
APPENDIX 2
The Summary of Ancestral Law, which has been dated to the early third century A.D. but which may date from the late second century, mentions a statue
of Demeter Karpophoros in the prytaneion, which is designated as belonging
to Demeter.5
Hestia Boulaia, Demeter and Kore, the Eternal Fire, and all the gods are
given thanks by the prytanis Aurunceius during the late second or early third
century A.D., in an inscription found in “prytaneionbereich.”6 Soon after 214/15
the prytanis Favonia Flaccilla also gave thanks to Hestia Boulaia, to Demeter
and Kore, to the Eternal Fire, to Apollo Klarios and to Sopolis, and to all the
gods in an inscription discovered on the “barrel of one of the columns of the
Doric entry hall of the prytaneion.”7 An unknown prytanis at the beginning of
the third century then thanked Hestia Boulaia, the Eternal Fire, Demeter and
probably Kore, and all the gods in an inscription found in debris east of the
prytaneion.8 The hestiouchos Libonianos also gave thanks to Hestia Boulaia,
Demeter and Kore, and to all the gods during the late second or early third century in an inscription found “on the pavement of the Kouretes’ street [Embolos].”9 The kalathephoros Onesime gave thanks to Hestia Boulaia, to the Eternal
Fire, to Demeter and Kore, to Apollo Klarios (probably), and to the God (Sopolis or Kinnaios?) after 212 in an inscription found on the east side of the agora,
and the hestiouchos Ael. Elpidephoros after 212 gave thanks to Hestia Boulaia,
the Eternal Fire, Demeter and Kore, Apollo Klarios, the God Kinnaios, and all
the gods in an inscription found “in the forecourt of the prytaneion.”10
Apollo Klarios
We know that the (Greek) founders of Ephesos erected a temple of Apollo
Pythios near the harbor at the same time that they built one for Artemis near
the agora.11 Karwiese has associated that temple with the remains of the socalled Crevice temple on the crest of an outcrop on the acropolis toward the
northwest (though not without dissenting views) (Map 6, no. 103); if that identification is correct, it would mean that Oracular Apollo (and perhaps Leto
too, as Karwiese hypothesizes based upon the appearance of numerous female
statuettes found nearby and a comment of Stephanos of Byzantium) perhaps
had a manteion (oracular shrine) in the city around 400 B.C., more than half a
millennium before we have epigraphical evidence for the existence of a cult of
Oracular Apollo within the prytaneion.12 An inscription found on “the north
slope of Panayirdag” attests to the existence of a cult of Apollo Patroios, or Ancestral Apollo (and Meter and Zeus Patroios), from the fifth century B.C.13 Another inscription found in the same vicinity shows that the cult existed around
Appendix 2
305
300 B.C.14 An altar of Apollo was found in the same vicinity.15 A priest of Apollo
Pythios is also referred to in an inscription from the period between 51/50 and
18/17 B.C.,16 and according to the sacred story of Artemis’s birth in Ortygia,
Apollo was closely associated with the goddess in the city.17
Outside of the city, there is a reference to the worship of Apollo in an inscription from Tire, perhaps from the late first century A.D.,18 and a priestess of
Apollo Panionios is mentioned in an inscription, found built into the so-called
Byzantine bath, dated to the reign of Hadrian.19 An early-third-century A.D.
inscription found in “rubble in front of the north analemma” mentions (probably) a lifelong priest of Apollo Patroios.20
Despite all of these references dating from the fifth century B.C., however,
our first evidence for a cult of Apollo in the prytaneion dates to soon after
A.D. 104, from a list of Kouretes with a decree to honor the prytanis Dionyodoros (found just to the left of entry door 3 to the Hestia Hall [room 1] of the
prytaneion), which mentions “the manteion of the polis Apollo” in line 6 and
again in line 9.21 Three inscriptions found on the “barrel of a column of the
Doric forehall of the prytaneion,” “from the forecourt of the prytaneion,” and
somewhere in the prytaneion reveal that the cult of Apollo Klarios survived into
the early third century A.D.22
Sopolis
Sopolis, the personification of the Savior of the polis, appears in several inscriptions, including on an altar of the god dedicated by the polis in A.D. 120, found
west of the forecourt of the prytaneion, and also in the thanks inscription of the
prytanis Favonia Flaccilla from the early third century.23
pantes hoi theoi
Prytaneis and/or hestiouchoi gave thanks “to all the gods” in the prytaneion on
several occasions during the early third century A.D.24
Themelioi (?)
The Themelioi are thanked, along with Hestia Boulaia, by Lampyris, who may
have been a prytanis, kalathephoros, and hypokalathephoros.25 These gods may
have helped to guarantee the firmness of the ground and building foundations
against earthquakes. If Lampyris was a prytanis, then these gods may have had
some sort of presence within the prytaneion.
APPENDIX 2
306
Nike
Nike, or the divine personification of victory, is thanked in several inscriptions found in the prytaneion dated to the late second and/or early third century A.D.26
Theos Kinnaios
Theos Kinnaios, perhaps the divine personification of Apollo’s dog, but otherwise a god whose identity is unknown, appears in several inscriptions found in
the prytaneion.27
The theoi progenesteroi allon
A dactylic prayer for the prytanis Tullia dated to A.D. 170 found on a square,
white marble stone built into a later wall north of the north gate of the agora
mentions the theoi progenesteroi allon (the gods who are older than all); if the
gods referred to are Hestia and Zeus, as Merkelbach argued, and if the inscription originally was put up in the prytaneion, it may be the case that by around
A.D. 170 there were cults of Zeus and Hestia (together) in the prytaneion.28
Distribution of Epigraphical Evidence for Cults of the Prytaneion
Hestia
Demeter
Eternal
Fire
Apollo
Klarios
Sopolis
1024.6, 9
1233.1
Period 1:
A.D. 1–50
Period 2:
A.D. 50–100
1062.1
Period 3:
A.D. 100–150
1063.1
Period 4:
A.D. 150–200
1058.4–5,
1064.2
10.28–9
1063.1
1060.4
continued
Distribution of Epigraphical Evidence for Cults of the Prytaneion (continued)
Period 5:
A.D. 200–250
Hestia
Demeter
Eternal
Fire
Apollo
Klarios
1060.2,
1066.5,
1067.2,
1068.1,
1070.6–7,
1070A.4,
1071.6,
1072.10,
1077.1,
1078.8–9
1058.6–7,
1060.2–3,
1067.2–3,
1070A.4–5,
1071.7–8,
1072.11–12
1058.5,
1060.3,
1067.2,
1070.7–8,
1071.7,
1072.11
1060.3–4,
1072.12–13,
1077.2
pantes hoi
theoi
Themelioi (?)
Nike
Theos
Kinnaios
Sopolis
theoi
progenesteroi
allon
Period 1:
A.D. 1–50
Period 2:
A.D. 50–100
Period 3:
A.D. 100–150
Period 4:
A.D. 150–200
1065.2 (or
early third),
1069.1 (or
early third),
1070A.6 (or
early third)
Period 5:
A.D. 200–250
1059.2(?),
1060.4,
1066.5,
1067.3,
1070.8–9,
1072.14
1063.3
1073.4–6
1077.2
1072.13
Note: Numbers are the inscription numbers in Die Inschriften von Ephesos.
308
APPENDIX 2
Summation
Although we have to take into account the random survival of epigraphical
evidence, and/or the removal of inscriptions from the prytaneion for reuse in
other locations, our summary of the epigraphical evidence and this chart nevertheless reveal a significant pattern. Other than the cult of Artemis, which is referred to by implication in the lists of Kouretes dated to the reign of Tiberius,
the cults first of Hestia Boulaia and then Apollo Klarios and Sopolis are our
earliest epigraphically attested cults of the prytaneion.29 But the vast majority of
the evidence for these cults, as well as the cults of Demeter and Kore, the Eternal
Fire, Nike, “all the gods,” the Themelioi (?), the enigmatic Theos Kinnaios, and
the theoi progenesteroi come from the early third century A.D. The majority of
Artemis’s parhedroi within the prytaneion found their places there (epigraphically) only long after the prytaneion was built.30 From this it follows that the
prytaneion itself had its own history of use within the broader context of the
history of the polis.31 We should not and cannot assume that its form and cultic
function were fixed forever at its foundation.
Appendix 3
Chronological Chart of Kouretes
IE list
no.
Datea
No. of
Kouretesb
No. of
Romansb
No. of
Peregrinesb
No. of
Bouleutaib
1001
1002
1002A
1003
1004
1005
1006
1007
1008
1009
1010
1011
1012
1013
1014
1047
1015
1016
1017
1018
1019
1020
1021
1022
1023
1024
1025
1026
1027
1028
14–37
14–37
14–37
14–37
14–37
41–68
41–68
41–68
54–59
Late 1st
–92
Late 1st
92
93–96
94–97
–95–98
95–98
96–99
97–100
98–101
99–102
100–103
104
105
104+
104+
?
120+
?
?
6
6
?
6?
6
6
6
?
5
5
6
5
6
6
6
6?
6
6
6
6
?
6
6
6
6
6
?
?
?
6
4
3
?
?
3
4
0
?
1
0
3
2
4
4
5
4+
0
6
4
3
2+
4
1
4
3
2
?
?
?
2
2
3
?
?
3
2
6
2
4
5
3
3
2
2
1
2?
6
0
2
3
?
2
5
2
3
4
?
2
?
4
?
?
?
1+
1
?
?
?
?
2
?
?
?
?
?
0
?
?
?
?
?
6
?
2
5
3
?
?
?
2
continued
309
APPENDIX 3
310
IE list
no.
Datea
No. of
Kouretesb
No. of
Romansb
No. of
Peregrinesb
No. of
Bouleutaib
1029
1030
1031
1032
1033
1048
1049
1034
1035
1036
1037
1037A
1038
1039
1040
1041
1042
1043
1044
1045
1046
1050
1051
1052
1053
1054
1055
1055A
1055B
974
1056
1057
1061
1060
112+
120?
?
130+
130+
–137
Hadrian
137
140
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
138+
138+
138+
161+
?
?
?
?
?
180+
?
162+
180+
213
?
214/15
214?
214/15+
6
6
?
6
6
3+
1+
6
6
6
?
?
?
?
7
?
7
?
9
?
?
3+
5+
6
6
83
?
?
?
13
2+
5/6
4
5
5
4
1
6
5
3
1+
4
3
6
?
?
3
1
5
3
3
4
8
2
?
?
3+
5
3
61
?
?
?
9
?
4
4
3?
1
2
?
0
1
?
?
2
3
0
1
?
2
?
2
3
4
2
1
?
?
?
1+
1
3
22
?
?
?
3?
?
2?
?
2?
?
3
?
4
4
2
?
?
6
3
3
?
2
?
4
?
2
?
9
1
?
3+
2+
2
?
?
?
?
?
?
?
3+
2
?
aA minus sign before a date indicates that date or before; a plus sign indicates that date or after.
All dates are A.D.
bA plus sign indicates that number or more.
Appendix 4
Chart of Mysteries and Change
Date
Evidence
Authority
Rituals
Purpose
After 356 B.C.
Skopas statue
group of Leto,
Ortygia, Apollo,
Artemis (Strabo,
XIV.1.20)
?
?
?
After 294 B.C.
IE Ia 26.1–6
Lysimachos
Mysteries,
sacrifices, feasting
Salvation,
integration
A.D. 14–37
IE IV 1001–2
Prytanis
Music, libations,
choral song,
announcements
?
A.D. 37–98
IE IV 1004–15
Prytanis
Reading
of entrails,
announcements,
incense burning,
cultic dance,
piping, libations
poured, secrets
revealed
?
A.D. 98–161
IE IV 1015–42A
Prytanis
Secrets revealed,
reading of
entrails,
announcements,
cultic dance,
incense burned,
piping, libations
poured, trumpet
music
Face to face
with gods
continued
311
APPENDIX 4
312
Date
Evidence
Authority
Rituals
Purpose
A.D. 161–199
IE IV 1046,
1050, 1054
IE Ia 10
Prytanis
?
IE Ia 26
Prytanis
Reading of
entrails
Secrets revealed,
announcements,
piping, trumpet
music, sacrifices,
reading of
entrails, paean,
prayer
Sacrifices, torch
procession,
feasting
A.D. 211/12
IE IV 1077
Prytanis
Mysteries,
sacrifices
Common
salvation
A.D. 213
IE III 974
Prytanis
Secrets revealed,
trumpet music,
piping
?
A.D. 214/15
IE IV 1057
Prytanis
Secrets revealed
?
A.D. 214
IE IV 1061
Prytanis
?
?
?
IE IV 1076
?
Announcements,
dance, piping,
trumpet music
?
A.D. 214/15+
IE IV 1060
Prytanis
?
Return to
family
Prytanis
Welfare
of Senate,
Roman
people,
Ephesians
Reverence
to Artemis
and emperor
Abbreviations
There is no universally accepted set of standard abbreviations for works of ancient
authors or modern periodicals and collections (especially of inscriptions and papyri).
Within this work, for the sake of those who do not read Greek or Latin, I generally
have translated the titles of ancient works into English (unless the ancient titles have
been so frequently transliterated into English that to translate them for the sake of
consistency would cause even more confusion). In the notes and bibliography, following standard practice I have converted abbreviated references to page numbers in nonEnglish-language articles and books from their original languages to English (unless
such references are part of the titles themselves): thus, for instance, references to German s. for seite (page) and Beibl. for Beiblatt (supplement page) or to Turkish s. for sayfa
(page or leaf ) have been changed to “p.” or “pp.” for “page” or “pages.” Abbreviations of
the most frequently cited periodicals and collections are listed below.
AJA
AJP
ANRW
AnzWien
BerMatÖAI
BMC
EA
FiE
FrGrH
HTR
IDidyma
IE
IG
IstMitt
IvE
IvM
IvP
IvS
JDAI
JÖAI
American Journal of Archaeology
American Journal of Philology
Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt
Anzeiger der Akademie der Wissenschaften in Wien
Berichte und Materialien des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts
British Museum Catalog of Greek Coins
Epigraphica Anatolica
Forschungen in Ephesos
Die Fragmente der Griechische Historiker
Harvard Theological Review
Die Inschriften von Didyma
Die Inschriften von Ephesos
Inscriptiones Graecae
Istanbuler Mitteilungen
Die Inschriften von Erythrai und Klazomenai
Inschriften von Milet
Die Inschriften von Pergamon
Die Inschriften von Smyrna
Jahrbuch des Kaiserlich Deutschen Archäologischen Instituts
Jahreshefte des Österreichischen Archäologischen Instituts
313
ABBREVIATIONS
314
JRA
JRS
REG
SEG
ZPE
Journal of Roman Archaeology
Journal of Roman Studies
Revue des études Grecques
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum
Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik
Notes
Chapter 1. Continuity in Change
1. For the location of Ortygia, see Map 2.
2. This tableau vivant of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos
is a literary composite. All of the rituals or artistic performances described are
epigraphically attested to have taken place at the mysteries during the second
century A.D., and the identities of all of the priests or artists who performed
the rituals or ceremonies in the tableau are also epigraphically documented. The
evidence for the attested rituals and ceremonies has been woven together into a
plausible sequence of events to convey some sense of how the celebrations of the
mysteries of Artemis at Ephesos as a whole may have been organized. What we
do not know is whether the sacred story (hieros logos) of Artemis’s birth, which
we are certain was associated with the mysteries from 29 B.C. at the latest, was
actually reenacted then or at any other time. For what we know took place on the
sixth of Thargelion (roughly early May) at the end of the second century A.D., see
Chapters 7 and 8.
3. Favonia Flaccilla’s thanks inscription is not fictional; see Chapter 9.
4. Parker (2007).
5. Karwiese (1995); Knibbe (1998).
6. The phrase comes from Beck (2006) pp. 26–28 and 72, who in turn has borrowed
the idea from the symbolist anthropology of Clifford Geertz.
7. Morley (2006) pp. 36–37.
8. By using the hyphenated modern formula “Graeco-Roman” here and subsequently, I am not claiming that the Greeks of Ephesos can or should be assimilated into a single undifferentiated mass in terms of identity. Rather, I use the
formula essentially to describe facts of chronology and power. Almost all of our
evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis in Ephesos derives from
the period after Ephesos, a Greek polis, was incorporated into the Roman province of Asia. It can be easily verified that, from the Ephesians’ perspective, their
city-state remained a polis after the Roman conquest, as it is described in innumerable inscriptions. For discussion of the “hyphenated” formula, see Alcock
(2002) p. 88.
9. Hansen (2006b) p. vii.
10. For Artemis Ephesia see IE III 669.6; 678.12; on Artemis’s popularity see Fleischer (1973); (1984) pp. 755–63; Bammer (1984); Talamo (1984); Roozenbeek
(1994) pp. 131–41; Purvis (2003) p. 75; for Ephesos as warden of Artemis, see Acts
XIX.35.
315
316
NOTES TO PAGES 6–8
11. Pausanias, IV.31.8.
12. For the coinage, see Fleischer (1973) map II; Horsley 4 (1987) p. 79; on the cults,
see Oster (1990) p. 1703; for the number, see Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 26.
13. Strabo, Geography IV.1.4.
14. Renan (1882) p. 579; Cumont (1923) p. 188; Burkert (1987) p. 3.
15. For Artemis as the tutelary goddess, see IE Ia 24B.8 and Horsley 4 (1987) no.
19, p. 78; as founder of the polis, see IE Ia 27.20 and IV 1398.3; as the ancestral
goddess, IE VI 2026.16; and for her epiphanies, IE Ia 24B.13–14. For the special
relationship between the goddess and the city, which he deems a “divinely directed covenant relationship,” see Oster (1990) p. 1700. Oster’s use of the biblically loaded term “covenant,” however, may push the interpretation of the evidence somewhat in the wrong direction, because the covenant of the god of
the Hebrews formed on Mount Sinai was at least at one time with a specific
people, and worship of Artemis Ephesia was open and available to anyone as far
as we know. But, I will argue, the evidence does support the idea that there was a
kind of unwritten but tacit cultic agreement (or ongoing negotiation) between
Artemis and the polis of Ephesos that was enacted and renewed each year during the celebrations of the mysteries that was based upon the logic of the votive
formula which I discuss below. On the potential and actual disadvantages of the
special relationship, see Dignas (2002) pp. 9, 141; and Kleijwegt (2002) p. 96.
16. Oster (1990) p. 1701; Williams (2007) p. 148.
17. IE Ia 24B.8 and Horsley 4 (1987) no. 19, p. 78; IE IV 1265; Engelmann (1991b)
p. 288.
18. For Paionios, see Vitruvius, Ten Books on Architecture Book 7, preface 16; for
the asylum, see Fleischer (2002) pp. 185–216; for the temple as the treasury of
Asia, see Berlin Papyri 13044v, columns 8–9; Aelius Aristides, Orations XXIII.24
(speaking of Ephesos itself ); Dio Chrysostom, XXXI.54; and Dignas (2002)
p. 141. For the best recent collections of essays on the Artemision and its excavation, see Seipel (2008) and esp. Muss (2008).
19. Athenaeus, Learned Banqueteers IV.183c; and Chapter 2 for the citizenship decrees put up on the temple.
20. Pliny, Natural History XXXIV.21.95.
21. Oster (1990) p. 1711.
22. Before Picard, Poener (1913) p. 241 ff. had discussed the evidence then available,
and after Picard, Keil (1939) pp. 119–28 published what remains a foundational
study of the cults of the prytaneion, including the cult of Artemis there. Since
these early works, however, a massive amount of new epigraphical and archaeological evidence has been discovered and published by the Austrian, Turkish, and
other scholars working at the site of Ephesos. For a beautifully produced history of the excavation and its scholarly results, see Wiplinger and Wlach (1996).
Scherrer (2000) is a very useful guide to the site.
23. The inscriptions are published in the series Inschriften Griechischer Städte aus
Kleinasien under the title Die Inschriften von Ephesos, 1a (1979); II (1979); III–VI
(1980); VII, 1–2 (1981); VIII, 1–2 (1984) (IE); new inscriptions published after
Notes to Pages 8–10
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
317
the completion of the IE volumes are to be found in the successive volumes of
JÖAI. New and sometimes improved readings of these epigraphical texts can
be found in the volumes SEG. The topographical, architectural, and archaeological studies contained in FiE, published by the Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut in Vienna, are crucial to this study. Also important are the many
essays published in the volume celebrating one hundred years of Austrian excavations of Ephesos, 100 Jahre Österreichische Forschungen in Ephesos (1999) edited
by H. Friesinger and F. Krinzinger. Further essays are published in Steine und
Wege: Festschrift für Dieter Knibbe (1999) edited by P. Scherrer, H. Taeuber, and
H. Thür. For the many specialist studies related to the ongoing excavations of the
site, see the select modern bibliography.
It is worth considering that if we had evidence for a modern cult or its festival, it
would need to stretch back from the present to around 1500 or the beginning of
the early modern period to equal the period of time for which we have evidence
for the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries in Ephesos.
Strabo, Geography XIV.1.20.
IE Ia 26.
IE V 1449.
IE V 1448; 1415; 1452; 1455; 1450; 1453 (order dealt with in Chapter 2).
IE VII, 2, 4102.
Geography XIV.1.20. The other crucial nonfictive account(s) can be found in the
Annals of Tacitus, Books III.60–63 and IV.55–56.
See IE II 459; V 1522; 1523; 1524.
IE IV 1001 ff.
IE IV 1001–45; after Knibbe’s publication of the lists of Kouretes from the prytaneion in FiE IX/1/1 (1981), early in 1982 another list of Kouretes was discovered
along the road between the Theater and the stadium; Knibbe also published the
new list (1983) pp. 125–27. This new list probably should be dated to the reign of
Antoninus Pius or Marcus Aurelius. For the dating, see Chapter 6. For the building inscriptions from the prytaneion, see also Engelmann (1985) pp. 216–19 and
FiE IX/4 (2010), esp. pp. 20–25, 48, 52, 214–16.
IE IV 1046–53; 1054A; 1055; 1057; 1061.
Although we do not possess lists of Kouretes and cult attendants for every year
over that two-hundred-year span, what has been discovered thus far, as meticulously put into a relative chronological order and studied by Knibbe, nevertheless
constitutes one of the richest troves of evidence that we have for any priesthood
or association of any kind of cult within the Roman empire over time.
Within (or specifically about five miles away from) Rome itself at Dea Dia’s
lucus, the cult of Dea Dia is, of course, illuminated to an extraordinary degree
by the inscriptions related to the Fratres Arvales (now part of the epigraphical
collection of the Museo Nazionale Romano), particularly those concerned with
expiatory rites (piacula) during the Roman empire, which have been subjected
to a series of studies of outstanding depth and quality, above all those composed
by Scheid (1975); (1990a); (1990b); and for the texts and translations (1998).
318
NOTES TO PAGE 10
The seven bronze tablets known today as the Tabulae Iguvinae, or Gubbio
Tables, provide another, more chronologically limited parallel case, of great interest for their liturgical contents. They were written in an Etruscan adapted alphabet and Latin from the end of the third century until the end of the first century B.C. and describe in great detail the ceremonies of expiation (piaculum)
and lustration (lustratio in campo) (among other duties) to be carried out by the
Atiedii (a collegium composed of optimates from Iuvugium and other Umbrian
communities). They were found around A.D. 1444 near the Roman theater of
Iguvium and now are exhibited in the chapel of the Palazzo dei Consoli in Gubbio. For the tablets, among major studies, see Devoto (1940); (1977); Poultney
(1959); Prosdocimi (1984); Ancillotti and Cerri (1996); Sisani (2001).
And finally, there are the lists of priests at the temple of Zeus above the Corycian Cave in Rough Kilikia, dating from the third century B.C. into the Roman
imperial period, from which we are able to derive a great deal of information
about contemporary letter forms, Luwian names, and the significance of such
cults for secular rule; for the latter, see now Gotter (2008) pp. 89–103.
Rich as the Ephesian material is, as we shall see, it does not allow us to reconstruct fundamental aspects of the mysteries, such as the banquets or sacrifices, in
anything like the detail that is possible based upon the Arval inscriptions or the
Gubbio Tables, or to reconstruct the priesthoods of the Ephesian cult as comprehensively as that of the priest of Zeus in Kilikia.
36. Paradoxically and disappointingly, although we know a great deal about those
prytaneis, priestesses of Artemis, Kouretes, and cult attendants who “completed”
and performed the mysteries of Artemis from the reign of Tiberius into the midthird century A.D., we know next to nothing about the mustai (initiates) themselves, for whom the mystic rites and sacrifices were performed. For the cult of
Dionysos, on the other hand, we have several lists of initiates (for example, IE
1601) but far less evidence about the organization of the cult and the priests who
supervised the celebrations of the mysteries. But we take what evidence we can
get, should use what we have, and hope that the result is not just a net or a series
of holes with string around them, the brilliant metaphor that Gordon (2007)
p. 394 has proposed for any story about the Roman cult of Mithras. Acknowledging from the beginning what we do and do not have is not a rhetorical strategy of
procatalepsis but rather a statement about reality. For a summary of the evidence
for the other mystery cults in the polis, see Appendix 1.
37. I use the modern catchall English term of ritual, meaning “repetitive, representational behavior that often has to be decoded” essentially as Bremmer (1994)
has defined it (p. 39) in full awareness that there is no such equivalent category
in ancient Greek and that what we identify as ritual acts and/or processes were
in practice heterogeneous phenomena that the Greeks included under a number
of discrete categories, such as ta nomizomena, or “the customary things.” One
of the essential assumptions of this study is that whatever we now call the actions that occurred during the celebration of the mysteries (such as prayers or
dances or the pouring of libations), what the mysteries “were” only can be in-
Notes to Pages 10–11
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
319
ferred from our evidence for what the Ephesians did (or wrote what they did in
inscriptions and literary texts) during the celebrations that they called the mysteries of Artemis. As such, my approach is in harmony with one of the fundamental assumptions of anthropological “praxis” theorists, such as Bell (1997) pp. 83,
164, that we need to jettison an all- embracing category of ritual, of which the
Greek mysteries are usually considered to be a kind of subset, in favor of opening
up the study of the form, logic, and strategy of ritual practices in specific places
and times. There is no intrinsic, cross-cultural understanding of what ritual itself
constitutes. We must start our analysis of all religious phenomena from within
the linguistic (and other) categories of the culture we are studying. The anthropological or sociological model(s) of what Graeco-Roman mysteries are, in other
words, should come from ethnographic or historical study and not the other way
around. Otherwise, we reify the mysteries before we know what they comprise,
and we run the risk of metamorphosizing the Ephesian Kouretes into Lafitau’s
Sauvages Amériquains (1724), Jeanmaire’s panther men of West Africa (1939), or
Turner’s Ndembu people (1967), rather than the Graeco-Roman socioeconomic
elites that they really turn out to be. Most recently, among scholars involved in
the study of city life in Roman Asia Minor, Harland (2003a) and Graf (2003b)
pp. 9–15 have articulated clearly why an approach based first upon the evidence
itself is necessary. In the end, the stubborn “resilience of facts and data” (Graf,
p. 8) belonging to the ancient context(s) requires us to trim our theoretical sails.
Rives (2007) p. 49; Rüpke (2007a) p. 87.
Ando (2008) p. x, quoting the work of Scheid.
Rüpke (2007a) pp. 110, 164.
For the social function of writing in Graeco-Roman society, see, of course, the
seminal works of MacMullen (1982) pp. 233–46; and Woolf (1996) pp. 22–39;
Beard (1991) pp. 35–58.
To echo Gordon (2003) p. 72 discussing writing and its effects upon Roman cults.
IE IV 1054 = Ia 47; 1055B; 1056; 1070; 1071; 1072; 1073; 1075; 1076; 1077; 1078;
1079; 1080; 1080A; 1080B.
Annals III.60–3; IV.55–6.
Obviously the definition of myth is contested. For an informative and sensitive
recent discussion of the definition, especially within oral cultures, see Rüpke
(2007a) p. 128. In this work the word is used to describe tales that are traditional,
of collective importance (“they are meant for public performance and not a vehicle for private views”), and are transferable, following Bremmer (1994) p. 57.
Within this broad definition the main emphasis here will be upon the collective
aspect and correspondences between the tale about Artemis’s birth in Ortygia
conveyed to writers such as Strabo (for which see Chapter 3) and the rituals performed during the celebrations of the mysteries. Among other scholars, Burkert
(1987) p. 73 rightly has drawn our attention to the fact that “each divinity of a
mystery cult has a specific myth to which he or she is intimately bound.” This
generalization, which was or has been accepted implicitly if not explicitly even by
scholars such as Nilsson, who have tended to discount the significance of myth
320
46.
47.
48.
49.
NOTES TO PAGES 11–12
for Graeco-Roman religion, will have important implications for our understanding also of the intimate connection between the Kouretes and Artemis’s
cult.
In terms of the sheer volume of evidence, there is a fair amount of epigraphical
evidence from the late fourth to very early third centuries (from around 302 to
294 B.C.), very little for the period between 133 and 29 B.C., and then gradually more and more inscriptional evidence from the reign of Tiberius to that
of Antoninus Pius. This pattern is almost exactly paralleled by the accumulation of evidence for the worship of Demeter at Pergamon. As Christine Thomas
(1998) pp. 277–97 has shown, during the “Hellenistic” period inscriptions from
the sanctuary attesting to the worship of Demeter and Kore in Pergamon are
rather rare; most of the epigraphical evidence for the celebration of the mysteries comes from the mid-to-late second century A.D. The parallel phenomenon
may be attributable to changes in epigraphical habits, but I suspect that in both
cases we are looking at a habit that is the result of a more important change: in
both Pergamon and Ephesos, as we shall see, it was wealthy Roman citizens who
wished to advertise their participation in and authority over these festivals, and
had the means to do it.
In the case of the Mithraic mysteries, Beck (2006) pp. 20–25 has persuasively laid
out both some of the merits, and also the less well-acknowledged shortcomings,
of relying too heavily upon one form of evidence in reconstructing the meaning and function of the mysteries of Mithras. In this study all available forms of
evidence are afforded equal heuristic status. At the same time, it must be conceded from the start that most of our evidence for all aspects of the celebration
of the mysteries of Artemis is epigraphical. But as Beck himself states (p. 20),
“One begins, rightly, where the data is thickest, most voluminous, and most complex.” Moreover, unlike the case of the Mithraic mysteries, for instance, as Beck
pp. 44–64 has shown, in Ephesos there is not the problem of having to interpret
or adjust for any Neoplatonic filtering of the evidence, since almost none of the
epigraphical texts shows any sign of Neoplatonic or philosophizing influence.
None of the Ephesian inscriptions relevant to the mysteries of Artemis was produced by anyone interested in reinterpreting the mysteries allegorically or philosophically as far as we can tell.
For how such texts construct literacy and various audiences, see Elsner (1996a);
Corbier (2006), both focused mainly on Rome; and Burrell (2009) on Ephesos.
The vast majority of the inscriptions related in any fashion to the celebration of
the mysteries of Artemis from the Roman imperial period relate to the contributions to the festival of members of the governing order of the polis. Thus, the inscriptions reflect and advertise the piety and beliefs of the members of that order,
and, as we shall see, are part of an evolving dialogue in the city about authority
and power.
For a brilliant example of how the rhetoric or self-presentation of a number of
related inscriptions largely from Asia Minor can be analyzed, see the work of
Ma (1999).
Notes to Pages 12–14
321
50. As the inscriptions in the Museo Maffeiano of the Marquis Scipione Maffei in
Verona have been felicitously called in Bolla (2010) p. 3.
51. For the idea of works of art as events, see B. Berenson, quoted by de Montebello
(2008) D7.
52. Vermeule (1996) p. 2; Knibbe (1997); Greene (2006) p. 118.
53. Cohen (1994); Babic (2005) p. 85.
54. Beck (2006) p. 72.
55. This is not the place to provide a comprehensive bibliography of collections of
evidence about the most important mystery cults and recent studies of those
cults; even if such a bibliography were presented here, it would be out of date as
soon as this work appeared. References to the most important collections and
studies, however, appear in the notes of this work and the select modern bibliography. There are also brief but excellent bibliographies of the main secondary
works related to some of the major mystery cults in Kloft (1999) pp. 122–24; at
the end of the individual chapters in Cosmopoulos (2003); in Casadio and Johnston (2009a) pp. 325–57; and in Bowden (2010) pp. 237–48.
56. Cosmopoulos (2003).
57. Most recently, see Beck (2006).
58. For example, Casadio and Johnston (2009a).
59. See also the learned, beautifully illustrated, and compelling comparative study of
Bowden (2010), which uses contemporary anthropological theory to explain the
appeal of the cults treated.
60. Burkert (1987) pp. 2–3. Although Burkert does not explore the sociological background, I believe that a case can be made that the development of these stereotypes
should be seen as part of the process whereby nineteenth- and twentieth-century
western European scholars both consciously and unconsciously negotiated perceived racial and ethnic similarities and differences between Europeans and nonEuropeans within the broader context of European imperialism and colonialism.
61. In his chapter “Mycenaean Religion at Eleusis,” Cosmopoulos (2003) pp. 1–24
has argued persuasively that the archaeological evidence excavated from Megaron B at Eleusis is wholly compatible with the hypothesis that during the Mycenaean period a ritual involving libations, animal sacrifices, and the offering
of votive (?) figurines could have occurred on the platform of Megaron B; but,
as Cosmopoulos rightly has concluded (pp. 19–20), it is another argument altogether to attempt to show that this Mycenaean- era ritual activity was some
kind of precursor of any later ritual activity at the site. The celebration of the
Eleusinian mysteries at the most famous site of a mystery cult on the mainland
of Greece cannot be traced back earlier than the archaic period at present, despite
the speculations of many scholars.
62. For reinforcement of this point with respect to the mysteries of Mithras during the Roman period, see Clauss (2000) p. 7: “no direct continuity, either of
a general kind or in specific details, can be demonstrated between the PersoHellenistic worship of Mithra and the Roman mysteries of Mithras.”
63. For additional support for this view with respect to the mysteries of Mithras, see
322
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
NOTES TO PAGES 15–16
Clauss (2000) p. 168: “To raise the issue of a competition between the two religions is to assume that Christians and Mithraists had the same aims. Such a view
exaggerates the missionary zeal—itself a Christian idea—of the other mystery
cults.”
Homeric Hymn to Demeter lines 480–82. Following various sociological theorists, including Van Gennep, Eliade, Young, and Popp, Burkert (1987) p. 8 defined initiations as a special category of status dramatizations or ritual changes
of status. Alternate definitions can be found in Dodd and Faraone (2003). For a
functional approach to the interpretation of rituals in the civic communities of
Greece, see Chaniotis (2005a) pp. 144–46. In this book how the rituals that comprised the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis are defined and functioned is
inferred from the actions (or publicly inscribed representations of those actions)
of those who celebrated them. The Eleusinian mysteries, which in some sense
did promise initiates a better afterlife, are an exception to the general rule. But
even initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries, as far as the initiation ritual can be
understood, never promised that death itself could be avoided; for a sensible and
balanced discussion of the role of salvation within mystery cults, see Rives (2007)
pp. 173–74.
Casel (1962 ed.) pp. 6, 33–34; cited by Bell (1997) p. 220.
I use the term “civic religion” here to describe the “embedded” characteristic of
Graeco-Roman religion, meaning that religious practices and beliefs were embedded in all aspects of society; sacred and secular spheres were not separate. For
this reason, what we call Greek religion for the sake of our convenience—in the
absence of any corresponding ancient Greek term—could be classified, following
Bell (1997) p. 198, among the religious systems of those “traditional” societies (as
opposed to secular societies), in which “there is no such thing as religion per se,”
since religious beliefs and practices “cannot be separated from how people organize their families, govern themselves, engage in hunting, agriculture, or trade,
and so on.”
Especially, Harland (2003b) pp. 481–99.
Ephesians XII.2.
Bowden (2010) pp. 207–11.
Burkert (1987) p. 4.
Burkert (1987) pp. 12–15.
Mikalson (2005) pp. 27, 49; Burkert (1987) p. 13. Burkert gives the formula as da
ut dem, but in the context of an example of a worshipper who is seeking further
help after setting up the votive gift. But it is clear from his example that he too
assumes that the worshipper first must make a promise to fulfill a vow in order to
obtain his or her objective from the immortals. For more on this common version
of the votive formula, see Pulleyn (1997) p. 17 n. 5; Rüpke (2007a) pp. 149–50.
On Piety fragment 12; cited by Mikalson (2005) p. 26.
Pulleyn (1997) pp. 4–5, 37.
Burkert (1987) p. 15. From a theoretical point of view, it was the anthropologist
Tylor (1958 ed.) pp. 461–62, 483 who most famously used the votive formula (do
Notes to Pages 16–17
76.
77.
78.
79.
323
ut des) to identify the logic of “the gift theory” that explains the human-divine
transactions that occur during such rituals.
As such, from a comparative perspective, mystery cults are composed of rituals,
during which what most scholars consider to be the dominant style of GraecoRoman polytheism, “orthopraxy,” meaning an emphasis upon correct action,
melds with “orthodoxy” or an emphasis upon having the correct belief. I will
show in this book that the ritual practices of the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries implied beliefs, but the beliefs, for instance about salvation, are not necessarily ones that are theologically congruent with those of the Abrahamic tradition(s).
Burkert (1987) pp. 11, 4.
Whatever their claims might be, all scholars understand that diachronic and synchronic approaches to the evidence for these cults ultimately must depend upon
each other. For some of the methodological issues with respect to the study of
the cult of Mithras, which he sees as coterminous with the mysteries of Mithras
for all intents and purposes, see Beck (2006) esp. pp. 14–15.
Students of the development of various anthropological, sociological, and comparative approaches to the study of ritual during the nineteenth and twentieth centuries immediately will recognize that my own approach to the study of
Artemis’s mysteries has been influenced by and is at times congruous with aspects
of the theories that scholars have advanced to explain rituals in other cultures
during other time periods. The ghosts of various functionalists, phenomenologists, and symbolists hover over my interpretation of the mysteries, demanding
the life-giving blood of citation. My explanation, for instance, of the purpose
of Lysimachos’s rearrangement of the mysteries and sacrifices after 294 B.C. in
Chapter 3 owes something to the work of Radcliffe-Brown (1964), especially his
emphasis upon ritual’s social role in securing and maintaining the unity of the
group. Elsewhere, however, my treatment of the possible initiations of the neoi,
or “youths,” of the polis into the mysteries during the late first century B.C. in
part fits Van Gennep’s theory of the three-stage sequence or schema of initiation
rites found in The Rites of Passage (1960 ed.), which in turn was fundamentally
grounded in the work of Durkheim (1912) (despite the fact that Van Gennep was
also implicitly, if not explicitly, a critic of Durkheim and his work).
Nevertheless, within the body of the study I have not interpreted the evidence
consistently or rigorously with any particular past or present anthropological,
sociological, comparative, or evolutionary model or theory in mind for two reasons. First, I fear that interpreting the evidence for the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis with models or theories of rituals from other societies or disciplines in mind from the beginning would lead to the introduction of yet another
one of those scholarly interpretive filters that has distorted our understanding of
mystery cults in the past. Having got rid of the distorting filter of Christianizing
the mysteries, it would be a step backward to interpret them only through the
lens of phenomenology or “the Church of the Virus” (that is, memetic theory),
for the sake of consistency. Deeper and better understanding should never be
324
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
NOTES TO PAGES 17–20
sacrificed on the altar of theoretical consistency—at least by historians. Second,
I believe that it is at least worth trying the historical and contextual approach to
ritual(s) in a case where we have abundant, if somewhat inconsistent, epigraphical evidence for an ancient mystery cult over more than half a millennium, some
literary accounts, and an enormous amount of relevant archaeological data about
the setting of the cult.
This work then is not an argument against the insights into the interpretation
of ritual that historians may find in anthropological, sociological, comparative,
or biological/evolutionary studies. It is rather (I hope) a kind of theoretically
aware, historical case study from which scholars in other disciplines may find data
to help support or qualify their models and theories.
The phrase (slightly altered) with which Jonathan Z. Smith concluded his stimulating and suggestive Drudgery Divine: On the Comparison of Early Christianities and the Religions of Late Antiquity (1990)—a book primarily concerned (it
should not be forgotten) with debunking the Protestant hegemony (“Protestant
anti-Catholic apologetics” p. 34) over the comparison between early Christianity
and the religions of late antiquity.
Van Gennep (1960 ed.); Turner (1974).
Of course, identifying how the mysteries were celebrated does not mean that we
can understand the experience(s) of those who took part in them or what meaning(s) or purpose(s) they applied to their experiences. But it does not follow
from this that those who organized the celebrations did not think that the festival itself lacked a purpose or meaning; and surely the ways in which they structured the festival created the framework from within which a range of meanings
might be constructed. For instance, if the organizers of the festival presented
Artemis as a goddess of salvation through the introduction of an image of her as a
savior goddess (Soteira) at the festival, it would be absurd to claim that issues concerning salvation were not relevant to the celebration of the festival at the time.
Among performance theorists, beginning with Bateson (1978), such “framing”
of activities and messages has been seen as setting up an interpretive framework
within which later or contemporary acts are understood.
Burkert (1996) pp. 136–38.
IE IV 1234; Horsley 1 (1981) no. 5, pp. 25–29 = SEG 1355 and 1356 on dedications
to Zeus Hypsistos from Phrygia; and Rüpke (2007a) p. 14 for the phenomenon
generally.
Burkert (1987) p. 13.
For the classic article on the subject, see van Straten (1981) pp. 65–151.
Rüpke (2007a) p. 7.
On Laws II.26.
The Art of Love I.637: “Expedit esse deos, et, ut expedit, esse putemus.”
Rüpke (2007a) p. 65.
IDidyma 496A; cited by Cole (2008) p. 55.
For this point generally, see Rives (2007) p. 56.
IE IV 1060, lines 1–8. For the text, see Chapter 9, note 50.
Notes to Pages 20–21
325
94. Knibbe (1981) p. 75.
95. Gordon (2003) p. 78.
96. Inscriptions put up by prytaneis such as Favonia Flaccilla, thanking the gods for
returning her safe and sound to her family after she had performed all the mysteries, of course also were not very subtly coded messages to the public, drawing
attention to the wealth of the prytaneis, which made the performance of all the
mysteries possible. One of the themes of this book will be the way in which the
private wealth of families made the traditional, civic religion of Ephesos viable
over time.
97. Rüpke (2007a) pp. 149–50.
98. For this point with respect to worshippers of Asclepios, see Naiden (2005) p. 80.
99. Works and Days 533 ff.; Pulleyn (1997) p. 13.
100. Burkert (1996) p. 132.
101. For the expectations on initiates into the mysteries of Mithras, see Clauss (2000)
p. 141: “The god’s aid was expected not merely in the distant future but here and
now, in the midst of life.”
102. This was perhaps the case because in general, as Mikalson (2005) pp. 190–96 has
reminded us, the ancient Greeks did not seem to envision a meaningful existence
after death during which conscious souls received rewards or punishments for the
deeds they had committed while they were alive. If, for instance, we use Homer’s
description of Odysseus’s encounter with the souls of the dead in Erebos as one
influential example of how the afterlife was imagined, we might recall that when
Odysseus finds Teiresias in Erebos, the seer asks him why he has left the blazing
sun to see the cold dead and joyless land (Odyssey Book XI, lines 92–94); and,
most famously, when Odysseus finds Achilles, Achilles asks him how he found
his way down to Hades where the senseless dead live (lines 475–76) and tells
Odysseus that he considers that it would be better to work as a thete for a poor
farmer than to rule over the dead (lines 489–91).
Although there appear to be inconsistencies in Homer’s presentation of the
underworld, as Sourvinou-Inwood (1995) p. 76 ff. has pointed out, the Homeric
underworld is generally dark, gloomy, and cold, and the dead are not happy:
think of a crowded ride on Manhattan’s A train, on a cold winter day during the
1970s, when the heat and lights had gone off. The Homeric dead are “bereft of
any power of mind or body” and are “unable to escape Hades” as Pulleyn (1997)
p. 116 has concluded. They are not suffering punishments or enjoying rewards for
good deeds, and the gods do not seem to care to change anything about this situation.
Obviously, over the history of ancient Greek civilization alternative views of
what happened after death developed, and those views changed over time; some
souls end up in the Elysian Fields, others do not. But given the representation
of the afterlife that we find in the national epic(s), it is hardly surprising that
many living ancient Greeks wanted the favor of the gods here and now. One of
the most important questions considered in this book is whether there is any
evidence that the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis at any time offered
326
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
NOTES TO PAGES 21–22
initiates some kind of different understanding of what bodily death represented
or what awaited mortals after death, as seems to be implied in the intriguing
but controversial “Orphic” (?) tablets from northern Greece, Crete, Sicily, and
southern Italy. Did initiation into the mysteries of Artemis (or other divinities),
for instance, enable initiates to do more than send up blessings to the living from
beneath the earth, as the dead were commonly believed to be able to do by the
mid-fifth century B.C.?
Emphasized by Burkert (1987) pp. 14, 29.
At the beginning of his discussion of Artemis of Ephesos, Oster (1990) p. 1699
rightly sets out a crucial point of methodology and procedure about the study of
Artemis that is just as appropriate to remember today as when Oster first published his work, and, I would argue, is relevant to the study of every facet of this
cult, including the celebrations of the mysteries: “Because of the duration of the
tenure of Artemis as the regnant deity in Ephesus, and since, attendant to this
regality, she was so inextricably tied to the changing fortunes and misfortunes of
the city of Ephesus, one must be careful not to collapse the span of her reign (at
least one millennium) and the vicissitudes of her cult (under Anatolian, Persian,
Greek, Roman, and Christian influences) into one synoptic construct.” Oster
then goes on to cite the passage in Strabo’s Geography XIV.1.23, in which he discusses the temple of Artemis and changes to the cultic personnel attached to the
temple. The passage is worth quoting again: “But though at the present some
of their usages are being preserved, yet others are not; but the temple remains
a place of refuge, the same as in earlier times, although the limits of the refuge
have often been changed.” In fact, the burden of proof in the case of this cult and
all others that lasted from the early archaic period until the later Roman empire
should be upon those who claim continuity of theology, personnel, and practice.
Burkert (1987) p. 14.
Dawkins (2008 ed.) pp. 39–41.
Blackmore (1999); Shennan (2002); Dawkins (2008 ed.) pp. 222–34.
Burkert (1996) p. 154.
Such “pragmatism” is not a sign of a lack of religiosity. Rather, the apparently
pragmatic quality of the Ephesians’ piety was a function of the overall circumstances of the difficult world in which the Ephesians operated. Given the precarious conditions of their world, including the wars, droughts, earthquakes, and
plagues, which we shall describe in this study, the Ephesians, and the ancient
Greeks and Romans generally, had little choice but to be pragmatic in the way
that they organized their lives and religious practices. According to recent studies
of the imperial- era cemeteries around Rome, for instance, most people died between the ages of twenty and forty and few people made it to what we consider now to be middle age: see Catalano et al. (2001) pp. 355–63; Dyson (2010)
pp. 270–71. Given the demographic realities of the ancient Mediterranean world,
Greek religion was and had to be an adaptive organism of knowledge-creation.
Bremmer (1994) p. 4.
Notes to Pages 23–25
327
111. For Apollo and his epithets, see Bruit Zaidman and Schmitt Pantel (1992)
pp. 191–98; Graf (2009) pp. 84–86.
112. Pulleyn (1997) p. 110 n. 38, citing Jacobi (1930) pp. 14, 17.
113. Pulleyn (1997) pp. 106–7.
114. Mikalson (2005) p. 33.
115. Belayche (2007) p. 289; Burkert (1987) p. 15.
116. For the development and use of the term “recipe” as an explanatory metaphor in
a cultural context, see Krause (1985) pp. 30–31; Schiffer and Skibo (1987) p. 597;
O’Brien and Shennan (2010a) pp. 8–9.
117. Of course we often lack information about the specific context(s) that would
allow us to understand the individual stories as fully as we would like to, but that
difficulty in no way affects the validity of the methodological principle. For the
difficulties, see Rives (2007) p. 93.
118. Thus the approach taken here is more or less consistent with the “cognitivist” approach to religion adapted by Beck (2006) pp. 89–101.
119. See Bowden (2010) pp. 6–25, 137–47 on the different types of public and private
initiations.
120. A point rightly emphasized by Graf (2003a) p. 241.
121. Jost (2003) esp. p. 143.
122. Bonnechere (2003) pp. 169–92.
123. Graf (2003a) p. 242; Bowden (2010) p. 212.
124. Clauss (2000) p. 16 has seen and represented the interpretive problems of the
ahistorical approach with respect to the mysteries of Mithras very well: “The cult
is found from Britain to the Black Sea, from the Rhine to the Nile, over a period
of almost 300 years, during which conditions in the Empire altered considerably.
This means that, even if the main tenets, the most important features, remained
the same, the mysteries must have undergone many changes. Change was all the
easier in that there was no higher-level organization, so that the cult was free to
alter in accordance with the wishes of its members in their small congregations.
For that very reason, it is unsatisfactory to speak of the mysteries of Mithras as a
unified religion. To do so makes things simpler, but it also gives a false impression.
No doubt we cannot avoid doing so; we should nevertheless remain alert to the
problem.”
125. For the interpretive problems that have arisen in the study of the Eleusinian mysteries as a result of the intrusion of culturally determined assumptions, see the
perceptive essay of Sourvinou-Inwood (2003) pp. 25–49.
126. Brenk (1989) pp. 289–92; Bremmer (1994) p. 84.
127. For another implicit critique of the ahistorical approach to the Eleusinia and the
mysteries of Isis in Greece and Rome, see Pakkanen (1996) pp. 65–83. Pakkanen
has a particularly rich discussion of the linguistic definition of the term “mysteries” (pp. 65–68). But it is misconceived to attempt to define what ta musteria
were generally, on the basis of either etymologies or the generalizations of commentators such as Plato, Aristotle, Pausanias, or Clement of Alexandria. Rather,
328
128.
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.
134.
135.
136.
NOTES TO PAGES 25–27
just as who the gods themselves are can only be construed in context, because
the gods are polueideis (appearing in many forms) and multiplices (changeable),
as Ando (2008) p. 57 and Graf (2009) p. 83 have rightly observed, what Greeks
or Greek-speaking (or Greek-writing) Romans called “the mysteries” can only be
inferred from the evidence for the cult(s) in prayers, sacrifices, and processions
on a specific, case-by-case basis over time.
At Eleusis, for instance, as Clinton (2003) p. 51 has argued persuasively, the
celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries can be broken down into three stages of
initiation identified by distinct terms: muesis (preliminary initiation), telete (the
proper festival of the musteria), and epopteia (the viewing of the mysteries a year
later by the mustai). Parallel terminology describing such stages of initiation does
not occur in the evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos, and yet the Ephesians called what they did the “mysteries and sacrifices” too.
Moreover, vocabulary that clearly belongs to a range of terms associated with the
performance of the mysteries in one context clearly has quite different semantic
significances in others: the conjugated forms of the verb ekteleo, for instance, are
used in Ephesian inscriptions by prytaneis such as Ulpia Euodia Mudiane (IE III
989.9–10) or Favonia Flaccilla (IV 1060.7) to commemorate the fact that they
completed (that is, paid for and supervised) the performance of rites and sacrifices that constituted ta musteria. But in other inscriptions from the same time
period, similar or even the very same forms of the same verb are used to describe
the completion of the public offices and all the liturgies in the city (III 661.29–
30), the high priesthood (III 721.5–6), and even the two Essenia (III 957.12). It
is only from the wider linguistic and historical context that we can tell what the
mysteries of Artemis comprised at any time.
See Price (1999) p. 78; for mystery cults generally celebrated within the civic
framework in Arcadia, see Jost (2003) esp. p. 146.
Homeric Hymn to Demeter lines 270–74; and thus making this mystery cult a
rare exception to the general rule that Greek religion was not a revealed religion.
It would be worth pursuing the question of how many mystery cults were based
upon such revealed rites as compared with nonmystery cults. Andocides, 116;
Clinton (1974) p. 10 n. 5; for the integration of the Eleusinia into Athenian polis
religion and change within the cult, see Sourvinou-Inwood (2000b) p. 55; (2003)
esp. pp. 26–27.
IG I3 78 lines 14–15.
IG I3 78 lines 10–12; and see Price (1999) p. 80 and n. 46 for bibliography.
See SEG X.24; Clinton (1974) pp. 8 n. 1, 14 n. 19.
Aristotle, Athenian Constitution LVII.1; Clinton (1980) pp. 258–88; Rhodes
(1981) pp. 636–37.
Price (1999) p. 78.
For the date of possible composition, see Griffiths (1975) p. 10.
It is perhaps even more important to set out here this evocative, sequential account of Lucius’s initiation in some detail precisely because we sadly have no par-
Notes to Pages 27–28
137.
138.
139.
140.
141.
142.
143.
144.
145.
146.
147.
329
allel first-person narrative, fictive or nonfictive, of an initiation into the mysteries
of Artemis at Ephesos, despite all of our evidence. At Ephesos, inscriptions and
the archaeological evidence will allow us to reconstruct the sequence of rituals
and how they changed, but not how any individual was affected by taking part in
them.
“sed noctis obscurae non obscuris imperiis evidenter monuit advenisse diem
mihi semper optabilem, quo me maxumi voti compotiret, quantoque sumptu
deberem procurare supplicamentis” (XI.22).
“ipsumque Mithram illum suum sacerdotem praecipuum divino quodam stellarum consortio, ut aiebat, mihi coniunctum, sacrorum ministrum decernit”
(XI.22).
There also were halls of some kind attached to the temple of Artemis the Savior
in Ortygia, where the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos were celebrated.
It was not the case therefore that all mystery cults, whether organized by poleis
or offered by private initiators, lacked written sources required for the proper
completion of initiations. For private initiations that were assumed by Ptolemy
IV Philopator between 221 and 205 B.C. to depend upon the existence of a sacred
text in the case of the rites of Dionysos, see, for example, Corpus des ordonnances
des Ptolémées 29, cited by Bowden (2010) p. 137, who documents several cases
(pp. 138–40) from the fifth and fourth centuries B.C. in which itinerant priests
and seers used books in their mystic rituals. And the case can (and will) be made
that the epigraphical lists of Ephesian Kouretes should be considered written
sources of traditional knowledge about publicly authorized and organized mysteries.
For the ubiquity of baths in the cities of the Roman provinces during the second
century A.D., see Fagan (1999) pp. 128–75, and particularly the chart on p. 135,
which shows a dramatic rise in bath benefactions and restorations from around
A.D. 98 to 192.
