IRhamn 13 Decree of Rhamnous honouring the military leader, Dionysios of Klazomenai

Decree of Rhamnous honouring the military leader, Dionysios of Klazomenai

I Rhamnous 13 Date: ca. 300-260 BC

Gods^[1] Kephisokleides son of Sostratos of Rhamnous proposed: that the deme shall decide, since Dionysios son of Artemidoros of Klazomenai continues to be well disposed (5)towards the Athenian People at Rhamnous and displays the good will which he has towards the People or deme (dēmon)^[2] and has managed the guarding of the fort jointly with the managers, to praise Dionysios for his excellence and good will (10)towards the People or deme and crown him with a gold crown; and the treasurer shall inscribe this decree on a stele and stand it in the sanctuary of Nemesis; and to praise the soldiers with him and crown (15)each of them with a foliage crown.

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References:

I Rhamnous 13 (Translated text) (PHI)

IG II² 1312 (PHI)

SEG 3.125 (PHI)

R. Osborne, The demos and its divisions, no. 62

Oetjen, Athen im dritten Jahrhundert, no. 11

Knoepfler, Trésor documentaire, 207.7

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Images: Krateros - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Deme Rhamnous)

Original location: Rhamnous (sanctuary of Nemesis)

Findspot: Rhamnous (EM 4214)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is one of a small number of decrees (all certainly or possibly datable after 307/6 BC) that appear to have been passed by the deme Rhamnous acting alone, and not in association with Athenian resident soldiers. It is also unusual among deme decrees more generally in that it honours a foreigner (one might compare the decrees of Eleusis honouring Damasias of Thebes and other Thebans, I Eleusis 70, the circumstances of which, however, are very different). The honorand, Dionysios son of Artemidoros of Klazomenai, is not otherwise known, but he appears from this decree to have been a military commander who brought with him a number of soldiers, who were few enough, however, to be awarded individual foliage crowns. Though it is not quite certain (one might compare the Athenian decree of 338/7 BC, IG II³ 1, 316, honouring two leading Akarnanians by name and other unnamed Akarnanians in their entourage), it has been generally assumed that Dionysios was a mercenary commander, like the foreign mercenary commanders honoured by I Rhamnous 56 and 57. Those two decrees date very much later than ours, however, and were both probably passed jointly by the deme and Athenian resident soldiers. Until recently editors (most recently Petrakos and, following him, Oetjen) dated our decree also to the late or the end of the 3rd century BC. However, Knoepfler argued from features of the decree, including the inclusion of the heading "Gods", for an earlier date (ca. 260 BC). It might be pulled back still further (note for example that the inscription was funded collectively by the deme in the pre-Hellenistic manner, and not by named commissioners, as was the later pattern and cf. the remarks of Knoepfler, 137 n. 336), and it is attractive to identify the proposer as the Kephisokleides son of Sostratos of Rhamnous who was councillor in 304/3 BC rather than, as has been done hitherto, with a homonym in a later generation. On the deme Rhamnous and its inscriptions in general see I Rhamnous 182. [2] The use of the term demos in the decree interchangeably or ambiguously in the sense "deme" of Rhamnous and Athenian "People" is notable, and appears to anticipate the later practice of associating resident citizen soldiers with the deme as joint parties to honorific decrees.

Added: 2 Apr 2026
Updated: 2 Apr 2026
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