Within the mountains of Lycia, above the small metropolis of Rhodiapolis, an in depth Greek inscription as soon as ran alongside the partitions of a tomb, recording in meticulous element the generosity of a single man. This was Opramoas, a 2nd-century benefactor (euergetes) whose presents reached far past his residence metropolis. When a devastating earthquake struck Lycia in AD 141, leaving theatres, baths and sanctuaries in ruins, Opramoas responded with a programme of support that prolonged throughout almost your complete area, donating over half 1,000,000 denarii and benefiting 30 Lycian cities. His benefactions, preserved in inscriptions discovered in lots of cities, reveal a type of civic generosity that exceeded that of different Lycian benefactors.
Opramoas was a rich citizen of Rhodiapolis, residing beneath the rule of Antoninus Pius. He was the son of Apollionios II and the great-grandson of Kalliades from Rhodiapolis, and descended from a longtime Lycian aristocratic household whose members had served for generations as magistrates, monks, and officers of the Lycian League. Inscriptions erected at Rhodiapolis honour each his father, Apollonios, and the aristocratic matron Aglais, additionally referred to as Aristokila (TAM II 915, 916). He had two brothers, Hermaios and Apollonios III. He was a member of the provincial elite, holding numerous places of work in his residence metropolis and the Lycian federation, together with the necessary federal workplace of archiphylax (most likely related with fiscal administration and tax assortment), generally alongside his father.
Round 136, through the reign of Hadrian, Opramoas superior additional by serving as excessive priest of the imperial cult, a prestigious workplace that concerned managing temples devoted to the emperor, coordinating non secular festivals, and representing Lycian loyalty to Rome on the league stage. Like many distinguished figures of the Greek East, Opramoas constructed his popularity by way of benefaction, funding public buildings, festivals, and social welfare inside his group. But what distinguishes him isn’t merely the dimensions of his wealth, however the attain of his generosity. In contrast to many benefactors of the Greek East, whose actions had been largely confined to a single metropolis, comparable to Plancia Magna in Perge, Opramoas operated throughout the community of the Lycian League.
Inscriptions at Rhodiapolis additional recommend that Opramoas sponsored a monument related to Hadrian’s imperial cult, a Hadrianeum or Sebasteion. One surviving inscription honours Hadrian and Sabina and identifies Opramoas as excessive priest of the Augusti, reflecting the shut affiliation between civic benefaction and emperor worship in Roman Lycia. The Hadrianeum was a U-shaped constructing, embellished with Ionic columns, and housed statues of Hadrian and Sabina. It stood within the non secular sector of Rhodiapolis, alongside the primary east-west avenue (decumanus), and was adjoining to different vital non secular buildings, such because the Asklepeion and the temple of Asklepios and Hygeia, which was additionally devoted to Sebastoi (TAM II 906). The Hadrianeum was bordered by the ancestral cult corridor of the Opramoas household, a novel and distinguished constructing devoted to the commemoration and veneration of Opramoas and his household.
Opramoas conceived, and maybe initiated, the development of his tomb (heroon) in one of the vital distinguished places in Rhodiapolis. It was most likely accomplished after his loss of life by members of his household or successors. The constructing was lined with 70 inscribed paperwork, together with imperial letters, honorary decrees, and letters from Roman governors to particular person cities and the league (TAM II 905). The texts had been organized in 20 columns of ca. 105 traces every, forming one of many largest surviving epigraphic dossiers from the Roman East. The inscriptions additionally element his places of work and the honours he acquired in return for his benefactions. Letters from Antoninus Pius, prominently displayed on the mausoleum, praised Opramoas’ generosity, particularly after the earthquake of 141. The tomb was designed as a small temple in antis on a low podium, measuring roughly 7 by 8 meters. Centrally positioned in entrance of the town’s theatre, it occupied a distinguished place inside the city panorama, visually dominating the decrease areas of the town. It doubtless contained a sarcophagus and probably statues of Opramoas and his household, however its major operate was as a public monument, integrating private commemoration with civic documentation.
The tomb’s partitions contained 33 honorary decrees of the Lycian League, 26 letters from governors, and 12 from emperors. The decrees meticulously recorded Opramoas’ donations, itemizing the recipient cities, the sums distributed, and the needs for which they had been meant. For instance, one decree information Opramoas’ huge donation to many Lycian cities, with quantities starting from 5,000 to 100,000 denarii. Every decree listed the town and the precise sum given for public works or aid efforts. Different inscriptions had been copies of letters addressed to Lycian cities or the Lycian Council, written by Roman officers such because the provincial governor or the emperor Antoninus Pius. These letters typically praised Opramoas’ benefactions and places of work. For instance, a letter from the emperor would commend Opramoas for his generosity and acknowledge the honours he acquired from the cities of Lycia.
