Littérature scientifique sur le sujet « Laodicean War »

Publius Cornelius Dolabella, the most famous governor of the Province of Upper Illyricum / Dalmatia, is a descendant of an eminent and ancient Roman family that has originated and belonged to the patrician gens Cornelia. Gens Cornelia had a large number of branches, including Dolabellae. Representatives of this branch of Cornelia are recorded in sources as prominent officials during the Middle Republic. Publius Cornelius Dolabella Maximus was a consul in 283 BC, followed by two more members of branch Cornelius Dolabella, but with praenomen Gnaeus, the consuls of the Republic in 159 and 81 BC. Several other members of this branch held high political, military and religious functions during the republican system. During the 2nd and 3 rd Roman civil wars, Publius Cornelius Dolabella (later sometimes called Lentulus) appeared on the political arena, who was born around 70 BC and was the consul in 44 BC. His public service was an example of unscrupulous politics in the last few years of the republican system. He died in 43 BC, when the city Laodicea was overtaken by Cassius, one of the leaders of the Republican Party. His namesake son (with his first wife Fabia, while his second wife was Tullia, the daughter of Cicero) belonged to the Octavian faction at war with Mark Antony. Our Publius Cornelius Dolabella was the son of the latter, who was a supporter of Octavian and actively worked on the public scene in the last decade of the life of Augustus (27 BC-14 AD) and in the first period of the reign of Tiberius (14-37 AD).

The complex triumphal inscription of King Ptolemy III of Egypt (246-222/221 BC) ‘Great King descended from Heracles and Dionysus’ stands out among the great epigraphic documents of the Ptolemaic dynasty. It includes the official genealogy of the sovereign, a panorama of the territories inherited from Ptolemy II and, above all, the list of the conquests of the first phase of the Laodicean war (246-245 BC), which culminated in an anabasis up to Central Asia. We know this historical and meta-historical document only through the autopsy of the Alexandrian merchant Cosmas Indicopleustes, who saw it in Adulis (Kingdom of Axum), in the heart of ancient Aithiopia, in 547-549 AD. The inscription raises numerous questions, and must be examined keeping in view the concepts of memory and tradition. Added to this is the fascinating intellectual history of his reception, which played a role in the birth of the concept of ‘Hellenism’ itself.

La tesi di dottorato consiste in una ricostruzione del regno di Tolemeo III Evergete d’Egitto dall’assunzione del titolo regale nel 246 a.C. fino alla conclusione della guerra laodicea nel 241 a.C.. Preliminarmente vengono presentate le principali fonti storiografiche, letterarie, papiracee, epigrafiche e numismatiche a nostra disposizione per la ricostruzione del regno dell’Evergete. Un’intera sezione è dedicata esclusivamente alle opere frammentarie di autori collocabili tra la seconda metà del III e la prima metà del II secolo a.C.. Il lavoro procede con una ricostruzione delle vicende biografiche di Tolemeo III fino al 246 a.C., con una discussione circa l’ancora incerta identificazione di quest’ultimo e con una presentazione dei principali membri della famiglia reale lagide e del ruolo politico da essi svolto. Successivamente vengono analizzate nel dettaglio le tappe della guerra laodicea e vengono offerti una visione complessiva dei territori sotto il controllo lagide nel 245 e un bilancio sui rapporti di forza tra le potenze lagide e seleucide al termine del conflitto. Infine, viene esaminata la politica interna di Tolemeo III attraverso la presentazione dei provvedimenti in ambito giudiziario, sociale, amministrativo, fiscale, economico e militare, con un focus particolare sul processo di legittimazione del potere messo in atto dal sovrano.
The aim of this thesis is to reconstruct Ptolemy III’s reign of Egypt, from the assumption of the royal title in 246 BC up to the end of the Laodicean War in 241 BC. First of all, a presentation of the main historiographic, literary, papyracean, epigraphic and numismatic sources at disposal for a reconstruction of Ptolemy III’s reign is made. An entire section is dedicated to the fragmentary works dateable to a range between the second half of the 3rd century BC and the first half of the 2nd century BC. Then, the research focuses on the reconstruction of Euergetes’ biography until 246 BC, the discussed identification of the king and the presentation of the main royal family’s members and of their political role. Furthermore the Laodicean War’s stages are analysed and an overall view of the areas under Lagid control in 245 is offered as well as an assessment of the balance of power between Lagids and Seleucids at the end of the war. Finally, the thesis analyses the measures taken by Ptolemy III in the judicial, social, administrative, fiscal, economic and military fields. A focus is provided on the process of legitimising power implemented by the Euergetes.

