The ambiguity of munificence

Historia - Zeitschrift fur Alte Geschichte

Volumn 56, Issue 2, 2007, Pages 196-213

  Zuiderhoek, Arjan ^a  

^a HOMERTON COLLEGE   (United Kingdom)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 61149370061     PISSN: 00182311     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: None     Document Type: Review

References (69)

1. As will be clear, following P. Veyne, Le pain et le cirque. Sociologie historique d'un pluralisme politique (Paris 1976), I think it justified to group the electoral benefactions of Cicero's day under the heading of euergetism broadly defined, i.e. as 'gifts by members of the elite to the populace.'
2. His full name was M. Claudius Publius Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus. On the conflict between Vedius and the Ephesians, as well as on the remarkable exploits of the entire Vedii Antonini gens at Ephesos see M. Steskal, 'Zu den Stiftungen des M. Claudius P. Vedius Antoninus Phaedrus Sabinianus und ihrem Echo in Ephesos', Tyche 16 (2001), 177-188
3. and A. Kalinowski, "The Vedii Antonini: Aspects of Patronage and Benefaction in Second-century Ephesos', Phoenix 56 (2002), 109-149.
4. 3 (New York 1990), 261, slightly altered.
5. On benefactors' contributions to public building and on the economic side of euergetism generally see A.J. Zuiderhoek, "The Icing on the Cake. Benefactors, Economics, and Public Building in Roman Asia Minor', in: S. Mitchell and C. Katsari (eds.), Patterns in the Economy of Roman Asia Minor (Swansea 2005), 167-186.
6. See C. Ando, Imperial Ideology and Provincial Loyalty in the Roman Empire (Berkeley/Los Angeles 2000).
7. P. Herrmann, 'Zwei Inschriften von Kaunos und Baba Dag', Opuscula Atheniensia X (1971), 36-40, my tr.
8. See H.W. Pleket, 'Political Culture and Political Practice in the Cities of Asia Minor in the Roman Empire', in: W. Schuller (ed.), Politische Theorie und Praxis im Altertum (Darmstadt 1998), 204-216, esp. 213-215 and the literature cited there for numerous references.
9. See also A.J. Zuiderhoek, 'Feeding the Citizens. Municipal Grain Funds and Civic Benefactors in the Roman East', in: R. Alston and O.M. van Nijf (eds.), The Greek City after the Classical Age: Feeding the Ancient Greek City (forthcoming).
10. See R. Gordon, "The Veil of Power: Emperors, Sacrifices and Benefactors', in: M. Beard and J. North (eds.), Pagan Priests (London 1990), 199-231.
11. On the social and political consequences of high elite mortality in the Roman world see K. Hopkins (with G. Burton), Death and Renewal. Sociological Studies in Roman History vol. 2 (Cambridge 1983);
12. R. Sailer, Patriarchy. Property and Death in the Roman Family (Cambridge 1994);
13. W. Scheidel, 'Emperors, Aristocrats and the Grim Reaper: towards a Demographic Profile of the Roman Élite', CQ NS 49 (1999), 245-281;
14. L.E. Tacoma, Fragile Hierarchies. The Urban Elites of Third-century Roman Egypt (Leiden 2006).
15. See W.M. Jongman, The Economy and Society of Pompeii (Amsterdam 1991) 311-329 on the town council of Canusium in southern Italy.
16. See A.J. Zuiderhoek, 'Oligarchs and Benefactors. Elite Demography and Euergetism in the Greek East of the Roman Empire', in: R. Alston and O.M. van Nijf (eds.), The Greek City after the Classical Age: Political Culture in the Post-classical Greek City (forthcoming).
17. On intra-elite conflicts see in particular Pleket, 'Political Culture' (above, n. 12), 206-208 who refers to some of the evidence discussed here as well as to additional sources.
18. See M. Wörrle, Stadt und Fest im kaiserzeitlichen Kleinasien (Munich 1988) for the text of the Demosthenes foundation, accompanied by a translation and extensive commentary.
19. See also S. Mitchell, 'Festivals, Games and Civic Life in Roman Asia Minor', JRS 80 (1990), 183-293 for an English translation and informative comments
20. and G.M. Rogers, 'Demosthenes of Oenoanda and Models of Euergetism', JRS 81 (1991), 91-100 for diverging views.
21. For the Salutaris foundation and extensive discussion of its implications for our view of civic social and political life and ideology see G.M. Rogers, The Sacred Identity of Ephesos. Foundation Myths of a Roman City (London/New York 1991). I will discuss both foundations in more detail in section IV below.
