EPISTULA SEVERI ET CARACALLAE AD APHRODISIENSES
   
Letter of Septimius Severus and Caracalla concerning the victory over the Parthians
  
( AD 198 )
 
    
( J. Reynolds, Aphrodisias and Rome, London, 1982, n. 17 ).
 
 
αὐτοκράτωρ   Καῖσαρ   θεοῦ   Μάρκου   Ἀντωνείνου   Εὐσεβοῦς   Γε[ρμανικοῦ   Σαρματικοῦ υἱός θεοῦ] Κομ[μό]δο[υ ἀδελφ[ός θεοῦ] | Ἀντωνείνου Εὐσεβοῦς υἱωνός θεοῦ Ἁδριανοῦ ἔκγον[ος θεοῦ Τραϊανο]ῦ Παρθι[κοῦ καὶ θεοῦ Νέρ]ουα ἀπ̣[όγονος] | Λούκιος Σεπτίμιος Σεουῆρος Εὐσεβὴς Περτίναξ Σεβασ[τός Ἀραβικός Ἀδιαβηνικός Παρθικὸς μέ]γιστο[ς ἀρχιε]-|ρεὺς μέγιστος δημαρχικῆς ἐξουσίας τὸ Ϛ´ αὐτοκράτωρ τὸ [ια´ ὕπατος τὸ β´ π]ατὴ[ρ πα]τρίδος ἀν̣θύπ[ατος καὶ] | αὐτοκράτωρ Καῖσαρ Λουκίου Σεπτιμίου ΣεουήρουΕὐσεβοῦς[Περ]τ̣ί̣να[κοςΣεβασ]τ̣οῦἈ̣[ραβικ]οῦ Ἀδιαβ[ην]ικ̣[οῦ Παρθι]-|κοῦ μεγίστου   υἱός   θεοῦ   Μάρκου   Ἀντωνείνου   Εὐσεβοῦς   Γερμαν[ικ]οῦ   Σαρμ̣[α]τι[κοῦ  υἱων̣[ός θεο]ῦ Ἀντω[νείνου   Εὐσε]-|βοῦς   ἔγγονος  θεοῦ  Ἁδριανοῦ  καὶ  θεοῦ Τραϊανοῦ Παρθικοῦ καὶ θεοῦ Νέρο[υα ἀπ[όγονος   Μᾶρκος   Α̣[ὐρ]ήλ̣ι̣[ος   Ἀντωνεῖνος   |   Σεβαστός   δημαρχικῆς   ἐξουσίας   ἀνθύπατος Ἀφ[ρ]ο[δ]εισιέων τοῖς ἄρχου̣[σι καὶ τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ χαίρειν vac. ] | πάνυ τῶν εἰκότων ἦν θεὸν ὑμᾶς προσκυνοῦντας παρ’ ἧς ἡ εὐγέ[ν]ε̣ια Ι̣[·· c. 15 ·· ?ἡσθῆναι ?ἐπὶ τοῖς] [περὶ] | τῶν βαρβάρων κατωρθωμένοις καὶ ἑορτὴν ἐπ’ αὐτοῖς κοινὴν σ[ὺν πάσῃ τῇ ?οἰκουμένῃ ἄγοντας ?ἐπιστεῖλαι διὰ] | ψηφίσματος ὡς εἰδείημεν ὑμῶν τὴν εὐσέβειαν τὰ ὑπάρχοντα δίκα̣[ια τῇ πόλει ὑμῶν μεμενηκότα μέχρι τῆς] | vac. ἡμετέρας ἀρχῆς ἀσάλευτα καὶ ἡμεῖς φυλάττομεν | ΚΛ̣[·· ? ·· εὐτυχεῖτε ·? vac. ]
 
English translation ( Inscriptions of Aphrodisias Project ).
  
 
      Imperator Caesar L. Septimius Severus, Pius, Pertinax, Augustus, [Arabicus, Adiabenicus, Parthicus] maximus,   [son]   of   divus   Marcus   Antoninus   Pius,   Ge[rmanicus,   Sarmaticus],   brother   [of divus] Com[mo]dus, grandson of [divus] Antoninus Pius, great grandson of divus Hadrianus, [descendant] of [divus Traianus Parthicus and divus Ner]va, Pontifex Maximus, holding tribunician power for the sixth time, acclaimed victor for the [eleventh time, consul for the second time,] father of his country, proconsul, [and] lmperator Caesar M. Aureli[us Antoninus] Augustus, son of L. Septimius Severus, Pius, [Per]tina[x, Augustu]s, A[rabic]us, Adiab[enicu]s, [Parthi]cus maximus, grandson of M. Antoninus Pius, German[ic]us, Sarm[aticus], great grandson of divus Antoninus Pius, descendant of] divus Hadrianus, of divus Trajanus Parthicus and of divus Nerva, holding the tribunician power, proconsul, to the Magistrates, [Council and People] of the Aphrodisians, greetings.
      It was entirely likely that you who worship a goddess from whom the nobility [.. ? .. rejoiced in our] successes [over] the barbarians and [conducted] a festival to celebrate them in common [?with your neighbours and sent to us though your] decree so that we should know your piety. The existing rights [of your city which have endured up to] our reign we too preserve unchanged [.. ? .. ?Farewell].
 

 
►  Bibliography
 
 
Pleket & Stroud, Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, XXXII, Amsterdam, 1982, n. 1097 ; Reynolds, Aphrodisias and Rome, London, 1982, n. 17 ; BE 1983, 378 ; AE 1984, n. 871 ; Mitchell, CR, 34, 1984, p. 296 ; Oliver, Greek Constitutions of Early Roman Emperors from Inscriptions and Papyri, Philadelphia, 1989, n. 218 ; Jones in Fromentin & Gotteland, Origines Gentium, Bordeaux, 2001, p. 183 ; Chaniotis et al., Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum, LI, Amsterdam, 2005, n. 1492.
 
 
►  Source : Inscription on a column discovered at Aphrodisias, Turkey, recorded in 1967.