Ephesos

THE CULT OF DIONYSOS IN ASIA MINOR
IN THE ROMAN IMPERIAL AGE

Making his presence, which can be traced long before the Archaic Age, deeply felt mainly in Hellas, Asia Minor and then in Rome throughout the ancient world, Dionysos, depending on the place and time, appears before us sometimes as a god of grape-wine, sometimes as a god of theatre and acting arts and sometimes as a religious power shaped according to the local needs, however, he has generally been a god of nature representing the fertility and abundance. According to the inscriptions, Dionysos was mentioned with many epithetons in Asia Minor of the Roman Imperial Age, and that he was a god of nature bringing abundance-fertility and his many other features can be observed by these epithetons. Depending on the long stated customs, the cult of Dionysos in Asia Minor survived throughout the Roman Imperial Age (especially in the II-III. Century A.D. with festivals, cult associations and structuring, artists (musicians, players, dancers) that served his cult. According to the written records, festivals such as Dionysia, Lēnaia, Anthestēria, Trietēris organized in the name of Dionysos were celebrated. Dance, music and play competitions were made in these festivals maintained by the rich citizens or directors and not commonly known cult rituals were performed. Besides the associations of synodos artists called by different names in different times in the large cities of the west, cult associations broad in scope such as thiasos, speira or cult member groups with large audience in various names were active both in worshipping and these festivals. In order to achieve this, undoubtedly, both artist associations and cult associations had to have a well organized governing structure. Names were given to the cult members according to the task taken. These members also had to pay a membership fee in order to be a member or to continue to be one. Actually, these fees were as important as the epimeletes in the mainta-nance of these associations. In addition, they were supported both mate-rially and spiritually by the Roman emperors or provincial governors. Although the paganic religious activities in the lands of Asia Minor under the control of Rome were left to the free will of the cities, they would not be strong without the respect shown for the cults of the emperors, emperor and the Roman goddess (Dea Roma). The worshipping of Dionysos could only develop with the close relations with the emperors and the Roman Empire. Correspondingly, supporting a paganic cult significant for the people, the Roman Empire gained the sympathy of the people and also kept them loyal to Rome. The deification of the Roman emperors began with General Marcus Antonius, who was wellcomed as “New Dionysos” on his arrival to Ephesos, and continued in the Roman Imperial Age. During this period the associations in Anazarbos, Ankyra, Ephesos, Teōs, Aphrodisias and Sardeis characterised Emperor Hadrianus, Commodus and Caracalla by this epitheton. Thus, they deified them by considering them equal with Dionysos. Dionysos also had common worship with imperial or Dea Roma cult besides the common paganic worship of Zeus and Dēmētēr. Like all other paganic religions, the cult of Dionysos broke down with the strengthening Christianity with which it had opposite doctrines and finally with the acceptance of Christianity as the official religion of the state. However, many features of the Dionysos cult continued to exist in Asia Minor both in Christian features and local cultures and traditions. Today it still continues this effect.

