ABSTRACT
The epigraphic cultures of Phrygia and its borderlands are linked to the development of urbanization in central Anatolia, which, for the most part, does not predate the Hellenistic period. This chapter examines the regional variety in epigraphic cultures across Phrygia and its borderlands, focusing on five case studies: Aizanoi, Eumeneia, Laodikeia-on-the-Lykos, Pessinous, and the Karian city of Aphrodisias. It is argued that there is a distinction between the well-connected cities of western Phrygia and the vicinity, and those cities located in the Phrygian uplands, where communities remained largely agrarian, and urban culture was not entrenched.
