IGII2 6217 Epitaph of Dexileos, cavalryman killed in Corinthian war (394 BC)

Epitaph of Dexileos, cavalryman killed in Corinthian war (394 BC)

IG II² 6217 Date: 394 BC

Relief Dexileos^[1] son of Lysanias of Thorikos. He was born in the archonship of Teisandros (414/3); he died in that of Euboulides (394/3), at Corinth, one of the five cavalrymen.

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References:

IG II² 6217 (Translated text) (PHI)

Conze II no. 1158

Clairmont, CAT 2.209

RO 7b

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Feyo Schuddeboom, Robin Osborne

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1, 2, 3)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Funerary

Findspot: Kerameikos (Kerameikos Museum P 1130)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] The text is inscribed on a gabled stele below a relief depicting a mounted warrior striking a fallen enemy. Dexileos is also listed on the monument commemorating the cavalry who fell in 394 in the battles of the Corinthian War, IG II² 5222 (q.v. for the historical circumstances). It is common in the modern world for gravestones to give dates of birth and death, but this is very unusual in Athenian commemorative practice. Here the dates serve to emphasise not only the poignancy of the deceased's youth, but also perhaps that he would have been too young to have been implicated in the regime of the Thirty, installed at Athens with Spartan support in 404/3 (see note on IG II² 5222). It is also unclear if Dexileos died in the battle of the river Nemea itself (which might or might not have taken place at the end of 395/4) or in a subsequent engagement (the significance of the "five cavalrymen" is unclear). The highly personalised character of this monument contrasts starkly with the anonymous style of public commemoration on IG II² 5222. This is one of several monuments to members of Dexileos' family found in the same enclosure. Dexileos is not otherwise known, but his brother Lysistratos is mentioned as lending money at Dem. 40.52. For a discussion of the relief on this monument in the context of comparable (undated) reliefs depicting military scenes (including cavalry) of about the same period see R. Osborne, in D. Pritchard, War, Democracy and Culture in Classical Athens, 245-65.

Added: 10 Jan 2017
Updated: 8 Apr 2022
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