The Civic World of Professional Associations in the Roman East (Dutch monographs on ancient history and archaeology) (Dutch monographs on ancient history and archaeology)

Nijf, Onno M. van The Civic World of Profesional Associations in the Roman East 1997 This study examines the mentalité of craftsmen and traders in the Greek cities of the Roman empire through the epigraphic evidence for their membership of private associations based on shared profession. It places these associations firmly in the context of the civic world of the cities in which they were active. The author argues that such inscriptions are not straightforward and unproblematic records of reality, but rather were important elements in the strategies of self-definition practised by these associations. Epigraphic commemoration was used to transform private activities into public events; epitaphs and honorific inscriptions spoke a public language which aimed to present the associations of craftsmen and traders as status groups alongside other, well-established groups. The author investigates how successful the members of professional associations were in this form of epigraphic self-fashioning, through a discussion of their role in public ceremonial. The associations were present in public banquets and distributions, they took part in public processions, and they had reserved seats in theatres and stadia of the cities. Professional associations can thus be seen as taking their place in the hierarchy of status groups which made up the Greek city under Roman rule. This book makes an important contribution to the study of private sociability in the ancient world; it sheds new light on the nature of civic life in the Greek cities of the Roman empire; and it proposes a new approach to reading epigraphy. THE CIVIC WORLD OF PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS IN THE ROMAN EAST 4 Copyright 5 Dedication 6 CONTENTS 8 Acknowledgements 10 Introduction 12 Faces in a crowd 14 Private associations 16 Collegia in a comparative perspective 22 Epigraphy and history 34 1: Funerary activities of professional associations in the Roman East 40 Introduction 42 The funerary activities of collegia 49 Conclusions 79 2: The honorific practices of private associations 82 Introduction 84 With a little help from their friends: the material benefits of patronage 93 Fashioning authority and identity: the symbolic meanings of honorific practices 122 Conclusions 138 3: Reading Ancient Festivals 140 Introduction 142 Private clubs and public festivals 148 Economic time and festive time 150 4: Collegia and public commensality 158 Introduction 160 Collegia in public banquets and distributions in the Roman East 167 Conclusions 198 5: Professions on parade 200 Introduction 202 The participation of private associations in civic processions 206 Private associations and imperial ceremonies 212 Conclusions 216 6: Seats and civic memory 218 Introduction 220 Collegia and seating orders in the provinces 227 Conclusions 250 Conclusions 252 Appendix 1: I. Histria 57 260 Appendix 2: Collegia in Public Commensality in the West 264 Appendix 3: Collegia in Public Commensality in the East 266 Appendix 4: Seats for collegia in the Roman Empire 268 Appendix 5: Roman auditoria 272 Bibliography 282 Index Locorum 302 Epigraphical index 304 Papyrological index 314 Literary and biblical index 315 Legal index 316 General Index 318