Acknowledgements. I am grateful to Susan Walker for advice on architectural matters. All errors, of course, are my own. Thanks are due to the Research Fund of Newcastle University for contributing towards travelling and other expenses incurred in the preparation of this paper.

Abbreviations. AÉp = L'Année Épigraphique. Where IG (Inscriptiones Graecae) is followed immediately by the inscription number, the reference is to IG v. 1 (Laconia and Messenia).

¹ Delevorrias, , ADelt 24 (1969) B1 136Google Scholar; Koumanoudes, , AAA 3 (1970) 260–2Google Scholar; Robert, J. and Robert, L., RÉG 84 (1971) 438Google Scholar; AÉp (1972) 169 no. 570. I am grateful to the Greek Archaeological Service for permission to republish this inscription.

² Spawforth, , BSA 79 (1984) 270–2.Google Scholar

³ See n. 1 above.

⁴ PIR ² I 663.

⁵ On Plautianus see PIR ² F 554; Grosso, F., ‘Ricerche su Plautiano e gli avvenimenti del suo tempo’, Rend Linc 28 (1968) 7–58Google Scholar; Birley, A. R., Septimius Severus (London 1971), esp. 294–5CrossRefGoogle ScholarCorbier, M., ‘Plautien, comes de Septime-Sévère’, Mélanges… offerts à P. Boyancé (Rome 1974) 213–18Google Scholar; Barton, I. M., ‘The Inscriptions of Septimius Severus and his Family at Lepcis Magna’, Mélanges offerts à L. S. Senghor (Dakar 1977) 3–12.Google Scholar

⁶ PIR ² F 564.

⁷ Mason, H. J., Greek Terms for Roman Institutions (Toronto 1974) 79Google Scholar s.v.

⁸ Westermann, W. L. and Schiller, A. A., Apokrimata. Decisions of Septimius Severus on Legal Matters (New York 1954) 7, ii. 47–8.Google Scholar

⁹ Respectively Woodward, A. M., BSA 27 (1925–1926) 234Google Scholar, with the remarks of Groag, E., Die römischen Reichsbeamten von Achaia bis auf Diokletian (Vienna and Leipzig 1939) col. 71 n. 291Google Scholar, and IG 538 = Wilhelm, A., SDAW (1913) 858–63Google Scholar, ll. 5–7 (Wilhelm's improved text is reproduced in Spawforth, , BSA 79 (1984) 274Google Scholar).

¹⁰ AJ xx. 152; see Mason, op. cit. (n. 7 above) 86.

¹¹ Cassius Dio lxxv. 14. 6–7; vita Severi xix. 5.

¹² e.g. CIL vi. 226; ILS 427 and 2185–6.

¹³ Arch of the Argentarii at Rome: Haynes, D. E. L. and Hirst, P. E. D., Porta Argentariorum, BSR Suppl. (London 1939) 20–3Google Scholar; for a different view, see Pallottino, M., L'Arco degli Argentari (Rome 1946) 80–1, 88.Google Scholar Arch of Septimius Severus: Brilliant, R., The Arch of Septimius Severus in the Roman Forum, MemAmAc 29 (1967) 181 with n. 62 and 207Google Scholar; Budde, L., JdI 18 Erg (1955) 4 n. 8Google Scholar (‘vielleicht’); doubted by Grosso, art. cit. (see n. 5 above) 43 n. 197. The so-called Sacchetti relief, from a lost Severan monument at Rome: Budde, op. cit. (this note) 53, who also suggests (4 n. 8) that Plautianus can be identified in the reliefs from the Severan tetrapylon at Lepcis Magna, although this view does not appear to be widely accepted—see, e.g., McCann, A. M., MemAcRom 30 (1968) 75.Google Scholar

¹⁴ IG ii² 1081–5, 1116, re-edited with new fragments by Oliver, J. H., Hesperia 10 (1941) 85–90Google Scholar; cf. Robert, J. and Robert, L., RÉG 57 (1944) 204 no. 83Google Scholar (‘ses [i.e. Oliver's] arguments sont sans valeur comme ses restitutions’). Following Dittenberger, Oliver noted the possibility that the adjacent statues of Zeus Eleutherius and Hadrian in the Athenian agora (Paus. i. 3. 2) could be in question here.

