Priene_calendar_inscription
Priene calendar inscription
9 BC stone inscription about Augustus Caesar
The Priene calendar inscription (IK Priene 14) is an inscription in stone recovered at Priene (an ancient Greek city, in Western Turkey) that records an edict by Paullus Fabius Maximus, proconsul of the Roman province of Asia and a decree of the conventus of the province accepting the edict from 9 BC. The documents align the provincial calendar with the Roman calendar, honouring Augustus by making the provincial year began on his birthday. It refers to Augustus' birth using the term "gospel."[1][2][3][4] It is known as the Priene text because it was found on two stones in the marketplace of the ancient town of Priene.[5][1][6] Other copies are known from Apamea and Eumeneia.[7]
The Greek text of the whole inscription has been published several times[8][9][10] and the current authoritative edition appears as inscription no. 14 in the Priene volume of the Inschriften griechischer Städte aus Kleinasien series.[11] It consists of two distinct parts: The edict, and the decree of acceptance of the edict.[12] Although the inscription spans two stones, the second part begins before the end of the first stone.
The calendar inscription of Priene is currently in the Bibelhaus Erlebnis Museum in Frankfurt and will be through September 2023,[13] on loan from Berlin Museum.[2][1]