IGII2 1103 Letter from Hadrian banning on-selling

Letter from Hadrian banning on-selling

IG II² 1103 Date: 120s-130s AD

. . . measure . . . and the two obol tax (diobelian) . . . neither . . . but for the fishermen at Eleusis there shall be or is a tax-exemption (ateleia) on fish [whenever] they sell them in the Agora at Eleusis, so that there may be [plenty, and the] (5)profit from import taxes (eisagōgia) may reach a great amount, and I want the – and the on-sellers (palin kapēleuontas) to stop . . . or for an indictment (endeixin) of them to be submitted to the herald of the Areopagos Council, and for him to bring them before the Areopagites, and for them to evaluate what they (i.e. the indicted men) should suffer or repay. And those who import goods (10)or who initially buy from them shall sell everything, but, when yet another buyer of the same goods on-sells them, that increases the prices (teimas). Inscribe this letter on a stele and stand it in Piraeus in front of the Deigma. Farewell. uninscribed space The manager of the city (epimelēteuontos tēs poleōs) being Tiberius Julius Herodianus of Kollytos.

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References:

IG II² 1103 (Translated text) (PHI)

SEG 65.98

SEG 21.502 (PHI)

Oliver, Constitutions 77

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Letter (emperor)

Original location: Piraeus (Deigma)

fr. a - Findspot: Piraeus (Piraeus Museum 91)
fr. b - Findspot: Tinos (Church of Stavrouvaki) (Tenos Museum 141)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual note: AIO follows the text of IG, except that at l. 4 we read, ὡς μὲν ἦι [εὐθηνία, τὸ δὲ διὰ τὰ], proposed by P. Graindor, Athènes sous Hadrien (1934), 127-129 and followed by all subsequent editors, rather than IG ὡς μένηι [- - - ἵνα τὸ διὰ τὰ ("so that – may remain, [in order that] the profit [from]"). At the end of l. 5, IG and AIO do not restore; Graindor proposed τ[οὺς δὲ καπήλους ("the merchants"), H. W. Pleket followed earlier editions in giving τ[οὺς δὲ ἰχθυοπώλας(?)] ("the fishsellers", Epigraphica 1, 1964, 30–31, n. 16 = SEG 21.502), and J. M. Cortés-Copete has τ[οὺς δὲ κομίζοντας ("the importers," Habis 46, 2015, 239–261). At the end of l. 6, Pleket and earlier editions restored τῆς αἰσχροκερδείας(?) ("the shameful profiteering") and Cortés-Copete proposes πλειστηριασμοῦ ("driving up prices," cf. TAM IV.1 3 = SEG 64.1267, a Hadrianic letter from Nikomedeia).

This is the lower part of an Imperial letter dealing with commercial matters. Prosopography suggests a date in the 120s or 130s AD, so the author is probably Hadrian (see n. 4). Hadrian also dealt with commerce and civic revenues at Athens in IG II² 1100 (the oil law) and in other parts of the Empire in Oliver, Constitutions 79 (rural taxes at Stratonikeia), Constitutions 84 (money-changing at Pergamon), CID IV 152, col. ii, ll. 31-40 (harbour rights at Delphi), and TAM IV.1 3 (price speculation at Nikomedeia). On Hadrian and Athens, see IG II² 5185 with notes.

The loss of the beginning of the text makes the context unclear. The first surviving lines mention measurements (l. 1, cf. SEG 66.125), a two-obol fee (diobeleia, l. 2), which is probably a mooring fee (E. Lytle, Museum Helveticum 64, 2007, 107-10 = SEG 57.115), and a tax-exemption for fishermen selling their catch at Eleusis (ll. 3-4), presumably a concession designed to ensure a sufficient food supply for the sanctuary. It is unclear whether Hadrian is introducing these provisions (so, M. Rizzi, Legislazione di mercato ad Atene, 2016, 87-90 and earlier commentators) or summarising an existing situation (so, Cortés Copete, 250-54). The arrangements balance the conflicting goals of ensuring sufficient supply and maximising civic revenue from import taxes (eisagogia, ll. 4-5). Hadrian bans the on-selling of goods, because this drives up prices (ll. 5-11, see n 2). Eleusis is certainly not the main focus of the letter, since Hadrian orders its erection at Piraeus (ll. 12-13, Lytle, cf. n. 3), and the final provision probably applies to all goods, not just fish (Cortés Copete). [2] Literally "the third buyers," apparently counting the ships that bring the goods to harbour as the first "buyers." The people who purchase from them are allowed to on-sell, because they arranged for the transhipment of the goods from Piraeus to Athens and elsewhere and this allowed ships to unload their whole cargo and depart quickly. On-sellers could profit by buying goods at low prices in times of plenty – such as when a ship came in – and selling them at high prices in times of dearth, accentuating price swings (cf. D. Jones, The Bankers of Puteoli, 2006, 92-102 for evidence of the practice in documents from Puteoli). Hadrian also acts against the practice in TAM IV.1 3. I Délos 509 prohibited on-selling of charcoal in the 3rd century BC. In other cases, authorities sought to prevent the problem by setting maximum prices (cf. IG II³ 4, 214, IG II² 5, 13248). Hadrian gives the task of policing his rule to the Areopagos and its herald, rather than the hoplite general and the Council and People who judge cases in his oil law (IG II² 1100, ll. 46-53). The reason for the difference is not clear. [3] The Deigma was a place in Piraeus where merchants displayed samples of their wares for wholesale, cf. IG II² 1035, l. 47, ToposText sv. Deigma, and D. C. Gkophas, Δείγμα: ιστορική έρευνα επι του ελληνικού δικαίου των συναλλαγών (1970). This appears to be the only case of an emperor requiring that his letter be inscribed. [4] The manager of the city (epimeletes poleos) was a special office held by very prominent Athenians from the second half of the first century AD until the early second century AD, but the duties associated with it are uncertain – perhaps relating to construction or policing (D. Geagan, Athenian Constitution after Sulla, 1967, 117-19). Herodianos is the last attested holder of the post. Along with a relative, he erected IG II² 3316, a statue of Hadrian as their "personal benefactor" in or after 132 AD.

Added: 17 Aug 2024
Updated: 18 Aug 2024
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