SEG 66.125 Decree about weights and measures

Decree about weights and measures

SEG 66.125 Date: ca. 120 BC

(0)[- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - τὸ ἐν τῆι Σκιά]- (1)δι ἢ τὸ ἐμ Π̣ειραιε̣ῖ ἢ τ̣ὸ [ἐν Έλ]ε̣[υσῖνι - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - -] [ἀ]π̣αχθῆι ὁ κεκτημένος τὸ μέτρον, Ε[- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - τοῦ] ἀ̣μφισβητήσαντος περὶ τοῦ μέτρου [- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - εἰσαγέτωσαν οἱ] ἄρχοντες ἐπὶ τὴν δημοσίαν τράπεζαν ΤΟΤΗΙΩ[- - - - - - - - - - - - τὸν τῶν] (5)[ἀπ]οκηρυξίμων λόγον· ἐὰν δὲ οἰκέτης, μαστιγούσθω πε[ντήκοντα πληγάς, τὸ δὲ μέτρον] ἀφανιζέτωσαν· ἐὰν δ' οἱ ἄρχ̣οντες μὴ̣ συνεπισχύωσι τοῖς̣ ἰδιώταις [- - - ἐπιμελείσθω] ἡ βουλὴ οἱ ἑξακόσιοι. ^vv αἱ δὲ ἀρχα̣ὶ αἷς οἱ νόμοι προστάτ̣τουσιν πρὸς τὰ κατεσκευασ̣[μένα] σύμβολα σηκώματα ποι⟨η⟩σάμεναι πρός τε τὰ ὑγρὰ καὶ τὰ ξη̣ρὰ καὶ τὰ σταθμὰ ἀ̣ν[αγ]κ̣αζέτω[σαν] [τοὺ]ς̣ πωλοῦν[τ]άς τι ἐν τῆι ἀγορᾶι ἢ̣ ἐν τοῖς ἐργαστηρίοις ἢ τοῖς καπ̣ηλείοις ἢ οἰνῶσιν ἢ ἀ̣πο[θήκαις] (10)[. . χ]ρῆσθαι τοῖς μέτροις καὶ τοῖς σταθμοῖς τούτοις μετροῦντας πά̣ντα τ̣ὰ ὑγρὰ̣ τῶ̣ι αὐτῶ[ι] [μέτ]ρωι, καὶ μη̣[κ]έτι ἐξέστω μη̣δεμιᾶι ἀρχῆι ποι̣ήσασθαι μήτε μέτρα μήτε στάθμια [μηδὲ] [μείζω] μ̣ηδὲ ἐ̣λάττω τούτων· ἐὰ̣ν δέ τις ποιήσηι τῶν ἀρχόντων ἢ μὴ ἐπαναγκάζη[ι αὐτοὺς] [τού]τοις πω̣λεῖν, ὀ[φ]ειλέτω ἱερὰς̣ τῆι Δήμητρι ⟨κ⟩αὶ τῆι Κόρηι δραχμὰς χιλ̣ίας καὶ ἔστ̣[ω περὶ] [τού]του ἀπογραφὴ τῆς οὐσίας πρὸς τοῦτο τὸ ἀργύριον Ἀθηναίων τῶι βουλομένωι οἷ[ς ἔξ] (15)[ε]σ̣τι[ν ἐπα]νισοῦν [τ]ε κ̣αὶ ἐξετάζειν τὰ μέτρα καὶ τὰ σταθμὰ καὶ τὸν λοιπὸν χρό[νον] [. . κ]αὶ ἐπιμελεῖσθαι τὴν βουλὴν τοὺς