Ando (2008) p. 141 draws attention to the more locative (as opposed to utopian)
nature of the cult of Isis described in Book XI of the Metamorphoses. See also
Bowden (2010) pp. 165–67, who argues for the comic nature of the book but not
as a satire of the cult of Isis or its description of Lucius’s initiation. In Ephesos
too, the polis provided the physical setting for at least some of the ceremonies
that constituted the celebration of the mysteries and made changes to that setting
in light of broader architectural developments within the city, from the fourth
century B.C. through the end of the second century A.D. at least.
Clauss (2000) pp. 22, 42.
For the inscription, see Vermaseren (1956–60) no. 423; also cited by Burkert
(1987) p. 16; for a good, brief summary of the results of recent(ish) research on
the mysteries of Mithras, see Beck (1996) pp. 176–85.
Vermaseren (1956–60) no. 707.
For this point, see Beck (1996) p. 178.
Vermaseren (1956–60) nos. 511 and 59314; Beck (1996) p. 178.
330
NOTES TO PAGE 29
148. For example, M. Antonius Victorinus, aedilis (one of four magistrates) of the
colony of Aquincum in Pannonia Inferior; see Vermaseren (1956–60) nos. 1751–
54.
149. Beck (2006) p. 74; Bowden (2010) pp. 196–97.
150. Gordon (2007) p. 396. Within the polis of Ephesos, although the mysteries of
Artemis were celebrated in a grove outside the city walls, the home of some of
the best-documented celebrants, the so-called Kouretes, was the prytaneion, a
new structure of the Augustan era, right in the heart of the upper city; and by the
middle of the second century A.D., the Kouretes constituted a very significant
bloc of voters within the town council of Ephesos.
151. As I think has been shown repeatedly and convincingly by Sourvinou-Inwood
(2003) pp. 25–49.
152. Sourvinou-Inwood (1990) pp. 295–322.
153. As Bremmer (1994) p. 44 has pointed out, there was no Greek term for “initiation” per se. Thus, to sustain the claim that initiations in the modern anthropological sense of rites of transition were integral to the mysteries, we need to
show that such rites characterized the celebrations of the mysteries over time.
At the same time we should keep our minds open to the possibility that rites of
transition and cyclical rites can coexist and/or there can be a change of emphasis from one to the other in the course of the history of a festival. At one time,
in other words, the evidence may support the idea that the mysteries focused on
rites of initiation and then at another time on cyclical issues (or other purposes
altogether).
154. For the celebration of the Eleusinia, Clinton’s 1974 study of the Eleusinian priesthoods remains indispensable and a gold mine of relevant comparative data for
this study. Indeed, compared with the evidence Clinton was able to marshal for
the study of the Eleusinian mysteries with respect to topics such as the stole and
strophion (or garment and twisted cloth headdress) of the Eleusinian hierophant
and daduch, for example, the evidence for the celebration of the mysteries of
Artemis of Ephesos may seem rather thin. And unlike the case of the mysteries
of the Great Gods at Samothrace, for which there is detailed evidence about the
identities of initiates from the early “Hellenistic” period into the third century,
as ably set out by Cole (1984) and (1989) pp. 1564–98, we know next to nothing
about who the initiates into Artemis’s mysteries were. In some areas of investigation, however, the Ephesian epigraphical evidence is quite rich, especially with
respect to the kinds of rituals that were performed at the mysteries and the political and social identities of those who celebrated the mysteries of Artemis during
the Roman imperial period.
Also, in the case of Ephesos, there is not the additional problem encountered
in the case of Eleusis, that is, that much of what is known about the actual rituals that took place at least during the Roman empire comes from later, mostly
hostile Christian sources, such as Gregory Nazianzenos. For the methodological and interpretive problems created by such Christian “filtering,” see generally
Sourvinou-Inwood (2003) pp. 25–49, esp. pp. 28–29.
Notes to Pages 30–35
331
155. See the monographs of Karwiese (1995) and most recently Knibbe (1998); the institutional studies of Schulte (1994) and Friesen (1993); and the technical studies
of Kraft, Brückner, and Kayan (2005) pp. 147–56; Ortloff (2009) pp. 295–337.
156. Jansen (2006) pp. 95–98.
157. Thomas (1998) p. 277.
158. Bell (1997) p. 20.
159. Liebeschuetz (2001) p. 32.
160. Bremmer (1994) p. 50.
Chapter 2. Funeral Games
1. For the (later) stories of Androklos’s foundation, see Pausanias, VII.2.8; Strabo,
XIV.1.3; on the material evidence for the Ionian foundation, see Kerschner
(2003) pp. 246–50; and esp. (2006) pp. 364–82.
2. For Aspasa, see Büyükkolanci (2007) pp. 21–26 and Scherrer (1999a) pp. 379–87
on the topography generally.
3. For Croesus, Lydia, and Ephesos, see Herodotus, I.92.1; Karwiese (1995)
pp. 31–33; Knibbe (1998) pp. 72–82; on Croesus and the Artemision, see Pliny,
Natural History XXXVI.XXI.95; Bammer and Muss (1996) pp. 39–44; Scherrer
(2001) pp. 60–61; FiE XII/4 (2007).
4. Ephesos’s incorporation into the Persian empire and position between “Orient
and Occident” following Croesus’s defeat by Cyrus the Great are discussed by
Karwiese (1995) pp. 38–47 and Knibbe (1998) p. 83 ff.
5. For the city’s contributions to the Delian League, see Knibbe (1998) p. 84.
6. Karwiese (1991) pp. 87–95; Karwiese (1995) pp. 57–59, dating the “mystification”
of Herostratos’s great crime to 1 July 356. Following Aristotle, Meteorology III.1,
Karwiese argues that the temple burned down after being struck by lightning;
Herostratos was blamed for the “crime” so that Artemis would not be held responsible for her inability to protect her home. Knibbe (1998) pp. 88–89 proposes a different theory: the temple was destroyed at the behest of the temple
administration itself, which had realized that the old temple was sinking into the
soft sand beneath its foundations and that a new temple had to be built. “Mad”
Herostratos was the temple administration’s fall guy.
7. Hansen (2006a) p. 109.
8. Ma (1999) p. 207.
9. The proliferation of such documents is rightly emphasized by Errington (2008)
pp. 6–7.
10. Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 14, 60.
11. Errington (2008) p. 8. In this book I try to avoid using the modern adjective
“Hellenistic” to describe the period between the death of Alexander and Ptolemaic Egypt’s incorporation into the Roman empire. As Errington has rightly
emphasized, the English adjective “Hellenistic,” a translation of the German
Hellenismus, was created by Johann Gustav Droysen out of his reading of Jewish sources that were hostile to those Jews in Jerusalem during the second cen-
332
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
NOTES TO PAGES 35–38
tury B.C. who adopted Greek customs or practices. To refer to the roughly threehundred-year period between 323 and 30 B.C. as the “Hellenistic” era is therefore
to see that period and what happened during those centuries from an external,
and largely hostile, point of view. It is better and more accurate to refer to the
period as the “Macedonian Centuries,” precisely because most of the changes
and developments in these years, including the foundation of Arsinoeia and Lysimachos’s rearrangement of the “mysteries and sacrifices,” were conditioned by
the Macedonian conquest of the Persian empire, its replacement by the Macedonian regional monarchies, and the wars of the monarchies, just as Errington has
written. All of that said, for the sake of accuracy and to avoid confusion, I have
retained references to the “Hellenistic” era or period when previous scholars have
used the modern adjective in their works.
Errington (2008) p. 112.
Geography XIV.I.20, translated by Jones (1929) p. 223.
For the date of the composition of the Geography, see Dueck (2000) pp. 145–54.
FiE I (1906) pp. 76–79; FiE IX/1/1 (1981) pp. 70–73; Karwiese (1995) pp. 79, 85,
111.
Ersoy (2006) p. 43.
As I confirmed when I walked up to the site of Ortygia/Arvalya from the area of
the Triodos off the lower agora of Ephesos in 1995 along the ancient processional
road. As we shall see, in addition to the temples that once stood on the site, there
also were halls or small houses (oikois) around the temple of Artemis the Savior
that were used for distributions to citizens during the late second century A.D.,
according to IE Ia 26.18.
Keil (1922–24) pp. 113–19; Scherrer (2001) p. 81.
A parallel case would be the sanctuary of Artemis Karyatis, described by Pausanias III.10.7, which was located on Mount Parnon, in eastern Lakonia, where
there also was a cult statue (agalma) of Artemis Karyatis and choral celebrations.
Bremmer (1994) p. 30.
Cole (2004) p. 191.
Birge (1982) p. 245 n. 62; Cole (2004) p. 192.
Daverio Rocchi (1988) p. 51 n. 4; Cole (2004) p. 186.
For xoana, see Burkert (1985) pp. 90–91 and Donohue (1988). Given Ortygia’s
location and the existence of ancient temples there, as well as probably wooden
cult images, it is tempting to identify Ortygia as an example of one of the extraurban sanctuaries discussed by de Polignac (1995). Such sanctuaries often were
located on the frontier of a polis’s territory, and many were dedicated to a female
deity. In the absence of any other information that helps us to date when this
sanctuary with its “ancient temples” was established, it is worth considering
whether it should be associated with the original Ionian colonization of Ephesos described by Strabo, XIV.1.21, which supposedly took place around the turn
of the millennium, though nobody can place a precise date upon the arrival of
the Ionians. For the Ionian occupation of the site, see Karwiese (1995) pp. 19–23;
Knibbe (1998) pp. 72–79. The foundation of such sanctuaries may have been
Notes to Pages 38–39
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
333
attributable to the natural character of the sites—and Strabo notes the grove
and the river in Ortygia—but their locations are perhaps better interpreted as
indicating colonial concerns with consecrating the seizure of land from indigenes, setting the territories of the new poleis in order, and providing a point of
mediation between the new Greek rulers of the land and foreigners (de Polignac
pp. 98–106). As a sanctuary dedicated to the worship of Artemis (and perhaps
other Greek deities, including Apollo), Ortygia with its temples and cult images
thus originally may have constituted a marker of Ephesian territorial dominion. Its function may have been to provide protection for the territory claimed
against aggression and for the fertility of the land. If so, then, as we shall see,
seven hundred years later Lysimachos followed in the footsteps of Ephesos’s
Ionian founders when he too marked his sovereignty over the area by a religious
dedication.
It is worth noting as well that ten terracotta statuettes of seated, veiled kourotrophoi (nursing children) dated to the first half of the fourth century B.C. were
found in the excavations of the Artemision; in principle the statuettes could
be representations of Leto or Ortygia, as Picard (1922) pp. 455–56 suggested.
The scholarly consensus, however, seems to be that they are representations of
Artemis, who is often shown as a kourotrophos. See Hadzisteliou Price (1978)
p. 157.
For the chronology of Skopas’s life and works, see Stewart (1977) pp. 1, 101;
Stewart does not attempt to date the lost sculpture of Leto and Ortygia (pp. 111–
12, 129). While I would argue for a date just after 356 B.C., we cannot rule out
the possibility that the statue group in the temple in Ortygia was executed later,
since, according to Pliny, Natural History XXXVI.30–31, Skopas’s work on the
east frieze of the Mausoleum at Halicarnassus continued into the 340s B.C., and
he may have been working on other Asian commissions during the same period.
It is also interesting to note that after the battle of Leuctra in 371 B.C. Praxiteles
sculpted a statue group of Leto with her children for the city of Mantinea in
Arcadia, according to Pausanias, Description of Greece VIII.9.1. Was Leto with her
children a sculptural topos of the mid-to-late fourth century B.C.?
For the story of Artemis’s and Apollo’s births at Delos, see Burkert (1985) pp. 85,
146; and Mikalson (2005) p. 45.
Revised translation of Oliver (1941) pp. 96–100, no. 12 lines 1–4 of IE Ia 26.1–
4. For the Greek text of lines 1–6, see Chapter 3. For further discussion of the
inscription, see Curtius (1870) pp. 198–201; Wood (1877) p. 71, who mentions
that a fragment of the inscription was found in the Great Theater; Hicks (1890)
483B; Nilsson (1906) p. 246; FiE II (1912) p. 20; Picard (1913) pp. 86–89; (1922)
pp. 104 ff., 287–302, 353, 364–66, 640, 673.
Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1993) pp. 113–22 and IE II 213.1–11; for discussion of the latter inscription, which relates to the celebration of mysteries and
sacrifices made by initiates to Demeter Karpophoros and Thesmophoros and to
the Roman emperors around A.D. 88/89, see Chapter 6.
Lines 3–4:
334
NOTES TO PAGES 40–41
3 [γεγονότα τῶν τῆς πόλεως πραγμάτων, τὰ μὲν ἄλλα] πάντα περί τε
μυστηρίων καὶ θυσιῶν [καὶ περὶ τοῦ συνεδρίου ἡμῶν ἄριστα δια-]
4 [κεκοσμηκέναι πάσῃ εὐσεβείᾳ τε καὶ φιλαγα]θίᾳ,
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
The verb diakosmeo obviously implies the regulation, or ordering, of “all the
things” concerning the mysteries and sacrifices that already existed, not their invention at the time of the foundation. It is important to note that the tentative
restorations of the editors of the first four lines of this inscription are based upon
their readings of the stone itself, contextual evidence, and recurring words and
phrases from the rest of the inscription. In line 2, for instance, Heberdey, who
inspected the stone, restored the name of Lysimachos the king with a question
mark, while noting that the names of Antigonus and Demetrios could fit into the
space. However, neither Antigonus nor Demetrios is anywhere identified with an
oikismos or foundation of the polis (line 2), which Lysimachos definitely was, for
which see Chapter 3. The other potential founder might be Androklos, the leader
of the Ionian immigrants to what became the site of Ephesos, who is later called
a founder (ktistes) of the polis in an inscription from the Roman imperial era,
IE II 501; but there is no evidence of the existence of the Gerousia, to which the
contents of the decree (no. 26) apply, at the time of the Ionian foundation. The
first six lines of IE Ia 26 concern a foundation of a polis during the late fourth or
early third century B.C., not the tenth century B.C.
For Persian domination of the Artemision before 334 B.C., see Karwiese (1995)
p. 58.
Explicitly called a priest by Diogenes Laertius, II.51, but neokoros (temple warden) by Xenophon, V.3.6–7. For the etymology, see Karwiese (1995) p. 39; Bremmer (2008) p. 38; and for more on the priesthood itself, see Xenophon, March Up
Country III.5.6; Strabo, Geography XIV.1.23; Dignas (2002) pp. 189–90; Bremmer (2004) pp. 9–10 and (2008) pp. 38–41. In the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk,
inv. no. 20–21/27/84, there is an offering bowl with an attached figure, perhaps
of a Megabuzos. He wears a long, thick garment and a flat polos on his head. The
figurine is dated (controversially) to around 650 to 600 B.C. Although we know
from Pliny’s Natural History XXXV.93 that the late-fourth-century B.C. Colophonian painter Apelles painted a picture of the Megabuzos leading the procession of “Ephesian Diana,” there is no explicit literary or epigraphical evidence
that the eunuch priest(s) of the Artemision presided over or played an important
part in the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis at this time or later.
For the definition, see Clinton (2003) pp. 50–51.
At Eleusis the mustai were the first-time initiates who underwent the preliminary
initiation and then the festival proper of the mysteries, the experience of the rites.
For the mustai as initiates during the celebrations of the Eleusinian mysteries, see
Clinton (2003) p. 51.
For teletai as initiation rites, as the term came to mean predominantly but not
exclusively during the postclassical period, see Clinton (2003) p. 55.
IE V 1449. For discussions of this inscription, see Picard (1922) pp. 75–76,
Notes to Pages 42–45
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
335
277–87; Oliver (1941) p. 53, no. 1 for the translation; Robert (1946b) pp. 79–85;
Knibbe (1981) pp. 13–14, 74.
Iliad IX.530–88; Diodorus, V.65.4; 60.1–3.
For proper skepticism about the direct genealogical connection, see Knibbe
(1981) pp. 70–72, esp. n. 14.
For the possible connections of the term with Crete, see Bremmer (2008)
pp. 37–53.
Oliver (1941) p. 17 suggests that the epikletoi were special appointees of Lysimachos to advise and restrain the Gerousia. Through this institution Lysimachos
could control Artemis’s wealth. Lund (1992) pp. 135–36 questions this scenario,
but she is trying to make the case that Lysimachos did not have a policy of depriving sanctuaries of their revenues. What is certain is that we do not hear of
the epikletoi outside of the historical context of Prepelaos’s capture of the polis
or of Lysimachos’s foundation. For that reason it is perhaps inevitable that scholars have connected the epikletoi with Lysimachos. Whether the epikletoi existed
as a group or an institution before 302 B.C. or were constituted by Lysimachos
through Prepelaos, the fact is that we find reference to them only during Lysimachos’s periods of dominating the polis. They do not appear in the inscriptions
dating from the time when Demetrios (or his supporters) were in control of the
polis (minimally, 302 to around 294 B.C.).
Although not always noted, this inscription shows incidentally that the Gerousia
and the epikletoi already were playing an important role in the government of
the polis in 302 B.C. According to Karwiese (1995) p. 62, the Gerousia, an aristocratic council of elders, was Lysimachos’s (or Prepelaos’s) creation at this time.
Later on at least, its membership seems to have been open to individuals from
lower down on the socioeconomic scale, as we know from the funerary inscription of a baker who was a gerousiast (IE VI 2225) and other references to an imperial slave who belonged to the Gerousia (2223), an architect (2227), and a linen
weaver (2446).
See Rogers (1991) p. 47.
IE Ia, 27.543–44.
I cannot agree with Lund’s idea (1992) p. 126 that this inscription necessarily implies that the Gerousia was part of the Artemision. It is significant that in the
inscription, reference is made in lines 6–7 to Euphronius’s goodwill toward the
sanctuary and the polis. This statement may suggest that the institutions named
in the inscription (Boule, demos, especially, but also Gerousia, epikletoi) were
part of the polis. It was the Artemision that was a separate institution, in ways
that perhaps were connected to its Persian priesthood.
Arrian, VII.27.
Because the site of Ephesos today lies some 4.35 miles east (inland) of the sea at
the beach of Pamuçak because of the silting of the Kaystros River, it can be difficult to keep in mind, as Kraft, Kayan, Brückner, and Rapp (2001) pp. 175–233
have pointed out, that the foothills of Bülbüldag, Panayirdag, and Ayasoluk were
on the coast in antiquity. Classical Ephesos was essentially a coastal city.
336
NOTES TO PAGES 45–49
46. XVIII.40a. On Ephesos’s strategic location on trade routes, see also Aelius Aristides, XXII.34.
47. Diodorus, XX.106.1–5. For the complicated maneuverings of Alexander’s officers
and governors for control of different parts of his empire from 323 to 301 B.C., see
Errington (2008) pp. 14–50.
48. Diodorus, XX.106.1–5.
49. Diodorus, XX.107.1–2.
50. Diodorus, XX.107.4.
51. Diodorus, XX.107.4. For this passage, see Lund (1992) p. 118 and n. 37.
52. For the timing, see Lund (1992) p. 85.
53. Diodorus, XX.107.4–5.
54. Diodorus, XX.108.1–2.
55. Diodorus, XX.109.5.
56. Diodorus, XX.111.3.
57. Diodorus, XX.111.3.
58. Diodorus, XX.111.3.
59. Diodorus, XX.111.1–3.
60. Diodorus, XX.111.3.
61. For such kings and their taxing of poleis, see Reger (2007) pp. 464–65.
62. This tax- exempt status may have applied specifically to the revenues that we
know the temple derived from its extensive land holdings. For those holdings
and the wealth of the Artemision generally, see Kallimachos, Hymns III.250;
Knibbe, Meriç, and Merkelbach (1979) pp. 139–47; Strelan (1996) pp. 76–79;
Muss (2001); Dignas (2002) pp. 141–56, 172–77; Bremmer (2008) p. 39.
63. Based on the fact that the office of virgin priestess of Artemis Ephesia in Massilia,
which was instituted at the time of the Persian conquest of Ionia, seems to have
been modeled upon the preexisting Ephesian priesthood, as Strabo, Geography
IV.1.4 implies. For the connection and dating, see Bremmer (2008) p. 42. Epigraphical and literary evidence dated from the first through the third centuries
A.D. suggests that the priesthood was a yearly office; see Chapters 5 through 9.
64. Bremmer (2008) p. 39.
65. Karwiese (1995) p. 39.
66. Karwiese (1995) p. 58.
67. Karwiese (1995) p. 59.
68. Karwiese (1995) p. 60.
69. Arrian, I.18.
70. Strabo, Geography XIV.1.23.
71. Arrian, I.18.
72. Strabo, Geography XIV.1.22; Karwiese (1995) p. 60; Knibbe (1998) pp. 90–91;
Rogers (2004) p. 56.
73. To which end Alcimachus, the son of Agathokles, was sent out from Ephesos
itself, see Arrian, I.18.2; and Bosworth (1988) p. 252; Rogers (2004) p. 56.
74. Rogers (2004) pp. 55–58.
75. Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 14.
Notes to Pages 49–51
337
76. IE V 1449.8; for other awards of citizenship inscribed upon the walls of the
sanctuary during this period, see 1448.19–20; 1450.9; 1451.4; 1452.5; 1453.15–16;
1454.6; 1455.9; 1465.5; 1467.4; 1471.3–4. That such awards of citizenship were inscribed upon the walls of the sanctuary, usually by the neopoiai, is another indication of how intertwined some of the legal and political procedures and systems of
record-keeping of the sanctuary and the polis were at the time when the polis was
physically clustered around the sanctuary. Essentially, the sanctuary itself served
as the physical archive of who the new citizens of the polis were and what their
rights were.
77. Errington (2008) p. 5.
78. IE V 1448. For the text, see Hicks (1890) no. 448; and FiE II (1912) p. 104.
79. IE V 1448.19–21; and comments on the provenance of the inscription by the editors of IE V, C. Börker and R. Merkelbach.
80. Lines 11–14:
11
12
13
14
τ[ὸν ο]ἰκονόμον· ἐπαινέσαι δὲ καὶ Ἀπολλω[νίδην τὸν φίλον]
τ[οῦ] βασιλέως καὶ ἀναγγείλαντα τὴν εὔν[οιαν τοῦ βασι-]
[λέ]ως τῶι δήμωι καὶ ἣν ἔχει αὐτὸς πρὸς τὸμ Βα[σιλέα καὶ τὸν]
δ[ῆ]μον τὸν Ἐφεσίωγ ...
81. Preamble and line 1:
[ἔδοξεν τῆι βουλῆι καὶ τῶι δήμωι· --- εἶπεν· ἐπειδὴ Δημήτριος]
[ὁ βασιλεὺς πολλῶν καὶ μεγάλων ἀγαθῶν αἴτιος ὢν]
1 τυγχάνει περὶ το[ὺ]ς Ἕλληνας καὶ τὴμ πόλι[ν τὴν ἡμετέραν,]
82. Lines 2–3.
83. Lines 5–7. As was so often the case, a “public” prayer, directed by the demos, is
probably accompanied by a sacrifice; see Pulleyn (1997) pp. 164–68. From the
fourth century B.C. the Essenes are found frequently in inscriptions related to
awards or purchases of citizenship in Ephesos and usually are ordered by the
demos and/or Boule to allot the new citizen(s) to a tribe and chiliastys, e.g. IE
IV 1408.12; and we know that citizens of Ephesos, many of them neopoioi of
Artemis, continued to fulfill the “two essenias” into the third century A.D., for
example, the neopoios and Essen Zotikos, IE VII, 2, 4330.5. But no inscription
or literary account explicitly says that the Essenes described by Pausanias in
Book VIII.13.1 took part in the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries at any point
for which we have evidence, as Strabo does attest about the Kouretes for the late
first century B.C.
84. In this case, the demos was honoring a man whose goodwill was directed toward
a king who, despite his garrison, was believed, at least by his partisans in the city,
to be a supporter of freedom of the Greeks and democratic governments in the
Greek cities of Asia Minor. The supporters of democratic government in the city
undoubtedly would have argued that the garrison was there on the acropolis not
to keep the polis in line, but to secure the city against Lysimachos.
85. A beautiful example of the kind of epigraphical speech-act, reflective of a nego-
338
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
NOTES TO PAGES 51–54
tiation between a polis and a powerful king, as so remarkably detailed for the rule
of Antiochus III by Ma (1999). For the deployment of such diplomatic phraseology, which in reality often “disguised a mutual assessment of relative strength,”
see also Chamoux (2003) p. 168.
For that vitality, see Ma (1999) p. 5.
XX.111.2.
Diodorus, XIX.61; Errington (2008) pp. 30–31.
Was the announcement of the freedom of the Greek poleis the substance of
Apollonides’s message about the goodwill of the king to the demos, as referred
to in lines 12–13 of the decree for Apollonides?
Lines 19–21.
For the Ephesian Boule, see Rogers (1991) pp. 66–67; for the general characteristics, see Wörrle (1988) p. 133; Quass (1993) pp. 343, 385–89; Pleket (1998)
pp. 205–6.
Kleijwegt (1991) p. 72.
IE V 1487 lines 12–13; the same procedure is also stipulated in the parallel text
1488 lines 13–14 for Philokyrios, dated to the winter of 128/29 A.D.
Broughton (1938) p. 814; Magie II (1950) p. 1505; Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 29 and
n. 13.
For the Essenes, the priestess, and the neopoiai, see Rogers (1991) pp. 70, 47, 75,
110; Dignas (2002) pp. 190–3; Bremmer (2008) pp. 42–47.
IE IV 1409.3–4.
IE VI 2001.10; Rogers (1991) p. 70.
IE IV 1415.13–15. The oikonomos may have been mentioned in the citizenship decree for Nikagoras of Rhodes, from 300 B.C., in which decree he may have been
directed to send pledges of friendship to Nikagoras, IE IV 1453.19–20, based on
the fragmentary analogy of 1469 preamble, line 1, but this reading of 1453.19–20
requires a complete restoration.
IE II 541; VII, 2, 3513.a7; b5; see also Horsley 4 (1987) no. 69, pp. 160–1 for parallels.
Wehrli (1968) pp. 99, 126; Lund (1992) pp. 115–18.
Lund (1992) p. 116.
Errington (2008) p. 5.
XXI.1.4b–5; Plutarch, Life of Demetrios XXVIII–XXIX; see also Karwiese
(1995) p. 63.
Plutarch, Life of Demetrios XXX.1.
Lund (1992) p. 83.
Plutarch, Life of Demetrios XXX.1.
Which city initially disappointed his hopes by insisting upon a kind of passive
neutrality according to Plutarch, Life of Demetrios XXX. Later, after 295 B.C. he
was able to return to Athens and install a garrison both at Mounychia but also
on the Hill of Muses in the city.
Polyaenus, Stratagems IV.7.4.
Polyaenus, Stratagems IV.7.4; and Lund (1992) p. 84. Based upon Polyaenus,
Notes to Pages 54–56
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
339
IV.7.4, Karwiese (1995) p. 63 believes that at this time Lysimachos actually captured Ephesos, and the city was subsequently conquered again by Demetrios in
287 B.C., only to be betrayed to Lycus (for whom see below) later. This is possible, but Polyaenus’s assertion that Demetrios “captured those who swam away
and continued to hold Ephesos by anticipating the betrayer” creates problems for
this reconstruction.
IE V 1452 line 2. For the text, see also Hicks (1890) no. 452 and Engelmann and
Merkelbach II (1973) no. 505.
IE V 1452 lines 2–3.
IE V 1452 lines 3–4.
IE V 1452 lines 4–5.
IE II 211 lines 16–18. For other references to the grain supply from Egypt, see IE
II 274.13, an honorary inscription from A.D. 129 thanking Hadrian for providing
for the grain supply from Egypt; and VII, 1, 3016.3, an honorary inscription for
C. Aurunculeius Chaereas, who had been responsible for bringing grain from
Egypt. For Ephesos’s reliance on grain shipments from Egypt, see Wörrle (1971)
pp. 325–40.
IE V 1455; SEG III 354; the decree originally was inscribed by the neopoiai into
the sanctuary of Artemis, lines 9–10; it was found, once again, built into the proscenium of the Theater; see FiE II (1912) p. 96.
IE V 1455 lines 1–6. For the text, see also Hicks (1890) no. 455; for the office of
the agoranomos, see Magie II (1950) p. 645; Wörrle (1988) pp. 111–14; Kleijwegt
(1991) pp. 248–50; Van Nijf (1997) p. 102 n. 136; Dmitriev (2005) pp. 146–47.
IE Ia 4; Syll.3 364. For the text and many discussions of the contents of this
debt law, see the preface to its publication in IE. The most recent commentary
(although not based upon the combined text printed in IE ) appears in Asheri
(1969) pp. 42–47. There is a good English translation in Bagnall and Derow
(2004) no. 9, pp. 19–23.
IE Ia 4 lines 65–69.
This text thus also militates against the theory that all property owners would
have been political supporters of Lysimachos in 294 B.C.
IE V 1450.
IE V 1450 lines 1–7. For the text, see also Hicks (1890) no. 450; and FiE II (1912)
p. 104.
IE V 1450.8–9. At some point this decree also was built into the proscenium of
the Theater.
Given the fact that slaves were rarely enlisted in the citizen armies of Greek poleis
(for which see Garlan [1988] p. 163 ff.), if the slaves were involved in the actual
fighting alongside the citizens of the polis, this inscription (1450) may indicate
that the military situation was quite desperate at the time when the slaves were
allowed to serve.
For Arsinoê, see Longega (1968) pp. 30–33; Karwiese (1995) p. 64; Chamoux
(2003) p. 63; Errington (2008) p. 57. It was Lysimachos’s marriage to Arsinoê,
the eldest daughter of Ptolemy’s wife Berenike, probably around the time of the
340
125.
126.
127.
128.
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.
134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
NOTES TO PAGES 56–59
battle of Ipsus, that eventually would lead to the choice of Arsinoeia as the name
of the new polis after Lysimachos had recaptured Ephesos and decided to found
a new polis away from the old polis of Ephesos.
IE V 1453 lines 1–7. For the text, see also Hicks (1890) no. 453 and FiE II (1912)
p. 104. For the background context, see Lund (1992) p. 120.
Lines 15–16.
Polyaenus, Stratagems V.19; IE VI 2001 lines 8–12. For discussion of this inscription, see Robert (1970) p. 602.
The inference that Lysimachos either tolerated or actively supported Hiero,
solely based upon Ainetos’s cooperation with the exiles, pushes the actual evidence of the decree too far; on this point, see Lund (1992) p. 122.
Thus my reconstruction of the situation provides some support for Dignas’s contention (2002) p. 33 that “in contrast to the commonly accepted view it would
appear that priests possessed a group identity and did not merely represent civic
magistrates. They became representatives of the cult who confronted either secular authorities or private citizens when it came to controversies over sacred matters.”
Owens (1991) p. 75.
For the useful distinction between a “collective memory” of a war, that is a recent
war, experienced jointly by a community, as opposed to a “cultural memory” or a
memory of events, including wars of the mythical or remote past, see Chaniotis
(2005b) p. 215.
Stratagems V.19.
Stratagems III.3.7.
Plutarch, Life of Demetrios XXXV. The account of Polyaenus is probably to be
preferred to that of Frontinus. Frontinus never quite explains how the Macedonian captives, whose hands were tied, got hold of the arms from the citadel. In
general, Frontinus’s account of the capture of the polis reads like a condensed account of Polyaenus’s version, with Lysimachos substituted for Lycus.
For example, Lund (1992) p. 91.
Lund (1992) p. 91; Errington (2008) p. 57. Once again, Karwiese (1995) would
place this “final” capture of Ephesos by Lysimachos later, certainly after 287 B.C.,
but for the reasons stated above I would associate the story with the events of
294 B.C.
For the decree for Hippostratos in Miletos, a copy of which was also put up in
Smyrna, see Wiegand (1908) no. 10 line 24; Syll.3 368; IvS II, 1 (1987) 577.28 but
requiring a full restoration; but see Strabo, Geography XIV.1.21, in which he states
that the polis was named after Lysimachos’s wife Arsinoê; Eustathius, Commentary on Dionysius Periegetes 828; Stephanos s.v. “Ephesos” states that Lysimachos
named the polis after his wife Arsinoê; Head (1911) p. 574; and Karwiese (1995)
p. 64; since Lysimachos was in Thrace between 294 and 289 B.C., it is likely that
the formal foundation was initiated in 294 B.C., before Lysimachos went away,
rather than after.
See IE IV 1381.1.
Notes to Pages 59–65
341
139. See Karwiese (1995) pp. 63–66.
140. For the creation of war narratives in inscriptions (and other media), see Chaniotis (2005b) pp. 220–23.
Chapter 3. Mysteries and Sacrifices
1. Lysimachos, the son of Agathokles, was perhaps raised in Pella, the fourthcentury B.C. capital of Macedonia. During the campaigns of Alexander the Great
in the east, Lysimachos became one of his famous bodyguards and was wounded
near Sangala in India (Arrian, V.24.5). For Lysimachos’s family background, see
Lund (1992) pp. 1–6; for a summary of what we know about Lysimachos himself
during and after Alexander’s campaigns, see Heckel (1992) pp. 267–75.
2. Pausanias, I.9.7; see also Strabo, Geography XIV.1.21; and Polyaenus, Stratagems
VIII.57 for construction of the new city. The Roman-era harbor eventually would
be built to the west of the so-called Tetragonos Agora.
3. Scherrer (2001) p. 68.
4. Geography XIV.1.21. In naming the new polis after his wife, as Lund (1992) p. 174
has shown, Lysimachos expanded upon Alexander’s practice of using his own
name for city foundations to give visible, even spatial, expression “to the enduring concepts of the king as protector, provider and favourite of the gods.” Lysimachos certainly founded cities named after himself, such as the Lysimacheia in
Aetolia and at or near the site of Kardia in the Thracian Chersonesos: see Appian,
Syriake I; Pausanias, I.9.8; and Errington (2008) p. 70. But he also established poleis named after his wives, including Nikaia (named after the daughter of Antipater), and his daughter Eurydikeia (on the site of Smyrna). These foundations perhaps were meant to suggest that Lysimachos’s family was divinely favored across
generations. See Karwiese (1995) p. 63.
5. Scherrer (2001) p. 61.
6. Learned Banqueteers VIII.361e.
7. For the anticipated campaign, which never came off quite as planned, see Lund
(1992) p. 98; Errington (2008) pp. 59–62.
8. IvP 14.
9. Kraft, Kayan, and Brückner (2001) p. 123 ff.
10. Greek Anthology IX.424.
11. Karwiese (1995) p. 65 also associates the flood stories found in Strabo and Duris.
12. Knibbe (1993) Beib. Grabungen 1992, pp. 19–20. The northeastern flank of Panayirdag, incidentally, seems originally to have been a focal point of the cult of
Cybele from the classical period onward, as Knibbe (2002a) p. 55 and Scherrer
(2001) p. 61 both have pointed out. For detailed studies of the topography, see
Keil (1915) pp. 66–78; (1926) pp. 256–61; Büyükkolanci (1999) pp. 19–21; Heinzel (1999) pp. 35–42. On the lower slopes of the northeastern side of the mountain, northeast of the famous cemetery of the Seven Sleepers (Yedi Uyuyyanlar),
have been found niches with reliefs of Meter holding a tympanum, accompanied
by Attis. Some of these are now displayed in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk,
342
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
NOTES TO PAGE 65
inv. nos. 55, 74, 2256. There are also several epigraphical references to Meter with
different epithets, such as Meter Oreie (IE II 107.1, 108.1; IV 1220.2), Gallesia
(3401.13–14 from Torbali), Orie Phrugie Patroie (IV 1218.2–3), or just Patroie (IV
1223.2), or Phrugie (V 1576.1) or Phrugie Patroie (IV 1217.1–3), or just plain hagne
(IV 1224.1–2). Most of these inscriptions were found around what must have
been some kind of sanctuary of Meter on Panayirdag that seems to have originated from the second half of the fifth century B.C. and lasted into the Roman
imperial era; there is some kind of unidentified third-century B.C. temple here,
but there is no explicit evidence for the celebration of her mysteries, such as references to galloi, or kannophoroi (reed bearers) or dendrophoroi (tree bearers), that
is, the typical cultic personnel of her mystery cult elsewhere.
See Knibbe (1995) p. 148.
Also emphasized as one of the causes of the move by Knibbe in his general history (1998) p. 93. It was not for nothing that around A.D. 92 the river god Marnas was depicted as a colossal, reclining, armed youth flanking Zeus/Jupiter on
the fountain that marked the terminus point of the water conduit (Aqua Throessitica) fed by the Marnas (and the Klaseas, also shown on the fountain, on Zeus’s
other side) at the northwest corner of the upper city, the so-called monument
of C. Sextilius Pollio; the statue is now in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk, inv.
no. 1556. For the attribution, see Strocka (1989) pp. 77–92, plates 39–40, figs.
1–5; Aurenhammer (1995) p. 265; (2007) p. 178. By A.D. 92 the river god had
been turned to more productive uses. From a comparative perspective it is worth
noting that it may well have been the silting of the Maeander (Büyük Menderes)
that caused the citizens of Priene to move to the elevated site west of the modern village of Güllübahçe-Turunçlar during the fourth century, in other words,
at roughly the same time that the Ephesians were forced to vacate their homes
around the Artemision and for the same reason.
For the harbor of Koressos and its silting, see Engelmann (1991b) pp. 286–92 and
(1997) pp. 131–35; Cohen (1995) p. 177; and Knibbe (1998) p. 93.
Kraft, Brückner, and Kayan (2005) pp. 147–56.
Bammer and Muss (2006) p. 61.
An indication of the long-term effects of the silting of the Kaystros is that the
river now exits into the sea some five miles west of where the ancient harbors of
Ephesos were once located.
This was an old burial site, to which the processional road from the Artemision
had led up to that point in time: see Karwiese (1995) p. 64; Knibbe (1998) p. 93
speculates that it was because this area was known as a cemetery that the inhabitants of old Ephesos were reluctant to move to the new site.
There also were freshwater springs in the areas of what were to become the upper
agora and the lower end of the Embolos (the name of the colonnaded street that
connected the upper agora to the lower, Tetragonos Agora). For the importance
of water sources for new city foundations, see Owens (1991) p. 159.
Zabehlicky (1995) p. 203; Kraft, Brückner, and Kayan (2005) pp. 155–56.
Famously, by A.D. 61, silting of the Kaystros led the Roman proconsul to have
Notes to Pages 65–69
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
343
the harbor dredged, according to Tacitus, Annals XVI.23. Three gates (southern,
middle, and northern) eventually were erected where roads led from the Romanera city to the quayside, including the southern gate, which was subsidized out
of the inheritance of the rich early-third-century A.D. protokoures, prytanis, and
benefactor of the polis M. Fulvius Publicianus Nikephoros, as we know from IE
VII, 1, 3086.1–2.
Owens (1991) p. 3; Hansen (2006a) pp. 27, 101.
Errington (2008) p. 57.
Similar conclusions about what motivated such kings to promote sympoliteia
or synoikismos during this period in Asia Minor are reached by Reger (2004)
p. 155.
Reger (2007) p. 463.
See Diodorus, XX.111.3. And even before the time of the city wall of the classical
polis, there was another, prior city wall surrounding Koressos, the original Ionian
foundation, traces of which Karwiese in Scherrer (2000) p. 172 has identified and
noted in the area of the southern harbor gate (Map 6, no. 88).
For Lysimachos’s city walls, see Keil (1912) pp. 183–200; Maier (1959) no. 72;
Seiterle (1964–65) Grabungen 8–11; (1970); (1982) 145–49; Leriche and Tréziny
(1982) pp. 299–304; Özyigit (1991) pp. 137–44; Lund (1992) p. 120 n. 43; McNicoll (1997) pp. 94–105; Karwiese (1995) p. 64; Knibbe (1998) p. 93; Marksteiner (1999) pp. 413–19; Scherrer (2001) pp. 62–63.
Scherrer (2001) p. 63.
Scherrer (2001) p. 63.
Scherrer (2000) p. 68.
IE IV 1441.
IE IV 1441 lines 1–5.
IE Ia 3.
IE Ia 3 lines 3–10. For the editions of the text, see the bibliography in IE, including esp. FiE I (1906) p. 17 ff.; for the identification of Koressos, see Scherrer
(2001) pp. 60, 63.
Karwiese (1995) p. 64 prefers the date of 281 B.C. for the completion of this massive project, also commented upon by Knibbe (1998) p. 93.
See McNicoll (1997) p. 103.
Radt (2001) p. 45.
Owens (1991) p. 65; Hansen (2006a) p. 74. In Lycia, Xanthos covered about
seventy-five acres. See des Courtils and Cavalier (2001) p. 149. On the other side
of the Mediterranean, it is worth recalling that the fourth-century B.C. “Servian”
walls of Rome had a length of more than thirteen miles and enclosed an area of
around 1,052 acres; see Cornell (2000) pp. 45–6. Rome was already on its way by
the fourth century to becoming a megalopolis (in terms of enclosed urban space)
compared with Greek poleis such as Ephesos and Priene.
Owens (1991) p. 150.
For the Lebedian and Kolophonian settlers, see Pausanias, I.9.7; VII.3.3–5. The
appearance of the Lebedians as the fourth chiliastys (nominal group of one thou-
344
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
NOTES TO PAGES 69–71
sand citizens) in the tribe of the Ephesioi confirms their early integration into the
citizen body of the new polis; see Karwiese (1995) p. 65.
Owens (1991) pp. 7, 48; Reger (2004) pp. 149–50.
For the excavations of the harbor area, see Zabehlicky (1999) pp. 479–84; Kraft,
Brückner, and Kayan (2005) pp. 147–56. Kraft and his fellow researchers have
commented on the excellence of the site for the new harbor that the ancient
engineers chose. For the grid plan, see Hoepfner and Schwandner (1986) 15.247–
48. A similar plan was executed at Pergamon at nearly the same time (between
281 and 263 B.C.); see Radt (2001) pp. 45–46. On the historical antecedents of
Hippodamian planning, see Owens (1991) p. 4; Chamoux (2003) pp. 264–65.
For the lower agora, from the first century A.D. at the latest identified as the
Tetragonos Agora, see Chapter 5 and Langmann (1990) Grabungen 28–30; Langmann (1991–92) Grabungen 1990–91, 5–6; Langmann et al. (1993) pp. 12–14;
Thür (1995a) p. 158; Scherrer (1995) pp. 3–4; (2001) pp. 66–68; Kraft, Brückner,
and Kayan (2005) pp. 149–50. In this area the archaic-classical village known as
Smyrna likely was located. For the water system of the Lysimachean city, see Wiplinger (2006c) pp. 121–26.
Coulton (1976) p. 176; Scherrer (2001) pp. 66–67. In fact, the excavated remains of some kind of pottery workshop in the area dated to the early sixth
century B.C., which developed out of a settlement dated to the late Geometric
period (after 750 B.C.), seem to indicate commercial activity here as far back as
the archaic period.
Owens (1991) p. 153.
Scherrer (2001) p. 83. Later, during the reign of Augustus, a square grid plan was
superimposed upon the rectangular system introduced by Lysimachos.
For the term “Plateia” and its interpretation, see Robert (1980) pp. 151–59; Yegül
(1994) p. 96.
Owens (1991) pp. 60–61.
It remains controversial whether Lysimachos got to, or beyond, a plan for building a theater on the site where it eventually was built or whether he died before
the theater was constructed. Karwiese in Scherrer (2000) p. 158 has pointed out
that the existence of the constructed Theater can be verified only after around
100 B.C., when we have our first tangible evidence for construction in the form
of the small well house at the northwest corner of the stage building. On the siting, see Winter (2006) p. 207.
Owens (1991) p. 60.
Rumscheid (1998) p. 27.
Johnson (1997) pp. 13–19; Revell (2009) p. 18.
Perring (1991) p. 273.
Diodorus, XV.94.1–3; Pausanias, VIII.27.1–8; for parallel cases, see Hansen
(2006a) p. 52.
Jones (1971) p. 41; Errington (2008) pp. 73–74.
Reger (2004) p. 150.
Strabo, IX.5.15; Owens (1991) pp. 79–80; Reger (2007) p. 463.
Notes to Pages 71–73
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
345
Errington (2008) pp. 74–75.
Geography XIV.1.21; Shipley (1987) p. 177.
See Lund (1992) p. 119 ff.
Lund (1992) pp. 125–26 has seen this complication.
XX.107.4.
Since we do not hear of the epikletoi before the time of the Euphronius decree,
it is possible that they were a group of influential citizens constituted into some
kind of an advisory board by Prepelaos himself in 302 B.C.
Or they may have taken the initiative themselves, if I am right about the chilly
relations between some of the priesthoods of the sanctuary and Prepelaos and
probably Lysimachos.
As is proved by the citizenship decrees cited in Chapter 2, such as IE V 1448. This
is not to deny that the assembly was acting in the knowledge of Prepelaos’s ability
to exert political or even military pressure upon the city. But such pressure and
the response to it do not signify or require the formal creation of an oligarchic
government.
For discussions of the power and authority of the Gerousia and the epikletoi
under Lysimachos, see Oliver (1941) p. 9 ff.; Magie II (1950) pp. 855–57 n. 38;
Rogers (1991) pp. 62–63. In 1941 Oliver made a series of arguments about Strabo’s
statement: first, based upon the citizenship decree for Euphronius, he argued
that Lysimachos did not create the Gerousia; second, he deduced, on the basis
of the same decree, that Lysimachos either through or along with Prepelaos had
transferred control of the financial affairs of the Artemision to the Gerousia and
the epikletoi; third, he tentatively suggested that the epikletoi were special appointees of Lysimachos to advise and restrain the Gerousia; fourth, he concluded
that through this double institution Lysimachos controlled Artemis’s wealth.
Lund (1992) pp. 135–36 has questioned this last conclusion but is trying to make
a general case that Lysimachos did not have a policy of depriving sanctuaries of
their revenues; and Lund does not dispute the clear evidence of IE IV 1449 that
the Gerousia and the epikletoi had some role in the process of negotiating about
the stathmos (lodging for soldiers) and Artemis’s exemption from taxation in
302 B.C.
Diodorus, XX.111.3. Lund (1992) p. 119 interprets the verb used here, enagkase
or forced, to imply that there was at least some support for the previous political
arrangement in the polis; later, p. 125, she hypothesizes that Lysimachos’s partisans might have included the city’s property owners. If my reconstruction of
the political situation in the polis in 302 B.C. is correct, we should look for Lysimachos’s supporters among the members of the Gerousia and the epikletoi (unsurprisingly). Nevertheless, the question of who supported Lysimachos and at
what time is a difficult one. As Lund correctly notes (p. 125), some citizens of the
polis, such as Philainetos and possibly Echeanax, bent with the political winds.
It probably oversimplifies a complex, dynamic, and changing situation (about
which we have very limited information) to assume that property owners supported Lysimachos and poorer citizens supported Demetrios. As noted above,
346
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
NOTES TO PAGES 74–79
at least some property owners probably had reason to be angry with Lysimachos,
given the damages to property (real estate) that he had inflicted upon them during the common war.
Following Lund (1992) p. 124 ff., van Berchem (1980) p. 27 also argues that the
Gerousia was not one of the ruling institutions of the polis under Lysimachos,
on the basis of both the citizenship decree for Athenis of Kyzikos, IE IV 1441,
and the proxeny decree for the two Milesian benefactors, which may well belong
to the time of Lysimachos’s reign; see Engelmann and Knibbe (1978–80) p. 19,
no. 2. In these inscriptions the Gerousia is nowhere to be seen.
IE Ia 26 p. 163 notes.
IE Ia 26 p. 163 notes.
Oliver (1941) pp. 96–100.
As both Karwiese (1995) p. 64 and Knibbe (1998) p. 93 have emphasized. It is
interesting that Arsinoê herself also seems to have been involved in supporting
the celebration of mysteries; as Chamoux (2003) pp. 333–34 has noted, between
289 and 281 B.C. she had built at Samothrace a rotunda to afford shelter for altars
within the sanctuary where initiations into the mysteries were conducted.
IE VII, 1, 3059.3–4: “panta | ta musteria tes theou.”
Geography XIV.1.20.
Pausanias, VIII.37.8. Book V and those following apparently were composed by
Pausanias in or after A.D. 173, and the Periegesis was completed by A.D. 180. For
the chronology of the whole work, see, most recently, Hutton (2005) p. 294 n. 12.
Pausanias, VIII.37.8; passage quoted by Jost (2003) esp. p. 162.
It is possible that the rituals that took place in Ortygia were known officially as
the “mysteries and the sacrifices” at the time, just as the great festival at Eleusis
was known as ta musteria. Therefore, this may not be a case where a set of rituals
were named after their central, most striking act, such as the performance of the
Kouretes. For instances of that phenomenon, such as the Athenian festival of the
Anthesteria, which often were called simply Choes, see Bremmer (1994) p. 38.
Sacrifices, of course, were central to the ritual programs of all kinds of festivals.
See Parker (2007) p. 180.
In particular, the appearance of the hieroskopos starting from list IE IV 1004.10
confirms that the Kouretes were involved in sacrifices; for the cultic functions of
the Kouretes, see Knibbe (1981) pp. 78–92.
Line 18:
18 ταις διανομὰς γ̣[ενέσθαι πάσας κατὰ τόδε τὸ] ψήφισμα ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὸν ναὸν τῆς
Σωτεί[ρας
οἴκοις·
Was the temple referred to in this line known as the temple of the Savior
because of the dedication of the statue of Artemis the Savior in it? There also
were courts or halls connected with the cult of Demeter and Kore at Eleusis, one
within the sanctuary in front of the Telesterion and the other in front of the main
gate; see Clinton (1974) p. 12.
79. Burkert (1987) p. 16.
Notes to Pages 79–80
347
80. The idea that a mystery cult could be endowed with an eschatological facet only
at a certain time (and not necessarily having such a facet from its beginning)
for certain finite reasons can be paralleled at Eleusis, where Sourvinou-Inwood
(2003) argued (persuasively) that an eschatological element was introduced into
the cult during the sixth century B.C. and the reshaped cult became “mysteric”
based upon individual choice and promising a happy afterlife. See SourvinouInwood (2003) p. 26. Sourvinou-Inwood associated the change in the function of
the cult at Eleusis with a shift in attitudes toward death (p. 28). This is an intriguing idea but one that does not fit the evidence for what was going on in Ephesos
during the early third century B.C.
81. Geography XIV.I.20.
82. For the broader significance of the location of this “nonurban” sanctuary, see de
Polignac (1995) pp. 22–23. De Polignac has pointed out that many of the Greek
world’s earliest and most famous sanctuaries fall into the nonurban category.
83. A shrine of Artemis Soteira appears to have been outside the city walls of Athens
as well; for the evidence, see IG II2 1343 and 4695; Parker (2007) p. 57.
84. Nevertheless, the phrase does indicate that Ortygia was a site of religious significance from ancient times. Were the ancient temples and the wooden statues
there part of an extra-urban sanctuary that marked a boundary between Ephesos
and other settlements in the region, such as Phygela/Pygela (modern-day Kuşadasi) and Marathesion, south and east of Ephesos, over which Strabo, Geography XIV.1.20, tells us the Ephesians and Samians had a dispute? Elsewhere, as de
Polignac (1995) p. 46 has argued, etiological rites and stories (such as the story
of Artemis’s birth at Ortygia with its military elements) arose out of the practice of people dedicating weapons to the gods at cult sites that lay on the borders between early city-states. Did the story of Artemis’s birth at Ortygia and the
rites later associated with Ortygia arise out of Ortygia’s natural features (grove of
trees, source of water) and/or its location on the borders between Ephesos and
Phygela? For earlier examples of such sites on the mainland of Greece, see Cole
(2004) pp. 180–85.
85. Geography XIV.I.20; IE Ia no. 26 line 4, neo.
86. Marinatos (2000) p. 97; Purvis (2003) p. 75; Cole (2004) pp. 187–88; Parker
(2007) p. 400. Artemis’s brother Apollo also was associated with war, and his
frequent epithet of Epicurus or ally may be due to the assistance that he gave to
soldiers; see Purvis (2003) p. 76.
87. Lonsdale (1993) p. 166; Bremmer (1994) p. 17 gives several examples; also, for the
general phenomenon during the period, see Chaniotis (2005b) pp. 145–48. Ando
(2008) pp. 120–24 also discusses the origins of Greek and Hebrew ideas about
the involvement of gods in warfare.
88. In Achilles Tatius’s late-second-century A.D. novel Leukippe and Kleitophon,
Leukippe’s father Sostratos is part of the delegation from Byzantium sent to
Ephesos to perform a victory sacrifice in thanks for Artemis’s epiphany and support for the Byzantines during their war against Thrace (VIII.18). For evidence
outside of Ephesos, see Cole (2004) pp. 189–91.
348
NOTES TO PAGES 80–86
89. The erection of the statue, as de Polignac (1995) p. 49 has written, would “underline the particular kind of protection expected or obtained from her in armed
conflict.”
90. Following this interpretation of the evidence, Lysimachos made his rearrangement of the mysteries and sacrifices not “for the sake of saving souls but for the
preservation and welfare of society,” as Robertson Smith (1969 ed.) pp. 28–29
wrote in 1889 about religion.
91. De Polignac (1995) p. 67.
92. IE IV 1408; Horsley 4 (1987) no. 19, p. 81 discusses the stationing of temple wardens in Phygela, where they were sent to oversee sacrifices to the goddess.
93. Sourvinou-Inwood (2003) p. 26; Price (1999) p. 53.
94. Cole (1989) p. 1568.
95. De Polignac (1995) pp. 33, 154; Cole (2004) pp. 178–97; and Hansen (2006a)
p. 103.
96. For euochein meaning to entertain or hold a celebratory feast, see Schmitt Pantel
(1992) p. 275.
97. Burkert (1987) p. 109 ff.
98. Geography XIV.I.20.
99. Bell (1997) p. 108; see also Rüpke (2007a) p. 208 for the importance of banqueting for Roman collegia.
100. Line 6.
101. Lines 6–7.
102. As Karwiese (1995) pp. 65–66 also has pointed out with respect to the coinage
that Lysimachos used to “introduce” his wife Arsinoê; despite the physical separation of the new polis from the sanctuary, the coins of Arsinoeia still showed a
strong bond to Artemis, featuring portraits of Arsinoê on the obverse and images
of Artemis’s kneeling stag or her bow and quiver on the reverse.
