A New Honorary Inscription Relating to Telemachi Family from Xanthus

Abstract

This paper introduces a new, unpublished Greek inscription concerning the Telemachi family from Xanthus. The inscription in the northeast corner of the Dipylon looking to the upper agora was formerly documented by the Canadian epigraphic team in 2000 and later recorded in detail during the epigraphical survey conducted within the scope of the Xanthus Excavations-Season 2018. The fifteen-lined text was inscribed on the right profile of the statue base after a 29 cm long part roughly left which extends from the top of the base to the beginning of inscription. The inscription is dated to the 3rd century AD based on the gens “Aurelius/Aurelia” and the character of the letters. The inscription honours a person named M. Aurelius Attalus alias Heracleides, who has not yet been mentioned in any epigraphic document in the city of Xanthus so far. According to the lineage given in the inscription, the person in question is a member of the Tiberius Claudius Telemachus family, one of the famous and aristocratic families of Xanthus. The inscription reveals that M. Aurelius Attalus, alias Heracleides, is the son of M. Aurelius Heracleides, alias Dicaiarchus, who was titled as a consularis and Tib. Claudia Arsasis who was also titled as a consularis. The inscription also expresses that the maternal grandmother of the person honoured is Tiberia Claudia Arsinoe, and his grandfather is Tiberius Claudius Aurelius Attalus. This new epigraphic finding significantly contributes to the prosopography of elite families in Roman Lycia and illustrates how the empire incorporated local elites into its governing system. Additionally, the inscription provides valuable insights into the social hierarchy, cultural integration, and administrative strategies within the eastern provinces of the Roman Empire.