The Levy at Thespiae under Marcus Aurelius Jones, C P Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Spring 1971; 12, 1; ProQuest pg. 45

The Levy at Thespiae under 
Marcus Aurelius 

c. P. Jones 

A N INSCRIPTION discovered at Thespiae in 1890-91, and not pub­
lished until 1932, refers to a corps of volunteers raised by the 

. city to fight under Marcus Aurelius. Not only has this interest­
ing document been unduly neglected: it will be argued below that it 
refers to an entirely different occasion from that generally assumed.1 

The text, which is substantially complete,2 is in three parts. The 
first states that in accordance with the decision of the Council and 
Assembly, the names are inscribed below of the men sent to Marcus 
for "the campaign" (TW[V 'TTpo()vfLwC EK'TTEfL ]cp()€VTWV VEWV E'TTt T~V 

[] , ~ [' \ ()]' , , TT , M A' \' 
CT P aTEW:V TCfJ fLEY tCTCfJ Kat EL OTaTCfJ aVTOKpaTopL .n..aLCapt • VP'Y/I\LCfJ 

'AVTW[VC:LVCfJ Ec:{1a]CTlp, KTA.). The second part records the motion as a 
result of which the names are inscribed. In the preamble of this, the 
mover reminds the Council and Assembly that they have already on 
several occasions resolved that the men due to go on the "most for­
tunate and pious campaign" (E'TTI. 7"ijv c:tJ-rVXC:CTeXT'Y/V Kat C:VCc:j3C:CTeXT'YJV 

cTpaTc:{av) should enjoy the privileges of councillors, themselves while 
they are present and their parents after their departure. So that they 
may enjoy them forthwith, however, it is proposed that the distribu­
tions and privileges should be granted to the volunteers (TOtC'TTPO­

()vfLOLC 'TTpOC 7"ijv ;gooov TWV V€WV) immediately, that their parents 
should enjoy them after their departure, and that after their success­
ful return they should continue to enjoy these same privileges; and 
moreover, that their names should be recorded on a stele set up in the 
Agora so that the memory of those who volunteered for their city 

1 Published by A. Plassart, Melanges Gustave Glotz II (Paris 1932) 731-38. Not incorporated 
in AE or SEG. lowe thanks to Professors T. D. Barnes and G. W. Bowersock for helpful 
criticism. 

2 Plassart's text can be improved in two places. At the end of line 10, Kal is preferable to 
we (James H. Oliver, The Civilizing Power [TrAmPhilosSoc N.S. 58.1, Philadelphia 1968] 33 
n.6). In line 26, -rpl-roll -r[o]v-ro, not -rpl-roll -r[J a]th-6: cf L5] S.v. oO-roe, B IV. Oliver's sugges­
tion in line 9, e-rrl-rpo1ToII in place of Mjp.oll, would only be plausible if the customary interpre­
tation were correct, but see infra, pA7. 

45 



46 THE LEVY AT THESPIAE UNDER MARCUS AURELIUS 

(TCilv 1m~P 'Tfie 7T(x-rplooe 1Tpo8v[J1]1]lUVTWV vlwv) may last for all time, 
the stele to be paid for out of the revenues available to the magis­
trates. The text of the decree is immediately followed by the name of 
the escort of the levy (0 1Tapa1TlJ.L1Twv -rove vlove) and of two ambassa­
dors, presumably those who conveyed the decree to the emperor. 
Finally, there appears the list itself, containing the names of eighty 
volunteers and a physician. 

The inscription can be dated fairly closely by internal evidence. As 
the first editor, A. plass art, correctly argued, since it does not mention 
Lucius Verus, it should be later than his death in late A.D. 168 or early 
169,3 while the absence of <Germanicus' from the titulature of Marcus, 
which is otherwise given fully, shows that it is earlier than 172. 

Arguing from these termini, Plassart brought the inscription into 
connection with an event of 170 or early 171. In one of those years 
Greece was invaded by a barbarian tribe, the Costoboci, who pene­
trated as far south as Eleusis: their sack of the temple of Demeter 
there is the subject of Aelius Aristides' Eleusinian Oration. An experi­
enced soldier later to be Commodus' Guard Prefect, Julius Julianus, 
was dispatched from the German front with the title of procurator, 
and by means of special detachments drove the invaders out of 
Achaea and Macedonia.4 The effects of this incursion are attested less 
than fifty kilometers away from Thespiae, at Phocian Elatea. There 
Pausanias saw the monument of a citizen, Mnesibulus, who organized 
a levy against the invaders and fell in battle with them.s Plassart ar­
gued that the Thespian levy had similarly been raised against the 
Costoboci, though presumably to help in the offensive of Julius 
Julianus and not to meet an imminent danger as at Elatea. He saw 
confirmation in the description of the campaign as "most pious": the 
Thespians would be helping to avenge the sack of the temple at Eleu­
sis. 