103. IE VII, 2, 4102. For the inscription, see FiE IV/1 (1932) p. 82, no. 2; Knibbe
(1981) no. A1, pp. 13, 74. For the linguistic background related to frankincense,
see Horsley 4 (1987) no. 29, pp. 129–30.
104. FiE IV/1 (1932) p. 82, no. 2; supported by Kleijwegt (2002) p. 97.
105. For architectural renovation of the Theban Kabirion (or Kabeirion) associated
with the restoration of Thebes (begun in 315 B.C.) that apparently was conducted
by the polis of Thebes at around the same time, see Schachter (2003) pp. 117–18.
106. De Polignac (1995) p. 75.
107. For the forging of community ties through the medium of intense religious experiences at the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries, see Sourvinou-Inwood
(2003) pp. 40–41; and more generally, for the role of religion in defining group
identity, see de Polignac (1995) p. 45; and Rives (2007) pp. 106–7. The use of initiation rituals to build a sense of community identity can be paralleled by evidence from other societies and cultures, for instance in the case of the initiation rituals practiced at urban shrines in Benin City, Nigeria, as studied by Gore
(1998) pp. 66–84.
108. A point also stressed by Knibbe (1998) p. 93.
Notes to Pages 86–92
349
109. For the ways in which rituals can exercise forms of social control, see Lukes
(1975) pp. 289–305.
110. We know that many of the new festivals created during the period were organized to commemorate military victories; for the evidence, see Chaniotis (2005b)
pp. 227–33.
111. Comaroff (1985) p. 196.
112. IE Ia, 26.6.
113. Thus, there may be an analogy between what Lysimachos did with respect to
Artemis’s mysteries (of salvation) in Ephesos and the origins of the Mithraic mysteries as we know them, which Beck (2006) p. 254 has argued originated in the
“circle of the deposed but still highly regarded Commagenian dynasty in exile.”
114. On such messages, see Van Nijf (1997) p. 211.
115. On the practice of metonomasia during the period of the successor kingdoms, see
Chamoux (2003) pp. 252–53; Errington (2008) p. 28.
116. Polyaenus, Stratagems VIII.57; and Karwiese (1995) p. 66; Knibbe (1998) p. 94;
Errington (2008) pp. 60–62.
117. Knibbe (1998) p. 94.
118. For the bipolar city, see de Polignac (1995) p. 81.
119. Inv. no. 1846.
120. Smith (1988) pp. 67–68, 158, no. 19.
Chapter 4. Mystic Sacrifices
1. For the date of Strabo’s visit to the city, see Karwiese (1995) p. 79.
2. A useful summary of the evidence and main events with respect to the polis of
Ephesos from the early third century to 133 B.C. can be found in Karwiese (1995)
pp. 67–77; Knibbe (1998) pp. 94–97; Errington (2008) pp. 132–33.
3. XVIII.40a.
4. Errington (2008) pp. 127–28.
5. Errington (2008) p. 160.
6. For Antiochus III and his relations with Ephesos, see Ma (1999) pp. 114–15, 119,
and more generally p. 166. For the larger picture outside of Ephesos, see the brief
summary of Derow (2003) pp. 51–70; Reger (2007) pp. 481–83; Errington (2008)
pp. 131–35.
7. Reger (2007) pp. 481–83.
8. Errington (2008) p. 6; Knibbe (1998) p. 97 provides a useful account of Ephesos’s
incorporation into the new Roman province. Dignas (2002) pp. 111–12 presents
Roman rule of Asia (including implicitly Ephesos) as an ongoing process starting
with the first Roman contacts in Anatolia. For the wider picture of the effects of
Roman rule in the east and reactions to it, see the seminal article of Millar (1984)
pp. 37–60; also McGing (2003) pp. 71–89; Eilers (2003) 90–102.
9. Excavation of the building was begun by F. Miltner in 1956–57; see Wiplinger and
Wlach (1996) p. 70.
10. As the crow flies the prytaneion is located a little less than a mile (0.87) west-
350
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
NOTES TO PAGES 93–94
southwest of the Artemision. However, to walk today from the area of the Artemision to the prytaneion following the modern road that skirts the northeastern
ridges of Panayirdag takes forty-five minutes—for an aging mediocampista. It
takes even longer to reach the upper city if you follow the road south from the
Artemision and then head southwestward (but uphill) to the Magnesian Gate
(identified by Pausanias, VII.2.6, and in the Salutaris foundation, IE Ia 27.50;
424; 564) (Map 3).
Knibbe (1998) p. 97. In theory, Ephesos therefore was free to manage its own internal affairs independently and was financially independent as well. By the reign
of Antoninus Pius at any rate, it was decreed that the proconsul of Asia was obligated to make his landfall in the province of Asia at Ephesos; see Ulpian, Digest
I, 16, 4, 5–6; Millar (1987) p. xi.
For a more detailed account of these events, see Rogers (1991) pp. 2–4; and Karwiese (1995) p. 70 ff.
Knibbe (1998) p. 102.
Strabo, Geography XIV.1.26; no doubt as a kind of reward for his efforts, Artemidoros was granted a golden effigy in the Artemision. For the episode, see Karwiese (1995) p. 71; and Knibbe (1998) p. 102 n. 213.
Horsley 5 (1989) no. 5, p. 105.
Further evidence for trouble(s) important enough to be brought to the attention
of the Senate (?) at any rate may be found in IE III 630B, an honorary inscription for a certain L. Calpurnius who acted as a patron of the city in the affair
about which the polis (probably) made an embassy to the Senate (probably).
Eilers (2002) p. 232 dates the inscription earlier rather than later in the first century B.C. Additionally, a first-century B.C. decree of the koinon of Asia, found in
Byzantine fill in the area adjoining the “bishop’s palace” and the odeon of Aphrodisias, documents a decision of the koinon, taken possibly at a “special session” in
Ephesos, to send ambassadors to the Senate (?) and magistrates about oppression
of poleis and nations (?) by the publicans; see Reynolds (1982) no. 5, pp. 26–32.
For Mithradates’s reception in the polis, see Knibbe (1998) p. 104.
According to Strabo, Geography XIV.1.23, the distance was a little more than a
stadion (or about two hundred yards). The point of extending the area of asylum
surely must have been to extend it farther than Alexander (allegedly) had done.
For the controversies over the purposes of such extensions, see Rigsby (1999);
Jones (1999b).
Appian, The Mithradatic Wars XXII; and Knibbe (1998) p. 104.
Chamoux (2003) p. 145.
Appian, The Mithradatic Wars XXIII.
Appian, The Mithradatic Wars XXIII.
Brunt (1971) pp. 224–27; Eilers (2002) p. 140.
Approximately 516 tons of silver! See Karwiese (1995) p. 73.
Appian, The Mithradatic Wars LXI–LXII.
Appian, The Mithradatic Wars LXI.
Purcell (2005b) pp. 86–87.
Notes to Pages 94–96
351
28. IE VI.2941; Eilers (2002) pp. 145, and 231–35 for a list of the known patrons of
the polis and/or the sanctuary.
29. IE III 614A.1–2; Eilers (1995) pp. 77–82; (2002) pp. 231–32. Other important
Roman patrons included the consul of 32 B.C., Cn. Domitius Ahenobarbus,
honored in IE III 663 as an “ancestral patron of the temple of Artemis and of
the city”; and the suffect consul of 31 B.C. and legate of Brutus, M. Valerius Messala Corvinus, honored around 43/42 B.C. as a “patron and benefactor of the
temple of Artemis and of the polis” in Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu
(1993) pp. 126–27, no. 18.
30. It is possible that the so-called Memmius Monument, located on the Plateia as
it bends toward the upper end of the Embolos (Maps 6 and 7, no. 32), was built
(probably with public donations) as a sign of the reconciliation of Ephesos to
Sulla’s grandson Gaius (consul of 34 B.C.) and Rome generally; see Outschar
(1990) pp. 57–85; Knibbe (1998) p. 105; Scherrer (2001) p. 77. The mortared
rubble core of the monument has been compared by Waelkens (1987) p. 96 to
those of other Augustan- era projects, such as the “Tropaion” on Panayirdag, the
temple of Iulius and Roma, and the bridge of the Pollio aqueduct.
31. Knibbe (1998) p. 106.
32. Caesar, Civil Wars III.33.
33. Caesar, Civil Wars III.105.
34. Appian, Civil Wars II.89.
35. IE II 251; and for Caesar in Ephesos generally, see Knibbe (1998) pp. 106–7.
36. Scherrer (2001) p. 84 n. 159.
37. For priests of the cult of Rome and Isauricus, see IE III 702; VII, 1, 3066; Tuchelt
(1979); Millar (1987) p. x; Karwiese (1995) p. 75; and Knibbe (1998) p. 105.
38. FiE I (1912) p. 143; Alzinger (1974) p. 37.
39. Plutarch, Life of Antony IV; Dio, XLVIII.39; Beacham (2005) p. 155.
40. Plutarch, Life of Antony XXIV.
41. Plutarch, Life of Antony XXIV; for the followers of Brutus and Cassius in the
asylon, see Appian, Civil Wars V.4; and Karwiese (1995) p. 76.
42. Appian, Civil Wars V.4–5.
43. Strabo, Geography XIV.1.23; the area of asylum now extended to two stadia,
or around four hundred yards. For Antony in Ephesos at the time, see Knibbe
(1998) pp. 107–8.
44. They were recognized in a decree of the Senate conferring the same rights and
sanctity to the temple of Aphrodite in Aphrodisias; see Reynolds (1982) no. 8,
pp. 55–57.
45. Reynolds (1982) no. 9.
46. Plutarch, Life of Antony LVI; and for the period, see Knibbe (1998) pp. 108–9.
47. Karwiese (1995) p. 76; other scholars (below) believe that construction of this
temple should be dated to the period after 29 B.C. It is also possible that a temple
(of Isis?), begun when Antony was in control of the city, was reconceived and refashioned as a different kind of temple after his death. The fact that this building
was later demolished (“around the time of the official victory of Christianity”)
352
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
NOTES TO PAGE 97
has led some of the archaeologists at Ephesos (for example, Karwiese and Scherrer) to suppose that the original peripteros was adapted for the worship perhaps
of Dea Roma and Divus Iulius, thus explaining its destruction.
Chamoux (2003) p. 162.
For the clearest and best accounts of the significance of these events, see Millar
(1984) pp. 37–38; and (2000) pp. 1–38.
Knibbe (1998) p. 109. For political and social differences between the model
Greek polis discussed by Aristotle in his Politics and the cities of the Roman empire, see Rives (2007) pp. 105–7. It is because of those and other differences and
changes traced in this book with respect to the mysteries and other cults after
Ephesos’s incorporation into the Roman provincial system that I call Ephesos a
Graeco-Roman polis.
Cassius Dio, LI.2.1.
Knibbe (1998) p. 110.
Cassius Dio, LI.20.6; for the date, see Karwiese (1995) p. 78; for the cult and the
temenos, see Friesen (1993) p. 11 n. 21; Scherrer (2001) pp. 69, 82.
Scherrer (2001) p. 82. The square grid of the Tetragonos Agora was enclosed on
all four sides by two-storied, two-aisled colonnades, each of which measured
about 122.48 yards, or 367.45 feet.
Parrish (2001b) p. 11.
Scherrer (2001) p. 82.
Eventually, as we shall see, the extension of the Roman grid system down the hill
along the Embolos into the area of the lower agora was to have a ripple effect
upon the use of space and cultic practices within those areas, including the celebration of the mysteries, to the very limits of the harbor of Ephesos. For reasons
of topography, the connecting avenues or bones of Ephesos’s skeletal armature
remained the same, but what the bones connected spatially and visually changed
dramatically as a result of initiatives often undertaken by wealthy Graeco-Roman
citizens of the imperial polis. For the concept of a city’s urban skeleton or armature, see MacDonald (1986) p. 9.
For the debates about where the initiative lay with respect to the establishment
of these cults throughout the empire, see Whittaker (1997) pp. 148–52; Revell
(2009) pp. 90–91.
Scherrer (2001) p. 69. For these associations, see IE VI 2058, an honorary inscription and statue of L. Agrius Publeianus erected by the Italian businessmen in
Ephesos; III 658, dated to the late republican period, for an honorary inscription
and statue for M. Cocceius Nerva, put up by the Italian businessmen in Ephesos;
III 800, for the Italian traders; possibly III 884; II 409, dated to A.D. 44, for the
[conventus c(ivium) R(omanorum) qui in Asia negoti]antur; VII, 1, 3019.3–4,
dated to the reign of Claudius, for an honorary inscription and equestrian statue
of Claudius, put up by the “conventus c(ivium) R(omanorum) qui in Asia n |
egotiantur . . .” The implication of these inscriptions (2058; 658; 800; 884; 3019)
is that there were two separate organizations, one based in Ephesos and the other
a provincewide association.
Notes to Page 99
353
60. Purcell (2005b) p. 102.
61. Cassius Dio LI.20.7.
62. For the recent interpretations of the temple, see Alzinger (1985) pp. 61–64;
Scherrer (1990) p. 87 ff.; Walters (1995) pp. 293–95; Scherrer (2001) p. 69. On
the basis of the most recent study of the pottery of the temple site, MitsopoulosLeon (2005) pp. 203–11 has concluded that the building was constructed during the first century B.C. As already noted, we unfortunately do not know who
exactly was responsible for the building and dedication of the temple, although
broadly speaking the temple should still be seen as a product of the communal life of the city itself, embodying aspects of the city’s reaction to the established fact of Roman rule, as Millar (1987) p. x has put it. What becomes clear
later is that donors and/or dedicators chose to subsidize such temples almost
as frequently as structures for Greek, Graeco-Roman, or local deities, and that
the building of religious structures generally was the most popular choice of any
kind of building by civic benefactors in Roman Asia Minor. For the statistics, see
Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 81–82.
63. IE III 902.
64. See Miltner (1956–58) pp. 27–36; Alzinger (1972/75) pp. 251, 261 ff.; (1974)
pp. 51–55; Scherrer (1995) pp. 1–25; (2001) p. 59. The identification of this building remains controversial; some scholars, such as Kerschner, Ladstätter, and Pülz
(2007) p. 27, have suggested that it is (possibly) a sanctuary of Iulius and Roma
set up in 29 B.C.
65. Cole (2004) pp. 182–83.
66. For the bouleuterion, see Fossel (1967) pp. 72–81; Bier (1999) pp. 7–18; FiE IX/5
(2011). The fact that the bouleuterion in its first identifiable form could seat
about 1,500 perhaps indicates that in addition to hosting meetings of the 450
members of the imperial-era council, this building also functioned as an entertainment center. In his study (FiE IX/5 [2011]) of the bouleuterion and its development (heroically completed by his friends after he passed away), Lionel Bier
concluded (p. 85) that “all that can be said for the time being is that a broad date
of construction between the late 1st century and A.D. 128/129 seems likely on
architectural and epigraphic grounds.” This is surely a defensible conclusion. But
there is circumstantial evidence that the construction of the bouleuterion (the
remains of which we see today) took place during the earlier period within Bier’s
temporal range. First, we know from an honorary inscription (IE III 740 B) for a
certain Zopyros, who had made alterations to the bouleuterion, dated to the late
first century B.C. on paleographic grounds, that there was a bouleuterion somewhere in the city by the late “Hellenistic” period. And, as we shall see, the lists
of Kouretes from the prytaneion, a building now conclusively dated to the last
decade of the first century B.C., already includes the names of Kouretes who selfidentify as members of the council by the reign of Tiberius. Those Kouretes could
of course be members of the as yet undiscovered bouleuterion referred to in the
Zopyros inscription. But given our evidence for the rest of the Augustan-era construction projects in the upper agora, including the temple of Iulius Caesar and
354
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
NOTES TO PAGES 99–103
Roma, the prytaneion, and especially the stoa, which crossed directly in front
of the bouleuterion, I consider it to be more likely that the Kouretes/Bouleutai of the early-first-century A.D. prytaneion inscriptions met within the new,
Augustan- era bouleuterion. Minimally, however, epigraphical and architectural
evidence cannot exclude an Augustan date for the construction of the building,
as Bier himself acknowledged. For the prytaneion, see Scherrer (2001) p. 71, FiE
IX/4 (2010). And thus Olympia is not the only polis in which a prytaneion and
a bouleuterion have been found, as some scholars have mistakenly claimed. For
discussion, see Cole (2004) pp. 69–71.
IE III 859; 859a; Engelmann (1990b) pp. 92–94; Scherrer (1995) p. 6; (2001) p. 69
proposes that Nikephoros may have been in charge of building the prytaneion;
his appointment to be prytanis for life follows on from the lists we have of prytaneis who served for one year, which end in 18/17 B.C. Does Nikephoros’s appointment after 18/17 B.C. signal at least that work on the new prytaneion had
commenced?
For the rare designation “stoa basilica,” see IE II 404.1; 6; and Coulton (1976)
p. 180 and n. 7. Pollio also was notable as the builder of Ephesos’s (and Asia
Minor’s) first constructed aqueduct. See IE VII, 1, 3092; FiE III (1932) pp. 156–
65; Coulton (1987) pp. 73, 81; and Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1993)
p. 148 ff., no. 80. Interestingly, in the late first century B.C. there was a “campaign” to enclose the agora of Aphrodisias with double-colonnaded porticoes,
which the excavators of the site have associated with C. Iulius Zoilos, the freedman of Octavian; see Ratté (2001) p. 119. In both cases major reconstructions of
these urban spaces were initiated by Roman freedmen and/or citizens.
Scherrer (2000) p. 78.
Ephesus Museum Selçuk, inv. no. 1891; Aurenhammer (2007) p. 181.
Ephesus Museum Selçuk, inv. no. 1957, 1/10/1957.
IE II 402; VII, 1, 3092; Wiplinger (2006b) pp. 23–37; Scherrer (2001) p. 77.
Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 23–36.
Favro (2005) p. 260.
Häussler (1999) p. 5; Gros (1996) pp. 111–20.
Owens (1991) p. 141.
Häussler (1999) p. 8; Aitchison (1999) p. 33.
Häussler (1999) p. 4.
Revell (2009) p. 150.
As Karwiese (1995) p. 79 points out, even if Strabo relied upon the local geographer Artemidoros for some of his information about Ephesos, at least some of
the details included in his chapter on the city must have been based upon personal observations (or discussions with contemporaries), since some of the details date to the period after Artemidoros’s death.
Geography XIV.I.20:
ἐν δὲ τῇ αὐτῇ παραλίᾳ μικρὸν ὑπὲρ τῆς θαλάττης ἐστὶ καὶ ἡ Ὀρτυγία, διαπρεπὲς
ἄλσος παντοδαπῆς ὕλης, κυπαρίττου δὲ τῆς πλείστης. διαρρεῖ δὲ ὁ Κέγχριος
Notes to Pages 103–105
355
ποταμός, οὗ φασὶ νίψασθαι τὴν Λητὼ μετὰ τὰς ὠδῖνας...πανήγυρις δ’ ἐνταῦθα
συντελεῖται κατ’ ἔτος, ἔθει δέ τινι οἱ νέοι φιλοκαλοῦσι, μάλιστα περὶ τὰς ἐνταῦθα
εὐωχίας λαμπρυνόμενοι. τότε δὲ καὶ τῶν Κουρήτων ἀρχεῖον συνάγει συμπόσια, καί
τινας μυστικὰς θυσίας ἐπιτελεῖ.
82. Picard (1922) p. 278; for subsequent treatments of the festival, see Keil (1939)
p. 127; Knibbe (1981) pp. 70–73. “Festival of everybody” to distinguish it from
other types of festivals that might be restricted in their participation or were celebrated on a smaller scale, such as the local festival of Artemis in Ephesos with its
procession from the city to the temple described at the beginning of Xenophon’s
Ephesiaca I.2. For the terminology, see Parker (2007) p. 164. An Athenian law
of the late second century B.C. related to weights and measures, IG II2 1013, also
describes the festival during which the Eleusinian mysteries are celebrated as a
panegyris. What we do not know is whether there were any rules that restricted
who could be initiated into the mysteries of Artemis during the general festival,
as there certainly were in the case of the Eleusinian mysteries, which excluded
“barbarians” and polluted criminals.
83. For the brevity of Strabo’s description of the general festival in Ortygia, see
Knibbe (1981) p. 73.
84. Geography, I.1.23; Dueck (2000) pp. 154–65.
85. What Strabo does not do, then, is precisely what Pausanias (IX.25.5–10), writing
probably during the reign of Marcus Aurelius, does with respect to the establishment of the mysteries of the Kabeiroi and the Mother at Thebes, namely, to explain that the celebration of the mystery was a gift of Demeter to the Kabeiraians.
If the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos were revealed to the Ephesians, as the rites
of other mystery cults certainly were, this is nowhere mentioned in any of the literary or epigraphical evidence. For the Kabeiroi at Thebes, see Schachter (2003)
pp. 112–42; Bowden (2010) pp. 54, 56–59.
86. Dio Chrysostom VIII.9; Van Nijf (1997) pp. 141–43, citing several examples of
general festivals and their economic implications.
87. For the neoi at Ephesos, see IE Ia 6.6 and 25 from the second century B.C.; II
202.6 and 7 from the time of Attalos II (159 to 138 B.C.); 252.3–4, an honorary inscription for Augustus, in which the neoi appear as a thiasos (although
this depends upon a complete restoration) honoring Augustus as founder (ktistes) during the gymnasiarchy of Herakleides Passalas; IV 1102.2. Karwiese (1995)
p. 79 sees a “resonance” of the Kouretes in the neoi (“Geschmückte Jünglinge
[als Nachklang der Kureten?] feierten hier alljährlich eine panégyris [Volksfest]
mit Festschmaus ähnlich den sympósia [Trinkgelagen] der Kureten.”), presumably because of the identification with the Kouretes on Crete, who, according to
Diodorus, V.66.1, were young men when the Titans were still living. However, at
least during the early imperial period, some of the Ephesian Kouretes certainly
were older men, capable of holding municipal offices and financing acts of euergetism (as Karwiese is aware).
88. Bowden (2010) pp. 110–24.
356
NOTES TO PAGES 105–106
89. IE Ia 6.25. Known gymnasiarchs of the neoi include Diodorus, IE Ia 6.5–6; Herakleides Passalas, II 252.4–6; and Hekatokles, IV 1102.1–2. Gymnasiarchs of neoi
in Asia Minor are also found at Mylasa, I.Mylasa 105.9–11, during the second century B.C.; at Sestus, I.Sestos I.31, 41–2, around 132–120 B.C.; and at Sardis, Sardis
VII.I, no. 21.3–4, around 150 B.C., all cited by Dmitriev (2005) pp. 31–32, among
many other sites.
90. IE Ia 6.15 ff.; Dmitriev (2005) p. 275, who discusses the psephisma as an example
of legislative procedure before the imperial period.
91. Hin (2007) p. 162.
92. IE IV 252.1–6; Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1993) pp. 123–24, no. 13.
93. I.Mylasa 105.9–11; Dmitriev (2005) p. 30.
94. Kleijwegt (1991) p. 251.
95. IE IV 1102. It was a common practice for ephebes and/or neoi to honor their
gymnasiarchs and/or benefactors with statues in their gymnasia or crowns; for
several examples, see Hin (2007) p. 163 and n. 80.
96. For the institution of the gymnasium and its centrality to the life of the city at
the time, see Yegül (2000) pp. 133–53; Fagan (1999); Farrington (1987) pp. 50–59;
and (1995).
97. Scherrer (2001) p. 71.
98. Engelmann (1993a) pp. 279–88; Jones (1999a) pp. 89–94; Scherrer (2001) p. 71.
99. Scherrer (2000) p. 74.
100. Kleijwegt (1991) pp. 97, 101; Hin (2007) pp. 149–54. It would be interesting to
know whether there was an internal hierarchy within the ranks of the neoi, as
Hin has persuasively argued was the case among the ephebes in at least some
cities. Unfortunately, we just do not know enough about who the neoi were in
Ephesos to be able to make such an argument.
101. Ephesiaca I.2.2; Kleijwegt (1991) pp. 92, 97; Hin (2007) p. 144 and n. 13. See Pleket (1969) for the ages of the neoi; Van Rossum (1988) on the entry age into the
Gerousia; and Kleijwegt (1991) pp. 56–58, on the elasticity of these age categories
and the reasons for it.
102. IvS I (1980) 198.9 (fine paid to); 206.8–9 (fine paid to the Gerousia and the neoi);
208.7 (sunodos of neoi); 209.2 (sunodos of neoi); II, 2 (1990) 891 from the early
imperial period. In general, see Dmitriev (2005) pp. 131–32.
103. Kleijwegt (1991) p. 69. In Smyrna the neoi perhaps were attached to the gymnasium known as the Mimnermeion; see IvS I (1980) 215.9; during the first century A.D. the neoi in Smyrna joined the ephebes and those who participated in
the gymnasium to honor Dionysikles in II, 2 (1990) VI; in Teos the ephebes,
neoi, and those who participated in the gymnasium honored the Ephebarch Aischrion, see Corpus Inscriptionum Graecarum 3085.
104. Forbes (1933) p. 25; Kleijwegt (1991) p. 261.
105. Gauthier and Hatzopoulos (1993) p. 23, lines 72–77; Hin (2007) p. 151.
106. Krauss (1980) no. 5; Hin (2007) p. 156.
107. Revenues of the neoi in Beroia (to be spent appropriately and according to law
by the gymnasiarch) are referred to several times in the famous decree and gym-
Notes to Pages 107–108
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
357
nasiarchic law of Beroia from the early second century B.C.; see Gauthier and
Hatzopoulos (1993).
See IE Ia 26.16.
For the inscription, see Hodot (1982) pp. 165–80.
See Burkert (1987) p. 110.
See Parker (2007) p. 343. If the Ephesian neoi also were members of wealthy
families in the city, as we have inferred from the sumptuousness of their feasts,
then perhaps the overall effect of taking part in this customary ritual was not to
level out social disparateness, as Van Gennep (1960 ed.) argued was the function
of rites of passage, but rather to dramatize and celebrate social and economic inequality in Ephesos.
IE VII, 2, 4123.13–15; known also from IE II 411; VI 2113.
For a valuable discussion of the term, see Schmitt Pantel (1992) pp. 275–76; Van
Nijf (1997) pp. 149–88, largely based upon the extremely interesting case of the
benefaction of Aba to the city of the Histrians in Moesia during the second century A.D.
IvM VI.1.134, cited by Chaniotis (2008) pp. 23–24.
Schmitt Pantel (1992) p. 291; de Polignac (1995) p. 60. Scholarship on the construction of masculinity, such as the work of Gilmore (1990), has suggested to
Bell (1997) p. 101 that “the purpose of gender role constructions and the rituals
that reinforce them is to distinguish and polarize gender roles as the most fundamental cultural ordering that human beings attempt to impose on nature.”
For the way in which such “performances” could be used to create the social identities of young men in ancient Greece, see the fascinating essay of Leitao (2003)
pp. 109–29.
IE VII, 1, 3215.5–6; 3225.10–11; 3110.15.
For example, IE VII, 2, 4337. For such associations in general, see Rives (2007)
p. 122.
Geography XIV.I.20.
Nilsson (1957); Simon (1961) pp. 111–72; Zuntz (1963) pp. 177–202; Brendel
(1966) pp. 206–60; Burkert (1987) pp. 95–96.
See Burkert (1987) p. 109.
IE VI 2076; Engelmann (1986) pp. 107–8.
On symposia in Greek cities generally, see Schmitt Pantel (1992) pp. 4–7, and
esp. 80–92, although most of Schmitt Pantel’s examples are drawn from the archaic and classical periods; Garnsey (1999); and Dunbabin (2003) esp. pp. 1–35.
For the sequence, see Dunbabin (2003) p. 19.
Knibbe (1981) p. 85.
See Chapter 5. Looking forward, it is worth noting that, if Seiterle (1979) p. 3 ff.
is correct, and the pendants hanging off Artemis’s midsection on her secondcentury A.D. cult statues that once stood in the prytaneion (including the socalled Great Artemis and the Beautiful Artemis) are symbolic of bulls’ scrota—
offered to her on festival days to strengthen the goddess again after every offering
so that she could give her own vitality back to nature and to the dead, as Knibbe
NOTES TO PAGES 108–110
358
(2002a) p. 55 has proposed—perhaps it was a “mystic” sacrifice of bulls to which
Strabo is referring in his gloss on the general festival in Ephesos.
127. See Burkert (1987) Figure 2.
128. For the bull sacrifices in Eleusis at the mysteries, see SEG 15 (1958) no. 104.11–12;
also 22 (1967) no. 111.7; IG II/III2 1006.10; cf. 1008.9; 1011.8; 1028.11; 1029.7;
1030.7.
129. The galloi lived on the meat of sacrifices: see Juvenal, I.2 lines 111–16,
hic turpis Cybeles et fracta voce loquendi
libertas et crine senex fanaticus albo
sacrorum antistes, rarum ac memorabile magni
gutturis exemplum conducendusque magister.
quid tamen expectant, Phyrgio quos tempus erat iam
more supervacuam cultris abrumpere carnem?
130.
131.
132.
133.
134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
and also Julian, Oration V, 173c. In excavated Mithraea animal bones have been
found and identified as the remains from sacrifices; see Turcan (1981a) pp. 78–80;
(1981b) pp. 341–73; Burkert (1987) p. 110 n. 135; Clauss (2000) pp. 108–13; Bowden (2010) pp. 189–90.
Burkert (1987) pp. 7–10.
Picard (1922) p. 300.
Let alone its significance for any individual who took part in the mystic sacrifices,
which perhaps comprised one element of the putative “extraordinary experience”
of the mysteries, so brilliantly evoked by Burkert (1987) pp. 89–114.
Lonsdale (1993) pp. 137–40.
Dionysios, II.70–71.
For such pyrrhic dances, see Lonsdale (1993) pp. 26, 148–52.
Parker (2007) p. 378; FrGrH 70 F 120; Bowden (2010) p. 54.
Of course such parallels can never replace testimony from the Ephesians or
other witnesses themselves. But analogous stories, with overlapping themes and
even characters, such as the Kouretes, generated at the same time may help us to
understand the wider cultural context within which these parallel stories were
endowed with significance. The story of the birth of Zeus and his mother Rhea
hiding him in a mountain cave on Crete can be traced back to Hesiod, Theogony
lines 477–84 and 492–96, in which passages the Kouretes, however, do not appear. Versions of Zeus’s birth on Crete also appear in Kallimachos, Hymn I.52–53
and Apollodorus, I.1.7. For the Kouretes in general, see Burkert (1985) pp. 173–
74, 260–64; Bremmer (2008) pp. 50–52.
According to some unnamed writers cited by Diodorus V.60.1–3, five of the descendants of the Kouretes who had received Zeus from his mother Rhea sailed
to Chersonesos (the mainland isthmus opposite the island of Rhodes), expelled
the Carians living there, divided the land into five parts, and founded cities that
the five Kouretes named after themselves. Some scholars have attempted to connect these five Kouretes with the Carians and Leleges driven out of Ephesos by
Androklos, according to Strabo, Geography XIV.I.21. For the bibliography and
Notes to Pages 110–115
139.
140.
141.
142.
143.
144.
145.
146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153.
154.
155.
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.
161.
359
proper skepticism about the historical connection between the Carian Kouretes,
the Carians at Ephesos, and the Ephesian Kouretes, see Knibbe (1981) pp. 70–72,
esp. n. 14. Nor is there a revealing analogy between the actions of the Kouretes of
Orphic cults and the Ephesian Kouretes, no doubt because of the radical differences between the standard, Olympian creation story and its Orphic alternative,
especially with its focus upon the figure of Dionysos, who is nowhere to be seen
in any of the texts related to the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos. For the Kouretes in Orphic cults, however, see Robertson (2003) pp. 221–22.
Oster (1990) p. 1712.
Diodorus, V.65.1.
Diodorus, V.65.3.
Diodorus, V.65.4.
Diodorus, V.66.1.
Diodorus, V.66.3.
Diodorus, V.70.1.
Diodorus, V.65.4; the Kouretes presumably drowned out Zeus’s cries by the noise
of their war dance, thus saving the baby.
Diodorus, V.70.2.
Diodorus, V.70.3.
Diodorus, V.71.1.
Diodorus, V.71.1.
For the connection between rivers and springs with births and child rearing, see
Parker (2007) p. 430; for Artemis’s associations with rural locations near sources
of water, see Mikalson (2005) p. 119.
In Kallimachos’s (I.51–53) version of the story, this was done by the Kouretes
striking their shields with their spears.
It is nowhere made explicit exactly when, relative to 29 B.C., these events, including Artemis’s birth, were thought to have taken place. On the significance of
placing the origins of festivals in such special, primal, “prehistorical” times, before the world had reached its final form, however, see Parker (2007) pp. 377–79.
Jost (2003) esp. p. 164 has argued that the activities of the Kouretes, the Korybantes, and the Great Mother at the celebration of the mysteries of Despoina at
Lykosoura in Arcadia helped to create a more “inspired” and “enthusiastic” climate.
Johnston (2003) p. 157.
Graf (2009) p. 12.
Beacham (2005) pp. 157–58; Scheid (2005) pp. 178–79; Favro (2005) p. 237.
For a treatment of the theology of Roman imperial rule, see Bonz (1998) pp. 252
n. 5, 255–56.
Herz (2007) pp. 305–6.
For these appropriations, see above and Knibbe, Meriç, and Merkelbach (1979)
p. 139.
IE II 459, from the east side of the street between the temple of Domitian and
the upper agora, now housed in the Ephesus Museum Selçuk, inv. no. 1636.
NOTES TO PAGES 116–117
360
162.
163.
164.
165.
166.
167.
168.
169.
170.
171.
172.
1
2
3
4
5
6
[Iud]icio Ca[esaris]
Augusti ex rediti[bus]
agrorum sacrorum,
quos is Dianae de[dit]
via strata Sex. Appul[eio]
pro cos.
7
8
9
10
11
[τῆ]ι Καίσαρος τοῦ Σεβαστο[ῦ]
[κρίσει] ἐκ τῶν ἱερῶν προσό[δων,]
[ἃ]ς αὐτὸς τῇ Θε[ᾷ] ἐχαρ[ίσατο,]
ὁδὸς ἐστρώθη ἐπ’ ἀνθυπάτ[ου]
Σέξτου Ἀπποληίου
For the text, also see Miltner (1960) p. 42 ff.; Alzinger (1974) p. 24 n. 68; Knibbe
(1981) p. 75; Dignas (2002) p. 173. Dignas suggests that the reason for Augustus’s
restoration of Artemis’s sacred lands might have been that Roman tax collectors
had violated the goddess’s rights. But the texts are not explicit about the reason(s).
IE VII, 2, 3501 and 3502.
IE VII, 2, 3503; 3504; 3505. For the exact locations of the stones, see Knibbe,
Meriç, and Merkelbach (1979) pp. 139–47.
Such interventions of rulers into especially the financial affairs of cults within
Asia Minor comprise one of the central themes of Dignas (2002).
This is an excellent example of a point well made by Rives (2007) p. 46 (and
again, on p. 149) that the Roman emperor and lesser Roman officials did intervene “in matters concerning the divine, bestowing benefits on favored cults and
restricting groups or practices of which they disapproved.”
See Dignas (2002) p. 161 for the argument that Augustus had a religious policy
designed to ensure that representatives of religious centers could “expect support
when they complained about the violation of sacred property or fiscal privileges
of the gods.”
Geography XIV.1.23; Scherrer (2000) p. 22; Dignas (2002) p. 177.
Unfortunately, we do not have any of the boundary markers of either the Artemision or the polis of Arsinoeia at the foundation of the new polis, probably in
294 B.C. We do know that the documented focus of building activity in the new
polis (in the lower agora) was far away from the temple itself, perhaps as much as
seven stadia, on the lower ridges of Bülbüldag and Panayirdag and in the valleys
between them. See Karwiese (1995) p. 64; Scherrer (2001) p. 61 ff.
Exactly who these “criminals” were is uncertain; it will be recalled, however, that
at least some of the followers of Brutus and Cassius, the assassins of Iulius Caesar,
Octavian’s adoptive father, had found refuge within the sanctuary.
Scullion (2005) p. 114.
Leukippe and Kleitophon VIII.2.
Wood (1877), Inscriptions from the Peribolus Wall of the Artemisium and the
Augusteum, no. 1; Hicks (1890) no. 522; IE V 1522:
Notes to Pages 117–119
1
2
3
4
361
Imp. Caesar Divi f. Aug. cos. XII tr. pot. XVIII pontifex
maximus ex reditu Dianae fanum et Augusteum muro
muniendum curavit C. Asinio [[Gallo pro cos.,]] curatore
Sex. Lartidio leg.
5 Αὐτοκράτωρ Καῖσαρ θεοῦ υἱὸς Σεβαστὸς ὕπατος τὸ ιβ’,
δημαρχικῆς ἐξουσίας τὸ ιη’
6 [ἐκ] τῶν ἱερῶν τῆς θεοῦ προσόδων τόν vac. νεὼ καὶ τὸ Σεβαστῆον
τιχισθῆναι προενοήθη
7 [[ἐπὶ ἀνθυπάτου Γαΐου Ἀσινίου Γάλλου]], ἐπιμελήᾳ Σέξστου
Λαρτιδίου πρεσβευτοῦ
173. Lines 2 and 6.
174. Dignas (2002) p. 175.
175. Wood (1877), Inscriptions from the Peribolus Wall of the Artemisium and the
Augusteum, nos. 2, 3; IE V 1523 and 1524.
176. See Hicks (1890) no. 525; and Knibbe (1998) pp. 111–12.
177. Dignas (2002) p. 176.
178. Wood (1877), Inscriptions from the City and Suburbs, no. 2; IE V 1525, combining the two fragments found by Wood, and the third fragment associated with
them by Merkelbach.
179. IE VII, 2, 3513 (a) and 3513 (b); Keil (1937) pp. 195–96.
180. IE VII, 2, 3514–16 also give fragmentary references to boundary stones that may
be associated with this work: 3514 to the fifth boundary stone; and 3516 to the
measuring out from a boundary stone to a boundary stone lying opposite, and
the second boundary stone.
181. That Augustus was not completely successful in this regard is implied by the
edict of the proconsul Paullus Fabius Persicus of A.D. 44, IE Ia 17–19A. Dignas
(2002) pp. 170–71 has argued persuasively that Persicus’s initiative should be interpreted as a sign that Augustus’s restoration of sacred revenues to the goddess
had not been sufficient because of mismanagement of the sanctuary; specifically,
that the authorities of the polis had begun to create new priesthoods from which
it is very likely that both the new priests and those behind their creation were
profiting. More broadly, the edict has been interpreted by Dmitriev (2005) p. 304
as an example of the administration of Greek cities becoming more open to the
authority of the governor.
182. These measures do not indicate that Augustus was following an “anti-Artemision”
policy after 29 B.C. Rather, these measures were taken in keeping with his usual
method of carefully defining spheres of legal and religious authority in order to
ensure stability and public order, for which, in Ephesos, see Knibbe (1998) p. 112
and elsewhere, Babelon (1939) pp. 1–42, 149–88. The longer-term effect of the
measures, however, was to prepare the ground for the polis’s absorption of some
of the religious authority of the Artemision’s priesthoods.
183. IE IV 1001.
184. The list was incised onto the surface of a column drum (C), on the face of what
362
185.
186.
187.
188.
189.
190.
191.
192.
193.
194.
195.
NOTES TO PAGES 119–120
is now the third column drum up from the stylobate of the fourth column from
the right (east) of the Doric stoa of the prytaneion of Ephesos; FiE IX/4 (2010)
inv. no. 56/07 p. 48.
For the date of the move, see Knibbe (1981) p. 75; Karwiese (1995) p. 82.
FiE IX/4 (2010) pp. 78–79, 239; see also Knibbe (1981) p. 75; (1998) p. 113. We
possess a fragmentary inscription, IE II 437, setting out the details of some of
the work on the courtyard of the prytaneion, but unfortunately, the inscription can only be dated to the first or second century A.D. For discussions of the
prytaneion inscriptions and the building, see Keil (1939) pp. 119–38; Alzinger
(1974) pp. 49–51; Gros (1996) pp. 111–20; FiE IX/4 (2010) pp. 78–79, 240. There
were various renovations or additions to the prytaneion, including work on the
floor, etc., as we know from another fragmentary inscription, IE II 462, which
probably should be dated to the period around A.D. 80, from the appearance
of L. Herennius Peregrinus in the inscription (line 8), who is known from IE II
412.10–11 and III 695.16–19 to have been twice secretary of the demos of Ephesos at the time, hagnos and philartemis; some columns, as documented in IE III
528, dated between A.D. 102 and 116; and niches of some sort, as mentioned in
IV 1024, dated shortly after A.D. 104.
Although Tiberius and his mother Livia seem to have been remembered and
honored in the city through the creation of statues at least by the reign of
Caligula, such as the portrait busts from the niche of the exedra leading into the
peristyle courtyard of unit 7 of Terrace House 2 (Ephesus Museum Selçuk, inv.
nos. 81/59/80 and 80/59/80), these portraits apparently were always intended
for private settings. The contemporary evidence for public interventions into the
cults of the city by Tiberius is virtually nonexistent, as we shall see.
For Augustus’s interest in the religious values and material aspects of the Greek
cults of Asia, see Dignas (2002) pp. 128–29; Beacham (2005) pp. 157–63; Graf
(2009) pp. 127–29, 171. According to Suetonius, Augustus LXX, at the age of
eleven Octavian dressed up as Apollo at a private party with eleven other friends
who impersonated the rest of the Olympian gods. Although the party caused a
public scandal, largely because it apparently took place during a food shortage, it
is hard to argue that Octavian’s impersonation of Apollo was part of a political
program.
Res Gestae XX.4; Scheid (2005) pp. 180–82.
See above and Knibbe (1981) p. 75; and (1998) pp. 112–13.
Knibbe (1981) pp. 75–76.
IE II 404.1 and 6; Alzinger (1974) pp. 55–57; Bammer (1976–77a) pp. 56–59;
Scherrer (1995) p. 5. The creation of such stoas and/or colonnaded thoroughfares, connecting major sections of cities in Asia Minor and usually leading to city
centers, has been seen as a characteristic of urban planning in the region from the
early imperial period; see Parrish (2001b) p. 11.
Revell (2009) p. 3.
IE V 1449.
IE VII, 2, 4102.
Notes to Pages 120–122
363
196. We know that Vedius Pollio, who was an amicus of Octavian, was involved in the
reorganization of Artemis’s cult within the sanctuary through (an unfortunately
undated) constitution (diataxis); see IE Ia 17.47–48; 18b.6(?); 18c.10–11; 18d.4.
It is unclear, however, whether that diataxis, which is cited as a precedent by the
Roman proconsul Paullus Fabius around A.D. 44 in his edict on temple finances,
was an official edict or a private foundation, and also whether it had anything to
do with the Kouretes and/or the mysteries. The point here is simply that a Roman freedman and official friend of Octavian’s was involved in the organization
and priesthoods of the Artemision, perhaps as early as 30 B.C.
197. The transfer of the administration of part or all of a mystery cult from a sanctuary or a group of families that administered the cult within a sanctuary to a polis
was neither unprecedented nor perhaps even unusual. In 82 B.C. the celebration
of the mysteries of Andania was handed over from a priestly family to the polis of
Andania. For the transfer, see Schachter (2003) p. 134. For a parallel kind of intervention, affecting the priesthood of Zeus in Rough Kilikia, see Gotter (2008)
pp. 89–103. Gotter makes a persuasive case that within a few years of Strabo’s
visit to Ephesos, as a dynastic newcomer King Archelaus sought to neutralize the
priesthood of Zeus because of its importance to local authority, by assuming the
priesthood himself first and then changing its character or abolishing it. Augustus, as far as we know, never was a Koures, but after the transfer of the Kouretes
to the prytaneion, as we shall see, there is no doubt that this office and the association were radically transformed.
198. For the embedded character of religion in ancient Greece, meaning that no
sphere of life, including what we call politics, lacked a religious aspect, see Bremmer (1994) pp. 2–4.
199. Scherrer (2001) p. 85.
Chapter 5. Kouretes eusebeis
1. Knibbe (1981) p. 76. Knibbe argues that the prytaneis apparently took over direction of the Ortygian mysteries from time to time (somewhere around the turn of
the century or shortly thereafter) and that the Kouretes became the helpers of the
prytaneis in performing the many sacrifices that now centered around the prytaneion. As support for this viewpoint, Knibbe adduces the evidence provided
in an inscription, IE Ia 10, that has been dated to the last quarter of the second
or early third century A.D. In that inscription a list of at least some of the cultic duties of a prytanis are enumerated in lines 18–25. Unfortunately, due to the
fragmentary nature of the text at line 33, the role that the Kouretes (mentioned
in line 31 of the text) may have played in these cultic duties is unclear. Although
the inscription provides important information about the duties of the prytanis
with respect to several of the cult officials who helped to celebrate the mysteries
(and this information will be discussed below in the appropriate chronological
context), the direct relevance of the inscription to the role of the Kouretes at the
mysteries is slight. Rather, the inscription appears only to set out a procedure for
364
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
NOTES TO PAGES 123–125
the prytanis to pay some sort of penalty to the Kouretes and the hierophant if
the prytanis did not fulfill the aforementioned distributions of sacrificial meats
or made some kind of mistake. The inscription, therefore, cannot be used as evidence for the cult activities of the Kouretes, especially during the first and second centuries A.D. As we will show, however, the cult offices of the attendants to
which the lists of Kouretes make reference imply particular ritual tasks that in
Ephesos and elsewhere are specifically linked to the celebration of mysteries.
For the concept of such a fusion taking place during the celebration of certain
kinds of rituals, see Geertz (1966).
During this early period we do not know exactly how the Kouretes were selected.
Later, based upon the high percentage of Kouretes who were related to the yearly
prytaneis, it is clear that the Kouretes were not randomly selected. See Knibbe
(1981) p. 96.
At some unidentified point in time during the imperial period, but certainly by
A.D. 104, the title of the association of Kouretes was changed from an archeion
(when Strabo was writing) to a sunhedrion. For confirmation that this was the
new title of the association, see IE Ia, 28.4, dated to A.D. 104, an inscription on
a statue base presumably for a statue of the tribe Sebaste from the dossier of inscriptions from the Salutaris endowment; IE IV 1057 fr. 4, line 2; the Iulius Marcianus who appears in line 5 of fragment 2 of 1057 also appears in IE IV 1075 line
14, an inscription dated to the reign of Commodus. It is possible that the change
in the title of the association should be associated with the Kouretes’ move from
the Artemision to the prytaneion, as Knibbe (1981) p. 79 argues. If so, then the
title sunhedrion is yet another marker of the polis assuming control of at least
some aspects of the festival.
Friesen (1999) pp. 109–10.
M. Antonius Protogenes, who was prytanis in 34/33 B.C., may be the first Roman citizen prytanis; see IE Ia 9N47; see, for example, IE Ia 9S.21 for Glaukon
the prytanis and priest of Rome; IE Ia 9Nb.17 and III 902.6 and 15 for Presbon,
prytanis and priest of Dionysos Phleus; IE Ia 9Nb21 for Eubios, prytanis and
priest of Apollo Pythios and Asclepios; and IE Ia 9 for prytaneis and agonothetes
of the Dionysia. For the duties and importance of the “president of the contest,”
see Kleijwegt (1991) pp. 251–52.
Mandrylos, prytanis of 66 B.C., was followed in the prytany by his son Glaukon
in 36/35; see IE VII, 1, 3004.4–6 and Ia 9S.21. Apollonios, the prytanis of 19/18,
dedicated a statue of Augustus, see IE Ia 9N.1; III 902.1; and II 257.4. Herophilos, the prytanis of 37/36, was secretary of the demos in 38 B.C. See IE Ia 9N39
and 21.33.
IE Ia 10; and Chapter 8.
For the title hierourgoi, see IE IV 1021.12; and Knibbe (1981) p. 95.
It must be stated from the start and will be obvious from what follows, however, that what rituals we know took place at the celebrations of the mysteries of
Artemis at Ephesos, based upon the lists of Kouretes and cult attendants, never
allow us to understand the sequence of rituals as well as we do the rituals or
Notes to Pages 125–128
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
365
sequence of rituals of the Thesmophoria in Attica, for instance. For that reason,
while we can imagine various sequential tableaux at different times that are at
least consistent with the kinds of rites and ceremonies that we know took place at
the mysteries (one of which begins this investigation), we cannot identify exactly
hierarchical or oligarchic “structures of participation” at the mysteries, as Schmitt
Pantel (1992) has deemed them, for the sake of establishing senses of unity and/
or sorting out issues of rank and status. At best, we are looking at a series of unfinished or partially restored canvases from which we can recognize only some of
the most important characters and trends.
IE IV 1012 from A.D. 92/93, the prytany of Claudia Trophime; for her prytany,
see also IE II 508.4 and IV 1062.1, an epigram of Claudia Trophime dedicated
to Hestia, thereby emphasizing Hestia’s centrality to the prytaneion at the time;
and IV 1021, from A.D. 104, the prytany of Tiberius Claudius Antipater Iulianus,
also known as prytanis from the Salutaris foundation, see IE Ia 27.1–2; also III
916A.4–5; IV 1384B.11; 1385.4.
For the relative chronology of the lists of Kouretes, see Knibbe (1981) pp. 76–92.
It is worth noting and acclaiming the enormous scholarly effort that went into
the construction of Knibbe’s relative chronology of lists. Even if I occasionally will argue that some lists belong to different stages in the relative or absolute chronology, I, and all other scholars who work with these inscriptions, owe
Knibbe an enormous debt of gratitude for the hard work and ingenuity he has
displayed in the reconstruction of the chronology of the lists. Without his efforts,
studies such as this one could not be imagined, let alone undertaken.
Geertz (1973) p. 448.
For example, IE IV 1018 (crown); 1022 (crown); 1029 (crown); 1034 (gable); 1035
(gable).
For the way visual media were used in the Asklepieion of Pergamon to corroborate a particular mythical narrative in that city, see the fascinating article of
Petsalis-Diomidis (2005) pp. 183–218.
On the issue of literacy and the audiences implied by different kinds of texts,
see Duncan-Jones (1977) pp. 333–53; Pleket (1981) pp. 155–79; Harris (1983)
pp. 87–112; Harris (1989); Kleijwegt (1991) pp. 76–77; Elsner (1996b) pp. 32–53;
Burrell (2009) pp. 69–95.
Revell (2009) p. 22.
Barrett (1993) pp 236–47.
Bell (1997) p. 204; and Asad (1993).
For the uses of writing and social memory, see Alcock (2002) pp. 18–19.
IE IV 1001. This list was inscribed into what is now the third column drum (C)
up from the stylobate of the fourth Doric column from the right (east) (FiE
IX/4 [2010] inv. no. PR 56/07 p. 48) and today (since it was set up in the 1960s)
faces outward or south-southwest, toward the walkway along the basilica stoa.
Given its deeply engraved and large letters (approximately 0.98 inches), list no.
1001 probably was intended to be seen by visitors to the prytaneion’s stoa. However, since it is not certain exactly where this column drum was located originally,
366
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
NOTES TO PAGES 128–130
it is not clear whether the inscription could have been read unless the reader was
only a few feet away from the column itself. Even if visitors could not read the
individual lists of Kouretes, however, the overall purpose of presenting the lists
on the columns of the stoa, which are still visible today from behind the ropes
that keep tourists away from the prytaneion, clearly must have been to assert
visually the connections between the prytaneion, the Kouretes, and the celebration of the mysteries.
The spondaules Alexandros appears in list B1, line 8 in Knibbe (1981) pp. 14–15
= IE IV 1001.8; see also p. 79; charts on pp. 80 and 84. As the numbers of cult
offices set out underneath the lists of Kouretes grew, a kind of hierarchy of offices
also evolved. In this hierarchy, the spondaules occupied the last position up to list
no. 1028, from the first quarter of the second century A.D. Thereafter, the spondaules came second to last from list 1029 to 1042A and third from last in lists
1043 to 1045, probably from the time of Marcus Aurelius.
For the function of the office, see Knibbe (1981) p. 84. On the playing of the
aulos in general, see Landels (1999) pp. 24–46. Outside the lists of Kouretes, a
spondaules appears in one other late-second-century A.D. (?) inscription from
Ephesos, III 974.27, in a list of cult officials. On panel 62 of the so-called Parthian
monument frieze, now in the Ephesus Museum in Vienna, there is a relief image
of an auletes, playing two pipes, standing next to a salpiktes (trumpeter) as a bull
is being prepared for sacrifice. To the left of the auletes is some kind of young
male figure, holding some kind of libation jar. This scene, representing the pouring of spondai (ritual libations) before a bull sacrifice while an auletes plays, may
provide an iconographic parallel to what is implied by the title of the spondaules
in the lists of Kouretes. Outside the context of Artemis’s mysteries, the famous
Lovatelli Urn from Rome, which has been dated to the time of Augustus, depicts a priest pouring a libation during an Eleusinian initiation. The pouring of
libations also seems to have taken place during the initiation ceremonies of the
mysteries of Samothrace. For the details, see Cole (1989) p. 1576.
Bacchai lines 130–34; Lonsdale (1993) pp. 77–78.
Landels (1999) p. 24.
Bowden (2010) p. 87.
Emphasized by Landels (1999) p. 30 ff.
For the pouring of libations during sacrifices, see Parker (2007) p. 181.
Landels (1999) p. 26; Bremmer (1994) p. 17.
Scheid (2003a) p. 99; Bell (1997) p. 111.
Lonsdale (1993) pp. 138, 144.
For this point, see Knibbe (1981) p. 79.
Geography XIV.I.20.
See Knibbe (1981) p. 79.
List B2 in Knibbe (1981) p. 15 = IE IV 1002. This list was inscribed just below
B1 = IE IV 1001 upon the third column drum (C) up from the stylobate of the
fourth Doric column from the right or east (FiE IX/4 [2010] inv. no. PR 56/07
Notes to Page 130
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
367
p. 48) and today faces outward or south-southwest, toward the walkway along
the stoa. Although 1002 also probably was intended to be seen, since its letter
heights vary between 0.98 and 1.18 inches, it is not clear whether 1002 could have
been read unless the reader was only a few feet away from it. Beneath 1002 there
apparently was another list, numbered B46 by Knibbe = IE IV 1002A, a fragmentary preamble set inside a crown from the prytany of Lucius Staidios Attalos,
from the first or second century A.D. If this brief inscription is to be dated to the
reign of Tiberius, Staidios would be the first Roman citizen prytanis named in
what may have been Kouretes’ lists after the transfer of the Kouretes to the prytaneion. Another very fragmentary inscription, B3 = IE IV 1003, belongs to the
same early group in Knibbe’s relative chronology but is inscribed upon the first
column drum (A) up from the stylobate of the fourth Doric column from the
left or west.
