412 CALLIA RULMU father. As this story indicates, there is no doubt about the actual power of local oligarchies in cities like Thessalonica. Concerning the ambitions of the lower strata, Roman attempts to sedate social unrest and exert actual political control in the Eastern provinces by granting privileges to artisans date from the time of Claudius (41-54 CE), and were reiterated in the time of Trajan (99-117) and Hadrian (117-138) 81. A speech (Orat. 34) delivered by Dio Chrysostom in the city of Tarsus presents an interesting example of the change in the socio-political panorama of the time. In his discourse delivered before a public gathering of the citizens of Tarsus, Dio Chrysostom “comes as a messenger from God in time of need” 82. Addressing the Tarsians affected by internal conflicts, he states: “ . . . a day or two ago the Assembly (dhmov) took one course and the Council (boylh) another” ˜ ¥ while “the Elders (oı gerontev) still maintain a position of Ω¥ independence ” (34.16) 83. Dio Chrysostom then mentions, among the political bodies of the city, “a group of no small size (plhuov ˜ oyk ol¥gon) which is, as it were, outside the constitution (ejwuen ß ßı ¶ thv politeıav). And some are accustomed to call them linen- ˜ ¥ workers (linoyrgoyv) ” (34.21). ¥ The group in question was very likely a guild of linen-workers 84. Dio underscores their lack of a role in the political arena of the city, and describes the conflicting feelings of the city-dwellers towards the association of linen workers: . . . at times the citizens are irritated by them and assert that they are a useless rabble and responsible for the tumult and disorder in Tarsus, while at other times they regard them as a part of the city and hold the opposite opinion of them ... Well, if you believe them to be detrimental to you and instigators of insurrection and confusion, you should expel them altogether and not admit them to Claudius decided to extend decisional power (and citizenship) to those 81 who until then had been alienated by the old system: BENKO and O’ROURKE, The Catacombs, 55. Dio Chrysostom, III (trans. J.W. COHOON — H.L. CROSBY) (LOEB; 82 Cambridge, London 1961) 335. F. POLAND, Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesens (Leipzig 1909) 83 99, thinks that “the Elders” formed a distinct political organization in many cities of that time. Even “the Youth” (toyv te neoyv, Dio III, 34.21) would be ¥ ¥ another political party (POLAND, Geschichte, 95). POLAND, Geschichte, 117. 84