Diomedes Son of Chares
(0031) Text: Δ(ι)ομήδης Χάρητος | ἔπαρχος βασιλέως | μεγάλου Ἀγρίππα ἀπ- | ὸ θεμελίων ἀνήγειρεν.
Translation: Diomedes, son of Chares, prefect of the great king Agrippa, raised this from its foundations. (Trans. Christopher B. Zeichmann)
Commentary: Cf. Josephus Life 35; 37 on Chares. We can ascertain from his other inscriptions that Diomedes served in both one of the Augustan cohorts (likely cohors I Canathanorum Augusta) and the army of the Batanaean king Agrippa II. I have written an article that deals with the first two Diomedes inscriptions extensively (Zeichmann). He identifies as part of cohors Augusta in §30, which presumably was after he erected this inscription. He also erected §32.
Provenience: Batanaea (Deir e-Scheir, Syria) 53-97 CE
Bibliography: OGIS 422; IGLS 2135; IGLS 16.642; Shimon Applebaum, Judaea in Hellenistic and Roman Times: Historical and Archaeological Essays, SJLA 40 (Leuven: Brill Academic, 1989), 55-57; Christopher B. Zeichmann, “Herodian Kings and Their Soldiers in the Acts of the Apostles: A Response to Craig Keener,” JGRChJ 11 (2015): 178-190.