DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45277#0069
MAGISTRATES.
Ixv
other honorary titles. When a chief magistrate happened to be also invested
with the office and dignity of a priesthood he would, as often as not, omit
all mention of the true title which constituted him eponymous Magistrate,
while taking especial care to record the fact that he was ’Ao-tap^s, ap^iepeu?,
i'epev2, arefpavq^opos, deoXoyos, or what not.
The above remarks of course only apply to the coins of cities which
we know to have been governed by a civil Magistrate, for there can be no
doubt that at some towns the eponymous Magistrate was regularly the
dp^iepevs or some other sacerdotal dignitary. It is only by a careful study of
the whole series of the coins of any particular city that we can ascertain
positively what was the local custom in such matters.
Although the use of en-l with a proper name in the genitive usually implies
an eponymous date, many instances may be cited where this is not the case.
Thus for example when the title accompanying the name partakes in any way
of a financial character, such as raptas, \oyiarrjs, e7ripeXr]Tr]s, etc., it is not to
be supposed that these officers were eponymous Magistrates; evidently they
were appointed for some special purpose which included the supervision of
the coinage. The less important cities indeed seem only to have coined
money at intervals as occasion required, when some one of the citizens would
be delegated by the regular Magistrates to direct the issue, or might even
voluntarily undertake the whole expense. In such cases the prepositions
8ta and napa are sometimes used instead of em before the name of the person
who caused the money to be struck.
Nothing in fact can be clearer than the evidence afforded by the coins of
the Province of Asia as to the prevalence in Imperial times of what we should
term a laudable public spirit among the citizens. It appears to have been Dedicatory
no uncommon practice for private individuals to present to their native towns formulae-
considerable sums of money in acknowledgment of municipal or sacerdotal
honours conferred upon them by the city or the Emperor. The money so
contributed to the public purse by private munificence , was, we may suppose,
forthwith minted in the name of the donor, the usual dedicatory formula being
the name of the donor in the nominative with or without his honorary title,
followed by the verb aveBrjue and the ethnic either in the genitive or dative,
as nOAEMRN CTPATHmN ANEOHKE CMYP[NAIOIC], OCTIAIOC
MAPKEAAOC 0 IEPEYC TOY ANT1NOOY KOPlNOiDN ANEOHKEN.
Even women occasionally contributed in this manner to the expenses of the
municipalities, as we gather (among other instances) from coins of Attuda
in Phrygia reading lOY(Xi'a) K(Xav8t'a) KAAYAIANH ANE0H(«r) ATTOY-
AEON (Mion. Supyl, vii. p. 522).
Sometimes the verb aved-que is either abbreviated to AN or A, or even
altogether omitted for want of space, but it is always to be understood when
a proper name in the nominative is followed by the ethnic in the dative, as
BETOYPIOC TOIC APKACI (Mion. ii. 245).
Dedicatory issues, such as those above described, are on the whole of rare
occurrence, although at certain towns it appears to have been the rule for
the eponymous Magistrate, or even for an ordinary citizen, to provide out of
his private means for the bronze coinage of his native town.
e
Ixv
other honorary titles. When a chief magistrate happened to be also invested
with the office and dignity of a priesthood he would, as often as not, omit
all mention of the true title which constituted him eponymous Magistrate,
while taking especial care to record the fact that he was ’Ao-tap^s, ap^iepeu?,
i'epev2, arefpavq^opos, deoXoyos, or what not.
The above remarks of course only apply to the coins of cities which
we know to have been governed by a civil Magistrate, for there can be no
doubt that at some towns the eponymous Magistrate was regularly the
dp^iepevs or some other sacerdotal dignitary. It is only by a careful study of
the whole series of the coins of any particular city that we can ascertain
positively what was the local custom in such matters.
Although the use of en-l with a proper name in the genitive usually implies
an eponymous date, many instances may be cited where this is not the case.
Thus for example when the title accompanying the name partakes in any way
of a financial character, such as raptas, \oyiarrjs, e7ripeXr]Tr]s, etc., it is not to
be supposed that these officers were eponymous Magistrates; evidently they
were appointed for some special purpose which included the supervision of
the coinage. The less important cities indeed seem only to have coined
money at intervals as occasion required, when some one of the citizens would
be delegated by the regular Magistrates to direct the issue, or might even
voluntarily undertake the whole expense. In such cases the prepositions
8ta and napa are sometimes used instead of em before the name of the person
who caused the money to be struck.
Nothing in fact can be clearer than the evidence afforded by the coins of
the Province of Asia as to the prevalence in Imperial times of what we should
term a laudable public spirit among the citizens. It appears to have been Dedicatory
no uncommon practice for private individuals to present to their native towns formulae-
considerable sums of money in acknowledgment of municipal or sacerdotal
honours conferred upon them by the city or the Emperor. The money so
contributed to the public purse by private munificence , was, we may suppose,
forthwith minted in the name of the donor, the usual dedicatory formula being
the name of the donor in the nominative with or without his honorary title,
followed by the verb aveBrjue and the ethnic either in the genitive or dative,
as nOAEMRN CTPATHmN ANEOHKE CMYP[NAIOIC], OCTIAIOC
MAPKEAAOC 0 IEPEYC TOY ANT1NOOY KOPlNOiDN ANEOHKEN.
Even women occasionally contributed in this manner to the expenses of the
municipalities, as we gather (among other instances) from coins of Attuda
in Phrygia reading lOY(Xi'a) K(Xav8t'a) KAAYAIANH ANE0H(«r) ATTOY-
AEON (Mion. Supyl, vii. p. 522).
Sometimes the verb aved-que is either abbreviated to AN or A, or even
altogether omitted for want of space, but it is always to be understood when
a proper name in the nominative is followed by the ethnic in the dative, as
BETOYPIOC TOIC APKACI (Mion. ii. 245).
Dedicatory issues, such as those above described, are on the whole of rare
occurrence, although at certain towns it appears to have been the rule for
the eponymous Magistrate, or even for an ordinary citizen, to provide out of
his private means for the bronze coinage of his native town.
e