Funerary Fines in Greco-Roman Asia Minor

From late Hellenistic times on, but prevailingly in Imperial times funerary inscriptions from Asia Minor contain clauses designed to protect graves from theft, unauthorized burial and other types of vandalism. In these funerary inscriptions certain acts, which could damage the grave in the broadest sense, were prohibited and sanctions in the form of fines or other penalties were prescribed by the individual, who had undertaken the burial. Among these acts we find the interment of persons not entitled to burial on the site, be they members of the family excluded from the grave-site or strangers, as well as the opening of the grave for different purposes. Moreover the prohibition of alienation of the grave-site can be found often. The recipient of the fines was normally the city or one of its sanctuaries, the Roman fiscus or other organisations such as, for example, private associations. The individual components that make up these - often complex - penal regulations vary significantly between different cities and between different regions of Asia Minor; yet it is possible to place them all within a wider system. The investigation will focus primarily on inscriptions from the regions of Mysia, the Troad, Aiolis, Ionia and Karia, that is on communities that were Greek (or Hellenised) poleis already in the classical period. The relevant funerary inscriptions will be analysed city by city in order to establish which types of protection clauses were applied in each polis and thus to map out local patterns of tomb protection. In addition to the investigation of local traditions and procedures, it is the central aim of the project to produce a general overview and analysis of sepulchral penalties. A detailed and comprehensive overview of the conditions for the establishment of grave sites, of the methods with which these were legally protected, including specific prohibitions and sanctions, of the severity of the sanctions and of the types of offender against whom they were directed and, not least, of the procedures of criminal prosecution will be acquired. Thus the project will provide an important contribution to the study of the legal history of the Roman province of Asia Minor.

For the first time a thorough legal analysis of the grave-inscriptions containing information on funerary law and protection from western Asia Minor is presented in this project. About 1000 inscriptions from this area, in which the classical Greek polis was the characteristic organizational unit from archaic times on, contain legally relevant clauses. The relation of these texts to the overall number of grave-inscriptions ranges between 15-25 % in the northern regions to 25-30 % in Caria. The pattern of dissemination is a clear hint on the origin of the system in Hellenistic south-western Asia Minor. The first examples in the area studied over the last three years date to the 1st cent. CE, with a clear peak in the 2nd and 3rd cent. CE. The texts provide information on two aspects of funerary law: the acquisition of the grave and entitlements to use it as well as the protection of the site and further prohibitions and sanctions drawn up by the grave-owner. Ownership of a grave could result both from the purchase as well as from inheritance. In several cities the sale is explicitly mentioned, a good example is Smyrna where 28 of the 124 legally relevant texts contain this information. In other cities (like Ephesos) no comparable clauses could be found in the texts, although we can be sure, that graves were bought and sold there too. The synchoresis was a legal act developed in order to convey the right of burial without changes in the actual ownership of the grave. Extant lists of those persons, whom the grave-owner wished to be buried in the tomb even after his own death, were included in the introduction of funerary texts regularly. Moreover we found several clauses explicitly denying the right of burial to certain family members. The utmost aim seems to have been to prevent the misuse of a grave. Apart from restrictions of the usage of a grave very direct prohibitions, accompanied by sanctions, are regularly found in the texts. The prohibition against unauthorized burial and the prohibition against the alienation of the graves are the two most common categories found, both contributing to the protection of the property of the grave. Especially the prohibitions against unauthorized burial which complements the restrictions mentioned above is a good example to illustrate common practice and local variations. The wording of the clauses differs from city to city. Some cities seem to have had strong traditions and the phrasing shows a typical epigraphic habit, good examples are Aphrodisias as well as the other smaller settlements in Caria. In other cities, especially in the metropoleis of Ionia like Smyrna or Ephesos, different phrases are found that pertain to the same subject. The typical sanctions are monetary fines, ranging from 1000 to 50000 denarii with the fiscus or certain civic institutions as beneficiary. In addition to that criminal prosecution was envisaged by subsuming the prohibited actions under well-known public offences. The results of the project will be presented in a monograph Grabrecht und Grabschutz im griechisch-römischen Kleinasien I. Mysien und die Troas, Ionien, Karien, bound to appear as a volume of Ergänzungsbände zu den Tituli Asiae Minoris. The research on the protection of graves will be continued in a follow-up project on Lycia, Pisidia and Pamphylia, financed by the FWF as well.