¹⁵ In addition to the references in PIR ² F 564, note Robert, L., Hellenica i (Limoges 1940) 58–9Google Scholar (Nicaea) and SEG xxviii (1978) 1290 (Seleucia-on-the-Calycadnus).

¹⁶ ILS 426 (Pallottino, op. cit. (see n. 13 above) 32–3), 456.

¹⁷ Grosso, art. cit. (see n. 5 above) 32; Birley, A. R., Historia-Augusta-Colloquium Bonn 1968/1969 (1970) 64f.Google Scholar

¹⁸ See Corbier, art. cit. (n. 5 above) 214–15.

¹⁹ IG ii² 4216. See Mason, op. cit. (n. 7 above) 21 s.v. (‘fortasse non sane coniectura’).

²⁰ (see n. 8 above).

²¹ e.g. IG ii² 4216; ILS 427; 456; 1366.

²² See Kneissel, P., Die Siegestitulatur der römischen Kaiser (Göttingen 1969) 211–15.Google Scholar

²³ e.g. AÉp (1899) no. 51; IG xiv. 917.

²⁴ See Mastino, A., Le Titolature di Caracalla e Geta … (Bologna 1981).Google Scholar

²⁵ For the former title applied to Severus and Caracalla jointly, see, e.g., IGRR iii. 1533.

²⁶ For the impact of this measure on Spartan onomastics, see Spawforth, , BSA 79 (1984) 263–5.Google Scholar

²⁷ IG 75a + 78 = SEG xi. 555; IG 129 (SEG xi. 602) 3; IG 89 (SEG xi. 556) 7; IG 307–9; 557.

²⁸ Nicander, : IG 89, 13–14 and 116, 9.Google Scholar Nicocles: 116, 17–18.

²⁹ IG 89, 9 and 561.

³⁰ IG 473 and SEG xi. 540, 4, dated by the patronomate of Tib. Claudius Pericles, which Chrimes, K.M. T., Ancient Sparta (Manchester 1949) 464Google Scholar, placed c. 98/9.

³¹ Patronomos: IG 37a, 3; 105 + 106 = SEG xi. 582, 1–2; SEG 523, 548. The family was one of hereditary seers and claimed descent from Scopelus, a local hero (IG 60, 1).

³² IG 130, 2.

³³ Note the herm-sculptor Demetrius, working at a somewhat later date: Spawforth, , BSA 79 (1984) 274–7Google Scholar; also the (Augustan?) of IG 208, 3 and 209, 18.

³⁴ For the use of to describe an Imperial statue, see IG ii² 3562. For at Sparta in the sense of ‘Imperial’, see IG 538 = Wilhelm, A., SDAW (1913) 858–63 1. 24Google Scholar; generally: Robert, L., RÉA 62 (1960) 317–24.Google Scholar

³⁵ e.g. IG 97, 2–24; SEG xi. 569, 584. SEG xi. 569 (Trajanic) lists only twenty-one gerontes, but appears to be incomplete (cf. 1–15).

³⁶ IG 448.

