Ancona "città greca" nel II sec. a.C.

The great quantity of oriental luxury items from the Hellenistic necropolis at Ancona (3rd -1st century BC) attest the existence of a wealthy local mercantile community as well as the presence of few individuals of Greek origin, as attested by the source used by Strabo, who defines Ancona as a Greek polis. Greek-oriental stylistic and iconographic motifs are in the funerary stele, which date between the second half of the 2nd century BC and the Augustan period, if not later; the onomastics and the language testify to the presence of Greek speaking individuals, probably tied to the trade activites carried out in Ancona. Among the documents considered there is an honorary degree from Delphi, which mentions the proxeny granted to Nikostratos, son of Sotikos, from Ankon, in 167 BC. The onomastics, the honors, typically Greek, and the historical context highlight the interest developped by Delphi after the third Macedonian war towards the Greek cities of Italy, especially Ancona, which became the base of the Roman fleet in the Adriatic. Antolini S.: pp. 524-530.