Theophanes, Potamon and Mytilene’s Freedom

Abstract

Theophanes and Potamon of Mytilene, two Greek euergetes who sought to serve their home polis in a rapidly changing political landscape of the late Roman Republic and early Principate, took an active interest in the politics of the day and sought to lobby Roman elites on Mytilene’s behalf. Theophanes befriended and advised Pompey, contributing to Pompey’s decision to pardon and liberate Mytilene after the city’s ignominious participation in the Asiatic Vespers, whereas Potamon served as Mytilene’s ambassador in Rome, adroitly championing its city’s interests. Two politicians bettered Mytilene’s political status in the tumultuous period of transformation from a republic to an autocracy and ensured that the city maintained its freedom until the times of the Flavians.