Ptolemy II to Miletus: praising the city's fidelity and promising support magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub reading text and apparatus afterA. Rehm, Milet I 3 (Berlin 1914), no. 139, pp. 300–307 (the base text; not held locally). magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub Beijing 2026 magalia.wiki welles-ptolemy-miletus Milet I 3 139 (Welles, RC 14) I 3 139 14 CC-BY 4.0 — EpiDoc TEI edition for study and reuse. see provenanceMilet I 3 139 (Welles, RC 14) I 3 139 14 A great marble stele, broken in two; ll.1-15 the royal letter, ll.16-59 the city's answering decree. A great marble stele; ll.1-15 the royal letter, ll.16-59 the answering decree c. 262/1 BCE Miletus Didyma (the Apollo sanctuary; found in two parts, 1903 + 1904, Wiegand) — Complete, though injured A. Rehm, Milet I 3 (Berlin 1914), no. 139, pp. 300–307 (the base text; not held locally). C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), no. 14 (text, translation, commentary; the witness used here). W. Schubart, Archiv für Papyrusforschung VI (1920), 327 f.; F. Schroeter, De Regum Hellenisticarum Epistulis (1932), 13. On the date and the admiral Callicrates: W. W. Tarn, Hermes LXV (1930), 446–454 (c. 276/3, rejected); Rehm and most (c. 262/1). Linked data and external resources Pleiades 599799 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 Ptolemy II PhiladelphusThe writer (king of Egypt, 285–246 BCE)Praises Miletus for its fidelity, frames his benefactions as continuous with his father's, and rewards the kept alliance in the dangerous Chremonidean-War years. Ptolemy 'the Son'The co-regent (one of the reporters)'The son' (ὁ υἱός) among the Friends at Miletus who wrote to the king of the city's goodwill — the co-regent of c.267–259 BCE; a key chronological anchor. Callicrates of SamosThe admiral (one of the reporters)Kallikrates, the celebrated Ptolemaic admiral and nesiarch, present among the Friends — his naval command in the Aegean is the backdrop to Miletus' strategic loyalty. HegestratosThe royal agentCharged by the king to address the Milesians 'at greater length' on these matters and to convey his greeting — the human channel between letter and city. Pithenus son of TharsagorasMover of the answering decreeA leader of the Ptolemaic party at Miletus; his amendment carried the oath of loyalty of citizens and ephebes to the royal house. The council and people of MiletusThe addressee: A free polis that kept its φιλία καὶ συμμαχία with Egypt through the war and bound its next generation to the dynasty by oath. the council and people (boulē kai dēmos)issuing / addressee body
Ptolemy II to Miletus: praising the city's fidelity and promising support — edition Βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος Μιλησίων τῆι βουλῆι καὶ τῶι δήμωι χαίρειν Βασιλεὺς Πτολεμαῖος Μιλησίων τῆι βουλῆι καὶ τῶι δήμωι χαίρειν· καὶ πρότερον τὴμ πᾶσαν ἐποιούμην σπουδὴν ὑπὲρ τῆς πόλεως ὑμῶν καὶ χώραν διδοὺς καὶ ἐν τοῖς λοιποῖς ἐπιμελούμενος, ὡς προσῆκον ἦν διὰ τὸ καὶ τὸμ πατέρα τὸν ἡμέτερον ὁρᾶν οἰκείως καὶ πρὸς τὴν πόλιν δια- κείμενον καὶ πολλῶν ἀγαθῶν παραίτιον ὑμῖν γενόμενον καὶ φόρων τε σκληρῶν καὶ χαλεπῶν ἀπολύσαντα καὶ παραγωγίων παρ’ ὑμῖν, ἃ τινες τῶμ βασιλέων κατέστησαν, νυνί τε ὑμῶν τὴμ πόλιν καὶ τὴμ πρὸς ἡ- μᾶς φιλίαν καὶ συμμαχίαν οἰκείως διατετηρηκότων — γέγραφεν γὰρ μοι ὅ τε υἱὸς καὶ Καλλικράτης καὶ οἱ ἄλλοι φίλοι οἱ παρ’ ὑμῖν ὄντες ἣν ἀ- πόδειξιν πεποίησθε τῆς πρὸς ἡμᾶς εὐνοίας — καὶ αὐτοὶ παρακολουθοῦν- τες ἐπαινοῦμέν τε ὑμᾶς ὡς ἔνι μάλιστα καὶ πειρασόμεθα ἀμύνεσθαι τὸν δῆ- μον εὐεργετοῦντες, παρακαλοῦμέν δὲ καὶ εἰς τὸν λοιπὸν χρόνον τὴν αὐτ- ὴν ἔχειν αἵρεσιν πρὸς ἡμᾶς, ἵνα καὶ ἡμεῖς τοιούτων ὑμῶν ὄντων ἐπὶ πλέον τὴν ἐπιμέλειαν τῆς πόλεως ποιώμεθα. τὰ δὲ πλείω συντετάχαμεν Ἡγεστρά- τωι περὶ τε τούτων διαλεχθῆναι καὶ ἀσπάσασθαι παρ’ ἡμῶν. ἔρρωσθε.
Ptolemy II to Miletus: praising the city's fidelity and promising support — translation
'My son and Callicrates have written what goodwill you have shown' — praise, the father's tax-relief, the kept alliance (ll. 1–15)