A hymnos, according to Plato, Laws 700b and Republic 607a, was a prayer sung
to a god; Lonsdale (1993) p. 157; Van Nijf (1997) pp. 165–68.
Pulleyn (1997) p. 55.
See IE 1a 18d.4–7. On the hymnodoi in general, see Keil (1908) pp. 101–10; Poland
(1926) pp. 26–46; Pleket (1965) pp. 341–47; Horsley 1 (1981) no. 25, pp. 71–72;
Price (1984a) p. 90; Horsley 4 (1987) no. 14, p. 52; Van Nijf (1997) pp. 165–68;
Friesen (2001) pp. 104–16; and Harland (2003c) pp. 85–107. Some sort of music
was also featured as part of the initiations into the mysteries of Samothrace. See
Cole (1989) p. 1576.
Van Nijf (1997) p. 167.
IE VI 2446.
See IE VII, 1, 3247.7–9. In general, singers such as Aurelius Artemidoros sang
hymns at festivals to give pleasure to the deity or deities being honored and to
win them over by the pleasure that such singing gave them. For the function of
such hymns, see Scheid (2003a) p. 99; Horsley 4 (1987) p. 52.
IE II 275.7. Elsewhere, in Smyrna for instance, during the reign of Antoninus Pius
in A.D. 157/58, there was a “sunodos of the mustai in Smyrna” as we know from
IvS II, 1 (1987) 600.25–26; cf. 639.1–3, where the title of the association is “the
sacred sunodos of actors around Dionysos Breiseus and mustai.” Nilsson (1957)
pp. 47–48 argued that this was an association of actors that posed as a mystery
association, but that need not be the case. These were probably initiates into the
mysteries of Dionysos Breiseus. See also 652.2–3, from the first century A.D., for
“the sacred sunodos of the Breiseon”; cf. 729.1–3 from A.D. 247–49 for a seal of
the “Breiseus-Mustai before the polis”; 730.5 from the second century A.D.; 731
from A.D. 80 and 83; 731.17–18 for two individuals who are patromustai, which
should mean that they were hereditary members of the association of mustai of
Dionysos because their fathers had been or were members of the association; cf.
732.1.
IE II 275.8–14.
IvS II, 1 (1987) 594.3; Pergamon VIII, 2, no. 374.
368
NOTES TO PAGES 130–131
45. IvS II, 1 (1987) 595.15–17; 644.17–18; 758.1–6; IvS I (1980) 500.1–2; cf. 208.
46. For the choral singers for Cybele, see Tituli Asiae Minoris V 955; 962. For the centrality of hymning the god within Greek worship, see Parker (2007) p. 181.
47. Knibbe (1981) p. 85.
48. See IE Ia 2.53, from the second half of the fourth century B.C.; 10.22, in the sacrificial law from the third century A.D., where the hierokeryx is to receive gifts representative of his position in cultic matters; 36A.15, from between A.D. 107/8 and
109/10; 36B.14 and 36C.16; in these inscriptions related to the Salutaris foundation from A.D. 104, the hierokeryx is designated to accompany the apeikonismata
(images) of all the gods in the assemblies, and thus the hierokeryx is clearly functioning outside the context of the celebration of the mysteries; III 624.9, from
the reign of Macrinus, in which Aurelius Daphnus the Younger is hierokeryx of
Artemis; 666A.11, from the reign of Marcus Aurelius in which Fabius Faustinianus, for whom see Merkelbach (1978) pp. 82–83, is hierokeryx of Artemis for two
years in a row; 687.1, in which M. Iulius Aurelius Dionysius is hierokeryx; 724.1,
probably from the reign of Gordian, in which probably M. Aurunceius Vedius
Mithridates is hierokeryx of Artemis; 740.17, from after the third neokorate, in
which the Asiarch Ulpius Apollonius Plautus is the father of sacred heralds; 840.2;
897.4, 7, mentioning the hierokeryx M. Aurelius Agathokles from Thyateira; 911.3,
for the agoramonos and hierokeryx P. Claudius Varus; 927A.4, for the agoranomos Eutuchianos, the father of a hierokeryx; 940A.12, mentioning Fabius Faustinianus, hierokeryx; 941.6, in the thanks inscription of probably a neopoios, ek]
genous hierokerykon meta ton teknon (one of the hierokerykai from his ancestors
along with his children); this inscription therefore would seem to imply that sacred
heralds had the kind of knowledge about cultic matters that was transmitted from
generation to generation and constituted a rather well-defined association within
the city; 956.4; 962.4–5, the thanks inscription of the neopoios and hierokeryx
T. Flavius Alexander Aelianus; 985.12–13, for the hierokeryx A. Larcius Iulianus,
father of Larcia Theogenis Iuliane, priestess of Artemis; IV 1103A.3; 1104.7–8,
from the beginning of the third century for Claudius Doruphoros, hierokeryx
of the Artemisia; 1151.15 and 1152.5, an honorary inscription for L. Verrius Terentius Flavianus, eisagogos (possibly a collector of initiation fees) of the great Ephesia
and hierokeryx of Artemis; V 1549.1, a fragmentary honorary inscription; 1571.2,
another fragmentary honorary inscription; 1579b.7, in the thanks inscription of
three neopoioi; 1604.2, from the inscription of a victor at the Ephesia; VI 2913.3, a
fragmentary inscription, possibly about the celebration of the mysteries, in which
C. Alphius Me[ appears as a hierokeryx, probably during the prytany of Flavia
Vaconia An[——]; cf. V 1579B4; VII, 1 3010.5–6, P. Statienus Petronianus appears
as the father of the hierokeryx; 3061.5, Sextus Claudius Menander, the hierokeryx
of Artemis; VII, 2, 4336.9, in an inscription from the time of Gordian III (to A.D.
244), mentioning M. Aurunceius Vedius Mithridates, the father of the hierokeryx.
49. For example, IE III 911.3, for the agoramonos and hierokeryx P. Claudius Varus;
927A.4, for the agoranomos Eutuchianos, the father of a hierokeryx.
50. Wörrle (1988) pp. 111–14; Van Nijf (1997) p. 102 n. 136.
Notes to Pages 131–133
369
51. For the keryx and the hierokeryx (a designation found only beginning in the Roman period [first or second century A.D.]) at the Eleusinia, see Clinton (1974)
pp. 76–82.
52. Clinton (1974) p. 77.
53. Clinton (1974) p. 77.
54. Clinton (1974) p. 81.
55. Clinton (1974) p. 81.
56. As we know occurred in Athens; the sacred heralds of the Eleusinian mysteries
were taken from the clan of the Kerykes.
57. For instance, the sacred herald Epikrates, who served from list B17 = IE IV 1017
dated from around A.D. 97 to 100, until perhaps list B39 = 1039 dated to the
mid-second century A.D. This may seem like an exceptionally long term of office,
but we should remember that L. Memmius Thorikos served as altar priest of the
Eleusinia for no less than sixty-five years and that a woman named Lysimache,
who belonged to the genos of the Eteoboutadae in Athens, served as a priestess of
Athena for sixty-four years, from the late fifth century until after around 360 B.C.
For the evidence, see Clinton (1974) pp. 83–84; IG II2 3453 and von den Hoff
(2008) p. 120.
58. Burkert’s 1987 definition of what mysteries constituted, based upon his comparative phenomenology.
59. See IE IV 1001.1–2; 1002.1–3; and 1002A.1–2.
60. Revell (2009) p. 183.
61. Revell (2009) p. 11.
62. See IE IV 1001 (A.D. 14 to 37); 1002 (A.D. 14 to 37). For a very useful chart that
sets out the numbers (but not the names) of Roman citizens in each of the lists
of Kouretes that form part of Knibbe’s relative chronological study, see Knibbe
(1981) p. 99.
63. IE VII, 2, 4337; and Harland (2003a) p. 117. For the cult itself, see Appendix 1.
64. Campanile (2004a) pp. 165–85; Devreker (1982) pp. 496–97; Jones (1992)
pp. 110, 114; Bonz (1998) p. 253.
65. Halfmann (1979) pp. 78–81.
66. We should not forget that no Ephesian gained the consulate until Tiberius
Claudius Severus became consul sometime during the Severan period; see IE III
648.1–4; and Habicht (1974) pp. 4–6.
67. See IE IV 1001 from A.D. 14 to 37: Apollonios (1001.4); Felix (1001.6); IE IV
1002 from A.D. 14 to 37: Deiphilos (1002.6); Eumenes (1002.9); Theophilos
(1002.10).
68. As we will see, the percentage of Kouretes with Roman names, and the Roman
franchise, increased dramatically over the course of the imperial period. On the
basis of this dramatic increase, we certainly are entitled to conclude that Roman
citizens came to dominate the sunhedrion most directly concerned with the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. In the absence of parallel evidence from
other cults, however, it is difficult to say whether this was a trend that was specific to the association of the Kouretes or a more widespread phenomenon in the
370
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
NOTES TO PAGE 134
polis. Outside of Ephesos, a striking parallel can be found in Stratonikeia, where
epigraphical evidence reveals that most of the priests and priestesses responsible
for celebrating the Panamereia (to Zeus Panameros) and in the Komyria and
Heraia were also Roman citizens. But the evidence dates to the second and third
centuries A.D., not the early first century. For an overview of the evidence from
Stratonikeia, see Graf (2003a) pp. 250–1.
IE IV 1002. For Theophilos’s appearance on bronze coins of the city, see Münsterberg (1911) p. 89.
IE VII, 1, 3022. Duncan-Jones’s studies of prices and price levels in Africa Proconsularis (1974) p. 78 established that, although certain kinds of marble statues with bases and inscriptions could be very expensive, the median average cost
of a statue with base and inscription of about fourteen lines was 5,000 sestertii,
or 1,200 denarii. If such prices are transferable, assuming that the statue of the
proconsul Messalinus was not a very large one or was made of a rare marble, it is
likely that the cost of Alexandros’s dedication fell on the lower end of costs for
public benefactions (compared, for instance, with paying for a building or celebrating some kind of festival).
For Asklepiades, see IE V 1574.3; for Protogenes, see V 1574.1 and IE Ia 9N
47–48. Agonothetes and/or panegyriarchs usually were chosen from among citizens of at least bouleutic status; see Wörrle (1988); Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 97.
Although it had not been the rule before, it also was during the Roman period
that many Eleusinian priests held high office in Athens; for the evidence, see
Clinton (1974) pp. 114–15. Of the phenomenon at Athens Clinton has written
that “their political success at this time, as it appears, was due to many factors,
among which wealth figured in no small way, and not primarily to the holding
of an Eleusinian priesthood, though chances for political office were probably
enhanced if one held an Eleusinian priesthood, and vice versa.” In the Ephesian case, wealth undoubtedly was also a requirement for becoming one of the
Kouretes; however, there may be a difference between the situation in Ephesos
and Athens, given the fact that by the mid-second century A.D. the vast majority
of Kouretes already belonged to the Boule when they undertook service in the
sunhedrion of Kouretes, as is proved by the frequent listing of membership in
the Boule by individuals in the yearly lists of the Kouretes at the end of their
yearly duty. Thus, although it is difficult to prove that being a Koures enhanced
the possibility of holding high political office or membership in the council for
an individual during the early Roman empire, what we probably can say is that
possessing the wealth, either individually or within a family, necessary to find a
seat in the bouleuterion also made it more likely that an individual might serve
as a Koures. By the end of the second century A.D., at any rate, membership in
the council and service as one of the yearly Kouretes mark an individual as one
of the members of the governing order of the polis.
See Knibbe (1981) B1.2–3 = IE IV 1001.3–4; B2.3–4 = IV 1002.3–4; B3.2 = IV
1003.2 (restored).
Friesen (1993) p. 39.
Notes to Pages 134–136
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
371
Friesen (1993) p. 39 n. 33.
Bremmer (1994) p. 5.
Isocrates, VII.30 quoted by Bremmer (1994) p. 5.
IvS II, 1.653; 654.
For the use of the formula, see Cole (1989) p. 1578.
Horsley 4 (1987) no. 19, p. 82 n. 4.
My interpretation of the use of eusebeis here follows from the brilliant discussion
of Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 113 ff. My understanding of how the epithet was used here,
however, is not as an example of “gift-exchange” as proposed by Zuiderhoek, since
it was the Kouretes themselves who proclaimed themselves to be “pious,” and there
was no “consent” in the form of honorific inscriptions put up for them by subordinates within the civic hierarchy. But I am arguing, in line with Zuiderhoek’s analysis of generosity and legitimation, that the Kouretes were using more or less socially
agreed-upon values and beliefs to legitimate their authority.
For more on the vocabulary of piety in Ephesos during this time, see Rogers
(1999) pp. 125–30.
Annals II.47.1–4; Guidoboni (1994) no. 079, pp. 179–84; Knibbe (1998) pp. 118–
19.
Tacitus, Annals IV.13.1; Guidoboni (1994) nos. 079 and 080, pp. 184–85; for the
overall effects of the earthquake of A.D. 23, see Scherrer (1995) pp. 7–8; (2001)
pp. 73–74.
IE II 402; VII, 1, 3092; II 401; Knibbe and Iplikçioglu (1984a) p. 121; Scherrer
(2001) p. 74.
Scherrer (2001) p. 73.
For Terrace Houses 1 and 2, see FiE VIII/1 (1977); VIII/2 (1977); VIII 3 (1996);
VIII 4 (2003); VIII 6 (2005); JÖAI (1972–75) pp. 331–58 and 358–80; Krinzinger
(2002); Scherrer (2000) pp. 100–13; Ladstätter (2002) pp. 9–39.
Scherrer (2000) p. 140 cites damage to the ashlar walls of the Augustan- era agora
that were destroyed in the earthquake of A.D. 23. The excavators of the agora also
found thousands of shards of broken vessels amidst other debris in the basement
of a cellar story of the west stoa. It surely is a plausible inference that these vessels
were broken in the earthquake as well. In fact, it is likely that the South Gate was
the only major element of the Augustan- era renovation of the lower agora that
escaped the earthquake of A.D. 23 unscathed.
For the identification of the Tetragonos Agora in antiquity and the renovations
of it, see IE VII, 1, 3005; and VII, 2, 4123 and Scherrer (1993) pp. 12–14; (1994)
pp. 11–14; (1995) p. 7; (1996) pp. 7–11; (2000) pp. 140–47; and FiE XIII/2 (2006)
for various reports on the excavations there. The area of the Roman-era agora was
approximately twice that of the agora of the Lysimachean polis.
Scherrer (2001) pp. 81–82. Scherrer’s excavations and studies of the Tetragonos
Agora have supported the conclusion (described in Chapter 4) that this agora
was enlarged during the reign of Augustus and laid out according to a grid system, with each block measuring 179.79 English feet, or 185 Roman feet.
For the street and its discovery, see Karwiese (1995) p. 87. A more apt modern
372
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
NOTES TO PAGES 136–138
name for this street, the main thoroughfare of imperial Ephesos, might be Broadway.
Historians of the city have seen the paving of such wide streets that linked public
buildings in different areas of cities as a fundamental feature of Roman influence;
see Owens (1991) p. 157.
See IE VII, 1, 3006 and 3007 for the Mazaios and Mithridates Gate inscriptions;
FiE III (1923) pp. 40–75; Karwiese (1995) p. 81; Wiplinger and Wlach (1996)
p. 29 for its excavation; and Scherrer (2000) p. 138; (2001) p. 77; for the bilingualism of its dedicatory inscription and the architectural antecedents of the
arch, see Burrell (2009). For J. Keil’s 1904 to 1906 excavations of the Embolos
(often referred to in modern studies as the “Street of the Curetes” because of the
Kouretes’ inscriptions that were found along its route, having been relocated to
there from the prytaneion), see Jobst (1983) pp. 150–242; Wiplinger and Wlach
(1996) p. 38. There are several epigraphical references to the Embolos, from the
late first century A.D. to late antiquity, including IE V 2000 (6); 2117.4; VII, 1,
3008.11–12, from A.D. 94/95, which refers to the paving of the Embolos; VII, 1,
3059.11–13, from the late second or early third century A.D., which cites the sacred
place of the Embolitai, dedicated to our lady Artemis, the goddess Artemis; and
IV 1300.3, in which the Embolos is called the most beautiful section of the city.
Although it was once a matter of controversy whether the name of Embolos referred to the street or the section of the city, the consensus now is that the Embolos refers to the colonnaded street. For the Embolos’s development as an urban
center, see Hueber (1984) pp. 3–23.
Scherrer (1995) p. 8.
Scherrer (2000) p. 134; Knibbe (1998) p. 142, who hypothesizes that at this altar
two dozen bulls were sacrificed yearly on the sixth of May. Both in the countryside and in towns Artemis was associated with thoroughfares and intersections.
As Cole (2004) p. 183–84 has pointed out, at Thasos her sanctuary was located
near the agora where three roads intersected.
For the heroon of Androklos, see Thür (1995a) pp. 157–200; (1995b) pp. 63–103
and Pausanias, VII.2.8; 4.2; and Thür (1995a) p. 171–72 on its frieze. For the inscription on the base of a statue of Androklos that was found in the debris along
the street in front of the auditorium, see IE II 501; cf. III 647. For the Octagon, see Josephus, Jewish Antiquities XV.89; Cassius Dio, XLIII.19.2; Thür (1990)
pp. 43–56; (1995a) p. 178–83; (1997) p. 117.
Thür (1990) pp. 43–56.
Alterations to such routes that linked urban centers with peripheral sanctuaries
usually were carried out with great care; see de Polignac (1995) p. 40.
It was, of course, typical for processions of initiates into mysteries, such as the
Eleusinia, to stop along the way to make sacrifice and perform other rituals as
they made their way to the site of their initiations. For the phenomenon during the procession of initiates from Athens to Eleusis, see Plutarch, Alcibiades
XXXIV.4; IG II2 1078.29; Mikalson (2005) p. 87.
Bayliss (1999) p. 60.
Notes to Pages 139–141
373
101. As we know happened elsewhere with respect to matters affecting “ancestral customs,” which were appealed to in order to emphasize the longevity and/or hallowed nature of a rite, but also when changes affecting the performance of such
rites were made; see Cole (2008) pp. 57–59.
102. Van Nijf (1997) pp. 20–21.
103. For the idea that magistrates and governing councils in the Roman empire made
key decisions about the interactions of communities with the gods and acted on
behalf of communities with respect to prayer, sacrifice, and divination, see Rives
(2007) p. 44.
104. For the concept of processional choreography and how its manipulation was intended to shape pilgrims’ experiences of the sacred in the Asklepieion of Pergamon, see Petsalis-Diomidis (2005) pp. 203–4.
105. For the composition dates of the Annals, see Syme II (1958) p. 473.
106. Annals III.60.1.
107. “Primi omnium Ephesii adiere, memorantes non, ut vulgus crederet, Dianam
atque Apollinem Delo genitos: esse apud se Cenchrium amnem, lucum Ortygiam, ubi Latonam partu gravidam et oleae, quae tum etiam maneat, adnisam edidisse ea numina, deorumque monitu sacratum nemus, atque ipsum illic
Apollinem post interfectos Cyclopas Iovis iram vitavisse. Mox Liberum patrem,
bello victorem, supplicibus Amazonum quae aram insiderant ignovisse. Auctam
hinc concessu Herculis, cum Lydia poteretur, caerimoniam templo neque Persarum dicione deminutum ius; post Macedonas, dein nos servavisse.” Annals
III.61.1–2.
108. The reference to the Macedonian intervention perhaps is to an otherwise unattested act of Demetrios Poliorketes or, more likely, given his documented interest
in Ortygia, of Lysimachos after 294 B.C.?
109. Indeed, in addition to the fact that Strabo mentions many temples in Ortygia,
some ancient and others built in later times, there are striking topographical parallels between the description of Ortygia given by the Ephesian ambassadors in
Tacitus’s account of this incident and Strabo’s gloss on Ortygia, which we have
previously reviewed. In his description of the magnificent grove of Ortygia in
Geography XIV.I.20, Strabo also mentions the Kenchrios River and the olive tree
where Leto rested after her travails. Strabo and the Ephesian ambassadors were
describing the same sacred landscape.
110. For the long tradition of cities using myths to advance social or political claims,
see Bremmer (1994) pp. 59–60; Woolf (2003) p. 47; and also Ando (2008) p. 124
on how debates about the history of cult and bodies of religious law were a “principal mechanism for negotiating the nature and future of the empire as a political
community.” Given the long history of the Delians’ claim that Apollo was born
on Delos (for which the Hymn to Apollo, which perhaps can be dated to the sixth
century B.C., serves as the most famous “proof text”), the Ephesians’ claim before
the Roman Senate must surely stand as one of the most striking examples of how
radically polytheists differed over some of the most basic facts about the gods and
how the Olympian pantheon came into being.
374
NOTES TO PAGES 141–143
111. “Factaque senatus consulta quis multo cum honore modus tamen praescribebatur, iussique ipsis in templis figere aera sacrandam ad memoriam, neu specie religionis in ambitionem delaberentur.” Annals III.63.4; and Knibbe (1998) p. 121.
The outcome of the episode provides yet more evidence that inscribed texts were
assumed to have been read or at least be readable; how could the Senate’s ruling
have served as a warning if it could not be read?
112. The incident also has comparative implications for the important question raised
by Parker (2007) p. 375 about who actually knew about the myths that lay behind
the celebration of many Athenian festivals and how they knew. In Ephesos, apparently, the “myth” of Artemis’s birth was known well enough to be used as the
basis of a legal claim made, not just by a small group of priests, but by the representatives of the polis itself, apparently on the basis of some sort of legal charter,
as Tacitus’s report implies. Another interesting question raised by Parker is how
people learned such myths. In the absence of any evidence of a written mythological account available to the Ephesians other than Strabo’s brief gloss, it would
seem to me that the most plausible hypothesis is that the majority of Ephesians
learned the story of Artemis’s birth in Ortygia through their participation in the
yearly festival or by witnessing the procession. But, as we have now seen, certain
rituals that took place during the celebrations were memorialized epigraphically
as well. In Ephesos people could learn about the mysteries both by doing and by
reading public inscriptions. Knowledge of the order of things was built up by
doing, seeing, and reading, at least by those who possessed some degree of literacy.
113. For the episode, see Karwiese (1995) p. 86; and Knibbe (1998) pp. 119–20.
114. Tacitus, Annals IV.15.4; on this episode, see the account of Friesen (1993)
pp. 15–21.
115. “pari ambitione, viribus diversae” Annals IV.55.2; see also Karwiese (1995)
pp. 85–86.
116. “Ephesii Milesiique, hi Apollinis, illi Dianae caerimonia occupavisse civitates
visi.” Annals IV.55.6.
117. Annals IV.56.3.
118. That Ephesos was not granted the privilege of erecting the temple in question undoubtedly would have been seen as a kind of defeat by the Ephesians, as Knibbe
(1998) pp. 119–20 rightly has pointed out.
119. For example, Orations XXXVIII and XL; Oration XXIII. Athens too had long
used Eleusis’s Panhellenic appeal to justify its leadership of other Greek states; see
Edmonds (2003) p. 198 n. 33.
120. Revell (2009) p. 12. This phenomenon should not be looked upon as surprising in
any way; on the contrary, the public celebrations of such cults were precisely the
traditional means by which Greek poleis had expressed their senses of community and always had been, as Sourvinou-Inwood (2000a) p. 18 rightly has pointed
out.
121. To revise the general formulation advanced by Turner (1982) p. 94.
122. Since Tacitus tells us, as noted above, that in A.D. 26 the cities seeking rights of
Notes to Page 146
375
temple asylum were told by the Roman Senate to send their charters and ambassadors to argue for their legal rights; this may imply that the Ephesian charter
included a written reference to the asylum of its temple and the justification for
it.
Chapter 6. Kouretes eusebeis kai philosebastoi
1. See Knibbe (1981) pp. 79, 84–85. Knibbe includes lists B4–15 in this second
group; these lists correspond to IE IV 1004–15.
2. L. Granius Capito appears as a hierokeryx in IE IV 1002.7, a list dated to the reign
of Tiberius and in the first list of Knibbe’s second group, IE IV 1004.10, again
as a hierokeryx; 1005 is dated to the reign(s) of Claudius or Nero because of the
appearance of the chiliastys Klaudieia in line 8; 1006 must date from A.D. 41 and
the beginning of the reign of Claudius and the creation of chiliastys Klaudieia
in lines 3, 5, and 6, or the reign of Nero and the creation of chiliastys Neroneia
in lines 4 and 7 (for the dating, see also Knibbe [1981] p. 93); 1007 is also dated
to the reign of Claudius or Nero because of the appearance in lines 3–6 of the
same cult officers (Marcus, Capito, Olympikos, and Metras) as in 1006.8–9; 1008
is dated to the years from A.D. 54 to 59 because of the appearance of Dionysios
in line 7; Dionysios also appears in IE Ia 20.38, the building inscription of the
Fishery-Tollhouse, which is dated between A.D. 54 and 59 (for the dating, see also
Knibbe [1981] p. 93 n. 145); in 1009, Marcus again appears as a hierokeryx in line
11 and Olympikos as an epi thumiatrou in line 13; 1010 from before A.D. 92; this
inscription was prominently displayed on the architrave of the stoa of the prytaneion; the letters of the preamble are larger, at 2.56 inches (as compared with the
usual range of 0.984 to 1.18 inches), than those of its own list of Kouretes and
other Kouretes inscriptions and are beautifully engraved; the inscription must
have been easily legible to pedestrians visiting the prytaneion; its prominence
and careful engraving, which must have been more expensive than that of other
Kouretes’ inscriptions, may be connected to the identity of the prytanis of the
year, Tiberius Claudius Nysios, a prominent benefactor of the Great Ephesia; see
IE IV 1105; 1011 dates, at the earliest, from the reign of Vespasian from the appearance of T. Flavius in line 5; 1012 comes from the year A.D. 92/93, the prytany
of Claudia Trophime, known from her dedication of a statue, IE II 508.3–4, and
her epigram to Hestia, IV 1062.1; see also Knibbe (1981) p. 93; it also falls in the
year that P. Calvisius Ruso Iulius Frontinus was proconsul; see Knibbe (1981)
p. 93 n. 148 above; 1013 dates from between A.D. 93 and 96 during the prytany
of C. Flavius Iustus; Knibbe dates 1014 from between A.D. 94 and 97, and 1015
from between A.D. 95 and 98.
3. See Knibbe (1981) pp. 79, 84–85. Knibbe includes lists B4–15 = IE IV 1004–15
in this second stage. List no. 1004 is inscribed upon what is now the second
column drum up from the stylobate on the third Doric column from the right
(east) and today faces inward (north-northeast) (FiE IX/4 [2010] inv. no. PR
57/07 Drum B p. 48); on the same column drum, 1006 from the time of Nero or
376
NOTES TO PAGE 146
Claudius and 1029 from A.D. 112 or after also face inward, leading to the question of whether 1004 and 1006 originally faced out (southward), based on the
analogy of other early lists, 1001, 1002, and the fragmentary 1002A, all of which
today (properly, I believe) face out (southward). Would the prytanis of 1004, at
a time when there was a great deal of open space on the new columns facing the
stoa walkway, have caused the Kouretes’ inscription of his year to be engraved on
a space facing the interior of the prytaneion? List 1005 is inscribed on the fourth
column drum up from the stylobate, on the fourth Doric column from the right
(east), faces outward (south-southwest) today, and was found in the baths of
Scholastikia (inv. no. PR 56/07 Drum D p. 48). List 1006 is inscribed on the second column drum up from the stylobate, on the third column drum from the
right (east), and faces inward (north-northeast) today (inv. no. PR 57/07 Drum
B p. 48); for problems with this orientation, see above, under 1004. List 1007 was
found in the excavations in the vicinity of the Celsus heroon/Library, and it is
uncertain where it was inscribed or located. List 1008 is inscribed on the fifth column drum up from the stylobate of the third column from the right (east), and
faces outward (south) today (inv. no. PR 57/07 Drum D p. 48). Its preamble is inscribed in letters up to 1.57 inches high and is quite legible today, even from a distance of several yards from the front of the stoa. List 1009 is inscribed on the fifth
column drum up from the stylobate of the fourth Doric column from the right
(east), and faces outward (north) today (inv. no. PR 56/07 Drum E p. 48). List
1010 is inscribed upon the architrave of the stoa of the prytaneion and probably
was located originally between the fourth and fifth columns from the east (inv.
no. PR 04/07 p. 49); the letters of this list, which range from 1.26 to 2.56 inches
in height, can be read today from several yards away from the courtyard of the
prytaneion. This inscription obviously was meant to be visible. It is tempting to
connect its expensive presentation and prominence (as argued) with the wealth
of the prytanis of the year, Tiberius Claudius Nysios, who was also a benefactor
of the Great Ephesia. See IE IV 1105. List 1011 is inscribed on the third column
drum up from the stylobate of the fourth Doric column from the right (east)
(inv. no. PR 57/07 Drum C p. 48). List 1012 is inscribed on the first column drum
up from the stylobate, on the fourth column drum from the right (east) and faces
outward (south-southwest) today (inv. no. PR 56/07 Drum A p. 48). List 1013 is
inscribed on the north wall of the stoa of the prytaneion to the east of door 3 and
faces outward (southward). List 1014 is inscribed on the lower fragment of the
first column drum up from the stylobate, on the second Doric column from the
left (west) (inv. no. PR 55/07 Drum B p. 48). List 1015 is inscribed on the fourth
column drum up from the stylobate, on the fourth Doric column from the right
(east), and faces outward (southward) today (inv. no. PR 56/07 Drum D p. 48).
Out of eleven lists from this stage in the development of the association and
the articulation of offices of the cult attendants, which date from the early empire until A.D. 95 and 98, at least six (1004, 1006, 1008, 1009, 1011, and 1012) were
inscribed on the (now reconstructed) third and fourth Doric columns from the
Notes to Pages 147–148
377
right (east). At least six lists (1005, 1008, 1009, 1010, 1012, and 1015) presently
face outward (southward), toward the walkway of the basilica stoa (1013 definitely faced the walkway southward but obviously would not have been legible
to pedestrians). Lists 1004 and 1006, among the earliest dated lists of Kouretes,
today face northward. Were they originally facing southward as well? When we
recall that the earliest legible lists of Kouretes (1001, 1002, and 1002A) also faced
outward (south), the evidence is overwhelming that the lists of Kouretes during
the early Roman empire were inscribed to be seen by those who had entered the
prytaneion courtyard. To this same chronological period in the development of
the association of the Kouretes also belongs 1047, a fragmentary undated list of
Kouretes that dates before IV 1015 (A.D. 93/94 to 103), since the list apparently
makes no reference to the hierophant known from later lists.
4. Knibbe (1981) p. 79. In list 1004 the order is hierokeryx, hieroskopos, epi thumiatrou, spondaules; in list 1005 the order is hieroskopos, epi thumiatrou, spondaules, hierokeryx; thereafter the order is consistently hieroskopos, hierokeryx, epi
thumiatrou, spondaules to the end of the second stage in the development of
the association.
5. As perhaps is implied by the fifth-century A.D. Alexandrian grammarian
Hesychios, α 2582 ἀκρ{ιτ}οβαται. ἀρχή τιs παρὰ Ἐφεσίοιs τῆs Ἀρτέμιδοs θυσιῶν
<ἐπιμελουμένη> (suppl. Herwerden). The incense offering may have signified
some kind of purification. The title of the office, like that of the spondaules, in
any case would seem to imply that its holder was some kind of ritual dance expert, a ritual acrobat as it were. The office of the akrobates epi thumiatrou appears
almost always in inscriptions directly related to the Kouretes and their duties at
Ephesos (IE IV 1004–45; 1047; 1076), although acrobats of the goddess appear
in the Salutaris endowment of A.D. 104 in line 537 as the recipients of 131⁄2 asses
apiece on the birthday of the goddess. From these facts, it would appear that the
office, as far as the epigraphical record reveals, was specific to the association of
the Kouretes during the early imperial period. As Knibbe (1981) p. 85 has pointed
out, the absence of the akrobates epi thumiatrou in the sacrificial law dated to the
third century A.D., but undoubtedly referring back to offices in existence for several generations before, suggests that this office was confined to the performance
of the mysteries of Ortygia. Thus, until this cult attendant appears in an inscription related to another cult or festival, then the lists in which this cult attendant
appears should be taken to refer to the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries, at least
until evidence is produced that the association of Kouretes played some sort of
role in another cult.
Dancing was a central component of many mystery cults. We know that during the enthronement ritual which formed part of the preliminary initiation
into the Samothracian mysteries there also was dancing around the enthroned
initiate: see Dio Chrysostom, Oration XII.33; Clinton (2003) p. 63. Kowalzig
(2005) pp. 41–72 makes a very strong case that chorality in one form or another
was central to the celebration of the mysteries of the Great Gods, in the interest
378
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
NOTES TO PAGES 148–149
of orchestrating, redefining, and reconfiguring relations among the participants.
Choral dances also took place at the sacrifices and within the mystery rite of
the Megaloi Theoi at Andania around 93 to 91 B.C.; see Clinton and KaradimaMatsa (2002) p. 88. In addition, at the celebration of the mysteries of Despoina
in Lykosoura, there is represented on a sculpted veil on a statue of Despoina a fox
playing a double pipe while other figures, including two pigs, three rams, and an
ass, dance. These are probably humans disguised as animals who take part in the
ceremonies of the cult. See Jost (2003) esp. p. 160.
In general, although Artemis herself was not associated closely with dance,
Apollo certainly was; see Lonsdale (1993) p. 47 and Bremmer (1994) pp. 17, 39.
In fact, it had been a common view since the fourth century B.C. that choreia (including dance) was a divine gift of Apollo and the Muses to humanity. The function of such dances was to provide pleasing entertainment for the gods. There was
also a belief, discussed by Lonsdale (1993) pp. 44–48, that dance was a means for
persuading order out of chaos.
Scheid (2007) p. 269.
Clinton (1974) pp. 44–45.
Clinton (1974) pp. 44–45.
Clinton (1974) p. 46.
Famously, murderers and barbarians were warned that they might not take part;
see the scholion to Aristophanes, Frogs 369; and Isocrates, Panegyric 157; and
Clinton (1974) p. 46.
IG II2 1935 lines 4–5.
Hesychios, s.v. ἱεροφάντης. ἱερεὺς ὁ τὰ μυστήρια δεικνύων. Emphasized by
Sourvinou-Inwood (2003) p. 38. See Clinton (1974) p. 46 for what was spoken.
Since things were spoken to the initiates at Eleusis by the hierophant, not all of
the extraordinary experience of initiation into the Eleusinian mysteries was based
on feeling. There was a role for verbal instruction of a kind, as Parker (2007)
p. 352 also has pointed out.
Refutation of All Heresies V.8.40.
Clinton (1974) p. 13.
IG II2 1773 lines 21–26.
Plutarch, Life of Numa IX.8, who compares the hierophant to the position of the
Pontifex Maximus in Rome; see also Dio Chrysostom, XXXI.121; and Clinton
(1974) p. 45. At Eleusis, although there was not a religious hierarchy of priests
in the modern sense, as Clinton (1974) p. 115 has shown, when all the Eleusinian
priests were listed together, there was an arrangement, or protocol, which reflected the fact that some priests, such as the hierophant, had more important
roles in the cult and consequently more prestige than others. The importance of
the hierophant and the daduch also was reflected in the aeisitoi lists of the second
century A.D. A similar case about the order of cult attendants attached to the lists
of Kouretes in Ephesos will be made, with the added argument that changes in
the protocol, which otherwise remained quite consistent, at times reflect important changes in the organization of the cult and the celebration of the mysteries.
Notes to Pages 149–150
379
17. As we know from the lists of Kouretes; Mundicius I, for instance, served as hierophant from list B15 = IE IV 1015 dated to the period between A.D. 95 and 98,
to at least list B26 = 1026, dated to around 120 to 130: Mundicius II served from
B28 = 1028, dated after 120, to B38 = 1038, well into the second half of the second
century A.D. For a table setting out the terms of the various cult attendants, see
Knibbe (1981) pp. 80–83.
18. See Burkert (1987) pp. 7–11.
19. Knibbe (1981) p. 86 understands the emergence of the hierophant as representing a break with past practice and the essential organization of the association.
Previously, the cult attendants had been a part of the association of the Kouretes;
starting with this second group of lists, the cult attendants were separated out
from the Kouretes and served under the hierophant, who apparently was paid
from public monies. The status of the hierophant above the other cult attendants
was confirmed at least for a later period by IE Ia 10, the sacrificial law from the
third century A.D., in which the hierophant was singled out to receive a greater
proportion of the sacrifices than the other cult attendants. At Eleusis, as Clinton
(1974) p. 30 has concluded, many of the known hierophants were quite wealthy,
and none of them was known not to have been.
20. See Knibbe (1981) pp. 84–88. Panel 62 of the so-called Parthian monument in
the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna includes a young male figure playing
the double pipe, another playing a kind of trumpet, and a third holding some
kind of libation jar, as a bull is about to be led away for sacrifice. The panel does
not necessarily represent a scene from the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis
but shows us a combination of some of the ritual activities that certainly did take
place at the mysteries. The reason for this might be that mystery cults and socalled civic cults (if it is a scene from such a cult that is depicted on the panel)
borrowed from the same ritual and performative vocabulary.
21. If in Ephesos there ever was a linguistic, and/or substantive, distinction made
between the actual initiation (which in the case of the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries before the end of the fourth century B.C. originally comprised
the preliminary instruction given to the initiates at any time of the year by any
member of the Eumolpidae or the Kerykes) and the ceremony itself (which in
Eleusis normally took place in the sanctuary once a year and was performed by
the priests), such a distinction is nowhere mentioned in any of the evidence for
the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. No differentiation in the surviving
epigraphical record from Ephesos is made between initiation and ceremony. We
read only of mysteries and sacrifices. For the linguistic distinction at Eleusis up
to the end of the fourth century B.C., see Clinton (1974) p. 13 n. 15.
22. For “the extraordinary experience” of the mysteries, see Burkert (1987) pp. 89–
114.
23. As we already have seen (in Chapter 1), Lucius’s initiation into the mysteries of
Isis as recounted in Book XI of the Metamorphoses was not confined to the moment when he “came to the boundary of death and, having trodden the threshold of Proserpina, traveled through all the elements and returned” (XI.23) but
380
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
NOTES TO PAGES 151–153
included all of the preparations and ceremonies that brought him up to that
boundary.
IE IV 1004.11; 1005.11; 1006.8; 1007.3; 1008.10–11; 1009.11; 1010.6; 1011.6; 1012.7;
1013 (line numbers for the cult attendants in list 13 cannot be established on the
basis of the transliteration provided in IE IV); 1014.9; in list 1015 from between
A.D. 95 and 98 P. Cornelius Ariston has taken over the office.
IE IV 1004.10; 1005.14–15; 1006.8; 1007.4.
IE IV 1008.11; 1009.12; 1010.6; 1011.6–7; 1012.8; 1013; 1014.9–10.
IE IV 1015.7.
IE IV 1004.12; 1005.12; 1006.9; 1007.5; 1008.12; 1009.13.
IE IV 1010.7; 1011.7; 1012.8; 1013; 1014.10; 1015.8.
Metras probably appears as the spondaules in 1003.9; also in 1004.13, 1005.13,
1006.9–10, 1007.6, and 1008.12 and possibly in 1009.
IE IV 1010.7.
IE IV 1011.8; 1012.9; 1013; 1014.10–11; 1015.8.
Dmitriev (2005) pp. 217–23.
For Aristokles’s and Nestorius’s tenures, see Clinton (1974) pp. 27, 42.
IvE 69.2–3.
Bremmer (2008) pp. 52–53.
For more on this family, see Knibbe (1981) p.79. In other cases, however, the
positions were not passed over or down to relatives; for instance, among the diviners, after Marcus held the position from lists 1004 to 1014 (mid-first century
to A.D. 94 to 97), his successor is the apparently unrelated P. Cornelius Ariston,
who is diviner in lists 1015.7 and then in lists 1017 to 1035, and again in lists 1039
and 1040.
In addition, because this was an office of high prestige and visibility, there would
be an incentive for fathers to encourage their sons to aspire to this position; for
discussion of how and why local magnates wanted to create opportunities for
their children to hold such offices, see Kleijwegt (1991) p. 221 ff.
See the list in Knibbe (1981) p. 80; Capito, who appears as a hierokeryx in lists
1004.10, 1005.14–15, 1006.8, and 1007.4, is probably to be identified with the
hierokeryx and Koures of 1002.7, L. Granius Capito. The hieroskopos Ariston
of list 1015.7 from the second group should be identified with the hieroskopos
P. Cornelius Ariston of lists 1017.8–9, 1018 II.3, 1019.4, 1020.8, 1021.13, 1022.6,
1023.7, 1024.18, 1025.2, 1026.11, 1028.15, 1029.16, 1030.12, 1031.3, 1032.19, 1033.17–
18, 1034.17, 1035.16, 1039.5–6, and 1040.25–26.
IE IV 1018 II. 3; cf. 1035.16–17. The Athenian hierophant Aristokles, mentioned
above, was also a member of the Athenian Boule.
Knibbe (1981) p. 84; Horster (2007) p. 331.
Although the purpose of this work is not to draw comparisons between mystery
cults and the cult of Christianity as it developed during the first century A.D.,
if we compare the ethnic, political, and social profile of the first- century cult
attendants of Artemis’s mysteries with that of the members of the early church
in Ephesos, some interesting differences can be observed: of twenty-six individu-
Notes to Pages 153–154
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
381
als who can be identified as members of the early church in Ephesos based upon
study of Paul’s letters, one (Maria) has a Semitic name, while nineteen are clearly
Greek and six are Latin; two of the Greek names designate Jews (Andronikos
and Herodion), and three of the six Latin names belong to people who probably were Jews (Prisca, Aquila, and Junia). Thus, six of twenty-six members of
the community probably were Jews; the rest were ethnically Greek. There is no
evidence that any of the early Christians were of bouleutic status. The members
of the early Christian church apparently did not belong to the same political or
socioeconomic stratum of first-century A.D. Ephesian society as either the cult
attendants or the Kouretes. For the evidence, see Horsley 5 (1989) pp. 95–114;
and Koester (1995b) pp. 123–24.
Knibbe (1981) p. 76 ff.
Knibbe (1981) p. 79.
For this view, see Knibbe (1981) p. 79. He goes on to argue that the cult attendants, whose names and offices are found at the bottom of the lists of Kouretes in
Group II of the development of the association, did not come from an economic
or social class inferior to that of the Kouretes, at least during this early stage in
the development of the association.
That the prytaneis later may have supervised the celebration of the mysteries of
more than just Artemis may be suggested by the existence of several inscriptions,
such as IE IV 1060.7, in which prytaneis such as Favonia Flaccilla claimed during
the early third century A.D. to have completed ta musteria panta. The phrase ta
musteria panta may be understood to mean all the mysteries in the sense of the
mysteries of all the gods and/or goddesses whose mysteries were supervised by
the prytaneis. But, as we shall see, the phrase is also used to refer exclusively to
“all the mysteries” of one goddess, namely Artemis, and therefore we cannot be
sure that the third-century inscriptions are referring to the mysteries of Artemis,
Demeter, Dionysos, and the others or just Artemis, especially during the first
two centuries A.D.
Rather in the way that historical period actors from colonial museum villages
such as Sturbridge (Massachusetts) or Williamsburg (Virginia) in the United
States sometimes make appearances at state or national festivals.
From a comparative perspective, we know from IG II2 1363.11–19 that the hierophant and priestesses from Eleusis, around 330 to 270 B.C., went as a kind of
sacerdotal delegation to the Pyanopsia, the festival of Pythian Apollo in Athens.
On the other hand, we also know that when Archias, a hierophant of the Eleusinian mysteries in Athens, made sacrifices at the Haloa, at which only the priestess of Demeter was authorized to make sacrifices, he was convicted of impiety.
For the evidence, see Clinton (1974) p. 70. Later, in Ephesos, during the reign of
Commodus, there is a reference to, possibly, a representative (named Eutuches)
of the Kouretes in a list of priests, IE V 1600.26, but we simply do not know
what the list of priests signifies or commemorates; the priests listed may have
taken part in mysteries of the founder god Dionysos (that is, Commodus), and
Zeus Panhellenios (perhaps Zeus or Commodus again), and Hephaistos (lines
382
NOTES TO PAGE 154
2–3), but this is far from certain. That the inscription may refer to some kind of
association of priests of many different gods and goddesses drawn together to
celebrate imperial mysteries is based upon the mention of a hagnearchos in line 8
and possibly some epimeletai of the mysteries in line 11. Once again, however, the
readings are far from certain.
49. As a matter of fact, we know from IE II 275 that priests or artists bearing the same
cult titles did take part in the performance of other mysteries, such as those celebrated by the initiates into the Dionysian mysteries during the reign of Hadrian.
In that inscription there is a reference to a priest named Claudius Romulus, also
referred to in IE IV 1020; a hierophant named Claudius Eubius, in lines 9–10;
and a hymnodos in line 14. Another example is IE IV 1211.1–8, in which we find
Mundicius, a hierophant, and his son Mundicius, an agonothete, who made a
dedication of wands to Dionysos. The office of the hierophant is prominent in
the lists of Kouretes that refer to the celebrations of the mysteries of Artemis, and
there are references to a hymnodos as well. But in the inscription of the initiates
of Dionysos, there also are references first of all to mustai pro poleos (initiates
preeminent before the polis) for which there is no parallel in the Kouretes’ lists,
as well as an epimeletes (assistant) (line 10) and a mustagogos (leader of the initiates) (line 13), neither of which offices appears in any of the Kouretes’ lists. Outside of Ephesos, more than seventy-five years ago, Cumont (1933) pp. 243–44
drew scholars’ attention to the existence of hierophants in the cult of Dionysos
apart from those who serviced other mystery cults, the significance of which was
recognized and reaffirmed by Clinton (1974) p. 3 n. 1.
There also was a priest (line 2), a hierophant (lines 7–8), and an epimeletes
of the association of mustai of Demeter and Dionysos Phleus, as we know from
IE V 1595. The association of mustai of Dionysos also appears in IE V 1600 and
1601. In addition, from 4337.10 and 27 we know that there were Demetriastai
preeminent before the polis.
From these facts I would conclude, consistent with Knibbe’s understanding
of the development of the prytaneion, that there were indeed certain kinds of
priests and artists who served various cults located in the prytaneion, including
the cults of Dionysos and Demeter. As Burkert (1987) p. 49 has pointed out, it
was not unparalleled for priests or other participants in one mystery cult to participate in another. Elsewhere, in Athens for instance, we know that a priest of
Isis was Iakchagogos of the Eleusinian cult; and the daughter of a priest of Serapis
at Delos is known to have been a basket-bearer of Dionysos. It does not follow,
however, from the evidence of the participation of the priest and the daughter
of the priest in these cults (those of Eleusis and Dionysos) that the Eleusinian
mysteries thereby became those of Isis or that those of Dionysos became those
of Serapis; and the participation of the hierophant and/or the hymnodos in the
celebration of Dionysos’s and/or Artemis’s mysteries in Ephesos does not make
these cults interchangeable. For more on the same office titles used in the cults of
the Eleusinian mysteries and in Bacchic thiasoi, see Bowden (2010) p. 212.
Notes to Pages 154–157
383
50. Just as the divinities of the different mystery cults were fundamentally associated
with the specific myth “to which he or she was intimately bound,” as argued by
Burkert (1987) p. 73.
51. In fact, there is strong supporting evidence from the third century A.D. at least
that some of the office titles of the cult attendants from the lists of Kouretes
were specific to Artemis; for instance, the honorary inscription IE III 724 for
M. Aurunceius Vedius Mithridates, in which he is honored in lines 1–2 for his
service as hierokeryx of mistress Artemis (among other offices).
52. Indeed, as Strabo makes clear, this was one public Greek cult in which a myth was
directly linked to specific historical rituals, performed by people who were not
acting as individuals of their own time period(s), but as characters of the myth
itself, exactly where the myth was believed to have occurred.
53. IE III 987.11–13 and 988.14–16.
54. 987.14–25; 988.16–27.
55. IE III 989.8–12.
56. We know that later Roman emperors, such as Domitian, intervened directly in
the affairs of the Artemision as well, paying for certain improvements; for the
evidence, see Knibbe, Meriç, and Merkelbach (1979) pp. 139–42.
57. III 987.11–12; 988.14–15.
58. In Athens, however, we know that worshippers of Dionysos took part in some
kind of sacred drama in which individuals acted the roles of the gods, including
Dionysos himself, Kore, and Aphrodite: see IG II2 1368.44–46; 64–67; 121–27;
and Harland (2003a) p. 71.
59. IE IV.1002.7.
60. For the holy sunodos (association) of Breiseon in Smyrna honoring C. Iulius
Cheirisophos during the first century A.D., see IvS II, 1 (1987) 652.1–3; 600.5–6,
for a dossier of imperial letters to the sunodos of those around Breiseus Dionysos from A.D. 157–58; 622.6–8 for the initiates “of the great before the polis Breiseus Dionysos” (honoring Hadrian) in A.D. 129 or 131/32; 601.6–7 for a letter of
Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus to the sunodos of actors and initiates around
Breiseus Dionysos from between A.D. 161 and 166; 639.1–3 for the holy sunodos of those actors and initiates around Dionysos Breiseus during the Severan
era; and 729.1–3 for a seal of the Breiseus initiates from A.D. 247 to 249 or 259
to 268. For the sunodos of initiates of the great goddess before the polis Thesmophoros Demeter, see IvS II, 1 (1987) 655.1–2; 653.1 for the sunodos of initiates
of the goddess during the first or second century A.D. honoring two theologoi
(declaimers about the gods); 654.5 for the festival of the initiates in another inscription honoring two theologoi; and 727.4 (?) for another fragmentary reference to the great goddess before the polis Thesmophoros Demeter during the
second century A.D. On the transformation of the cult of Demeter in Pergamon,
see Thomas (1998) p. 294.
61. Those rituals were well known, if not widely disclosed. For another parallel we
might cite the case of the celebration of mysteries of the Theban Kabeiroi, which
384
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
NOTES TO PAGES 157–162
clearly was influenced both organizationally and theologically by the mystery
cults of Eleusis, Samothrace, and Lemnos, according to Schachter (2003) p. 135.
Kore’s presence in the Theban cult, for instance, was an import from Eleusis.
Apollonius of Tyana IV.17.
The selling of Artemis’s secrets does not imply that either the sellers or the buyers
lacked piety. Piety and pragmatism were not mutually exclusive motives on the
part of the initiators or the initiated. Initiates into other mystery cults in fact expected the gods and goddesses of the cults to show them their favor, including
helping them to prosper economically. Better prospects after death were desirable, but before the question of what came after life was settled, bills had to be
paid.
Letters XVII.2.21.
The Kouretes are characterized as kouretes eusebeis philosebastoi in lists IE IV
1008.5 from between A.D. 54 and 59; 1012.2 from 92/93; 1013.2 from between
93 and 96; 1014.2 from between 94 and 97; 1015.2 (but requiring a full restoration) from between 95 and 98; in list 1005, during the reign of Claudius or Nero,
they are kouretes eusebeis in line 2; the epithet philosebastoi follows the names and
office titles of three cult attendants, Marcus, Olympikos, and Metras, in line 14
but precedes the name and office of the fourth cult attendant, Kapiton. Thus, it
is uncertain whether the epithet philosebastoi applies to the Kouretes, to the cult
attendants, or to both groups.
For the temple and its date, see Keil (1932) pp. 51–60; (1964 ed.) pp. 124–37;
Bammer (1978–80) pp. 81–88; Friesen (1993) pp. 41–49; and Knibbe (1998)
pp. 130–32.
IE Ia 14.11–12.
IE VI 2033.2.
Line 3.
For hagnos as ritually pure, see Bremmer (1994) p. 3.
IE III 695.
IE II 261.
IE II 261 lines 4–9.
Dio LIX.28.1; and Knibbe (1998) p. 122.
Robert (1949) pp. 206–38; and Friesen (1993) pp. 21–26.
Friesen (1993) pp. 22–23.
IE II 449.9–10; 263c.3–4; 449.2–4.
For example, IE II 263c, in which the philosebastos demos of the Ephesians dedicated a statue of Domitia Longina.
IE Ia 14.11–12 and VI 2033.2.
For the analogy between the perceived power of the Roman emperor(s) and the
gods, see Rives (2007) pp. 149–56.
Van Andringa (2007) p. 84.
IE IV 1004.7.
IE IV 1009.7–8.
IE IV 1009.5–6.
Notes to Pages 162–165
385
85. IE IV 1010.1–2; for Nysios’s benefactions to the city, see IE IV 1105.
86. For Publius Vedius Antoninus, see IE IV 1016.1–3; III 726.4–6; 726A.3; II 429.2–
3. Out of about seventeen epigraphically attested prytaneis during the period
from A.D. 37 to 99, around ten were citizens of Rome (perhaps Curtia Postoma,
1004.1–2; C. Minucius N[——], 1005.1–2; Tiberius Claudius Hermias, 1008.1–
4; C. Licinnius Dionysodoros, 987.25; Iulius Carus, 650.9–10; Tiberius Claudius
Nysios, 1010.1–2; Claudia Trophime, 1012.1; C. Flavius Iustus, 1013.1; Iulia Helias,
1047.1; and P. Vedius Antoninus, 1016.1–3) and three were women (Curtia Postoma, 1004.1–2; Claudia Trophime, 1012.1; and Iulia Helias, 1047.1). In none of
the cases of the female prytaneis are they presented as the wives, daughters, or
relations of men. See Friesen (1999) for the statistics.
87. Diodorus, V.65.1; Strabo, Geography X.3.11.
88. Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 61–62.
89. For instance, IE IV 1006.1–7; 1013.1–5.
90. See IE IV 1006.1–7 for Hesuchos, Agathangelos, Choros, and Agathopous. The
prytanis might be an uncle or brother of the four men.
91. IE IV 1008.6.
92. IE IV 1008.8.
93. See IE IV 1009.5–6 for Dionysodoros, the father who himself had been prytanis;
and line 9, Dionysios, probably the nephew of the Demetrios who appears in
line 7.
