• Teos to Magnesia-on-the-Maeander, 200-150 BC (presbeutes, gr. πρεσβευτής, en. envoy)

Apollonios son of Melanippos, together with Melanippos son of Apollonios (possibly his son), came to Magnesia-on-the Maeander on behalf of Teos. Their purpose was to notify that Teos granted some honours, essentially a crown, decreed by the magistrates and the council, to an influential Magnesian man, Glaukos (also named Artemidoros) son of Admetos, for being a benefactor of Teian people.

It is probable that Apollonios, through his son (?) Melanippos, had some kind of personal relationship with Glaukos, because Melanippos himself asked the assembly to send a delegation to Magnesia. Apollonios and Melanippos were obviously related, but we can not determine exactly how. Since Melanippos is the main actor in the assembly and in front of the magistrates, but then, when the Teians chese the envoys, the name of Apollonios is consistently put before his, if this is a choice dictated by a different degree of importance, we can assume that Apollonios is the father of Melanippos.

The Teian assembly established an ephodion for the diplomatic expenses. For its part, Magnesia agreed to the request of the Teian ambassadors (the inscription is in essence the product of this diplomatic exchange) and honoured the two men, even offering them a military escort to return home.

The chronology depends essentially on the form of the letters. Gauthier 2005, 85 assumes that the military escort was offered because Ionia was experiencing instability, but this assumption does not help to narrow the chronological framework.

• Gauthier, P. (2005), ‘Trois exemple méconnus d’intervenants dans des décrets de la basse époque hellénistiques’, in Fröhlich, P., Müller, C. (edd.), Citoyenneté et participation à la basse époque hellénistique, Geneva, 79-94.
• Rhodes, P.J. (1997), The decrees of the Greek states, Oxford.