³⁷ At Sparta, I note the evidence for an unusually large base from the Flavian period, of which blocks from the crowning and pedestal-courses have been found, along with a third block, perhaps part of the shaft: BSA 12 (1905–6) 445–56 and 15 (1908–9) 98; an idea of scale can be had from the dimensions (1·09 m wide × 1·09 m long) of the surviving pedestal-block, now in the Sparta Museum, where I have examined it. The inscriptions associated with these blocks (IG 18–20) concern the reorganization of the Leonideia; perhaps the original monument supported the of the two athlothetai, C. Iulius Agesilaus and T. Flavius Charixenus, mentioned in IG 19, 16. Note too the Antonine base for a group comprising Claudia Teisamenis (the sister of Herodes Atticus), her husband, and her son, the inscribed face forming part of a composite monument: Spawforth, , BSA 75 (1980) 210–17.Google Scholar Large bases of the Imperial period have been found elsewhere in Greece, although none seems to parallel closely the form of the Spartan monument (see, e.g., the bases from Olympia for Julio-Claudian groups, Inschriften von Olympia nos. 369, 372, and the Argive base reported in BCH 98 (1974) 773, 776–7; 102 (1978) 775; 106 (1982) 639 (I am grateful to Susan Walker for these references)).

³⁸ My thanks to Lee Stannard for the drawing.

³⁹ Haynes and Hirst, op. cit. (see n. 13 above) 5.

⁴⁰ Chrestou, C., Ergon 1964 (1965) 108–11Google Scholar, followed by Koumanoudes, art. cit. (see n. 1 above) and Datsouli-Stavridi, A., AAA 9 (1976) 225.Google Scholar

⁴¹ IG 448.

⁴² Provisionally: Geagan, D., ANRW ii. 7. 1 (1979) 408Google Scholar, citing ‘the fragments of a dedicatory base which contains the names of Septimius Severus, Caracalla, Geta and Iulia Domna, all in the Dative Case’, to be published by C. Habicht, Hesperia, forthcoming. Further east, note the Severan nymphaeum at Perge, dedicated to the Imperial family and decorated with Imperial statues: Mansel, A. F., AA (1975) 65–71.Google Scholar

⁴³ For other Imperial statuary at Sparta, see IG 375, 376(?), 405, 446, 448, 449(?), 450–1, 453, SEG xi. 492, 3–4 and 769 (all individual statues) SEG xi. 761–2 (a pair of statues of C. and L. Caesar, on separate bases). Bulle, H., Das Theater zu Sparta, SB der bayerischen Ah. der Wissensckaften, Phil-hist Abteilung (1937) 5, 40–1Google Scholar, on the basis of IG 378 argued that the Flavian rebuilding of the Spartan theatre included an architectural screen decorated with statues of Vespasian, Titus, and Lacedaemon.

⁴⁴ A controversial theory proposes a connection between the games of 204 and the possible birth to Plautilla and Caracalla of a child: Gagé, J., MÉFR 51 (1934) 33–78Google Scholar; for doubts, see, e.g., Birley, A. R., Septimius Severus (London 1971) 232.CrossRefGoogle Scholar On this view, if the Spartan group was indeed prompted by the games, its inclusion of Plautilla might have had a special significance.

⁴⁵ See now Spawforth, , BSA 79 (1984) 267–9.Google Scholar

⁴⁶ On all this see ibid. 277–83.

⁴⁷ Fouilles de Delphes iii. 1 no. 89.

⁴⁸ On see, e.g., Robert, L., HSCPh 81 (1977) 267–9.Google Scholar

⁴⁹ On agonistic and other claims to priority in the Greek world, see Tod, M. N., CQ 43 (1949) 105–12.CrossRefGoogle Scholar

⁵⁰ See Sarikakis, T., ‘Ἄκτια τὰ ἐν Νικοπόλει’ AE (1965) 145–62Google Scholar; to judge from his list of Aktionikai (157–62), Ptolemaeus is the only attested victor in this event.

⁵¹ Date: Fouilles de Delphes iii. 1 no. 551, ll. 3–7, with Robert, , Hermes 65 (1930) 106–7Google Scholar—a pantomime who won at On this festival, see too Robert, , Études Anatoliennes (Paris 1937) 67–8.Google Scholar

⁵² Sterrett, J.R.S., Papers of the American School at Athens 3 (1888) 291–2 no. 414Google Scholar; Moretti, L., Iscrizioni agonistiche greche (Rome 1953) 222–4 no. 76.Google Scholar

⁵³ Latte, K., Gnomon 7 (1931) 117n.Google Scholar

⁵⁴ Forschungen in Ephesos iii. 153–5 no. 71.