94. IE IV 1013.1–5.
95. IE IV 1015.5–6.
96. IE IV 1006; 1008; 1009; 1013; 1015.
97. In at least half of these cases (1006.1–2; 1008.1–4; 1009.1–3; and 1013.1) the prytaneis were Roman citizens.
98. Dmitriev (2005) pp. 46–53.
99. Strubbe (1999) pp. 495–96, 499.
100. Geography XIV.1.21.
101. See Knibbe (1981) chart on p. 99 and Appendix 3 below; if we add IE IV 1047 to
this Group II of Knibbe’s, the percentage of Roman citizens may be even higher.
In 1047, which Knibbe believes belongs before 1015 because there is no indication
of a hierophant appearing among the cult attendants, at least four, and possibly
five or six, of the six Kouretes named were Roman citizens.
102. IE IV 1004: three of six with Roman names (?); 1005: four of six (A.D. 41 to 68);
1008: one of five (A.D. 54 to 59); 1010: three of six (before A.D. 92); 1011: two of
five (?); 1012: four of six (A.D. 92/93); 1013: four of six (A.D. 93 to 96); 1014: five
of six (A.D. 94 to 97), and see Knibbe (1981) p. 99.
103. Approximately eight of twenty-five; see Knibbe (1981) p. 99.
104. Approximately eighteen of thirty-four; see Knibbe (1981) p. 99.
105. IE VII, 2, 4337.
106. IE II 213.
107. IE IV 1270. Nikostratos was also a secretary of the demos; see II 476.1.
108. See IvS II, 1 (1987) 591.1–6.
386
NOTES TO PAGES 165–166
109. Our only reasonable parallel during the period comes from the famous “Fishing Cartel” inscription, dated to the reign of Nero (A.D. 54 to 59), IE Ia 20 (and
now displayed unfortunately in a corner of the courtyard of the museum in Selçuk), in which a little less than half of the contributors to the customs building
listed (either forty-three or forty-four of about one hundred) are Roman citizens,
either of Roman or Italian descent, or perhaps citizens who gained their citizenship through manumission or military service. At least some of them were slaves.
Overall, Horsley 5 (1989) no. 5, p. 110 has concluded that the list of contributors
to the customs house represented “a considerable spread in formal civic rank
and wealth attested.” That may be attributable to the fact that the contributors
to the fishing cartel belonged to an openly commercial enterprise/association,
and some of them were involved in physical labor. It will become obvious in the
course of our investigation that the Kouretes, on the other hand, came from the
middle to the top of the civic hierarchy of Ephesos.
110. Although we find peregrines among the prytaneis well into the second century A.D., after the middle of the first century in the majority of complete,
datable lists, the prytaneis are Roman citizens (1001.1 peregrine [reign of Tiberius]; 1002.1–2 peregrine [reign of Tiberius]; 1002A Roman citizen; 1003 (?);
1004.1–2 Roman citizen; 1005.1–2 Roman citizen [reign of Claudius or Nero];
1006.1–2 peregrine [reign of Claudius or Nero]; 1007 (?); 1008.1–4 Roman citizen [between A.D. 54 and 59]; 1009.1–3 Roman citizen; 1010.1–2 Roman citizen
[before 92]; 1011 (?); 1012.1–2 Roman citizen [92/93]; 1013.1 Roman citizen [between 93 and 96]; 1014 (?); 1015 (?); 1016.1–3 Roman citizen [between 96 and
99]; 1017.1–3 Roman citizen [between 97 and 100]; 1018.1 peregrine [between
98 and 101]; 1019 (?); 1020.1–2 Roman citizen [between 100 and 103]; 1021.1–4
Roman citizen [104]; 1022.1–2 Roman citizen [around 105]; 1023.1 Roman citizen [after 104]; 1024.3 peregrine [after 104]).
111. For discussion of the creation of such fused or hybrid identities with respect
to landscapes, see Alcock (2002) p. 96. The fusion of identity in this context
does not imply that in other contexts the men who served as Kouretes could not
or would not have chosen to emphasize or represent themselves as politai (citizens) of their particular polis or patris, as Roman citizens, or as Greeks under
Roman rule, as Haake (2008) p. 165 has observed generally about members of
the local upper classes in the eastern Roman empire during this period. Scholars
want their subjects of study and interpretation to be Greek or Roman or GraecoRoman; but the Ephesians, like modern Americans, seem to have been able to
adjust their identities to their contexts without too much fuss.
112. For other examples of how voluntary associations elsewhere centered upon the
emperor as they did upon other gods, see Rives (2007) pp. 151–52.
113. Rives (2007) p. 155.
114. IE II 213.3–6; Horsley 4 (1987) no. 22, pp. 94–95. For more discussion of the inscription, see Appendix 1.
115. Lines 8–11. Oddly, or perhaps accidentally, however, thus far no independent
sanctuary of Demeter and/or Kore at the site of Ephesos has been uncovered
Notes to Pages 166–169
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
387
(apart from the prytaneion), similar to what exists at Priene (for instance), another fourth-century B.C. foundation, or at Miletos. That could just be because
the archaeologists simply have not stumbled upon the sanctuary, but it also
might indicate that the sanctuary was not a fundamental feature of Lysimachos’s
city.
Lines 12–15; unfortunately, the text breaks off at this point.
For what we know, see Appendix 1.
For the date and the supporting evidence, see Friesen (1993) pp. 41–49; philosebastos, as applied to a city, Nysa, can be found in a mid-second-century A.D.
inscription from Ephesos that mentions putting up statues in the provincial
temples of the emperors, IE 1a 22.1. lines 46–48. It is interesting to note that the
only two figures recovered thus far from the façade of the temple terrace stoa of
the temple of the Sebastoi are those of Attis and Isis, who obviously had substantial mystery cults organized for them in the Roman empire; see Bowden (2010)
pp. 156–80. For Isis in Ephesos, see Walters (1995) pp. 281–310.
Although coins bearing representations of Artemis and also the Roman emperors
began to appear during Augustus’s reign; see BMC XVI (1892) Ionia pp. 71–72,
nos. 195–96; Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum Danish Museum, Ionia 359. For the
neokoros coins, see Keil (1919) p. 118.
For the genre of political rituals and how they have been distinguished from
other kinds of public rituals, see Bell (1997) pp. 128–35.
See Knibbe (1995) pp. 143–44 for the sacrifices made to Artemis at the various
altars along the processional way, including ones at the Triodos and the prytaneion.
The first inscription, IE IV 1244.1, on an architrave block, refers to an archistolos
and a neokoros, or a priest in charge of sacred vestments of the Egyptian deities,
and the second to a temple warden. The second, IE IV 1230.14–15, is from a statue
base found there, dedicated to Caracalla, that included the name of an individual
who had dedicated a statue of the emperor to those who sacrifice to Serapis for
the Nile God. See Keil (1926) p. 268; Walters (1995) p. 299. For the construction
date of the structure, see Scherrer (1995) pp. 11–12 and especially Walters (1995)
pp. 295–304. For the continuing controversies over the construction date of the
“Serapeion,” see FiE IX/5 (2011) pp. 66–67. Most recently, in an unpublished dissertation of the University of Vienna by Rembart (2009), it apparently has been
argued on the basis of new stratigraphic investigations that the building was constructed during the second half of the second century A.D. However, until the
arguments and findings of the dissertation have been published and reviewed,
it is impossible to assess their competitive plausibility against those of previous
scholars. And, in any event, as will be shown in Chapter 7, we know that the processional route up to Ortygia was altered during the first half of the second century A.D. Walters builds a carefully constructed argument that the building was a
Serapeion and/or Iseion and that at least some of its architectural remains, such
as its niches, water system, and passageways, are consistent with external evidence
for known purifications and possibly initiations into the cult of the Egyptian
388
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
NOTES TO PAGES 169–172
gods. Minimally, the building of a temple dedicated to the worship of the Egyptian healing god (and giver of riches as well) Serapis would be a reflection of the
importance of Egypt to Ephesos with respect to trade in particular.
Certainly, although Serapis probably was worshipped in the city since the
early third century B.C. (IE IV 1246), indications of Serapis’s popularity in the
city during the Roman imperial period are not rare, especially after the second
century A.D., including a well-preserved bronze statuette of a seated Serapis
with a spear in his left hand and with his right hand perhaps resting on the (unpreserved) head or neck of his dog Cerberos, which was found in Terrace House 2
but now is displayed in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk, inv. no. 30/25/75. (A latesecond-century A.D. statuette of Isis Panthea, inv. no. 29/25/75, was found in the
same location.) Alternatively, it has been argued that the temenos was home to
an Asklepieion/Mouseion, since the steady water flow to the building could have
been used for medical purposes. For identification of the building as an Asklepieion, see Langmann (1991–92) Grabungen 1990–91 pp. 6–8; Langmann et al.
(1993) Grabungen 1992 pp. 14–16; Scherrer (2001) p. 75. Fortunately for the argument here, however, it does not matter who the divine occupant of the temple
originally was.
Langmann et al. (1993) Grabungen 1992 pp. 14–16; Scherrer (2005) pp. 109–38.
For a succinct review of the original excavation of the temple, carried out by
R. Heberdey between 1911 and 1913 and continued after 1990 by G. Langmann,
F. Hueber, and P. Scherrer, see Wiplinger and Wlach (1996) pp. 41, 142.
IE IV 1351; see Scherrer (1995) p. 2; Knibbe (2002a) p. 51.
IE IV 1351; following the translation by Foss (1979) p. 32, slightly modified.
Bayliss (1999) p. 65.
Chapter 7. Kouretes eusebeis kai philosebastoi kai bouleutai
1. Mikalson (2005) p. 13.
2. For that architectural apogee, see Scherrer (2001) pp. 77–78, who traces the development to the reigns of Domitian and Trajan.
3. See Knibbe (1981) pp. 86–87.
4. Group IIIa = B15–36; IIIb = B36–39; and IIIc = B40–42a.
5. Knibbe (1981) B15–42A = IE IV 1015–42A. The name of the prytanis in list 1015
is lost; Knibbe suggests that the prytanis was probably a relative of the two sons
of Alexandros named in line 5. List 1015 is included in both Group II and Group
III undoubtedly because of the appearance of the hierophant Mundicius in 1015.
Knibbe further divides this group into three sections: IIIa from 1015 to 1035, IIIb
from 1036 to 1039, and IIIc from 1040 to 1042A. From lists 1012 to 1021, we apparently have a succession of lists for a period of eleven or twelve years, with perhaps two or three lists missing, according to Knibbe p. 93.
Lists 1015 to 1020 are dated from between 95–98 and 103. List 1021 dates to
104; the prytanis in 1021, Tiberius Claudius Antipater Iulianus, also appears as
Notes to Pages 172–173
389
the prytanis in the Salutaris foundation, IE Ia 27.2, which is securely dated to
104. See also Knibbe p. 93 n. 149. Lists 1022 to 1029 date from 105 to 120. Lists
1030 to 1032 date from starting soon after 120. In 1030.6–7 Artemidoros Gonatas
appears as a Koures for the second time and a bouleutes, whereas in 1233.8, in a
dedicatory inscription from an altar of the god Sopolis, dated to 120, Gonatas is
not described as a bouleutes. Thus list 1030 must come after 1233 from 120. List
1033 dates from before 137/38; the prytanis of 1033, P. Carsidius Epiphanes, was
secretary of the demos in 138, as we know from IE Ia.21.13. If he was prytanis before being secretary, 1033 should date to before 138. Lists 1034 to 1035 date from
the second quarter of the second century. List 1036 comes from the beginning of
the second half of the second century. Lists 1037 to 1041 are dated from about 150
to (at the latest) 192. The prytanis Fabius Faustinianus in 1041.1–2 also appears
in IE Ia 47.17, the list of prytaneis, which dates from 180 to 192, known from the
erasure of Commodus’s name in line 4. Lists 1042 and 1042A date from the reign
of Pius, before 192. See Knibbe pp. 162–63.
6. IE IV 1043–45. Since IE IV 1043 and 1044 also are dated to the reign of Pius but
have been put into the next group because of structural changes within the organization of the cult attendants, we actually have more than half of the lists from
98 to 161; IE IV 1045 certainly belongs to this subset of texts from the reigns of
Pius or Aurelius. Also falling outside of Knibbe’s relative chronology, but clearly
belonging to the same subgrouping as 1043 and 1044, is the most recently discovered list, published by Knibbe (1983) pp. 125–27.
7. For the Salutaris endowment dossier, see IE Ia 27–37 and Rogers (1991). Archaeologists now arguably have identified Salutaris’s urban residence as unit 2 of Terrace House 2 on the basis of graffiti from the unit, the spectacular ivory frieze of
scenes from Trajan’s eastern campaigns (possibly Parthia, from 113 to 117) from
a sella curulis (magistrate’s seat) found there (Ephesus Museum Selçuk inv. no.
6–8/4/75), and an early-second-century A.D. statuette of a seated Roman official
carrying out some kind of official act (Ephesus Museum Selçuk inv. no. 1/41/75).
The statuette may be a representation of Salutaris, but the identification is uncertain. See Taeuber (2005) pp. 349–53.
To this same period (from 95 into the reign of Pius) in the development of
the sunhedrion of Kouretes belong inscriptions IE IV 1233.5, an inscription on
the altar of the god Sopolis, dated to 120 during the secretariat of P. Rutilius Bassus, known from IV 1210.6–8; 1486.16; V 1538.11; VI 2038.2; VII, 1, 3217b.20; IV
1048, which, although not yet exactly dated, belongs before 1034, from before
137/38, from the prytany of L. Cerrinius Paetus, secretary of the demos in 138/39,
cf. IE Ia 21 I. lines 7, 34; III 635.3–4; 925.1; 1049 during the reign of Hadrian. For
the stemma of the family of the prytanis of 1049, Tiberius Claudius Tuendianus
neoteros Charidemos, see III 650; 1050, undated, but from anytime between 100
and 150; possibly IV 1051, based upon the name of the prytanis, Tiberius Flavius
Aeneas, who was also an agoranomos, cf. III 936 and II 450.
8. For instance, in IE IV 1002.5 from the reign of Tiberius the Koures Severus is
390
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
NOTES TO PAGES 173–175
hymnodos; and in line 7 Capito is hierokeryx; and in 1004.5 the Koures Apollonios is hymnodos and in line 8 Skumnos is keryx.
For this office title, see Knibbe (1981) p. 86.
IE IV 1236.2.
IE II 213. Thus, this inscription provides parallel documentation of sacrifices to
the Roman emperors during the celebration of other mysteries.
IE VII, 1, 3252.6–7.
IE Ia 10.28–29.
IE III 989; IE VII, 1, 3059.
For a summary of the evidence, see Appendix 1.
Knibbe (1981) p. 101 ff.
For an analysis of the protocol of presenting the priests and priestesses of the
Eleusinian mysteries, see Clinton (1974) p. 115. Although no Eleusinian priest
was superior to any other, some priests had more important roles in the cult and
consequently more prestige than others. From the lists of Kouretes after the appearance of the hierophants, a similar argument might be made with respect to
the cult that celebrated the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos. The hierophants and
diviners clearly were essential to the performance of the rituals, especially the sacrifices, at the center of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries.
For the hieroskopos as haruspex, see Dionysius, II.22; and Diodorus, XXXII.12.
The complete order of the cult attendants for the third stage in the development
of the association of cult attendants is as follows: IE IV 1015 includes a hieroskopos, a hierokeryx, an epi thumiatrou, a spondaules, and a hierophantes; 1016 includes a hierophantes, a hierokeryx, an epi thumiatrou, and a spondaules; 1017–
1027 include a hieroskopos, a hierophantes, a hierokeryx, an epi thumiatrou, and
a spondaules; in 1022.9, 1023.8, 1024, and 1025.7–8 Truphon is called an akrobates epi thumiatrou; in 1026.15 and 1027.2–3 Truphon is called geraios epi thumiatrou; 1028 includes a hieroskopos, a hierophantes, a hagnearchos dia biou, a
hierokeryx, a geraios epi thumiatrou, and a spondaules; 1029 includes a hieroskopos, a hierophantes, a hagnearchos dia biou, a hierokeryx, a geraios epi thumiatrou, a spondaules, and a hieros salpiktes; 1030 includes a hieroskopos, a hierophantes, a hierokeryx, a hieros epi thumiatrou, and a hieros salpiktes; 1031–32
include a hieroskopos, a hierophantes, a hierokeryx, a hieros epi thumiatrou, and
a hieros spondaules; 1033 includes a hieroskopos, a hierophantes, a hierokeryx, a
hieros epi thumiatrou, a hieros spondaules, and a salpiktes; 1034–35 include a
hieroskopos, a hierophantes, a hierokeryx, a hieros epi thumiatrou, a hieros spondaules, and a hierosalpiktes olympioneikes (in 1035 it is a hieros salpiktes olympioneikes); 1036 includes a hierophantes, a hieroskopos, a hierokeryx, an epi thumiatrou, a spondaules, and a hierosalpiktes olympioneikes; 1037–37A include a
hierophantes, two hieroskopoi, a hierokeryx, a hieros epi thumiatrou, a hieros
spondaules, and a hierosalpiktes (in 1037A it is a hierosalpiktes olympioneikes);
1038 includes two hierophantai, two hieroskopoi, a hierokeryx, a hieros epi thumiatrou, and a hieros spondaules; 1039 includes a hierophantes, two hieroskopoi,
Notes to Pages 175–177
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
391
a hierokeryx, a hieros epi thumiatrou, a hieros spondaules, and a hieros salpiktes;
1040 includes a hierophantes, a hieroskopos, a hierokeryx, a hieros epi thumiatrou, and a hieros spondaules; 1041 includes a hierokeryx, an epi thumiatrou, a
spondaules, and an olympioneikes salpiktes; 1042 includes a hierophantes, probably two hieroskopoi, a hierokeryx, a hieros epi thumiatrou, a hieros spondaules,
and a hieros salpiktes olympioneikes; 1042A includes a hierophantes, two hieroskopoi, a hierokeryx, and a hieros epi thumiatrou.
IE IV 1038.10–13.
IE IV 1043.9–14; 1044.15–18; 1045.5–8.
In the three lists 1043.9, 1044.15, and 1045.5, L. Octavius Metrodorianus and
Mundicius IV are presented as hagnearchai kai hierophantai.
Knibbe (1981) p. 87; Kleijwegt (1991) p. 265 on purifications; IE IV 1010.4 before
A.D. 92; 1016.13 merging into the office of the hierophant; 1028.17 and 1029.19–
20 as a separate office.
IE IV 1030.13.
IE IV 1043.9; Knibbe (1981) p. 87.
Because of the prominence of the double position in lists 1043, 1044, and 1045,
my own guess is that the position of the hagnearch essentially was that of an advisor to the prytanis about cultic matters, whereas the hierophant was specific to
mystery rites, as we know was the case elsewhere (for example, with respect to
the Eleusinia).
For the details, see Appendix 1. If the evidence allowed us to compare all the cults
in detail, it would be interesting to know whether mystery cults became more
popular than the traditional, nonmystery cults of the polis at this time. In Ephesos it appears to be the case that most of our information for the celebration of
the mysteries, including those of Artemis, Demeter, Kore, and the others, comes
from the Roman imperial era. This could be a result of the random survival of
epigraphical evidence in the city, but evidence from nearby poleis such as Smyrna
indicates a similar phenomenon. Is this a sign that what mystery cults offered to
initiates—perhaps in one cult the possibility of a close encounter with the divine,
in another the sense of belonging to a band of committed adherents—became
more appealing to polytheists during the period? And if so, could at least the
latter be attributed to the increasing legal and possibly spiritual stratification of
imperial society? What is more certain is that these cults were no longer peripheral to the schedule of sacrifices and festivals within the polis by this time, if indeed they ever had been.
IE IV 1037.11–12; 1037A.3–4; 1038.15; 1039.5–7; 1042A.5–6.
IE IV 1038 includes two hierophantai (lines 10–13) and two hieroskopoi (lines
13–15).
For the position of the salpiktes in the lists of this group, see Knibbe (1981)
pp. 81–83; and also Landels (1999) pp. 78–81.
Or protocol of epigraphical presentation based upon their relative importance.
IE Ia 10.22 for the sacrificial law; IE III 974.25, the list of religious officials.
392
NOTES TO PAGES 177–180
33. Picard (1922) p. 287.
34. Knibbe (1981) p. 87; for Parasios, see 1033.24 from 130 to 140; also, on the office,
see Knibbe (1981) p. 78 and n. 60.
35. Knibbe (1981) p. 87.
36. Landels (1999) p. 79.
37. Landels (1999) p. 79.
38. We have no information about where this took place in the city; two logical possibilities would be at the prytaneion or perhaps at the Triodos.
39. Landels (1999) pp. 78–81.
40. IE IV 1042.11; and the office also in the fragmentary 1042A.2 (probably not the
protokoures printed in IE).
41. IE IV 1043.27; 1044.27; 1045.15.
42. Knibbe (1981) p. 88.
43. IE II 461.2.
44. IE Ia 10.24.
45. Knibbe (1983) pp. 125–27, lines 18–29.
46. Knibbe (1983) p. 126.
47. IE IV 1044.4–14.
48. For the neopoioi, see Chapter 1.
49. Lines 15–18.
50. Lines 23–24 and Knibbe’s note in IE IV, p. 35. The name Onesimos may point in
the direction of servile status, but Horsley 4 (1987) no. 96, pp. 179–81 adduces
several examples of free persons of not insignificant status with the name.
51. IE IV 1042.11 and 1043.27.
52. Knibbe (1981) pp. 87–88.
53. IvP 374; for a perceptive analysis of the inscription, see Pleket (1965) pp. 331–47.
54. Possibly IE IV 1028.16–17; 1029.18–20.
55. IE IV 1038.10–13; 1043.9–14; 1044.15–17; 1045.5–8.
56. IE IV 1037.11–12; 1037A.4 (but requiring a restoration); 1038.15; 1039.5–6;
1042.13–14; and 1042A.5–6.
57. IE IV 1024.6–7 and 9, a list of Kouretes with an honorary decree for the prytanis Dionysodoros from soon after A.D. 104, found in the “Eingang in den Hestiasaal des Prytaneions” (the entry to the Hestia Hall of the prytaneion; technically located on the north wall of the stoa vestibule, just to the west of door 3),
that mentions the oracle (manteion) of Apollo in the prytaneion; and 1233.1, an
inscription on an altar of Sopolis found “westlich der Vorhalle des Prytaneions”
(west of the stoa of the prytaneion) erected by the demos in A.D. 120. See also
Appendix 2.
58. Miltner (1958a) pp. 21–34; FiE IX/4 (2010) pp. 204–6. The “Beautiful Artemis”
(inv. no. 718), the “Great Artemis” (inv. no. 712), and the “Small Artemis” (inv.
no. 717; copy, inv. no. EM 231/56) are now displayed in room 6 of the Ephesus
Museum in Selçuk. See Wiplinger and Wlach (1996) p. 70 and Knibbe (2002a)
p. 50 for the hypothesis that Christians overturned Great Artemis.
59. Aurenhammer (2007) p. 177.
Notes to Pages 182–184
393
60. For the controversies about the interpretation of the iconography of the statues, including the breasts or testicles, see Fleischer (1973) pp. 74–88; Seiterle
(1979) pp. 3–16; LiDonnici (1992) pp. 389–415; Thomas (1995) pp. 85–87; Aurenhammer (2007) p. 177; Greaves (2010) p. 15.
61. Seiterle (1979) pp. 3–16.
62. For the association of Artemis’s pendants with the Hittite leather bags and fertility, see Morris (2001) p. 135 ff.; Cole (2004); for Artemis as a goddess of hilltops, see Aurenhammer (2007) p. 177.
63. Aurenhammer (2007) p. 177.
64. Ephesus Museum Selçuk, inv. no. 717.
65. Portefaix (1994) p. 67.
66. Portefaix (1994) p. 68.
67. Hippolytus, Refutation of All Heresies V.8.39.
68. Alas, we have no data for the numbers of sacrifices that took place during the
celebrations at Ephesos. As a point of comparison, however, we might note that
at the Greater Panathenaia celebrated in Athens in 410 B.C., according to IG I3
375.7, one hundred animals were sacrificed at a cost of 5,114 drachmas. The cost
per animal then was roughly 51 drachmas per head. If we recall that a skilled artisan at the time would have earned around a drachma a day for his work, we can
see that more than 50 drachmas for each sacrificed animal was a large amount of
money. The large number of sacrifices that were made at general festivals, such as
the Panathenaia and Artemis’s mysteries, were very expensive.
69. For such fees at the Eleusinian mysteries, paid for the actual initiations, or for
the registering of the initiation fees, see Clinton (1974) p. 26. At the celebration
of the mysteries of Despoina, Demeter, Artemis, and Anytos at Lykosoura in
Arcadia, the initiation fees of potential initiates also furnished significant sums
of money to the polis; see IG V 2, 516 line 18, and Jost (2003) esp. p. 146. In Ephesos, we do have a reference to a certain L. Verrius Terentius Flavianus, an eisagogos (collector of initiation fees) of the great Ephesia and hierokeryx of Artemis
honored by the patris during the reign of Commodus, but the inscription, IE IV
1152, does not mention the mysteries of Artemis specifically. Another inscription,
II 231.7 from the prytaneion itself, refers to te]s eisago[ges, or perhaps the collection of some kind of entrance fee, but the inscription is too fragmentary to permit any real understanding of the word’s use.
70. Unfortunately, at no time do we have any evidence for the actual number of initiates into the mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos, such as we do possess in the case
of the Eleusinia, where in 407 B.C. Clinton (1974) p. 13 n. 13 has argued that
there were about 2,150 initiates at the Greater Mysteries, who paid 4,2992⁄3 drachmas in total for their initiations. Parker (2007) p. 348 suggests “several thousand
participants” at the Eleusinia.
71. As Burkert (1987) p. 10 has pointed out, in most cases there exist forms of a “normal” cult alongside the celebrations of the mysteries.
72. For these civic rituals, see Rogers (1991) chapters 2 and 3. Another private initiative in regard to “the mysteries” is alluded to in a near contemporary honorary
394
NOTES TO PAGE 184
inscription, IE III 702, for the prytanis T. Peducaeus Canax, who was a priest of
Rome and P. Servilius Isauricus and had “displayed most fully his piety with regard to the mysteries” (lines 13–14); but unfortunately the inscription does not
provide us with detailed information about how Canax had displayed his piety,
and perhaps even which mysteries are meant.
73. Given the complexities and necessary adjustments of the Greek lunisolar calendar, set out as clearly as is humanly possible by Parker (2007) pp. 192–95, it is impossible to confidently assert exactly when the sixth of Thargelion would take
place on our solar calendar on a year-to-year basis. But the date of the festival
undoubtedly would have occurred sometime in late spring or early summer in
Ephesos, probably during our month of early May, when elsewhere in the Aegean
world the harvest of barley, which was the commonest food of the majority of
people in Greece, began according to Brumfield (1981) pp. 15, 39–40. (For the
names of the months in Ephesos during the Roman period, see Merkelbach
[1979b] pp. 157–62.) Late spring or early summer, on the other hand, as Brumfield has argued (pp. 40–41), would have been the time of the ripening, and then
harvesting, of the annual wheat crop. Since wheat tended to be harvested later in
the spring or early summer and the general festival in Ephesos was celebrated early
in the spring, we perhaps may conclude that, to the extent that the general festival was seen as a harvest festival, at which the mysteries were performed, it was a
festival coinciding with the actual ripening of the crop, rather than its harvesting.
A festival held each year in the early spring coinciding with the appearance
of the most important foodstuff of life dovetails nicely, at least on a metaphorical level, with the central event of the festival, the births of Apollo and his sister
Artemis, who, according to the hypothesis of de Polignac (1995) pp. 43–45, were
associated not only with the ordering of the polis and virginity, but also with
guiding human beings in the expanses of the frontier regions and guaranteeing
the fertility of the earth.
It is also worth noting from a comparative perspective in Greece, as noted by
Parker (2007) p. 201, that broadly speaking the celebration of the Eleusinian mysteries also evoked the idea of the agricultural cycle, particularly the sowing and
harvesting of wheat.
If we look at the timing of the festival and its implications from a theoretical
perspective, it is worth considering that anthropologists, whose arguments are
summarized by Bell (1997) pp. 102–8, have argued that such harvest rites give
socially meaningful definitions to the passage of time and generally involve festivals during which first fruits are given to gods or ancestors, accompanied by a
communal meal. Such harvest rites may overlap and coincide with commemorative rites that explicitly and repeatedly recall and/or reenact important historical
events to involve participants in experiencing and affirming a set of values seen
as rooted in those events.
74. See Rogers (1991) pp. 42–65 for the timing, location, and civic hierarchy of the
lotteries and distributions.
75. IE Ia 27.265–68.
Notes to Pages 184–186
395
76. IE Ia 27.492–94; 524–27; for evidence of officials selected by lot to pray (on its
own) or sacrifice accompanied by prayer from the fourth century B.C. onwards,
see Pulleyn (1997) pp. 167–68.
77. Rogers (1991) pp. 80–115.
78. For the coins showing the sacred cart, see Head (1892) no. 251, p. 82, pl. 13.13; no.
335, p. 97, pl. 14.11.
79. Geography XIV.1.20; Chapter 3; and Sylloge Nummorum Graecorum vol. 22
(Ionia) (1945) no. 500, pl. 12; Head (1892) no. 374, p. 104.
80. For discussion of the coins, see Engelmann (1991a) pp. 273–74.
81. Making the argument that the Ephesians expanded the size of the festival at least
in part for reasons of economic interest in no way conflicts with the view that
they had other goals in mind simultaneously. More sacrifices at a larger general
festival probably were viewed by the Ephesians as an expression of piety toward
Artemis: the more sacrifices, the better or potentially more persuasive. And a
much larger general festival, with many more initiates, also was a way of advertising the polis of Ephesos, including its particular sacred history. The Ephesians
certainly used that sacred history as a justification for the polis’s legal privileges
during the early imperial period, as we already have seen. From a comparative
perspective, anthropologists, such as Bell (1997) pp. 231–25, looking, for instance,
at the modern history of the Olympic games, have argued that effective ritual
need not be invulnerable to “trendy commercialization.”
82. Leukippe and Kleitophon VI.3.
83. IE IV 1017.8; 1018 II2; 1019.3; 1020.8; 1021.12; 1022.5; 1023.6; 1024.17; 1025.1;
1026.10; 1028.14; 1029.15; 1030.11; 1031.2; 1032.18; 1033.17; 1034.16; 1035.15;
1036.14; 1037.9; 1038.9; 1039.3; 1040.23; 1042.12; 1042A.3.
84. The certain cases include P. Cornelius Ariston, lists IE IV 1015.7; 1017.8–9; 1018.3;
1019.4; 1020.8; 1021.13; 1022.6; 1023.7; 1024.18; 1025.2; 1026.11; 1028.15; 1029.16;
1030.12; 1032.19; 1033.17–18; 1034.17; 1035.16; 1039.5–6; 1040.25–26; T. Claudius
Pythion, IV 1036.17; T. Claudius Diadochianos, IV 1037.11; 1037A.2; 1038.14–15;
1039.6–7; L. Cosinnius Gaianus, IV 1034.26; 1035.22; 1036.22; 1037.16; 1037A.8;
1039.10; P. Aelius Sumphoros, IV 1041.19; 1042.18; the very likely cases include
Mundicius I, IV 1016.11; 1017.9; 1018.4; 1019.5; 1020.9; 1021.14; 1022.7; 1023.7;
1024.19; 1025.4; 1026.13; 1028.17; 1029.19; Mundicius II, IV 1028.16; 1029.18;
1030.13; 1031.4–5; 1032.21; 1034.19; 1035.18; 1036.15; Mundicius III, IV 1033.19;
1037.10; 1038.10–11; Mundicius IV, IV 1038.12; 1039.4; 1040.24–25; 1042.12;
1042A.4; those who possibly were Roman citizens include Epikrates, the son
of Sallustius, IV 1017.10; 1018.5; 1019.6; 1020.10; 1021.15; 1022.8; 1023.8; 1024.20;
1025.6; 1026.14; 1027.1; and Epikrates, the grandson of Sallustius, IV 1038.16;
1039.7; 1040.27; 1041.16; 1042.15; 1042A.7.
85. For L. Octavius Metrodorianus, see IE IV 1043.10–11; 1044.16; 1045.6; for Lysimachos Mundicius IV, see IV 1043.13–14; 1044.17; for Lysimachos V, see IV
1045.8; for P. Aelius Sumphoros, see IV 1043.25; 1044.26; for Agrippa, see IV
1045.16–17.
86. Mundicius I, IV 1016.11; 1018.4; 1019.5; 1020.9; 1022.7; 1023.7; 1024.19; 1025.4;
396
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
NOTES TO PAGES 186–187
1026.13; Mundicius III, IV 1033.19–20; 1034.19–20; 1035.18; 1036.15–16; 1038.10–
12; Mundicius IV, IV 1039.4–5; Ariston, IV 1018.3; 1019.4; 1020.8; 1022.6; 1023.7;
1024.18; 1025.2–3; 1026.11; 1028.14–15; 1029.16; 1030.12; 1032.19–20; 1033.17–18;
1034.17–18; 1035.16–17.
IE IV 1043.12. Most, if not all, of the imperial- era Eleusinian hierophants are
known to have been wealthy also; see Clinton (1974) p. 30.
IE IV 1044.17–18; for this meaning of patroboulos, see IE 1a 26.24; III 972.21; V
1573.c6; and Robert (1966) p. 89 n. 2; Kleijwegt (1991) pp. 263–72. In Ephesos, as
we can tell from the Kouretes lists, the hereditary honor was not dropped when
patrobouloi entered the Boule.
In list IE IV 1026.15.
IE IV 1043.24–26; 1044.25–26; the fact that there apparently was a competition
of trumpeters at the celebration of the Ephesian Olympics is another indication
that a salpiktes could play his instrument outside of military contexts in Ephesos.
A parallel development characterized the priests who celebrated the Eleusinian
mysteries, many of whom held high political offices in Athens during the Roman
period, unlike their predecessors; see Clinton (1974) p. 114.
Mundicius I, IE IV 1010.4; 1016.11; 1017.9; 1018.4; 1019.5; 1020.9; 1021.14; 1022.7;
1023.7; 1024.19; 1025.4; 1026.13; 1028.17; 1029.19, between 95 and 98 until at the
earliest 112; Mundicius II, IV 1028.16; 1029.18; 1030.13; 1031.4–5; 1032.21; 1034.19;
1035.18; 1036.15 around 112 to around 140 or later; Mundicius III, IV 1033.19;
1037.10; 1038.10–11 around 140 or later; Mundicius IV, IV 1038.12; 1039.4;
1040.24–25; 1042.12; 1042A.4 into the reign of Pius; Mundicius V, IV 1045.8,
the reign of Pius.
For Epikrates, the son of Sallustius, IE IV 1017.10; 1018.5; 1019.6; 1020.10;
1021.15; 1022.8; 1023.8; 1024.20; 1025.6; 1026.14; 1027.1; 1044.22; and Epikrates,
the grandson of Sallustius, IV 1038.16–17; 1039.7–8; 1040.27; 1041.16; 1042.15;
1042A.7.
IE IV 1043.10–12.
IE IV 1045.8.
IE IV 1043.13–14 and 1044.17.
IE IV 1043.21–23 and 1044.23–24.
The Kouretes are represented as philosebastoi in lists IE IV 1016.4 from between
96 and 99; 1017.3–4 between 97 and 100; 1018.2 between 98 and 101; 1020.4
between 100 and 103; 1021.5 from 104; 1022.2 around 105; 1023.2 from soon
after 104; 1024.14 from soon after 104; 1028.6, 1029.5, 1030.4, and 1032.6 from
around 130 to 140; 1033.7 from around 130 to 140; 1034.5 from around 130 to 140;
1035.6–7 from around 140; 1036.4, 1037.2, 1041.3, and 1042.6 during the reign
of Pius. In the fragmentary list of Kouretes from between 100 and 150, IV 1050,
the Kouretes whose names are now lost are also represented as philosebastoi in
line 4; in the fragmentary list from the reign of Hadrian, 1049.8, the Kouretes are
philosebastoi; in a fragmentary list of Kouretes that may date to the early second
century, IV 1051.1, the Kouretes are philosebastoi.
IE IV 1043 (requiring a full restoration); and 1044.3 (partial restoration).
Notes to Page 187
397
100. See Knibbe (1981) chart on p. 99, and my Appendix 3, “Chronological Chart of
Kouretes.” To arrive at these totals of Kouretes and Roman citizens during the
early second century, I have not counted list 1015 in this third group of lists, because I have included it in my section on the Kouretes during the first century.
Knibbe counts list 1015 in Group II on p. 84 and in Group III on pp. 22 and
89; however, the numbers of Kouretes and the numbers of Roman citizens in
Group III, comprising lists 1015–42A, are actually higher. Lists IV 1019, 1025,
1026, 1027, 1031, 1037, 1038, 1039, and 1041 are defective, and I have not used
the statistics from these lists; in addition, list 1048, which should be dated before 1034 (perhaps before 137/38), includes at least four Roman citizens (Lucius
Afinnius, L. Paulinus, L. Iunius Chairemon, P. Carsidius Pamphilio) among the
Kouretes; furthermore, in the fragmentary list 1049 from the reign of Hadrian,
at least one Koures, L. Munatius (cognomen unknown) was probably a Roman
citizen. Thus, because of the fragmentary nature of the evidence, both the number of Kouretes and the number of Roman citizens among them given above
must be taken as approximate totals for this period.
101. IE IV 1043: L. Cusonius Maximus, L. Iulius Iulianus, L. Octavius Metrodorianus,
Lysimachos Mundicius.
102. IE IV 1044: C. Flavius Theophilus Proerosianus, C. Flavius Dionysius Proerosianus, Cnaeus Pompeius Veratianus, T. Flavius Perigenes, T. Flavius Perigenes neoteros, Caius Iulius Cosinnius Truphonas, Cnaeus Hordeonius Iustus, T. Marius
Rufus.
103. 1045: Fulvius Messilius Aratus and C. Volumnius Hermogenes; see Knibbe
(1981) p. 99.
104. Knibbe (1983) pp. 125–27; lines 18–29.
105. IE IV 1032–36; Knibbe (1981) p. 99; 1032 includes C. Terentius Veratius, P. Veratius Posid. [, L. Tarutilius Quartus, Tiberius Claudius Felix, Quintus Nerius
Saturninus, Publius Aelius Eisas Flavianus; 1033 includes P. Carsidius Pamphilio,
Tiberius Claudius Sosipatros, M. Popillius Volanus, P. Aelius Dionysius, L. Salvidianus Komos; 1034 includes L. Stedius Aphrodisios, Q. Curtius Maximus,
M. Vibius Soranus, T. Camurius Epanodos; 1035 includes C. Terentius Flavianus, L. Verius Bassus, P. Aelius Papurus, P. Aelius Demetrius Flavianus, T. Flavius
Pythion Claudianus, C. Licinnius Suras; 1036 includes C. Servilius Rufus, C. Servilius Philadelphus, M. Iunius Crispus Antenor, Cornuficius Rufus, T. Peducaeus
Metrodorus, Fonteius Cod[ratus?].
106. Knibbe (1981) p. 92. It would be fascinating and revealing to be able to compare the increasing domination of these important offices and/or priesthoods
(Kouretes, prytaneis, priestesses of Artemis) in the city by Roman citizens with
the overall numbers of Roman citizens versus peregrines at the time. Unfortunately, however, we have no reliable data for either the total population of the
city around A.D. 150 or the numbers of Roman citizens among the total population. All we can infer plausibly is that Roman citizenship and wealth became
the common characteristics of those who held these positions by the mid-second
century A.D. To the extent that the evidence from other mystery cults in the city
398
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
NOTES TO PAGE 188
allows us to reconstruct who was involved in the celebrations of other mysteries,
the same basic pattern emerges. Roman citizens of bouleutic status dominate the
cults by the mid-second century (unless their domination is simply a reflection
of the epigraphical habit[s] of the ruling class, which I do not believe). For the
evidence, see Appendix 1.
For Samothrace, see Cole (1989) p. 1579; for Pergamon, Thomas (1998) p. 291.
IE IV 1020 (six members of the Boule); 1022 (two); 1023 (probably five); 1024
(three); 1028 (two); 1030 (three); 1032 (four); 1033 (four); 1035 (six); 1036 (three);
1040 (four); 1042 (two). I have left out of consideration list 1037, in which one,
two, or three Kouretes are members of the Boule; and 1038, in which at least two
Kouretes appear as members of the Boule, because the lists of Kouretes are incomplete or fragmentary for the year. Also, in the fragmentary list 1048, at least
three more Kouretes appear as members of the Boule; in addition, in list 1050,
another very fragmentary list from between 100 and 150, at least three of the
Kouretes appear to have been members of the Boule. In list 1051.5, an unknown
Koures, probably from the early second century, was a member of the Boule. See
Appendix 3.
IE IV 1032 (four members of the Boule); 1033 (four); 1034 (zero); 1035 (six); 1036
(three).
IE IV 1043.8–12.
IE IV 1044: C. Flavius Theophilus Proerosianus, C. Flavius Dionysius Proerosianus, Artemidoros Gonatas, Cnaeus Pompeius Veratianus, T. Flavius Perigenes,
T. Flavius Perigenes neoteros, Caius Iulius Cosinnius Truphonas, Cnaeus Hordeonius Iustus, T. Marius Rufus; reference in lines 17–18 to Lysimachos IV Mundicius as patroboulos probably means that he was a hereditary member of the
council; see Knibbe (1981) p. 77; Dmitriev (2005) p. 170 n. 160.
IE IV 1045.6–7.
See Knibbe (1983) pp. 125–27, lines 18–29.
Gordon (2003) pp. 78–82.
If we compare this number with the size of the membership of the largest known
collegium from Rome, the collegium fabrum tignariorum (association of carpenters), which had thirteen hundred members, the size of the association of
Kouretes is far smaller. But if we compare it with the average size of fifty members (per association in Rome), we can see that the size of the Ephesian association was roughly three times above the norm in the capital city. For the sizes
of the collegia in Rome, see Rüpke (2007a) p. 207. Interestingly, taking into account losses due to old age, accidents, migration, and other factors over a generation in a premodern, subsistence agricultural society, if the real number of living
Kouretes at the time was somewhere between 150 and 180, that would put the
size of the association roughly within the numerical parameters of the so-called
Dunbar number, the ideal size for a group of humans living together for social
and defensive purposes. For the number and its anthropological implications, see
Dunbar (1993) pp. 681–735. The second-century A.D. Kouretes were not a battalion of active-service warriors—far from it—but the origins of the association
Notes to Pages 188–189
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
399
were specifically militaristic and defensive. It should also be noted that the two
stepped benches of seats in the Hestia Hall of the prytaneion could accommodate between 100 and 120 people, as the most recent reevaluation of the building
has revealed, FiE IX/4 (2010) pp. 239–40. The Hestia Hall therefore could have
served as a meeting place for most of the association of living members.
Which would make the size of this association slightly larger than the number
(about one hundred) of named contributors to the customs building paid for by
the fishermen and fishmongers in the city during the reign of Nero (A.D. 54 to
59); see IE Ia 20 and Horsley 5 (1989) no. 5, pp. 95–114 for text and commentary.
The association of fishermen and fishmongers, however, seems to include both
Roman citizens (either forty-three or forty-four) and slaves (two to ten) among
its members.
For the size of the Ephesian Boule during the early second century, see Rogers
(1991) pp. 60–62.
Unfortunately, we have no idea how the Kouretes/bouleutai generated that
minimum capital requirement: did their money come from agricultural surpluses
from rural estates? We have almost no evidence for such estates, though the existence of the so-called Round tomb, or Monopteros, 2.36 miles outside Selçuk on
the road to Aydin/Tralleis, which some scholars (for example, Thür in Scherrer
[2000] p. 228) have argued was a communal tomb for the family of the Vedii
near their country estates (on the basis of an inscription, IE 2100, mentioning
the names of Flavius Damianus and Vedia Phaedrina), may suggest that at least
some of the revenue-producing lands of the Ephesian aristocracy were close to
the city. But wherever those estates were located, the agricultural surpluses produced from them were not always enough to feed the population of the city, as
we can infer from the famous inscription, IE II 211, in which the Ephesians are
reminded by an emperor, whose name is lost, that when it came to the bountiful
harvest of wheat produced among the Egyptians, the needs of Rome came first,
while those of Ephesos were first among the rest.
Did the Kouretes/bouleutai share in the maritime trade that obviously
brought wealth to at least some other Ephesians? Were they representatives of
Finley’s agrarian elite or ancient Pantaleones of “The Corrupting Sea”? Were the
terrace houses built on foundations of overseas profits? We do know that from
time to time Artemis herself benefited from the dedication of buildings containing workshops (plus the profits from proceeds); see IE II 421 and 443; Debord
(1982) pp. 16–17; Kleijwegt (2002) p. 114 n. 139. We may wish to “ruralize” the
wealth of Ephesos’s Graeco-Roman ruling class of Kouretes/bouleutai to support Marx’s aphorism about the ruralization of the city, but in the absence of
supporting evidence the aphorism’s applicability to Ephesos remains unproved.
We simply do not know how the vast majority of Artemis’s defenders got their
money.
Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 4.
MacMullen (1974) pp. 142–45. Of course Pompeii was a much smaller city (in
terms of population) by all estimates.
400
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
126.
127.
128.
NOTES TO PAGE 189
Galen, XIII.363.
Jongman (2003) p. 188.
Alföldy (1988) pp. 115–27, 147.
Minimally, as they sat in the council discussing measures, members of the association would have known who were or had been Kouretes. The imperial-era Boule
after all was at least in part a hereditary body, the total size of which was approximately 150 fewer than a single class of Wellesley College (about 600). Surely most
of the members of the Ephesian aristocracy would have known or known of each
other, particularly because so many of them were related to one another.
For a perceptive analysis of the polis religion model proposed by SourvinouInwood and the civic compromise model of Gordon, see Woolf (2003) pp. 40–44.
IE IV 1022 (four); 1029 (one); 1032 (one); 1039 (one); 1040 (one); thereby also
discrediting the theory that the Kouretes were necessarily young or perhaps
even youngish men. The fact that these Kouretes were also Gerousiasts probably is an indication that they were men of some means; however, we need to
remember that the socioeconomic backgrounds of the members of the council
of elders were diverse. As Van Rossum (1988) pp. 87–145 has shown, although
many Gerousiasts were of at least bouleutic status, included among the elders in
many cities were professionals and also some craftsmen. We should not assume
that the imperial-era Gerousia of Ephesos was an aristocratic association shut off
to men who were not related to the likes of the supermagnate Tiberius Claudius
Aristion.
P. Carsidius Pamphilio appears as prytanis in the list of Kouretes from 130 to
140, IE IV 1033.8–11; in the list of Kouretes that probably should be dated before
1034, 1048.9–11, an uncle, P. Carsidius Pamphilio, of the prytanis of the same
year, P. Carsidius Pamphilio, appears among the Kouretes; Dionysios, one of the
Kouretes from between 130 to 140, 1034.9, was honored by the Boule and demos
for his prytany, and other offices around 140 to 150, cf. III 661; C. Terentius Flavianus appears in the list of Kouretes from around 140 as prytanis, 1035.8–9 (elsewhere, in II 338, he appears as secretary of the polis and perhaps, in III 720A, as
secretary of the Boule and demos); Terentius Veratius, who appears in a list of
Kouretes from around 130 to 140, 1032.7–8, later (during the time of Marcus or
Commodus) became a prytanis, see 1035.4–5; cf. III 720A.4–5; 984.6–8; A. Larcius Iulianus, who was one of the Kouretes probably during the reign of Pius,
1040.7–8, was prytanis, at the earliest, by 128, cf. III 985.8–10; in list 1051.2–3, the
Koures Tiberius Flavius Aeneas appears as a prytanis.
See Knibbe (1981) p. 96. It is clear from Knibbe’s careful prosopographical
studies of the late-first to early-second-century A.D. prytaneis that some of the
richest citizens of Ephesos served as prytaneis during the period, including Publius Vedius Antoninus, about 96 to 99; Tiberius Claudius Antipater Iulianus, in
A.D. 104; and Tiberius Claudius Aristion. The prytaneis of the mid-century, including M. Claudius, P. Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus, Claudia Crateia
Veriane, M. Claudius Publius Vedius Papianus Antoninus, and C. Iulius Epaga-
Notes to Pages 190–191
129.
130.
131.
132.
133.
134.
135.
136.
137.
138.
139.
140.
141.
142.
143.
144.
145.
146.
147.
148.
149.
150.
151.
152.
153.
401
thus, several of whom were members of the senatorial order and had had public
careers in the Roman military and administration, were even more wealthy.
IE III 661; for the paraphulax at Ephesos, see IE III.612A.7, an honorary inscription for Afranius; V 1579.8 in the thanks inscription of three neopoioi; VI 2053.9
in the inscription for the statue of Colonia Iulia Concordia Carthago in which
L. Rasinnius Hermippus is paraphulax after the third neokorate of Ephesos in
211; and possibly 2530.3 on a sarcophagus, but requiring substantial restoration;
the office is also known in Tralleis, from the endowment of Ti. Iulius Claudianus
for the Boule during the first century; see Poljakov I (1989) no. 145.7; Poljakov
translates the title as “Gemeindepolizist.” See also Dmitriev (2005) pp. 206–13,
who suggests that in Ephesos the paraphulax might eventually have been replaced by the eirenarches.
IE IV 1024.2; he appears in a list of Kouretes soon after 104, see IV 1023.2.
IE IV 1020.6; cf. III 924A (V); for the office, see Rogers (1991) p. 71.
IE IV 1051.2–3; for Aeneas as agoranomos, see III 936.
Van Nijf (1997) p. 102 n. 136.
IE IV 1034.6–7, 9–10.
IE IV 1022.7; for the office, see Rogers (1991) pp. 58–59.
IE IV 1033.8; see also III 633.3–4.
IE IV 1040.7–8; cf. III 985.8–12.
IE IV 1038.5; for the archiatroi at Ephesos, see Keil (1905) pp. 128–38; Wolters
(1906) pp. 295–97; Van Nijf (1997) p. 172.
SEG 32,1302; Van Nijf (1997) pp. 171–76.
IE IV 1030.9; V 1573.7; for the function of the neopoioi in Ephesos, see Rogers
(1991) p. 47.
IE IV 1034.9; III 661.10.
IE IV 1044.4–14: C. Flavius Theophilus Proerosianus, C. Flavius Dionysius
Proerosianus, Artemidoros Gonatas, Cnaeus Pompeius Veratianus, T. Flavius
Perigenes, T. Flavius Perigenes neoteros, Caius Iulius Cosinnius Truphonas,
Cnaeus Hordeonius Iustus, T. Marius Rufus.
IE IV 1045.4–5.
For the sacred victors at Ephesos, see Rogers (1991) pp. 56–57.
IE 1a 11a.9.
IE III 951; Warden and Bagnall (1988) pp. 220–23.
IE IV 1030.6–7; 1044.7–8; for the altar of Sopolis, see IV 1233; at least during the
third century A.D., Sopolis was one of the divinities serviced in the prytaneion.
IE IV 1033.8–9; 1048.1; III 633.
Brown (2002) p. 53.
IE IV 1016.8–10; for the prytanis P. Vedius Antoninus, whom M. Claudius Sabinus had adopted after 128, see IE II 429.3; III 697b.21; 726.4–5; 726a.1.
IE IV 1021.6, 9, and 10.
IE IV 1022.3 and 7.
IE IV 1023.3–4.
402
154.
155.
156.
157.
158.
159.
160.
161.
162.
163.
164.
165.
166.
167.
168.
169.
170.
171.
172.
173.
174.
175.
176.
NOTES TO PAGES 191–194
IE IV 1040.22–23, 27.
IE IV 1048.9–11.
IE IV 1044.4–6.
IE IV 1044.4–7; 1023.
IE 1a 47.40.
IE IV 1044.5–6; for Pythion, see also III 858.10; V 1500; VII, 1a, 3064; VII, 2,
4342.2; and Horsley 4 (1987) no. 14, p. 51.
IE VII, 1, 3033.19–22; 3034.18–21.
See Knibbe (1983) pp. 125–27, lines 18–29.
For example, IE IV 1060.7–8.
For the general role of religion in articulating social and political hierarchies, see
Rives (2007) pp. 106–7.
See Appendix 1 for the data.
For how the system of euergetism brought social prestige and authority to elites
within the cities of the Roman empire, see Rives (2007) p. 115.
Gordon (2007) p. 403.
IE IV 1033.8; III 633.
IE IV 1034.9–10; III 661.
Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 33, 89.
Karwiese (1995) pp. 99–101.
For the public bath, see IE II 500; Knibbe and Merkelbach (1978c) p. 99; Fagan
(1999) no. 309. For Quintilius’s other projects, see 429, the temple dedicated to
Artemis, Hadrian, and the demos; 455 below, III 672; 712b, an honorary inscription; 986, an honorary inscription for his daughter Quintilia Varilla; and VII, 1,
3080.15; and for P. Quintilius Valens Varius in general, see Knibbe (1998) p. 154;
Scherrer (2001) p. 75. For Quintilia Varilla, see IE II 455; III 986. For the latrine,
IE II 500, 455.
Owens (1991) pp. 155, 160; Fagan (1999) p. 135; Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 29.
For Aristion as high priest of Asia, see IE II 234.14; 235.16; 239.10; 424.1; 425.2;
425a.4; 508.5; III 638.3; V 1498.18; VII, 2, 5101.4; 5113.23; and as prytanis, II
425.6; 427.1; III 638.5; and as secretary of the demos, II 461.1; 508.5; IV 1128.4?;
1129a.2?; and as temple warden, II 237.18; 241.18; 424.1; III 638.6; VII, 1, 4105.5;
and as gymnasiarch, III 638.4. For Iulia Claudia Laterane, see II 424A.1 and
VI 1601e1. For the water pipe, II 424; Quatember (2006) pp. 73–77; Wiplinger
(2006b) pp. 23–37.
Thür in Scherrer (2000) p. 116. Most of the sculptural remains of the fountain
now are in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk, including the satyr (inv. no. 754),
Dionysos (inv. no. 1405), Androklos (inv. no. 773), and Aphrodite (inv. no. 768).
A second, nude statue of Dionysos (inv. no. 769), modeled upon Roman copies
of Greek sculptures of Apollo, also was located in the building.
Quatember (2006) p. 75.
