Asiarch ( grc, Ἀσιάρχης, Asiarches, ruler of Asia) was a prominent position in the

Roman province The Roman provinces (Latin: ''provincia'', pl. ''provinciae'') were the administrative regions of Ancient Rome outside Roman Italy that were controlled by the Romans under the Roman Republic and later the Roman Empire. Each province was rule ...

Asia Asia (, ) is one of the world's most notable geographical regions, which is either considered a continent in its own right or a subcontinent of Eurasia, which shares the continental landmass of Afro-Eurasia with Africa. Asia covers an area ...

, the nature of which is not entirely clear. The Asiarchs were probably the annual representatives of the most important cities in the province, who presided over the provincial assembly () and had to organize and carry out the public games in honor of the gods and in the

Roman imperial cult The Roman imperial cult identified emperors and some members of their families with the divinely sanctioned authority (''auctoritas'') of the Roman State. Its framework was based on Roman and Greek precedents, and was formulated during the early ...

at their expense. Asiarchs were based in the cities where this festival took place and where the temples of the gods concerned were located, for example

Ephesus Ephesus (; grc-gre, Ἔφεσος, Éphesos; tr, Efes; may ultimately derive from hit, 𒀀𒉺𒊭, Apaša) was a city in ancient Greece on the coast of Ionia, southwest of present-day Selçuk in İzmir Province, Turkey. It was built in t ...

and

Pergamon Pergamon or Pergamum ( or ; grc-gre, Πέργαμον), also referred to by its modern Greek form Pergamos (), was a rich and powerful ancient Greece, ancient Greek city in Mysia. It is located from the modern coastline of the Aegean Sea on a ...

. They were elected by the cities and confirmed by the Roman

proconsul A proconsul was an official of ancient Rome who acted on behalf of a consul. A proconsul was typically a former consul. The term is also used in recent history for officials with delegated authority. In the Roman Republic, military command, or ' ...

. Asiarchs are known from numerous inscriptions, but are also mentioned in ''

Acts The Acts of the Apostles ( grc-koi, Πράξεις Ἀποστόλων, ''Práxeis Apostólōn''; la, Actūs Apostolōrum) is the fifth book of the New Testament; it tells of the founding of the Christian Church and the spread of its message ...

'' (19:31) and in the ''

Martyrdom of Polycarp ''Martyrdom of Polycarp'' is a manuscript written in the form of a letter that relates the religious martyrdom of Polycarp, Bishop of Smyrna (the site of the modern city of Izmir, Turkey) and disciple of John the Apostle in the 2nd centuryAD. It ...

''. In research, the identity of the Asiarchs with the "high priests of the (province) Asia" (), whose ritual office is also linked to the imperial cult in selected cities in numerous inscriptions, is disputed. While most scholars take the traditional view that Asiarch and are two names for the same office, some researchers assume that the Asiarchs, unlike the high priests, held a local office.Karl Georg Brandis, "Asiarches", '' Realencyclopädie der classischen Altertumswissenschaft'' Volume II.2 (Stuttgart, 1896), cols. 1564-1578. Equivalents are known in other Roman provinces, e.g.

Macedoniarch Macedoniarch ( el, μακεδονιάρχης) was a Roman-era title for the president of the Koinon of Macedonians. The title was only given to 11 people. Office The Macedoniarch was the president of the Koinon of Macedonians, and sometimes but ...

, Bithyniarch, Galatiarch and Lyciarch.

References

'', 126 (1999), pp. 275–290 * Steven J. Friesen, "Highpriests of Asia and Asiarchs. Farewell to the identification theory", in Peter Scherrer (ed.), ''Steine und Wege. Festschrift für Dieter Knibbe zum 65. Geburtstag.'' (Vienna: Österreichisches Archäologisches Institut, 1999), pp. 303–307 * Helmut Engelmann
"Asiarchs"
''Zeitschrift für Papyrologie und Epigraphik'' 132 (2000), pp. 173–175 * Peter Weiß, "Asiarchen sind Archiereis Asias. Eine Antwort auf S. J. Friesen", in ''Widerstand – Anpassung – Integration. Die griechische Staatenwelt und Rom. Festschrift für Jürgen Deininger zum 65. Geburtstag.'' Steiner, Stuttgart 2002, pp. 241–254 {{ISBN, 3-515-07911-4 * Babett Edelmann-Singer, ''Koina und Concilia. Genese, Organisation und sozioökonomische Funktion der Provinziallandtage im römischen Reich'' (Stuttgart: 2015) Ancient Roman titles Asia (Roman province)

References

Further reading