Edict of L. Antistius Rusticus on the grain supply of Antioch magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub reading text and apparatus afterF. F. Abbott & A. C. Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire, Princeton 1926, no. 65a, pp. 381–383 (the text followed here). magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub Beijing 2026 magalia.wiki antistius-rusticus AE 1925, 126 (Abbott & Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire, no. 65a) 12700147 1925, 126; AE 1926, 1; AE 1926, 78 Abbott & Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire, no. 65a; AE 1925, 126 CC-BY 4.0 — EpiDoc TEI edition for study and reuse. see provenanceAE 1925, 126 (Abbott & Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire, no. 65a) 12700147 1925, 126; AE 1926, 1; AE 1926, 78 Abbott & Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire, no. 65a; AE 1925, 126 An edict of the imperial legate L. Antistius Rusticus on the grain supply of the colony of Antioch; complete on one inscribed stone. Inscribed stone; found 1924 about AD 93 Antiochia Pisidiae Yalvaç (Antiochia Pisidiae), Turkey — One stone, complete F. F. Abbott & A. C. Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire, Princeton 1926, no. 65a, pp. 381–383 (the text followed here). L'Année épigraphique 1925, 126; W. M. Ramsay, ‘Studies in the Roman Province Galatia’, JRS 14 (1924), 179 ff. (editio princeps). Bourne, Coleman-Norton & Johnson, Ancient Roman Statutes, Austin 1961, no. 198. McCrum & Woodhead, Select Documents of the Flavian Emperors, Cambridge 1966, no. 464. H. Freis, Historische Inschriften zur römischen Kaiserzeit, Darmstadt 1994, no. 65. Linked data and external resources Pleiades 609307 EDH EDCS Trismegistos (TM) PIR² magalia.wiki edition

Leiden conventions rendered as EpiDoc: restorations as supplied(reason=lost), gaps as gap, abbreviations as expan(abbr+ex), omitted letters as supplied(reason=omitted), surplus as surplus, corrections as corr. Critical apparatus as listApp. The facing translation is div type=translation; the historical commentary is div type=commentary.

 Latin English L. Antistius RusticusThe issuer — imperial legateLucius Antistius Rusticus, legatus Augusti pro praetore — the emperor Domitian's governor of the joined province of Galatia–Cappadocia. A senator of Spanish origin and a former consul, he issues this edict on his own magisterial authority to relieve the famine at Antioch. The duumvirs and decurions of AntiochThe petitionersThe chief magistrates (duumviri) and town council (decuriones) of the colony of Antioch, who wrote to the governor reporting the dearth and asking that the common people be given the means to buy grain. DomitianThe reigning emperorT. Flavius Domitianus, emperor AD 81–96, named in the legate's titulature. The edict is issued in his reign and in his name's authority, though the act and the words are the governor's own.
Edict of L. Antistius Rusticus on the grain supply of Antioch — edition L. Antistius Rusticus legatus imperatoris Caesaris Domitiani Augusti Germanici pro praetore, dicit : Cum IIviri et decuriones splendidissimae coloniae Antiochensis scripserint mihi propter hiemis asperitatem an- nonam frumenti ex- arsisse petierintque ut pleps copiam emendi haberet, b. f. omnes, qui Antiochensis coloniae aut coloni aut incolae sunt, profiteantur apud IIviros coloniae Antiochensis intra tri- censimum diem quam hoc edictum meum pro- positum fuerit quantum quisque et quo loco fru- menti habeat et quan- tum in semen aut in cibaria annua familiae suae deducat, et reliqui omnis frumenti copiam emptoribus coloniae Antiochensis faciat. Vendendi autem tempus constituo in kalendas Augustas primas. Quod si quis non paruerit, sciat me, quid- quid contra edictum me- um retentum fuerit, in commissum vindica- turum, delatoribus prae- mi nomine octava por- tione constituta. Cum autem adfirmatur mihi ante hanc hibernae asperitatis per- severantiam octonis et novenis assibus modium fru- menti in colonia fuisse et iniquissimum sit famem civium suorum praedae cui- quam esse, excedere singulos denarios singulos modios pretium frumenti veto.
Edict of L. Antistius Rusticus on the grain supply of Antioch — translation
Antioch stone (ll. 1–10)

Lucius Antistius Rusticus, legate of the Emperor Caesar Domitian Augustus Germanicus with propraetorian power, declares: Since the duumvirs and decurions of the most splendid colony of Antioch have written to me that, on account of the harshness of the winter, the price of grain has flared up, and have asked that the common people might have the means of buying —

Antioch stone (ll. 11–26)

in good faith all persons who are either colonists or residents of the colony of Antioch shall declare, before the duumvirs of the colony of Antioch and within the thirtieth day after this my edict has been posted, how much grain each has and in what place, and how much he sets aside for seed or for the year's food of his household; and the whole of the remaining grain he shall make available to the buyers of the colony of Antioch. The time of selling I fix as the next first of August.

