Antiochus III: the cult of Queen Laodice and the chief-priestess Berenike magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub reading text and apparatus afterW. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae I (Leipzig 1903), no. 224 (the base text followed here; printed under 'Antiochus II'). magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub Beijing 2026 magalia.wiki welles-laodice-priestess OGIS 224 (Welles, RC 36–37) 224 36–37 CC-BY 4.0 — EpiDoc TEI edition for study and reuse. see provenanceOGIS 224 (Welles, RC 36–37) 224 36–37 White marble stele in six fragments, complete in its dimensions but worn; from Eriza in Caria, now the Louvre. White marble stele, six fragments; surface worn 204 BCE (Artemisios 12) Eriza (Kabalis) Eriza in the Kabalis, northern Caria — Now in the Louvre; one of several copies set up across the satrapies W. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae I (Leipzig 1903), no. 224 (the base text followed here; printed under 'Antiochus II'). C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), nos. 36–37 (collation, translation, commentary; reassigns to Antiochus III). M. Holleaux & P. Paris, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 9 (1885), 324–330; M. Holleaux, ibid. 12 (1888), 523–529. M. Holleaux & L. Robert, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 54 (1930), 245–267, pls. XII–XIII (the major modern edition). Linked data and external resources Pleiades 638881 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 III the GreatThe writer (Seleucid king, 222–187 BCE)Institutes the empire-wide cult of his queen, the female counterpart of the dynastic ruler-cult — an act of dynastic religion and of conjugal/political display. Laodice IIIThe queen (the king's wife, styled 'sister')Recipient of the new state cult; praised for living with the king 'lovingly and piously'. Her image is set on the golden crowns of her priestesses. AnaximbrotusThe satrap addressedReceives the king's letter and forwards the ordinance to register Berenike's appointment and erect the stelae. BerenikeThe chief-priestess appointedDaughter of Ptolemy son of Lysimachus, a royal kinswoman; appointed archiereia of Queen Laodice for Anaximbrotus' satrapy.
Antiochus III: the cult of Queen Laodice and the chief-priestess Berenike — edition Βασιλεὺς Ἀντίοχος Ἀναξιμβρότωι χαίρειν Βασιλεὺς Ἀντίοχος Ἀναξιμβρότωι χαίρειν· βουλόμενοι τῆς ἀδελφῆς βασιλίσσης Λαοδίκης τὰς τιμὰς ἐπὶ πλέον αὔξειν καὶ τοῦτο ἀναγκαιότατον ἑαυτοῖς νομίζοντες εἶναι διὰ τὸ οὐ μόνον ἡμῖν φιλοστόργως καὶ κηδεμονικῶς αὐτὴν συμβιοῦν, ἀλλὰ καὶ πρὸς τὸ θεῖον εὐσεβῶς διακεῖσθαι, καὶ τὰ ἄλλα ὅσα πρέπει καὶ δίκαιόν ἐστι παρ’ ἡμῶν αὐτῆι χαρίζεσθαι διατελοῦμεν μετὰ φιλοστοργίας ποιοῦντες, κρίνομεν δὲ καθάπερ πανταχοῦ καθεστήκασιν κατὰ τὴν βασιλείαν ἡμῶν ἀρχιερεῖς, καὶ ταύτης καθίστασθαι ἐν τοῖς αὐτοῖς τόποις ἀρχιερείας, αἳ φορήσουσιν στεφάνους χρυσοῦς ἔχοντας — — — — — —ις, ἐπιγραφήσονται δὲ καὶ ἐν τοῖς συναλλάγμασιν μετὰ τοὺς τῶν προγόνων καὶ ἡμῶν ἀρχιερεῖς. ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀποδέδειγμαι ἐν τοῖς ὑπὸ σὲ τόποις Βερενίκην, Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Λυσιμάχου τοῦ προσήκοντος ἡμῖν κατὰ συγγένειαν θυγατέρα, συντελείσθω πάντα τοῖς προγεγραμμένοις ἀκόλουθα, καὶ τὰ ἀντίγραφα τῶν ἐπιστο- λῶν ἀναγραφέντα εἰς στήλας ἀνατεθήτωσαν ἐν τοῖς ἐπιφανε- στάτοις τόποις, ὅπως νῦν τε καὶ εἰς τὸ λοιπὸν πᾶσιν φανερὰ ὑπάρχηι ἡ ἡμετέρα καὶ ἐν τούτοις διὰ τὴν ἀδελφὴν προαίρεσις. τὸ ἀντίγραφον τοῦ βασιλέως προστάγματος περὶ τοῦ ἀποδεδεῖχθαι τῆς βασι- λίσσης ἀρχιέρειαν τῶν ἐν τῆι σατραπείαι Βερενίκην τὴν Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Λυσιμάχου θυγατέρα καταχωρίσαι· τὸ ἀντίγραφον· ἐπακολουθῶν οἷον τοῖς ἐπεσταλμένοις συντελεῖ καθ’ ἃ οἴεται δεῖν, ἵνα δὲ καὶ τὰ ἀντίγραφα ἀναγραφέντα εἰς στήλην λιθίνην ἀνατεθῆι ἐν τῶι ἐπιφανεστάτωι τόπωι προνοηθῆι. ἔτους — — —, Ἀρτεμισίου ιθ΄.
Antiochus III: the cult of Queen Laodice and the chief-priestess Berenike — translation
Antiochus III institutes the queen's chief-priestesses and names Berenike (ll. 1–19)

