Appunti sulla rappresentazione linguistica dell’identità dell’aristocrazia dominante nella Frigia Ellespontica achemenide

This paper focuses on the affirmation of an elite linguistic identity in Achaemenid Hellespontine Phrygia. By examining public and private inscriptions in this region, it considers how Achaemenid authority, and Achaemenid administration, chose to assert this identity. The epigraphic evidence from Hellespontine Phrygia suggests a flexible language policy which favoured the peaceful co-existence of various language groups. At the same time, in this multilingual setting, the dominant ethno-class, as well as non-Persian members of the Achaemenid elite, used Aramaic, a language which was attractive for its prestige, its efficiency, and its accessibility. This was not only an administrative lingua franca, but also a symbolic resource, highlighting its users’ socio-cultural identity both in the official sphere (seals) and the private one (funerary inscriptions).