Diomedes Son of Chares
(0032) Text: Διὶ Βεελβααρῳ Διομὴδης Χάρητος ἔπαρ[χ]ος καὶ στρατηγὸς Βαταναί[ας]
Translation: To Zeus Beelbaaros, Diomedes son of Chares, prefect and general of Batanaea. (Trans. Christopher B. Zeichmann)
Commentary: Cf. Josephus Life 35; 37 on Chares. For more on the deity Zeus Beelbaaros, see this concise article. 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. This inscription was not yet known to me when the article was published. He identifies as part of cohors Augusta in §30, which presumably was after he erected the present inscription. He also erected §31.
Provenience: Batanaea, Palestine (al-Harrah, Syria) 53-97 CE
Bibliography: IGLS 16.486; Maurice Sartre, “Brigands, colons et pouvoirs en Syrie du Sud au Ier siècle de notre ère,” Anabases 13 (2011): 207-245.