IGII2 3538 Honours for Gaius Julius Spartiaticus

Honours for Gaius Julius Spartiaticus

IG II² 3538 Date: ca. 55 – 65 AD

(This statue of) Gaius Julius Spartiaticus, high priest of the Gods Augusti and of the family of the Augusti (5) from the League of Achaia for life, the first one ever (was erected by)^[1] the priest of Poseidon Erechtheus Gaieochos, (10) Tiberius Claudius Theogenes of Paiania for his own friend.^[2]

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References:

IG II² 3538 (Translated text) (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base (private)

Findspot: Acropolis, near Propylaia

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This base commemorates Gaius Julius Spartiaticus, who ruled Sparta as "procurator of Caesar and Augusta Agrippina" in the 50s AD, but fell from favour with Nero in the early 60s AD. His family had dominated Sparta since the time of his great-grandfather, Lachares, a supporter of Julius Caesar, who is commemorated on the Acropolis (IG II² 3885). Spartiaticus' grandfather Julius Eurykles established the family's supremacy by fighting on the side of Augustus at the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. He received Roman citizenship as a reward and was essentially the sole ruler of Sparta until until Augustus sent him into exile ca. 7-2 BC. Spartiaticus' father, Julius Lakon, was restored to power by Tiberius after 14 AD, exiled in 33, restored by Caligula ca. 37-41, and was dead by ca. 54-59. He appears as Athenian archon in IG II² 1069. On the family, see P. Cartledge and A. J. S. Spawforth, Hellenistic and Roman Sparta, 2004, 89-95. Spartiaticus appears here as chief priest of the Imperial cult for the Achaian League, a union of most of the cities in the Peloponnese (notably excluding Sparta, which makes it a little surprising that Spartiaticus held the role). On the development of this league in the first century AD, see A. Hupfloher in Y. Neronia VII, 2007, pp. 97-117. On priests of the Roman emperors at Athens, see IG II³ 4, 1928 with notes. [2] Tiberius Claudius Theogenes held several important priesthoods and civic offices during the reign of Nero, eventually becoming manager of the city (epimeletes tes poleos). He is not attested after Nero’s fall from power (S. G. Byrne, Roman Citizens of Athens, 2003, pp. 177-78). For the priests of Poseidon Erechtheus, appointed from the genos of the Eteoboutadai, cf. IG II³ 4, 1908 and J. Blok and S. Lambert, ZPE, 109-14.

Added: 24 Jul 2026
Updated: 24 Jul 2026
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ID: AIO_3753