Antioch stone (ll. 27–44)

And if anyone does not comply, let him know that I shall confiscate to the treasury whatever has been held back contrary to my edict, an eighth part being appointed as a reward for informers. And since it is affirmed to me that, before the onset of this winter's harshness, a modius of grain stood in the colony at eight and nine asses, and since it is most unjust that the hunger of his fellow-citizens should be a source of profit to anyone, I forbid the price of grain to exceed one denarius the modius.

Edict of L. Antistius Rusticus on the grain supply of Antioch — commentary

The document opens with the issuer's name and titles and the verb dicit, ‘declares’ — the unmistakable protocol of an edict. The issuer is not the emperor but L. Antistius Rusticus, legate of Domitian with propraetorian power — the governor of the joint province of Galatia–Cappadocia (Abbott & Johnson, Municipal Administration, no. 65a).

The occasion follows in a single cum-clause: a hard winter has driven up the price of grain at Antioch, and the colony’s own magistrates — the duumvirs and decurions — have written to the governor asking relief for the common people. The edict is his answer: the city petitions its governor, and the governor proclaims.

The core of the edict is a compulsory declaration. Everyone holding grain in the colony — colonist or resident alike — must come before the duumvirs within thirty days of the edict’s posting and state, on his honour (bona fide), how much grain he holds and where (Abbott & Johnson, no. 65a).

The measure is not confiscation but forced marketing. Each holder may keep back his seed-corn (in semen) and a year’s food for his household (cibaria annua familiae suae); everything beyond that he must offer to the colony’s buyers. The governor then fixes the deadline: the next first of August. Hoarding is broken not by seizure but by law — a public register and a date.

Line 27 opens with primas, completing the deadline of the previous section (in K. Aug. primas, ‘by the next first of August’); the edict now turns to enforcement. Grain held back against the edict is forfeit — declared in commissum, confiscate — and an eighth of it is promised to informers (Abbott & Johnson, no. 65a).

The edict closes with a price ceiling, and reasons it out. Before the winter, a modius of grain stood at eight or nine asses; and since it is ‘most unjust that the hunger of his fellow-citizens should be a source of profit to anyone’, the governor caps the price at one denarius — sixteen asses — the modius. The ceiling still allows the price to rise above the pre-winter norm, but sets a firm limit on profiteering. The closing word, veto, ‘I forbid’, is the bare voice of the magistrate’s edict-power.

Critical apparatus Caesar⟨i⟩s — The source edition brackets the I: the engraver cut CAESARS, omitting a letter, and the editor supplies it — read Caesaris. Single-letter engraver's slips of this kind are marked the same way at lines 25 and 26. Aug(usti) Germ(anici) pro pr(aetore) — Domitian bears the title Germanicus (taken AD 83); the legate holds propraetorian power (pro praetore). The titulature places the edict in Domitian's reign — about AD 93, a year of dearth. b. f. — Left unexpanded in the source edition; universally resolved bona fide, 'in good faith' — the declarations of grain are to be made on the holder's honour. profiteantur apud IIviros — The compulsory declaration is made before the duumvirs of the colony — the city's own magistrates serve as the register of the emergency measure. au⟨t⟩em — The source brackets the T: an engraver's omission, supplied by the editor — read autem. Cf. cons⟨t⟩ituo, line 26, and Caesar⟨i⟩s, line 2. in commissum vindicaturum — Grain concealed against the edict becomes in commissum — forfeit to the public treasury. The governor states he 'shall confiscate' it (vindicaturum, with se ... esse understood). octonis et novenis assibus — The distributive numerals: grain stood 'at eight and nine asses each' the modius before the winter. The ceiling of one denarius (= 16 asses) thus sets the legal maximum well above the pre-winter norm, while still capping profiteering. (denarios) sing(ulos) modios — The price ceiling: the cost of grain is not to exceed one denarius for each modius. The denarius sign on the stone is resolved by the source as (denarios).
Editions and commentary F. F. Abbott & A. C. Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire, Princeton 1926, no. 65a, pp. 381–383 (the text followed here). L'Année épigraphique 1925, 126; W. M. Ramsay, ‘Studies in the Roman Province Galatia’, JRS 14 (1924), 179 ff. (editio princeps). Bourne, Coleman-Norton & Johnson, Ancient Roman Statutes, Austin 1961, no. 198. McCrum & Woodhead, Select Documents of the Flavian Emperors, Cambridge 1966, no. 464. H. Freis, Historische Inschriften zur römischen Kaiserzeit, Darmstadt 1994, no. 65.