The monument in honor of Opramoas of Rhodiapolis is taking shape

In an earlier post “Opramoas of Rhodiapolis” I mentioned the many benefactions this wealthy man made in his lifetime as recorded on the walls of the monument built in his honor at the heart of this city. All his good deeds have been well documented (see the abovementioned post for his main achievements) although we could not read the full text till the many loose blocks were put together in the correct sequence.

It is a painstaking job and it seems to be taking shape as can be seen in the recent pictures of the reconstruction. It is such a great pleasure to see how this building is rising from its ashes in all its glory!

To summarize the importance of this text, the longest ever found in Lycia or perhaps even in all of Anatolia, we should remember that 12 of these inscriptions contain letters which Opramoas exchanged with the Roman Emperors and with Antoninus Pius in particular, 19 letters to the Procurator and 33 various documents related to the Lycian League.

Opramoas was the richest man in Lycia and moved among other wealthy relatives like C. Julius Demosthenes of Oenoanda and Licinus Langus of Oenoanda. He came from a long lineage of important and influential people who wore such titles as Lyciarch (President of the Lycian League), Strategus (Military Commander), and Hipparch (Commander of the Cavalry). Besides, his brother Apollonios was a scribe of the Lycian League and also occupied the post of Lyciarch.

For more information about the Lycian League, please refer to my post The world’s first Parliament Building in Patara.

[Pictures from Turkish Archaeological News]