ἑξακοσίους τὴν ἀεὶ βουλεύουσαν ἐν τῶι Ἑκα- [τομ]β̣αιῶνι μηνί, ὅπως μηθεὶς τῶν πω̣λούντων τι ἢ ὠνουμένων ἀσυμβλήτωι μέ̣τρω[ι] [μη]δ̣ὲ σταθμῶι χρῆτα̣ι, ἀλλὰ δ̣ικαίοις. τοὺς δὲ πωλοῦντας περσικὰς ξηρὰς καὶ ἀμυ[γ]- [δ]άλας καὶ ἡρακλεωτικὰ κάρυα καὶ κ̣ώνους καὶ καστάναια κ̣αὶ κυάμους Αἰγύπτου (20)[κ]αὶ φοινικοβαλάνους καὶ εἴ τινα ἄλλα τραγήματα μετὰ τούτων πωλεῖται, καὶ θέρμους [κα]ὶ ἐ̣λά̣ας καὶ πυρῆνας πωλεῖν μέτρωι χωροῦντι̣ ἀποψ̣ηστὰ σιτηρὰ ἡμ̣ιχ[ο]ινίκια τρἰα, πωλοῦ[ν]- [τ]ας τῆι χοίνικι ταύτηι κορυστῆι ἐχούσηι τὸ μὲν [βά]θος̣ δακτύλων πέντε, τὸ δὲ πλάτος τοῦ̣ χ[εί]- [λ]ους̣ δακτύλου· ὁμοίω̣ς δὲ καὶ τοὺς πωλοῦντας τάς τε ἀμυγδάλας τὰς χλωρὰς κ̣αὶ̣ τὰς ἐλ̣[άας] [τας προσ]φάτους καὶ τὰς ἰ̣σχάδας πωλεῖν χοίνικι κ[ορ]υστῆι δι̣πλασίονι τ̣ῆς προγεγρ[αμμένης] (25)[ἐχούσηι τὸ] χεῖλος τ̣ριῶν ἡμιδακτυλίων, καὶ χρῆσθαι αὐτοὺς χοίνιξι ξυλίναις· ἐὰν [δέ τις ἐν] [μείζονι πω]λῆι ἢ ἑτ̣έρωι ἀγγείωι ἀμυγδάλας χλωρὰς ἢ̣ ἐλά̣ας προσφάτους ἢ ἰσχάδ̣[ας, μὴ πω]- [λείτω ἔλαττ]ον ἢ μέδιμνον σιτηρόν· ἐὰν δ' ἐν ἐλάττονι π[ωλῆι] ἀγγείωι, ἡ ἀρχὴ ὑφ' ἣν ἂν τ[εταγ]- [μένος ἧι τά] τε ἐνόντα παραχρῆμα ἀποκηρυτ̣τέτω καὶ τὴν [τι]μὴν εἰσαγέτω ἐπὶ τὴν [δημο]- [σίαν τράπε]ζαν καὶ τὸ ἀγγεῖον κατακοπτέ[τ]ω· ἀγέτω δὲ καὶ ἡ μνᾶ ἡ ἐμ̣πορικ̣ὴ στε[φανηφό]- (30)[ρου δραχ]μὰς ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα καὶ̣ ὀκτὼ πρὸς̣ τὰ στάθμια τὰ ἐν τῶι ἀργυροκοπίωι̣ [κ]αὶ [ῥοπ]ὴ̣ν ἐ[χέτω στε]φανηφόρου δραχμὰς δεκαδύο, καὶ πωλε[ίτ]ωσαν πάντες τἆλλα π̣άντα ταύ- [τηι] τῆι μνᾶι πλ̣ὴν̣ ὅσα πρὸς ἀργύριον διαρρήδην εἴρηται πωλεῖν, ἱστάντες τὸν πῆχυν τοῦ ζυγ̣[οῦ] [ἰσόρ]ροπον ἄγοντα τὰς ἑ{ι}κατὸν πεντήκοντα δραχ[μὰ]ς τοῦ σ[τεφανηφ]όρου· τὸ δὲ πεντάμνουν [τὸ] [ἐμπ]ορικὸν ἐχέτω̣ [ῥο]π̣ὴν ἐμπορικὴν μνᾶν̣, ὅπ̣ως ἰσορρόπου τοῦ πήχ̣εως γινομένου ἄγηι ἐμπορ[ι]- (35)[κὰς μ]νᾶς ἕξ· τὸ δὲ τάλαντον τὸ ἐμπορικὸν [ἐχέτ]ω ῥοπ[ὴν μ]ν[ᾶς] ἐμπο̣ρικὰς πέντε, ὅπως καὶ τοῦ[το] [ἰσ]ορρόπου τοῦ πήχ̣εως γινομένου ἄγη[ι] ἐμ̣πο[ρικ]ὸν τά[λαντον καὶ μ]νᾶς ἐμπορικὰς πέντε· [ἔστω δὲ] [σύ]νφ[ω]να πάντα τοῖς ἐν τῶι ἐμπορίωι ζ[υ]γ̣ο[ῖς κ]αὶ στ̣[α]θ[μ]ο[ῖς. ὅπως] δὲ διαμένη⟨ι⟩ εἰς τὸ[ν λοιπὸν] χρόνον τά τε μέτρα κ̣αὶ τὰ σταθμά, παραδο[ῦναι τὰ σύμβολα τὸν κ]αθεσταμένον ἐπὶ [τὴν κατασκε]- υ̣ὴν τῶν μέτρων καὶ τῶν σταθμῶν Διόδωρο[ν] Θ̣εο[φί]λο[υ Ἁ]λ[αιέα τ]ῶι τε ἐν τῆι Σκιάδι καθ̣[ισταμέ]- (40)νωι δημοσίωι καὶ τῶι ἐμ Πειραιεῖ̣ μετὰ τοῦ [ἐπιμελητ]οῦ κ̣[αὶ τῶι ἐν] Ἐλευσῖν⟨ι⟩· οὗτοι δὲ [αὐτὰ] συντ̣ηρείτωσαν διδόντες σηκώματα τῶν τε̣ [μέτ]ρων κ̣[αὶ τῶν στα]θμ̣ῶν ταῖς τε ἀρχαῖ[ς καὶ] το[ῖς ἄλ]- [λ]οις πᾶσ[ι τ]οῖς δεομ̣[έ]νοις, μὴ ἐξουσίαν̣ ἔχοντες μήτε̣ [τὰ σύμβολα μετα]ποι̣εῖ̣ν μήτε ἔξω̣ ἐ[κ]φέρε̣[ιν] [τῶ]ν [κα]τεσκευασμένων οἴκων πλὴν τῶν μολυβδ̣ῶν κε̣[χαραγμένων ση]κωμ̣[ά]των γε[γον]ότων[- - -] [. . .] ἐὰν δέ τ̣ιν̣ας̣ ἀργύριον πράττωντα[ι - - -]ΗΣΑ[.]Ι[.]ΩΟΩ[. . .]ΩΝ[. . .]ΟΜΑΩ[. . . .]ΤΗΙ (45)[. .]ΙΝΕΞΕ[. . . ⁵ . .]ΟΙ τοῖς χρείαν ἔχουσιν ΛΑΛ[- - - τ]ὸν μὲν ἐν τῆ̣⟨ι⟩ σ[κιάδι - - -]ΑΝ[. . κο] [λα]ζόντω[ν] ο[ἵ τε ἀεὶ] πρυτάνεις καὶ ὁ στρατη̣[γ]ὸς ὁ χ̣[ειροτονηθεὶ]ς̣ ἐπὶ [τὰ] ὅπλα μαστιγοῦντες καὶ κολ[άζον]- [τ]ες κ̣ατὰ τὴν̣ ἀξίαν τοῦ ἀδική[μα]τος, τὸν δ̣' ἐμ̣ Πε[ιραιεῖ] ὁ καθιστάμενος ἐπιμελη̣[τὴς τοῦ λιμέ]- [νο]ς, τὸν δ' ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι ὅ τε̣ ἱεροφάντη̣ς [καὶ οἱ - - - κα]θ[ισ]τάμενο̣⟨ι⟩ ἄ[ν]δρ̣ες καθ' ἕκαστον [ἐνιαυτὸν] ἐπὶ τὴν πανήγυριν· μεταπαραδιδότ̣ω[σ]αν