The contributions of the citizens of Carian cities to city development, as reflected in the inscriptions: 1st century B. C. ?3rd century A. D.

This thesis seeks to examine, in the light of the information gathered from ancient inscriptions, how citizens contributed to city development in the period of time between the first century B.C. and the end of the third century A.D., at the same time making a comparison with previous centuries. The region of Caria was chosen for the study due to the numerous and high-quality epigraphic documentation that is available in this geographical area and was limited to that area alone. By its nature, the study explores and provides general information on the social, economic and political situation in the Hellenistic and Roman Eras, as well as on the phenomenon of euergesia, or benevolence, and the effect this had on the city?s economic, political and societal structure. This is followed by an analysis of the factors that motivated citizens to contribute to city building and development. These contributions have been reviewed in terms of form, quality and quantity of implementation, and also classified in terms of criteria such as the station or vocation of the contributing persons during or before the execution of the development and which structures were chosen for these efforts. The differences between the Hellenistic and Roman Eras in this context have also been investigated. Further, the nature of the phenomenon of benevolence in the context of the family and in terms of prestige strategies, and how the concept of family played a role in the contributions of citizens to the development of the city have been analyzed. In so doing, an inquiry was also made into the financial activities that persons of the same family engaged in to be able to meet the expenses of building and development. The inscriptions that were the fundamental resources that form the basis for the study have been presented as a catalog together with their Turkish translations. Additionally, eight tables and a map that have provided insight have been included and presented in the study.