Associations in the Greco-Roman World (AGRW)

An expanding collection of inscriptions, papyri, and other sources in translation (run by Philip A. Harland)

Honors for a Priest in the Local Mysteries (undated) Claudiopolis - Bithynia


Claudiopolis (Bithynia, Asia Minor — Pleiades map), undated
IKlaudiop 65 = CIG 3803 = IGR III 73 = PHI 279426 = AGRW ID# 13212
Copenhagen Inventory info: 619


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It is not clear whether these local mysteries are sponsored by the city or whether an ongoing association of initiates would be involved. Pausanias mentions that a festival with mysteries for Antinoos (the companion of Hadrian) was established by Hadrian himself in Mantineia in Arcadia (Greece; Guide to Greece 8.9.8). Bithynion / Claudiopolis was the hometown of Antinoos, so it is possible that these mysteries were for Antinoos. If mysteries for Antinoos were involved, then this inscription would date to the period after his death in 130 CE. Other finds from Claudiopolis include a bronze medallion dedicated to god Antinoos by the homeland (IKlaudiop 7) and an altar set up as a vow to the "new god" Antinoos (IKlaudiop 56).

To good fortune.  Marcus Domitius Teimoleon, the greatest leader of the mysteries (mystarchēs), set this up for his most sweet brother, Marcus Domitius Euphemon, the most brilliant man of consular rank and sacrificing priest (thyēkoos = thyoskoos) of the mysteries (mystēria) here.

Translation by: Harland



ἀγαθῆι τύχῃ· | Μᾶρκον Δομίτιον | Εὔφημον | τὸν λαμπρότατον || ὑπατικὸν καὶ θυη|κ̣όον τῶν τῇδε | μυστηρίων | Μᾶρκος Δομίτιος | Τειμολέων || ὁ κρ(άτιστος) μυστάρχης | τὸν γλυκύτατον | ἀδελφόν.

Item added: June 4, 2013
Item modified: September 18, 2020
ID number: 13212
Short link address:
http://www.philipharland.com/greco-roman-associations/?p=13212

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