22. See C.P. Jones, The Roman World of Dio Chrysostom (Cambridge, Mass./London 1978), and G. Salmeri, 'Dio, Rome, and the Civic Life of Asia Minor', in: S. Swain (ed.), Dio Chrysostom. Politics, Letters, and Philosophy (Oxford 2000), 53-92, esp. 67-68.
23. See Pleket, 'Political Culture' (above, n. 12), 207
24. and P. Veyne, 'Autour d'un commentaire de Pline le Jeune', Latomus 26 (1967), 723-751, esp. 734-735, for analysis.
25. Note in this context the ubiquitous presence of letters from provincial governors, other Roman officials, and even emperors in many of the larger epigraphic dossiers concerned with grand acts of munificence by members of provincial elites. A particularly extravagant case is provided by the second-century A.D. Lycian benefactor Opramoas of Rhodiapolis, whose gigantic epigraphic dossier includes a whole series of (admittedly fairly standardised) letters from Antoninus Pius. See most recently C. Kokkinia. Die Opramoas-Inschrift von Rhodiapolis. Euergetismus und soziale Elite in Lykien (Bonn 2000).
26. See L. de Ligt and P.W. de Neeve, 'Ancient Periodic Markets: Festivals and Fairs', Athenaeum 66 (1988), 391-416, esp. 412-413.
27. See also Mitchell, 'Festivals' (above, n. 18), 190 with the evidence cited there.
28. See J. Andreau, P. Schmitt and A. Schnapp, 'Paul Veyne et l'évergétisme', Annates: économies, sociétés, civilisations 33 (1978), 307-325, esp. 317, 319
29. and O.M. van Nijf, The Civic World of Professional Associations in the Roman East (Amsterdam 1997), 116-117.
30. Rogers, 'Demosthenes' and Sacred Identity (both above, n. 18).
31. See A. Futrell, The Roman Games. A Sourcebook (Oxford 2006), 50-51, figure 1.1.
32. On public acclamations see in particular C. Roueché, 'Acclamations in the Later Roman Empire: New Evidence from Aphrodisias', JAS 74 (1984), 181-199.
33. See I.Ephesos 1492 (another letter of Antoninus Pius to the Ephesians dated to AD 150), with Steskal, 'Stiftungen' (above, n. 5), 185
34. and Kalinowski, 'Vedii Antonini' (above, n. 5), 115.
35. Tr. Lewis and Reinhold, Roman Civilization (above, n. 6), 274-275, slightly altered.
36. See Rogers, 'Demosthenes' (above, n. 18), 95 where he discusses this evidence in detail.
37. Rogers, Sacred Identity (above, n. 18), 29.
38. K. Hopkins, 'From Violence to Blessing: Symbols and Rituals in Ancient Rome' in: A. Molho, K. Raaflaub and J. Emlen(eds.), City-states in Classical Antiquity and Medieval Italy (Stuttgart 1991) 479-498, here 487.
39. See in particular van Nijf, Civic World (above, n. 23)
40. and Idem, 'Inscriptions and Civic Memory in the Roman East' in: A. Cooley (ed.), The Afterlife of Inscriptions, Bulletin of the Institute of Classical Studies Supplement 75 (London 2000), 21-36, esp. 32-36.
41. Idem, 'Inscriptions' (above, n. 36), 33.
42. E. Le Roy Ladurie, Carnival in Romans (New York 1980), 304. Note also his comments on p. 303, fascinating for ancient historians working on Greco-Roman munificence: 'The various royal offices [i.e. those of the carnival kings and queens and their courtiers] were sometimes more or less fictitious prizes in a race; in other instances they were auctioned off in church. Bidders pledged amounts of money, wheat, or most frequently wax [for candles] to the chapel or sacristy in question. (...) Those who bought a royal post in this way were called éuergètes, a dialect word meaning benefactor.'
43. S. Forsdyke, 'Revelry and Riot in Archaic Megara: Democratic Disorder or Ritual Reversal', JHS 124 (2005), 73-92, there 84
44. referring to N.Z. Davis, Society and Culture in Early Modern France (London 1975), 118-119, 147-150.
45. By invoking, for instance, ancient rituals of hospitality, such as feasts for the poor organised by the rich. See E.P. Thompson, Customs in Common (London 1993), 224-228, 234-235, 239-240;
46. Forsdyke, 'Revelry' (above, n. 40), 85.
47. Tr. M.L.W. Laistner, Christianity and Pagan Culture in the Later Roman Empire (Ithaca, N.Y. 1951), 87-88.