“If Opramoas had proven goodwill solely towards a single metropolis, it could have been becoming for that metropolis alone to bear witness to his virtues. However since, as you write, he has contributed to many cities for the restoration of the buildings broken by the earthquake, it was correct for the Lycian nation as an entire to honour him.”
An awesome majority of the imperial correspondence preserved in TAM II 905 belongs to Antoninus Pius, as the main part of Opramoas’ benefactions adopted the AD 141 earthquake throughout his reign. Just one imperial letter within the file of Opramoas of Rhodiapolis might be securely attributed to Hadrian. The Hadrianic doc predates the earthquake file and is extra broadly related to honours, Lycian civic affairs, and Opramoas’ standing inside the Lycian League.
“As a result of Opramoas has proven himself honourable and beneficiant towards the Lycian individuals, it’s becoming that the honours decreed for him needs to be confirmed.”
A powerful record of almost each metropolis in Lycia that benefited from Opramoas’ generosity, which prolonged from the jap coast of Lycia as far west because the frontier cities overlooking the Carian border. Cities talked about embody Akarassos, Antiphellos, Aperlai, Arykanda, Balbura, Boubon, Choma, Gagai, Kadyanda, Limyra, Myra, Olympos, Patara, Phaselis, Pinara, Rhodiapolis, Sidyma, Telmessos, Tlos, Xanthos, and plenty of others. Some cities acquired huge sums; Myra was granted 100,000 denarii, whereas Tlos acquired 60,000 denarii for the rebuilding of its baths. At Patara, funds had been directed in the direction of the restoration of the sanctuary of Apollo, whereas different cities, comparable to Xanthos, Limyra, Oenoanda, and Arycanda, acquired help with rebuilding after the earthquake. Smaller communities comparable to Pinara, Sidyma, Kadyanda and Gagai weren’t uncared for.
His contributions targeted on rebuilding important infrastructure, together with repairs to theatres, stoas and bathhouses. Typically, the funds had been allotted to distributing grain (wheat) to residents, paying for kids’s training, offering dowries for poor ladies, and overlaying funeral/burial bills for the needy. Opramoas additionally supplied monetary help for festivals and imperial cult celebrations and endowed cities and the Lycian League with land and revenues. Along with the in depth file on the mausoleum at Rhodiapolis, different inscriptions have been discovered on monuments he had rebuilt all through Lycia, together with these at Limyra, Myra, Tlos, and Xanthos. Researchers estimate that Opramoas distributed over 1,000,000 denarii in cumulative benefactions throughout his lifetime.
- At Myra, his finest preserved giant grant, Opramoas’ donations included 100,000 denarii for the restoration of public buildings broken within the earthquake, most likely together with the theatre and the sanctuary of Artemis Eleuthera. He additional supplied 56,000 denarii for the peristyle and related works of the gymnasium, 12,000 denarii for oil distributions, and 10,000 denarii for the restore of the town’s gilded statue of Tyche. The individuals of Myra commemorated Opramoas with a statue or an honorific monument erected in a public house of the town. The surviving inscription, carved on its base, presents Opramoas as a citizen of each Myra and Rhodiapolis, energetic within the affairs of all of the Lycian cities and excessive priest of the imperial cult. (IGR III 726).
“Opramoas, son of Apollonios, grandson of Kalliades,
citizen of Rhodiapolis and of Myra,
who had taken half in public life in all of the cities of Lycia,
and who served as excessive priest of the Augusti…”
- At Patara, Opramoas contributed 40,000 denarii after the earthquake, serving to restore each sacred and civic monuments inside the metropolis. The inscription associates his benefactions with the sanctuary of Apollo, one of the vital necessary non secular centres in Lycia, in addition to with a double stoa, a monumental colonnaded construction that fashioned a part of the town’s public house.
- At Tlos, Opramoas contributed 60,000 denarii towards the reconstruction of the theatre and an exedra inside the metropolis’s bathtub advanced after the earthquake. But his benefactions prolonged past structure alone. The inscriptions additionally report that he donated landed estates yielding an annual earnings of 1,250 denarii, meant to finance public festivals and distributions for residents receiving grain help. Two honorary inscriptions from Tlos (TAM II 578–579), along with the in depth file from Rhodiapolis, protect detailed details about his donations.
“for the theatre and the exedra within the bath-building, sixty thousand denarii.”
