Abstract:

Excavation and restauration activities in the Pamphylian city of Side in the last two decades have furnished us with a host of new inscriptions, of which 26 are presented he­re: No. 1 is a late Hellenistic decree for a Roman patron; he seems to be one of the Vale­ri­us Flaccus brothers, who governed Asia as legates in the late nineties of the 1st cent. BC. No. 2 is another decree for a prominent Roman patron, namely Sextus Iulius (Caesar), a re­lat­­ive of the dictator. The appointment as patron falls into the short period when Sextus Iu­li­us Caesar governed the province of Syria as proquaestor pro praetore (July 47–mid 46 BC). In the Constantine period the theatre of Side was embellished, with statues of both members of the imperial family and prominent citizens from the past being set up in the stage area. The inscriptions nos. 3–4, 10 and 28, found in the ruins of the scenae frons, seem to belong in this con­text. The archiatros Marcellus honoured in no. 4 is identified with the famous Side­tan doctor of the Antonine period, who was familiar with the emperors Hadrian and An­toninus Pius. Other statues belonged to a certain Olympionike (no. 10) and to Kreon (no. 4). The revised do­cu­ment no. 28 is the third known honorary decree set up by the city for He­le­na, mother of Con­stantine the Great. The lavish honours bestowed on Helena may be con­nected with her financ­ial support for repair work in the theatre.  Another epigraphic text from the theatre contains an acclamation of Side as the mother of the synhodos of the Dionysian technitai (no. 6). This important document from the 2nd or 3rd cent. AD shows another aspect of the well-known rivalry between Side and Perge. The epigram no. 7 is a dedication erected in honour of two kitharists from Aphrodisias, who had come off as win­ners in the Agon mystikos. This international festival was perhaps created at Hadrian’s initiative. Of older date and reserved for citizens of Side, the agon in honour of the goddess Themis was connected with the epibaterion festival of Athena and symbolised the annu­al opening of the shipping season. It was created by L. Avidius Maximus in the 1st cent. AD. No. 8 is a de­dicat­ion of the wrestler Demoneikos to Athena, Themis and the De­mos. Demoneikos seems to have won a prize in the agon of Themis in the category of pai­des. In the Severian period this agon seems to have been replaced by the agon of Touesia­nus, that now was open to all Pam­phylians. The base no. 9 set up in the context of this agon ex­­tols the boy Aur. Menneas from Aspendos and [Lyr]be, who as successful wrestler was hon­­our­ed with the citizenship of Side. He won the Touesianic Agon ἀπτώς as well as ἀμε­σο­­λάβητος, i.e. «without having been caught in a waist lock».  Argaios dedicated some altars to his native city in the imperial period. No. 11 is one of the pe­des­tals where the name of Emperor Hadrian and his title «Augoustos» are cut in quasi-cursive letters. No. 12 is a dedication to Asklepios, nos. 13 and 14 are 3rd-century AD altars for Athe­na, Artemis and Zeus Soter. The use of the same altar for both Athena and Artemis may reflect the homonoia created by Gordianus III between the two rival cities of Perge and Side. The small altar no. 15 belongs to Zeus Koryphites, attested for the first time. The epithet of Zeus is closely connected with Koryphe, mentioned in the Customs Law of Asia as the city harbour of Side. Koryphe apperas to have been the name of the whole promontory on which Side was located. The grave stelae nos. 16–19 from the Hellenistic period were found in the ancient harbour of Side. Since they feature personal names in the Pamphylian dialect (otherwise not attested in Side), they seem to have been brought from the neighbouring city of Aspendos. The funeral monu­ment of Athenades (no. 20) belongs to the same tomb as ISide no. 195. No. 21 ment­ions repair work on the grave monument of Hypsistos. The phrase [καύ]στραν σὺν τῇ κ[ιόνι] points to a cinerarium that stood on a round or square pedestal. The inscription no. 22 is engraved on a monumental marble column which must have stood on the city’s main street and was a gift of Olympis, who adorned it with a standing male figure. The inscription below the figure calls him Varus, who might have been a relative (maybe the husband or father) of the donator. Further names of donors are mentioned in the inscriptions nos. 23 and 24 on column bases. The last two new inscriptions at the bottom of both a lamp and a plate reveal the names of the owners of these household objects (nos. 25–26). 

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