AIO 1410 Funerary dedications from the Persian Wars

Funerary dedications from the Persian Wars

AIO 1410 Date: 480-470 BC

Stone A^[1] I [The glory] of these men’s excellence [shines] always . . . ^[2] For, both on foot [and] . . . ,^[3] they held . . . , so that all Greece might not [see a day] of slavery.

II Then, theirs was a [heart stronger than] adamant, when they set their spear before the gates [against the] . . . by the sea, to burn . . . the town, when by force the Persians were turned back . . . ^[4]

Stone B . . . both on foot and . . . . . . on the island . . . having thrown . . . ^[5]

Stone C For a wall in front of^[6] . . . of Pallas . . . but they occupy the most fertile cape of the calf-nourishing mainland, to whom all-flourishing happiness comes.

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Greek text

References:

AIO 1410 (Translated text) (AIO)

IG I³ 503/504 (IG Online) (PHI)

SEG 66.50

SEG 51.44 (ll. 1-2)

ML 26

CEG 1, no. 3

CEG 1, no. 2

Fornara, Translated documents 51

Immerwahr, Script, 94 no. 614

Petrovic, Versinschriften Ep. 4

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Agora Excavations - (1, 2)
Aleshire - (1)
Ohio - (1, 2)

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (Athenians)

Original location: Agora or Demosion Sema?

A(a) - Findspot: Odos Hadrianou (EM 6739)
A(b) - Findspot: Agora (Ag. I 303)
B - Findspot: Library of Hadrian (Ag. I 6963)
C - Findspot: In a wall next to the road from the Dipylon Gate to the Academy (Athens Ephoria M 3258)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Stone A is part of a monument commemorating victories in the Persian Wars, datable to the early fifth century from its letter forms. Stone B is probably part of the same monument, Stone C almost certainly is, and the text continued on a 'Stone D', which has not been discovered. The cuttings on top of Stone C imply a tall stele was mounted on top, suggesting that the monument was a casualty list (compare IG I³ 1147, and the depiction on Amsterdam 2455). Stone C was found built into an ancient wall on the road from the Dipylon Gate to the Academy, which may indicate that the monument was located in the Demosion Sema. Given its fragmentary state, the exact nature of the monument and the battle or battles commemorated by it are uncertain. A. Gomme suggested that the whole monument was an epitaph for the fallen in the Battle of Salamis (Historical Commentary on Thucydides, 1956, vol. 2, 98-102). A. Matthaiou identifies the monument with the "cenotaph near town" (to pros toi astei polyandreion) mentioned in Ag. I 7529, an unpublished second-century inscription from the Agora, which he sees as a counterpart to the tomb at Marathon itself (A. Matthaiou, in P. Derow and R. Parker eds., Herodotus and his World, 2003, 195-99). The most recent interpretation sees it as a memorial for the Persian Wars as a whole, with A.II referring to Marathon, B to Salamis, and C to Mykale or to Salamis, emphasising thematic links between the battles (Petrovic, Versinschriften, 158-77; E. Bowie in K. Buraselis, K. Meidani eds., Marathon, 2010, 204-12; S. Hornblower, C. Pelling, Herodotus: Histories Book VI, 2017, 2-4). The inscription is one of a number of monuments set up in the immediate aftermath of the Persian Wars through which various groups attempted to stake a claim to the victory and define the meaning of that victory in different ways, including the casualty list of the tribe Erechtheis from Marathon (SEG 56.430), the epitaph of the Corinthians on Salamis (ML 24), and the Marathon Base (IG I³ 1463), the Stoa of the Athenians (IG I³ 1464), and the Serpent Column at Delphi (ML 27). The epigrams on Stone A have been included in modern collections of Simonides' epigrams (Page FGE 20 = Diehl 88ab), on tenuous grounds. [2] Textual Note Stone A.I was previously restored using SEG 51.308, which was found in the Agora, east of the temple of Ares and was believed to be a fourth-century BC copy of this epigram. S. Tracy and A. Matthaiou, Horos 14-16, 2000-03, 141-52 (SEG 51.44) and Matthaiou 2003, 197 n. 24 make a strong case that SEG 51.308 is not actually related to this text. This is accepted by Petrovic 2007; we follow his text, which avoids speculative reconstructions, except that we retain the pre-Eukleidian orthography, where he updates the spelling. The text of Stones B and C is unchanged from IG I³. [3] SEG 51.308 required this to be restored as "and in fast-moving ships" ("[καὶ ὀκυπόρον ἐπὶ νεο]ν"), which remains plausible (cf. Anth. Pal. 7.258; F. Hiller Hermes 69, 1934, 204-6; Bowie 2010, 204-12). If this restoration is accepted, then A.I is most easily interpreted as either a reference to the Persian Wars as a whole (Petrovic, Versinschriften, 158-77) or to the Battle of Salamis, with the concurrent infantry action on the island of Psyttaleia (Aeschyl. Persians, 447-71; Hdt. 8.95; Gomme 1956, vol. 2, 98-99; Proietti BICS 58, 2015, 49-50). The other plausible restoration is "and on fleet-footed foals" ("[καὶ ὀκυπόδον ἐπὶ πόλο]ν", W. Peek in G. Mylonas and D. Raymond, Studies Robinson, 1951-53, vol. 2, 305-12), but there is no attested occasion on which the Athenians fought on horseback against the Persians. [4] A.II was not part of the initial plan for the stone, since extra space had to be smoothed on the stone to admit it. The reason for this addition is unclear. The hand is similar to, but distinct from A.I and is not in stoichedon (D. Lewis and L. Jeffery in IG I³ judged that it could be up to a decade later). Most commentators associate A.II with the Battle of Marathon, though Gomme 1956 links it with the Battle of Salamis. The Greek text is unclear on the identity of the "gates" and whether it is them or the city that is "by the sea". Most older restorations assume that they are the gates of a city by the sea (e.g. Peek, Hermes 88, 1960, 494-98; Meritt, AJP 83, 1962), but no battle of the Persian Wars was fought before the gates of Athens, unless the sense is metaphorical, and Athens is not really "by the sea". Matthaiou instead reads the "gates by the sea", understanding them as the seaside pass between Agrieliki and Brexiza, through which the Athenians marched to Marathon (Matthaiou 2003, 200; for the pass see IG I³ 1015bis, with Koumanoudes, Archaiologika Analekta ex Athēnōn 11, 1978, 238). [5] "The island" appears to be a reference to Salamis or Psyttaleia and thus to the Battle of Salamis. "Having thrown" is actually inscribed on Stone C, at bottom left, overflowing from the previous stone. [6] The "wall" (herkos) probably refers to a line of soldiers, but some proposals have been made to identify it with an actual structure, in order to support arguments about the battle commemorated by Stone C. Thus, Matthaiou 2003, 200-2, who argues that Stone C commemorates the battle of Marathon, interprets the wall as the sacred enclosure of the Herakleion, where the Athenians encamped before the battle (Hdt. 6.108.1), while Barron linked it with the battle of Salamis and the "wooden wall" (teichos xylinon) of Hdt. 7.141-3, in E. Craik ed., Owls to ... Dover (1990), 133-41.

Added: 13 Mar 2018
Updated: 5 Jun 2023
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ID: AIO_1410