Abstract:

A s tatue base discovered in the theatre of Nicaea in 2012 features an inscription honouring L. Venuleius Montanus Apronianus Octavius Priscus (cos. ord. 123). The monument was erected probably in 138/9 CE, when the honorand was proconsul of Asia, and provides us with the earliest evidence for the use of the theatre, which was still under construction when Pliny the Younger was governor. The statue of the proconsul was set up by the association of the Neme­siastai, who appear to have received a large donation from the honorand. Protected by Nemesis, they were probably citizens of Nicaea who, because of their interest in gladiatorial combats and animal fights, had joined together in a club. In the theatre the roofed part of the east parodos served as Nemeseion, which is suggested by two wall niches which, according to the inscription below the niches, had housed two statuettes of the goddess. The cult of Nemesis appears to have been particularly popular in Nicaea under the Antonines, this is evident also from the fact that under Antoninus Pius the city minted coins featuring the goddess. Under the Empire the cult of Nemesis experienced a rise in reputation throughout the eastern part of the Roman Empire, this seems to have come about only through the combining of the «Roman» Nemesis as victory goddess of the Games of Arena and the «traditional» Nemesis as goddess of law and revenge. The first chapter presents the epigraphical and archaeological evidence of Nemesis in Nicaea, the second examines the importance gladiatorial combats and animal fights had for this city, and the third explains the relationship between Venuleius Apronianus of Pisa on the one hand and Nicaea and the Nemesiastai on the other. It is likely that Apronianus held a city patronage position that had already been established by his grandfather during his proconsulship of Bithynia-Pontos under Nero. The last chapter discusses the career of Venuleius Apronianus and, with the aid of this new document, revises the extant incomplete inscription CIL XI 1525 from Lucca, on which reconstructions of the career of Venuleius Apronianus have hitherto been dependent.

Keywords: