IGII2 1046 Council decree on repairs to the Asklepieion, 51/0 BC

Council decree on repairs to the Asklepieion, 51/0 BC

IG II² 1046 Date: 52/1 BC

For the good fortune of the Council and People of the Athenians. In the archonship of Lysandros son of Apolexis (52/1), in the twelfth prytany, of Pandionis^III, for which Gaios son of Gaios of Halai was secretary. Twenty-third day of Skirophorion, twenty-third day (5) of the prytany. Council in the Council chamber (bouleutēriōi). Of the presiding committee, Theangelos son of Theangelos of Aithalidai was putting to the vote, and his fellow members of the presiding committee. The Council decided. Meniskos son of Philokles of Kolonai proposed:^[1] since, having made an approach to the Council, the allotted priest of Asklepios and Hygieia (10) for the year after the archonship of Lysandros (i.e. 51/0), Diokles son of Diokles of Kephisia the younger^[2] demonstrates that the doorways (thurōmata) of what was formerly the entrance to the sanctuary (hieron), are in ruins, similarly also the roof behind the gateway (propulou) and even the temple (naon) of the ancient foundation (aphidrumatos) of Asklepios and of Hygieia (are in ruins),^[3] and, owing to this, (15) he requests the Council to permit him, in repairing (the sanctuary) from his own resources, to install doors on the old gateway, and to roof the back part of the gateway, and (repair) the temple opposite the entrance, in order to restore the sanctuary to its old state (taxin).^[4] For good fortune, the Council shall decide to permit Diokles son of Diokles of Kephisia (20) the younger to make the dedication (anathesin) of the doors and to roof the back part of the gateway, and to repair the old [temple], just as he requests, and to make this inscription on the doors and the roof: “Diokles son of Diokles of Kephisia, the younger, having become priest in the (25) year of the archonship of Lysiades (51/0), dedicated the doors and the roof at the back of the gateway to Asklepios and Hygieia and the People,” and on the temple, similarly: “Diokles son of Diokles of Kephisia the younger, having become priest in the year of the archonship of Lysiades (51/0), having repaired the temple from his own resources, (30) dedicated (this) to Asklepios and Hygieia and the [People],”^[5] so that, these things being accomplished, the Council may behave piously (eusebōs) in matters relating to the divine (theion), and others may become zealots (zēlōitai) for the same things.^[6]

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References:

IG II² 1046 (Translated text) (PHI)

Syll.³ 756

Sokolowski, LSCG 44

Roman Attica Project, Normative Texts no. 5 (RAP)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Krateros - (1)
Ohio - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Council)

Findspot: Asklepieion (EM 7575)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is a decree of the Council, permitting the priest of Asklepios and Hygieia to carry out repairs to the sanctuary of Asklepios on the south slope of the Acropolis (on which, see n. 2 and 4 below). The dates of Lysandros and Lysiades are derived from the archon list IG II² 1714. The proposer, Meniskos of Kolonai, was the ephebes' trainer (paidotribes) in the mid-first century BC, see IG II³ 4, 378. On decrees of the Council and People in the period between the Sullan sack in 86 BC and the death of Augustus in AD 14, see I Rhamnous 423 with notes. [2] Diokles was probably the son of Diokles, the archon of 57/6 BC. He (or his homonymous father) was one of the last mint magistrates to oversee the production of silver coinage at Athens, a role that required great wealth, serving three times (M. E. Thompson, New Style Coinage, 1961, no. 1249-50, 1259-62, 1269-70), probably in the late 50s or 40s BC (J. H. Kroll, Arch. Delt. 26, 1972, 93-94). The symbols on Diokles’ first two issues depict Asklepios and Hygieia respectively, indicating the prestige which he derived from this priesthood. He may also have been honoured by the prytaneis of Ptolemais around 30 BC (SEG 28.95, ll. 57-59). Ll. 9-10, 24-25, and 28-29 show that in this period the priesthood of Asklepios was still an annual office, selected by lot – the key characteristics of a ‘democratic’ priesthood (see IG II³ 1, 359 with S. D. Lambert, Historia 59, 2010, 156-8; on the continued use of the lottery in the first century BC, cf. Agora XVI 333). However, the fact that Diokles and several other first-century BC priests were wealthy men, who could fund construction at the sanctuary (see n. 4) is part of a general trend beginning in the mid-second century BC, in which priests are drawn from a narrow elite of wealth, are honoured for their expenditures in office, and their priesthoods are referred to as liturgies (cf. IG II³ 1, 1330, SEG 18.27, SEG 18.29; S. D. Lambert in M. Horster and A. Klöckner, Civic Priests, 2012, 84-89). The fact that this decree was passed a year before Diokles assumed office may indicate that negotiations about these repairs were somehow related to his selection. The priests of Asklepios began to serve for life in the Augustan period (the first example seems to be Zenon of Rhamnous, shortly after 9/8 BC: IG II³ 4, 797; S. Aleshire, Athenian Asklepieion, 1989, 85-86), part of general reforms to Athenian religious organisation at that time (cf. I Eleusis 300; IG II² 2338; S. Aleshire and S. D. Lambert, in J. Richardson and F. Santangelo, Priests and State in the Roman World, 2011, 553-76; A. J. S. Spawforth, Greece and the Augustan Cultural Revolution, 2012, 192-206). For decrees honouring the priests of Asklepios, see IG II³ 1, 359 with notes. [3] The ‘foundation’ (aphidryma) was an object, usually a statue, taken from one sanctuary in order to establish a subsidiary sanctuary elsewhere (I. Malkin, Class. Ant. 10, 1991, 77-96). Here, it refers to a cult statue brought from the sanctuary of Asklepios in Epidauros in 420 BC to found the sanctuary on the Acropolis, a process recounted in IG II³ 4, 665. [4] Repair work was undertaken throughout the sanctuary by Diokles and several other priests in the first century BC (see n. 5) and is clearly attested by archaeological evidence (M. Melfi, I santuari di Asclepio in Grecia, 2007, 358-64). The ruined state of the sanctuary may be due to the passage or time or to damage sustained during Sulla’s siege of the Acropolis and sack of Athens in 86 BC (Habicht, Athens 331-37). The gateway (propylon) that Diokles repairs was a noted feature of the sanctuary, depicted in the relief decoration on IG II³ 4, 665. The references to “the old gateway” and “old temple” might suggest that the sanctuary had multiple gateways and temples, but archaeological investigation indicates that there was only one of each, so the inscription must simply be emphasising their age (Melfi, 2007, 362-63). For the archaeology of the sanctuary, see S. Aleshire, 1989, 7-36; Melfi, 2007, 313-432. Further evidence for Athenian interest in repairing and revitalising sanctuaries in this period is seen in SEG 26.121, a decree probably of Augustan date, which restores sanctuaries in Salamis, Piraeus, and Athens. [5] The same formula appears in several other first-century BC inscriptions describing repairs carried out by priests in the Asklepieion (IG II³ 4, 779-780, 787). IG II³ 4, 781 has been identified as one of the inscriptions describing Diokles’ renovations, but the text diverges substantially from that given here, mentioning a building and an exedra, so it probably refers to additional building work (Melfi 2007, 361). [6] The piety of the Council is also stressed in other first-century Council decrees: I Rhamnous 179, IG II³ 4, 1132a.

Added: 12 Dec 2022
Updated: 2 Jun 2023
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