Recent work, published in Anatolian Studies and other journals, has drawn attention to the site of Satala, the modern Sadak (in the province of Gümüşhane, district of Kelkit, map Erzincan 116-p). The importance of Satala is self-evident but the impending loss of Samosata, the base of the legio XVI Flavia Firma, has increased the archaeological value of the remaining two legionary centres, Melitene and Satala. It is to be hoped that further work at Sadak will augment the four texts presented here.

The following inscriptions were recorded in Sadak village in 1981, at the house of Ahmet Yegin, who had brought them from a field across the valley to the north of the village outside the area of the Roman fortress. On the testimony of the owner and the other villagers, all the gravestones came from the same ancient cemetery and were found in situ. No others have since come to light (by 31. xii. 1982).