Associations in the Greco-Roman World (AGRW)

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

Oath of Assos and the Roman Businessmen on the Accesion of Gaius Caligula (37 CE) Assos - Mysia and the Troad


Assos (Mysia and the Troad, Asia Minor — Pleiades map), 37 CE
IAssos 26 = IMT 573 = PHI 288053 = AGRW ID# 6555


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Tablet of bronze (54 x 38 cm) in the Museum at Istanbul (in 1976).

When Gnaius Acerronius Proclus and Gaius Pontius Petronius Nigrinus were consuls, decree of the Assians on the proposal of the People: Since the rule of Gaius Caesar Germanicus Augustus, which all men had hoped and prayed for, has been proclaimed and the joy of the world knows no bounds, and since every city (polis) and every people has been eager for the sight of the god, as if the happiest age of humanity had now begun, it was resolved by the Council, the Romans engaged in business (pragmateuomenoi) among us, and the People of Assos to arrange an embassy consisting of the foremost, distinguished Romans and Greeks to visit him (i.e. Caligula) and express joy, and to beg him to remember and care for the city, just as he also promised our city on his first visit to the province with his father Germanicus.

Oath of the Assians: We swear to Zeus Soter (“Saviour”), god Caesar Augustus, and the ancestral holy Maiden (i.e. Athena) to have good will towards Gaius Caesar Augustus and his whole household and to consider as friends whomever he may choose as friends and to consider as enemies whomever he accuses.  If we swear truly, may it go well for us, but if we swear falsely, the opposite will happen.  The ambassadors offered themselves at their own expense: Gaius Varius Castus son of Gaius of Voltinia tribe, Hermophanes son of Zoilos, Ktetos son of Pisistratos, Aischrion son of Kalliphanes, and Artemidoros son of Philomousos.  The ambassadors prayed to Capitolinian Zeus (i.e. Jupiter) for the safety of Gaius Caesar Augustus Germanicus and they sacrificed in the name of the city.

Translation by: Harland



ἐπὶ ὑπάτων Γναίου Ἀκερρωνίου ǀ Πρόκλου καὶ Γαΐου Ποντίου Πετρωǀνίου Νιγρίνου ǀ ψήφισμα Ἀσσίων γνώμηι τοῦ δήμου ǀǀ ἐπεὶ ἡ κατ’ εὐχὴν πᾶσιν ἀνθρώποις ἐλπισθεῖσα Γαΐου ǀ Καίσαρος Γερμανικοῦ Σεβαστοῦ ἡγεμονία κατήνγελται, ǀ οὐδὲν δὲ μέτρον χαρᾶς εὕρηκε ὁ κόσμος, πᾶσα δὲ πόλις ǀ καὶ πᾶν ἔθνος ἐπὶ τὴν τοῦ θεοῦ ὄψιν ἔσπευκεν, ὡς ἂν τοῦ ǀ ἡδίστου ἀνθρώποις αἰῶνος νῦν ἐνεστῶτος, ǀǀ ἔδοξεν τῆι βουλῆι καὶ τοῖς πραγματευομένοις παρ’ ἡμῖν ǀ Ῥωμαίοις καὶ τῶι δήμωι τῶι Ἀσσίων κατασταθῆναι πρεσǀβείαν ἐκ τῶν πρώτων καὶ ἀρίστων Ῥωμαίων τε καὶ Ἑλλήǀνων τὴν ἐντευξομένην καὶ συνησθησομένην αὐτῶι, ǀ δεηθησομένην τε ἔχειν διὰ μνήμης καὶ κηδεμονίας ǀǀ τὴν πόλιν, καθὼς καὶ αὐτὸς μετὰ τοῦ πατρὸς Γερμανικοῦ ǀ ἐπιβὰς πρώτως τῆι ἐπαρχείαι τῆς ἡμετέρας πόλεως ǀ ὑπέσχετο· ǀ ὅρκος Ἀσσίων ǀ ὄμνυμεν Δία Σωτῆρα καὶ θεὸν Καίσαρα Σεβαστὸν καὶ τὴν ǀǀ πάτριον ἁγνὴν Παρθένον εὐνοήσειν Γαΐωι Καίσαρι Σεβασǀτῶι καὶ τῶι σύμπαντι οἴκωι αὐτοῦ, καὶ φίλους τε κρίνειν, ǀ οὓς ἂν αὐτὸς προαιρῇται, καὶ ἐχθρούς, οὓς ἂν αὐτὸς προβάǀληται· εὐορκοῦσιν μὲν ἡμῖν εὖ εἴη, ἐφιορκοῦσιν δὲ τὰ ἐνανǀτία· ǀǀ πρεσβευταὶ ἐπηνγείλαντο ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων ǀ Γάϊος Οὐάριος Γαΐου υἱὸς Οὐολτινία Κάστος ǀ Ἑρμοφάνης Ζωΐλου ǀ Κτῆτος Πισιστράτου ǀ Αἰσχρίων Καλ<λ>ιφάνους ǀǀ Ἀρτεμίδωρος Φιλομούσου ǀ οἵτινες καὶ ὑπὲρ τῆς Γαΐου Καίσαρος Σεβαστοῦ Γερμανικοῦ ǀ σωτηρίας εὐξάμενοι Διὶ Καπιτωλίωι ἔθυσαν τῶι τῆς πόλεǀως ὀνόματι.

Item added: November 25, 2012
Item modified: December 3, 2015
ID number: 6555
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http://www.philipharland.com/greco-roman-associations/?p=6555

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