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Last Updated on 18 Jun 2019

Author: Stella Skaltsa

CAPInv. 920: hoi katoikountes ten Paspareiton plateian

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Mysia
iii. Site Pergamon

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν Πασπαρειτῶν πλατεῖαν (MDAI(A) 1902:101 no. 102, ll. 7-9)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hoi katoikountes ten Paspareiton plateian

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 142 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Status-related:hoi katoikountes
Topographical:plateian Paspareiton: plateia: street; in the Imperial period it came to denote professional associations (Zimmermann 2002: 34) in light of them doing business in the shops that aligned the colonnaded streets (Robert 1937: 532-8). The editor of OGIS 491 n. 3 assumed that the plateia Paspareiton took its name from Apollo Pasparios. However, the honorific decrees for Diodoros Pasparos, the prominent Pergamene citizen of the 1st c. BC, clearly show that Pasparos is a surname of Diodoros and the plateia in all likelihood derived its name from the Pergamene benefactor. Diodoros Pasparos was granted god-like honours and a tribe in Pergamon was named after him, i.e. Pasparis (Hepding 1907: 243; Et.Anat. 533 n. 5).The editors of IGRR IV 425 think both interpretations possible.
iii. Descriptive terms πλατεῖα, plateia

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) MDAI(A) 1902: 101 no. 102 (after 142 AD)
Note IGRR IV 425
OGIS 491
Labarre & Le Dinahet 1996: 71-2 no. 9
Dittmann-Schöne 2001: no. I.7.2
AGRW 118
Online Resources MDAI(A) 27 (1902) 101 no. 102

AGRW 118 ID 577
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Honorary inscription in Greek for Lucius Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus, consul, benefactor and founder of the fatherland. The honours were granted by the katoikountes ten Paspareiton plateian.
i.c. Physical format(s) Base of white marble.
H. 60 x W. 35 x Th. 54 cm.
ii. Source(s) provenance Found in the eastern part of the Lower Agora in Pergamon.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects τὴν βάσιν, ten basin l. 14

VII. ORGANIZATION

v. Other staff ἐπιμεληθέντων, epimelethenton (l. 9): two individuals were in charge of overseeing the erection of the honorand's statue.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Men
Note Those taking caring for the erection of the honorific statue are men.
iv. Status Menandros son of Menandros was bapheus (l. 11). He bears a Greek name and a Greek patronymic. On the other hand, the co-supervisor in the erection of Rufinus' statue had Roman citizenship or was a freedman in the light of his name: C. Julius Eutaktos.

X. ACTIVITIES

iv. Honours/Other activities The katoikountes ten Paspareiton plateian set up an honorific statue for the consul Lucius Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus. The statue is not mentioned in the text, but inferred by the honorific formula of the inscription and the fact that two persons were appointed to supervise its erection. They donated 100 denarii for the statue and paid for the (statue) base.

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The honorand was a distinguished Pergamene, consul in 142 AD and priest of Zeus Olympios (PIR 2 1637; Halfmann 1979: 154 no. 66). He was also honoured by another group in Pergamon, hoi ten akropolin katoikountes (CAP Inv. 919).

XII. NOTES

i. Comments Poland (1909: 122-3) thought that the term plateia stands for associations of craftsmen and thus hoi katoikountes ten Paspareiton plateian would denote a professional association. Pleket (1984: 27) went a step further, claiming that the honorand, L. Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus, may have supported financially the group by investing money in the textile business (one of the supervisors for the erection of the statue was a dyer).
However, the term plateia also designates a geographical subdivision within the city (van Nijf 1997: 182; Pont 2013), and in this case the group takes its name from the place of residency within Pergamon. It is often referred in scholarship as 'neighborhood' association (see Pont 2013; Harland 2014: 120).

According to Harland it is unclear whether the individuals that were in charge of supervising the erection of the statue were ongoing functionaries within the group or temporary supervisors (Harland 2014: 121).
ii. Poland concordance Poland Z *49.
iii. Bibliography PIR 2: Prosopographia Imperii Romani

Halfmann, H. (1979), Die Senatoren aus dem östlichen Teil des Imperium Romanum bis zum Ende des 2. Jhr. n. Chr., (Hypomnemata 58). Heidelberg.
Harland, P. (2014), Greco-Roman associations. II. North Coast of the Black Sea, Asia Minor. Berlin.
Hepding, H. (1907), 'Die Arbeiten zu Pergamon. II. Die Inschriften', MDAI(A) 32: 241-377.
Labarre, G. & M.-Th. Le Dinahet (1996), 'Les metiers du textile en Asie Mineure de l'époque hellénistique à l'époque imperiale', in Aspects de l'artisanat du textile dans le monde méditerranéen (Ègypte, Grèce, Monde romain). Paris: 49-115.
Pleket, H.W. (1984), 'Urban Elites and the Economy in the Greek Cities of the Roman Empire', MBAH 3.1: 3-35.
Pont, A-V. (2013), 'Les groupes de voisinage dans les villes d' Asie Mineure occidentale à l'époque impériale', in P. Fröhlich & P. Hamon (eds.), Groupes et associations dans les cités grecques (IIIe siècle av. J.-C. - IIe siècle apr. J.-C.), Actes de la table ronde de Paris, INHA, 19-20 Juin 2009. Geneva: 129-56.
Robert, L. (1937), Etudes anatoliennes: recherches sur les inscriptions grecques de l'Asie mineure. Paris.
van Nijf, O. (1997), The Civic World of Professional Associations in the Roman East. Amsterdam.
Zimmermann, C. (2002), Handwerervereine im griechischen Osten des Imperium Romanum. Mainz.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note Pergamon has yielded four inscriptions that pertain to three 'neighborhood' groups; they all date to the Imperial period; they all are honorary inscriptions for prominent public figures. Residency within the urban fabric is a bonding element in the self-presentation of the group. Although the katoikountes ten Paspareiton plateian participate in a joint activity, i.e. honouring the consul L. Cuspius Pactumeius Rufinus, this activity alone is inconclusive as to the durability of the group as well as to its private nature.