judaism_and_rome 2026-07-22T02:53:50+02:00 1 121 Inscription https://heurist.huma-num.fr/heurist/?recID=121&db=judaism_and_rome 2022-08-16 23:18:38 2025-07-22 16:56:39 public Fulvius Asticus on the Tetrarchic Price Edict Inscribed on the last column of the 9th block of the Aezani’s macellum. Letter forms are rounded and slightly smaller than the Latin text that covers the other blocks. 0301 0301 4589 1726 f3585c6937b83cbfe35889b2f4be03927935c661 aizanoi_price_edict_macellum.jpg image/jpeg 43 2022-08-12 11:50:53 Fulvius Asticus on the Tetrarchic Price Edict, 4589, aizanoi_price_edict_macellum.jpg (43.15 KB)) https://heurist.huma-num.fr/heurist/?db=judaism_and_rome&file=f3585c6937b83cbfe35889b2f4be03927935c661 Greek 1977 1976 1975 1974 1973 2331 3204 2026 1971 1970 1969 2804 1982 1981 2319 1980 1979 1978 <p>This inscription was added to one of the most famous epigraphic monuments of the Roman imperial age, the so-called ‘Price Edict’ (see Lauffer, <em>Diokletians Preisedikt</em>). The latter corresponds to the written document by which the Tetrarchs – Diocletian, Maximian, Constantius and Galerius – decided to set a maximum fee for all venial products at the end of 301 CE (see Corcoran, <em>The Empire of the Tetrarchs</em>, p. 205-233). The aim of our commentary is not to discuss this well-known and complex source, but rather to explore how the new imperial regime was presented to the provincial population at the beginning of Late Antiquity.<br /><br />Fulvius Asticus, the very distinguished governor (ἡγεμών/<em>hêgemôn</em>), is attested in numerous milestones discovered along the roads of Caria (<em>PLRE</em> I p. 119; cf. <em>SEG</em> 41.941 and Roueché, “A new governor,” p. 239). This region formed together with Phrygia a new administrative division that had been separated from the rest of Asia in the mid-3^rd century CE (Roueché, <em>Aphrodisias</em>, p. 2-4; cf. Dmitriev, “The End,” p. 488). While Aphrodisias became the capital of the joint province, <a href="https://pleiades.stoa.org/places/609292" style="font-size: 13.008px;">Aizanoi</a> remained one of the principal urban centres of Phrygia. In both locations, the extensive text of the Price Edict was inscribed. The appendix of the provincial governor has only survived in the copy of Aizanoi. This city was renowned in Antiquity for its temple of Zeus and achieved admission to the Panhellenion in the 2^nd century CE. Greek was therefore the main language of the local population and, for this reason, our inscription needs to be interpreted as a brief explanation of the 37 chapters and hundreds of lines of content originally issued by the Tetrarchs in Latin. Like the emperors, Fulvius Asticus also introduces his statement with the verb “to say” (λέγω = <em>dico</em>) which was the traditional formula preceding edicts. At all times and particularly between lines 2 and 3, the provincial governor establishes a strong connection between his words and what the invincible and victorious lord kings (δεσπόται βασιλεῖς /<em>despotai</em> <em>basileis</em>) and Caesars had previously announced. <br /><br />Diocletian had acceded to the throne in 284 CE (see Rees, <em>Diocletian</em>). Instead of attaching members of his family to institute a ruling dynasty, he selected Maximian as <em>Augustus</em> in 286. Diocletian controlled the eastern provinces of the Empire, Maximian the West, and in 293 two imperial assistants with the inferior rank of <em>Caesar </em>were proclaimed: Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. The four-tier system of government is known as Tetrarchy and was novel for Roman imperial rule. Fulvius Asticus, under this command, presented their collegiate decision as a sign of divine foresight (προμήθεια/<em>promêtheia</em>). The rulers wanted to provide abundance (εὐχερεία/<em>euchereia</em>) by setting fair fees (ἐν τειμαῖς δικαίας/<em>en teimais</em> <em>dikaias</em>). Allegedly, the excessive greediness (φιλαργυρία/<em>philargyria</em>) of some had affected all men who could not get what was necessary (χρεία/<em>chreia</em>). The solution was to put an end to such wicked (πανοῦργος/<em>panourgos</em>) acts and set a universal price for all products enumerated in the long list attached to the imperial decision. The Tetrarchic preoccupation was based on real and acute problems of inflation that this regime had to face after the economic difficulties of the 3^rd century crisis (see Ermatinger, <em>The