IE II 424a; for a systematic account of Tiberius Claudius Aristion’s benefactions
to the city in 102 and after, see PIR2: Prosopographia Imperii Romani 2.170 no.
788; Horsley 4 (1987) no. 14, pp. 49–50; Karwiese (1995) pp. 99–101; Knibbe
Notes to Pages 195–197
177.
178.
179.
180.
181.
182.
183.
184.
185.
186.
187.
188.
189.
190.
191.
192.
403
(1998) pp. 151, 158, and 207; and Scherrer (1997) pp. 100–12; 115–22, especially on
his role as chief sponsor and director of the building program for the cult of the
Flavian emperors.
Letters VI.31.3.
Dmitriev (2005) pp. 197–200.
For the idea that councils and the leading offices of the polis became economically and socially stratified during the early Roman empire, leading to an elite
within the elite, see Kleijwegt (1991) pp. 295–301; Van Nijf (1997) pp. 21–22 and
83 n. 42 citing the example of the naukleros (ship captain) Lucius Erastus, who
became a councilor after Hadrian wrote to the magistrates and Boule, recommending him and volunteering to pay the entry fee on his behalf in the winter of
A.D. 128/29, SEG3 838; IE V 1487; and during the third century, III 679.7–9. See
also Pleket (1998) pp. 206–10; Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 62–63, 136–37.
IE VII, 2, 5101.3; 5113.21.
For the honorary inscriptions put up for Aristion by the polis and his career
generally, see IE II 425.1–9; III 638.1–10; Thür (1995a) p. 185; Scherrer (1997a)
pp. 93–112 and (1997b) pp. 113–30.
Letters VI.31.
Pleket (1998) p. 207. In 1988 H. Thür and her colleagues at the archaeological excavation of Ephesos discovered a marble portrait head of an imperial priest in the
corner of a sarcophagus that abutted the western end of the heroon of Androklos. The portrait of the man was that of someone around sixty years old. At the
bottom of the sarcophagus the excavators also found the bones of a boy between
three and four years old and of a man in his sixties, who suffered from arthritis. Thür (1995a) pp. 185–87, (1997b) pp. 17–26, (1997c) pp. 55–63, and (1997d)
pp. 65–75 has argued that the older man interred in the sarcophagus, which probably had been moved to the west side of the Androklos heroon from its original
placement near the Octagon of Arsinoê IV, is Aristion, the polis’s greatest benefactor of the early second century A.D.
IE II 422.
Scherrer (2001) p. 77.
IE II 429; Fleischer (1967) pp. 22–71; Brenk (1968) pp. 238–58; Outschar (1999)
pp. 443–48; Outschar in Scherrer (2000) p. 118; (2001) p. 75.
Outschar in Scherrer (2000) p. 118.
For example, the arched entablature of the temple of Dushara at the Nabataean
sanctuary of Si’; Lyttelton (1987) p. 39.
IE II 426; VII, 1, 3047; Knibbe (1998) p. 39.
Philostratos, Lives of the Sophists I.22; Burrell (2009).
IE II 430; Knibbe (1998) p. 48; Scherrer (2001) pp. 74, 78. The open space of the
xystoi measured approximately 722 by 656 feet and was enclosed by triple porticoes. It is very likely that running and other athletic competitions took place here
that were part of the celebrations of the local Olympic games connected to the
establishment of the cult of the Sebastoi in A.D. 88/89.
IE III 661.
404
NOTES TO PAGES 197–199
193. Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 30.
194. See Lämmer (1967); Knibbe (1998) p. 156.
195. IE II 460 (2); 477; Knibbe (1998) p. 152; Steskal (2001) pp. 177–88; Scherrer
(2001) p. 78; FiE IX/5 (2011) pp. 87–90.
196. For all of which, see Bier (1999); FiE IX/5 (2011).
197. IE II 431; 438; Aelius Aristides, Sacred Stories II.82. For analysis and the excavation of the complex under the direction of M. Theuer, see Farrington (1987)
pp. 50–51, 56–57; Wiplinger and Wlach (1996) p. 46; Fagan (1999) p. 227 n. 7;
Steskal and La Torre (2001) pp. 221–31; Steskal and Ladstätter (2005) pp. 237–49;
La Torre (2006) pp. 87–93; FiE XIV/1 (2008).
198. Inv. no. 45.
199. Archaeological Museum of Izmir, inv. no. 78; and Aurenhammer (2007) p. 180.
200. The statue of the imperial priest is now located in the Archaeological Museum of
Izmir, inv. no. 648. For the inscriptions detailing the rivalry and the intervention
of Pius on behalf of Vedius, see IE V 1491–93. According to Pleket (1998) p. 207,
Vedius’s preference for bestowing buildings upon the city rather than banquets
and/or games might have incurred a hostile reaction from the demos; and in
general, about the Vedii and their benefactions to Ephesos, see Karwiese (1995)
pp. 105–7; Kalinowski (2002) pp. 109–49. If Pleket’s interpretation of this episode is correct (as I believe it is), it is a clear example of a demos and council exercising some kind of political restraint upon a wealthy benefactor according to its
preferences. The mid-second-century A.D. Ephesian demos apparently was not
completely depoliticized.
201. Pleket (1998) p. 208; Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 91–92.
202. For a brief account of this transformation, see Scherrer (1995) pp. 10–12.
203. For the phenomenon, see Schwarz (2001) pp. 221–27, 237–39; and Zuiderhoek
(2009) pp. 30–31.
204. Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 18–19, figures 1.2 and 1.3; and pp. 56–58.
205. For the history of the building, which apparently was never completed, see Langmann et al. (1993) Grabungen 1992, pp. 14–16; and its function, Knibbe (1998)
pp. 36, 41, 252, 276.
206. For evidence of the polis of Thebes making efforts to control the traffic of the
processions that were part of the celebrations of the Theban Kabeiroi during
the Roman imperial period, see Schachter (2003) p. 133. Schachter goes on to
argue that changes in the architectural plan of the Kabeirion involved theological changes within the cult, specifically an emphasis put upon the goddess and on
the Kabeiroi, at the expense of the home of the consort. Because Ortygia has not
been excavated, we cannot make similar associations at Ephesos, but it is nevertheless true that we can see changes at least with respect to the display of the inscriptions of the Kouretes on the architectural elements of the prytaneion. As
we have seen, those inscriptions reflect a gradual shift in the publicly proclaimed
piety of the Kouretes.
207. For the dossier of inscriptions related to the heroon/library, see IE VII, 2, 5101–
Notes to Pages 199–203
208.
209.
210.
211.
212.
213.
214.
215.
405
14, including the bequest inscription, 5013. Celsus’s sarcophagus was placed in a
crypt beneath the structure’s central vaulted apse. For the building and its chronology, see FiE V.1 (1944); Hueber and Strocka (1975) pp. 3–14; Strocka (1981)
pp. 322–29; Karwiese (1995) p. 100; Wiplinger and Wlach (1996) p. 31; Knibbe
(1998) pp. 157–58; Hoepfner (2002) pp. 123–26; Strocka (2003) pp. 33–43. As
Karwiese points out, the site for the heroon/library was chosen to become the
most monumental of the grave sites along the processional way. It is worth remembering that there had been a necropolis in this area of the city since before
the time of Lysimachos.
For the “Library of Celsus,” see IE VII, 1, 3009.4–5; on the niches for book rolls,
see Karwiese (1995) p. 100; Idil (1999) pp. 437–41; Casson (2001) pp. 114–18; on
the personifications of Celsus’s virtues, see IE VII, 2, 5108, 5109, 5111; and 5110 on
the “Forethought” of Philippos.
Of course, the political influence of a man such as Tiberius Iulius Aquila Polemaeanus, the son of a suffect consul and proconsul of Asia, within the Boule
and assembly would have been immense.
For the propylon, see IE II 422A.1; on the possible dedication to Trajan, IE II
329 (3); FiE XI/1 (1989) pp. 69–73, 133; and on the intersection of the Plateia and
the Embolos, see Thür (1995b) p. 183; Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1993)
pp. 123–24, no. 13.
Burrell (2009).
As Burkert (1985) pp. 99–102, Parker (2007) p. 179, and others have pointed out,
it was normal for initiates to carry images of the gods and/or other objects to be
displayed during the celebrations along on the processions to the place where the
initiations were to take place. If the initiates into Artemis’s mysteries carried an
image of Artemis, perhaps that eikon was modeled upon one of the previously
mentioned cult statues of Artemis that were unearthed in the excavations of the
prytaneion, including the so-called Great Artemis and the Beautiful Artemis.
Great Artemis wears a three-tiered headdress (polos), an iconographic sign of her
exalted status, the very top tier of which shows temples of Ephesos. It is possible
that one of the temples of the headdress is one of the shrines in Ortygia remarked
upon by Strabo. Two of the shrines have been identified as the Artemision and
the Flavian temple of the emperors. Among the other objects carried along in
the procession might also have been the shields and/or spears of the Kouretes.
For the altar on the processional route, see Wiplinger and Wlach (1996) p. 120;
Knibbe (1998) p. 142.
Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 19.
Van Nijf (1997) p. 245; Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 65.
For an argument that Mary Douglas’s theory of replication (as opposed to alienation) explains better the popularity and particular attraction of Mithraism to
certain kinds of circles within the Roman empire, see Gordon (1995) p. 107 ff.
406
NOTES TO PAGES 206–209
Chapter 8. “The Nurse of Its Own Ephesian God”
1. Despite the heroic efforts of Knibbe in FiE IX/1/1 (1981) and in IE IV, the inscriptions following after IE IV 1045 in the corpus, which are perhaps related
in form to the traditional lists of Kouretes, are simply too fragmentary to date
within this period with complete confidence: among these are IV 1046; possibly
1050, 1051, 1054A, 1055, and 1055A, datable to 162/63 or 163/64, but far too fragmentary; possibly 1055B and 1056. There also are lists of Kouretes that can be
dated to the third century, such as IE IV 1057.
2. IE Ia 10.
3. IE Ia 47, and IV 1075 (Kouretes); Ia 26 (Gerousia).
4. IE Ia 24; Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1989) pp. 171–72, no. 6; Knibbe,
Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1993) pp. 130–32, no. 25; IE VII, 1, 3080; Philostratos, Lives of the Sophists II.23.
5. IE IV 1046.3; 1050.8; 1050.9; 1054A.2.
6. IE IV 1055B.4–6.
7. IE IV 1050.3–4; 1050.5–7.
8. Burkert (1987) p. 11.
9. IE Ia 10.
10. Mikalson (2005) p. 182.
11. Knibbe (1981) pp. 76–77.
12. IE Ia 10. For the editions of the text, see the preface to its publication in IE and
esp. Miltner and Maresch (1959) p. 39 ff.; Miltner (1960) p. 49 ff.; Wankel (1978)
pp. 51–53; Knibbe (1981) no. D1 pp. 57–59; translation adapted from Price (1999)
pp. 177–78.
13. For analysis of some of its provisions, see Suys (1998) pp. 173–88; Price (1999)
pp. 177–78; Cole (2008) p. 58. It is worth noting that the reference to the distribution of the head, the tongue, and the skin of the sacrificed animal(s) to the
hierophant in line 20 of the inscription is the most explicit proof we have that
such animal sacrifices took place during the celebrations of the mysteries. In contrast to the distribution of portions of the sacrifice that were given to the hierophant at Ephesos, for her sacrificial duties at the Eleusinia at the end of the fifth
century B.C. the priestess of Demeter received an emolument (apometra) of 100
drachmas. For the evidence, see Clinton (1974) p. 70. On the responsibilities of
prytaneis elsewhere in Asia Minor from the early third century B.C., see Dmitriev (2005) p. 27 nn. 63–64.
14. The cost of the 365 sacrifices required of the prytanis in Ephesos cannot be compared with that of the 100 oxen (traditionally the most expensive offering) killed
by the Athenians during the Panathenaic sacrifices, but the latter were subsidized
by the state. If, however, we use the fourth-century B.C. sacrificial calendar of the
deme of Erchia in Attica during the month of Metageitnion ( July/August) for
comparative purposes, as translated in Mikalson (2005) p. 52, in which the average cost of a sheep, the preferred victim for all major gods, along with the goat, to
be sacrificed is 10 drachmas, then the absolute minimum cost of the traditional
Notes to Pages 209–211
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
20.
21.
22.
23.
407
sacrifices made by the Ephesian prytanis would be 3,650 drachmas, assuming that
none of the sacrifices were more expensive than the cost of a sheep (which is
probably not a good assumption); and we furthermore do not take into account
the other expenses of the prytany, including the costs for incense (lines 4–5).
The Ephesian prytany was a very expensive office to hold during the late second
century. On the other hand, we might note in passing that several priestesses of
Artemis, such as Vipsania Olympias, before the first neokorate in IE III 987, were
honored by inscriptions in which it is mentioned that they contributed 5,000
denarii for various purposes while they served. Expenses totaling about 5,000
denarii, or 20,000 sestertii, would be about one-fifth of the minimum property
census for a bouleutes.
For the function(s) of paeans generally, see Pulleyn (1997) pp. 182–83; and in
Athens, see Parker (2007) p. 182. The sacrifices here, or rather the specified distribution of portions, that is, the head, tongue, and skin to the hierophant, as well
as the others, do help to establish a kind of hierarchy of the importance of the
participants in the sacrifices. For the primary function of sacrifices as defining
hierarchies, see Rüpke (2007a) pp. 145–49.
Cole (2008) p. 58.
IE IV 1001 ff.
Indeed, if the criterion for inclusion in the list of customary sacrifices is the
evidence that such sacrifices had been carried out over a long period of time,
there are no more “customary” sacrifices for which we have evidence in Ephesos than sacrifices that took place during the celebrations of the mysteries on the
sixth of Thargelion. Such sacrifices can be documented from 302 B.C. until the
period under discussion. No sacrifices were more customary than the sacrifices
to Artemis on her birthday by this time. We do not, for instance, have similarly
documented proof of such sacrifices in the cults of Demeter and Kore, to take
but one example, though we might assume that such sacrifices did take place over
a very long period of time. Until evidence is found that shows that such sacrifices
did take place, this remains an assumption.
The role of the hierophant as set out in this text confirms Knibbe’s hypothesis that at times the independent offices of the hierophant and the hagnearch
merged; Knibbe (1981) pp. 85–87.
Such as the celebration of the mysteries of Demeter, to whom in the inscription
at this time it is claimed in line 28 that the prytaneion belongs.
IE Ia 10, lines 12–17. It is possible that the clause stipulating that a prayer be
offered on behalf “of the Roman people” was based upon a specifically Roman
ritual formula. For the formula, see Scheid (2003a) p. 84, and Rives (2007) p. 97
for similar prayers, offered on behalf of the emperor and his family.
Graf (2009) pp. 17, 43; on the cult of Apollo in the city, see Appendix 2.
Graf (2009) p. 44.
Certainly there were sacrifices, as is proved by the appearance of the diviners in
the lists of Kouretes.
408
NOTES TO PAGES 211–214
24. IE IV 1001.10 for the spondaules Alexandros, and also the choral song of the
hymnodos.
25. Pulleyn (1997) pp. 9, 164–68. A cultic prayer is a prayer that is intimately associated with a cultic action such as an offering; a free prayer is one that is an articulate request to a god or gods that stands alone. The “appropriate sacrifices,
processions, and nocturnal festivals” of the inscription were hardly likely to be
private gatherings. It is hard to imagine that prayers made at them would have
been silent ones. On the importance of such public prayers, see Price (1999) p. 34;
Pulleyn (1997) p. 8.
26. The fragmentary lists comprise IE IV 1043, 1044, and 1045.
27. Mikalson (2005) p. 182.
28. IE VII, 1, 3059.3–6.
29. For example, the daughter of Flavia Melite, IE III 997.
30. IE Ia 47. For the text, see the preface to its publication in IE and also Knibbe
(1981) no. 54. From the erasure of Commodus’s name used as an adjective in
line 4 we can date this inscription to the period between 180 and 192. For discussion of the role that P. Vedius Antoninus, his wife, his daughter, and his two sons
played in the renewal scheme, see Karwiese (1995) p. 114. For an interesting parallel text, see the so-called Eleusinian endowment from A.D. 160 to 170 (IG II2
1092), discussed in detail by Clinton (1974) pp. 35–6, 46, 116. The distributions
to the members of the Athenian Boule and the appended list of priests and other
officials in the Eleusinian endowment during the celebration of the Eleusinian
mysteries apparently came about as a result of a ruling of the Areopagus because
of a surplus that had accrued, whereas the renewal scheme of Menemachos in
Ephesos clearly was based upon a new initiative of the donors to subsidize the
activities of the Kouretes and Gerousia. In other words, the Menemachos renewal was not the result of a surplus of funds from a preexisting endowment but
rather a new and necessary initiative. For the range of modes of ritual renewal
that anthropologists have identified in other cults, see Boissevain (1992) pp. 7–8
and Chapter 10.
31. Lines 1–4. For Menemachos as advocate, see IE IV 1075.8–9. For an honorary
inscription for Alexander, the son of the Dies, who also appears in the list of expenses of the prytanis for the Gerousia and Kouretes, see IE III 613A.
32. The list perhaps also suggests the total number of Kouretes who were alive at the
time. The total membership of the association thus was less than one hundred.
Does this number give us one baseline for the number of Kouretes who took part
in the symposia at the general festival at a particular time?
33. This is just about the same percentage of Roman citizens that we observed in the
lists from the mid-second century A.D.
34. Verius Flavianus in line 39 and Doras in line 52.
35. Van Nijf (1997) pp. 161–65; Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 33–34.
36. IE III 618.12, 19 from about A.D. 140; Ia 25, from A.D. 162/63.
37. Rogers (1991) p. 41.
Notes to Pages 214–217
409
38. Schwarz (2001) pp. 261–77.
39. IE IV 1075; and thus also an indication that there was some kind of hierarchical
organization of the association.
40. IE Ia 26.8–9. For the text, commentary, and translations, see Curtius (1870)
pp. 198–201; Wood (1877) p. 71; Hicks (1890) 483B; Nilsson (1906) p. 246; FiE
II (1912) p. 20; Picard (1913) pp. 86–89; (1922) pp. 104 ff., 287–302, 353, 364–66,
640, 673; Oliver (1941) pp. 96–100, no. 12.
41. Lines 5–6 and Picard (1922) pp. 287–302.
42. Line 6.
43. Lines 7 to 10.
44. For the celebration of Pius’s birthday, see IE Ia 21.27–32. It is less certain how the
members of the Gerousia participated in the various sacrifices endowed here. As
Parker (2007) p. 96 has pointed out, the Greek verb to sacrifice (thuein) is very
imprecise, and there were “various grades or types of involvement in a given sacrifice.”
45. Rüpke (2007a) p. 145.
46. Pleket (1998) pp. 204–16.
47. IE V 1600.2–3 and II 293.1–8.
48. It is also of interest that in line 46 of the first inscription (1600), there is a reference to a priest, Threptos, of the new Dionysos. This may simply be a reference to
a priest of Commodus, identified as the new Dionysos, or it may refer to a priest
who played the role of the new Dionysos/Commodus during the celebrations of
the mysteries referred to in line 11 of the inscription.
49. Lines 14–16:
δεῖπν]α προσφιλ̣οτειμουμένου τοῦ ἐκδίκου ἰς τὴ[ν δαπάνην. τὸν δὲ
]
15 προνο[εῖν, ὡς] ἐν μὲν τοῖς δε[ίπνοις λαμ]παδουχε[ῖ]ν, ἐν δὲ ταῖς κατακλίσεσιν
κατε[
τοὺς συνέδρους μετα-]
16 λανβάνειν [τῆς] εὐωχίας.
50. Lines 311–52.
51. For the inscription, see Sokolowski (1969) no. 65; Dittenberger (1982 ed.) 735;
and Clinton and Karadima-Matsa (2002) p. 88; Bowden (2010) pp. 68–72.
52. Alexander the False Prophet XXXIX.
53. Nocturnal ceremonies, partially illuminated by torchlight, must have contributed to the dramatic atmosphere at the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis;
for ceremonies celebrated at night in mystery cults in Arcadia, see Jost (2003)
esp. p. 150. Of course, not all torch processions or races were performed at night,
as Parker (2007) p. 257 n. 22 has pointed out. Here, however, the fact that the
procession is linked to the banquet of the elders suggests that the procession was
nocturnal.
54. In the cult of Dionysos, although wine was at the center of the orgia, roast meat
was not absent, Burkert (1987) p. 109. In the discussion among Cato, Scipio, and
Laelius, which supposedly took place in 150 B.C. (Cicero, On Old Age XLV), ac-
410
NOTES TO PAGES 217–220
cording to Cato it was during his quaestorship (204 B.C.) that clubs in honor
of the Great Mother were organized, when the Idaean worship was introduced
at Rome and Cato used to dine with these companions (“Primum habui semper sodalis-sodalitates autem me quaestore constitutae sunt sacris Idaeis Magnae
Matris acceptis-epulabar igitur cum soalibus”). Feasts (deipna) are well attested
in the cult of Isis, for example, Vidman (1969) p. 44; also we find feasts in the
mysteries of Isis in the Metamorphoses, XI.24 called faceta convivia. On the back
of the Mithraic bas relief from Heddernheim (Nida), a holy meal is shared by
Mithras and Helios, who are dining in a cave around the body of a sacrificed
bull; cf. the relief from Konjic in Dalmatia, Vermaseren (1956–60) no. 1896; also,
feasts are found in the so-called Mithras Liturgy of the Great Magical Papyrus
from Paris, line 770; and in excavated Mithraea animal bones have been found
and identified as the remains from sacrifices, see Burkert (1987) p. 110 n. 135 and
Turcan (1981a) pp. 78–80; (1981b) pp. 341–73; Bowden (2010) pp. 189–90.
55. Line 18:
18 ταις διανομὰς γ̣[ενέσθαι πάσας κατὰ τόδε τὸ] ψήφισμα ἐν τοῖς περὶ τὸν ναὸν τῆς
Σωτεί[ρας
οἴκοις· ἑορτάζειν δὲ καὶ]
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
In addition to temples, many Greek sanctuaries had both temporary and permanent buildings that were used for a variety of purposes, including dining; see
Bremmer (1994) p. 31. Around A.D. 160 to 170 the hierophant and other Athenian priests are recorded on a stele erected at Eleusis (IG II2 1092) as recipients
of a share of an endowment by a ruling of the Areopagus. According to Clinton
(1974) p. 35, the distribution took place probably at Eleusis in connection with
the festival of the mysteries.
Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 33–34.
For instance, IE IV 1042–44.
For an overall judgment of the scale of public building in Ephesos during the second century A.D., see Karwiese (1995) p. 100; Knibbe (1998) pp. 136–37.
For the dispute, see IE V 1491–93; Steskal (2001) pp. 177–88; Kalinowski (2002)
pp. 109–49; FiE XIV/1 (2008) pp. 303–8.
Archaeologists have estimated that the completed complex covered a staggering
753,474 square feet. See Kerschner, Ladstätter, and Pülz (2007) p. 19.
IE III 661.
IE II 455.5; 500.4.
Most famously, of course, the inscription documenting the so- called Bakers’
strike, IE II 215.
Jongman (2006) pp. 243–44.
The statue of the athlete cleaning his strigil is now in the Ephesus Museum in
Vienna, inv. no. VI 3168; the Eros statue is in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk, inv.
no. 1832.
Großschmidt and Kanz (2002).
Lysimachean (first half of the third century B.C.); Aqua Throessitica (second
century B.C.); Aqueduct of Pollio (Augustan); Şirince Aqueduct (“Hellenistic”
Notes to Pages 220–224
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
411
or early imperial), the bridge from which is still visible today in the middle of Selçuk; Sultaniye Aqueduct (“Hellenistic” or early imperial); Aqueduct of Aristion
(early second century A.D.); and Degirmendere (mid-second century A.D.); for
all of the above, see Wiplinger (2006b) pp. 23–37 and Ortloff (2009) pp. 320–22.
The construction of at least half of the aqueducts over the first two centuries
of the principate surely indicates that the demand for water by the inhabitants
of the city was dramatically increasing; another indication of increased demand
may be the fact that the aqueduct built the latest as far as we know, the Degirmendere, brought water to the city from springs south of the city and east of
modern Kuşadasi, over a distance of more than 26.7 miles.
For the nymphaeum, see JÖAI (1912) p. 173 ff.; for the hydrekdochion, JÖAI
(1972–75) pp. 301–10; Fossel and Langmann (1983) pp. 53–55; Jung (2006)
pp. 79–86.
Scherrer (2000) pp. 109–11.
For the local wine, see Ersoy (2006) p. 42; for imported Italian wine, see FiE
VIII, 6 (2005) p. 430 and Bezeczky (2005) pp. 51–53.
For Ephesos as “first of Asia,” see IE Ia 21.20–25 and Kampmann (1998) pp. 375–
76; on the coins, Kampmann (1996) pp. 108–9, coins 45.4 and 47.1; and on Pergamon and Smyrna, Kampmann (1998) pp. 378–79.
IE V 1489.
IE VII, 1, 3072; and Karwiese (1995) p. 108.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae, Verus VII.7; although Karwiese (1995) p. 108 believes that the marriage may have taken place earlier.
Knibbe (1998) p. 160 ff.
On the estimated population of the empire, see Bagnall and Frier (1994) p. 173.
IE Ia 24A.3–9; Hicks (1890) no. 482 and addendum on p. 294; Horsley 4 (1987)
no. 19, pp. 74–82.
IE Ia 24B lines 8–34; Knibbe (1995) p. 147; translation adapted from Price (1999)
p. 181.
IE Ia 24C.
Dmitriev (2005) pp. 313–14; Rives (2007) p. 140.
Lines 22–23: ἡμετέρα πόλει τῆ τροφῶ τῆs ἰδίαs Θεοῦ τῆs Ἐφ[εσί-]|αs,... Oster (1990)
p. 1701 suggests that trophos in line 22 defines the city’s relationship to the deity
as the “wohltäter eines Heiligtums” (benefactor of a shrine). But a trophos (male
or female) is someone who nourishes or feeds a child, especially a nurse. Given
the city and deity involved, I prefer a less generic and more specific translation.
Lines 32–34; for the significance of the document exemplifying the importance
of Artemis to the shaping of a collective identity at Ephesos, see Kleijwegt (2002)
p. 96.
IE Ia 24A lines 13–16.
Price (1999) Appendix no. 15, p. 181.
De Ligt (1993); Kleijwegt (2002) p. 98.
For the link between festivals and markets, see MacMullen (1970) p. 336; de Ligt
and Neeve (1988) pp. 391–416; and Kleijwegt (2002) pp. 118–19.
412
NOTES TO PAGES 224–226
87. IG V.1.1390; Bowden (2010) p. 70.
88. Van Nijf (1997) p. 139.
89. Some scholars have doubted that in Ephesos and elsewhere polytheists thought
in terms of the profits to be made from the celebrations of religious rites and festivals. However, to take just one example, although the famous riot described in
Acts 19:23–41 is carefully constructed by its author to show that the greedy silversmiths are the ones who are guilty of causing a disturbance throughout the city,
that conclusion does not follow unless it is assumed that Paul’s message that gods
made by human hands are not gods threatens the livelihood of those who profited from making silver statues of the goddess (perhaps standing within a small
naiskos [shrine]).
90. My suggested interpretation of the motivation for this change is consistent with
Horsley 4 (1987) no. 19, pp. 77–78; Knibbe (1998) p. 143 and (2002a) p. 52. Happily, we arrived at the same conclusion completely independently.
91. For this inscription, see Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1989) pp. 171–72,
no. 6.
92. Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1989) pp. 171–72, no. 6; Knibbe (1995)
p. 147; (2002a) p. 52.
93. For the devastating effects of this plague, see Magie I (1950) p. 663; II (1950)
pp. 1533–34 nn. 8–9; Gilliam (1961) pp. 225–51; Littman and Littman (1973)
pp. 243–53; Bruun (2003) pp. 426–34; Greenberg (2003) pp. 413–25. For modern
narrative accounts of the effects upon Ephesos, see Karwiese (1995) pp. 110–11;
Knibbe (1998) pp. 160–61; Graf (2009) pp. 91–92.
94. Karwiese (1995) p. 110; Knibbe (1998) pp. 160–62; Giardina (2007) p. 758; Jongman (2006) pp. 237–54.
95. Dio, LXV.11.6; LXX.14.3.
96. Pleket (1990b) pp. 25–160; Duncan-Jones (1996) pp. 108–36; Frier (2000)
pp. 787–816; (2001) pp. 139–59; Scheidel (2001b) pp. 1–81; Alcock (2007)
pp. 671–97.
97. Bagnall and Frier (1994) p. 173; from 61.4 million in 164 to 55.5 million.
98. Wickham (2009) p. 217.
99. For discussion of the phenomenon in general, see Bremmer (1994) p. 5; Chaniotis
(1995) pp. 323–44; Burkert (1996) pp. 102–8; Pulleyn (1997) p. 64 on apotropaic
requests of gods, and p. 156 on “situational” prayers, as opposed to “hourglass
prayers”; Graf (2009) pp. 17, 79–81; and from a cross-cultural perspective, Bell
(1997) pp. 115–20; Graf (2009) p. 79. Interestingly, in the Ephesian inscription
there is no direct reference to purification rituals, which in other cultures are
often the reaction to such incidents.
100. IE IV 1024.6–7 and 9.
101. See Knibbe (1991a) pp. 14–15; Knibbe, Engelmann, and Iplikçioglu (1993) pp.
130–32, no. 25; Knibbe (1998) p. 144; (2002a) p. 52.
102. Bremmer (1994) p. 33; Graf (2009) p. 79. It may also not be a coincidence that
from around A.D. 170 we have preserved two prayers/thanks inscriptions, IE IV
Notes to Pages 226–228
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
413
1063 and 1064 (the first dactylic, the second iambic), of the prytanis Tullia, invoking the aid of Hestia and the eternal fire (in 1063) and Hestia and Artemis (in
1064). After her year in office, Tullia expressed confidence that the gods would
give her health, a long life, and children who looked like their mother. These
prayers, published publicly as inscriptions, incidentally provide additional evidence that women, serving as officers of the polis, could and did make public
prayers or perhaps prayers on behalf of the polis.
For the epigraphical evidence for the career and genealogy of Damianus and the
Ephesian Vedii, see IE VII, 1 p. 90; D’Arms (1981) pp. 164–65; Horsley 4 (1987)
no. 18, p. 73; Knibbe (2002a) p. 53.
IE VII, 1, 3080; and Knibbe (1998) p. 160; (2002a) p. 53.
Knibbe (2002a) p. 53.
For the “victory of Caesar,” see IE III 721; for the cenotaph, see Ephesus Museum
Vienna, inv. nos. I 866 (battle scene), I 884 (adoption scene), I 867 (emperor
mounting chariot), and I 862 (Artemis/Selene mounting chariot). For this interpretation, see Knibbe (1995) p. 147; (1998) p. 144; and (2002a) p. 51. The date,
setting, function, and interpretation of the Parthian monument all remain controversial. Based upon the portrait styles and what have now been interpreted as
more generalized battle scenes, some scholars argue that the monument should
be dated to the reign of Pius and that it should be understood as a kind of demonstration of the stability, power, and military competence and achievements of
the Antonine dynasty as a whole. For the debate, see Liverani (1999) pp. 639–45;
Scherrer (2001) p. 78; Seipel (2006); Aurenhammer (2007) pp. 182–83; Oberleitner (2009). If the monument is dated to the reign of Pius, rather than after the
death of Verus, its depiction of Artemis/Selene mounting her chariot should not
be seen as stealing the credit for the emperor’s victory but as linked to the scene
of Pius/Helios led by Victory and Virtus to victory on the battlefield.
Knibbe (2002a) p. 51.
For the project, see Karwiese (1995) p. 114; and especially Knibbe (1995) pp. 141–
55; (1998) p. 166; (2002a) p. 53; Scherrer (2001) p. 78. In fact, Knibbe and his
colleagues have concluded that Damianus actually had built two porticoes, the
first, the anodos (upward road) that connected the Artemision to the polis at the
northern (Koressian) gate, and the second, much longer road, the kathodos (returning or descending road), which ran from the Artemision to the Magnesian
Gate. The two roads joined at some point between the sanctuary and the northern gate of the polis.
For the excavations, see Knibbe (1995) p. 150; (2002a) pp. 57–61. The reason for
the depth of the limestone foundation stones was obviously the flooding of the
plain between the Artemision and Panayirdag.
Knibbe (2002a) p. 57.
Philostratos, Lives of the Sophists II.23.
Vetters (1995) pp. 457–61; Knibbe (2002a) p. 57.
For the symptoms, see Cameron (1993) pp. 1–12; Giardina (2007) pp. 757–59.
NOTES TO PAGES 229–234
414
114. Chaniotis (2005a) p. 154.
Chapter 9. “Our Common Salvation”
1. For this new episode in the history of the polis, see the still very useful work of
Foss (1979).
2. For the dating of the inscriptions from the prytaneion belonging to the third
century A.D., see Knibbe (1981) pp. 88–92.
3. IE IV 1077.
4. IE IV 1057 dated to about 214/15; 1061 dated to about 214.
5. IE III 974 dated to about 213; IV 1076 dated to about 213.
6. IE III 974; 1042A; 1071; 1074; 1080; 1080A and B.
7. IE IV 1069; 1071; 1060.
8. IE IV 1080A; IE VII, 2, 4330, an honorary inscription for a neopoios, Zotikos,
who fulfilled the mysteries, possibly by his service as a member of the sunhedrion
of Kouretes (lines 3–4).
9. IE VII, 2, 4336.12–13; if these are offices of the cult of Artemis. As we have seen,
hymnodoi at any rate performed in multiple cults.
10. IE VII, 1, 3072.
11. IE IV 1077 lines 5–7:
5 ... καὶ τῆς πρυτάνεως [εὐ-]
6 [τυχῶς ἐκτελεσάσης τὰ μυ]στήρια καὶ τὰς θυσίας ἐπὶ τῇ τοῦ κ[οινοῦ]
7 [ἡμῶν σωτηρίᾳ, ...
12. Lines 7–9; for the original publication of the text in Knibbe’s study of the inscriptions from the prytaneion, see Knibbe (1981) no. D3.
13. IE III 987.11–13 and 988.14–16; see Chapter 6.
14. IE Ia 26.4.
15. IE IV 1057 fragment 4, line 1, dated to about 214/15 from the Hestia Hall
(room 1) in the prytaneion.
16. Fl[——], Sabinus Antoninus, Doruphorus, Aurelius Eros, Iulius Marcianus.
17. IE IV 1057 fragment (1) lines 1–2.
18. IE IV 1106A from the time of Commodus.
19. For the subsidization of such cults by the poleis themselves from the general polis
revenues, see Sourvinou-Inwood (2000b) p. 43. For the Artemision as a kind of
creditor, involved in lending money from its treasure, in accordance with guidelines that were sanctioned by Roman governors, see Dignas (2002) pp. 147–49.
20. IE IV 1078.2–4, inscribed on the drum of a column, found built into a wall south
of the baths of Varius, but originally situated in the stoa of the prytaneion.
21. In fact, as Sherk (1993) p. 283, Chamoux (2003) p. 196, and Dmitriev (2005)
pp. 45–46 have pointed out, the “subterfuge” of divine eponymy went back at
least to the fourth century B.C. in Greek cities and was often resorted to during periods of financial distress. In Priene, for instance, Zeus was appointed
Notes to Pages 235–237
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
415
to the office of stephanephoros (“crown” magistrate) when the costs of holding
that office were too high for any mortal benefactor. For a brilliant summary of
Artemis’s revenues, see Dignas (2002) pp. 144–46. On other occasions, Artemis
also undertook the gymnasiarchy, that is, paid for the expenses of the gymnasium, including providing oil; see IE IV 1143.9 during the second century A.D.
and VII, 1, 3066.13 during the reign of Trajan. However, the significance of resorting to a divine gymnasiarchy cannot be compared with that of the need to
have the goddess serve as prytanis. Serving as a gymnasiarch could be expensive
because they provided oil and/or wood to keep the fires burning in gymnasia.
But the prytanis was responsible for all of the public sacrifices throughout the
year detailed in the Summary of Ancestral Law.
For poleis borrowing from the inventories of their great sanctuaries during times
of economic need, see Bremmer (1994) p. 32.
IE IV 1201A.1–13; cf. 1201. For the text, see also Knibbe (1981) no. F14; FiE IX/4
(2010) plate 73.
IE IV 1061.2–6, found built into a wall south of the baths of Varius but originally
inscribed upon Drum A of one of the Doric columns of the stoa of the prytaneion, FiE IX/4 (2010) inv. no. PR 55/07 p. 48; for Epagathus, see IE V 1600.
IE IV 1061.7–8.
IE IV 1061.2–6; 8–13: the Kouretes are Truphon, Aristion, Amarantus, Agathangelos, and another name missing in the lacuna in line 13.
IE IV 1042A2; III 974.4–5; IV 1074.8–9; 1080.4; 1080A.11; 1080B.1–2.
For the office, see Knibbe (1981) p. 97.
Dmitriev (2005) p. 61.
SEG 41, 1329b.19 and 1330.2 cited by Dmitriev (2005) p. 61.
For example, the Publius of IE III 974.4–7, who was protokoures and agonothete
of the chrysophoroi; Q. Lollius Dioscurus, the protokoures and secretary of the
Boule in IE IV 1074.7–10; the rich benefactor M. Fulvius Publicianus, in 1080.2–
3; and the protokoures and panegyriarch of the Great Ephesia in 1080B.1–4.
IE III 974; found in use as one of the floor plates of the Theater.
III 974, lines 21, 23, 25, and 27.
IE III 974.1–19.
IE IV 1076.
1076 A.1, B.3, C.1, C.2; and 1076 A.2, A.3, C.3.
For the offices, see Knibbe (1981) p. 89.
IE IV 1060.13 in the thanks inscription of the prytanis Favonia Flaccilla from
the early third century; IV 1070.5 in the thanks inscription of the hestiouchos
Aurelius Euporistos and the kalathephoros Aurelia Timothea from 212 or after;
IV 1070A.3 in the undated thanks inscription of the hestiouchos Libonianos; IV
1071.5 in the thanks inscription of the kalathephoros Onesime to Hestia Boulaia
from 212 or after; IV 1072.9 “hupokalathephoros” in the thanks inscription of the
hestiouchos Aelius Elpidephorus from 212 or after.
See Burkert (1987) pp. 23, 94.
416
NOTES TO PAGES 237–239
40. Clement, Exhortation XXI.2.
41. For the basket carriers, the baskets, and the sacred objects displayed during the
Eleusinian mysteries, see Burkert (1987) pp. 23, 94; Bowden (2010) pp. 37–38.
42. For the consolidation and its ramifications, see Knibbe (1981) pp. 88–92.
43. Eich (2005).
44. FiE IX/4 (2010) pp. 80–81, 240.
45. IE IV 1069, from the face of a stele of white marble found in the Theater by
Wood.
46. As Hicks (1890) no. 596a long ago inferred. The Agathopous inscription thus
confirms at this late date in the run of our evidence what we have hypothesized
about the subsidization of Artemis’s mysteries from the beginning of the lists
of Kouretes, namely, that the prytaneis, when they were elected to the prytany,
became financially responsible for celebrating the mysteries during their year in
office.
47. IE V 1587; Scherrer (2001) p. 73. This gymnasium is mentioned in several inscriptions dated to the period from the third decade of the first century A.D. onwards,
including II 442, III 702. In Agathopous’s case we may have an example of a man
who clearly was wealthy serving in a leadership capacity for the Gerousia.
48. IE V 1587.3–4; Ia 26.4.
49. IE IV 1071, found on the east side of the agora. For the text, see also Knibbe
(1981) no. F11.
50. IE IV 1060, found built into a wall south of the baths of Varius but originally inscribed on Drum B of one of the Doric columns of the stoa of the prytaneion,
FiE IX/4 (2010) inv. no. PR 57/07 p. 48.
1 Φαβωνία Φλακκίλλα πρύτανις καὶ γυμνασίαρχος ὴ
ἀρχιέρεια εὐχαριστῶ Ἑστίᾳ Βουλαί‹ᾳ› καὶ Δήμητρι
καὶ Δήμητρος Κόρῃ καὶ Πυρὶ ἀφθάρτῳ καὶ Ἀπόλλωνι
4 Κλαρίῳ καὶ Σωπόλι καὶ πᾶσιν τοῖς θεοῖς, ὅτι
ὁλοκληροῦσάν με μετὰ τοῦ συμβίου μου Ἀκακίου
καὶ τῶν τέκνων μου καὶ τῶν ἀνθρώπων μου
τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ἐκτελέσασαν τὰ μυστήρια πάντα
8 εὐτυχῶς ἀποκατέστησαν·
οἵδε ἐκουρήτευσαν·
Εὐάνδρις γερουσιαστής
Περιγένης φιλοσέβ(αστος) γραμματεύς
12 Ἀμυντιανὸς φιλοσέβ., Φάβ(ιος) Κυριακὸς ἑστιοῦχος,
Φαβ(ία) Ζωσίμη{ν} καλαθηφόρος,
μαντηλάριοι· Δαμώ, Πρεισκίλλα,
Νουνεχίς, Λουκιανή. εὐτυχῶς
For the text and translation, see Oliver (1941) p. 104, no. 19; Knibbe (1981) no.
C1.
51. For the development of this idea, see Knibbe (1981) p. 92.
52. See Appendix 2.
Notes to Pages 240–245
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
58.
59.
60.
61.
62.
63.
64.
65.
66.
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
417
Jacobi (1930) pp. 14, 17, cited by Pulleyn (1997) p. 110 n. 38.
IE IV 1060.9–13.
For these minor cultic offices, see Knibbe (1981) pp. 91, 103 ff.
IE IV 1060.7; 1069.5–6; 1077.6; 1080A6.
Lines 14–15.
IE IV 1080A lines 4–7, from a column drum (A) of the stoa of the prytaneion,
FiE IX/4 (2010) inv. no. PR 55/07 p. 48. For the text, see also Knibbe (1981)
appendix no. 6.
IE VII, 2, 4330.5–6, from sometime during the time of the procurator C. Annius
Anullinus Geminus Percennianus (around 231 to 239). For the text, see also FiE
IV, 3 (1951) no. 30.
IE VII, 1, 3072.
IE VII, 1, 3072.29–32.
Knibbe (1981) p. 92; Burkert (1987) p. 20; Knibbe (1998) p. 143. In nearby
Didyma during the second century A.D., in the oracular response of Apollo
to Alexandra, the priestess of Demeter Thesmophoros, Demeter is cited as the
mother who gave “flourishing fruit of food dear to mortals” and sent “wheatbearing fruit on earth.” See IDidyma 496b, cited and translated by Cole (2008)
p. 56.
Burkert (1987) p. 21; Bowden (2010) pp. 47–48.
Favonia’s inscription therefore echoes the prayers/thanks inscriptions of her predecessor Tullia, IE IV 1063 and 1064, also made, it was pointed out above, during
a time of crisis.
IE IV 1057 fragment 4, line 1; for M. Aurelius Telephus, see also IE III 742 and
IV 1071.
IE III 974.20–28; the reading of the name Hieroitonos is very uncertain here;
it is also possible to read the office title hierophonos at line 24. The editors of IE
IV print not the office hierophonos, but the name Hieroitonos; see Knibbe (1981)
p. 89.
Garnsey (2004) pp. 140–49. Although some of their names, such as Tiberius
Claudius Euprepes, suggest that their families may have acquired Roman citizenship much earlier.
IE IV 1057 fragment 3, lines 2–4: Fl., Gabin. Antoninus, Aur. Eros, Iul. Marcianus.
IE IV 1057 fragment 3, lines 2–4: Fl., Gabin. Antoninus, Doruphorus; also in
fragment 4 there is a reference to a member of the Boule in line 1.
IE IV 1057 fragment 3.6.
IE IV 1075.14; cf. Ia 47.2 f.
IE IV 1061.8–13: L. Octavius Truphon, Aur. Aristion, L. K{.}assius Amarantus,
Flavius Agathangelos.
IE IV 1061.9–10; cf. V 1600.4; IV 1061.10–11.
IE IV 1061.12.
IE IV 1061.13.
IE III 974a.4–b.19: Publius, Quintus Aurelius, Aelius Aurelius?, Aurelius Menip-
418
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
93.
94.
95.
NOTES TO PAGES 245–248
pus, P. Aelius Saturninus or Saturnilus, P. Aelius Hermogoras, P. Aelius Aurelius
Cladus, P. Aelius Aurelius Luc., T. Flavius Proclus.
IE IV 1060.12–13.
See Knibbe (1981) p. 91.
IE IV 1074.5.
Knibbe (1985) pp. 71–77; Van Nijf (1997) pp. 83–85. This evidence of his benefactions may help to confirm the earlier inference that the protokoures was probably
a wealthy member of the association, who might be able to pay for a large percentage of the costs of the association.
IE IV 1080.3–4.
IE IV 1087A; cf. II 444, 445; III 632, 679, 739; VI 2076, 2079; VII, 1, 3049, 3063,
3086; and Knibbe (1998) pp. 44, 171.
IE III 629; VII, 1, 3063.
IE III 632, 739; VII, 1, 3049, 3086; II 444; Knibbe (1985) pp. 72–73; Van Nijf
(1997) pp. 84–85.
IE II 444 (for those who rented out leather containers); VI 2076 (for sellers
of sacred wine); VI 2080, 2081 (for cobblers); VI 2078 (for managers of private
baths); VI 2079 (for knob-turners); II 445 (for hemp workers); Knibbe (1985)
p. 71, no. 2 (for sausage sellers); and VI 2082 (for an unknown association). See
Knibbe (1985) and Van Nijf (1997) p. 85.
See JÖAI 25 (1929) p. 42 ff.; (1930) p. 18; and Knibbe (1998) pp. 44, 46, 49 for
the Theater gymnasium; IE VI 2040 and 2041 for repairs to the awning over the
Theater; Karwiese (1995) p. 116; and Scherrer (2000) pp. 158–61.
See Karwiese (1995) p. 117; Knibbe (1998) pp. 156, 206; Scherrer (1999b) pp. 137–
44; (2000) pp. 78 and 184; (2001) p. 78.
Karwiese (1995) p. 117; Scherrer (2000) pp. 140–46.
Scherrer (2001) p. 79.
JÖAI 56 (1985) pp. 71–77; Knibbe (1998) pp. 44 and esp. 171–72.
Strabo, Geography XIV.1.24; IE VI 2061; VII, 1, 3066; II 274; Ia 23; and VII, 1,
3071. Notoriously, in A.D. 66 the Roman proconsul Barea Soranus had cleaned
out the harbor basin, an act of munificence that only increased the emperor’s
malevolence according to Tacitus, Annals XVI.23. Almost a century later, as we
know from IE Ia 23, in A.D. 146/47 the Roman proconsul L. Antonius Albus had
issued a decree (now housed in the courtyard of the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk,
inv. no. 1633, and the subject of a classic article by Keil [1959] pp. 142–47) against
the importers of wood and marble, whose activities on the quays were damaging
the pillars and blocking the riverbed and stream.
Menander was not forgotten in Ephesos even after the destruction of Terrace
House 2, unit 1; from the fourth century A.D. we have a fine-grained statue of
the playwright found in the Scholastikia baths, but now in the Ephesus Museum
Selçuk, inv. no. 755.
IE VI 2041; Karwiese (1995) p. 107; Scherrer (2000) p. 160.
IE VI 2042.
IE III 724.2–5; VI 2042.7; VII, 2, 4336.8.
Notes to Pages 248–253
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
107.
108.
109.
110.
111.
112.
113.
114.
115.
116.
117.
118.
119.
120.
121.
122.
123.
124.
125.
419
IE VII, 1, 3009.
Hueber (1997b) pp. 251–69.
For the debates about the date and function of the monument, see Burrell (2009).
Scherrer (2000) p. 178.
For the apartment and its phases of construction, see Karwiese (1995) pp. 112,
122; Scherrer (2000) pp. 111–12; FiE VIII, 6 (2005) p. 434.
Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 17–20 and figures 1.2 and 1.3.
Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 57–58, 154–55.
For this downturn, see Knibbe (1981) pp. 91–92; Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 155.
Jongman (2006) p. 247; Giardina (2007) p. 758.
For the chronological distribution of the evidence, see Appendix 1.
Potter (1990); Hermann (1990); Loriot and Nony (1997); Swain (2004) p. 2;
Duncan-Jones (2004) pp. 20–52; Giardina (2007) p. 763.
Jordanes, Getica XIX.
Scriptores Historiae Augustae Gallienus II.6.2.
Karwiese (1995) pp. 122–23.
Gallienus, V.2–6; Guidoboni (1994) no. 126, pp. 242–23.
Guidoboni (1994) p. 16.
FiE VIII, 4 (2003) pp. 334–35.
Ladstätter and Pülz (2007) p. 418.
FiE VIII, 6 (2006) p. 430.
FiE VIII, 8 (2010) p. 701; Ladstätter and Pülz (2007) p. 418.
In fact the whole of the lower agora building complex probably collapsed and
the halls of the so-called Serapeion were destroyed according to the most recent
excavator of the area. See Scherrer (1995) p. 16; (2001) p. 79, who points out that
it was the precinct of the Serapeion but not the temple itself that seems to have
been affected.
Foss (1979) p. 65.
Scherrer (2000) p. 150.
For a summary of the evidence, see Karwiese (1985b) pp. 126–31; (1995) pp. 124–
25.
Knibbe and Iplikçioglu (1984a) pp. 130–31.
Zabehlicky (1995) pp. 205–6. Unfortunately, what Festus was not able to accomplish, nor any other benefactor for that matter, was a continuation of the periodic
dredging of the harbor basin. As a result the harbor was no longer usable for ship
traffic, and a canal had to be built to connect the old harbor to the sea.
Ladstätter and Pülz (2007) p. 396.
Knibbe (2002a) p. 59. For another point of view, which first downplays the destructiveness of the earthquake of 262 and then curiously comes to the conclusion that Ephesos indeed “suffered one of its most catastrophic earthquakes in its
entire history” between A.D. 250 and 280—but not necessarily in the year 262—
see Ladstätter and Pülz (2007) pp. 391–96.
Wiplinger (2006b) pp. 23–37.
Karwiese (1995) p. 123.
420
NOTES TO PAGES 253–254
126. Karwiese (1995) p. 123.
127. Jordanes, Getica XX: “Quo in omni lascivia resoluto Respa et Veduco, Thuro
Varoque duces Gothorum sumptis navibus Asiam transiere, fretum Hellesponticum transvecti, ubi multis eius provinciae civitatibus populatis opinatissimum
illud Ephesi Dianae templum, quod dudum dixeramus Amazonas condidisse,
igne succendunt.”
128. Scriptores Historiae Augustae Gallienus IV.6.2; cf. Syncellus, 716–17; Robert
(1948) pp. 117–22; Karwiese (1995) p. 123; and Knibbe (1998) pp. 184–85.
129. Dio Chrysostom, XXXI.54. For the evidence of the dedications from the sixth
century B.C., see Bammer and Muss (1996) pp. 79–88, 91.
130. Ephesus Museum Selçuk, inv. nos. 1/42/93 and 2/59/80.
131. Dio Chrysostom, XXXI.54–55.
132. On Harmony, To the Cities XXIV; Knibbe (2002a) p. 60.
133. Palladius, Dialogus XIII; Cyril of Alexandria, Homily XI in Patrologia Graeca
LXXVII, 1032; Foss (1979) p. 86. In fact, the architectural remains of the temple
were used as a quarry to help build the Church of St. John on the hill in Selçuk
known as Ayasoluk in Turkish, and bricks from the collapsed stoa of Damianus
were reused in the vaults of the church; see Knibbe (2002a) p. 60.
134. For the cessation of building in the city at the time, see Foss (1979) pp. 21–29;
White (1995) p. 54; and on “the general decrease in the production of inscriptions,” see Antonopoulou (1999) pp. 169–78. Pergamon, which suffered from the
earthquake of 262 and also lived in fear of Gothic raids, did not regain peace and
prosperity until the mid-fourth century A.D. See Rheidt (1998) pp. 397–98; and
Radt (2001) p. 55. A similar story line has been reconstructed at Aphrodisias for
at least some of the same reasons. After the early third century A.D. there were
almost no major building projects in the city, and most of the documented construction took the form of repairs and modifications of existing buildings. The
Gothic invasions of the 260s seem to have ruled out any attempt at recovery or
reconstruction until at least the reign of Diocletian. But the first evidence for
major building activity within the city, the repairs of the so- called Hadrianic
Baths, dates to the early fourth century A.D. and is associated with a governor
named Helladius. For a summary of the evidence, see Ratté (2001) pp. 123–25.
From farther afield, pottery finds from Perge in Pamphylia also “testify to the inflation and poverty prevalent toward the end of the 3rd c.,” according to Abbasoglu (2001) p. 183.
135. IE II 301; 302; 303; 304; 304A; 305; 307; 308; 309; 309A; 310; 308.
136. For the statues, see Kerschner, Ladstätter, and Pülz (2007) p. 24.
137. IE III 621.
138. I exclude from consideration here the possible construction of the so-called Governor’s Palace (Maps 6 and 9, no. 76), which Foss (1979) p. 51 suggested was built
during the reign of Diocletian, both because the dating of the building is far from
certain and because it was, after all, originally a private residence. On emperors
subsidizing the fourth-century building boom, see Foss (1979) pp. 24–25.
139. Ladstätter and Pülz (2007) pp. 397, 424.
Notes to Pages 254–264
140.
141.
142.
143.
144.
145.
146.
147.
421
Leppin (2007) p. 97.
Van Andringa (2007) p. 92.
Goodman (2007) p. 428.
Lives of the Sophists I.23.
Sonnabend (1999).
Morris (2008 ed.) p. 322.
Ackroyd (2009) p. 20.
The idea that a goddess could abandon a sanctuary or an acropolis, for that matter, in the face of an external threat goes back at least to the story told by Herodotus, VIII.41, of how, after the serpent living on the Athenian Acropolis did not
eat its honey-cake in 480 B.C. on the eve of the Persian invasion of Attica, the
Athenians interpreted his abstinence as a sign that Athena had abandoned the
acropolis.
Chapter 10. Cult, Polis, and Change in the Graeco-Roman World
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
Burkert (1987) p. 52.
Burkert (1987) p. 4.
Burkert (1987) p. 10.
Rappaport (1979) p. 179 defines the canonical elements of ritual as those encoded messages that refer to things done before (such as the sacrifices here), as
opposed to indexical elements that convey information about the current state
of affairs. The indexical elements of the celebration of Artemis’s mysteries thus
would be those that related to the incorporation of the Roman emperor into the
ceremonies after 29 B.C.
