IGII31 444 Decree on the repair of a statue of Athena Nike

Decree on the repair of a statue of Athena Nike

IG II³ 1 444 Date: Ca. 336-330 BC

. . . . . . . . . Of the presiding committee (proedrōn) . . . of Kerameis was putting to the vote. (5) . . . of Lakiadai proposed: concerning what those who were appointed by the People say on the repair (episkeuēn) of the statue of Athena Nike^[1] which the Athenians dedicated from the Ambrakiots and the (10) army at Olpai^[2] and those who stood against the Corcyrean People^[3] and from the Anaktorians,^[4] the Council shall decide: [ ... ?] to bring them before the People [in the religious business] at the next Assembly (15) and put the matter on the agenda, and submit the opinion of the Council to the People, that it seems good to the Council, both concerning the sacrifice to the goddess, that the priestess of Athena^[5] should perform the propitiatory sacrifice (arestērion) on behalf of the People, since the exegete (20) requires it . . . the money of . . . . . . of the People shall give to the . . . . . . . . . since the statue-maker, having made [the base?] higher^[6] . . . (25) . . . . . . . . . bring the . . . . . . . . . of the Athenians the . . . (30) to praise the statue-maker, . . . of Boeotia because . . . . . . . . .

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References:

IG II³ 1 444 (Translated text) (PHI) (IG Online)

IG II² 403 (PHI)

Syll.³ 264

Sokolowski, LSCG 35

IALD 65 no. 3, 66-68, 401.

IALD II 108, 117-19, 149-50 no. 21

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Images: Krateros - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Council and People)

Findspot: Acropolis (EM 7200)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Repairing and "raising" (l. 24) a statue of Athena Nike ("Victory"), dedicated from the spoils of successful campaigns in the 420s, was a significant act in the years after the defeat by the Philip of Macedon at Chaironeia in 338, expressing an aspiration to revive the glory days of the early phase of the Peloponnesian War. This statue was probably of bronze, and this was part of a programme of refurbishment of the acropolis (the architecture and monuments of which were also predominantly a product of the late fifth century), which included the restoration by Lykourgos of golden statues of Nike which had been melted down for coin in the later stages of the Peloponnesian War ([Plut.] Lives of the Ten Orators 852B, Paus. 1.29.16). See also IG II³ 1, 445. Cf. Lambert, "Connecting with the Past in Lykourgan Athens", in L. Foxhall et al. eds., Intentional History (2010), 225-38 = IALD II, 115-31; "Some Political Shifts in Lykourgan Athens", in V. Azoulay and P. Ismard eds., Clisthène et Lycurgue d'Athènes (2011), 187-90 = IALD II, 93-111; and "Inscribing the Past in Fourth-Century Athens", in J. Marincola et al. eds., Greek Notions of the Past (2012), 253-75 = IALD II, 132-53. [2] The wording here derives from that of the original dedicatory inscription. On the Athenian victories in these campaigns in 426/5, in alliance with Amphilochians and Akarnanians, under the generalship of Demosthenes, see Thuc. 3.106-12. [3] An Athenian victory in 425 on Mt. Istone under the generals Sophokles and Eurymedon, Thuc. 3.85.3-4; 4.2-3, 46. [4] On this campaign, also assisted by the Akarnanians, see Thuc. 4.49. On the Akarnanian connection cf. IG II³ 1, 316 n. 4. [5] The priestess of Athena Nike, perhaps the earliest "democratic" Athenian priesthood (appointed from all Athenian women rather than from a genos), was founded at the height of the Athenian Empire. See IG I³ 35; Lambert, Historia 59 (2010), 153-56; note on IG II³ 1, 447 n. 3. [6] Apart from the symbolic significance, this will have made the statue more visible in the vast mass of dedications and inscriptions that were crowded onto the acropolis by this time. Cf. IG II³ 1, 411 n.1.

Added: 10 Dec 2012
Updated: 2 Nov 2022
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ID: AIO_157