Arkaik Çağ’dan çok daha eskilere götürebildiğimiz varlığını, coğrafi olarak başta Hellas, Küçükasya ve sonraları Roma olmak üzere tüm Antik Çağ coğrafyasında etkin bir şekilde hissettiren Dionysos, yer ve zaman farkına bağlı olarak, bazı yerlerde üzüm-şarap tanrısı, bazılarında tiyatro ve sahne sanatlarının tanrısı, bazılarında ise yerel ihtiyaçlar doğrultusunda şekillendirilmiş dinsel bir güç olarak karşımıza çıkmıştır. Ama genel olarak bereket ve bolluğu temsil eden bir doğa tanrısı kimliğine sahip olmuştur. Yazıtlardan anlaşıldığına göre Roma İmparatorluk Çağı Küçükasyası’ nda birçok epitheton ile anılan Dionysos’un, bolluk-bereket getiren bir doğa tanrısı olduğu ve diğer başka özellikleri gene bu epitheton’larından anlaşılmaktadır. Küçükasya’daki Dionysos kültü Roma İmparatorluk Çağı boyunca (bilhassa M.S. II-III. yüzyılarda), öncesinden gelen bir geleneğe bağlı olarak şenlikleri, kült dernekleri ve yapılanması, kültüne hizmet eden sanatçıları (müzisyenler, oyuncular, dansçılar) ile varlığını sürdürmüştür. Yazılı belgelerden bu dönemde büyük ve zengin kentlerde hâlâ Dionysia, Lēnaia, Anthestēria, Trietēris gibi Dionysos adına tertiplenen şenliklerin kutlandığını; masrafları, epimeletes olarak bildiğimiz kentin zengin vatandaşları ya da yöneticileri tarafından karşılanan bu şenliklerde külte ilişkin dans, müzik ve oyun yarışmaların yapıldığını ve herkesçe bilinmeyen kült ritüellerinin uygulandığını öğrenmekteyiz. Bilhassa batı kesimlerdeki büyük kentlerdeki, farklı dönemlerde farklı isimlerle anılan synodos sanatçı derneklerinin yanında thiasos, speira gibi daha geniş kapsamlı kült dernekleri ya da en yaygını mystai olan çeşitli adlar altında toplanan geniş kitleli kült üye grupları hem tapınımda, hem de bu şenliklerde aktif olmuşlardır. Şüphesiz ki bunu gerçekleştirebilmek adına gerek sanatçı dernekleri gerekse kült dernekleri, iyi organize olmuş bir idari yapılanmaya sahip olmak durumundaydı. Bu derneklerde üstlendikleri görevlere göre adlandırılan kült üyelerinin, üye olabilmeleri veya üyeliklerini sürdü-rebilmeleri için ödemek zorunda oldukları aidatlar da vardı. Esasen bu derneklerin finansmanının karşılanmasında bu aidatlar, en az epimeletes’ ler kadar önemliydi. Ayrıca Roma imparatorlarının ya da eyalet yöneticilerinin hem manevi hem de maddi desteğini alıyorlardı. Zira bu dönemde Roma egemenliği altında bulunan Küçükasya topraklarındaki pagan dinsel yaşam her ne kadar kentlerin özgür iradesine bırakılmışsa da, imparatorlara, imparator ve Roma Tanrıçası (Dea Roma) kültüne gösterilen saygı olmaksızın güçlü kalamazdı. Küçükasya Dionysos tapınımı da, tamamıyla imparatorlar ve Roma İmparatorluğu ile kurulan güçlü bağlar sayesinde gelişebilmiştir. Bununla paralel olarak da Roma İmparatorluğu, halk için önemli olan pagan bir kültü destekleyerek, hem halkın sempatisini kazanmakta, hem de böylece onların Roma’ya olan bağlılığını sürdürmek amacını gütmekteydi. General Marcus Antonius’un Ephesos’a gelişinde “Yeni Dionysos” olarak karşılanmasıyla başlayan Romalı devlet adamlarını tanrılaştırma geleneği, Roma İmparatorluk Çağı’nda da sürmüş; bu dönemde özellikle Anazarbos, Ankyra, Ephesos, Teōs, Aphrodisias ve Sardeis’teki dernekler, İmparator Hadrianus, Commodus ve Caracalla’yı bu sıfatla nitelendirmişler, böylece onları Dionysos ile bir tutarak tanrılaştırmışlardır. İmparatorluk veya Dea Roma kültü ile ortak tapınımı da görülen Dionysos’un Zeus ve Dēmētēr gibi pagan tanrı-tanrıçalarla da ortak tapınımı söz konusudur. Diğer pagan dinler gibi Dionysos kültünün yıkımı da, öğretilerinin birbirine tamamen ters düştüğü Hıristiyanlık dininin güçlenmesiyle ve nihayetinde M.S. 391’de imparatorluğun resmî dini olmasıyla gerçekleşmiştir. Ancak Dionysos kültünün birçok unsuru, Küçükasya topraklarında, gerek Hıristiyanlık unsurlarında gerekse halk kültür ve geleneklerinde yaşamaya devam etmiştir. Bugün de bu etkisini göstermeye devam etmektedir."

