Popillius Carus Pedo and the festivities of Artemis in Ephesus

The Roman governor Carus Pedo produces an edict authorising a local decree of Ephesus. The decree celebrates the fame of Artemis’ cult and institutes that all the days of one month (Artemision) should be sacred and dedicated to this guardian goddess.

Typology: Provincial edict and local decree

Original Location: Discovered in Selçuk (Turkey), re-used in the hospice next to the Ephesian aqueduct, Discovered in Sel?uk (Turkey), re-used in the hospice next to the Ephesian aqueduct

Current Location: The upper fragment is in the British Museum (London) and the bottom in the Ashmolean Museum (inv. G 1186)

Date: 162 CE to 164 CE

Centuries: 2nd CE

Material: Marble

Measurements: The upper fragment is 39 cm high and the bottom fragment is 72.5 cm. Width is 48 cm. Letters are between 3 cm and 1.2 cm tall.

Languages: Greek

Category: Roman, Greek

Publications: Die Inschriften von Ephesos 24a-b [SIG3867a-b]

Description: Statue base, rectangular, inscribed on three faces and now broken into two fragments.

Edition :

This edition is based on Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum III no. 867a-b; incorporating the last revision made in Die Inschriften von Ephesos no. 24a-b.

A	[Γ(άϊος) Πο]πίλλιος Κᾶρος Πέδω[ν]
	ἀνθύπατος λέγει·
	[ἔ]μαθον ἐκ τοῦ πεμφθέντος [πρός]
	με ψηφίσματος ὑπὸ τῆς λαμπροτ[ά]-
5	της Ἐφεσίων βουλῆς τοὺς πρὸ ἐμ[οῦ]
	κρατίστους ἀνθυπάτους ἱε[ρὰς]
	νομίσαι τὰς ἡμέρας τῆς π[α]νη̣[γύρεως]
	τῶ̣ν Ἀρτε̣[μισίων] καὶ τοῦτο διατά-
	γματι δεδηλωκέναι· ὅθεν ἀναγκαῖ-
10	ον ἡγησάμην καὶ αὐτὸς ἀποβλέ-
	πων εἴς τε τὴν εὐσέβειαν τῆς θεοῦ̣
	καὶ εἰς τὴν τῆς λαμπροτάτης Ἐφε-
	σίων πόλεως τειμὴν φανερὸν ποι-
	ῆσαι διατάγματι ἔσεσθαι τὰς ἡμέρας
15	ταύτας ἱερὰς καὶ τὰς ἐπ’ αὐταῖς ἐκε-
	χ̣ειρίας φυλαχθήσεσθαι· προεστῶ-
	τος τῆς πανηγύρεως
	Τίτου Αἰλίου Μαρκιανοῦ Πρίσκου
	τοῦ ἀγωνοθέτου, ὑοῦ Αἰλίου
20	Πρίσκου, ἀνδρὸς δοκιμωτάτου καὶ
	πάσης τειμῆς καὶ ἀποδοχῆς ἀξίου.