Ancient Laodicea, once a thriving city, now lies in ruins, awaiting a more thorough excavation than it has so far received. Overshadowed by the more spectacular nearby site of Hierapolis (Pamukkale), Laodicea receives the occasional busload of tourists who stop to view the remains of this city that the book of Revelation imagined as having boasted, “I am rich, I have prospered, and I need nothing” (3:17). Laodicea is south of the modern village of Goncalï and north of the village of Eskihisar. The site is located on a plateau between two small rivers that are tributaries of the Lycus River. The Asopus River runs along the western part of the ancient city, while the Caprus River runs along the east. To visit the site, take the road from Denizli that leads to Pamukkale. Two different roads from the Denizli-Pamukkale highway lead to Laodicea, both of which are on the left and marked with a sign indicating the way to Laodicea. Laodicea is situated 10 miles from Colossae and 6 miles from Hierapolis. This area was a part of the region of Phrygia, although it was sometimes considered a part of Lydia or Caria. Pliny the Elder claims that Laodicea was built on the site of an earlier settlement known as Diospolis and later as Rhoas (Natural History 5.105). Because of its location near the Lycus River, the city was known as Laodicea ad Lycum in order to differentiate it from several other cities named Laodicea. Of particular importance to the commercial success of the city was its position at the junction of two roads—one that ran from the Aegean coast near Ephesus through the Meander River valley and on to the Euphrates, and another that ran from Pergamum to Sardis and then to Perga and Attalia (modern Antalya). Antiochus II, the Seleucid king (r. 261–246 B.C.E.), founded the city during the middle of the 3rd century B.C.E. He named the city in honor of his wife Laodice, whom he later divorced. After the Romans, with the aid of the Pergamene kingdom, defeated Antiochus III at Magnesia in 189 B.C.E., Laodicea came under the control of Pergamum.

This two-part chapter, underpinned by nineteenth-century theories of light and vision and the empirical researches of Hermann von Helmholtz, is primarily concerned with light and its disclosures, first as it operates in the physics of two major novels, Far From the Madding Crowd and Lord Jim, and then its place in the act of seeing as explored in two less widely read works, A Laodicean and ‘The End of the Tether’. The discussion of Far From the Madding Crowd shows that the medium of light is an agent in extending perception in a scene beyond the ‘comings in’ of a particular eye. Light in Lord Jim bears a more metaphysical significance, and is associated with the search for a single unifying truth which in contemporary physics was found in the luminiferous ether. The lighting of various scenes continually poses the question: in what medium can the truth of Jim’s reality be found? The characters in A Laodicean and ‘The End of the Tether’ seek ‘the cogency of direct vision’, but only find insight, as with Helmholtz’s optics, by indirection. The appetite of the eye is not in these novels, whether comic or tragic, granted natural and uncomplicated gratification by the light that falls upon it.

Hierapolis is a popular tourist site, featured frequently on travel posters and tourist advertisements because of the adjacent spectacular calcified cliffs. Equally as impressive as the white cliffs, however, are the remains of the ancient city and the excellent museum at the site. Along with Colossae and Laodicea, Hierapolis was one of the major cities of the Lycus River valley. While Colossae and Laodicea are on the southern side of the Lycus River, Hierapolis (today known as Pamukkale) is north (or northeast) of the river. The site of the ancient city is approximately 12 miles north of the modern city of Denizli. The most striking aspect of the city, in ancient as well as modern times, is the sight of the calcified white cliffs, formed by mineral deposits from the water flowing over the cliffs. From these white cliffs, which can be seen from the ruins of Laodicea, approximately 6 miles away, Hierapolis derived its modern name of Pamukkale (meaning “cotton castle”). The date of the founding of the city of Hierapolis is uncertain. Because the earliest inscription found at Hierapolis dates from the reign of Eumenes II of Pergamum (r. 197–159 B.C.E.), the founding of the city has usually been dated to the time of the Pergamene kingdom. But because of an inscription in the theater that lists various tribal names, some of which are derived from the names of members of the Seleucid family who ruled parts of Asia Minor during the 4th and 3rd centuries B.C.E. (such as Seleucidos and Antiochidos), the founding of the city should likely be moved back to the time of the Seleucid kings. Even the origin of the name of the city is uncertain. One tradition is that the Pergamene rulers named the city after Hiera, the wife of Telephus (son of Hercules and grandson of Zeus), the mythical founder of Pergamum. Another explanation is that the name means “holy city” (hieros in Greek means “holy”) and that the city was so named because of the temples located there. The latter explanation may have arisen after the mythological connection was forgotten.

