Antiochus VIII Grypus: the freedom of Seleucia in Pieria (Welles RC 71-72 = OGIS 257) magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub reading text and apparatus afterC. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), nos. 71-72 (text, translations, commentary; the reading text here). magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub Beijing 2026 magalia.wiki welles-antiochus-grypus Welles RC 71-72 (= OGIS 257 = IBM IV.2 970) 257 71 72 71·72 CC-BY 4.0 — EpiDoc TEI edition for study and reuse. see provenanceWelles RC 71-72 (= OGIS 257 = IBM IV.2 970) 257 71 72 71·72 Triangular white-marble fragment (the upper-right corner of a stele) from Kuklia / Palaepaphos, Cyprus; British Museum. RC 71 and 72 are the two letters inscribed on it. Triangular white-marble fragment — the upper-right corner of a stele; raised border on the right 109 BCE (Sel. year 203, Gorpiaeus 29) Seleucia in Pieria Kuklia / Palaepaphos, near Paphos, Cyprus — RC 71 substantially preserved (right edge intact); RC 72 mostly lost (line-ends only) C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), nos. 71-72 (text, translations, commentary; the reading text here). W. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae I (Leipzig 1903), no. 257 (the standard prior edition, collated here). E. A. Gardner, D. G. Hogarth & M. R. James, JHS IX (1888) 229-231 no.14; W. R. Paton, Class. Rev. IV (1890) 283; F. H. Marshall, Inscr. Brit. Mus. IV.2 (1916) 970. cf. U. Wilcken, Hermes XXIX (1894) 436-450; E. R. Bevan, House of Seleucus II 256. Linked data and external resources Pleiades 658483 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.

 Ancient Greek English Antiochus VIII GrypusKing of SyriaReigned 125-96 BCE; one of the warring late-Seleucid kings. Issues both letters (109 BCE) recognizing Seleucia in Pieria as free. Ptolemy (IX) AlexanderKing of Egypt, addressee of RC 71'Ptolemy also called Alexander', addressed as Antiochus VIII's 'brother'; the kings were allied and intermarried. The Seleukeis in PieriaThe city honouredThe magistrates, council and people of Seleucia in Pieria, the 'holy and inviolable' city, declared free for all time and addressed directly in RC 72. The Roman SenateRecipient of a copy: Antiochus VIII forwards a copy of the act to the Roman Senate — a sign of Rome's role as arbiter of Hellenistic affairs by 109 BCE. the Roman Senate (senatus)issuing body
Antiochus VIII Grypus: the freedom of Seleucia in Pieria (Welles RC 71-72 = OGIS 257) — edition Βασιλεὺς Ἀντίοχος βασιλεῖ Πτολεμαίωι τῶι καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρωι τῶι ἀδελφῶι χαίρειν Βασιλεὺς Ἀντίοχος βασιλεῖ Πτολεμαίωι τῶι καὶ Ἀλεξάνδρωι τῶι ἀδελφῶι χαίρειν· εἰ ἔρρωσαι, εἴη ἂν ὡς βου- λόμεθα· καὶ αὐτοὶ δὲ ὑγιαίνομεν καὶ σοῦ ἐμνημονεύομεν φιλοστόργως. Σελευκεῖς τοὺς ἐν Πιερίαι τῆς ἱερᾶς καὶ ἀσύλου ἐξ ἀρχῆς μὲν τῶι πατρὶ ἡμῶν προσκληρωθέντας καὶ τὴν πρὸς αὐτὸν εὔνοιαν μέχρι τέλους βεβαίαν συντηρήσαν- τας ἐμμείναντας δὲ καὶ τῇ πρὸς ἡμᾶς φιλοστοργίαι καὶ ταύ- την διὰ πολλῶν καὶ καλῶν ἔργων καὶ μάλιστ' ἐν τοῖς ἐπει- ληφόσιν ἀναγκαιοτάτοις καιροῖς ἀποδεδειγμένους καὶ τὰ ἄλλα μεγαλοψύχως καὶ αὐτῶν ἀξίως ἐπαυξήσαντες εἰς ἐπιφανέστερον προηγάγομεν ἀξίωμα· καὶ νυνὶ δὲ τῆς πρώ- της καὶ μεγίστης εὐεργεσίας καταξιῶσαι σπουδάζοντες αὐτούς, ἐκρίναμεν εἰς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον ἐλευθέρους εἶναι, καὶ περιελάβομεν αὐτοῖς ἃς ἐποιησάμεθα πρὸς ἀλλή- λους συνθήκας, νομίζοντες οὕτως καὶ τὸ πρὸς τὴν πατρίδα εὐσεβὲς καὶ μεγαλομερὲς ἡμῶν ἐκφανέστερον ἔσεσθαι. ὅπως δὲ καὶ σὺ τὰ συγχωρηθέντα παρακολουθῇς, καλῶς ἔχειν ἔδοξεν ἐπιστεῖλαί σοι. ἔρρωσθε. ἔτους γσ΄, Γορπιαίου κθ΄. Βασιλεὺς Ἀντίοχος Σελευκέων τῶν ἐν Πιερίαι τῆς ἱε- ρᾶς καὶ ἀσύλου τοῖς ἄρχουσι καὶ τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῶι δήμωι χαίρειν· εἰ ἔρρωσθε ὑμεῖς καὶ ἡ πόλις, εἴη ἂν ὡς βουλόμε- θα. ἐπέμψαμεν ὑμῖν ἀντίγραφον τῆς τε ἐπιστολῆς ἧς γε- γράψαμεν πρὸς βασιλέα Πτολεμαῖον καὶ τῆς πρὸς τὴν Ῥωμαί- ων σύγκλητον — — — — — — — — — — —
Antiochus VIII Grypus: the freedom of Seleucia in Pieria (Welles RC 71-72 = OGIS 257) — translation
Antiochus VIII tells his brother-king Ptolemy that he has declared Seleucia in Pieria free for all time and written it into their treaties (ll. 1–18)

