AIUK45 no. 26 Statue base of Claudia Demetria

Statue base of Claudia Demetria

AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications) no. 26 Date: ca. 40 – 124/5 AD

[The Council of the] [Areopagos and] the Council of 600 and the People^[1] (erected this statue of) Claudia (5) Demetria of Halimous.^[2]

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Greek text

References:

AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications) no. 26 (Translated text) (AIUK) (AIO)

IG II² 4044 (PHI)

GIBM I 54

Women and the Polis, 202 no. 45.1

Translation by: Peter Liddel, Polly Low

AIO Images: 1

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base (Areopagos, Council, and People)

Findspot: Athens (BM 1816,0610.299)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This inscription was part of the Elgin collection (cf. AIUK 4.1, no. 2). Its exact findspot and original location are unknown, but it is likely that it derives from central Athens, and perhaps from the Acropolis, where honorific statues were commonly set up in this period.

In post-Sullan Athens, decrees of the Athenian polis were commonly enacted in the name of the three bodies named on this inscription: the Areopagos Council, the Council (Boule) (which at this date had 600 members), and the People (Demos); many examples of this formulation are known, appearing on marble stelai, statue bases, and herms. Cf. AIUK 4.5, no. 26 and in general on the Areopagos at this period AIUK 4.3A, no. 10.

[2] Nothing more is known of Claudia Demetria. Her Roman nomen gentile (Claudia) indicates that she was a Roman citizen, while her Greek cognomen (Demetria) suggests that she was of Athenian (or at least, Greek) origin. The nomen gentile Claudia appears in Greece from the time of the emperor Claudius (41-54 AD). It is impossible to tell whether this Claudia was a Roman citizen “by virtue of membership of a prominent family which had gained the civitas through connections with the Roman elite” (Byrne, RCA xi), or as a freedwoman of such a family, or (a more remote possibility) via direct connection with the imperial household.

It seems likely that Claudia was awarded the statue by the Athenians in response to some benefaction that she made to the city. There are other examples of inscribed honours at Athens for females in this era, including IG II² 4042 (awarded by the Council and People); IG II² 4043 (awarded by the Areopagos, the Council and the People).

The date range of the inscription is determined by Claudia's name (which implies a date in or after the reign of the emperor Claudius (41-54 AD)), and by the reference to the Council of 600: this body reverted to a membership of 500 in 124/5 AD.

For fuller discussion of this inscription see AIUK 4.5 (BM, Dedications), no. 26.

Added: 15 Mar 2022
Updated: 10 Sep 2024
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