The inscription does not name the enemies against whom the con-

3 Cf PIRI C 606: T. D. Bames,JRS 57 (1967) 73. 
t The fundamental study is by A. von Premerstein, Klio 12 (1912) 145-66 (the inscriptions 

BCH 8 [1884] 470 no.l, and 19 [1895] 119 no.2, are now respectively IG 112 13172 and 3411). 
Recently, B. Gerov, Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 16 (1968) 325-38, and 
Oliver, op.cit. (supra n.2) 33 n.6. Date: von Premerstein argued for 170, op.cit. 151-53; 
W. Zwikker rightly maintained that 171 was also pOSSible, Studien {Ur Marieussiiu/e I (Am­
sterdam 1941) 170-72; cf T. D. Bames,fThS 18 (1967) 434 n.4 (on p.435). Eleusis: Aristid. 
Orat. 22 Keil, and compare also IG 111 3411, 3639, SEG XXII 156; the relevance of IG 1119898 
and 13172 is less certain. Julianus: ILS 1327, PIRI 1/1 615. 

'Paus. 10.34.5. On Mnesibuius, IG IX.l 146=SIG3 871. 



c. P. JONES 47 

scripts are to fight. It does, however, suggest long drawn out prepara­
tions for a major operation: the Thespians had "many times" decided 
to reward the volunteers "while they were still present" in the city. 
That is suspicious, if they were being raised to drive an occupying 
force out of Greece. The fact that ambassadors were involved also im­
plies an official request for troops and a negotiated response, not a 
levy hastily raised in crisis. One detail seems fatal to the customary 
interpretation. While the Greek appears to say unequivocally that the 
conscripts were to be sent to Marcus,6 the emperor was not involved 
in the campaign against the Costoboci. 

An alternative occasion is easily found. In 166, Marcus began pre­
parations for a German war against Rome's enemies across the Dan­
ube.' He and Lucius set out, however, only in 168. In the following 
winter Lucius died, and Marcus returned to Rome. In 169, as part of 
the continuing preparations for the war, he held a famous auction of 
palace property to raise funds. Though the auction was designed to 
lessen the burden on the provinces, enormous levies were in fact 
necessary: the description of them given by the Historia Augusta is 
confirmed for the Greek East by epigraphical evidence.8 Of particular 
relevance to the Thespian inscription, since it employs such similar 
language, is a text from Greater Termessus honouring a man as 
~YEf.t[ o]va TWV €K7TEfLCP8[ EV]Twv cVfL(fL )axwv 'Tip fLEylc'Tlt> aU'TOKpaTOpt 
Kalcapt M[ ap]Klt> Aup'YJAtlt> 'AVTWVElvlt>, K'TA. That the occasion here is one 
of the northern campaigns is certain, since Lucius is dead and Marcus 
has the tide of 'Germanicus', taken in 172, but not 'Sarmaticus', taken 
in 175. Though the inscription must therefore have been cut after 
172, the levy to which it refers appears to be part of the extensive 
recruitment of 169.9 The Thespian inscription, referring to troops 

6 Plassart, op.cit. (supra n.l) 735, interprets EK1T€p.cp8IVTwv E1T~ ~v crpaT€lav Tep ••• a.n-o­
KpaTOpt Kalcapt M. AVpTJ),.{cp 'AVTWV€{Vcp to refer to the vexillatio detached from the imperial 
armies to serve under Julianus, but that appears to be against the Greek. See further the 
inscription from Termessus discussed infra. 

7 On the chronology of the German campaigns, A. R. Birley, Marcus Aurelius (London 
1966) 201-34; idem, in Provincialia; Festschrift fur Rudolf Laur-Belart (Basel-Stuttgart 1968) 
214-25; I. G. Nagy, Acta Antiqua Academiae Scientiarum Hungaricae 16 (1968) 343-50; James H. 
Oliver, Marcus Aurelius: Aspects of Civic and Cultural Policy in the East (Hesperia Suppl. 13. 
1970) 82 n.38. 

8 HA Marcus 21.6-9. As an illustration of 21.7, armavit et diogmitas, see OGIS 511=IGRR 
IV 580 (Aezani). There is no difficulty in connecting this inscription with the German war: 
it can fit in 166/7, cf T. D. Barnes,JThS 21 (1970) 407. 

9 TAM III.I 106 with Heberdey's commentary. 



48 THE LEVY AT THESPIAE UNDER MARCUS AURELIUS 

to be sent to Marcus for "the most pious campaign," and cut between 
169 and 172, must also refer to the German war. 

If that is correct, it shows how heavily the burden of this costly and 
distant undertaking could be for a dty of old Greece: even if Thespiae 
was comparatively prosperous,lo the other dties can be presumed to 
have contributed in proportion to their means. Such a drain of man­
power also helps to explain why, when the Costobod invaded a year 
or so later, they were able to penetrate so far and with such fatal ease. 

UNIVERSITY COLLEGE, TORONTO 

November, 1970 

10 On Thespiae in this period, see now C. P. Jones, HSCP 74 (1970) 247. I regret that in 
that discussion I too neglected the present text, which would substantially have 
reinforced the conclusions drawn there.