This contribution offers some reflections on the layout of Hellenistic rulers’ correspondence on stone, an analysis that is methodologically functional in defining the position and power of the recipient of a royal letter, be it a city, an institutionally defined group, an official or an individual. The epigraphic medium, which preserves most of the texts of this type of documents, determines some fundamental aspects: it amplifies the distance between those who produce the correspondence and those who receive it and influences all the distinctive features of the materiality of the letter, its layout and function, granting the recipient of the message, rather than the sender, the power to determine the design of the text and to have designs for the text. By including in the category of royal correspondence not only the kings’ letters and ordinances, but also their officials’ letters, petitions and civic decrees that are consistently inscribed on the same supports, some characteristics of the publication of these documents on stone are highlighted, with particular attention to the appropriation of royal texts by the recipients. The following are examined in detail: Bosnakis and Hallof 2020; CIIP IV, 3511-3512; Hatzopoulos, Macedonian Institutions II, 15, 16, 19; I.Delphinion 139; I.Egypt prose 22, 36; IG IX.2, 517; IG XII.4.1, 208-213; IG Cyrenaica2 011100, 010800; IG Iran Asie centr. 66, 68; I.Ilion 33; I.Labraunda 2, 3, 3B, 4, 6, 8B, 137; I.Priene B - M 2-3; Ma, Antiochos 37, 49; OGIS 5-6; SEG XXVIII 1224; SEG L 1195; SEG LX 586; Welles, RC 45, 47.
Bencivenni, A. (2024). The recipient’s design: some notes on the layout of Hellenistic royal correspondence on stone. Firenze : Firenze University Press [10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9].
The recipient’s design: some notes on the layout of Hellenistic royal correspondence on stone
Alice Bencivenni
Writing – Original Draft Preparation
2024
Abstract
This contribution offers some reflections on the layout of Hellenistic rulers’ correspondence on stone, an analysis that is methodologically functional in defining the position and power of the recipient of a royal letter, be it a city, an institutionally defined group, an official or an individual. The epigraphic medium, which preserves most of the texts of this type of documents, determines some fundamental aspects: it amplifies the distance between those who produce the correspondence and those who receive it and influences all the distinctive features of the materiality of the letter, its layout and function, granting the recipient of the message, rather than the sender, the power to determine the design of the text and to have designs for the text. By including in the category of royal correspondence not only the kings’ letters and ordinances, but also their officials’ letters, petitions and civic decrees that are consistently inscribed on the same supports, some characteristics of the publication of these documents on stone are highlighted, with particular attention to the appropriation of royal texts by the recipients. The following are examined in detail: Bosnakis and Hallof 2020; CIIP IV, 3511-3512; Hatzopoulos, Macedonian Institutions II, 15, 16, 19; I.Delphinion 139; I.Egypt prose 22, 36; IG IX.2, 517; IG XII.4.1, 208-213; IG Cyrenaica2 011100, 010800; IG Iran Asie centr. 66, 68; I.Ilion 33; I.Labraunda 2, 3, 3B, 4, 6, 8B, 137; I.Priene B - M 2-3; Ma, Antiochos 37, 49; OGIS 5-6; SEG XXVIII 1224; SEG L 1195; SEG LX 586; Welles, RC 45, 47.File | Dimensione | Formato | |
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