King Antiochus to King Ptolemy, also called Alexander, his brother, greeting. If you are well, it would be as we wish; we ourselves are well and were remembering you with affection. The people of Seleucia in Pieria, the holy and inviolable city, were from the beginning allotted to our father and kept their goodwill toward him firm to the end; and they have remained constant in their affection toward us too, and have shown it through many fine deeds, especially in the most pressing of critical times. Having therefore magnanimously and worthily exalted them in other respects as well, we advanced them to more conspicuous honour; and now, eager to deem them worthy of the first and greatest benefaction, we have decided that they be free for all time, and we have included them in the treaties we have made with one another — thinking that thus our reverence and magnanimity toward our ancestral city will be the more manifest. [And that you too may] be informed [of the concessions], it seemed good to write to you. Farewell. Year 203, Gorpiaeus 29.

Antiochus VIII forwards the Seleukeis copies of his letters to Ptolemy and to the Roman Senate (mostly restored) (ll. 1–6)

[King Antiochus to the magistrates and the] council and the people [of Seleucia] in Pieria, the holy [and inviolable], greeting. If you and the city are well, [it would be] as we wish. [We have sent you a copy of the letter] which we have written [to King Ptolemy and of the one to the] Roman [Senate, so that you may know …].

Antiochus VIII Grypus: the freedom of Seleucia in Pieria (Welles RC 71-72 = OGIS 257) — commentary

Antiochus VIII Grypus writes to his 'brother', King Ptolemy (IX) Alexander of Egypt. The Seleukeis of Seleucia in Pieria — the dynasty's holy and inviolable coastal city — had been loyal to his father and steadfast toward himself 'in the most pressing of critical times,' i.e. the ruinous wars with his half-brother Antiochus IX. As reward Antiochus VIII declares the city free for all time and writes it into the treaties between the two kings, asking that Ptolemy too be informed. The letter is dated to Seleucid year 203 (109 BCE), Gorpiaeus 29. Its substantially-preserved text (the stele's intact upper-right corner) is one of the latest royal letters in the corpus.

The short covering letter to the city itself. Antiochus VIII greets the magistrates, council and people of Seleucia in Pieria, 'the holy and inviolable,' and forwards to them copies of the letter he has written to King Ptolemy and of the one to the Roman Senate — so that the city may know the grant. Only the line-ends of the stele survive here, so almost the whole text is restored (Paton, Dittenberger); the gesture toward Rome is the telling detail, marking the Senate as arbiter even of a Seleucid king's act by 109 BCE.

Critical apparatus (mostly restored) — only the line-ends of RC 72 survive on the stele's corner; the text is the restoration of Paton and Dittenberger (ll.4-6 after Wilcken). Σελευκεῖς τοὺς ἐν Πιερίαι τῆς ἱερᾶς καὶ ἀσύλου — the people of Seleucia in Pieria, 'the holy and inviolable' city — the subject of the grant. ἀποδεδειγμένους — so Welles; OGIS 257 (Dittenberger) reads ἀποδειξαμένους. ἐκρίναμεν εἰς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον ἐλευθέρους εἶναι — the operative grant: 'we have decided that they be free for all time'. (ἔτους) γσ΄, Γορπιαίου κθ΄ — Seleucid year 203 (= 109 BCE), the Macedonian month Gorpiaeus, day 29.
Editions and commentary C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), nos. 71-72 (text, translations, commentary; the reading text here). W. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae I (Leipzig 1903), no. 257 (the standard prior edition, collated here). E. A. Gardner, D. G. Hogarth & M. R. James, JHS IX (1888) 229-231 no.14; W. R. Paton, Class. Rev. IV (1890) 283; F. H. Marshall, Inscr. Brit. Mus. IV.2 (1916) 970. cf. U. Wilcken, Hermes XXIX (1894) 436-450; E. R. Bevan, House of Seleucus II 256.