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Introduction In this essay I will undertake a brief survey of the many polytheistic religious groups1 of Greco-Roman antiquity that are manifest distinctly, and perhaps distinctively, at Sardis and Smyrna. In its original form, delivered to the CSBS Religious Rivalries seminar in 1998, the essay had two primary goals. First, it aimed to provide an orientation to the important deities attested at Sardis and Smyrna. Second, it attempted to highlight issues of “religious rivalry” that might warrant further research. In its present revised form I have retained the survey nature of the essay but have indicated where some of the issues raised have been taken up by others who have contributed to this volume. Other issues are raised that continue to await further exploration. Greco-Roman Religions in Sardis At Sardis, Artemis was an important figure during the Hellenistic and early imperial age (Hanfmann, Robert, and Mierse 1983, 129), as she was seen as the protectress of the city. Her temple at Sardis is the fourth-largest Ionic temple known from the ancient world (Hanfmann 1983, 129).2 The first phase of building began shortly after 281 BCE and ended in 222 BCE. The temple incorporated a limestone altar dedicated to Artemis that probably dates from the sixth century BCE. It was unfinished, and work on it resumed around 175 BCE, although again it was left unfinished. During this time Zeus Polieus joined Artemis as the object of worship in the temple. Although earlier studies tended to see a conflation of Artemis with Cybele at Sardis, Hanfmann (1983, 129) points out that “no inscription found in the Artemis Precinct ever refers to Cybele, Meter, or Kore. It is no longer permissible after Notes to chapter 4 start on page 256 40 4 Greco-Roman Religions in Sardis and Smyrna Richard S. Ascough our archaeological, linguistic, and sculptural findings…to conflate Artemis with Cybele.”3 At Sardis the only deity to be associated with Artemis was Zeus Polieus (“Zeus [protector] of the city”), who joined her in the temple from 220 BCE.4 A colossal statue of Zeus was set up in the temple of Artemis, probably balancing a similar colossal statue of Artemis (Ramage 1987, 31).5 After the earthquake of 17 CE, the temple of Artemis lay in ruins for over fifty years, presumably because these gods were viewed as having failed to protect the city. “Not unnaturally, from gods that had failed them, they turned to the praesens divus, the ‘present god,’ the Emperor who was the first to help them in their dire plight” (Hanfmann 1983, 135). The third building phase was completed around 150 CE, at which time it became the locus of the worship of the emperor Antoninus Pius (138–51). The double cella in the temple came to house statues of Antoninus and the Empress Faustina.6 The other major female deity at Sardis was Cybele, known there as the “mother of the gods,” or in Roman times, Meter Oreia (“mother of the mountain”). A seventh- to mid-sixth century BCE altar to Cybele has been uncovered near the Pactolus River, where she watched over the finding and refining of gold.7 Iconographically, she is often depicted as enthroned between two lions.8 After the earthquake of 17 CE, Artemis rarely appears on coins from Sardis. Instead, there is the depiction of a figure that looks like Kore but is in actuality an ancient deity (Hanfmann 1983, 129).9 Hanfmann (1983, 131) suggests that before the earthquake of 17 CE there existed at Sardis an archaic cult of a Lydian “corn maiden.” After 17 CE her archaic image became the official representative of the city, thus displacing Artemis from the role. This change of status may have resulted from the failure of Artemis to protect the city in 17 CE, along with the shift from grapes to wheat as the primary agricultural product (Hanfmann 1983, 136, 144, 147). Eventually, the mother goddess (Cybele) and the corn maiden were seen as a pair and were assimilated into the Greek legend of Demeter and Kore. Most relevant for this investigation is the rivalry between the various Greco-Roman religions as they vied for the allegiance of the people of the cities. In Sardis we find a late first- or early second-century CE inscription warning the temple warden therapeutai of Zeus the Legislator not to participate in the mysteries of Sabazios, Agdistis, and Ma:10 In the thirty-nine years of Artaxerxes’ reign, Droaphernes, son...

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