Tiberius Iulius Pelagon, Libertus et Procurator Augusti and Benefactor of Stratonikeia TIBERIUS IULIUS PELAGON, LIBERTUS ET PROCURATOR AUGUSTI VE STRATONIKEIA’NIN HAYIRSEVERİ
Asia Minor, cilt.6, ss.91-97, 2026 (Scopus)
- Yayın Türü: Makale / Tam Makale
- Cilt numarası: 6
- Basım Tarihi: 2026
- Doi Numarası: 10.19272/202615201003
- Dergi Adı: Asia Minor
- Derginin Tarandığı İndeksler: Scopus
- Sayfa Sayıları: ss.91-97
- Anahtar Kelimeler: Apographē, Caria, Codicilli, Gymnasium, Libertus Augusti, Stratonikeia, Tiberius Iulius Pelagon
- Akdeniz Üniversitesi Adresli: Evet
Özet
Two newly identified inscriptions from Stratonikeia provide further insight into the relationship between the imperial freedman Tiberius Iulius Pelagon and his home city. Inscriptions discovered at Neapolis, Ephesus, Lagina, and Stratonikeia present him as a prominent member of the imperial household, bearing the titles Augusti libertus and procurator. By contrast, Tacitus (Ann., xiv 59.2) describes him in negative terms as one of Nero’s eunuchs who, in 62 AD on imperial orders, was responsible for the execution of Rubellius Plautus, then exiled to Asia as a potential rival for the throne. A fragmentary Latin inscription from Ephesus (I. Ephesos, 862), which names Pelagon together with his imperial titles, suggests that he carried out this assignment in his capacity as procurator of the province of Asia. Another fragmentary inscription, carved on an architrave from Stratonikeia (I. Stratonikeia, 1011), records him as the founder of a building. The new honorary decree (no. 1) published here confirms that he had already acted as a benefactor of the city during his lifetime. Moreover, the expression “his own fellow citizen and benefactor” (ἑαυτοῦ πολείτου καὶ εὐεργέτọ[υ]) demonstrates that he originated from Stratonikeia and supports the reconstruction of his full tria nomina as Tiberius Iulius Pelagon. His statue was erected in a prominent location in the city centre, near the intersection of the two colonnaded streets. In addition, upon his death, Pelagon bequeathed a monetary donation to his homeland in his will. According to an inscription from Lagina (I. Stratonikeia, 631), the city successfully secured this bequest through a trial held in Rome. The newly published inscription (no. 2) suggests that these funds were most likely used for construction works in the Hellenistic gymnasium. This partially preserved text, carved on the wall of the ephebeion, records that a unit within the gymnasium – perhaps an exedra or part of the ephebeion – used for the education of epheboi and paides was financed with the money left by Pelagon. Furthermore, the proposed restoration includes the term apographē, which may have functioned as the Greek equivalent of the Latin codicilli. It is also argued that this document constituted the evidence carried by the embassy to Rome mentioned in the Lagina inscription.