AIUK45 no. 5 Dedication commemorating victory in a torch-race

Dedication commemorating victory in a torch-race

AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications) no. 5 Date: Late 4th c. BC

. . . son of - of Rhamnous [having been gymnasiarch? dedicated (this)] to Demeter [and Kore?]. Relief^[1]

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Greek text

References:

AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications) no. 5 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG II³ 4 349 (IG Online)

SEG 28.236 (PHI)

SEG 49.233

I Rhamnous 106 (PHI)

Translation by: Peter Liddel, Polly Low, Sjoukje M. Kamphorst

AIO Images: 1 2 3

Monument type: Plaque

Inscription type: Dedication (ephebes?), Dedication (Demeter and Kore)

Moulding - Findspot: Rhamnous (Rhamnous Nemesion 530)
Relief plaque - Findspot: Rhamnous (BM 1953,0530.1)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Some of the fragments of this monument are in the British Museum, while others are still at Rhamnous. The BM fragments were collected by John Peter Gandy Deering at Rhamnous in late 1813. His MS Journal (now held at the BM) noted that they were discovered “in the cella of the larger temple” at Rhamnous, now identified as the Temple of Nemesis. They appear to have been largely forgotten until they were purchased by the British Museum in 1952 from Mr Eric Gandy, the great-grand-nephew of their collector.

Following the acquisition of the fragments by the BM, B. Ashmole associated them with those still at Rhamnous. Petrakos' publication went further in reconstructing the relief and published the hard-to-read inscription, located on the architrave, for the first time (see now I Rhamnous 106). The text proposed by Petrakos implies that this dedication was set up by a gymnasiarch in honour of Demeter and Kore, to celebrate victory in an athletic competition. Curbera in IG II³ follows Petrakos in restoring this as a dedication to Deme[ter and Kore], following a victory in the festival of Nemesis at Rhamnous. The relief is dated to the late fourth century BC on the basis of the poses, proportions and movement of the figures.

The sculpted part of the relief starts, as we move from left to right, with a depiction of two deities: Petrakos’ view is that they represent Demeter and Kore; this is not unproblematic given the paucity of evidence for Demeter and Kore at Rhamnous, but it is supported by Petrakos’ reading and restoration of the inscription. O. Palagia and D. M. Lewis, ABSA 84, 1989, 340-43, identify them as Themis and Nemesis, who shared the cult at the sanctuary of Nemesis at Rhamnous (cf. IG II³ 4, 513). According to this view, the dedication may have commemorated the sponsorship of a torch-racing team at the Nemesia.

The wings of the next figure identify her (uncontroversially) as Nike. Next come two men in himatia carrying torches, one of whom is being crowned by Nike. There are then a number of youths (the exact figure is uncertain, but Palagia and Lewis [ABSA 84 (1989), 340] suggest that there were no fewer than six), the leader of whom wears a spiked crown. The most plausible interpretation of this scene is that it represents a group of victorious ephebes, being led by their supervisors (?) towards some deities or heroes, in celebration of their achievement. The fact that the cloaked men are carrying torches, together with the spiked crown worn by the leader of the youths indicate that the victory was in a torch race.

The findspot of the relief supports the view that the victory was won at the garrison-deme of Rhamnous itself. This would also be consistent with the interpretation of it as commemorating an ephebic victory: Rhamnous was an important centre for ephebic activity, being probably one of the garrisons visited by ephebes (Ath. Pol. 42.4). On ephebic dedications of this period, see IG II³ 4, 329 with notes. For ephebes serving as gymnasiarchs, see IG II³ 4, 331, IG II³ 4, 336, the latter also from Rhamnous.

For fuller discussion of this inscription see AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications), no. 5.

Added: 2 Jan 2019
Updated: 19 Feb 2022
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ID: AIO_1684