CsapWil 54-9 Two honorific decrees of the deme Acharnai, 315/4 BC

Two honorific decrees of the deme Acharnai, 315/4 BC

Csapo and Wilson II, 54-9 Date: 315/4 BC

Decree 1^[1] Diogenes son of Naukydes proposed: since Phanomachos the treasurer in the archonship of Praxiboulos (315/4) both sacrificed all the sacrifices to the gods and heroes in the year on behalf of the demesmen (5) and managed the Dionysia well and [with love of honour (philotimōs)] with the demarch Oinophilos and made a libation bowl (phialēn) of silver weighing a mina (= 100 dr.) according to the [law]^[2] and has given a full account of his financial administration (hōn diōikēsen) both to the (10) city and to the demesmen within the times specified in the laws of the city and the demesmen and has deposited (katabeblēken) with the Acharnians the surplus of the money from his financial administration (dioikēseōs), 329 drachmas, and rendered (15) his accounts (euthunas), in which he was deemed to have held office as treasurer justly, and managed everything else that the Acharnians required of him well and with love of honour (philotimōs); the Acharnians shall resolve, to praise Phanomachos son of Nikodemos of Acharnai and (20) crown him with a foliage crown for his love of honour (philotimias) and justice towards the demesmen; and the secretary of the demesmen shall inscribe this decree on a stone stele and stand it in the sanctuary of Athena Hippia; (25) and the treasurer shall give [20] drachmas for inscribing the stele and account for it to the demesmen.

Decree 2 Diogenes son of Naukydes proposed: since the demarch Oinophilos and the treasurer Phanomachos and (30) the manager of the Dionysia have managed well and with love of honour (philotimōs) both the sacrifice to Dionysos and the procession and the competition and are administering (dioikousin) everything else on behalf of the demesmen according to the laws, the Acharnians shall resolve, (35) to praise the demarch Oinophilos son of Oinophilos and the treasurer Phanomachos son of Nikodemos and the manager, Leon son of Dion, and crown each of them with an ivy crown and the demarch shall announce these (40)crowns at the Dionysia in Acharnai in the competition; and the demarch Oinophilos shall inscribe this decree on a stone stele and stand it in the sanctuary of Athena Hippia; and the treasurer Phanomachos shall give 20 drachmas (45)for inscribing the stele and account for it to the demesmen; and they shall have a seat of honour, themselves and their descendants, for all time at the Dionysia at Acharnai in the competition, in the front row (epi tou prōtou bathrou)^[3].

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Greek text

References:

Csapo and Wilson II, 54-9 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 63.101

SEG 60.165

SEG 43.26 (PHI)

SEG 44.57 (PHI)

Humphreys, Kinship, 1013-15

Russo, Ripartizioni, D4

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Deme Acharnai), Decree (Deme Acharnai)

Original location: Acharnai, sanctuary of Athena Hippia

Findspot: In Roman bath behind church of Agios Ioannes, Menidi (= ancient Acharnai) (Piraeus Museum 5333)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual Note AIO follows Csapo and Wilson's text, which itself follows the first edition of Steinhauer, Arch. Eph. 1992, 179-93 (= SEG 43.26), with the improvements of K. Takeuchi, Horos 22-25, 2010-2013 [2014], 85-88 ,no. 1 (= SEG 63.101), the most significant of which are: 14 329 dr., 325 dr. 4 ob. Stein. || 33 τὰ̣ [ἄ]λ̣[λ]α̣ Tak., τῶν ἄλλων Stein. || 37 Δ̣ί̣ωνος Tak. after Humphreys, SEG 44.57; S. V. Tracy, Horos 26-31, 2014-2019, 50, reads Δίωνος without dots; [Θέ?]ωνος Stein. || 42-3 εἰ|στήλην Tak., ἐν | στήληι Stein. Tracy, 42 with 50, notes that this is now the latest inscription attributable to the "Cutter of IG II² 1187" (327/6-315/4 BC).