- At Xanthos and the close by sanctuary of Letoon, the benefactions related to Opramoas prolonged past post-earthquake rebuilding. Two inscriptions from Letoon, dated after 152, report instructional endowments, civic distributions, and help for establishments linked to the Lycian League. The primary (SEG 30.1534) is a statue base recording that Opramoas gave land to the Lycian League to finance a distribution to the league’s koinobouloi (council members). The second (SEG 30.1535) is a stele itemizing a for much longer sequence of benefactions to the league and to different Lycian cities, in addition to a donation of 30,000 denarii in the direction of the theatre at Xanthos. Nevertheless, it doesn’t, and by no means did, embody the benefactor’s title. Scholarly debate stays over whether or not all of the benefactions belong to Opramoas himself or to a different nameless benefactor, however trendy scholarship, particularly Christina Kokkinia, tends to affiliate them with Opramoas.
- At Kadyanda, Opramoas seems to have donated round 12,000 denarii following the Lycian earthquake of AD 141/142. The inscriptions not protect the exact buildings or establishments that benefited from his generosity.
- At Limyra, Opramoas contributed a considerable sum, most likely between 10,000 and 30,000 denarii, to the town’s restoration following the Lycian earthquake. The inscription is simply too fragmentary to protect the precise particulars of the benefaction. Archaeological proof, nevertheless, means that the rebuilding could have included work on the theatre’s stage constructing, which was considerably reconstructed within the aftermath of the earthquake.
- At Telmessos, close to the western fringe of Lycia, the traces of Opramoas’ generosity survive solely in fragmentary type. The Rhodiapolis file information that the town acquired a considerable benefaction, most likely between 30,000 and 35,000 denarii, though the exact goal of the donation has not survived.
- At Olympos, Opramoas donated 12,000 denarii for the pageant of Hephaistos, supporting one of many metropolis’s necessary civic and non secular celebrations. Town was a significant non secular centre devoted to Hephaistos, the Greek god of fireplace and blacksmiths. Through the Roman Imperial interval, civic festivals and sacred video games had been repeatedly held in Olympos particularly to honour Hephaistos, the town’s principal deity.
“To the individuals of Olympos, for the pageant of Hephaistos, he gave twelve thousand denarii.”
- At Phaselis, Opramoas donated 10,000 denarii for civic distributions and public missions, in keeping with the inscription recorded in TAM II 1203. The textual content honours him as a citizen not solely of Rhodiapolis and Myra, but additionally of Phaselis itself. In contrast to the large-scale reconstruction tasks attested elsewhere, the benefactions at Phaselis seem to have supported the civic and ceremonial lifetime of the group by way of public distributions and theoriai, official delegations or sacred embassies related to festivals and non secular observances.
“Opramoas, son of Apollonios, grandson of Kalliades, citizen of Rhodiapolis, Myra, and Phaselis, energetic additionally in all of the cities of Lycia, who bestowed benefactions upon our personal metropolis as properly, for distributions and public embassies/sacred missions, within the quantity of [—] ten thousand denarii…”
- At Gagai, Opramoas seems to have donated roughly 8,000 denarii towards the development or restoration of a shower constructing after the earthquake. Though the surviving inscription is fragmentary, trendy reconstructions typically affiliate the town with a benefaction “for a shower” (balaneion), making Gagae one of many smaller Lycian communities for which a selected monument can most likely be recognized.
- At Choma, Opramoas donated 7,000 denarii for the development or restoration of a stoa and a Sebasteion (imperial cult shrine). The benefaction is likely one of the extra fascinating entries within the Rhodiapolis file as a result of it combines each civic and imperial structure inside a single donation.
“To the individuals of Choma, for a stoa and a Sebasteion, seven thousand denarii.”
- At Oinoanda, within the mountainous inside of northern Lycia, Opramoas seems to have contributed 10,000 denarii towards a shower constructing after the earthquake. Though the surviving inscription is fragmentary, the precise quantity of the donation is unsure.
“To the individuals of Oinoanda, for the bath-building…”
—
Lycia produced many rich benefactors through the Roman interval. Like his up to date Opramoas, Iason of Kyaneai grew to become famend for his benefactions, financing public buildings in his residence metropolis. But Opramoas stands aside even inside this tradition of benefaction. His generosity prolonged past a single group, reaching virtually your complete Lycian League. The AD 141 earthquake remodeled Opramoas from a distinguished native aristocrat right into a regional benefactor. Whereas Roman emperors, particularly Hadrian, supplied help after pure disasters elsewhere within the empire, in Lycia, a lot of the quick reconstruction seems to have relied on native elites.
Though lots of the buildings Opramoas restored now lie in ruins, the inscriptions carved upon his tomb at Rhodiapolis nonetheless protect the reminiscence of a benefactor whose generosity as soon as reached almost each nook of Roman Lycia.
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