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Document Details :

Title: The Emergence of the Ptolemaic Honorific Court Titles
Author(s): LANCIERS, Eddy
Journal: Ancient Society
Volume: 48    Date: 2018   
Pages: 49-82
DOI: 10.2143/AS.48.0.3285196

Abstract :
A Greek inscription discovered in an Artemis temple in Alexandria must be dated between 220 and 210/9. The title τῶν πρώτων φίλων, held by the honorand of the inscription, is not the earliest attestation of a honorific court title, but identifies the holder as an officer of the royal infantry guard. The designations philos, prĂ´tos philos, somatophylax, archisomatophylax and diadochos were already used in the third century as 'real' court titles for members of the royal entourage and royal (body)guard. In the 190s these titles were incorporated into the system of the purely honorific aulic titulature.

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