«The First Eleutheria» of Chersonesus Taurica in Epigraphical Sources
Makarov Igor A.
M. Rostovtzeff's hypothesis that the eleutheria was granted to Chersonesus by J. Cesar in 46 ВС was based upon the Chersonesian decree in honour of G. Julius Satyros (IOSPE. I2. 691) as well as on Pliny's evidence (NH. VI. 85). The author of this paper considers different variants of restoration of the final lines of IOSPE. I2. 691 and makes an attempt of its histori-cal interpretation. Satyros was sent as ambassador to Rome by Heraclea Pontica, Chersone-sus' metropolis (this thesis was first put forward by Yu.G. Vinogradov). Lines 10-11, when restored, offer an ambivalent understanding: (1) in the course of his mission Satyros men-tioned old connections between Chersonesus and Heraclea; (2) Satyros mentioned a treaty be-tween Chersonesus and Rome concluded a century before through the mediation of Heraclea. However, the text of the decree as it is preserved bears no mention of the eleutheria. The con-nection postulated between a series of Chersonesian coins with the eleutheria of 46 ВС can-not be reliably established. Moreover, the hypothesis of Cesar's eleutheria contradicts the da-ta of Strabo (VII. 4. 3). These facts make it possible to connect Pliny's evidence with some events of later time (probably, with the Roman-Bosporan war of the 1st с AD).