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In 221/20 the citizens of Magnesia on the Maeander sought to create crowned games in honor of Artemis Leukophryene. The goddess had appeared to them and Delphi instructed that "it is more agreeable and better for those who revere Apollo Pythios and Artemis Leukophryene and treat the city and territory of the Magnesians on the Maeander as sacred and inviolable." But why it took Magnesia more than a decade to secure asylia and inaugurate the enhanced games has remained a puzzle. It has been thought since Kern (1901) that the Magnesians first attempted to win acceptance of inviolability and the games in 221/20, that their invitations were almost universally snubbed, and that the city did not succeed in securing international recognition until 208/7. This paper argues that there was no failed campaign of invitations in 221, that Magnesia did not canvass the Greek world until 208/7.

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The Seleucid Laodicea by the Sea has left us but one Hellenistic public decree (IGLS IV 1261). 1 To the extent that scholars have paid close attention to this text it has been to support the argument that Seleucid kings ruled with a heavy hand, operating in concert with entrenched oligarchs and micro-managing through personal appointees. 2 The decree was passed by the peliga˜nev, a council of elders and an institutional transplant from Macedonia; 3 the proposal was moved by the eÒ pistá thv, perhaps another old Macedonian office, 4 and the magistrates (2-3). 5 Thus, the inscription reminds us that Hellenistic cities were administered by powerful men who may have had the ear of the king. No news here. 6 But the decree's focus is neither kings nor power politics. This was a local matter, involving a tangled mess of property rights, religious imperatives, fiscal policy, and legislative problem-solving, a neat piece of local history: 7 Ø Etouv hlr 0 , mhno`v Au Ò dnai´ou l 0 , Ò Asklhpia´dou eÒ pista´tou kaì aÒ rco´ntwn gnẃ mh. eÒ peì Ö˜Wrov kaì Ò Apollo´dwrov kaì Ò Antí ocov, oiÖ i Ö ereĩ v tou˜Sará pidov 4 * I am grateful to Kent Rigsby, Edward Harris, and Robert Parker for their thoughtful criticism of an earlier draft of this paper.

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