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Abstract

The paper is devoted to the ethnarchs of Commagene mentioned in the inscription from Seleucia-on-Euphrates. During the recent excavations of the city, a fragment of the Antiochus I’s manifesto from Commagene (69–34 BC) was discovered, reporting on the establishment of its royal cult, as well as the cult of the dynasty. This inscription refers to the so-called “ethnarchs” who were not allowed to alienate the temple-slaves of hierodules in their favor. This is the only mention of “ethnarchs” in of the Hellenistic time epigraphy of Commagene. The author believes that the ethnarchs from the inscription from Seleucia-on- Euphrates were the heads of the barbarian community-tribal groups that lived on the city chora and paid taxes to the community of citizens. To a certain extent, they can be compared with the Jewish ethnarchs of the Hellenistic-Roman period and Asander, the ethnarch of Bosporus (the 1st century BC). The is no information about the number of Commagenian ethnarchs in the chora of Seleucia-on-Euphrates. It is not entirely clear whether the ethnarchs appeared on the chora of Seleucia-on-Euphrates when the city was the part of the Seleucid state (before 66–65 BC) or already in Commagenian time (after 65 BC). Most likely, they already existed in the Seleucid time. In any case, it is hardly possible to give an accurate answer to this question. Most likely, the ethnarchs of Seleucia-on-Euphrates were subordinate to the urban strategists, whose names stand before the names of ethnarchs in the inscription. The presence of a separate strategist in commagenian Seleucia may be due to the strategic position of this city, which controlled one of the most important ferries across the Euphrates.

Keywords

Hellenism, Commagene, Seleucia-on-Euphrates, ethnarchs, Iudea, Galatia, Bosporus, community, tribe, strategists.

Sergey V. Obukhov

Lomonosov Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia

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