AIO 375 Decree of the Marathonian Tetrapolis

Decree of the Marathonian Tetrapolis

AIO 375 Date: ca. 214/3 - 171/0 BC

. . . ^[1] . . . . . . . . . if I adhere to the oath, let all be well for me, but if I break the oath, (5) the opposite; and none of them shall be permitted to divert this money to any other purpose or to [misappropriate it or to spend?] any that is left over, but [all shall remain untouched?; but] if not, the proposer and he who puts the question [and he who puts the matter to the vote] shall owe a hundred drachmas sacred to [... the gods?] who (10) protect the Tetrapolis; [and the - of the] Tetrapolis and those about to enter office as -, shall swear that they will not themselves undo what has been stipulated by any means, nor permit anyone else to undo it in any way, so that, these things remaining valid and carried into effect, others may also show love of honour (philotimōntai) (15) in displaying their [good-will] towards the association (koinon) of the Tetrapolis, knowing that they will obtain thanks worthy of their benefactions; and the . . . of the Tetrapolis shall take care . . . . . . and of the auditor (?) (euthun-) . . . spend what is neeeded and reckon it to the account of or contribute (?) (anapherei?) . . . ; (20) and to inscribe this decree on two stelai and stand one in Marathon . . . of Dionysos, and the other in the [city on the acropolis? (astei en akropolei?)].

Previous - AIO Papers 1 no. 3
Greek text

References:

AIO 375 (Translated text) (AIO)

IG II² 1243 (PHI)

SEG 64.105

Tracy, ALC 71

AIO Papers 1 no. 5 (AIO Paper)

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Images: Ohio - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Tetrapolis)

Original location: Acropolis?

Findspot: Acropolis (EM 7752)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual Note. AIO's text follows that of IG, subject to the adjustments proposed at AIO Papers, 1, pp. 9-11, no. 5 (summarised, not entirely accurately, at SEG 64.105), from which the text here differs only in the removal of τοὺς at the restored end of l. 10 (where plural officials are not certain).

This is one of two extant decrees of the Marathonian Tetrapolis. For the other and links to other inscriptions of the Tetrapolis on AIO see AIO 2618 with notes. It is a frustrating inscription, since although many words are preserved or can more or less confidently be restored, they do not reveal the purpose of the decree, beyond that it clearly entailed expenditure (arising from a donation?) on some project (building? sacrifices?). The date of the decree is determined by its mason, the "Cutter of IG II² 913", whose dated work ranges from 214/3 BC to 171/0 BC (see Tracy, Horos 26-31, 2014-2019, 46-47). The chief official of the Tetrapolis was known as the "archon" (honoured in AIO 2618); he and/or other Tetrapolis officials (e.g. hieropoioi are attested by IG II³ 4, 224) appear to have been referred to in ll. 10-11 and 17. A euthynos, "auditor", if correctly restored at l. 18, is commonly attested in the Attic demes (cf. AIO 2599 at n. 2); and the concept of "putting (a proposal) to the vote" (epipsephisas), if correctly restored at l. 8, though more commonly found in the formulae of Assembly decrees, occurs in a deme decree of Thorikos, SEG 34.107. On the assimilation of the Tetrapolis in some respects to a deme cf. AIO 2618. This decree belongs, however, in a period when Attic demes were not for the most part inscribing decrees (cf. RO 46, with notes). This reminds us that the Tetrapolis had a wider dimension than the average deme (for example organising theoriai to Delphi and Delos, FGrH 328 Philochoros F75, cf. P. Ismard, in C. Taylor and K. Vlassopoulos eds., Communities and Networks in the Ancient Greek World, 2015, 90-92; J. Mikalson, Religion in Hellenistic Athens, 1998, 269-70; for relevant inscriptions from Delphi, including decrees honouring Tetrapolitans in mid-3rd to mid-2nd cent. BC, see FD III 2, 8, with note 4). This profile beyond the borders of Attica helped sustain the vitality of the institution's collective identity through the Hellenistic period. The inscription was found on the acropolis of Athens, which was the location specified for one of the two copies of this decree (l. 22); on the dynamic underlying this location see my remarks, AIO Papers, 1, pp. 9-11. The other copy was erected in the [e.g. theatre or sanctuary] of Dionysos in Marathon (ll. 21-22), cf. AIO 2618, erected in the Dionysion. One might compare the practice of the Athenian communities on Lemnos in erecting decrees in their own territory and on the Athenian acropolis, IG II² 1224.

Added: 17 Mar 2014
Updated: 20 Jan 2024
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ID: AIO_375