RCS: Roman Syria
Clare Rowan
Limestone votive stela from Palmyra, May AD 55.
The Palmyrene god Sadrafa is shown wearing
a Roman military costume with lance, sword
and shield; bearded; a snake is entwined
around the lance and in the background is a
scorpion.
Inscription (in Palmyrene):
In the month Iyar [May] in the year 366 [AD
55] this stela was erected by Atenatan, son of
Zabd'ateh, descendant of Toshabeb, to
Shadrafa, the good god, in order that he may
become patron in his sanctuary for him and
the members of his house, all of them.
BM 1889,0512.1
Palmyra, urbs nobilis situ, divitiis soli et aquis amoenis, vasto undique ambitu harenis includit agros
ac, velut terris exempta a rerum natura, privata sorte inter duo imperia summa Romanorum
Parthorumque est, prima in discordia semper utrimque cura. abest ab Seleucia Parthorum, quae
vocatur Ad Tigrim, CCCXXXVII p., a proximo vero Syriae litore CCIII et a Damasco XXVII propius.
‘Palmyra is a city famous for the beauty of its site, the riches of its soil, and the delicious quality and
abundance of its water. Its fields are surrounded by sands on every side, and are thus separated, as
it were, by nature from the rest of the world. Though placed between the two great empires of
Rome and Parthia, it still maintains its independence; never failing, at the very first moment that a
rupture between them is threatened, to attract the careful attention of both. It is distant 337 miles
from Seleucia of the Parthians, generally known as Seleucia on the Tigris, 203 from the nearest part
of the Syrian coast, and twenty-seven less from Damascus.’
Pliny, Natural History 5.21
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CIL VI. 30817, from Trastevere, Rome.
Soli sanctissimo sacrum Ti(berius)
Claudius Felix et Claudia Helpis et
Ti(berius) Claudius Alypus fil(ius) eorum
Votum solverunt libens merito
Calbienses de Coh(orte) III
(This monument is) consecrated to the most holy sun. Tiberius
Claudius Felix and Claudia Helpis, and their son, Tiberius Claudius
Alypus, who live in the third courtyard of the apartment house of
Galba, gratefully (offer this) in fulfilment of a vow (to the sun)
who has earned it.
‘Ot’ dh lmlkbl wl’lhy tdmr
Qrb tbrys qlwdys plqs
Wtdmry’ l’hyhn šlm
This altar (is) for Malakbel and the gods of Palmyra. Tiberius
Claudius Felix and the Palmyrenes offer it to their gods. Peace.
BI Tetradrachm of Alexandria, Egypt, AD 220-221, 11.01g
Obverse: IOVLIA AKVILIA SEVERA SEB. Bare bust of Julia Aquila Severa, r.
Reverse: Stone of Emesa surmounted by an eagle, being carried on a quadriga. L, delta.
ANS 1944.100.64371
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Relief from the Mithraeum at Dura, showing Mithras slaying the bull
Bibliography
@ Ball, W. (2000). Rome in the East. London.
Butcher, K. (2003). Roman Syria and the Near East. London. [DG 59.S9]
@Edwell, P. (2008). Between Rome and Persia: the middle Euphrates, Mesopotamia, and Palmyra
under Roman Control, New York.
@ Houston, G. W. (1990), 'The Altar from Rome with Inscriptions to Sol and Malakbel', Syria 67, 18993. (available from Persee, http://www.persee.fr/web/revues/home/prescript/article/syria_00397946_1990_num_67_1_7139)
@ James, S. (2011). 'Stratagems, combat, and "chemical warfare" in the siege mines of DuraEuropos', American Journal of Archaeology 115: 69-101 (http://www.ajaonline.org/article/360)
Kaizer, T. (2002). The Religious Life of Palmyra. Stuttgart [BL 1640.K35].
Mattingly, D.J. (2011) Imperialism, power and identity: experiencing the Roman Empire, Princeton
[DG 271.M2], esp. the chapters 1 and 8.
@Millar, F. (1993). The Roman Near East, 31 BC – AD 337. Cambridge, MA.
@ Palmer, R. E. A. (1981), 'The Topography and Social History of Rome's Trastevere (Southern
Sector)', Proceedings of the American Philosophical Society 125, 368-97. [JSTOR]
@ Webster, J. (2001). ‘Creolizing the Roman Provinces’, American Journal of Archaeology 105: 20925
http://artgallery.yale.edu/duraeuropos/
http://ecatalogue.art.yale.edu/search.htm
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