IGII2 3554 Honours for Tertia, arrhephoros

Honours for Tertia, arrhephoros

IG II² 3554 Date: 1st century BC or 1st century AD

The Council and the People (dedicated this statue of) Tertia daughter of Lucius . . . having been arrhephoros to Athena Polias (5) in the priesthood of Stratokleia.^[1] in crown The Council [and the People] (honoured her) having been arrhephoros. in crown (10) The Council and the People (honoured her) having been initiated from the hearth (aph' hestias).^[2] in crown The Council (15) and the People (honoured her) having been basket-bearer (kanephorēsasan) at the Eleusinia^[3] in crown (and) having been basket-bearer at the Epidauria.^[4]

Previous - IG II² 3539 Next - IG II² 3563

References:

IG II² 3554 (Translated text) (PHI)

SEG 59.217 (date)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base

Findspot: Acropolis (Acropolis Museum 13188)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This statue base honours one Tertia for holding a range of religious roles for young women. Her name and that of her father suggest that the family was of Roman extraction. The series of crowns recalls the much earlier boast of a women in Aristophanes, Lysistrata 646, of having served in a succession of religious roles, but also reflects the increased focus on religious officeholding as a source of prestige in the late Hellenistic and Imperial periods (cf. S. D. Lambert in M. Horster and A. Kloeckner, Civic Priests, 2012, 89-92). On the arrhephoros, see IG II³ 3488 with notes. Stratokleia was priestess of Athena and probably to be identified with the priestess in IG II² 3497 (see J. Blok and S. Lambert, ZPE 169, 2009, 107 = SEG 59.217), suggesting a first century BC date. The first three crowns appear in a row under the inscription. The fourth appears in a second row at the centre. [2] On the hearth initiate, see I Eleusis 621 with notes. [3] A basket-bearer (kanephoros) carried a basket containing sacrificial implements in religious processions (see IG II³ 4, 770). This is the only attestation of the office in connection with the Eleusinia festival, on which see with notes. [4] The Epidauria was a festival of Asklepios held during the Eleusinian Mysteries. The basket-bearer for this festival was distinct from that of the Eleusinia (see IG II³ 4, 810 with notes).

Added: 15 May 2025
Updated: 15 May 2025
Feedback

ID: AIO_3336