King Antiochus to Anaximbrotus, greeting. Wishing to magnify still further the honours of our sister Queen Laodice, and considering this most necessary for us — because she not only lives with us lovingly and devotedly but is also piously disposed toward the divine, and we continue with affection to grant her all else that is fitting and just — we have decided that, just as chief-priests of us are appointed throughout the kingdom, so chief-priestesses of her too shall be appointed in the same places, who shall wear golden crowns having [her image (the words are lost; so restored)] and shall be named in contracts after the chief-priests of (our) ancestors and of us. Since, then, I have appointed in the places under your authority Berenike, daughter of Ptolemy son of Lysimachus, who is related to us by kinship, let everything be carried out in accordance with what is written above, and let copies of the letters, inscribed on stelae, be set up in the most prominent places, so that now and for the future our policy toward our sister may be manifest to all.

Registration of Berenike's appointment; order to erect the stele (ll. 1–6)

[Copy of] the royal ordinance concerning the appointment as chief-priestess of the queen, for those in the satrapy, of Berenike daughter of Ptolemy son of Lysimachus — to register it. The copy: following the instructions sent, let it be carried out as he thinks necessary, and let copies, inscribed on a stone stele, be set up in the most conspicuous place [— let it be seen to]. Year —, Artemisios 19.

Antiochus III: the cult of Queen Laodice and the chief-priestess Berenike — commentary

Antiochus III the Great institutes a state cult of his wife, Queen Laodice III, across the empire. The letter is the female counterpart of the dynastic ruler-cult: as chief-priests (archiereis) of the king already serve in every region, chief-priestesses (archiereiai) of the queen are now appointed beside them — wearing golden crowns that bear her image, and inscribed in the dating-formulae of contracts after the priests of the gods and of the king. The cult is grounded in the queen's exemplary conjugal and pious virtue. For Anaximbrotus' satrapy the king names a kinswoman, Berenike daughter of Ptolemy son of Lysimachus. OGIS placed the text under Antiochus II; Welles and Holleaux–Robert reassign it to Antiochus III, 204 BCE (Welles 1934, 156–166).

A short covering note transmits the royal ordinance down the chain of command: the appointment of Berenike as chief-priestess of the queen 'for those in the satrapy' is to be registered, the orders carried out, and copies inscribed on a stone stele set up in the most conspicuous place — dated Artemisios 12. The same satrapal-forwarding mechanism seen with Metrophanes (ed. #4) and Meleager (ed. #7) (Welles 1934, 166).

Critical apparatus καθεστήκασιν ἀρχιερεῖς … καθίστασθαι … ἀρχιερείας — the cult's structural claim: chief-priestesses of the queen are instituted on the model of the king's chief-priests. στεφάνους χρυσοῦς ἔχοντας [— — —]ις — golden crowns having […] — OGIS prints a lacuna (ending -ις) after ἔχοντας; the crowns are generally restored as 'bearing her image' (εἰκόνας αὐτῆς), the priestesses' insignia, but the supplement is not preserved and is left as a lacuna here. ἐπεὶ οὖν ἀποδέδε[ιγμ]αι … Βερενίκην … θυγατέρα — 'since, then, I have appointed Berenike … as (chief-priestess)' — OGIS reads ἀποδέδε[ιγμ]αι (ἀποδείκνυμι, with Berenike as object); the earlier draft's [καθέσταται] was a wrong restoration. Βερενίκην, Πτολεμαίου τοῦ Λυσιμάχου … θυγατέρα — the appointee, a royal kinswoman (κατὰ συγγένειαν). Ἀρτεμισίου ιθ΄ — the satrapal docket is dated the 19th of Artemisios (ιθ΄ = 19; the earlier draft read ιβ΄ = 12 — corrected against OGIS 224). Ἀντίοχος — OGIS prints the dossier under Antiochus II (Dittenberger); Welles and Holleaux–Robert reassign it to Antiochus III, spring 204 BCE.
Editions and commentary W. Dittenberger, Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae I (Leipzig 1903), no. 224 (the base text followed here; printed under 'Antiochus II'). C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), nos. 36–37 (collation, translation, commentary; reassigns to Antiochus III). M. Holleaux & P. Paris, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 9 (1885), 324–330; M. Holleaux, ibid. 12 (1888), 523–529. M. Holleaux & L. Robert, Bulletin de Correspondance Hellénique 54 (1930), 245–267, pls. XII–XIII (the major modern edition).