King Ptolemy to the council and the people of Miletus, greeting. In former times too I showed all zeal on behalf of your city, both giving land and taking care in all other matters, as was fitting — because I saw that our father too was kindly disposed toward the city, had been the author of many benefits to you, and had released you from harsh and grievous taxes and from the tolls (paragōgia) which certain of the kings had imposed;

and now, since you have loyally maintained your city and your friendship and alliance toward us — for my son and Callicrates and the other friends who are with you have written to me what a demonstration you have made of your goodwill toward us — we for our part, taking note of this, praise you as warmly as possible and shall try to requite the people by our benefactions; and we call on you to keep this same policy toward us for the future also, so that, you being such (friends to us), we may take even greater care of the city. The rest we have charged Hegestratos to discuss with you at greater length, and to give you our greeting. Farewell.

Miletus binds citizens and ephebes by oath to the royal house (Pithenus' amendment) (ll. 16–59)

Miletus replies by praising the king for his kindness and ordains that all the present citizens AND the annually graduating classes of ephebes swear an oath of loyalty to the royal house (the Ptolemies). As grounds it cites the benefactions of Ptolemy I (c.314/3 BCE) and of Ptolemy II (c.279 BCE); it alludes to 'many and great wars by sea and land' and to an attack on Miletus by a hostile fleet (ll.32-34). The substantive part (ll.22-59) is an amendment to the probouleuma moved in the assembly by Pithenus son of Tharsagoras, a leader of the Ptolemaic party in the city.

Ptolemy II to Miletus: praising the city's fidelity and promising support — commentary

The letter is a masterclass in dynastic euergetism. Ptolemy II grounds his own zeal for Miletus — a gift of land, care 'in all things' — in his father's example: Ptolemy I had been 'kindly disposed' toward the city, 'the author of many benefits', and had released it from the harsh taxes and tolls (παραγώγια) that 'certain of the kings' had imposed. The present moment justifies the renewal: Miletus has 'loyally maintained' its friendship and alliance (φιλία καὶ συμμαχία), as 'my son and Callicrates and the other Friends present' have reported. The two names date and place the letter precisely — Ptolemy 'the Son' the co-regent, and Kallikrates of Samos the admiral — in the Chremonidean-War years when a hostile fleet threatened the city. Ptolemy praises, promises benefactions, and sends the agent Hegestratos to say the rest (Welles 1934, 71–75; Rehm, Milet I 3 139).

On the same stele Miletus replied (Milet I 3 139, ll. 16–59; given here by summary). The city praised the king and ordained that all the present citizens and the annually graduating classes of ephebes swear an oath of loyalty to the royal house, citing as grounds the benefactions of Ptolemy I (c. 314/3 BCE) and of Ptolemy II and alluding to 'many and great wars by sea and land' and an attack on the city by a hostile fleet. The substantive part (ll. 22–59) was an amendment moved in the assembly by Pithenus son of Tharsagoras, a leader of the Ptolemaic party. A free Greek polis binding its next generation in fidelity to a foreign dynasty is the most telling image of Ptolemaic 'soft' hegemony in the Aegean.

Critical apparatus χώραν διδοὺς — 'giving land' — a grant of territory by Ptolemy II, distinct from the father's tax-relief. φόρων … σκληρῶν καὶ χαλεπῶν … παραγωγίων — 'harsh and grievous taxes and tolls (paragōgia)' that 'certain of the kings' (l.7) had imposed and Ptolemy I lifted. [φ]ιλίαν καὶ συμμαχίαν — 'friendship and alliance' — the formal bond Miletus kept; [φ] restored. ὅ τε υἱὸς καὶ Καλλικράτης — 'my son and Callicrates' — the co-regent Ptolemy and Kallikrates of Samos the admiral; the prosopographical date-anchors. Ἡγεστράτωι — Hegestratos, the royal agent to report the rest; the name is secure in the text (the earlier bracketed lemma overstated a restoration). πλεί[ω] — the [ω] restored at the line-14 break — the one genuine supplement in the closing clause. (the answering decree) — Milet I 3 139 ll.16-59: the loyalty-oath of citizens + ephebes to the royal house, moved by Pithenus son of Tharsagoras. Given by summary.
Editions and commentary A. Rehm, Milet I 3 (Berlin 1914), no. 139, pp. 300–307 (the base text; not held locally). C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), no. 14 (text, translation, commentary; the witness used here). W. Schubart, Archiv für Papyrusforschung VI (1920), 327 f.; F. Schroeter, De Regum Hellenisticarum Epistulis (1932), 13. On the date and the admiral Callicrates: W. W. Tarn, Hermes LXV (1930), 446–454 (c. 276/3, rejected); Rehm and most (c. 262/1).