δ̣[ὲ] ο[ἱ δη]μόσ[ιο]ι ἀεὶ τοῖς [με]θ̣' [ἑ]α[υ]τοὺς̣ καθ[ισταμέ]- (50)νοις δημοσίοις με̣τ' ἀναγραφῆς πά̣ντα [τὰ σύμβολα]· ἐὰν δέ τι μὴ πα[ραδῶσι]ν, ε[ἰσπραττέ]- [σ]θωσαν ὑπὸ τῶν τεταγμένω[ν] ἐ̣π' αὐτοὺς κατὰ τὸ ψ̣ήφισμα, καὶ ἐ̣[ὰν δὲ σύμβολα ἀπόληται, κατασκευα]- [ζέσ]θω ἀντὶ τῶν ἀπολομένων [ἕ]τ[ερ]α [σύμβολα· καταβα]λλέσθωσαν δὲ καὶ χειρόγραφον̣ [εἰ]ς τὸ [Μη]- [τρῶ]ιον̣ ὧν ἂν παραλάβωσι καὶ̣ πα[ρ]α[δῶσιν· ἐὰν δὲ τοῦτο μὴ κ]αταβάλωνται, μὴ ἐξέ[στ]ω αὐ[τ]ο[ῖς ἔχειν] [ἑτ]έραν λειτουργίαν· θ̣έτω δ̣[ὲ - - - εἰς Ἀ]κ̣ρόπολιν σηκώματα τοῦ τε̣ ἐμπορι⟨κ⟩οῦ [ταλάν]- (55)[το]υ καὶ δεκάμνου καὶ δίμν̣ου [καὶ μνᾶς καὶ] ἡμιμναίου καὶ ταρτη̣μόρου καὶ χοὸς [καὶ χοίνικος]· [ἐ]ὰν δέ τις ἁλίσκηται κακουργῶν ⟨π⟩ερ̣ὶ τὰ μέτρα καὶ τὰ σταθ̣μὰ τὰ κε⟨ί⟩με[να ἔν τε τῆι Σκι]- [άδ]ι καὶ ἐν Ἐλευσῖνι καὶ ἐμ Π[ειραιε]ῖ καὶ ἐν Ἀκροπόλει, ἐάν τε ἄρχων ἐάν τε [ἰδιώτης] [ἐ]άν τε δη̣μόσιος, ἔ̣νο[χ]ος ἔ̣στω̣ τῶι ν[όμ]ωι τῶι κε[ιμ]ένωι περὶ τῆς τῶ̣ν κακούργων [ζημίας]· ἐπιμελείσθω δὲ καὶ [ἡ] βου̣[λὴ ἡ] ἐξ Ἀρείου πάγου καὶ τὸν κακουργοῦντά τι πε[ρὶ ταῦτα κο]- (60)λαζέτω κατὰ τοὺς περ̣[ὶ] τῶ[ν] κακούργων κειμένους νόμους. ἀνα̣γράψαι δὲ τό̣[δε] τὸ [ψή]- [φισμ]α [εἰ]ς στήλας λιθ̣[ίν]α[ς τὸν κα]θ̣[ε]σταμένον ἄνδρα ἐπὶ τὴν κατασκευὴν τῶν [μέτρων] [καὶ τῶν στ]αθμῶν καὶ στῆσαι ἐν τοῖς οἴκοις ἐν οἷς καὶ τὰ μέτρα καὶ τὰ σταθμὰ κεῖται. vac. ἐκ τοῦ αὐ̣τοῦ· vac. [τοὺ]ς δὲ ἄρχοντας χρῆσθ[αι] τῶι αὐτῶι μέτρωι κεχ⟨α⟩ραγμ̣ένωι τῶι χαρακτῆρι̣ μολυ[β]- (65)[δ]ῶι πρὸς τὸν ἐν τῆι Σκιά[δι, μ]ὴ πλ̣εῖον πραττομένους τριωβόλου· χρῆσθαι δὲ κ̣α[ὶ] [τ]ὰ̣ς ἀρχ̣ὰς τοῖς προε̣σφραγισμένοις̣ μέτρο⟨ι⟩ς, ἐὰν μή τις τῶν̣ πωλούντω[ν τι] σφραγιστῶι μέτρωι χρῆται.