Economic Reforms</em>, p.67-85). Indeed, the Price Edict had been preceded by a monetary reform which would not have proven very successful (see Kuhoff, <em>Diokletian und die Epoche,</em> p. 543-564). Even if the governor wished for this solution based on the imperial divinity (θειότης/<em>theiotês</em>) to be eternal (αἰών/<em>aiôn</em>), the Christian author Lactantius denounced that the new measure soon proved ineffective and had to be abandoned too (<em>On the deaths of the Persecutors</em> VII.6). And yet this inscribed copy (ἀντίγραφον/<em>antigraphon</em>) of the imperial law (νόμος/<em>nomos</em>) sought to show the care (ἐπιμέλεια/<em>epimeleia</em>) of the rulers and the reverence (σέβασμα/<em>sebasma</em>) of the governor through his edict (διάταγμα/<em>diatagma</em>). <em>Proponatur</em> is correspondingly the Latin legal formula authorising the publication.<br /><br />These last lines are fundamental for understanding the double purpose of the large epigraphic monument (see Blanco-Pérez, "Western Asia Minor and its Epigraphic Sources under the Tetrarchy"). On the one hand, the new imperial regime needed to publicise a measure that they considered beneficial for their subjects. On the other hand, we can see loyal Roman administrators committed to the Tetrarchic rule who wanted to demonstrate their allegiance. The messages of Fulvius Asticus therefore reinstate the ideals of justice (<em>iustitia</em>), quietness (<em>tranquilitas</em>), dignity (<em>dignitas</em>) and majesty (<em>maiestas</em>) that the Tetrarchs already conveyed in the preface of their Price Edict. Likewise, the provincial governor strove to distribute copies of the imperial regulation across the entire province he commanded. It is actually not a coincidence that a copy of the same text in Latin was carved in prominent locations such as the <em>macellum</em> of Aezani and the basilica of Aphrodisias (Crawford, “Discovery,” p. 148-163), which were also central for commercial activities such as fairs. More fragments have appeared in the council-house of Stratonicea, another city in Caria (Corcoran, “The heading”). In fact, the Price Edict is the single inscription of the Roman world with the highest number of surviving copies. The geographical distribution of them is, nonetheless, not uniform (see Giacchero, <em>Edictum Diocletiani</em>). For example, on the entire peninsula of Anatolia only the joint province of Phrygia-Caria has provided us with testimonies. The other fragments come from Egypt, Achaea, Crete and Cyrenaica (see Corcoran,<em> The Empire of the Tetrarchs,</em> p. 229-230). This would show that the epigraphic publication of the Price Edict, a universal law, greatly depended on the individual decisions of provincial governors such as the loyal Fulvius Asticus, following a model previously attested in Egypt (<em>P.Cairo Isid</em>. I.16) and Syria (see Millar, <em>The Roman Near East</em>, p. 535-544). The fact that in Achaea not only a Greek appendix was added but also the entire imperial edict and lists translated supports such localised efforts. Both in this province and the other territories of the eastern Mediterranean, the Roman administrative personnel was aware of the symbolism of displaying epigraphic copies of official documents at conspicuous locations (see Feissel, “Les constitutions”). The main difference is that, while imperial decisions such as the Hadrian letter of Aizanoi or the ‘Archive-Wall’ in Aphrodisias had been set up by the local political institutions, the Latin reproductions of the Price Edict were commanded by a new ruling regime particularly keen to spread its propaganda, not only on large monuments, but also through smaller epigraphic media such as milestones (see Witschel, <em>Meilensteine</em> and Sauer, “Milestones”). Consequently, the appendix of Fulvius Asticus in Phrygia and Caria allows us to observe the message of protection, care and diligence that the Tetrarchy was trying to implement with an innovative system of government which, with successes and failures, signified the final transition from the high imperial period to the Christian kingdom of Constantine's successors and the genesis of Late Antiquity.  </p> reverence edict imperial administration imperial law Late Antiquity Aizanoi Phrygia Caria tetrarchy Diocletian price trade imperial propaganda publication propaganda care Roman governor greediness imperial cult In-situ, Çavdarhisar (Turkey) Stone. The blocks in the macellum are between 30 and 75 centimetres wide. 4th CE Lactantius, On the deaths of the Persecutors VII.6. 