Cambridge Ancient Hi.. - Index of

214 8. administration and politics in the cities
2. The Greek east: pattern II
There is a second pattern of evidence, epigraphic and other, bearing on the
condition of the cities which is found in eastern areas of the Hellenistic
classical world. Starting perhaps at Side in Pamphylia, 46 further east in
Cilicia-Isauria, 47 then at Apamea 48 and other sites in eastern Syria, in
Palestine and in Arabia, 49 where Gerasa and Bostra 50 are the most notable
of a number of sites, there is an abundance of fifth- and sixth-century evidence
of activity in cities. The pattern is found not only in cities, but also in
the villages in their territories and in areas where villages predominate:
inland Cilicia, eastern Phrygia, western Galatia, the Hauran, the Negev. 51 A
feature of this area is that the inscriptional habit came relatively late, and
that late Roman inscriptions form a much higher proportion of surviving
inscriptions than in the core areas of classical civilization. In these areas, the
epigraphic habit seems to remain strong through most of the sixth century.
Among Cilician-Isaurian inscriptions those of the small port of Korykus
are outstanding. They are overwhelmingly funereal and a high proportion
are late imperial and Christian (fourth–sixth centuries). They seem to
provide a social profile of a small late Roman town. 52 Among 591 inscriptions
no fewer than 408 commemorate craftsmen, with the great majority
working in trades providing for the subsistence of their fellow townsmen.
There are 74 members of the clergy or employees of the church. The town
had at least nine ecclesiastical institutions for looking after the poor. In
format, the inscriptions are remarkably egalitarian. The higher ranks of
society did not receive significantly more elaborate epitaphs than craftsmen.
There are five members of the council, one illustris,twocomites, one protector,
five privatarii, acensitor, acensualis. These were the élite of the place. They
were not numerous or particularly prominent, but they were no doubt
among the ktetores who together with clergy and bishop elected the defensor
and the curator. 53 The procedure for election was laid down in an edict of
Anastasius, issued in reply to a petition by bishop, clergy, landowners and
inhabitants, who were concerned that elections should not be fixed in
advance by members of the provincial officium. So this little town had a
council, but its role was subordinate. It was no longer the voice of the city.
To the east of Cilicia, in Syria and Arabia, villages have produced a very
large number of late inscriptions. 54 Of the major cities, Emesa, and Edessa
have few epigraphic remains, perhaps because their sites remained densely
46 Robert (1958) (�OMS v (1989) 155–93). 47 MAMA iii, Dagron and Feissel (1987).
48 Balty (1980), (1989). 49 IGLS xi, Inscriptions de la Jordanie, x, Inscriptions de Bostra; Dentzer (1985).
50 Kraeling (1938); Sartre (1985).
51 Summary: Patlagean, Pauvreté 307–13; Dentzer (1985); Mitchell, Anatolia ii.122–34; Wilkinson
(1990) 120; Tchalenko, Villages; Tate (1992); Dauphin and Schonfield (1983); Evenari (1971); also n. 66
below. 52 MAMA iii.197–788; Patlagean, Pauvreté 158–69; Trombley (1987).
53 MAMA iii 197a. 54 Published in the series IGLS.
Cambridge Histories Online © Cambridge University Press, 2008