B	[ἔδ]οξεν τῆς πρώτης καὶ με[γίστης]
	[μητρ]οπόλεως τῆς Ἀσίας καὶ δὶς νεωκ̣[όρου τῶν]
	[Σεβα]σ̣τῶν καὶ φιλοσεβάστου Ἐφε̣[σίων πόλεως]
	[τῇ βο]υλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ περὶ ὧν εἰσηγή̣[σατο]
5	[... Λ]αβέριος Ἄμοινος φιλοσέβαστος, ὁ γραμμ[ατεὺς]
	[τοῦ δ]ή̣μου· ἐπεψήφισαν δὲ οἱ στ[ρ]ατηγοὶ τῆς
	πόλεως φιλοσέβαστοι·
	[ἐπειδὴ ἡ π]ροεστῶσα τῆς πόλεως ἡμῶν θεὸς Ἄρτε[μις]
	[οὐ μόνον] ἐν τῇ ἑαυτῆς πατρίδι τ̣ε̣ιμᾶται, ἣν ἁ[πασῶν]
10	[τῶν πόλεων] ἐνδοξοτέραν διὰ τῆς ἰδίας θειότητ[ος πεποίη]-
	[κεν, ἀ]λλὰ καὶ παρ̣ὰ̣ [ Ἕλλησίν τε κ]α̣ὶ̣ [β]α̣ρ̣β̣ά̣ρ̣[ο]ις, ὥ[στε παν]-
	ταχοῦ ἀνεῖσθαι αὐτῆς ἱερά τε κα[ὶ τεμένη, ναοὺς δὲ]
	αὐτῇ τε εἱδρύσθαι καὶ βωμοὺς αὐτῇ ἀνακεῖσθαι διὰ
	τὰς ὑπ’ αὐτῆς γεινομένας ἐναργεῖς ἐπιφανείας,
15	καὶ τοῦτο δὲ μέγιστον τοῦ περὶ αὐτὴν σεβασ-
	μοῦ ἐστιν τεκμήριον, τὸ ἐπώνυμον αὐτῆς
	εἶναι μῆνα καλούμενον παρ̣’ ἡ̣[μ]ῖν μὲν Ἀρτεμισ[ι]-
	ῶνα, παρὰ δὲ Μακεδόσιν καὶ τοῖς λοιποῖς ἔθνεσιν
	τοῖς Ἑλληνικοῖς καὶ ταῖς ἐν αὐταῖς πόλεσιν
20	Ἀ̣ρτεμίσιον, ἐν ᾧ μηνὶ πανηγύρεις τε καὶ ἱερο-
	μηνίαι ἐπιτελοῦνται, διαφερόντως δὲ ἐν̣ [τῇ]
	ἡμετέρᾳ πόλει τῇ τροφῷ τῆς ἰδίας θεοῦ τῆς Ἐφ[εσί]-
	ας, προσῆκον δὲ εἶναι ἡγούμενος ὁ δῆμος [ὁ]
	Ἐφεσίων ὅλον τὸν μῆνα τὸν ἐπώνυμον τοῦ θ̣[είου]
25	ὀνόματος εἶναι ἱερὸν καὶ ἀνακεῖσθαι τῇ θεῷ
	ἐδοκίμασεν διὰ τοῦδε τοῦ ψηφίσματος [διατιθέ]-
	ναι τὴν περὶ αὐτοῦ θρησκείαν· διὸ δεδόχ[θαι]
	[ὅ]λον τὸν μῆνα τὸν Ἀρτεμισιῶ̣να εἶνα[ι ἱερὸν πάσας]
	[τ]ὰς ἡμέρας, ἄγεσθαι δὲ ἐπ’ αὐταῖς μην[ός τε καὶ]
30	[δι’] ἔτ̣ους τὰς ἑορτὰς καὶ τὴν τῶν Ἀρτεμ[ισίων πανή]-
	[γ]υριν καὶ τὰς ἱερομηνίας, ἅτε τοῦ μηνὸς ὅ[λου ἀνακειμέ]-
	ν̣ου τῇ θεῷ· οὕτω γὰρ ἐπὶ τὸ ἄμεινον τῆς [θεοῦ τιμωμέ]-
	[ν]ης ἡ πόλις ἡμ[ῶν ἐ]νδοξοτέρα τε καὶ εὐδ[αιμονεστέρα]
	εἰς τὸ[ν ἅπα]ντα διαμενεῖ χ[ρόνον.]

English translation:

Taken from Lewis, Naphtali, Greek Historical Documents. The Roman Principate: 27 B.C. – 285 A.D., Toronto, Hakkert, 1974, p. 128-130.

Popillius Carus Pedo, proconsul, declares: I have learned from the decree sent me by the most illustrious council of Ephesus that their Excellencies, the proconsuls before me, considered the days of the Artemisia festival holy and so proclaimed by edict.

Wherefore, since I too respect both the reverence paid the goddess and the dignity of the most illustrious city of Ephesos, I have deemed it necessary to make clear by decree that these days will continue to be holy and suspension of business to be observed on those days, the director of the festival being Titus Aelius Marcianus Priscus, the son of Aelius Priscus, a most esteemed gentleman deserving of every honor and approbation.

The council and the people of the city of Ephesos, first and greatest of the metropolises of Asia, twice designated neokoros of the Augusti, devoted to the emperor, decree:

Regarding the motion made by Laberius Amoinos, devoted to the emperors, secretary of the assembly, and put to a vote by the city magistrates, devoted to the emperors,
Whereas the goddess Artemis, guardian of our city, is honored not only in her own native city – which she has made famous beyond all other cities by her own divinity – but also among Greeks and Barbarians alike, so that in many places rites and precincts have been dedicated to her, and temples to her are founded and altars and statues on account of the bodily manifestations performed by her.
And whereas a very great evidence of the reverence surrounding her is the month named after her, called Artemision by us, Artemisios by the Macedonians and the other Greek-speaking peoples and the cities among them, in which month festive assemblies and public sacrifices are held, but especially in our city, the nurturer of its own Ephesian goddess,
And whereas the people of Ephesos deems it fitting that the whole month named after her divine name be sacred and devoted to the goddess and by this decree approves the establishment of such ritual in her honor,
Therefore it is decreed that the month Artemision is to be sacred all its days, that in the days of that month in every year are to be held the holidays and the festive assemblies and public sacrifices of the Artemisia, inasmuch as the whole month is dedicated to the goddess. Thus the better honoring the goddess, our city will remain the more famous and the more blessed for all time.

Commentary:

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