| LETTER
OF TRAJAN DECIUS AND HERENNIUS ETRUSCUS ON APHRODISIAN FREEDOM ( AD 250 ) |
| ( Johnson, Coleman-Norton & Bourne, Ancient Roman Statutes, Austin, 1961, p. 232, n. 290 ). |
| The
city of Aphrodisias in Caria, Asia Minor, had sent a delegation to Decius
requesting a confirmation of its traditional freedom, and upon receiving
it erected this inscription, which was reported there in the mid-eighteenth
century. The names of the emperors concerned were later erased, but
were restored by Waddington. |
ENGLISH TRANSLATION. |
Emperor
Caesar Gaius Messius Quintus Trajan Decius Pius Felix Augustus, holding
the tribunician power for the third time, consul twice and consul-designate
for the third time, father of the fatherland, proconsul, and Herennius
Trajan Decius Caesar, pontifex maximus, holding the tribunician power
for the first time, consul-designate, to the magistrates and the Senate
and the people of Aphrodisias, greetings. It is reasonable that you take pleasure in our establishment on the throne and that you offer sacrifices and sincere prayers for us, both because of that deity who gave her name to your city and because of your friendship and confidence in the Roman people. We not only confirm your freedom, which you now enjoy, and all your other rights, as many as you have received from emperors before us, but we are also ready to amplify your hopes for the future. Aurelius Theodorus and Aurelius Onesimus were the envoys. Farewell. |