This stele is inscribed with two decrees, the earlier of which (Decree 2), was passed during the year 315/4 BC after the Acharnian Dionysia (in the winter month, Posideon) and praises the demarch, the treasurer and the manager (epimeletes) in office for their conduct of the festival. On Acharnai and its inscriptions see SEG 21.519, with notes. On the Acharnian Dionysia and the sanctuary of Athena Hippia (located close to the theatre) cf. IG II² 1206, with notes. On the Rural Dionysia in general see IG II³ 4, 498, with notes. Decree 1 honoured the treasurer alone after he had rendered his accounts following the end of his year of office, both for his conduct of the Dionysia and for the rest of his financial administration.

The Assembly ceased inscribing decrees at public expense under the regime of Demetrios of Phaleron (317-307 BC, cf. IG II² 450, with notes), but this and other extant examples from this period (e.g. IG II² 1200, 1201) show that this did not apply to deme decrees, which have, therefore, an enhanced significance as historical sources for this period.

The proposer of both decrees, Diogenes son of Naukydes, was related to (father of?) the Naukydes son of Diogenes who is named on an ephebic catalogue ca. 330 BC, Reinmuth, Ephebic Inscr. 12 II, 52 and right side, 1. The demarch, Oinophilos son of Oinophilos, is not otherwise known. Acharnai was a very large deme, and there is nothing to indicate any connection between Phanomachos son of Nikodemos, the treasurer in our decrees, and the other two attested men of this name in the deme, IG II³ 4, 56, l. 58, and the Ph. possibly father of Satyros on the bronze allotment plate, SEG 34 146 e. The name Nikodemos is not otherwise attested in Acharnai. The epimeletes, Leon son of Dion, is identifiable as brother or son of the Dion son of Dion who was priest of Ares and Athena Areia in RO 88 and possibly as the Leon who was himself priest in SEG 21.519.

These decrees clearly imply that, as was common in Attic demes, the local Dionysia was a, or often the, major focus of the deme's common activities; cf. e.g. for Eleusis, I Eleusis 53, with notes. Decrees honouring demarchs are common (e.g. I Eleusis 101), and treasurers also feature quite commonly in deme decrees; for a decree of 338/7 BC honouring the (plural) treasurers of Halai Aixonides cf. SEG 59.142 (contains at 8-10 strikingly similar provisions to our 12-14 for the "depositing" of surplus revenue of 388 dr., though neither the Dionysia nor any other specific festival is mentioned); but this is the only evidence for an epimeletes in connection with the Rural Dionysia. We do not know whether this was simply an example of variability of administrative arrangements in different demes, or, as Csapo and Wilson suggest, an innovation specific to this oligarchic period, cf. Theophrastos, Characters 26.2 ("Oligarchic Man" recommends appointment of single epimeletes in place of usual board of ten for the Dionysia) and Ar. Pol. 1322b38-1323a3, recommending appointment of "epimeleia for Dionysiac contests". Noting the close involvement of the city in the arrangements implied by these decrees, and the omission of Leon's name at l. 30 (which might, however, be simple oversight), they further speculate that he held a city office (but note that he is a demesman of Acharnai) foreshadowing the replacement of the choregia with the agonothesia (on which see IG II³ 4, 518, with notes; latest firm evidence for choregia in the demes, IG II² 1200). Steinhauer went further, inferring from the absence of reference to choregoi in these decrees that the choregia had already been abolished by this time, at both city and deme level. None of these speculations is compelling; the epimeletes of the Dionysia in Acharnai may have been an oligarchic innovation, but these decrees do not supply enough evidence to assess its precise significance.

On the financing of the Rural Dionysia see also P. Wilson, in B. Le Guen, L'argent dans les concours du monde grec (2010), 37-82 (SEG 60.38; this inscription, 78-82 = SEG 60.165); A. Makres, in M. Fontaine, A. C. Scafuro eds., Oxford Handbook of Greek and Roman Comedy, 2014, 70-94. [2] At city level, the dedication of phialai was an obligation imposed on liturgists in the 330s BC (cf. IG II³ 1, 550, with notes; also on manumitted slaves, Meyer, Metics no. 1, with notes), but this is the only evidence for it being applied to a deme official. Humphreys plausibly suggests that this obligation, together with the associated requirement to present accounts to the city, also attested only here for deme officials, might represent a concerted initiative of Demetrios of Phaleron to tighten up the management of deme finances. [3] Literally on the first "base" or "step" (scil. of the seating in the theatre) or "bench".

Added: 19 Jul 2022
Updated: 17 Nov 2023
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