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Translated text

References:

SEG 66.125 (Translated text) (AIO)

IG II² 1013 (PHI)

SEG 68.60

SEG 24.147

SEG 67.68

Tracy, ALC 251b

Melville Jones, Testimonia Numaria no. 111

Agora XVI 322

I Eleusis 237 (PHI)

Austin no. 129

Roman Attica Project, Normative Texts no. 2 (RAP)

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Chris de Lisle

Images: Agora Excavations - (1)
Ohio - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Council/People)

Original location: Acropolis , Agora (Skias) , [Piraeus] , [Eleusis]

Findspot: Acropolis (Lost)
Findspot: Agora (Ag. I 1250)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual note. The decree was originally set up in the Agora in the “Sunshade” (Skias), on the Acropolis, in Piraeus and at Eleusis (ll. 60-62, cf. 56-57). The text is based on an 18th-century transcript of the Acropolis copy produced by Fourmont and a fragment of the Agora copy, containing lines 49-62 (Agora XVI 322 = SEG 24.147). AIO follows C. Doyen's edition of the text, which is based on close study of Fourmont's original transcript, except that we indicate all uncertain letters with underdots, rather than replicating Doyen's system for indicating different levels of uncertainty (Chiron 46, 2016, 453-87 = SEG 66.125; online English summary in CHS Research Bulletin 4, 2015). Though deliberately diverging in some details, we acknowledge debts to Austin and Doyen in our translation. For another recent edition and analysis of this decree, written without knowledge of Doyen's work, see M. Rizzi, Marktbezogene Gesetzgebung im späthellenistischen Athen: der Volksbeschluß über Maße und Gewichte (2017) = SEG 67.68.

This decree is attributed by Tracy to the “School of the Cutter of IG II² 1028” (131/0-98/7 BC) and is dated by him to ca. 120 BC. It modifies the Athenian standard measures for dry volume and weight, probably to make conversion to Roman measures easier. This would have facilitated trade in Attic markets, but also at Delos, which the Romans had placed under Athenian administration in 167 BC and had become the main entrepôt for Roman trade with the Eastern Mediterranean by the end of the second century BC (cf. Habicht, Athens, pp. 246-63, 291). For earlier Athenian decrees and laws dealing with weights, measures, and coinage, see OR 155 and RO 25. For late market regulations, see IG II³ 4 214 and IG II² 1100.

