| LETTER
OF ANTONY ON IMMUNITY FOR ATHLETES ( 41 BC ) |
| ( Johnson, Coleman-Norton & Bourne, Ancient Roman Statutes, Austin, 1961, p. 109, n. 125 ). |
|
The
papyrus containing this letter was reported in 1892. |
ENGLISH TRANSLATION. |
| Marcus
Antonius, saluted imperator, one of the triumvirs for re-establishing
the Republic, to the Assembly of the Greeks in Asia, greetings. Even before this, when my friend and trainer Marcus Antonius Artemidorus met me at Ephesus with Charopinus of Ephesus, eponymous priest of the guild of world champions and crowned victors at the sacred games, with the petition that the existing privileges of the guild should remain unimpaired and that it might be granted to write forthwith to you in regard to the other grants and privileges that were requested from me, namely, freedom from military service, complete immunity from public duties, exemption from billeting, truce at the time of assembly, inviolability of members, and the right to wear purple, I willingly grant these, both because of my friend Artemidorus and because of my desire to do a favor to their eponymous priest, not only for the honor but also for the enhancement of the guild. So also now, when Artemidorus came to me again with the request that they should be permitted to erect a bronze tablet and to engrave upon it the grant of the above-mentioned privileges, I desire to fail Artemidorus in no way in respect to his mission and I grant the right to have the tablet, as he requests. I am confirming this in a letter to you. |