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.
Belyavskiy, V.A. 1967: Etnos v drevnem mire [The ethnos in the Ancient world]. In: S.I. Rudenko (ed.), Doklady otdeleniy i komissiy Geografi cheskogo obshchestva SSSR. 3. Etnografi ya [Transactions of Department and Commissions of the Geographical Society of the USSR. 3. Ethnography]. Leningrad, 18–38.
Bengtson, H. 1937: Die Strategie in der hellenistischen Zeit. Ein Beitrag zum antiken Staatsrecht. Bd. 1. München.
Bengtson, H. 1944: Die Strategie in der Hellenistischen Zeit. Ein Beitrag zum antiken Staatsrecht. Bd. 2. München.
Bengtson, H. 1952: Die Strategie in der hellenistischen Zeit. Ein Beitrag zum antiken Staatsrecht. Bd. 3. München.
Bertholet, A. 1910: Das Ende des judischen Staatswesens: sechs populare Vortrage. Tübingen.
Bikerman, E. 1985: Gosudarstvo Selevkidov [The Seleucid State]. Moscow.
Bokshchanin, A.G. 1966: Parfi ya i Rim. Ch. II. Sistema politicheskogo dualizma v Peredney Azii [Parthia and Rome. Pt. II. The system of political dualism in the Front Asia]. Moscow.
Cohen, G.M. 2006: The Hellenistic Settlements in Syria, the Red Sea basin and North Africa. Berkeley–Los Angeles–London.
Crowther, Ch. 2013: Inscriptions on Stone. In: W. Aylwerd (ed.), Excavations at Zeugma. Conducted by Oxford Archaeology. California, 192–219.
Danshin, D.I. 1989: Gorodskaya obshchina Ταναεῖται v Tanaise [The urban community of Ταναεῖται in Tanais]. In: G.A. Koshelenko (ed.), Problemy issledovaniy antichnykh gorodov. Tezisy [Problems of the study of ancient cities. Abstracts]. Moscow, 38–40.
Golovko, I.D. 1952: Rimsko-parfyanskie politicheskie vzaimootnosheniya v I v.do n.e. [The Roman-Parthian political relations in the 1st century BC]. PhD Thesis. Odessa.
Golubtsova, E.S. 1998: Obshchina, plemya, narodnost’ v antichnuyu epokhu [The Community, tribe, nationality in Classical time]. Moscow.
Grushevoy, A.G. 2011: Provintsial̉naya administratsiya ellinisticheskikh monarkhiy: Olimpikh, Frasey, Korrag [Provincial administration of the Hellenistic Monarchy]. In: E.D. Frolov (ed.), Mnemon. Issledovaniya i publikatsii po istorii antichnogo mira [Mnemon. The Researches and publications on the history of the ancient world] 10. Saint Petersburg, 161–172.
Jones, A.H.M. 1940: The Greek City from Alexander to Justinian. Oxford.
Livshits, G.M. 1957: Klassovaya borba v Iudee i vosstaniya protiv Rima [The Class struggle in Judea and revolts against Rome]. Minsk.
Magie, D. 1950: Roman Rule in Asia Minor to the end of the third century after Christ. Vol. I. Princeton.
Molev, E.A. 2017: Bosporskie drevnosti [The Bosporan antiquities]. Nizhniy Novgorod.
Nikol̉skiy, N.M. 1901: Iudeya pri Makkaveyakh i Khasmoneyakh [Judea under the Maccabees and Hasmoneans]. In: Pomoshch evreyam, postradavshim ot neurozhaya. Literaturno-khudozhestvennyy sbornik [The Help Jews who were suffering from crop failure. The Literaryartistic collection]. Saint Petersburg, 409–426.
Novikov, S.V. 1986: Gimn Appolonu iz Selevkii-Suz kak istoricheskiy istochnik. [The Hymn to the Apollo from Seleucia-Susa as a historical source]. Vestnik Moskovskogo Universiteta [Bulletin of Moscow University] 8. 6, 72–87.
Novichkov, Yu.A. 2009: Galatiya v pervoy Mitridatovoy voyne [Galatia in the fi rst Mithridatic War]. In: V.P. Danilov, L.N. Chernov (eds.), Novyy vek. Istoriya glazami molodykh [The New century. History through the eyes of the young] 8. 1. Saratov, 16–24.
Ranovich, A.B. 1949: Vostochnye provintsii Rimskoy imperii v I–III vv.n.e. [The Eastern provinces of the Roman Empire in I–III A.D.]. Moscow-Leningrad.
Saprykin, S.Yu. 1996: Pontiyskoe tsarstvo. Gosudarstvo grekov i varvarov v Prichernomor̉e [The Kingdom of Pontus. The state of the Greeks and barbarians in the Black Sea Region]. Moscow.
Sartre, M. 1991: Ľ Orient Romain. Provinces et sociétés provinciales en Méditerranée orientale ď Auguste aux Sévères (31 avant J.-C. – 235 après J.-C.). Paris.
Schürer, E. 1901: Geschichte des judischen Volkes im Zeitalter Jesu Christi. Bd. I. Einleitung und politische Geschichte. Leipzig.
Sherwin-White, A.N. 1984: Roman Foreign Policy in the East 168 B.C. to A.D. 1. Oklahoma.
Smykov, E.V. 2013: Syria 83–63 gg. do n.e.: ot anarkhii k provintsii [Syria 83–63 B.C.: from the anarchy to the province]. In: N.B. Churekova (ed.), Antichnyy mir i Arkheologiya [The Antique world and archaeology] 16, 112–125.
Tscherikower, V. 1927: Die Hellenistischen Städtergründungen von Alexander dem Grossen bis auf die Römerzeit. Leipzig.