We adopt the conventional articulation of the text into 9 sections. Section 1 establishes the complaints procedure and punishments for sellers who use measures other than those laid down by this decree. Section 2 provides for official copies (sekomata) of the master measures (symbola) to be manufactured and distributed to market officials (see n. 4). Section 3 defines the new measures of volume for various nuts, dried fruits, olives, and figs (see n. 6) and Section 4 does the same for measures of weight (see n. 7). Sections 5-7 provide for the safekeeping of the master measures by public slaves (see n. 12). Section 8 orders a set of official copies to be dedicated on the Acropolis (see n. 13). Section 9 outlines punishments for damaging the master measures and orders the inscription of the decree. An addendum sets a maximum charge for using validated measures (see n. 15). [2] The Skias (literally, “Sunshade”) was the common name for the rotunda in the Agora where the Council prytanies dined, also known as the "Tholos". Cf. IG II³ 1, 1300. Ath. Pol. 51.2, written in the third quarter of the 4th century BC, mentions only the city and the Piraeus as official sites of weights and measures. If this is correct, Eleusis must have been added subsequently (Clinton). [3] On banks (literally “tables”), see RO 25 with note. This is the only attestation of the “public bank” at Athens itself, but it also appears on Athenian-administered Delos (ID 1416, l. 41; ID 1670; IG II² 2336 = SEG 32.218). Similar “public banks” are attested in other Greek cities in the Hellenistic period, notably Miletos, cf. V. Gabrielsen, in Verboven, Vandorpe, and Chankowski, Pistoi dia tèn technèn, 2008, pp. 115-30. For punishment by sale of confiscated property, cf. IG I³ 421. [4] The “master measures” (symbola) were to remain in safekeeping and serve as models for the official “copies” (sekomata; the word literally means “counterweights” or “standard measures”) made of lead (weights) or bronze (measures of volume), which would be distributed to market officials (cf. ll. 40-43). [5] This clause seems to allow Athenians to prosecute officials before the Council to collect the fine. In Classical Athens, private individuals submitted a 'catalogue' (apographe) of someone's property before the courts in order to charge them with owing a public debt or fine (Todd, The Shape of Athenian Law, 1993, p. 360). The phrase ‘any Athenian who wishes of those for whom it is permitted’ was a key slogan of the Classical democracy, expressing the right of all citizens to undertake political action in the Assembly and the courts (Demosth. 21.47; M. H. Hansen, Athenian Democracy in the Age of Demosthenes, 1991, pp. 266-68). The formula appears in other Late Hellenistic inscriptions (e.g. I Eleusis 250, ll. 30-31; IG II³ 4, 1132, ll. 9-10). The Council of 600 is the Cleisthenic Council, which had 500 members in the Classical period (50 from each tribe), but expanded to 600 in the Hellenistic period after new tribes were established. [6] This section establishes a special choinix to be used for various nuts and dried fruits. The choinix was a measure of dry capacity, notionally equivalent to a weight of 240 drachmas (1 kg). There were 8 choinikes in a hekteus and 48 choinikes in a medimnos. The most common choinix was the one used for grain (= 1.10 L), but the nut-choinix is to be larger. The measure is a cylinder with a depth of five “fingers” (daktyloi), i.e. 100 mm. The diameter of choinikes found in the Agora is usually 140 mm (7 “fingers”), so the volume of this nut-choinix would be 1.54 L (as the decree specifies, this is roughly 1.5 grain choinikes). The contents were to be piled up above the rim, which is to be 1 finger (i.e. 20 mm) wide, to prevent the contents from spilling out (Lang and Crosby, Agora X, pp. 42-45). A late second-century BC measure with these dimensions survives: Agora P 14431 (M. Crosby, Hesp. 18, 1949, 108-13). The second choinix for fresh almonds, new olives, and figs is to be double the size of the first (i.e. with the same diameter, but a depth of ten “fingers” or 200 mm, thus a capacity of 3.08 L). This is equal to three grain choinikes or one chous (the standard unit for liquid capacity mentioned in l. 55). The key Roman measure of dry and liquid volume was the congius (3.27 L); with contents piled up, these new measures might be nearly equivalent to a half and a whole congius respectively, perhaps facilitating international trade in these goods (cf. L. Breglia Pulci Doria, Mélanges de l'École française de Rome 97, 1985, 417-19). [7] This section raises the weight of the commercial mina. The Athenians used two systems for measuring weight. In the system used for coins and precious metals, 100 dr. = 1 mina (435 g) and 60 minai = 1 talent (26.1 kg). For other objects, there was a separate commercial mina, which the Athenians attributed to Solon, but which was probably introduced in 480 BC, when it weighed 105 drachmas (457 g; Ath. Pol. 10.2; L. Kallet and J. Kroll, The Athenian Empire, 2020, pp. 150-151). It was