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Local authority and civic Hellenism: Tarcondimotus, Hierapolis-Castabala and the cult of Perasia

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  03 September 2012

Nathanael Andrade
Nathanael Andrade
Affiliation:
West Virginia University
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Abstract

In the mid first century BC, a dynast named Tarcondimotus asserted his authority over parts of Smooth Cilicia. Tarcondimotus' successful accommodation of the differing expectations of Roman magistrates, local Greeks and Cilicians was connected to his patronage of the Greek polis of Hierapolis-Castabala. Through such patronage, he collaborated with municipal elites to interweave Greek and local traditions into the city's culture and cult in ways that produced innovative expressions of civic Hellenism. Likewise, while Hierapolis-Castabala was under Tarcondimotus' protection, its cult to the goddess Perasia, a local manifestation of the ancient Hittite deity Kubaba, embodied these unique cultural expressions. During the Hellenistic and Roman periods, Perasia retained her traditional name and her cult enjoyed distinctively local rites in which her priestesses walked upon fiery coals. Such unique qualities prevented Greeks and Romans during the centuries following Tarcondimotus' rule from associating her with any single goddess worshipped in Greece or Italy. In sum, by patronising Hierapolis-Castabala, Tarcondimotus presented himself as the defender of Greek civic life and the Hierapolitai were able to persist in their unique expressions of Greek civic performance and cult in the turbulent transitional period between Seleucid and Roman rule.

Özet

M.Ö. 1. yy. ortalarında Tarkondimotos adlı bir kral Düzlük Kilikya'nın bazı kısımlarında hakimiyetini iddia etmiştir. Tarkondimotos'un, Romalı magistratların (hakimler), yerel Yunanlıların ve Kilikyalıların farklı beklentilerini başarılı bir şekilde karşılaması, onun Yunan şehri olan Hieropolis-Kastabala'yı himayesi ile ilgilidir. Bu tür bir himaye yoluyla, sivil Helenizm'in yenilikçi ifadelerini üreten şekillerde, kentin kültürüne ve kültüne Yunan ve yerel gelenekleri harmanlamak için belediye seçkinleri ile işbirliği yapmıştır. Aynı şekilde, Hieropolis-Kastabala Tarkondimotos'un koruması altnıdayken, şehirde eski Hitit tanrısş Kubaba'nın yerel bir tezahürü olan tanrıça Perasia'ya ait olan kült de bu eşsiz kültürel ifadeleri somutlaştırmşştır. Helenistik ve Roma dönemlerinde, Perasia geleneksel ismini korumuş ve kültü, rahibelerinin ateşli kömürler üzerinde yürümesi gibi belirgin yerel ayinleri uygulamıştır. Bunun gibi eşsiz özellikler, Tarkondimotos'un yönetimini izleyen yüzyıllarda, Yunanlıları ve Romalıları tanrıça Perasia'yı Yunanistan'da veya İtalya'da tapınılan herhangi bir tanrıçayla bağdaştırmaktan alıkoymuştur. Özetle, Tarkondimotos, Hieropolis-Kastabala'yı himayesiyle, kendisini Yunan toplum yaşamının savunucusu olarak tanıtmış ve Hieropolis'liler, Seleukos ve Roma egemenliği arasındaki çalkantılı bir geçiş döneminde, Yunan sivil icraatları ve kültünün bu özelliklerini devam ettirmeyi başarmışlardır.

Type
Research Article
Information
Anatolian Studies , Volume 61 , December 2011 , pp. 123 - 132
Copyright
Copyright © The British Institute at Ankara 2011

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