Schwartz (2010) p. 60.
Gore (1998) pp. 66–84.
Rives (2007) p. 182.
For this ambiguous sense of Romanization, see now the perceptive comments of
Wallace-Hadrill (2007) pp. 374–75.
IG V.1.1390; Bowden (2010) pp. 68–69. After studying these “local contextualizations” of initiation ceremonies in Benin, Charles Gore (1998) pp. 76–77 has
argued that these local contextualizations in Benin city suggest that “any anthropological approach to ritual must take account both of the intentions of human
agents in the constitution of these traditions of ritual and of how they creatively
articulate such traditions to other contexts of ideas and practice.” Some of the
most recent anthropological case studies of modern initiation rituals also have
concluded that any study which leaves out of consideration human agents operating in concrete contexts cannot be fully persuasive.
Hobsbawm and Ranger (1983). For the concept of revitalization of existing rituals within the broader consideration of modes of ritual renewal, see Boissevain
(1992) pp. 7–8.
Woolf (1998) p. 236.
Bell (1997) pp. 150–53.
422
NOTES TO PAGES 265–273
13. For a parallel phenomenon with respect to the worship of the Samothracian
gods in Ilion at the level of the material manifestation of cult, see Lawal (2003)
pp. 79–111.
14. Hippolytos, Refutation of All Heresies V.8.39; Sourvinou-Inwood (2003) p. 36.
15. Interestingly, Hughes Freeland (1998), the editor of a collection of essays on
ritual, performance, and media, summed up (p. 15) the consensus findings of
the contributors to the volume as follows: “The contributors therefore propose
that human performance, whether discussed in terms of agency, of intentionality,
of production of the self, or of the production of action, cannot be explained
anthropologically without reference to the specific context which frames the
action and/or the performances.”
16. Perring (1991) p. 273. For a similar conclusion about Attic festivals, see Parker
(2007) p. 157; and for change as an inherent feature of any cultural tradition, see
Rives (2007) p. 87.
17. For “embedded religion,” see Parker (2007) p. 253; and Rives (2007) p. 58 on the
mysteries as part of polis religion.
18. To slightly rephrase the formulation of Bell (1997) p. 88 about the study of ritual
in general; for a similar point about rituals in general, see Graf (2003b) p. 10.
19. For a comprehensive treatment of the foundation of Arsinoeia, see Rogers (2001)
pp. 587–630.
20. Austin (1986) pp. 450–66; Ma (2000) pp. 337–76.
21. Comaroff and Comaroff (1986) pp. 1–20; (1989) pp. 267–85; (1991); cited in
Edwards (2005) p. 119.
22. Crain (1992) pp. 95–112.
23. Dmitriev (2005) p. 45.
24. Parker (2007) p. 373.
25. Thus, the historical contingencies were respected in performance, as Ando (2003)
p. 145 has put it.
26. Pausanias, VIII.15.2; Bowden (2010) p. 72.
27. Thomas (1998) pp. 277–97.
28. Thus, my conclusions about the links between the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries and power politics are essentially consistent with those of J. Scheid about
Roman religion in general, namely that, as he puts it in Ando (2003) p. 118, “the
operation of this religion was necessarily marked by a certain coldness, by calculation of advantage and by attention to reality: Roman religion was in good health
and held in high esteem to the extent that it was linked to politics and the political.” My only difference with Scheid’s conclusions about the operation of Roman
religion and how the celebrations of Artemis’s mysteries worked is on the issue of
“coldness.” But in this study of a mystery cult and how it was changed over time,
I definitely identify and emphasize the calculation involved on the part of those
in positions of power.
29. Leach (1976).
30. Henrich (2010) pp. 107–11; Laland and Reader (2010) p. 48.
31. This conclusion is therefore consistent with Rüpke’s (2007a) p. 255 model of
Notes to Pages 273–274
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
423
the history of religion during the Roman republic, that is, that religious developments “are to be understood as functions of changes in the composition of,
and pressures upon, the political élite of a given society.” The celebrations of the
mysteries of Artemis of Ephesos also can be seen as parallel to the kinds of ritual
configurations and reconfigurations of power and authority displayed during the
festivals of the Shakers in the United Society of the Shakers from 1837 to 1847 as
traced by Stortz (1996) pp. 105–35.
For changes in the worship of Demeter in Pergamon from the Hellenistic to Roman imperial periods, see Thomas (1998) pp. 277–97. In a brilliant and succinct
article, Thomas shows how the epigraphical evidence in Pergamon “indicates a
transformation from a polis- oriented agricultural and fertility cult in the Hellenistic period to a Roman period Demetriac cult imitating the panhellenic Eleusinian mysteries” (p. 279). See Bremmer (1994) p. 86 for changes in the cults of
Attica.
For recursion and the hermeneutic circle, see Dodd (2003) pp. 76–80. Recursion
is “the mode of interpretation developed for objects of study where one can distinguish between an input and an output to a system; interpretation through recursion seeks an interpretation such that given any particular input, the output
can be predicted” (p. 76). The hermeneutic circle “treats the object under study
as one whose various elements possess some sort of logical relationship to each
other which provides the object with its unity and coherence” (p. 76).
Graf (2003a) p. 255.
Beck (2006) p. 259.
This is my revision of a sentence found in Beck (2006) p. 237. Beck’s original formulation was grounded in D. Sperber’s (1996) p. 31 assertion that “memory and
communication transform information.”
On the role of logoi and books in mystery cults, see Burkert (1987) pp. 66–71.
It obviously will not come as a complete surprise that in conclusion a historian
will find that a historical approach to the study of the mysteries is the key to
understanding them; scholars indeed find what they look for, as Andrew Lang
has noted, cited in Bell (1997) p. 21. Moreover, I would readily admit that the
“real world” of what happened during the celebrations of the mysteries is transformed by my desire to know about them, a point made by others and Barrett
(1997) p. 57 in his provocative article on “Romanization.” I am also aware that the
knowledge about the mysteries that I have offered here has no existence without
my agency, even though the mysteries about which my knowledge speaks certainly did. I would argue, however, that unlike the theories of the members of the
“myth and ritual school” or the phenomenologists or the Freudians about such
rituals, my “historical hypothesis,” that is, that mystery cults mediated change
and can be understood only in context, can at least be falsified with respect to
data. There are more or less persuasive hypotheses about the function of the mysteries, because some hypotheses are founded upon better, more persuasive interpretations of the evidence. I remain, therefore, a member of the hermeneutic
circle, one of whose requirements of initiation is acceptance of the premise that
424
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
NOTES TO PAGES 274–277
there are lacunae within our knowledge, and new data, if not new actions, may
force us to adjust our hypotheses.
Graf (2009) p. 180; Bowden (2010) p. 71. A similar case can be made about the
development of the imagery and astrology of the mysteries of Mithras. The combination of astrological, religious, and royal imagery that came to characterize the
iconography of the cult as it later spread throughout the Roman empire has been
linked specifically to the rule and dynastic claims of Antiochus I (70–38 B.C.) of
Commagene. See Beck (2006) pp. 227–39; Bowden (2010) pp. 195–96.
Bowden (2010) p. 71.
Thus, in answer to Parker’s question (2007) p. 222 of whether it is possible to
study Greek religion and retain a measure of everyday canniness and caution,
the answer is yes, or probably, or maybe, if we do our best to understand it first
in context.
Mono-causality is indeed a wild-goose chase here, as Hansen (2006a) p. 24 has
argued with respect to explaining the appearance of the polis.
Dawkins (2008 ed.) pp. 144–51; Callebaut (2010) pp. 81–95.
Giardina (2007) pp. 753–75.
Schwartz (2010) pp. 53–56.
Pulleyn (1997) pp. 37, 196–200.
That Artemis herself would not have agreed with this interpretation of what had
gone wrong cannot be doubted; and I offer it here with some trepidation, bearing in mind that the visage of the Great Artemis from the courtyard of the prytaneion suggests the temperament of a goddess who has more in common with
the Queen of the Night than with Mother Teresa. In light of that assessment,
among other potential questions that the great patroness surely would have been
entitled to ask of the Ephesians was, what exactly was going on up on Mount
Solmissos when the Goths sailed into the harbor of Ephesos and began to help
themselves to the treasures from her burned-out temple? When it was time to do
some real fighting on behalf of Artemis, and not just a dance to scare away Hera,
the Kouretes were nowhere to be seen. Unfortunately, Apollonius of Tyana was
right. Ephesos’s strength lay in its philosophers and rhetoricians, not in its cavalry
(Life of Apollonius VIII.7.8). The problem was that it needed soldiers, not scholars, in 262. For a similar interpretation of the contractual aspect of worship of
Mithras in the context of the celebration of the mysteries of Mithras, see Gordon
(1995) p. 102.
For the idea that gods and goddesses were considered to be part of a common
community with mortals and were expected to act in accord with rules of behavior, see Oster (1990) pp. 1700–3; Rives (2007) p. 186.
IE Ia 27.13; 24B.22; II 304.11–12.
Ando (2008) p. 13.
Schwartz (2010) p. 62.
Casadio and Johnston (2009b) p. 4.
Such as at Eleusis when the initiates searched for Persephone, or at Samothrace
when initiates apparently looked for Harmonia; see Bowden (2010) p. 54.
Notes to Pages 277–280
425
54. For Mithras’s “born again” initiates, see Burkert (1987) p. 98.
55. Barrett (1997) p. 55.
56. Not only a model of the order but a model for it as well; for the formulation, see
Geertz (1973) pp. 93–95.
57. Bremmer (1994) p. 5.
58. For the deroutinization of religious rituals, often in the context of political conflicts or tensions or disasters, see Mach (1992) pp. 51–60.
59. In nearby Smyrna, a seal (IvS II, 1 [1987] 729.1–3) dated from A.D. 247–49 or
259–68 represents our last piece of epigraphical evidence for the existence of the
association (sunodos) of initiates in the cult of Dionysos Bre(i)seus, which had
been active in the polis since the first century A.D. Our last substantial evidence
for the activities of the association of initiates into the mysteries of Demeter in
Smyrna are two honorary inscriptions (IvS II, 1 [1987] 653 and 654) for theologoi,
dated probably to the second century A.D.
60. For the phenomenon elsewhere, see Burkert (1987) pp. 66–88; and Rives (2007)
p. 39.
61. Total cessation of the celebrations may seem like an unlikely or even radical consequence of the destruction of the Artemision and the Gothic invasion of A.D. 262.
We should remember, however, that according to Eunapius, Lives of the Sophists
475–76, it was after Alaric sacked the sanctuary at Eleusis in A.D. 395 that the
Athenians stopped celebrating the Eleusinian mysteries for good. Change is not
always incremental.
62. Bell (1997) p. 12.
63. To echo Ando’s (2008) p. xvii formulation of how, in the face of the sack of Rome
in A.D. 410, the faith of adherents of Roman religion in their knowledge of the
gods did not so much bend, as break. Burkert (1987) p. 53 also has drawn our
attention to the fact that after the imperial decrees of A.D. 391/92 that prohibited pagan cults and the destruction of sanctuaries by Christians, the mysteries
“simply and suddenly disappeared.” The reason for this is that the cults were so
intimately bound up with the prevailing social system.
64. Jongman (2006) p. 251.
65. See Bowden (2010) pp. 198–211. On the chronological distribution of the evidence for the Ephesian cults, see Appendix 1.
66. Burkert (1987) pp. 43–53, 110. It is interesting to note in this regard that, as we
have seen, although some of the priestesses who completed the mysteries were
represented epigraphically as the daughters of their fathers and mothers (such as
Vipsania Olympias and her sister Vipsania Polla, IE III 987.3–10 and 988.1, 10), in
at least some cases (e.g., the priestess Aurelia, see IE 3059), there is no reference at
all in the inscriptions to male members of the family of the priestesses who completed the mysteries. From this we should conclude that women could and did
act on their own in completing the mysteries and were represented publicly as
carrying out this crucial action on behalf of the city. It is simply not the case that
all women were excluded from positions of power and authority within Roman
imperial Ephesos or could be represented as holding power only in a familial
426
67.
68.
69.
70.
71.
72.
73.
74.
75.
76.
77.
78.
79.
80.
81.
82.
83.
84.
85.
86.
87.
88.
89.
90.
91.
92.
NOTES TO PAGES 281–285
rhetorical context. Just as was the case in other societies, such as native America
before the arrival of Europeans, as Trocolli (1999) pp. 49–61 and Díaz-Andreu
(2005) p. 20 have pointed out, Ephesian women held high-status positions in
Ephesian society. Wealth trumped gender and family within the hierarchical organization of imperial Ephesos.
Rheidt (1998) p. 400; Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 5.
Jongman (2003) pp. 181–96.
Zuiderhoek (2009) pp. 37, 51.
Keay (1996) pp. 18–44; Liebeschuetz (2001) p. 14; Van Minnen (2002) pp. 285–
303; de Blois and Rich (2002); Giardina (2007) p. 767.
Poleggi (2002) pp. 12–14; Andres, Hunsiak, and Turner (1988) pp. 713–60; Borsi
(1999) pp. 402–21; Majanlahti (2006); Howard (1999) pp. 316–39; Muraro and
Marton (1999) pp. 20–25. For the history and some portraits of the Colonna,
Della Rovere, and Farnese families in Rome, see the marvelous work of Majanlahti (2006).
Gordon (2003) pp. 78–82; Parker (2007) p. 453.
Liebeschuetz (2001) p. 4; Zuiderhoek (2009) p. 120.
Liebeschuetz (2001) p. 4; Brown (2002) p. 1.
Brown (2002) p. 8.
IE IV 1307; VI 2043, 2044; IV 1320; Foss (1979) p. 61.
Brown (2002) p. 30.
For which generally, see Foss (1979).
Foss (1979) p. 70; Karwiese (1995) pp. 129–30; FiE IX/4 (2010) p. 240.
Kerschner, Ladstätter, and Pülz (2007) p. 17.
Foss (1979) pp. 38–41.
Kerschner, Ladstätter, and Pülz (2007) p. 90.
Mitchell (2007) p. 38.
Elsner (2004) pp. 277–78.
The statue is now in the Ephesus Museum Selçuk, inv. no. 1402. The head of
the statue, which is visibly out of proportion with the body, is probably a sixthcentury addition. A second example of a statue of an official also set up along one
of the main streets is Ephesus Museum Selçuk inv. no. 35/18/98. The Stephanos
inscription of the statue base is IE IV 1310.
Smith (1999) p. 719.
Brown (2002) p. 87.
Pont (2004) pp. 546–77; Traina (2009) p. 22.
IE IV 1351; Theodosian Code, XVI.10.25.
Scherrer (2001) p. 71. The remains of the statues are now located in room 7 of the
Ephesus Museum Selçuk; Foss (1979) p. 82.
Traina (2009) p. 38.
Hughes-Freeland (1998) p. 6. It is probably correct that this study errs on the
side of an “instrumentalist” (rather than “expressive”) interpretation of the rituals that comprised the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis. If that is the case,
Notes to Pages 286–287
93.
94.
95.
96.
97.
98.
99.
100.
101.
102.
103.
104.
105.
106.
427
however, it is a reflection of the nature of the evidence we have. An expressive
view of ritual or a sequence of rituals becomes possible and potentially persuasive
only if we have fuller accounts of the experience(s). For a summary of the different kinds of anthropological views, see Parker (2007) pp. 158 and 276–77.
See Gore (1998) pp. 76–77.
Bell (1997) p. 73.
Bell (1997) p. 169.
Sahlins (1976); (1985).
Bell (1997) p. 235. Obviously, the praxis school interpretation of the function of
the rituals that constituted the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis owes a
great deal historically to the works of Max Gluckman (1965) and Victor Turner
(1967).
“Communitas,” of course, is Victor Turner’s buzzword for the liminal phase of
initiations during which initiates experienced intimacy, egalitarianism, spontaneity, and humane authenticity, as summarized by Lincoln (2003) p. 249; see also
Elsner (2005) p. 426; Alcock (2002) p. 178.
Barrett (1994) p. 5; Wallace-Hadrill (2005) pp. 56–57.
Burkert (1996); Boyer (2001).
In terms of the evolution of human beings, the time span for which we have
evidence of the celebration of the mysteries of Artemis (around 300 B.C. to
A.D. 260s) and Graeco-Roman votive religion generally (from around 1500 B.C.
to A.D. 600) is obviously far too short for us to be able to identify significant
physical changes in humans, for instance in the neocortex of the Greeks and
Romans. The ancient Greeks and Romans (and all hominids for the past one
hundred thousand years or so) already were anatomically modern humans, with
brains as large as ours. Some anthropologists, such as Richerson and Boyd (2000)
pp. 1–45, have argued that such modern human brains are “built for speed” in the
sense of being capable of large intergenerational behavior changes, but cultural
anthropologists, such as Palmer (2010) pp. 169–71, have countered that natural
selection may have favored individuals who managed to keep changes on track,
that is, similar to what was successful in past generations. The creation of metatraditions—such as the celebration of mystery cults over hundreds of years—
“may have contributed to the ‘descent’ aspect of the Darwinian principle of descent with modification” (Palmer, p. 170).
Burkert (1996) pp. 1–33; Shennan (2002) pp. 33–34.
On dual inheritance theory, see Richerson and Boyd (1978) pp. 127–54; Shennan (2002); Larson (2010) pp. 69–80; Henrich (2010) pp. 115–17. For memes, see
Dawkins (1976); Dennett (1991); (1996); Brodie (1996); Lynch (1996); Aunger
(1999) pp. 36–42; Blackmore (1999); (2000); Aunger (2002); Dawkins (2008 ed.)
p. 221.
Blackmore (1999) pp. 17, 43; (2005) p. 127.
Dawkins (2008 ed.) p. 228; Blackmore (1999).
Blackmore (1999) p. 20.
428
NOTES TO PAGES 287–289
107. Blackmore (1999) p. 15.
108. O’Brien, Lyman, and Leonard (2003) p. 574; Ariew (2010) p. 21.
109. For the concept of reciprocal altruism, see Trivers (1971) pp. 35–57. As distinct
from the memetic theory most fully elaborated by Blackmore (1999), I would
emphasize the choices or belief about those choices made by the Kouretes, prytaneis, priestesses, cult attendants, and initiates who participated within this cult.
Even if the decisions made by all of these individuals to take part in the cult
were illusions, because there was and is no such thing as the “self ” who makes
such autonomous decisions (as Blackmore argues), it is obvious from the lists of
the Kouretes and the other physical evidence cited in this book that all of these
people believed that they were making such decisions, and those beliefs, whether
grounded in any biological fact or not, are facts in and of themselves. The autonomy of the individual may be a delusion, but it is a delusion that people believe in. Therefore it is real. We are still a long, long way away from understanding
how the music of The Magic Flute emerged out of the “connectomes” or interactions of the 100 billion neurons and 150 trillion synapses of Mozart’s brain; it
is perhaps a bit premature to give up on the idea of the autonomous individual.
For vertical and horizontal transmission of instructions, see Cavalli-Sforza and
Feldman (1981).
110. Blackmore (1999) p. 51.
111. Lewontin (2000); Schwartz (2010) p. 62.
112. Dennett (1996); Boyd and Richerson (1992) pp. 179–209; Arnold, Pfrender, and
Jones (2001) pp. 9–32; Mesoudi (2010) p. 183.
113. On homeostasis in organisms, see Maresca and Schwartz (2006) pp. 38–46;
Schwartz (2010) p. 62; Henrich (2010) pp. 107–111. For the role of collective
innovations, see Laland and Reader (2010) pp. 37–51; Roux (2010) p. 218. And on
guided variation, see Powell, Shennan, and Thomas (2010) p. 141.
114. Shennan (2002) p. 23.
115. Ariew (2010) pp. 25–27.
116. It is perhaps because the practices of the Kouretes were adaptive in their environment rather than ours that the “mysteries and sacrifices” in Ortygia, not to mention the rites of ancient Mediterranean votive religion in general, often seem so
alien and illogical to moderns: but we do not live in the Kouretes’ world. What
people did in the past cannot be assumed to be adaptive in the present, as evolutionary psychologists such as Mithen (1996) have pointed out. Of course, this insight immediately begs the question of how theologies and rituals of Abrahamic
religion continue to be adaptive or, as I would argue, are made to be adaptive
today.
117. Blackmore (1999) pp. 32–36.
118. Southall (1998) p. 14.
119. For ritual as a social mechanism, see Meyerhoff (1974) pp. 199–224; summarized
by Bell (1997) p. 224. For ritual as superstition, see Dawkins (2008 ed.) p. 57. And
for rituals as compatible memes, see Shennan (2002); Blackmore (1999).
120. Burkert (1996) p. 128.
Notes to Pages 289–291
429
121. For the problems associated with an instrumentalist approach to understanding
ancient festivals, see Parker (2007) p. 158.
122. Van Nijf (1997) p. 3, quoting Syme’s address to “Epigraphic Congress in Athens”
in 1982.
123. Cole (2004) p. 194.
124. To reformulate the distinction made by Redfield (1956) with respect to the
orthodoxy advocated by the literate, urban Muslim clerics and the illiterate rural
population; cited by Edwards (2005) p. 119.
125. Lincoln (2003) p. 250.
126. Meyerhoff (1977) pp. 199–224.
127. Varone (2002) p. 359.
128. Mikalson (2005) p. 87.
129. Metamorphoses XI.21, 22, 23, 30; Kleijwegt (2002) pp. 121 n. 169, 123–24.
130. Beck (2006) p. 145.
131. Gordon (2007) p. 400.
132. Leukippe and Kleitophon V.23.
133. IE Ia 47.7 where the Kouretes are referred to as kekoureutekotes (those who have
been Kouretes). Graf (2003a) p. 252 interprets the perfect participle here as referring to those Kouretes who not only have performed the rite, but have been
transformed into a new and lasting state of being through initiation. This is a
possible (and attractive) interpretation, but of course the inscription could just
be referring to those members of the association who had completed their yearly
service. Moreover, this interpretation does not relate to the experience(s) of the
vast majority of the initiates, who definitely were not Kouretes. Indeed, it is striking that nowhere in the epigraphical corpus of inscriptions directly related to
the celebration of the festival are the initiates referred to using the Eleusinian
vocabulary of mustes (“one who closes his eyes”) for an initiate or epoptes (“one
who sees”) for one who has been initiated.
134. For the idea that performative rituals such as initiations produce specific types
of persons either in the bounded sense or in a process of “unboundedness,” see
Hirsch (1998) pp. 208–28. I must confess that this is one area where I find comparative anthropological studies not very helpful, perhaps because in Ephesos
there is so little evidence about the transformative nature of the initiations.
135. Horsley (2005) pp. 392–95.
136. Lightfoot (2005) p. 351.
137. Rives (2007) p. 173.
138. Rives (2007) p. 173.
139. Precisely because we do not have any evidence about the reactions of the initiates to their experiences of initiation into the cult it has not been possible in
this study to characterize the conceptions of self or personal styles sanctioned by
the cult, as R. Gordon (1995) pp. 95–130 has done for Mithraism in his brilliant
article.
140. Ap. Synesium Orat. 48; Fragment 15.
141. E.g., IE VI 2913.1.
NOTES TO PAGES 291–295
430
142. Evans-Pritchard (1974) pp. 321–22.
143. Fless and Moede (2007) p. 261.
144. Blackmore (2005) p. 3.
Appendix 1. The Other Mystery Cults of the Polis
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
10.
11.
12.
13.
14.
15.
16.
17.
18.
19.
Inv. no. 1987.
Höbl (1978) plate XII, no. 1b; Oster (1990) p. 1680.
Histories VI.16.
IE III 902.13–14.
IE VII, 2, 4337.10 and 27 = SEG IV 515.10 and 27; for priests pro poleos, see Robert
and Robert (1983) pp. 172–76; Bulletin épigraphique (1983) 387.
IE V 1595.3–6.
IE VII, 2, 4337; and Harland (2003a) p. 117.
IE VII, 2, 4337.
Revell (2009) p. 96.
IE II 213.3–8. In Smyrna during the first or second century A.D. there was a sunodos (association) of mustai of the goddess, probably Thesmophoros Demeter, IvS
II, 1 (1987) 653.1–3, who, with the Boule and demos, honored two theologoi (those
who discourse about the gods); in another inscription, 655.1–2, the association
is identified as that of “the sunodos of the great goddess before the polis Thesmophoros Demeter”; the phrase “pro poleos” (before the city) should mean, not
a sanctuary or temple of the goddess outside of the city, but before the city in the
sense of protecting the city; for this interpretation, see Robert and Robert (1983)
pp. 171–72. Another imperial inscription, 726.1–4, mentions the Kore mustai
of the sacred precinct and the embatai (female initiates?), who probably belong
to the same association. Theologoi also are found in the cult of the emperors in
Smyrna; see 594.2, but requiring a restoration.
Lines 8–11.
Lines 12–15; unfortunately the text breaks off at this point.
Thus imperial mysteries were celebrated in the polis by the late first century A.D.;
in Smyrna, by the reign of Nero, there was a sebastophant (priest of Augustus)
and probably agonothete for life of the goddess Roma and the god Augustus
Caesar Zeus Patroos, and archiereus megistos (highest priest), Tiberius Claudius
Hero[——]; see IvS II, 1 (1987) 591.1–6.
IE V 1506.1–9.
IE IV 1270.
IE IV 1210; cf. 1233, V 1486, and possibly 1538.
IE IV 1210.1–12.
IE IV 1228.1–3.
See IvS 1 (1980) 7; 8.3 for Demo, priestess of Demeter during the second century B.C.; 9.2 for Apollonia, priestess of Demeter during the second century B.C.;
29.3 for Phila, priestess of Demeter during the second century B.C.; 81 for an inscription for Exakestes and Metrion, priest and priestess (probably) during the
Notes to Pages 295–296
20.
21.
22.
23.
24.
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
32.
33.
34.
35.
36.
37.
38.
39.
40.
41.
42.
43.
431
second century B.C.; 86 for [——]neis and Nikandros, priestess of Demeter,
during the second century B.C.; 103 for Posideos and Herophantia, priestess of
Demeter during the second century B.C.; II, 1 (1987) 727.2–4 for a priestess for
life of the pro poleos goddess Thesmophoros Demeter during the second century A.D.; II, 2 (1990) 888 for Dioskuris, priestess of Demeter during the second
or first century B.C.; Harland (2003a) p. 46.
IE V 1595.3–6.
IE VII, 1, 3252.6–7.
Lines 11–18; for the interpretation of the text, see Pleket (1970) no. 4, pp. 61–75;
and Kleijwegt (2002) p. 115.
Lines 7–11. For worship of the Phrygian god Men in Asia Minor, see Lane (1990b)
pp. 2161–74.
IE V 1600.63; 47.
For the custom in Athens, see Clinton (1974) p. 76.
IE VI 2104.3. From Smyrna we know of several independent dedications to Kore;
see IvS II, 1, 746, 747, and 748.
Inv. no. 2/3/89.
IE IV 1305.5.
Tacitus, Annals III.61.2; and Chapter 5.
For the Dionysia in Ephesos, see Knibbe (1978) pp. 495–96; and Oster (1990)
pp. 1673–76.
See Oster (1990) p. 1673.
Plutarch, Life of Antony XXIV.
IE Ia 9b.17; cf. III 902.6 and 15. Presbon was prytanis of the polis in 26/25 B.C.
For Dionysos Phleus, see Merkelbach (1988) pp. 19–20 nn. 16 and 17.
IE IV 1270.3–6.
IE VII, 1, 3329.1–3; Harland (2003a) p. 156.
Lines 4–5; and see the editors’ note in IE.
IvS I (1980) 330.1–4, in which the sunbiotai (club fellows?) and sunmustai set up
a memorial for a certain Zotion; for the thiasotai, who probably were devotees of
Dionysos, see 534.4.
Dionysios, Geographical Description of the Inhabited World; see Oster (1990)
p. 1674.
IE III 661.20; II 434.1–2.
IE V 1601; 1602.
Geography XIV.1.29; IE Ia 22.35–36.
IE IV 1267.1–2; IV 502.6–8; 502A.4–6; III 675.4–5; 834?; IV 1099.(1)1–3;
1099(2).1–2; V 1932A.1–2; VII, 1, 3064.1–3. The epithet Oreios (of the mountain)
is probably a reference to Dionysos’s role as leader of Bacchants on mountains.
IE II 275.7. Elsewhere, in Smyrna for instance, during the reign of Antoninus
Pius, in A.D. 157/58 there was a “sunodos of the mustai in Smyrna,” as we know
from IvS II, 1 (1987) 600.25–26; cf. 639.1–3, where the title of the association
is “the sacred sunodos of actors around Dionysos Breiseus and mustai.” Nilsson (1957) pp. 47–48 argued that this was an association of actors that posed
432
44.
45.
46.
47.
48.
49.
50.
51.
52.
53.
54.
55.
56.
57.
NOTES TO PAGES 296–297
as a mystery association, but this need not be the case. These were probably initiates into the mysteries of Dionysos Breiseus. See also 652.2–3 from the first century A.D. for “the sacred sunodos of the Breiseon”; cf. 729.1–3 from A.D. 247–49
for a seal of the “Breiseus-Mustai before the polis”; 730.5 from the second century A.D.; 731 from A.D. 80 and 83; 731.17–18 for two individuals who are patromustai, which should mean that they were hereditary members of the association
of mustai of Dionysos because their fathers had been or were members of the
association; cf. 732.1.
IE II 275.8–14.
IE IV 1211.1–8.
IE V 1601 and 1602.
IE V 1601 (a) 4; V 1601 (a) 7; 1601 (a) 8; 1601 (a) 9; 1601 (e) 4; cf. IV 1268.2 for
another wand bearer; VI 1982.6; V 1601 (a) 2.
IE IV 1268.1 and 4; for the boukoloi elsewhere in Asia Minor, see Harland (2003a)
p. 49.
Aurenhammer (1995) p. 269; FiE IX/5 (2011) pp. 107–10, 113.
Burkert (1985) p. 95.
Leukippe and Kleitophon VI.4–5.
IE II 293.4–8 = SEG IV (1929) 522 = L’Année épigraphique (1928) 96. It is likely
that this association of worshippers assembled in the quarter of the Koressitai
within the city.
See Aurenhammer (1995) p. 267.
IE V 1600.2–4. Epagathus was also a prytanis, secretary of the demos, and hymnodos, boularchos, and architekton (architect, builder) of the goddess, as stated
in IE V 1600.4–7; cf. IV 1061.2–8, in which Epagathus appears as prytanis, gymnasiarch, philosebastos hymnodos, secretary of the demos, boularchos, eirenarchos (chief of security), agoranomos, and architekton of the goddess in the prytaneion. The god Pan is also mentioned in line 48 of the inscription, leading
some scholars to conclude that worship of Pan, who by tradition had nourished
Dionysos, was incorporated into the celebration of Dionysos’s mysteries; see
Aurenhammer (1995) p. 269. In the Kunsthistorisches Museum in Vienna there
is a statue group of Pan with the infant Dionysos from Ephesos, confirming the
linkage during the Roman imperial period to which the group belongs. For the
group, see FiE X.1 (1990) no. 58.
Zeus Patroios had been worshipped in Ephesos since the fifth century B.C.; some
kind of sanctuary for Zeus seems to have been on Panayirdag, as we can tell from
a series of inscriptions found (or emanating from) there, including IE II 101, a
fifth-century B.C. stele for Zeus Patroios and Apollo Patroios; 102, an inscription
from around 300 B.C. under a relief (which shows Meter and Apollo) that mentions Zeus Patroios and Apollo; 103 and 104 (from the fifth century B.C.), both
of which mention a hieron of Zeus Patroios. See also Scherrer (2001) p. 61.
IE V 1600.8, 52, and 54 for the hagnearch; 10–11 for the epimeletes; and 33 for the
hierophant.
IE II 1270.3–5; II 476.1.
Notes to Pages 297–303
433
58. IE II 275.9; IE IV 1020.1–3; another priest, of Dionysos Phleus for life, T. Varius
Neikostratos, who was also a secretary, IE II 476, is mentioned in IV 1270.3–5, an
inscription from the late first or early second century A.D.
59. IE II 275.9–10.
60. IE II 275.10–11; IV 1129.2–6; V 1601 (a) 3, and passim.
61. IE II 275.13–14.
62. IE II 293.8–10; Ia 47.26 and IV 1075.6–9.
63. IE II 502.6–8; 502A.4–6; IV 1099 (1).1–3; 1099 (2).1–2; Aurenhammer (1995)
p. 261.
64. The statue is now displayed in the Ephesus Museum in Selçuk, inv. no. 769.
65. On the Dance LXXIX. In Smyrna during the Roman imperial era, Oinomaos,
the dedicator perhaps of a column to Dionysos Breiseus, was prytanis and hymnodos; see IvS II, 1, 758.1–6; cf. 759.1–7.
66. Dionysos Phleus also appears in IE III 902.6, in a list of priests dated to the last
quarter of the first century B.C.; V 1595.2–6.
67. IE V 1595.2–12.
68. IE V 1600.4–7.
69. IE V 1600.33.
70. IE II 275.10–11; IV 1129.2–6.
71. IE II 276.16–18.
72. In Smyrna, the patromustes (hereditary member of the association of initiates)
M. Aurelius Perperes was a Roman citizen and “general of the weapons.” See IvS
II, 1, 634.6–8 and 733.1–2.
73. Aurenhammer (1995) p. 260; Polyaenus, Stratagems V.18; Athenaeus, Learned
Banqueteers XIII.573a. Near the south edge of the Roman imperial- era harbor
there also seems to have been a shrine of Aphrodite related to an association of
merchants from Rhodes, but we have no idea whether this shrine was connected
to the celebration of mysteries.
74. IE IV 1202.1–7. For the cult, see Keil (1914) pp. 145–47; Latte (1914) pp. 678–79;
Knibbe and Iplikçioglu (1981/82) p. 147, no. 164.
75. Heberdey (1904) pp. 210–15; Oster (1990) pp. 1667–68.
76. IE Ia 20.70–71.
77. Clinton (1974) p. 82.
78. IE Ia 10.
79. See Clinton (1974) p. 42.
80. Clinton (1974) p. 9.
Appendix 2. Cults of the Prytaneion
1. Keil (1939) pp. 119–28; Miltner (1956–58) pp. 27–36; (1959a) pp. 291–92 n. 66;
Knibbe (1964–65) pp. 37–38, 41–42; (1978) pp. 497–99; Miller (1978) pp. 22–23,
256; Oster (1990) pp. 1661–1726; Knibbe (1981) pp. 101–5; (2002a) pp. 49–61;
FiE IX/4 (2010) pp. 216–18, 221–22. It is worth acclaiming Steskal’s incredibly
complete publication of the prytaneion building in FiE.
434
NOTES TO PAGES 303–305
2. For the prytaneis, see IE IV 1058.4–5 from the second or third century A.D.; 1059,
restored preamble from the third century; 1060.2 from the third century; 1062.1
from after 92/93; 1063.1 from around 170; 1064.2 from around 170; 1066.5 from
the third century; 1067.2 from the third century; 1068.1 probably from the third
century; and V 1597.1 (undated). For the hearth supervisors, IV 1070.6–7 from
after 212; 1070A.4 from the third century; 1072.10 from the third century; 1077.1
from 211; 1078.8–9 from the early third century. For the basket carriers, IV 1071.6
from after 212.
3. Oster (1990) pp. 1689–90. IE IV 1058.5; 1060.3; 1067.2; 1070.7–8; 1071.7; and
1072.11.
4. IE IV 1061.7–8; cf. V 1600.6.
5. IE Ia 10.28–29; see Chapter 8.
6. IE IV 1058.6–7.
7. IE 1060.2–3; FiE IX/4 (2010) inv. no. PR 57/07 Drum B, p. 48.
8. IE IV 1067.2–3.
9. IE IV 1070A.4–6.
10. IE IV 1071.5–9; 1072.10–14.
11. Athenaeus, Learned Banqueteers VIII.361e. And thus might conform to a pattern found elsewhere, such as in Eretria on Euboia, where there was a temple of
Apollo near the harbor and also a temple of his sister Artemis near one of the
frontiers of the polis’s territory, at Amarynthos (similar to the situation at Ephesos, where Artemis had a sanctuary at Ortygia).
12. Karwiese in Scherrer (2000) p. 188.
13. IE II 101.3–4; the epithet here perhaps suggests the protection of a divine ancestor, since the Ephesians were the descendants of Ion and Apollo, and perhaps
a connection between the Ephesian and Athenian cults. See Graf (2009) pp.
108–9.
14. IE II 102.2 = SEG IV (1929) 525.
15. IE IV 1203.
16. IE Ia, 9 B B 21.
17. IE Ia, 9 B B 21. Strabo, Geography XIV.1.23. There seems to exist only one fragment of a votive relief on which Apollo and his sister Artemis are shown together;
see Bammer, Fleischer, and Knibbe (1974) p. 158, no. 245; Aurenhammer (1995)
p. 265.
18. IE VII, 1, 3317.7.
19. IE III 814.1.
20. IE VI 2055.17–19.
21. IE IV 1024.
22. IE IV 1060.3–4; 1072.12–13 dated to after A.D. 212; and 1077.2 dated to around
211/12.
23. IE IV 1233.1; cf. II 128.3; IV 1060.4. See also Knibbe (1981) pp. 102–3; (1998)
pp. 29 and 143.
24. Possibly IE IV 1059, 1060.4, to all the gods; 1065.2, to all the gods; 1066.5, to all
Notes to Pages 305–308
25.
26.
27.
28.
29.
30.
31.
435
the gods; possibly 1067.3, to all the gods; possibly 1069.1, to all the gods; 1070.8–
9, the hestiouchos Aur. Euporistos thanks all the gods; 1070A.6, the hestiouchos
Libonianos thanks all the gods; 1072.14, the hestiouchos Aelius Elpidephoros
thanks all the gods.
IE IV 1073.4–6.
IE IV 1069.2 and 1077.2, dated to the joint reign of Caracalla and Geta.
Knibbe (1978) p. 498; IE IV 1072.13.
IE IV 1063.3; Knibbe (1964–65) pp. 37–38; (1978) p. 39 n. 89; Merkelbach (1972)
p. 76; Oster (1990) p. 1691.
For the introduction of other gods and goddesses into the prytaneion beginning
in the second century A.D., who “appeared to be more popular and helpful than
Artemis,” see Knibbe (1995) pp. 146–47.
Knibbe (2002a) pp. 49–61.
Revell (1999) p. 55.
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Glossary
AGONOTHETE. Judge, director, and/or sponsor of games.
AGORANOMOS. Supervisor of the agora.
AKROBATES. Dancer.
AKROBATES EPI THUMIATROU. Dancer while incense burned.
ARCHEION. Association (of the Kouretes).
ARCHIEREA, ARCHIEREUS. High priestess or priest.
ARCHONTES. Leaders; leaders of the association of heralds of the Kouretes.
ARSINOEIA. Name of Lysimachos’s new polis after 294 B.C.
ASIARCHOS (ASIARCH). High priest or official of Asia.
ASYLON. Safe from violence; inviolate.
AYASOLUK. Turkish name for Hagios Theologos; putative grave site in modern Selçuk
of the apostle St. John, around which Justinian I built a basilica/church during the
mid-sixth century A.D.
BOULARCHOS. Leader of the Boule.
BOULE. Deliberative council of the polis.
BOULEUTERION. Council chamber.
BOULEUTES. Member of the city council.
BÜLBÜLDAG. Nightingale Mountain in Turkish, southwest of Ephesos; earlier known
as Lepre Akte or Preon.
BÜYÜK KALE. Turkish village northeast of Ephesos between Üzümler and Akçasehir.
ÇATAL. Turkish village northeast of Ephesos, just south of ancient Larisa.
CHARIS. Favor of a god or gods.
CHILIASTYES. Nominal groups of a thousand citizens.
CHRYSOPHOROI. Association amalgamated with victors in sacred games.
DEMETRIASTAI. Association of worshippers in the cult of Demeter.
EISAGOGOS. Collector of initiation fees.
EMBOLOS. Also known as the street of the Kouretes, connecting the state or upper
agora to the area of the Triodos and the Tetragonos Agora.
EPHEBARCHOS. Leader of the ephebes.
EPHEBOS, EPHEBOI. Young men approximately eighteen years old undergoing military, political, and cultural training.
EPIKLETOI. Selected leaders or representatives of the polis during the late fourth and/
or early third centuries B.C.
EPIMELETES. Supervisor or assistant in the celebration of the mysteries.
EPOPTEIA. A final “viewing” in the mysteries.
EPOPTES. “One who sees”; someone who has been initiated.
437
438
GLOSSARY
ESSENES. Functionaries of the Artemision; enrolled new citizens into the tribes and
chiliastyes of the polis.
EUERGETAI. “Do-gooders”; public benefactors.
EUSEBEIA. Piety.
EUSEBEIS. Pious.
GEROUSIA. Council of elders.
GYMNASIARCHOS. Leader of a gymnasium.
HAGNEARCHOS, HAGNEARCHAI. Cultic advisor(s) to the prytanis.
HAGNOS. Ritually pure.
HEBDOMOKOURES. Seventh Koures; represented the Kouretes on cult occasions.
HEROON. Shrine of a hero or heroine.
HESTIOUCHOS. Supervisor and/or guard of a sacred hearth.
HIEROKERYX. Herald of the sacred.
HIEROPHANTES. Hierophant; disclosed secrets to initiates.
HIEROSKOPOS. Inspector of sacrificial victims.
HIEROS LOGOS. Sacred story; narrative script behind the celebration of the mysteries.
HIEROURGOI. Ritual cult attendants.
HYMNODOS. Choral singer.
ISOPOLITEIA. Sharing equal citizen rights in more than one polis.
KALATHEPHOROS. Basket carrier.
KAYSTROS RIVER. Modern Küçük Menderes River.
KENCHRIOS RIVER. Modern Arvalya Cayi or Degirmen Dere (?); traversed the grove
(Ortygia) southwest of Ephesos where the mysteries of Artemis were celebrated.
KORESSOS. Harbor area on the slopes of Panayirdag north and east of the later stadium
associated with the Ionian foundation of Ephesos.
KOURETES. “Youths”; protectors or guards of Leto, Artemis, and Apollo at the birth
of the deities in Ortygia.
KÜÇÜK KALE. Turkish village northeast of Ephesos, just southwest of Büyük Kale, between Üzümler and Akçasehir.
LIBANOTOPOLION. Building where frankincense was sold.
MAEANDER RIVER. Modern Büyük Menderes River.
MARNAS RIVER. Modern Degirmen River.
MEGABUZOS. Eunuch priest of Artemis.
MUSTAGOGOS. Leader of initiates in the mysteries of Dionysos.
MUSTAI. Initiates into the mysteries.
MUSTAI PRO POLEOS. Initiates for the polis.
NEOI. Association of “young” men.
NEOKOROS. Caretaker of the temple; later, benefactor; metaphor for city.
NEOPOIAI(OI). Temple wardens of the Artemision.
OIKONOMOS. Treasurer in charge of sacred monies.
OLYMPIONEIKES. Victor in Olympic games.
ORTYGIA. Grove of trees where the mysteries of Artemis were celebrated; usually identified with modern Arvalya, southwest of Ephesos.
Glossary
439
PANAYIRDAG. Twin-peaked mountain reaching a height of approximately 155 meters
(509 feet) on its southern peak; the urban center of Lysimachos’s polis of Arsinoeia
was laid out at the foot of its northwestern ridges.
PANEGYRIS. General festival, or festival of everybody.
PHILARTEMIS. Devoted to Artemis.
PHILOSEBASTOI. Devoted to the Roman emperors.
PHYGELA. Ancient “polichnion” (town or village) with a temple of Artemis Munychia,
located on the coast southwest of Ephesos along the road to modern Kuşadasi.
PLATEIA. “Broadway,” known today as the Marble Street; runs diagonally along the east
side of the Celsus heroon and the Tetragonos Agora from the area of the Triodos to
the Vedius gymnasium.
POLITEIA. Form of constitution or government.
PROTOKOURES. “First” Koures; leader of the association of Kouretes during the late
second century A.D.
PRYTANIS. Chief official of the prytaneion; supervised at least some of the rituals of
the mysteries after A.D. 14.
SALPIKTES. Trumpeter.
SEBASTOI. Greek translation of emperors.
SEBASTOS. Greek translation of Augustus.
SELINOUS (SELENUS) RIVER. Modern Abuhayat River.
SMYRNA. Archaic-classical-era village of Ephesos, from the second half of the eighth
century B.C., on top of which was built the Hellenistic and later Roman Tetragonos Agora.
SOLMISSOS. Mountain where the Kouretes were stationed to scare away Hera during
the births of Artemis and Apollo; possibly to be identified with modern Bülbüldag.
SPONDAULES. Musician; played reed-blown double pipe.
STELAI. Stones on which inscriptions were carved.
SUNHEDRION. Title of association of the Kouretes from the reign of Tiberius onward.
SUNODOS. Association.
TELETE, TELETAI. “Completions” or rites.
TEMENOS. Sacred space “cut off ” from surrounding territory.
TRIODOS. North side of the “Library Plaza” where a monumental gate was located;
meeting point of three roads—the Embolos, Plateia, and road to Ortygia.
UPPER AGORA. Sited on the flat saddle between Panayirdag and Bülbüldag, the administrative center of Ephesos from the reign of Augustus. The prytaneion, where
the Kouretes were based during the Roman imperial period, was located on its north
side.
VIA SACRA. Sacred road from the Artemision to Ephesos; rebuilt by Damianus during
the last decade of the second century A.D.