raised to 112 drachmas (488 g) at the beginning of the Hellenistic period, then perhaps to 125 drachmas (544 g), and it was 138 drachmas (601 g) by the time of this decree, which raised it by a further 12 drachmas (roughly a twelfth) to 150 drachmas (653 g; L. Willocx in C. Doyen and L. Willocx, Pondera antiqua et mediaevalia, 2020, 23-46). The commercial talent is also increased by a twelfth from 36 kg to 39.2 kg (the 5-mina weight is to be augmented by a fifth and the increase to the 10-mina weight is not specified; both oddities are probably due to textual corruption, but for another explanation, see Doyen, in Doyen, Étalons monétaires et mesures pondérales entre la Grèce et l'Italie, 2016, pp. 195-97). Several of these new weights survive, including BM 1842,0728.532 (1 mina), BnF Bronze 2233 (1/2 mina). The “make-weights” (ll. 31-36) allowed officials and merchants to continue employing existing weights by adding a few coins or a smaller weight to the scales. The new commercial mina was double the weight of the Roman pound (libra), which weighed 327 g and one-and-a-half times the weight of the coin mina, which would have made commercial exchange between the three systems easier (Lang and Crosby, Agora X, pp. 2-4; Melville-Jones). [8] “Crown-bearing” or “Stephanephoric” coins are the Attic “New Style” coins, which bore olive crowns on their reverses (image from the ANS collection). These were tetradrachms (4-drachma coins) on the Attic weight-standard (= drachma of 4.36 g), which were probably introduced at Athens in 164/3 BC, following Athens’ acquisition of Delos in 167 BC. They rapidly replaced the posthumous coinage of Alexander the Great as the main international trade currency in the Aegean (cf. Habicht, Athens, 242-45, 275-79; J. Kroll in The Romanization of Athens, 1997, pp. 146-47). Nearly forty city-states in Greece and Asia Minor adopted similar Stephanephoric coins in the 160s BC (A. Meadows in P. Iossif, F. de Callataÿ, and R. Veymiers, ΤΥΠΟΙ: Greek and Roman coins seen through their images, 2018, pp. 297-318). Around the same time as this decree, a decree of the Amphictyony was erected by the Athenian Treasury at Delphi, which required “all Hellenes” in all cities and festivals to make and receive their payments using these Attic coins (F. Delphes III 2 139 = CID 4 127). [9] The “silver standard” is the mina of 100 drachmas (n. 7). The surviving text does not specify which goods would be weighed on this standard; literary sources and temple inventories indicate that they included coinage and precious metal items (Melville-Jones). [10] Diodoros’ responsibility for providing the measures is probably connected to his position as manager of the harbour (cf. l. 47), referred to in IG II² 1012 of 112/11 BC, in which the Council grants an association of shipowners and merchants called the “Synod of Zeus Xenios” permission to honour him. [11] The hierophant, chosen from the genos Eumolpidai, was the leading male priest of the Eleusinian Mysteries. Cf. I Eleusis 233. Clinton infers from this clause that by this date the managers (epimeletai) of the Mysteries (on whom cf. IG II³ 1, 915) "no longer exist and that the hierophant is now the chief administrator of the sanctuary" (I Eleusis vol. 2, p. 278). [12] On public slaves, see RO 25 and Oliver, Honours for a Public Slave, 119-121 with notes. This section indicates that public slaves could be transferred from one role to another, and that denying them further roles was considered an effective deterrent to malfeasance. The reference to the role as a “public service” (leitourgia) is striking, since this term usually refers to elite monetary contributions. The Metroon was the state archive in the Agora, cf. Agora XIV, pp. 35-38. [13] This is the only full list of the measures in the surviving decree (the absence of the five-mina weight mentioned in l. 33 may be an error). Dedicating copies of the measures may have been intended to provide divine sanction to the new units. For roughly contemporary dedications of measures, see IG II³ 4, 316 from Rhamnous and ID 1829 from Athenian-administered Delos. [14] This shows the ancient Council of the Areopagos, consisting of former archons, was still performing judicial functions at this time. After the Sullan Sack of Athens in 86 BC, its political power was enhanced and it became a decree-issuing body alongside the (Cleisthenic) Council and Assembly (cf. Agora XVI 333; AIUK 4.3A, 10). [15] This clause bars officials from charging more than three obols for using validated measures and weights (when settling disputes?). Choinikes were validated by applying lead sealings (e.g., Agora IL 701 on the aforementioned Agora P 14431), while weights are validated by stamping them with a countermark, since adding a sealing would alter their weight (e.g. IL 315, same symbol). Some of the validation symbols also appear as annual mint-marks on the stephanephoric coinage (Cf. Crosby, Hesp. 18, 1949, 111-12).

Added: 14 Apr 2021
Updated: 18 Aug 2024
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ID: AIO_2143