Alte und neue Inschriften aus Kos VI

Abstract

The inscription published here, found in the Asklepion of Cos in 2017, belongs among the so-called asylia decrees in which numerous Greek poleis recognized the asylia of the sanctuary of Asclepius of Cos and agreed to participate in the Panhellenic Asclepieia. The new inscription contains the asylia decrees of four additional Macedonian poleis, including the full decrees of Beroea and Aegae, as well as one of the Aeolian  city of Temnus. These are followed by a letter from Queen Laodice I and a second letter from the Bithynian king Ziaëlas. The date contained in the latter (the 39th year) allows to determine the year 282/281 BCE as the beginning of the era used by Ziaëlas. The asylia decrees, which are important for Hellenistic chronology, should hence be dated to autumn 243 BCE and not, as had previously been assumed, to autumn 242 BCE.