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Select Modern Bibliography
Abbasoglu, H. “The Founding of Perge and Its Development in the Hellenistic and Roman Periods,” in Parrish, D., ed. Urbanism in Western Asia Minor: New Studies on
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General Index
Agathokles, citizenship decree for, 55,
57–58, 74
agonothete (games’ director), 54, 57; Dionysia, 123, 134; imperial, 160; Ephesian
Olympics, 162, 165, 245, 296, 437
agora (Tetragonos or lower), xv, xvi, xvii,
xx, 62; Lysimachean, 70, 85; Augustan
renovation, 97–98, 121; enlargement,
136–37, 139, 169, 196–97, 201; halls,
247; damage to, 252
agora (upper), xv, xvi, xvii, xix, xxii, 9,
12, 96; Augustan building program,
97–99; temenos, 101–2, 105; development, 121–23, 134, 143; temple of
Sebastoi, 167, 185, 194, 220, 252, 282
agoranomos (agora supervisor), 55, 57; as
magistracy, 131, 190, 437
Ainetos (Demetrios’s general), 56–59
akrobates epi thumiatrou (dancer), 147–
48, 151, 177, 179, 211, 437
Alaric (Goth), sack of Eleusis by, 29
Alexander (the Great), 14, 33–35, 40, 44–
45; asylum of Artemision, 48–49, 62,
71, 84, 91, 196, 259, 266–67
Alexander Severus (emperor), 232
altar of Artemis (at Triodos), xix; erection, 137–39, 169; sacrifices at? 202; expansion, 227, 269
Ancestral Law (of polis), 123; provisions,
206–12, 233–36, 244, 261, 304
Andania (mysteries): procession, 216;
market, 224, 264, 274; initiates, 290
Androklos (Ephesos’s founder), xix, 33, 75;
heroon, 137; Fountain of Trajan statue,
194; bath-gymnasium statue, 198
Antigonus I (king in Asia), 45–46, 51;
death at Ipsus, 53, 63, 71
Antiochus I (Soter), 91
Antiochus II (Theos), 91
Antiochus III (the Great), 91
Antoninus Pius (emperor), 172–73,
175–76, 179, 185–88, 190–92, 197;
and architectural apogee of city,
202, 206, 211–12; honors, 215, 218–19,
221; adoption, 227, 235, 261, 270, 294,
296
Antonius, L. (quaestor and brother of
Mark Antony), 95
Antonius, M. (Mark Antony): as new
Dionysos, extending asylum of Artemision, 95–96; extended asylum restricted by Augustus, 114–17; murder
of Arsinoê IV, 137, 267, 272, 295
Antonius Polemo, M. (sophist of
Smyrna), 228
Aphrodite (goddess), 95; statues, 194,
297; Daitis, 293
Apollo (god), xvi, xvii; birth, 3–4, 7, 9;
Didyma, 18–19; Klarian and Iatros,
20, 23, 34, 36–38; Amyclae, 81, 103,
109, 112–14, 119, 122–23, 125, 140–41;
Miletos, 142, 144, 149–50, 154–56;
Didyma, 160, 162, 168; Klarios, 180,
185, 189, 239, 249, 256, 260, 262, 264,
270, 277–78, 304–5; manteion, 203–4,
210; Karneios, 216; in Claros, 226;
Patroios, Pythios, Panionios, 304–5;
dog, 306, 307–8, 311, 438, 439
Apollonides, citizenship decree for,
50–54, 57–58, 74
481
482
Apollonios Passalas, Sebastos statue dedicated by, 99, 105
Aqua Iulia (aqueduct), 136
Aqua Throessitica (aqueduct), 101, 136
Arcadia, 24, 71, 78; Pheneus, 272
Arcadiane (harbor boulevard), 247, 282
archeion (board, association): Kouretes,
36, 79, 103; defined, 108, 120, 122, 129,
141, 437
Archestratos, citizenship decree for,
54–55, 57–58, 74
archiatros (doctors’ leader), 190
archimustes (initiates’ leader), 236
Ariadne, 248, 283
aromatophoros (spice bearer), 237
Arsinoê II (Lysimachos’s wife), 8; marriage, 56; escape, 87–88
Arsinoê IV (sister of Kleopatra VII):
tomb, 137
Arsinoeia (Lysimachos’s polis), 5, 8, 39,
51, 56, 59; foundation, 60–67; walls,
synoicism, 67–71; government, 71–74;
mysteries and sacrifices, 75–83; significance, 85–88, 98, 116, 234, 242, 260,
263, 266, 272, 437, 439
Artemidoros (geographer), embassy, 93
Artemis Ephesia, 4, 6–8, 75–76, 78–81,
85–86, 217, 222–25, 227–28, 233–34,
238, 266, 267, 272, 278, 280
Artemision (month), 222–24
Artemision (sanctuary), xv, xvi, xvii, 5;
architects, asylum, Kouretes, 7–9, 12;
first destruction, 33, 34–35, 37; Persian
domination, 40; citizenship decrees,
43; eunuch priests, 47, 48, 49; functionaries, 52; location, 61–63; harbor
and low ground, 65, 67; temenos, 68,
70–71, 73–74, 79–80; libanotopolion
within, 83, 84; Lysimachos and, 85–88;
from 133 B.C., 92–93; Mithradates,
93–94; Antony and asylum of, 96,
109, 113; Octavian/Augustus, 114–18;
Kouretes’ transfer from, 119–21, 122,
GENERAL INDEX
140–42; priestesses, 155; as cultic center, 156; great Artemis’s polos, 180;
wooden statue within, 182; guards,
184, 185, 221; in Pedon’s edict, 222–24;
Damianus’s stoa, 227–28, 232; final destruction, 252–55, 259, 260–61, 264–
67, 272–73, 275, 278, 280, 284, 438–39
Artemis’s priestess, 47, 49, 50–53, 57, 61,
73–74, 77, 79, 83, 85, 92, 121–22, 155–
56, 163, 174, 184, 187, 192, 194, 212, 232,
233, 241, 266, 271, 280, 318
Artemis’s statues, 169–70, 180–83
Asclepios (god), 123
Aspasa (Luwian Ayasoluk), 33, 115
Athenis, citizenship decree for, 67–68, 74
Athenodoros (Nemean victor), 52
Athens (polis), 4, 14; law on infractions
during Eleusinia and archon basileus’s
supervision, 26, 29, 34, 53, 56, 75; processions to Eleusis, 81; young men
initiated, 107; sacred herald, 131; hierophant, 148–49, 151; initiates’ fees at
Eleusinia, 157, 167, 185; Herodes Atticus, 228; change and mysteries, 273;
Eumopidai and Kerykes, 300
Attalus II Philadelphus, 247
Attalus III Philometer, 92
Attis (cult, mysteries), 14
Augustus (Roman emperor), xvi, xvii,
9, 31, 92; temenos, temple, and Sebastos statue, 97–99; “prima Porta”–
type portrait, seated statue of, 101,
102; honored as founder, 105; and
Artemision, restricts asylum, 115–18;
Kouretes’ transfer to prytaneion, 119–
21, 122; cult of Augustus and Roma in
Pergamon, 129–30, 132, 134; as patron,
136, 138, 141–42, 156, 159; sebastophant
of Augustus in Smyrna, 165, 264, 267,
272, 280; cross carved onto portrait
statue of, 284, 286, 439
Aurelius Agathopous, M. (prytanis),
238
General Index
Aurelius Menemachos, M., renewal of,
195, 212–14, 228, 241, 244, 264, 270,
297
basilica stoa, xvi, xvii, xix; construction,
101, 105, 120, 143, 220; damage to, 284
baths (and bathing), xv, xvi, xvii, xix, xx,
3, 27–28, 35, 103, 106, 112; Varius’s, 194;
harbor and Vedius’s, 196–98; six baths
of city, 219–20, 224; Scholastikia’s, 282;
Byzantine, 305
bees: and Zeus, 111; initiates’ souls, 182–
83
boularchos (leader of Boule), 245, 298
Boule (Council): Athenian, 26; Ephesian,
Euphronius decree, 40–41, 43–44, 46,
49; Apollonides decree, membership,
size, admission, 51–52; Archestratos
decree, 54; Agathokles, Thras[——]
decrees, 55; Nikagoras, Ainetos decrees, 56; supporting Demetrios,
57–60; Athenis decree, 68; legislating,
72–74, 83–84, 88; Octavian’s letter
to, 96; Diodorus decree, 105; Miletos,
107; prytanis reports to, members,
120–21, 134, 139, 152–53; Vipsania
Olympias and Polla decrees, 155, 157;
Messalina statue, 160; devoted to emperors, 161, 172, 179; Salutaris endowment, 184, 186; wealth, 188–89; Baranos decree, 190–91; Pamphilio and
Dionysios decrees, 193–94, 199, 202–3,
205–7, 213, 218; decree confirmed by
Pedon and confirming oil distributions, 222–25, 228–29, 241, 244–46,
251, 269, 294, 303, 437
bouleuterion (council chamber), xvi,
xvii, xix; construction and function,
99–102, 172, 184, 189; renovation, 198;
damage to, 252; use into fourth century A.D., 282, 297, 437
bouleutes (councilor): status, 130; members of the Boule, 162; Kouretes as
483
councilors, 172, 175, 179, 188, 190, 199,
207, 244, 246, 251, 272, 282, 288, 309–
10, 437; hierourgoi as councilors, 186
Bülbüldag (Nightingale Mountain), xv,
xviii, xx, xxi, 8, 36, 62, 65–69, 97–98,
136, 169, 193, 200–201, 260, 437, 439
Bulls: Mithras, 28; Eleusinia, 109; scrota,
180; sacrifices, 182–83, 281; Dionysos,
297
Büyük Kale (village), 115, 194, 438
Calvisius Ruso Iulius Frontinus, P. (proconsul), 220
Caracalla (emperor), third neokorate
temple, 246–47
Celsus heroon/library, xx, 137, 139, 169;
completion, 195; construction, 199,
200–202, 205; damage, 252, 270
chiliastys (1,000 citizens), 41
Christianization of landscape, 282–84
chrysophoroi (sacred victors), Salutaris
endowment, 184, 190, 437
Claudia Laterane, I. (prytanis), 194
Claudius Aristion, T. (benefactor), xix;
son, 130; conduit, fountain, envy of,
194–96; Celsus Library, 199, 231, 249;
damaged aqueduct, 252
Claudius Flavianus Dionysios, T. (sophist), xx, 196–97
Claudius Nikomedes, T. (Gerousia’s
advocate), 4, 82, 107; endowment,
214–17, 228, 243, 264, 270
Claudius Nysios, T. (prytanis, benefactor), inscription, 147, 162
Claudius Verulanus Marcellus, C. (benefactor), xx; marble panels donated,
197; rebuilt halls damaged by earthquake, 252
coins: Artemis Ephesia, Artemision, 6–7;
Lysimachos, 88; twice neokoros, 167;
Great Artemis type, 180; sacred cart,
birth, 185; Ephesos as First of Asia, 221,
235, 252; baskets, 293, 313
484
Commodus (Roman emperor), 8, 31;
Gerousia decree, 39, 41, 61, 75, 82–83,
86, 107, 191, 206; sacrifice to, 214–17;
plague during reign, 225, 233, 238, 245,
260–61, 263, 270, 295–98
comparative phenomenology of mystery
cults, 16, 24–25, 29
Constantius I (emperor), 254
Constantius II (emperor), removal of
statues, 170
conventus civium Romanorum (association of Roman citizens), 97
Cornelius Sulla Felix, L. (general), 94
Croesus (Lydian king): expelled Pindaros, 33; polis of, 62–63; enlarged harbor, 252
Cybele (cult and mysteries), 14, 16;
choral singers, 130
Darwin, 275, 286; Darwinian mysteries,
288
debt law, 55, 58
Demeas (Christian), 170, 284
Demeter (goddess), 4; Eleusinian, 12,
16; Thesmophoros, 19; Ephesian, 20;
establishes Eleusinian rites, 26, 34;
at Lykosoura, 78; worshippers, 108;
birth, 111; initiates, priestess of Sebaste
Demeter Karpophoros, 133; Demeter
Karpophoros priestesses in Smyrna,
134; Demeter Thesmophoros and
Herse priestess in Erythrai, 151; in
Smyrna, 157; Sebaste Demeter Karpophoros in Ephesos, 165; mysteries
of Demeter Karpophoros and Thesmophoros and of the gods Sebastoi in
Ephesos, 166–67; hierourgoi of Demeter Thesmophoros and Kore in Ephesos and statue in prytaneion, 174, 176;
mysteries of Demeter in Pergamon,
188; families subsidize cult, 193; statue
of Demeter Karpophoros in prytaneion, 208, 212; Demeter in Andanian
GENERAL INDEX
mysteries, 216, 237; in thanks inscriptions, 238–40; Demeter’s gift, 243; in
Pergamon, 272; in Eleusinian mysteries, 277, 278–80, 293–96, 299–304,
306–8, 437
Demetrios (“the slave of Artemis”), 7,
48
Demetrios Poliorketes (king, Besieger
of Cities), 8, 31; relations with Lysimachos, 43–44; garrisons Ephesos,
46; recapture of Ephesos, supporters, freedom of cities, loss of Ephesos,
epigraphic image, 50–59, 61, 63; and
Strabo, 66–67, 71, 73–74, 80, 83, 86,
266, 272
demos (citizen body, assembly of Ephesos): Euphronius decree, 40–41;
Salutaris endowment, 44, 46; voting on citizenship, Apollonides decree, Athenodoros crowned by,
49–52; Archestratos, Agathokles,
Thras[——], Nikagoras, Ainetos
decrees of, 54–58, 60; Athenis commended, 68; as sovereign power,
72–74, 88; Diodorus decree, Hekatokles crowned by, 105, 120; honored
by Mazaios and Mithridates, 136, 139;
Vipsania Olympias and Polla honored
by, 155; dedicates statue of Messalina,
as philosebastos, 158–61; in Salutaris
endowment, 184; honorary inscriptions for Baranos, Pamphilio, 190–91;
honors Pamphilio, Dionysios, latrine,
fountain dedicated to, 193–94; temple,
marble panels dedicated to, 196–97,
206–7; in Pedon edict, 222–24, 226,
228–29, 245, 248, 297–98
Despoina (Demeter’s daughter), Lykosoura, 78
Didyma (Apollo’s shrine): oracle, 19; neopoioi, 160–61, 313
Diocletian (emperor), dedications to,
254
General Index
Dionysos (cult and mysteries), 14, 16;
banquets, 82; Antony as, 96; associations for, 105; Dionysos Pandemos
in Kyme, 107, 114; Dionysos Phleus’s
priests, 123, 165, 167; priest of initiates, and Dionysos Breiseus in Smyrna,
130; Dionysos Breiseus’s mysteries in
Smyrna, 157; increased evidence for,
176; wealthy families support, 193;
statue of, 194, 212; mysteries, Dionysos Koreseitos’s initiates, Commodus
as, 216; banquets, 217; glass mosaic of,
248, 283, 290; priest Aptus, 249; mysteries disappear, 279; private support
for, 280; mysteries of, 293–302, 438
disynchronous history, 5
Domitian (emperor): Square, 101, 133,
146, 159, 161, 164–66, 170, 172, 269;
Street of, 295
“do ut des” (votive formula), 16, 18, 276
“drame de la Nativité” (drama of the nativity), 31, 103, 149–50, 289, 290, 292
earthquake(s), 31; in A.D. 23, 97; lower
agora damaged, 136, 138–39; Great
Artemis toppled, 180; prytaneion
damaged, 238; Plateia’s colonnade
damaged, 246; Terrace houses damaged, 248; in A.D. 262, 251–54, 256,
271, 275; in A.D. 358 and 368, 282, 305
Eleusinia (mysteries at Eleusis), 10, 14; as
salvation cult, 15, 16; Athenian regulation, 25–26; end of, 29; Demeter
establishes, 34; processions, 81–82;
pigs sacrificed, initiates searching for
Kore, 108–9; Kerykes, 131; initiation
stages, 135; competitive conformity,
145; hierophants, 148–50; hierophants’
tenure, 151; crowds at, 157, 165, 174;
reaped grain displayed at, 183; Iacchos procession, 216; banquets at, 217;
basket carriers at, 237, 265; modeling human and divine interactions,
485
277–279, 290–91, 294, 296; Eleusinian
priests, priestesses and cult attendants,
299–301
Embolos (street), xvi, xvii, xix, xxiii, 102,
136, 138, 169, 185; development, 193–
94; funerary monuments along, 196;
urban renewal, 198–200, 202, 204,
205, 218–19; Aptus apartment on, 248;
armature, 269; statues along, 281–83,
298, 304, 439
Ephebarchos (ephebes’ leader), 184, 190,
437
ephebeia, 106
Ephesos (history): capture by Lysimachos, 63, 82–83; from Attalus III
until Actium, 91–102; late first century B.C., 114–15; early first century A.D., 136; under Tiberius, 140–
43; late second century A.D., 221, 225–
28; third century A.D., 249–56
Ephesos (location), 62–63, 65, 91–92,
140–41
Ephesos (titles): “Metropolis of Asia,”
198, 221, 442, 453, 461–62, 472, 476,
479–80; “First of Asia,” 221
epikletoi (leaders), 41; Euphronius decree,
43–44, 46; constituted by Prepelaos,
49, 57; in Lysimachos’s government,
71–74; disappearance, 82–84
epimeletai (supervisors), 26
epistatai (civic superintendents), 26
epistemology: religion and science, 5;
polytheistic, 22, 276; series of, Christian, 286
epopteia (final viewing), 290, 437
epoptes (one who sees, one who has completed an initiation), 183, 437
Erastus, L. (ship captain), Hadrian’s letter for, 52
Erythrai (polis), xiii, 14; priestess of
Demeter and Herse, 151, 313
Essenes: Apollonides decree, 50–53, 57;
Artemision, 120, 438
486
Eternal Fire (cult in prytaneion), 4, 20;
rooms, 2–4; in prytaneion, 119, 132;
in Onesime’s thanks inscription, 238;
in Flaccilla’s thanks inscription, 239,
303–4; cult, 306–8
euochia (banquet, feasting), 106–7
Euodia Mudiane (priestess of Artemis),
completed mysteries, 155–56, 174
Euphronius (citizenship decree), 40–44;
embassy, 46; exemptions of Artemision, 49–50, 52, 57–58, 72–73,
83–84, 118, 120
eusebeia (piety): word’s history in Asia
Minor, 134; toward Artemis, 158, 162,
168, 203, 438; Kouretes’, 166, 438
eusebeis (pious), 122; Kouretes as, 134–35
evolutionary psychology, x, 259
Fabius Persicus, P. (Roman proconsul),
edict, 130
Favonia Flaccilla (prytanis, high priestess), 4, 20–21, 23; thanks inscription
to all gods, 239–41, 243, 292, 304–5
Flavius Damianus, T. (benefactor), xix;
stoa of, 64; wheat for Roman army
and stoa, 226–28; stoa damaged, 252,
270, 439
Fountain of Trajan (Nymphaeum), xix,
194, 196
frameworks of reference, 4
Fulvius Publicianus Nikephoros, M. (Asiarch, protokoures), subsidizes southern harbor gate, colonnades along Plateia, 245–47, 249
Galerius (emperor), dedication to and
statue, 254
Gallienus (emperor), 248
“Gate of Hadrian”: erected, 114;
A.D. 200–201, 248
Gerousia (Elders’ Council), xx, 3, 4;
in decree of, A.D. 180–92, 39–40; in
Euphronius decree, 41–44; and em-
GENERAL INDEX
bassy of 302 B.C., 46, 49, 57, 61; in
Lysimachos’s government, 71–75, 77,
78–79; feasting, sacrifices of, 82; role
during mysteries, 83–84, 86–88; age
admission, 106; banquets subsidized,
107; gerousiast, Gerousia’s singers in
Smyrna, 130; distributions to by Vipsania Olympias and Polla, 155; distributions to in Salutaris bequest, 184,
186, 213; Kouretes and councilors, 189,
191, 206; distributions to in Menemachos renewal, financial affairs, 213; in
Nikomedes endowment, 214, 215, 217,
222, 233; in Agathopous inscription,
238, 240, 243–44, 250, 260–61, 263,
266, 270, 438
Gordian II (emperor), dedication to,
254
Gordian III (emperor), 130; honorary
inscription, 232
Hadrian (emperor), xix, 52, 54; hymnodoi for, 130; dedication for, Pergamon,
179–80, 185; latrine dedicated to, 194;
temple dedicated to, marble panels in
honor of, 196–98; “Gate of Hadrian,”
200–202; neokoria from, 221; adopts
Pius, 227; Great Hadriana, Olympieion repaired, 245–46, 248, 254,
296–97, 305, 310
hagnearch (cult advisor): defined, 175–76,
179, 186, 211; among hierourgoi, 236,
244, 297
hagnos (ritually pure), as epithet, 159
hebdomokoures (seventh Koures): defined, 178; in Ancestral Law, 208, 210,
214, 236, 438
Hera (goddess): role in Artemis’s birth,
3, 4, 7, 9; in Strabo, 35; Livia’s identification with, 101, 109; birth of, and
Kouretes, 111–13, 115, 156, 168, 203, 229,
244, 249, 256, 262, 270, 275, 277, 285,
439
General Index
Herakleides Passalas (gymnasiarch),
honored Augustus as ktistes, 105
Hermos River (Gediz), xiii, 44, 226
Heroon of Androklos, xix, 137
Herostratos (destroyer of classical Artemision), 33, 48, 253
Hestia (goddess): thanks to, 4, 20; prytaneion as sanctuary of, 99–100; birth
of, 111; hearth of, 119, 132, 154; Hall of,
235; thanks to Hestia Boulaia, 238–39,
243, 299; Hestia Boulaia, room, 303–8
hestiouchos (hearth supervisor), 234, 240,
304, 438
hierarchies (in cults, society): and status,
25; in Mithras cults, 29; hierarchization, 49, 71; local, 102; of piety, 121,
130; civic, 135; theological, 146; divine,
168; offices, seventh Koures, 177–78,
190; in distributions, 193, 195, 203;
monetary expression, 213; in sacrifices,
215; of initiates, 236, 268; increase, 272,
279; and Roman, divine order, 282–83,
290
hierokeryx (sacred herald): defined, 130–
31; in order, 147–48; tenure, among
hierourgoi, 151–52, 154, 179, 186, 248,
299, 438
Hieron Aristogiton (prytanis), as sebastos, 159
hierophant (discloser of “secret” to initiates), 3, 130; defined, at Eleusis, 147–
49; tenure of, families of, 151–52, 154,
171; doubling, and hagnearchs, 175–
76; cultic work load, 179–80; family
of Mundicii, 183–84, 186; in Ancestral Law, 208–13, 218; sacrificial duties,
234–36; status of, 243–44, 260, 277;
in Dionysia, Eleusinia, 296–300, 438
hieropoioi (sacred assistants), in Eleusinia, 26
hieroskopos (inspector of sacrificial victims): defined, 147–48; tenure, 151,
175, 179, 438
487
hieros logos (sacred story), of Artemis’s
birth, 9, 34, 109, 284, 438
hierourgoi (cult attendants), 9; defined,
123; tenure, duties, status, 151–53; in
cults, development of offices, 173–
78; separate from Kouretes, expansion, 179–180; status, relations, 186–
87; title, in Ancestral Law, 207–8;
roster changes, 211; during third century A.D., 236–37; consolidation, 243–
44; compensation, 299, 438
Hippodamus (city planner), 69
Hippostratos (Lysimachos’s friend), honorary decree, 59, 63, 68
hymnodos (choral singer): defined, 130;
of Artemis, 184; during third century A.D., 232; Dionysian, 296–98,
300, 438
Ignatius (Saint), 15; and reverse engineering, 287
initiations, 3, 5; theories, Christianizing
assumptions, 15–17; and votive religion, 23–24; Eleusis, Isis, Mithras,
26–29; evocation? 38, 40, 106–7; Dionysian, 108; vocabulary of, 109, 131–32;
Samothrace, 134; and Kouretes’ lists,
135–36, 149–50; and authority, 157–58,
175; revelation of secrets, 183; and
families, 193, 205, 211; fees, 218, 234,
236, 242, 250, 259–65, 270–71, 290–92,
300, 437
inscriptions: new discoveries, interpreting, 8–14; dedicatory, 18–21; five thousand from Ephesos, 30; presentation,
audiences, 123–28; thanks, 232, 237,
239–41; and sacralized authority, 268,
274, 278; decline of epigraphy, 283,
439
Isis (cult, mysteries), 14, 16, 25; Lucius’s
initiation into, 26–28; banquets, 82;
temple of ? 99, 217; disappearance, 279;
experience of, 291, 293
488
isonomic polis: defined, 34, 87; twilight
of, 272
Iulia Potentilla, bequest, 248
Iulius Aquila Polemaeanus, T., 195, 199
Iulius Caesar, G., xvi, xvii, xix, 92; civil
wars, assassination, 95–96; sacred precinct for, 97–99, 102, 115, 118, 167
Iulius Celsus Polemaeanus, T., 195, 199–
200, 252
Iulius Epagathus, C. (prytanis), 235, 245,
297–98
Iulius Nikephoros, C. (Ephesian benefactor, prytanis for life), 99, 102
kalathephoroi (basket carriers), 232; Eleusinian, 237, 239, 303
Kassander (Macedonian king), 45–46, 51
Kaystros River (Küçük Menderes), xiii,
xv, 44, 54; silting, 65, 93; river god,
198, 220
Kenchrios River (Arvalya Çayi), xiv, 3;
in Strabo, 35–36, 81, 103, 112; statue?
198, 438
Kinnaios (Theos), 304, 306–8
kiste (basket), at Eleusinia, 237, 297
Klazomenai (polis), 14, 54–55, 313
Kolophon (polis), xiii, 45; synoicized, 69,
71, 77, 80, 85, 266, 272
Kore (goddess), 4, 20; Eleusis, 109; initiates, 133; mysteries of, 165; hierourgoi
of, 174, 176, 193; mysteries, 212, 237; in
thanks inscription, 239, 243; in Pergamon, 272; at Eleusis, 277; thanks inscriptions, disappearance, 278–79,
293–95; in Smyrna, 296; Ephesos,
Eleusinian priestess of, 299; priests in
Eleusis, Lerna, 300; Roman citizens in
cult, 301, 302; in prytaneion, 303–4,
308
Koressian Gate, 70, 185, 227
Koressos (northern slope of Panayirdag),
xix, xx, 33; harbor of, 65; heights, 68,
198, 297, 438
GENERAL INDEX
Kouretes: at birth of Artemis, drinking
parties, 3–4; review of evidence for,
7–13, 20, 31–32; in Strabo, 35–36; in
Euphronius decree, 40–44, 46; embassy to Prepelaos, 49–50, 57, 61, 72,
78–79; and libanotopolion, 83–84, 92,
100, 103–4; as archeion, symposia,
mystic sacrifices, 108–9; Cretan compared to Ephesian, 110–13; Ephesian,
Olympian order, 114–15; transfer of
to prytaneion, 118–19, 120–21, 122;
lists of Kouretes, prytaneis, cult attendants, function, 123–28; cult attendants, offices, Kouretes, 128–32; prytaneis, Kouretes during Tiberius’s reign,
132–34; piety of defined, 134–35; and
processional way, 138–39, 141–44;
first century A.D. lists of, 145–47; cult
attendants, offices, Kouretes, and celebration of mysteries, 148–50, 152–53;
reorganization of mysteries, 153–58;
philosebastoi, 158–62; status, family
relations, wealth, competition, and
Roman citizenship of in first century A.D., 162–69, 170–71; early second century A.D. lists of, 172–73; cult
attendants, Kouretes, seventh Koures,
and mysteries, 173–80; and bull sacrifices? 182–83, 184, 186; legal, political
status, wealth, influence, family relations in early second century A.D.,
187–93; euergetism of in context,
193–99, 246–51; changed role of,
202–3, 205; lists of during late second
century A.D., 206; Kouretes, prytaneis,
piety, wealth, 207; in Ancestral Law,
208–12; in renewal of Menemachos,
212–14, 217–19, 221–22, 229; changes
in number of, 230; third century A.D.
fragmentary lists of, 231–32; injunction
against, lists, protokoures, Kouretes’
numbers, 233–37, 238–39; in thanks
inscription of Favonia, 240–41; sur-
General Index
vival into third century A.D., interpretation of evidence, 241–43; legal,
political status of, 244–46; at sea, 256;
initiation rituals and traits of identity,
259–63, 265; and authority, 267–70;
and change, 272–73; and the secret
of the mysteries, 275–79; last dance
of, 280, 282, 285; and the memeplex,
286–88, 290–91, 300, 303, 305, 308–10,
437, 438, 439
Küçük Kale (village), 115–16
Laecanius Bassus, C. (proconsul), xix,
159; water tank of, 220
Lebedos (polis), xiii; synoicized, 69, 71,
77, 80, 85, 266, 272
Leto (Artemis’s mother): statues of, 3,
38, 79–80, 103; giving birth, 4, 7, 9, 34;
in Strabo, 35–36; in Diodorus, 111–14,
122, 143, 156, 162, 185, 203, 260, 262,
270, 275, 277, 281, 285; shrine in city?
304, 311, 438
Licinius Lucullus, L. (patron of Ephesos), 94
Lucius Verus (emperor): initiated into
Eleusinia, 149; married in Ephesos,
221; Parthian campaign, 225; cenotaph? 227
Lycus (Lysimachos’s general), capture of
Ephesos, 58–59, 72
Lysimachos (king, founder of Arsinoeia),
8, 31, 37; in Gerousia decree, 39, 43;
and embassy of 302 B.C., 44–50;
struggles against Poliorketes, epigraphical image created, 51–58; recapture of Ephesos, 58–60, 61; Arsinoeia’s foundation, 62–67; city wall,
synoicism, 67–71; government, 71–74;
rearrangement of mysteries and sacrifices, 75–83; religion, authority in Arsinoeia, 85–87; death, renaming Arsinoeia, legacies, 87–88, 91–92; lower
agora’s rectangular grid plan, 97; Arte-
489
mision and polis, 116–17, 121, 193, 215,
217, 228, 233–34, 238, 242, 260, 263–
64, 266–67, 272–73, 277, 280–81, 286,
292, 311, 437, 439
Magna Mater (cult and mysteries), 14
Magnesian Gate, xvi, xvii, xix, 184, 194,
198, 218, 227
mantelarioi, 241
Marcus Aurelius (emperor): daughter,
221; Parthian campaign, 225, 249
Marnas River (Degirmen), xv, xvi, xvii,
xix; floodplain, god, 65–67, 88; waters
feed Nymphaeum of Frontinus, 220
Mary (cult), xx; church of, house on Aladag, death, 282–85
Massilia, Ephesieion, 6
Mausoleum of Belevi, tomb of Antiochus II? 91, 252
Mausoleum of Halicarnassus, and Skopas, 38
Maximinus Thrax (emperor): Epinikia?
245, 247; dedication to, 254
Mazaios and Mithridates (Augustus’s
freedmen), xvi, xvii, 105; Gate of,
136–37, 169
Megabuzos (Artemision’s eunuch priest),
40, 47–48, 120, 265
melodos (singer), 237
memes (memetic theory): memeplex,
unit of cultural inheritance, 22, 285;
memes, mysteries, competition between polytheism and Christianity,
287–89
Mestrius Florus, L. (proconsul), 166, 174,
294
Miletos (polis), xiii, 91; banquets, 107,
142; Gaius’s cult, 160; Eleusinian cult,
300
Mithradates VI (king of Pontos), 31; asylum, Asian Vespers, 93–94, 96, 116
Mithras (cult and mysteries), 6, 14, 16,
25; “Mithraism,” mithraea, syndexioi,
490
Mithras (cult and mysteries) (continued)
28–29; banquets, 82; sacrifices, 109;
initiation stages, 135, 217, 279, 290
Mithras (priest of Isis), 27
Mucius Scaevola, Q. (proconsul), 93
muein (to initiate), 108
muesis (preliminary initiation), 108, 149
mustagogos (initiates’ leader), 130, 296–
97, 300
mustai (those who close their eyes, initiates), 40, 106, 109, 134–35, 216, 293–
97
musteriarches (initiates’ leader), 236
mustes (initiate), 109
“mysteries of all the gods,” 77, 212
mystery cults (defined), 16
“mystic sacrifices,” 4; in Strabo, 36, 38,
40–41, 78–79, 92, 103–4; defined,
107–10, 113–15, 122, 125, 129, 131, 134–
35, 139, 145, 150, 154–56, 158, 162–63;
connection to Artemis statues, 182–83,
192, 210, 213–14, 233, 242, 259–60,
262–63, 273
neoi (young men), 9, 82; defined, banquets, 103–7, 122, 135, 164, 211, 260,
290, 438
neokoros (warden, priest, benefactor): of
Artemis, 6; and sebastoi, 167; third,
221; Aptus, 249, 276, 438
neopoiai/-oi (temple wardens), 40; defined, 43–44, 46, 49, 52, 54–57, 72,
83–84, 120, 161, 179; in Salutaris endowment, 184, 190, 197, 241, 438
neuroscience, x, 5, 18; challenges to, 259,
463
Nikagoras, citizenship decree to, 56–58,
74
Octagon (Arsinoê IV tomb), xix, 137
Octavian (future Emperor Augustus),
92; in Ephesos after Actium, creation
of cults of Roma, Iulius in city, 96–99;
GENERAL INDEX
and Artemision, 114–15, 119, 121, 141,
167, 268, 272
oikonomos (treasurer), defined, 50–52, 57,
438
Olympieion, xx; second neokorate
temple, 246, 282
Ortygia (Arvalya?), xiv; grove, Artemis’s
nurse, 3, 7–9, 11, 18, 31; location, 34–37;
Skopas’s statue of, 38, 40, 42, 61;
shrine, statue of savior there? 78–82,
85, 86; as Arsinoeia’s religious center,
88, 100; general festival there, 103–4,
109–10; nativity there compared to
Zeus’s birth on Crete, 112–14, 122,
129; and processional route, 135–40;
associated rights, 140–44; ceremonies
there, 149–50; symposia, mystic sacrifices there, 154–56, 158, 164, 167; alterations to processional route, 169–70,
171, 175, 182, 185; and “Serapeion” construction, 199–200, 202, 203–4, 205,
211; distributions there, 217, 229, 234,
259–60, 262; and traits of identity,
263–66, 269; and Artemis the Savior,
272, 274, 277–78, 281, 289, 291–92, 295,
305, 311, 438, 439
Osiris (god), 26, 293
paean, in Ancestral Law, 208–11, 270,
312
paides (boys), 106; in Salutaris bequest,
184, 299
paidonomoi (supervisors of boys), 184
Paionios (Artemision architect), 7, 48
Panayirdag (twin hills overlooking Ephesos), xv, xvi, xvii, xviii, xix, xxi, 33; and
Arsinoeia, walls on, 64–70; heroon,
95, 97, 136, 193; Via Sacra along, 227,
260; Demeter, Kore, Dionysos worshipped on, 295–96; Apollo worshipped on, 304, 438–39
panegyriarchos (festival superintendent),
191
General Index
panegyris (general festival): Ephesos, 7,
103; Isthmian, 104, 439
“panta ta musteria” (all the mysteries),
77, 212
paraphulax (security chief ), 190, 197
“Parthian Monument,” 227
Paul (Apostle), xx; and riot in Ephesos, 6,
15, 68, 285; reverse engineer, 287, 291
peregrine: defined, 123, 128–29, 132–33,
162; among Kouretes, 165–66, 245,
297–98, 309–10
Pergamon (polis), xiii, 13; walls, 68; reign
of Eumenes II, 91; death of Attalus III,
92, 96; hymnodoi, 130, 132, 179; rivalry
with Ephesos, 143; Roman citizens and
Demeter’s cult and mysteries, 157, 188,
221; cults of Demeter and Kore expanded, 272–73; wealthy families supporting cults, city, 281, 313
philartemis (devoted to Artemis), 160
Philetairos, and Pergamon, 68
philosebastoi (devoted to Roman emperors): Kouretes’ epithet defined, 158–
62, 167, 187, 203; initiates as, 216, 240,
245, 439
“plague,” 31; in A.D. 166/67, 225–28, 230;
in third century A.D., 251, 270, 275
Plateia (Marble Street or Broadway), xvi,
xvii, xx; upgrade in Arsinoeia, 70; first
century A.D. move eastward, 136–39,
169, 185, 193; “Gate of Hadrian” at
intersection, 200, 204–5; colonnades
along, 246–47, 269, 439
Polyperchon (Poliorketes’s ally), 51
Popillius Carus Pedon, G. (proconsul):
edict, 222–24
prayer, 10, 16, 26–27, 50–51; in Salutaris
bequest, 184–85, 208; cultic, 210–11; of
the polis, 226, 261, 270, 276, 278–79;
to Mary, 284–85, 303; of the prytanis
Tullia, 306, 312
Prepelaos (Lysimachos’s officer), 8, 41;
embassy to, 43–47, 49–50, 52–53,
491
57–58, 67; government when in
charge, 72–74, 82–83
Priene (polis), xiii, 14; Hiero, tyrant of,
56; exiles from, 57; territory ravished,
63; city plan, acreage, 68; urban planning of, 70
processional “choreography,” 139
progenesteroi theoi (gods older than all),
306–8
prytaneia (office of the prytanis), 123
prytaneion (prytaneis’ office), xvi, xvii,
xix, 4, 9, 11–12, 20, 23, 78; Kouretes’
transfer to, location, 92; construction
date, 99–101; construction, Augustus’s
policies, 118–21, 122; Kouretes’ lists in,
123–28; Kouretes’ base, 129, 131; Eternal Fire there, 132, 135, 138, 145–47, 152;
cults of reorganized, 153–58; early second century A.D. Kouretes’ lists there,
172–173; Demeter statue within, 174;
cult attendants of, 176–77, 186–87;
cult statues of Artemis there, 180–83,
184; prytaneis of, 189; cults of Apollo,
Sopolis within, 203; in Ancestral Law,
208–10; in Menemachos renewal, 214,
218; Apollo’s shrine within, 226, 230;
cults reorganized again, 232, 233; architect of the goddess, 235; consolidation
of cultic personnel, 237–38; third century A.D. cultic occupants, 239, 242–
43, 245–46, 249–50, 261, 267, 271–72,
278, 280; destroyed by mid-fourth century A.D., 282, 303–8, 439
prytanis, prytaneis (president[s] of the
prytaneion), 4, 9–11, 13, 20, 55, 92, 99,
107–8; management of mysteries, election, responsibilities to, 120; history
of office, gender of holders, political
status, family relations, wealth, 122–23;
inscriptions dated by, as record of celebrations of mysteries, 125–28; political
status, wealth of in first century A.D.,
132, 134, 162; first century A.D. lists
492
prytanis, prytaneis (continued)
of, other inscriptions, 145–46, 152;
reorganization of celebration of mysteries, 153–58; Hieron Aristogiton,
159; relations of Kouretes, prytaneis,
Roman citizenship of prytaneis, 163–
65; evidence for early second century A.D., 172; duties of, 173–74; cultic
advisers to, 176, 177; seventh Koures
and, Kouretes and prytanis related,
178, 180; cult attendants and, 182–86;
as Roman citizens, 187; wealth of,
189, 190; related second century A.D.
Kouretes, prytaneis, 191–92; Aristion,
194; wealth of, 195, 197; and civic hierarchy, 203; in late second century A.D.,
206; relations among Kouretes and,
duties of, Ancestral Law, 207–11; in
Menemachos renewal, 213–14, 219,
230; thanks inscriptions of, 232; third
century A.D. prytanis celebrating mysteries for salvation? 233–34; Caesar,
Artemis as, 234–35; and ancestral customs, 235, 236; and cultic consolidation, 237–38; thanks inscriptions of
Agathopous, Favonia Flaccilla, 238–41,
242–44; related third century A.D.
Kouretes, prytaneis, wealth of, 245; financial difficulties of in context, 246–
50, 261, 267–68, 270–72, 275, 278, 280,
292, 297–98, 300, 303–6, 311–2, 438
Ptolemy I (Soter), 45, 51, 56, 63
Ptolemy II (Philadelphus), 88, 91
publicani (public tax collectors), 93, 95
pyrriche (weapon dance), 109
Quintilia Varilla (Artemis priestess), 194,
196
Quintilius Valens Varius, P. (benefactor),
194, 196
reciprocity, 22–23, 277, 279
Respa (Gothic chieftain), 31, 253
GENERAL INDEX
ritual: models of, 5; of mysteries, titles,
agency, 9–18; adaptation, 20–22, 24;
interpretation, 29–30; evocations, 38;
symposia, 41; sacrificial, 82; building
community through, social encoding,
86; and space, 102, 108; military, political imprints in, 121; fusion, office titles,
122–23; canon, 125–26; historization of,
128; music, dance at, 129; initiations,
131–32, 135; at Triodos, 138; and processional route, 139; titles, 145–46; incense
offering, list, 148–49; Eleusinia, 150;
expertise and skill, 151–53; and reorganization of mysteries, 153–58; in Demeter’s mysteries, 166–67; assimilation of
emperors into mysteries, 168; offices
expanded, civic rituals, hierarchy of
offices, 171–77, 179; Artemis statues
and rituals, 182; and increased business,
183–85; expertise handed down, 186;
dramatizations and socioeconomic
disparities, 193, 202; in Ancestral Law,
208–212; in Nikomedes endowment,
215–17, 225; ritual revival, 229; rituals in
third century A.D., Kouretes’ lists, 231;
initiations, 234; in thanks inscriptions,
237–40, 243; traditional rituals, 250,
256; theories of, 259; initiation rituals? 260–62; tradition, canons, traits
of ritual identity, context, 262–65; authority, theology, 265–71; rituals mediating change, 273–74; and salvation, as
experiment, 277–78; new rituals, 283;
modern models of, 285–88; and epistemological limits, 289–92; in different
cults, 300, 311–12, 438–39
salpiktes (trumpeter), defined, 176–77,
179, 186, 210, 244
Samothrace: and Lysimachos, 81; initiates
there, 134; Roman initiates, 188; mysteries in Ephesos, 293; Samothrakion,
298, 301–2
General Index
sebastophant (revealer of Augustus), 165
“secret” of Artemis’s mysteries, 275–79
Seleucus I (ruler of upper satrapies), 45,
56
Selinous/Selenus River (Abuhayat), xv,
65, 439
Senate (Rome), 11; Artemidoros’s visit to,
93; recognizes Artemis’s rights, sanctity, 96; voted epithet Augustus to
Octavian, 99, 102, 116; Artemis’s privileges argued before, 122–23; men from
eastern provinces in, 133; Ephesian ambassadors with charter appear before,
140–41; Tiberius and Senate deny
Ephesos temple, 142–43, 156, 160, 167,
185; wealth of, 189; prayer on behalf of,
208–11, 261, 269–70, 312
“Serapeion,” xx, 169; construction date?
199–200, 202; eastern hall destroyed,
252, 270
Servilius Vatia Isauricus, P. (proconsul),
cult of, 95
Sevilia Secunda (priestess of Sebaste
Demeter Karpophoros), 133, 165, 294
Sextilius Pollio, C. (benefactor), xvi, xvii,
xix; basilica stoa, bouleuterion, 101–2
Skopas of Paros (sculptor), 36; and Ortygia statue group, 3, 38, 79–80, 185,
259, 262, 311
Smyrna (polis), xiii, 13; neoi, 106; hymnodoi, 130; Demeter’s priestesses, 134;
temple awarded, 142–43; mysteries of
Dionysos, Demeter, 157, 160; sebastophant in, 165, 221; sophist Polemo, 228;
wealthy families of, 281; Demeter’s
priests and priestesses there, 295; mustai, sunmustai, thiasotai, 296, 313
Solmissos, Mt., xv, 3–4, 9, 31–32; in
Strabo, 35, 84, 112; route up to, 138–39,
143, 153, 156, 158, 162, 169, 268, 275
Sopolis (Savior god of the polis), 4, 20,
180; altar of, 190, 203, 212; in Flaccilla’s
thanks inscription, 239, 304–8
493
spondaules (pipe player): defined, 128–29;
in Kouretes’ lists, 147–48, 151; training, talent required, 177, 179, 211, 244,
439
stereotypes about mystery cults, 14–16,
24–25
Stertinius Orpex (benefactor), 107
sunhedrion (association): Gerousia, 39,
75–78, 82, 214–15; Kouretes, 84, 129,
187, 213, 241, 439
sunmustai (ones initiated along with
others), 296
sunodos (association, often religious),
neoi, 106, 439
symposia (ritual drinking parties): in
Strabo, 36, 41, 79, 92, 103; of Kouretes,
108, 110, 113, 114–15, 122, 125, 129, 134–
35, 139, 145, 150, 154–56, 163, 210–11;
cost, 213–14, 260, 262–63, 273
synoikismos (joining of communities), at
Arsinoeia, 69
synthema (password in Eleusinia), 237
telete (initiation rite), at Eleusinia, 26,
40, 439
“Temple of Hadrian,” xix, 196–97, 254
Temple of the Sebastoi, xvi, xvii, xix;
dedication, 159, 161, 167, 193
Terrace House 1, xvi, xvii, xix; size, 136;
domus in, 251
Terrace House 2, xvi, xvii, xix; size, 136,
220; redecoration, 248–49, 251–52, 297
Thargelion (late April/early May), 3;
Salutaris bequest, 184
Themelioi (gods), 305, 307–8
theologoi (declaimers), 184
thesmodoi (singers), 184
thiasos (cult association), 104
Thuruar (Gothic chieftain), 31, 253
thusia (sacrifices), in Gerousia decree,
40, 273
Tiberius (emperor), 9–11, 31, 78, 84, 108,
119, 122–23, 125, 128, 130–35; asylum
494
GENERAL INDEX
Tiberius (continued)
rights argued during reign, 140–42;
application to build temple for denied,
142–43, 145–47, 153–54, 156–57, 160,
165, 168–69, 182, 185, 209, 237, 241,
260, 268–69, 281, 293–94, 299, 303,
308, 439
“traits of identity,” in mystery cults, 16,
29, 31, 207, 259, 262–63, 300
Trajan (emperor), xix, 15, 28, 180, 182;
statue of, 184; Fountain of, and Aristion, 194–96; propylon dedicated to,
200, 296
Tralleis (polis), xiii, 14; tableware made
in, 220
Triodos (intersection of three roads), xvi,
xvii, xxiii; Artemis’s altar at, 136–39,
169; propylon at, 200–201, 205, 227,
269, 284, 437, 439
Via Sacra (Sacred Road), 64, 227
Vibius Salutaris, C. (benefactor), 13, 43,
172; bequest, 184–85, 214
Vipsania Olympias (Artemis priestess),
completed mysteries, sacrifices, 155–56,
233
Vipsania Polla (Artemis priestess), completed mysteries, sacrifices, 155–56,
233
votive formula, 4, 18; nuances, 20–25,
223; breakdown of, 276, 279, 287
votive religion, 4; defined, 16, 18; adaptive character, 21; sacrifice’s role
within, 263, 274, 276, 279; as evolutionary epistemology, 286–87
xoana (statues), in Ortygia, 38
xystoi (open spaces, spots plaza), xx, 197,
252
Vedia Phaedrina (wife of Flavius Damianus), 226–27
Vedius Antoninus, P. (prytanis, adoptive
father), 162
Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus, P., xx, 197–98, 218–19, 226,
231, 245, 249, 439
Veduc (Gothic chieftain), 31, 253
Zeus (god), xix, 9; the Highest, 18, 22;
birth on Crete, 42, 101; upbringing
on Crete, connections to Kouretes,
110–13, 129, 141, 163; epithet, 165; mysteries of Zeus Panhellenios, 176, 216;
Hadrian as Olympian Zeus, 197; Zeus
Huetios, 228; Zeus Panhellenios, 295,
297, 299; Zeus Patroios, 304, 306
Index of Ancient Authors
Achilles Tatius, 117, 185, 297, 347n88
Aelius Aristides, 143, 253, 316n18, 336n46,
404n197
Apollodorus, 358n137
Appian, 94, 341n4, 350n19, 350nn21–22,
350nn25–26, 351n34, 351nn41–42
Apuleius, 18, 26–27, 291
Aristophanes, 216, 378n10
Aristotle, 287, 291, 327n127, 328n133,
331n6, 352n50
Arrian, 335n44, 336n69, 336n71, 336n73,
341n1
Athenaeus, 63, 316n19, 433n73, 434n11
Caesar, 351nn32–33
Cassius Dio, 97, 99, 105, 160, 225, 351n39,
352n51, 352n53, 353n61, 372n96,
384n74, 412n95
Cicero, 19, 105, 409n54
Clement, 327n127, 416n40
Cyril of Alexandria, 253, 420n123
Dio Chysostom, 104, 143, 149, 253,
316n18, 355n86, 377n5, 378n16,
420n129, 420n131
Diodorus, 42, 44, 45–46, 51, 53, 72–74,
110–13, 335n36, 336nn47–51, 336nn53–
60, 338n88, 343n26, 344n53, 345n66,
355n87, 356n89, 358n138, 359nn140–50,
385n87, 390n18
Diogenes Laertius, 334n31
Dionysios (of Halikarnassos), 109,
358n134
Dionysios (Periegetes), 296, 431n38
Duris, 64, 66, 341n11
Eunapius, 151, 425n61
Euripides, 22, 128, 248
Eustathius, 340n137
Frontinus, 59, 340n134
Galen, 400n121
Gregory (Nazianzenos), 330n154
Herodotus, 293, 331n3, 421n127
Hesiod, 21, 358n137
Hesychios, 377n5, 378n12
Hippolytus, 148, 393n67
Homer, 42, 325n102
Isocrates, 134, 371n77, 378n10
Jordanes, 253, 419n107, 420n127, 466
Julian, 358n129
Juvenal, 358n129
Kallimachos, 336n62, 358n137, 359n152
Lucian, 216–17, 298
Luke (Acts), 315n10, 412n89
Menander, 248, 418n92
Ovid, 19
Palladius, 420n133
Pausanias, 6, 7, 62, 78, 316n11, 327n127,
331n1, 332n19, 333n25, 337n83, 341n2,
341n4, 343n40, 344n53, 346nn74–75,
350n10, 355n85, 372n96, 422n26
495
496
Philostratos, 157, 197, 227–28, 255,
403n190, 406n4, 413n111
Plato, 327n127, 367n136
Pliny (the Elder), 316n20, 331n3, 333n25,
334n31
Pliny (the Younger), 194–95
Plutarch, 53, 59, 149, 338nn103–4
338nn106–7, 340n134, 351nn39–41,
351n46, 372n99, 378n16, 431n32
Polyaenus, 53–54, 58–59, 338–39nn108–9,
340n127, 340n134, 341n2, 349n116,
433n73
Polybius, 45, 91
Seneca, 158
Servius, 298
Stephanos (of Byzantium), 64, 304,
340n137
Strabo, 9, 11, 35–38, 40–42, 58, 62–64,
71–72, 74, 77–79, 82, 91, 103–16, 118,
122, 129, 134, 139, 141, 150, 154–56,
164, 182, 185, 209, 211–12, 214, 233,
242, 262–63, 265, 267–68, 285, 296,
INDEX OF ANCIENT AUTHORS
311, 316n13, 317n25, 319n45, 326n104,
331n1, 332–33n23, 334n31, 336n63,
336n70, 336n72, 337n83, 340n137,
341n2, 341n11, 344n56, 345n65,
347n84, 349n1, 350n14, 350n18,
351n43, 354n80, 355n83, 355n85,
358n126, 358n138, 363n197, 364n4,
373n109, 374n112, 383n52, 385n87,
405n212, 418n91, 434n17
Suetonius, 362n188
Syncellus, 420n128
Tacitus, 11, 136, 140–42, 156, 317n30,
343n21, 371n84, 373n109, 374n112,
374n114, 374n122, 418n91, 431n29
Theophrastus, 16
Ulpian, 350n11
Vitruvius, 316n18
Xenophon (of Athens), 334n31
Xenophon (of Ephesos), 106, 355n82
Index of Inscriptions
Kouretes’ and closely related inscriptions cited from
Die Inschriften von Ephesos (IE).
IE
10
Page
312, 363n1, 364n8, 379n19,
390n13, 391n32, 392n44, 406n2,
406n9, 406n12, 407n20,
433n78, 434n5
26
39–40, 311, 312, 317n26, 332n17,
333n27, 334n29, 346nn68–70,
347n85, 349n112, 357n108,
396n88, 406n3, 409n40,
414n14, 416n48
27
316n15, 335n42, 350n10, 365n11,
389n5, 389n7, 395nn75–76,
424n49
47
319n43, 389n5, 406n3, 408n30,
417n71, 429n133, 433n62
613A 408n31
974
310, 312, 366n23, 391n32,
414nn5–6, 415n27, 415nn31–34,
417n66, 417n76
1001
309, 311, 317nn32–33, 361n83,
365n21, 366n22, 366n35, 369n59,
369n62, 369n67, 370n73, 376–
77n3, 386n110, 407n16, 408n24
1002
152, 309, 366–67n35, 369n59,
369n62, 369n67, 370n69,
370n73, 375–76n2, 380n39,
383n59, 386n110, 389n8
1002A 309, 367n35, 369n59, 376–77n3,
386n110
1003
309, 367n35, 370n73, 380n30,
386n110
1004 152, 173, 309, 311, 346n77, 375n1,
IE
Page
1004 (continued)
375–77nn2–5, 380nn24–25,
380n28, 380n30, 380n37, 380n39,
384n82, 385n86, 385n102,
386n110, 390n8
1005
309, 375n2, 376–77nn3–4,
380nn24–25, 380n28, 380n30,
380n39, 384n65, 385n86,
385n102, 386n110
1006 152, 309, 358n128, 375–77nn2–3,
380nn24–25, 380n28, 380n30,
380n39, 385nn89–90, 385nn96–
97, 386n110
1007 152, 309, 375–76nn2–3,
380nn24–25, 380n28, 380n30,
380n39, 386n110
1008
309, 358n128, 375–77nn2–3,
380n24, 380n26, 380n28,
380n30, 384n65, 385n86,
385nn91–92, 385nn96–97,
385n102, 386n110
1009 309, 375–77nn2–3, 380n24,
380n26, 380n28, 380n30,
384nn83–84, 385n93, 385nn96–
97, 386n110
1010
147, 309, 375–77nn2–3, 380n24,
380n26, 380n29, 380n31,
385nn85–86, 385n102, 386n110,
391n23, 396n92
1011
309, 358n128, 375–76nn2–3,
497
498
IE
Page
1011 (continued)
380n24, 380n26, 380n29,
380n32, 385n102, 386n110
1012
309, 365n11, 375–77nn2–3,
380n24, 380n26, 380n29,
380n32, 384n65, 385n86,
385n102, 386n110, 388n5
1013
309, 375n2, 376–77n3, 380n24,
380n26, 380n29, 380n32,
384n65, 385n86, 385n89, 385n94,
385nn96–97, 385n102, 386n110
1014
309, 375n2, 376n3, 380n24,
380n26, 380n29, 380n32, 380n37,
384n65, 385n102, 386n110
1015
147, 149, 152, 175, 309, 311, 375n2,
376–77n3, 379n17, 380n24,
380n27, 380n29, 380n32, 380n37,
380n39, 384n65, 385nn95–96,
385n101, 386n110, 388n5, 390n19,
395n84, 397n100
1016
309, 385n86, 386n110, 390n19,
391n23, 395n84, 395n86, 396n92,
396n98, 401n150
1017
173, 175, 309, 369n57, 380n37,
380n39, 386n110, 390n19,
395nn83–84, 396nn92–93,
396n98
1018
128, 309, 365n14, 380nn39–40,
386n110, 395nn83–84, 395–
96n86, 396nn92–93, 396n98
1019
309, 380n39, 386n110, 395nn83–
84, 395–96n86, 396nn92–93,
397n100
1020
309, 380n39, 382n49, 386n110,
388n5, 395nn83–84, 395–96n86,
396nn92–93, 396n98, 398n108,
401n131, 433n58
1021
309, 364n9, 365n11, 380n39,
386n110, 388n5, 395nn83–84,
396nn92–93, 396n98, 401n151
1022
309, 365n14, 380n39, 386n110,
389n5, 390n19, 395n83–84, 395–
INDEX OF INSCRIPTIONS
IE
Page
1022 (continued)
96n86, 396nn92–93, 396n98,
398n108, 400n126, 401n135,
401n152
1023
13, 309, 380n39, 386n110, 390n19,
395nn83–84, 395–96n86,
396n92–93, 396n98, 398n108,
401n130, 401n153, 402n157
1024 306, 309, 362n186, 380n39,
386n110, 390n19, 392n57,
395nn83–84, 395–96n86,
396nn92–93, 396n98, 398n108,
401n130, 412n100, 434n21
1025
309, 380n39, 390n19, 395nn83–
84, 395–96n86, 396nn92–93,
397n100
1026
309, 379n17, 380n39, 390n19,
395nn83–84, 396n86, 396n89,
396nn92–93, 397n100
1027
309, 390n19, 395n84, 396n93,
397n100
1028
177, 309, 358n128, 366n22,
379n17, 380n39, 390n19, 391n23,
392n54, 395nn83–84, 396n86,
396n92, 396n98, 398n108
1029
177, 309, 358n128, 365n14,
366n22, 376n3, 380n39, 389n5,
390n19, 391n23, 392n54,
395nn83–84, 396n86, 396n92,
398n98, 400n126
1030
310, 358n128, 380n39, 389n5,
390n19, 391n24, 395nn83–84,
396n86, 396n92, 396n98,
398n108, 401n140, 401n147
1031
310, 380n39, 390n19, 395nn83–
84, 396n92, 397n100
1032
310, 380n39, 389n5, 395nn83–
84, 396n86, 396n92, 396n98,
397n105, 398nn108–9,
400nn126–27
1033
310, 380n39, 389n5, 390n19,
392n34, 395nn83–84, 396n86,
Index of Inscriptions
IE
Page
1033 (continued)
396n92, 396n98, 397n105,
398nn108–9, 400n127, 401n136,
401n148, 402n167
1034
127, 310, 365n14, 380n39, 389n5,
389n7, 390n19, 395nn83–84,
396n86, 396n92, 396n98,
397n100, 397n105, 398n109,
400n127, 401n134, 401n141,
402n168
1035
175, 310, 365n14, 380n37,
380nn39–40, 388n5, 389n5,
390n19, 395nn83–84, 396n86,
396n92, 396n98, 397n105,
398nn108–9, 400n127
1036
175, 310, 388–89n5, 390n19,
395nn83–84, 396n86, 396n92,
396n98, 397n105, 398nn108–9
1037
126, 310, 389n5, 390n19, 391n28,
392n56, 395nn83–84, 396n92,
396n98, 397n100, 398n108
1038
175–76, 310, 379n17, 390n19,
391n20, 391nn28–29, 392nn55–
56, 395nn83–84, 396n86,
396nn92–93, 397n100, 398n108,
401n138
1039
310, 369n57, 380n37, 380n39,
388n5, 390n19, 391n28, 392n56,
395nn83–84, 396n86, 396nn92–
93, 397n100, 400n126
1040 310, 380n37, 380n39, 388n5,
391n19, 395nn83–84, 396nn92–
93, 398n108, 400nn126–27,
401n137, 402n154
1041
310, 389n5, 391n19, 395n84,
396n93, 396n98, 397n100
1042 219, 310, 389n5, 391n19, 392n40,
392n51, 392n56, 395nn83–84,
396nn92–93, 396n98, 398n108,
410n57
1042A 175, 366n22, 388–89n5, 391n19,
391n28, 392n40, 392n56,
499
IE
Page
1042A (continued)
395nn83–84, 396nn92–93,
414n6, 415n27
1043
175, 310, 366n22, 389n6,
391nn21–22, 391nn25–26,
392n41, 392n51, 392n55, 395n85,
396n87, 396n90, 396n94,
396nn96–97, 396n99, 397n101,
398n110, 408n26
1044 175, 187–88, 192, 310, 389n6,
391nn21–22, 391n26, 392n41,
392n47, 392n55, 395n85, 396n88,
396n90, 396n93, 396nn96–97,
396n99, 397n102, 398n111,
401n142, 401n147, 402nn156–
57, 402n159, 408n26
1045
175, 187, 190, 310, 366n22,
389n6, 391nn21–22, 391n26,
392n41, 392n55, 395n85, 396n92,
392n95, 397n103, 398n112,
401n143, 406n1, 408n26
1046 310, 312, 317n34, 406n1, 406n5
1047 309, 377n3, 377n5, 385n86,
385n101
1048 310, 389n7, 397n100, 398n108,
400n127, 401n148, 402n155
1049 310, 389n7, 396n98, 397n100
1050
310, 312, 389n7, 396n98,
398n108, 406n1, 406n5, 406n7
1051
310, 389n7, 396n98, 398n108,
400n127, 401n132, 406n1
1052
310
1053
310
1054 (=47)
310, 312, 319n43, 389n5, 402n158,
406n3, 408n30, 417n71,
429n133, 433n62
1054A 317n34, 406n1, 406n5
1055
310, 317n34, 406n1
1055A 406n1
1055B 319n43, 406n1, 406n6
1056
310, 319n43, 406n1
INDEX OF INSCRIPTIONS
500
IE
1057
1058
1059
1060
1061
1062
1063
1064
1065
1066
1067
1068
1069
1070
1071
Page
310, 312, 317n34, 364n4, 406n1,
414n4, 414nn15–16, 417n65,
417nn68–70
306, 307, 434nn2–3, 434n6
307, 434n2, 434n24
240, 306, 307, 310, 324n93,
328n127, 381n46, 402n162,
414n7, 415n38, 416n50, 417n54,
417n56, 418n77, 434nn2–3,
434n7, 434nn22–24
310, 312, 317n34, 414n4,
415nn24–26, 417nn72–75,
432n54, 434n4
306, 365n11, 375n2, 434n2
306–7, 413n102, 417n64, 434n2,
435n28
306, 413n102, 417n64, 434n2
307, 434n24
307, 434n2, 434n24
307, 434nn2–3, 434n8, 435n24
307, 434n2
307, 414n7, 416n45, 417n56,
435n24
307, 319n43, 415n38, 434nn2–3,
434n9, 435n24
307, 319n43, 414nn6–7, 415n38,
416n49, 417n65, 434nn2–3,
434n10
IE
1072
Page
307, 319n43, 415n38, 434nn2–3,
434n10, 434n22, 435n24
1073
307, 319n43, 435n25
1074
414n6, 415n27, 415n31, 418n79
1075
319n43, 364n4, 406n3, 408n31,
409n39, 417n71, 433n62
1076 312, 319n43, 377n5, 414n5,
415nn35–36
1077 307, 312, 319n43, 414n3, 414n11,
417n56, 434n2, 434n22, 435n26
1078
307, 319n43, 372n99, 414n20,
434n2
1079
319n43
1080
319n43, 414n6, 414n8, 415n27,
415n31, 418n81
1080A 319n43, 414n6, 414n8, 415n27,
417n56, 417n58
1080B 319n43, 415n27, 415n31
1201A 415n23
Knibbe (1983) pp. 125–27
389n6, 392nn45–46, 397n104,
398n113, 402n161
1449 317n27, 334n35, 337n76, 345n65,
362n94
1587
416nn47–48
3072
411n73, 414n10, 417nn60–61
4330
337n83, 414n8, 417n59