OliverConstitutions 85 Letter from Hadrian on gifts for the boys (132 AD)

Letter from Hadrian on gifts for the boys (132 AD)

Oliver, Constitutions 85 Date: 132 AD

in shield Olympios^[1] Emperor Caesar, son of the God Trajan Parthicus, grandson of the God Nerva, Trajan (5)Hadrian Augustus, pontifex maximus tribunician power 16 times, consul 3 times, father of the fatherland (132 AD), to the Areopagos Council and the Council of the 500 and the People of the Athenians, greetings. (10)Know that I take every excuse to do good, both publicly for the city and privately for any Athenians; to your boys, I give . . . for the ornamentation (kosmō),^[2] which . . . talents . . . . . . Farewell.

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References:

Oliver, Constitutions 85 (Translated text) (AIO)

IG II² 1102 (PHI)

SEG 3.111 (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Letter (emperor)

Findspot: Athens, south of the Temple of Zeus Olympios (EM 372)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual note: In l. 12, IG followed the original editor, T. Sauciuc-Săveanu, in restoring τὸ ν̣[έον γυμνάσ]ι̣ον “the [new gymnas]ion (Ath. Mitt. 37, 1912, 183-189), but many other restorations are possible. Similarly, in l. 13, there are many alternatives to Graindor’s restoration ὃν̣ [κατεσκεύασα τῷ γυμνασίῳ τ]άλαντα ἐπι[δίδω]|μι “which [I prepared for the gymnasion, I also give talents…” (BCH 38, 1914, 392–396, n. 16 = SEG 3.111).

This is the beginning of a letter from the Emperor Hadrian (r. 117-138 AD), granting the Athenians money to support their boys in some way. Hadrian's titulature dates the letter to 132 AD, the year of his third and final visit to Athens, during which he inaugurated the Temple of Zeus Olympios. The "Olympios" inscribed on a sculpted shield in the pediment (l. 1) recalls this event and refers to Hadrian, who often bore the epithet "Olympios" from 129. On the dedication of the temple, see IG II² 3289 with notes and on Hadrian and Athens, see IG II² 5185 with notes. The exact nature of Hadrian's gift is unclear, although the "talents" in l. 13 indicate that it had a monetary component. Sauciuc-Săveanu suggested that the gift funded the "gymnasium named after Hadrian" mentioned in Pausanias 1.18.9 (see textual note). It may also or alternatively be connected with the establishment of the gymnasiarchy of the God Hadrian, which covered the costs of supplying oil to Athens' gymnasia in perpetuity – previously, this had been an expensive liturgy (cf. IG II² 2888, 3620; I Eleusis 621; Agora XV 460, ll. 12-14, IG IV² 691, Geagan Athenian Constitution, 1967, 130-131; AIO Papers 12, p. 19). On inscribed Imperial letters, see I Eleusis 513 with notes. [2] "Ornamentation" (kosmos) had educational connotations, cf. Henderson, Springtime of the People (2020), 62-67.

Added: 17 Aug 2024
Updated: 27 Jun 2025
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ID: AIO_2886