FDIII2 66 List of participants of the second Domitianic <i>Dodekais</i> at Delphi

List of participants of the second Domitianic Dodekais at Delphi

F.Delphes III 2 66 Date: 87/8 – 95/6 AD (92/3 AD?)

In the archonship of - at Delphi, when the priests of Apollo Pythios were G(aius) M(emmius) Euthydamos and Eukleidas son of Astoxenos, (5)in the month Bathoos, and at Athens when the priest of Pythios and high priest was Ti(berius) Cl(audius) Hipparchos of Marathon, and the priest was -naios [son of - ] (10) . . . For Good Fortune, in the year after the archonship of Rufus at Athens, in the month of Boedromion,^[1] the following, having been sent (15)to Delphi in accordance with the oracle of the god by the Athenians for the bull-headed (bouprōron) Dodekais-sacrifice, (20)sacrificed to the god according to the ancestral customs:^[2] The priest of Hermes Patroos of the Kerykes and herald of Apollo Pythios Philon son of Philon of Marathon, (25)the religious official (hieropoios) Philon son of Polemon of Marathon, the religious official of the Kerykes and Euneidai Polemon son of Philon of Marathon, the seer (mantis) Philemon, (30)the pipe-player Philomousos.^[3]

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References:

F.Delphes III 2 66 (Translated text) (PHI)

Ameling, Herodes Atticus II 24

Kühn, Pythais-Prozession 351b

Translation by: Dustin Hoferichter

Monument type: Block (Wall)

Inscription type: List of names (Dodekais)

Fr. a - Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall) (Delphi Museum 993)
Fr. b - Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall) (Delphi Museum 421)
Fr. c - Findspot: Delphi (Athenian Treasury, south wall) (Delphi Museum 99)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This inscription is the second of two lists of participants in the Dodekais, inscribed on the south wall of the Athenian Treasury at Delphi, during the reign of emperor Domitian (81-96 AD). For the first, see F.Delphes III 2, 65. On the Dodekais in general, see F.Delphes III 2, 59 with notes, and on Attic inscriptions at Delphi, see IG II³ 4, 17 with notes.

The dating formula gives the archons and priests of Apollo Pythios in both Athens and Delphi. The Delphian priests G. Memmius Euthydamos and Eukleidas were in office from 84 to 94 AD. This is the only reference to the Athenian priest, T. Claudius Hipparchos, as high priest of the Imperial cult (on these individuals, see F.Delphes III 2, 65 with notes). Lines 8-10 appear to name a second Athenian priest of Apollo, whose name ends with -naios, which would be a new development (e.g. Kühn, Pythais-Prozession, 351). There was no archon in Athens this year, so the inscription is dated by the archon of the previous year, Q. Trebellius Rufus, a Roman equestrian from Tolosa in Gallia Narbonensis (modern Toulouse), who held the archonship in Athens between 87/8-95/6 AD, possibly in 91/2 AD (see IG II³ 4, 130 with notes). Thus, this Dodekais might be dated to 92/3 AD. The double dating formula is underlined by giving the Delphic and Attic months - Boathoos (here Bathoos) and Boedromion respectively, equivalent to September/October (cf. R. Hannah, Greek and Roman Calendars, 2005, 80). Boedromion was the month of the Eleusinian Mysteries, the biggest religious event of the Athenian calendar in the Imperial period (see AIUK 4.2 (BM, Decrees), no. 17). [2] Although there had been significant changes to the scale of the procession since the Augustan period (such as the fact that now only five participants are mentioned), it is stated that the Dodekais was carried out "according to the ancestral customs" (cf. J. Mikalson, New Aspects of Religion in Ancient Athens, 2016, 111-13). On the term "bull-headed" (bouproros), see F.Delphes III 2, 65. [3] The participants are the same as in F.Delphes III 2, 65 except that the first hieropoios, Polemon son of Philon is replaced by (his son?) Philon son of Polemon and there is a second hieropoios of the Kerykes and Euneidai, Polemon son of Philon (the original hieropoios or a relative?). This reinforces the idea that the Domitianic revival of the Dodekais was an initiative of this family. Both gene had sent theoroi to Delphi for the Pythaides of 106/5 and 98/7 BC (F. Delphes III 2, 10, ll. 1-4, 27-30 and 13, ll. 9-16). The Euneidai were associated with kithara music at festivals (Harp. Lex. sv. Εὐνεῖδαι; see R. Parker, Athenian Religion, 1998, 297-298).

Added: 3 Dec 2023
Updated: 5 Dec 2023
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