5832 Macellum of Aizanoi in Phrygia 193 169 131 154 187 282 336 337 194 265 174 159 1171 1133 832 325 Roman Greek SEG 26.1353 [MAMA IX List 179, P25] No <p align="left">This edition is based on Crawford, Michael H., and Reynolds, Joyce, “The Publication of the Prices Edict: A New Inscription from Aezani.” <em>The Journal of Roman Studies</em>, vol. 65, 1975, p. 160. Diacritical marks have been updated to comply with the Leiden conventions.</p> <table style="height: 435px; width: 1396px;" border="0" cellspacing="0" cellpadding="0"><tbody><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">Φούλβιος Ἄστικoς ὁ διασημότατος ἡγεμών<em> vac.</em> λέ̣γ̣[ει <em>vac.</em>]</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">Kαὶ τοῦτο τῆς θείας προμηθείας, λεγόντων <τῶν> ἀηττήτων</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">καὶ πάντα ν̣εικών̣τ̣ω̣ν δε̣σ̣π̣ότω̣ν ἡμῶν βα̣σ̣ι̣λ̣έ̣ω̣ν̣ τ̣ε̣</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">καὶ Καισάρων εὐχερείαν βίου τῆς τῶν ὠνίων [․c.5-6․]ίας κα-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left">5</div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">ταστάσης ἐν τειμαῖς δικαίαις <em>vac.</em> χορηγεῖσθαι [․c.3․]Ι̣ΑΤ̣Ο̣ τὸ αὐτὸ ᾖ ἀν-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">θρώποις ἅπ̣ασιν, καὶ δι’ ὑπερβάλλουσαν [․2-3․]μην καὶ φιλαργυρίαν</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">τινῶν ἀπορεῖν τῶν πρὸς τὴν χρείαν ἀνανκαίων μηδένα, ἁ-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">πάση̣ς περικοπείσης ἐνθυμή̣σεως πανούργου, ἴσην καὶ ὡ-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">ρισμ <em>vac. </em>νην τὴ̣ν ἐφ’ ἑκάστοις τετάχθαι τειμήν· ὅπερ ἵνα πα-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left">10</div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">ραφυλ <em>vac. </em>{λ}άττηται καὶ δι’ ἅπαντος α<ἰ>ῶν{ν}ος μένῃ τῇ θειότητι</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">αὐτῶν προνενοε̣ῖται, ἀλλ’ ἵνα καὶ ὑμεῖ{ι}ν δῆλον καταστῇ σὺν</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">{σ̣ὺ̣ν} ἐπιμελείᾳ{ς} πάσῃ τοῦ θείου δια̣τάγμα̣τος τοῦ ἐ̣πὶ τῆι τειμῇ</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">τῶν τε ὠνίων καὶ συναλλαγμάτων δοθέντος νόμου τὸ ἀντί-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left"> </div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">γραφον μετὰ τοῦ προσήκοντος σεβάσματος τοῦδέ μου τοῦ δια-</div> </td> </tr><tr><td valign="top" width="27"> <div align="left">15</div> </td> <td valign="top" width="409"> <div align="left">τάγματος προτεταγμένον φαίνεται. Proponatur.</div> </td> </tr></tbody></table> <p style="text-align: justify;" align="left">This translation is contained in Crawford, Michael H., and Joyce Reynolds. “The Publication of the Prices Edict: A New Inscription from Aezani.” <em>The Journal of Roman Studies</em>, vol. 65, 1975, p. 160-161.<br /><br />Fulvius Asticus, the most perfect governor, proclaims: this is a sign of the divine foresight (of the Emperors), namely that a fair and fixed price has been laid down in respect of everything, since our unconquered and all-conquering masters, the Augusti and Caesares, proclaim (that there must be) a plentiful livelihood (for all), in order that by the establishment of a [plentiful supply] if things for sale in a context of just prices and [..?..] the same way may be available to all men, and (that there must be) a state of affairs in which no-one lacks the things which are necessary for use because of the excessive ambition and greed of some, all desire for wrong-doing having been eliminated. The divinity of the Emperors has provided that this measure may be preserved and last for ever, but in order that it may be clear to you also, together with every other aspect of the care expressed in the divine edict, a copy of the law issued in respect of the price of things for sale and contracts appears placed with the appropriate reverence about this my edict. Let it be displayed.</p> Yes The governor Fulvius Asticus comments on the Price Edict decreed by Diocletian and his colleagues in the Tetrarchy. ἡγεμών λέγω θεῖος προμήθεια ἀήττητος νικάω δεσπότης βασιλεύς φιλαργυρία παραφυλάσσω αἰών θειότης ἐπιμέλεια διάταγμα ὤνιος νόμος ἀντίγραφον σέβασμα Propono Aitor Blanco Pérez English Provincial Edict Yes 159 187 337 154 169 1