IGII2 2773 Endowment of Flavius Asklepiades

Endowment of Flavius Asklepiades

IG II² 2773 Date: ca. 240-260 AD

For Good Fortune,^[1] the herald of the [Council of the Areopagos] and high [priest of the Augusti and the] Augustan [House, Flavius Asklepiades] (5)of Diomeia [from his own resources (?) gave] the most revered (semnotatō) [board (sunedriō) of the] Areopagites [all the] gifts recorded below. uninscribed space Each month . . . (10) . . . of Menogenes . . . [All] the Areopagites will receive . . . at the end of the year for a month in the city hall (prutaneiō) [dining rights (seitēsin) (?) . . . each] (will receive) 6 (denarii), and on the twelfth (of Skirophorion) at the Skira each [(will receive) . . . and on ] my birthday likewise each (will receive) . . . (15)each (will receive) 3 (denarii), which I want to be given at my hero-shrine (hērōon).^[2] Principal (kephalaion): Testament (diathēkē) from Asklepiades [of Diomeia]^[3] . . .

Previous - IG II² 2767 Next - IG II² 2789

References:

IG II² 2773 (Translated text) (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Record of endowment

Findspot: Unknown (EM 8400)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This inscription records a testamentary endowment by a deceased donor establishing a set of benefits for the Areopagos (on inscribed endowments at Athens, see Puech, Orateurs 1 with notes). The lettering of the prescript (ll. 1-8) and the transcript of the will (ll. 9-17) are distinct. The endower appears to be Flavius Asklepiades of Diomeia, attested as a youth honouring his father around 210 AD (IG II² 3685), as ephebic trainer (paidotribes) in the 220s (IG II² 2145, 2151, 2219), and as archon ca. 240 AD (IG II² 2239), after which he would have entered the Areopagos. This inscription thus ought to date to the 240s or 50s AD. Like other endowments at Athens in the Imperial period, it appears to follow Roman inheritance law, including the typical phrase for a fideicomissum (testamentary trust), "I want x to be given" (βούλομαι δίδοσθαι = Latin volo dare: Q. Mauer, Application, adaptation and rejection, 2022, 126).

The endowment consists of various annual distributions. At ll. 11-12, something happens in the Prytaneion ("city hall") everyday in the last month of the year (traditionally Skirophorion, but at this point Metageitnion). Kirchner in IG II² restored "dining rights", but a month of continuously banquets seems excessive, so perhaps it is a monetary distribution like the other gifts; it is a striking sign of the power of individual members of the elite in the third century that a private endower is able to make arrangements regarding that space. There are also monetary distributions at the Skira festival (l. 13, see SEG 50.168 A col. ii, 30, 51, IG II² 1177, l. 10; Harpokration, sv. Skiron; S. D. Lambert in Z. Archibald and J. Haywood, The Power of Individual and Community 2019, 165), on the donor's birthday (l. 14-15), and other occasions. Special endowments providing for regular distributions to privileged groups are common in Greek cities from the second century AD (e.g. I Ephesos 2113; see S. Dmitriev, City Government in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, 2005, 168-69). At Athens, SEG 21.510 is a late second-century endowment, also benefiting the Areopagos, and I Eleusis 491 seems to regulate an endowment for Eleusinian priests. This endowment is an example of the way the Areopagites were marked off as a privileged elite in the second and third centuries AD (D. Geagan in D. W. Bradeen and M. F. McGregor, ΦΟΡΟΣ: Tribute... Meritt, 1974, 51-56; cf. IG II² 3606, ll. 24-26; on the Areopagos, cf. AIUK 4.3 (BM Decrees), n. 10). [2] The birthday distribution is to be made at the endower's "hero shrine" (heroon). In the Imperial period this was sometimes just a synonym for "tomb," but could also be a hub for ritual feasting and gatherings (e.g., IG II² 1369; see C. P. Jones, New Heroes in Antiquity, 2010, 63-65), as may be envisioned here. References to benefactors as heroes are relatively rare at Athens, but do occur (e.g., IG IV² 1 82-84, SEG 66.153, both first century AD). [3] L. 17 seems to be the heading of a list of the assets that made up the principal of the endowment. This probably consisted of parcels of land that would be rented out and/or sums of money that could be loaned out. The resulting profits would have funded the distributions.

Added: 28 Jul 2023
Updated: 2 Aug 2023
Feedback

ID: AIO_2762