SEG 60-1998. Religion. Dionysos: his cult in Asia Minor, Imperial period:
On the basis of archaeological, numismatic, and (mainly) epigraphic attestations, B.Öztürk,Roma imparatorluk çağı Küçükasaysı’nda Dionysos kültü (Istanbul 2010), studies the cult ofΔιόνυσος in Roman Asia Minor. After general remarks about the god, he presents a geographically arranged catalogue of the relevant inscriptions with brief comments (ph. of some texts). On 196-209, Ö. provides a register with explanations of the most important terms found in the inscriptions, and on 210/211 a list of epithets.

open access: https://www.austriaca.at/3950-8inhalt?frames=yes



Zwischen 147 und 149 n. Chr. wird im Norden von Ephesos auf einer Fläche von knapp 13.000 m² ein Bad-Gymnasium-Komplex eröffnet, der nach seinem Stifter, M. Claudius P. Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus, heute als Vediusgymnasium bezeichnet wird. Die als Kombination einer römischen Therme mit einem griechischen Gymnasium konfigurierte Anlage entspricht dem Idealtypus der vor allem in Kleinasien anzutreffenden Thermengymnasien. Die vorliegende Publikation nimmt die bereits in den 1920er und 1950er Jahren begonnenen Untersuchungen wieder auf, um nunmehr nach sechsjähriger Feldarbeit und Aufarbeitung eine Endpublikation des Monumentes vorzulegen. Diese beinhaltet sowohl die theoretische Rekonstruktion des Bauwerks mitsamt seiner Ausstattung und die Klärung der technischen Aspekte der Therme als auch eine archäologisch-historische Auswertung der Anlage, die die Nutzungs- und Baugeschichte des Bades beleuchtet. Die Arbeit thematisiert einen monumentalen Gebäudetypus, der das Stadtbild der Metropolen des griechischen Ostens prägte und als Zentrum des öffentlichen Lebens galt. Multifunktional angelegt dienten die Thermengymnasien als Treffpunkte von Vereinen, als Austragungsort unterschiedlichster Veranstaltungen, als Ausbildungsstätten und nicht zuletzt als Orte der körperlichen Ertüchtigung, der Körperpflege und Erholung. Das wechselhafte Schicksal eines der vier großen ephesischen Bad-Gymnasien soll im Zuge dieser Publikation dargelegt werden.



In the years between 147 and 149 A.D. an almost 13.000 m² bath-gymnasium complex was opened in the north of Ephesos, the sponsor of which, M. Claudius P. Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus, gave it its current name, Vedius gymnasium. The combination of Roman baths and Greek gymnasium is an example of the model type of the bath-gymnasium mainly found in Asia Minor. This publication is the continuation of the research started in the 1920's and 1950's and the result of six years of archaeological field work which is now presented in the final publication of the monument. It includes the theoretical reconstruction of the building, its furnishings and the clarification of various technical problems of the baths as well as the archaeological-historic relevance of the complex that explains the usage and the history of the building. The discussion also takes account of the monumental building type that strongly influenced the city structure of the metropoleis of the Greek east and belonged to the core of society. The multifunctional purpose of the bath-gymnasium made it a meeting point for clubs, events took place here, educational needs were met and last but not least it was also used as a place for exercise, body care and general recreation. This publication tries to explain the eventful life of one of the four large Ephesian bath-gymnasiums.

Greek Popular Assemblies in the Imperial Period and the Discourses of the Dio of Prusa

This paper is an attempt to clarify the position of the Greek popular assemblies within the political system of Graeco-Roman city, using available epigraphic documents and ancient literary sources, especially the works (Discourses) of Dio of Prusa, one of the most prominent and most interesting personalities in the Roman East during the early Antonine era.
For a long time now, there is a consensus among scholars that the Greek cities of the Imperial Period where democracies only in name. In reality, they were governed by small and rather exclusive elite groups. Council-members and public officials were elected only from an enclosed circle of the prominent families, while the popular assembly was marginalized, relegated to a token status or, even, ceased to function altogether. Municipal elites compensated the lack of public involvement in local politics by generous spending of their personal wealth on public buildings, monuments, festivals, games, feasts etc., thus keeping the popular disaffection within acceptable limits.
This view is certainly correct in its broad outlines but significant corrections are necessary, especially concerning the role of the popular assembly. The Discourses of Dio are particularly useful because some of them are the public speeches actually held before the various assemblies and one of them – possibly a fictional story but non the less very instructive – gives the descriptions of a full assembly meeting. Combined with the information from the epigraphic documents, several important conclusions can be drawn: the Romans did not formulate nor pursue any general policy of checking or abolishing civic assemblies in the Greek cities; inscriptions confirm existence of civic assemblies in nearly every Greek City of the Early Imperial Period; combined epigraphical and literary evidence for Ephesos (note especially the Salutarius foundation inscription – I.Ephesos 27, and the famous episodic from the Acts of the Apostles 19.21-40) points to a considerable importance of assembly in pulic life; several cities Dio visited during his life (Rhodes, Alexandria, Tarsos, Nikaia, Nikomedia and his native Prusa) had a functional assembly in the late 1st and early 2nd century AD, as indicated by Or. 31-48; popular assemblies in these cities dealt with a large number of issues of considerable importance; in the Euboean discourse, Dio gives a general description of the conditions and dealings of Greek public assemblies in his time; the civic officials were present during regular assembly meeting, with one of them chairing a particular session. The assemblies in the other Greek cities of the time probably function on the similar lines as those described by Dio.
The above mentioned conclusion can not be, however, taken so far as to prove that the Graeco-Roman cities were real democracies, similar to those of Classical and early Hellenistic times. It is impossible to deny that, in reality, the role of the local elites in the everyday life was of paramount importance. They held most material wealth, influence, almost all the public offices of any importance and they were the intermediates between the communities and their Roman overlords. That said, such social and political reality still left enough room for popular assemblies as important local institutions. It remained to be so probably until the mid-3rd century A.D., when the epigraphical record suddenly falls silent on public assemblies.

