A New Inscription from Aphrodisias and the Title "pater tes Poleos" [Greek] ROUECH#, CHARLOTTEGreek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Summer 1979; 20, 2; Periodicals Archive Online pg. 173ANewInscriptionfromAphrodisias andtheTitlenU'tllP'tllcnOAE(t)c CharlotteRoueche RECENTEXCAVATIONSatAphrodisiasinCaria,linparticular since1972,haverevealedtotheeastof theTheatrealarge piazzasurroundedbycolonnadeswhichwasremodelledat severalperiods.Thelatestphaseof thispiazzaappearstobeof the fourthor fifthcentury(weknow fromarecentlydiscoveredinscrip-tion that substantial work was done inthe piazza under Julian), and several statuebasesof thelateEmpirehavebeen foundinthearea; twoareinsitu,and othershavebeenfoundbuilt intotheByzantine wallwhichblockedofftheTheatrefromthepiazzawhenthe acropoliswasfortified. Of thetwosurvivingbaseswhichstoodjusteastof theTheatre with their inscribed facestowards thepiazza, one isbadly damaged, but the other isalmost complete, and the statue which stood on it was foundbesideit.This statueisabouttobepublished,2accompanied by avery brief note on the inscribed base.The purpose of thisarticle istodescribeanddiscussthisbasemore fully. Therectangularbaseof Aphrodisiasmarble(height1.01meters, width0.48,depth0.60)withupperandlowermouldingisalmost certainly reused;ahalf-moon,in relief,remains on the farside.The base stood, rather awkwardly, on another base cut down to receive it. The first line of the inscription ison the upper moulding. The letters, which are irregular and inelegant, average 4em in height(PLATE1). 1Forthecurrent excavationsat Aphrodisias,conductedbyProfessorKenanErimof NewYorkUniversitywiththegeneroushelpof theNationalGeographicSocietyand many other benefactors,seetheannual reportsintheAmericanJournalif Archaeologyand TurkArkeolojiDergisi,aswellasthebibliography inthe PrincetonEncyclopaediaoj Classical Sites(Princeton1976).IampreparinganeditionofthelateRomanandByzantine inscriptions from Aphrodisiasand assisting in the preparation by Miss] oyceReynolds of acorpus of inscriptionsfromthe site. 2In RomischeundJriihbyzantinischePortriitplastikausderTurkei,by E.Alfi:ildi-Rosenbaum and]. Inan(Berlin1979).The statue isnow on display in the Aphrodisias Museum, and thebaseisin the Museum garden. 173 174ANEWINSCRIPTIONFROMAPHRODISIAS [( cross) ])1 ya()fjL( cross)TVXTJL( cross) '1'\'\ .1ovaVaVWTTJv KaLKTlcTTJVTfjC(J-TJTpo1Tl5(AWC) \", KatVPYTTJV7TaCTJC KaplacJ.&.owv[K]