This chapter concerns the attitudes, practices, and figures of speech that during the course of the nineteenth century prepared the way for the eventual separation of the idea of the signal from that of the sign. It has to do with the emergence of the telegraphic principle (initially by means of the Napoleonic-era optical telegraph) as a thrillingly effective implementation of remote intimacy. Its main focus is on the intimacies developed remotely, by signal rather than sign, in George Eliot’s Daniel Deronda, and in novels by Thomas Hardy: in particular, A Pair of Blue Eyes, The Return of the Native, A Laodicean, Two on a Tower, Tess of the d’Urbervilles, Jude the Obscure, and The Well-Beloved. In Hardy’s fiction, sexual desire expresses itself in, or as, an adjustment of signal-to-noise ratio. The Wessex the novels map is at times less a terrain than the basis for a telecommunications system.

At one time a thriving city in the fertile valley of the Lycus River, the city of Colossae is almost forgotten today. If not for its significance to the Bible, the site of ancient Colossae, now only an unexcavated mound, would be visited very seldom. Colossae was situated near the Lycus River (today the Aksu Çay), the chief tributary of the Meander River. Located in the Phrygian region of Asia Minor, the city was approximately 120 miles east of Ephesus. During the 5th and 4th centuries B.C.E. Colossae was a large and prosperous city. At that time the leading city of the Lycus Valley, Colossae was eventually eclipsed in importance during the Hellenistic and Roman periods by the neighboring cities of Laodicea and Hierapolis. The textile industry flourished in the Lycus Valley, particularly because of goods made from the exceptionally fine wool produced in the area. Colossae was well known for its purple-colored wool. The economic prosperity of the city was also due to its being located on the main trade route from the Aegean coast to the Euphrates. Like Laodicea and Hierapolis, Colossae likely was damaged by the severe earthquake that struck the Lycus Valley in 60 C.E. By the 9th century the site was abandoned, its remaining inhabitants having moved to the nearby town of Chonae (modern Honaz). To reach the ruins of ancient Colossae, take highway 320 east from Denizli toward Dinar. Approximately 12 miles from Denizli, turn right onto the road for Honaz. After traveling approximately 4 miles, turn left. The site of ancient Colossae, a low hill in a field, is about 6 miles on the right. The ancient city of Colossae is remembered today primarily because one of the letters in the New Testament is addressed to “the saints and faithful brothers and sisters in Christ in Colossae” (Col 1:2). Aside from this one reference, the city of Colossae does not appear in the New Testament. The Letter to the Colossians claims to be a letter from the Apostle Paul, although its authorship is sometimes attributed to an anonymous disciple of Paul’s who wrote in the name of Paul.

The paper sums up the discoveries of delta–epsilon issues of the Roman emperors Elagabalus and Severus Alexander, altogether 102 coins representing small and medium change (a detailed tabular catalogue is attached), from excavations at various sites in Cyprus, as well as several dozen coins of unknown provenance in museum collections. There is sound reason to believe that this type was a local issue struck in Cyprus for use in the province and not for distribution outside it. However, it is equally possible that the coins were struck in Syria and coin flow between Cyprus and Syria and Palestine on both directions has been confirmed for the times of the Severan dynasty by finds belonging to different issues. The paper considers other possible reasons for the concentration of coin finds of this type in Cyprus, especially Kourion, as well as a similar large group found at Dura Europos in Syria. One possible reason was ensuring that enough small and medium change was in local supply to cover soldiers' pay, a requirement that was as much political as economic. The coins of Elagabalus could have been minted at Laodicea ad Mare, but they could also have been produced in Cyprus from Cypriot copper and sent out to Syria. With regard to the coins struck for Severus Alexander, they seem to have been made in Cyprus, but the variations in fabric, inscriptions, lettering and details of design indicate more than one workshop involved in this production, while the specimens of low weight and minuscule dimensions even suggest that this production not always took place in the official mints.