48. For comments see L. Robert, 'Tome VII: Hellenica 11/12 (1960), 569-576, here 570 n. 4;
49. P. Brown, Power and Persuasion in Late Antiquity: towards a Christian Empire6 (Madison 1992), 83
50. Le Roy Ladurie, Carnival (above, n. 39), 319.
51. P. Burke, Popular Culture in Early Modern Europe (London 1978), 203-204
52. A thorough yet subtle recent restatement of this view is F. Quass, Die Honoratiorenschicht in den Städten des griechischen Ostens (Stuttgart 1993). Much highly sophisticated work has recently been carried out on the Roman east, mainly on issues of cultural identity, the impact of Roman rule, and relations between the local and imperial elites. From a vast bibliography I select S. Alcock, Graecia capta: the Landscapes of Roman Greece (Cambridge 1993);
53. S. Alcock (ed.), The Early Roman Empire in the East (Oxford 1997);
54. S. Swain, Hellenism and Empire: Language, Classicism and Power in the Greek World, AD 50-250 (Oxford 1996).
55. For programmatic statements and discussion of much literature see also F. Millar, "The Greek City in the Roman Period' in: M.H. Hansen (ed.), The Ancient Greek City-state (Copenhagen 1993), 232-260;
56. G. Woolf, 'Becoming Roman, Staying Greek: Culture, Identity and the Civilizing Process in the Roman East', PCPhS 40 (1994), 116-143.
57. But note the valuable comments of Salmeri, 'Dio' (above, n. 19), 69-76.
58. A.H.M. Jones, The Greek City from Alexander to Justinian (Oxford 1940), 177;
59. The dominant explanation in most standard treatments still focuses on what might be called the economic significance of benefactors, i.e. their role in providing provincial towns with essential infrastructure and amenities. In a tradition going back to W. Liebenam, Städteverwaltung im römischen Kaiserreiche (Leipzig 1900), esp. 21, scholars argue that, owing to endemic shortages of public funds, the provincial cities were fatally dependent on the private wealth of their elite citizens for financing public amenities. Thus F.F. Abbott and A.C. Johnson, Municipal Administration in the Roman Empire (Princeton 1926), 143;
60. T.R.S. Broughton, 'Roman Asia Minor', in: T. Frank (ed.), An Economic Survey of Ancient Rome IV (Baltimore 1938), 499-918, here 802;
61. Jones, Greek City (above, n. 53), 237;
62. M. Sartre, l'Orient romain. Provinces et sociétés provinciates en Méditerranée orientale d'Auguste aux Sévères (31 avant J.-C. - 235 après J.-C.) (Paris 1991), 133 with n. 1;
63. S. Mitchell, Anatolia. Land, Men and Gods in Asia Minor vol. I: the Celts and the Impact of Roman Rule (Oxford 1993), 210.
64. Alternatively, scholars have invoked the charity motive; see A.R. Hands, Charities and Social Aid in Greece and Rome (London 1968).
65. For the critique that historians have generally overestimated the contribution of euergetism to civic infrastructure, while they have very much underestimated the capacity of civic governments to draw in public revenues and finance public amenities from those see H. Schwarz, Soll oder Haben? Die Finanzwirtschaft kleinasiatischer Städte in der Römischen Kaiserzeit am Beispiel von Bithynien, Lykien und Ephesos (29 v. Chr.-284 n. Chr.) (Bonn 2001);
66. Zuiderhoek, 'Icing on the Cake' (above, n. 8), which also (p. 174-175) criticizes the charity approach. Veyne, Le pain et le cirque (above, n. 3), is a more complex case. He too briefly invokes the economic argument, but at the same time stresses the individual psychological satisfaction benefactors derived from their generosity, and the social distance their gifts created between them and their poorer fellow citizens. Yet he never arrives at a rounded political interpretation of euergetism because he resolutely denies the relevance of any social scientific approach to the phenomenon, and pays no attention to the significant social and symbolic rewards benefactors received in exhange for their gifts.
67. For criticism of Veyne see Andreau, Schmitt, and Schnapp, 'Paul Veyne et l'évergétisme' (above, n. 23);
68. P. Garnsey, "The Generosity of Veyne', JRS 81 (1991), 164-168.
69. See Andreau, Schmitt, and Schnapp, 'Paul Veyne et l'évergé tisme' (above, n. 23), 312: '...tout l'évergétisme est politique.'