1. Abstract …………………………………..................................…….. 1
2. Introduction .....................................................................2
3. Dissemination of the Antediluvian Knowledge:
Lawful or forbidden? …………………….................................……… 5
4. The ‘Seed from before the Flood’ and the        Transgression of the Watchers ……………….............................................................…... 8
5. The apkallus as Evil Beings in Mesopotamian ............. 10
6. Mesopotamian and Jewish Demonology Compared ... 11
7. The Great Flood according to the Erra Epic …............... 12
8. The Term for Watchers in Aramaic and Akkadian .......  14
9. Conclusion ………………………................................………….….. 15

In Kleinasien und Syrien gibt es zahlreiche Tempel, deren Architektur Hinweise auf eine Kultausübung auf dem Dach gibt. Dabei handelt es sich zum einen um Treppenhäuser, die zum Tempeldach emporführen, zum anderen um Türöffnungen in den Giebelfeldern von Tempeln. Beide Eigenschaften treten bisweilen auch an ein und demselben Tempel auf, so dass zunächst ein Zusammenhang zwischen diesen beiden Eigenschaften naheliegend erscheint. Im folgenden soll jedoch gezeigt werden, dass Treppenhäuser und Giebeltüren unterschiedlichen Kulttraditionen und Funktionen dienten. Die Treppenhäuser entstammen der religiösen Tradition Mesopotamiens und Syriens und führen auf Flachdächer oder Terrassen auf den Tempeln, auf denen Opfer und andere Rituale stattfanden. Die Herkunft der Giebeltüren liegt dagegen in Anatolien. Hier wurde die Epiphanie der jeweiligen Gottheit durch Schauspieler aufgeführt, der Tempelgiebel wurde dabei zur Bühne eines rituellen Dramas. Die Verbreitung beider Architekturformen und damit Kulttraditionen fand in hellenistischer Zeit statt und ist Ausdruck der seleukidischen Religionspolitik.

Roman Ephesos had a diverse religious community. Numerous studies have focused on one or several Ephesian cults, but few have emphasised the intertwinement of these cults. This article stresses the intimate connection between two of the most important cults of Roman Ephesos — the cult of Artemis Ephesia and the imperial cult — and the Ephesian civic institutions. Though approaching the cults as local institutions, and therefore acknowledging the power relations at play within the city of Ephesos, it also takes the involvement of the Ephesian community into account. The intertwinement of both cultic institutions and the city, summarised by the term ‘Ephesian triad’, becomes evident through my discussion and interpretation of the urban topography, the religious activities and the civic coinage of Roman Ephesos. In view of its connection with the cult of Artemis Ephesia, the rise and impact of the imperial cult in Ephesos had fundamental consequences for the communal civic identity of Ephesos: did Ephesos continue to be the city of Artemis Ephesia it had been for so long?

Ephesus can certainly offer potentially rich source material, due to its historical development. In this chapter, the author is limited here to that material which has been discovered in the course of excavations in the area of private domestic architecture, and the statements. It concerns with the development of the settlement up until the Hellenistic era, in order to reconstruct, at least rudimentarily, the structure, organization, and composition of the social fabric. The earliest indications of human activity can be traced back to the seventh millennium BCE. To the southeast of the later Hellenistic-Roman city a settlement In addition to a variety of finds which can be interpreted in connection with settlement activity, two late Classical courtyard houses with single rooms have been excavated. Therefore, the interconnection between the domestic and working world well enough known from antiquity is manifested in the civic environment as well as the rural one.