Although overshadowed in the New Testament by a different Antioch (Antioch on the Orontes), Antioch of Pisidia was an important city during Hellenistic and Roman times. Archaeological excavations have uncovered the remains of a thriving city, complete with theater, baths, temples, stadium, nymphaeum, paved streets, and aqueduct. Augustus had a copy of his famous Res Gestae, the list of his accomplishments, inscribed on his sanctuary in the city. Several cities in the ancient world were called Antioch, named for various members of the Seleucid dynasty who bore the name of Antiochus. Antioch of Pisidia was located approximately 0.5 mile northeast of the modern town of Yalvaç and 22 miles southwest of Akşehir. (Pisidia was a mountainous region in the south-central section of Asia Minor.) Antioch was actually not a part of the Pisidian region but lay just north of Pisidia in the region of Phrygia. The city was sometimes called Pisidian Antioch (see Acts 13:14), meaning “Antioch near Pisidia,” as a way of distinguishing it from other cities named Antioch. When the Romans established the province of Galatia in 25 B.C.E., Antioch became a part of Galatia. In 295 C.E. the Romans redivided the area, creating the province of Pisidia, with Antioch as its capital. Antioch is situated on the southern foothills of the Sultan Mountains, on the northwest side of the Yalvaç River (ancient Anthius River). The city was spread over seven small hills, reminiscent of the seven hills of Rome, a similarity that was not lost on the Romans, who divided the city into seven districts, one on each of the seven hills. Backed up to the Sultan Mountains, Antioch enjoyed good natural defenses. Strategically located, the city was important both militarily and commercially. The land around Antioch was fertile, producing a variety of fruit and grains. Although a precise date cannot be determined, the city of Antioch was founded in the first half of the 3rd century B.C.E. by the one of the Seleucid rulers, either Seleucus I, Antiochus I, or Antiochus II. The Seleucids established several cities in the region, including Apollonia, Seleucia (Seleucia Sidera), and Laodicea Catacecaumene.

Catenae appeared in Judaea/Palestine at the beginning of the sixth century. They consist of commentaries, homilies, scholia of the past centuries, and any other literary form in which Scripture verses are explained. Ecclesiastical writings are quoted in the form of extracts, sometimes literal, sometimes rewritten, according to the order of the verses of each Biblical book. Each extract is normally preceded by the name of its author in the genitive case. With time, the catenae were formed not only from commentaries, homilies, scholia, and other patristic writings, but also from pre-existing catenae mixed with these sources. After the sixth century, catenae became the most important media of biblical commentary until the end of the Byzantium Empire (1453). Many debated issues remain. Is Procopius of Gaza (470–530) the father of the catenae? Maybe the two-author catenae predate him, even if this form is better connected with the Byzantine humanism of the ninth and tenth centuries. As for the multiple-author catenae, it is not certain if any of them do are prior Procopius. The compilers of the catenae began their project with the Old Testament, as it was considered to be obscure and foundational to the New Testament, whereas the New Testament was considered to be clear and explicative of the Old Testament. The identity of the compilers of the catenae is shrouded in mystery. Only a few names are known: chiefly, Procopius of Gaza in Palestine and Nicetas of Heraclea in Constantinople. Other names have been proposed: the patriarch Photius, Peter of Laodicea, John Drougarios, but without any persuasive arguments. A final issue concerns Monophysite (or Miaphysite) catenae: were some catenae Monophysite? Or was this literary form indifferent to questions of orthodoxy? In some catenae, Severus of Antioch is called ‘saint’, which may indicate a Monophysite origin. Finally, despite recent progress, many catenae still await publication. For instance, Nicetas’ catena on the Psalms is a monumental work of Byzantine scholarship and it deserves to be available to modern readers.