Inscribed on three sides of a statue base, AE 1998. 282(for editio princeps, see Nonnis 1995) preserves a series of correspondences in 227-228 CE pertaining to the establishment of a perpetual endowment of HS 20,000 for the dendrophori of Lavinium. The donor was Servilius Diodorus, an eques of African origin (domo Girba ex Africa) and a member of the priestly college of the Larentes Lavinates. It was through the intervention of a senator upon the request of Diodorus that the city accepted the endowment. While the city was to control the capital, the local dendrophori were to carry out the designated ceremonies and have banquets paid out of the annual income of the said endowment. In the letter responding to his being elected patron by the dendrophori out of gratitude, Servilius Diodorus included a clause exhorting his fellow Larentes Lavinates to emulate his euergetic deed. This remarkable dossier provides a rather rare glimpse into the (re)actions of the various interested parties (the donor, the city, the senator, the designated recipients, and the donor's peers) in the establishment of the gift. Several questions immediately arise: Why was the city so closely involved if the gift was intended to benefit the dendrophori？Why did Diodorus choose to convey his wish to give a donation through the senator? Was it because he had been turned down by the city initially? Or was it because he wanted to give the gift more prestige by taking a top-down approach? Was his non-native origin an aggravating factor in his dealing with the city, or the local elite? Based on a close analysis of the language of the correspondences, the chronological sequence of events, and the local politics, this paper addresses those inter-connected questions in the hopes to shed light on the conflicts, negotiations, and compromises in the euergetic politics in the Western cities in the early third century.Inscribed on three sides of a statue base, AE 1998. 282 (for editio princeps, see Nonnis 1995) preserves a series of correspondences in 227-228 CE pertaining to the establishment of a perpetual endowment of HS 20,000 for the dendrophori of Lavinium. The donor was Servilius Diodorus, an eques of African origin (domo Girba ex Africa) and a member of the priestly college of the Larentes Lavinates. It was through the intervention of a senator upon the request of Diodorus that the city accepted the endowment. While the city was to control the capital, the local dendrophori were to carry out the designated ceremonies and have banquets paid out of the annual income of the said endowment. In the letter responding to his being elected patron by the dendrophori out of gratitude, Servilius Diodorus included a clause exhorting his fellow Larentes Lavinates to emulate his euergetic deed. This remarkable dossier provides a rather rare glimpse into the (re)actions of the various interested parties (the donor, the city, the senator, the designated recipients, and the donor's peers) in the establishment of the gift. Several questions immediately arise: Why was the city so closely involved if the gift was intended to benefit the dendrophori？Why did Diodorus choose to convey his wish to give a donation through the senator? Was it because he had been turned down勿the city initially? Or was it because he wanted to give the gift more prestige by taking a top-down approach? Was his non-native origin an aggravating factor in his dealing with the city, or the local elite? Based on a close analysis of the language of the correspondences, the chronological sequence of events, and the local politics, this paper addresses those inter-connected questions in the hopes to shed light on the conflicts, negotiations, and compromises in the euergetic politics in the Western cities in the early third century.
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