Augustus and Panhellenes on Samos

Abstract

An inscription from Samos (IG XII 6, 1, 440) contains a dedication by the demos to theos Sebastos and also mentions «Panhellenes». In an inscription from Claros, dated between 31 and 27 BC (SEG 2001, 1593), Colophon honours the future Augustus for his benefactions to the «Panhellenes». The «Panhellenes» of the Samian text are therefore not members of Hadrian’s Panhellenion but of some earlier association, possibly the Greeks of Asia whom Augustus permitted to build a temple of Roma and himself at Pergamon in 30/29. An inscription from Aphrodisias (IG XII 6, 160), in which the emperor refuses a request from the Samians, is to be dated about the year 31.