⁵⁵ For the attachment of the grammaleus boules to the gerousia, see, e.g., IG 112, n; 116, 6–9; SEG xi. 564, 25; 569, 24.

⁵⁶ Cf. the formulation used to described the locum lenens of the ‘eternal’ agonothetes of the Olympia at Ephesus: Robert, , Rev de Phil 41 (1967) 40–4.Google Scholar

⁵⁷ Follet, S., Athènes au II^e et au III^e siècle (Paris 1976) 346Google Scholar, with reference to IG v. 2. 37.

⁵⁸ IG 116, 6–9: (reign of Marcus). An unpublished list of gerontes in the patronomate of P. Memmius Eudamus (see Chrestou, C., ADelt 17 (1961–1962) B84Google Scholar), of Antonine date, records a similar occurrence.

⁵⁹ e.g. Moretti, op. cit. (see n. 52 above) s.v. Robert, , HSCPh 81 (1977) 32·5Google Scholar (festivals at Nicaea and Nicomedia); Follet, op. cit. (see n. 57 above) 325–6 (ephebic Comodeia at Athens).

⁶⁰ Robert, , Études Anatoliennes (Paris 1937) 424Google Scholar n. 4. For the Greek provinces under Commodus, see Grosso, , La lotta politica al tempo di Commodo (Turin 1964) 522–60Google Scholar, who, apropos of Greece, makes the startling assertion (p. 526) that ‘Commodo dimostrò verso la provincia una simpatìa ancora maggiore di quella che, a suo tempo, aveva rivelato Adriano’.

⁶¹ IG 1362. The fact that these documents were published at Pherae indicates that the emperor did not necessarily find in favour of Sparta.

⁶² On the possible role of Elis in the foundation of other Olympic festivals, see Robert, , Études Épigraphiques et Philologiques (1938) 61 n. 1Google Scholar and (for a different view) Pleket, H. W., ZPE 20 (1978) 15–18.Google Scholar

⁶³ IGRRW. 1432, II. 18 21.

⁶⁴ IG 667. For foreign contestants in this festival, see, e.g., IG 667 (Phocaea); IG 662 (Smyrna); Moretti, op. cit. (see n. 52 above) no. 71 (Magnesia-on-the-Maeander); IG iv¹ 591 = Vollgraff, W., Mnemosyne ser. ii. 47 (1919) 259–60Google Scholar (Thessalonice); CIG i. 1711 (Daux, G., BCH 68–9 (1944/1945) 123–5Google Scholar) no. 36 (Gortyn).

⁶⁵ Foundation: see Spawforth, , BSA 73 (1978) 251–2Google Scholar (apropos of an inscription to be published by G.Steinhauer). Foreign contestants: IG 666 (SEG xi. 836; xv. 217) (Alexandria); the victors' list preserved in SEG xi. 838 and recording seven foreigners refers either to the Eurycleia or the Urania. For the association with the Caesareia, see IG 71b, 50–5 (reign of Pius); 550 (after 160); Spawforth, , BSA 79 (1984) 286, l. 19 (Caracall or later).Google Scholar

⁶⁶ Op. cit. (see n. 52 above) 244–9 no. 84.

⁶⁷ Keil, J. and von Premerstein, A., Reise in Lydien, Denkschriften der kaiserl. Ak. Wiss. in Wien 53, 2 (1910) no. 27.Google Scholar

⁶⁸ See IG xiv. 1102, II. 33–5.

⁶⁹ Paus. iii. 14. 1.

⁷⁰ Information supplied by Professor C. H. Greenewalt, Director of the American excavations at Sardis, to whom I am most grateful for his efforts on my behalf to locate the stone; also to Professor C. Habicht of the Institute for Advanced Studies, Princeton, for putting at my disposal the original squeezes of the stone.