Ancient readers were highly attuned to etymologically and allusively significant character names, which helped shape their experience and understanding of narratives in a variety of ways. Authors frequently exploited that fact in their compositions. This paper capitalizes on that state of affairs by utilizing a literarily attuned onomastic analysis to explore two themes in Xenophon’s Ephesiaca. Specifically, I argue that Xenophon deploys several character names in interpretively important and sometimes sophisticated ways to serve the construction of themes relating to erotic andreia and lasting beauty. Regarding erotic andreia, this study largely supplements and corroborates conclusions that have been emerging in recent scholarship and offers a few fresh proposals for consideration. Xenophon’s interest in lasting beauty has not received much attention in contemporary scholarship outside of David Konstan’s Sexual Symmetry. The results of this study suggest that the theme deserves further examination. I offer a brief sketch, informed by onomastic analysis, of where the theme occurs and why it matters in the story Xenophon is telling.

This paper presents an introduction to the various  problems of the so-called invention of coinage in the archaic period.  It summarizes the current state of scholarship regarding the earliest coins in the Artemision in Ephesos, the question about natural electrum, and other subjects, which are currently and often controversially discussed by scholars.

Βασιλείου-Δαμβέργης Αλέξανδρος- Νεκτάριος: Αριστοτέλους 1.Αθηναίων Πολιτεία, από τις απαρχές μέχρι το Σόλωνα:
διαθεματική διδακτική προσέγγιση στο πανεπιστήμιο.
2.Ο φιλόσοφος Ηράκλειτος η εποχή του: ο πολιτικός άνδρας, η πόλις και ο πόλεμος: διδακτική πρόταση στο πανεπιστήμιο.

The present study deals with the socio-political transformations in the city of Ephesos in the early Hellenistic period. It shows that during the tumultuous months after the death of Alexander the Great, the Ephesian community sought to re-establish internal and regional stability by appealing to the Macedonian Successors for support. This was achieved at the meeting of Ephesos in the summer of 322 BC, as attested by a detailed epigraphic study of a series of local inscriptions (I. Ephes. 1430-1437). The meeting addressed issues over Ionian democracy and privileges, as well as Macedonian hegemonia, in conformity with the precedents set by Alexander. Its successful conclusion saw Ephesos emerge as the leading and representative member of the Ionian koinon.

This article gives the historical context for the epistle to the Ephesians by examining the historical and religious background of the city of Ephesus. The religions of ancient Ephesus included the worship of Artemis, the worship of the Greek pantheon of gods and goddesses, the  Roman emperor cult and the practice of magic. The city experienced conflicts between Jews, Gentiles and the church established by Paul. The article surveys the spiritual war for Ephesus and explains how the gospel penetrated this pagan city in spite of spiritual and demonic opposition. This article was published in The Journal of Ministry and Theology 15.2 (Fall 2011), 77-131.

This article retraces the 'formative' building phases of the church of St. John at Ephesos from its origins in the 4th century to the 6th-century completion of the great vaulted monument whose ruins dominate the site today. The point of departure of our new approach to the building phases of St. John’s is not the discovery of new archaeological evidence. The present work is rather based on the realisation that some of the evidence that has already been published has either been misinterpreted or overlooked. The aim of this article is, therefore, to review, synthesise, and reinterpret all the evidence published since the 1950s. Grouped together and re-interpreted, these clues provide new insights into the history of the church. What distinguishes this new interpretation from previous ones is its architectural standpoint. The remains of St. John’s are viewed both as structural fragments but also as design fragments. In other words, traces of walls and pilasters are not only indicative of dates and construction methods. They also reveal the design ideas that shaped the church. Identifying parts of structure that correspond to different design ideas helps to distinguish building phases that are difficult to be spotted otherwise. Another characteristic of this methodology is its multifaceted approach to the remains. Archaeological evidence is compared with information from written records. The examination of construction details is combined with the study of the overall design. The combination of structural survey, design analysis, typological investigation, and research in written records addresses the need for a holistic approach to the development of the church.