Asiarches

Part of speech: noun

Definitions

1. A high-ranking public official who presided over the games and religious festivals of the Roman province of Asia in ancient Anatolia
2. An ancient Greek title held by a leading citizen who oversaw the imperial cult and public spectacles in the Roman province of Asia
3. The chief magistrate of the provincial council in Roman Asia, responsible for organizing religious rites and games in honour of the emperor

Etymology: Asiarches were the chief priests of the imperial cult in the Roman province of Asia, in what is now western Turkey. Each year the province's leading men selected several of their number for the post, which combined religious duty with heavy public expense: holders were expected to fund games, festivals and temple rites from their own pockets, and the title carried great prestige in cities such as Ephesus and Smyrna. The name is built from Greek "Asia", the province's name, and "archein", "to rule" or "to lead", so it means roughly "ruler of Asia" in a religious sense. The word appears in the New Testament, in Acts 19:31, where some of the "chief officers of Asia" (the Greek word is "Asiarchai") are described as friends of Paul who urge him not to enter the theatre at Ephesus during the riot of the silversmiths. This is the reason the term is familiar to many readers, though it is a plural form in that passage.