Une nouvelle édition de deux sénatus-consultes adressés à Priène (RDGE 10)

Abstract

Two senatus consulta which are addressed to the city of Priene are traditionally connected to the dossier of a territorial litigation which set Priene in opposition to Samos over several centuries (RDGE 10 A–B). The text of the second SC (B; 135 BC) can be improved in some parts thanks to a new examination of the stones, which allows us to determine the exact layout of the blocks. On the other hand the text of the first SC (A; before 135 BC) raises several problems. An erroneous estimation of the length of lines forced the editors until now to adopt an atypical formula. According to the line-length in text B, we are able to restore the usual formulae of senatus consulta. Some indications allow us to date the text to the years 141 to 135 BC, but it is difficult to understand the initiative undertaken by Samos to address Rome again in 135 BC – especially in the light of a new chronology recently established through other parts of this dossier (the Rhodian arbitration immediately followed the intervention of Cn. Manlius Vulso in 188 BC). Given the present state of our knowledge it is more prudent not to relate the first SC to the litigation between Priene and Samos.