IGII31 1005 On the Soteria festival at Delphi

On the Soteria festival at Delphi

IG II³ 1 1005 Date: 250/49 BC

Gods. In the archonship of Polyeuktos (250/49), in the ninth prytany, of Aigeis^IV, for which Chairephon son of Archestratos of Kephale^VII was secretary. On the twenty-second (enatei met' eikadas) of Elaphebolion, the thirtieth (5) of the prytany. The People decided. Kybernis son of Kydias of Halimous proposed: since the federation (koinon) of the Aitolians demonstrating their piety to the gods have decreed that the competition of the Soteria shall be held for Zeus Soter and Pythian Apollo as a memorial of the (10) battle that occurred against the barbarians^[1] who attacked the Greeks and the sanctuary of Apollo common to the Greeks, against whom the People sent out the elite troops (epilektous) and cavalry to share in the struggle for the collective preservation (koinēs sōtērias), and concerning this matter the federation (15) of the Aitolians and the general Charixenos have despatched to the People an embassy to hold talks so that the People might [acknowledge] the competition as of equal footing with the Pythian in music and with the Nemean in athletics and equestrian contests; both in age divisions and honours . . . . . .

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References:

IG II³ 1 1005 (Translated text) (IG Online)

IG II² 680 (PHI)

Syll.³ 408

Translation by: Sean Byrne, Claudio Huayna Avila

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

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (People)

Findspot: Agora (EM 7400)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This text belongs to a set of inscriptions dealing with the reorganization of the Soteria festival in the middle of the third century BC. This festival was founded at Delphi to commemorate the Greek victory over the Gauls in 279/8 BC (Diod. 22.3-5, 9; Just. 24.4-8, Paus. 10.19.4-23; cf. IG IX I² 1, 194 b, Pöhlmann and West, Greek Music, no. 20-21). Originally, it comprised musical and dramatic contests and was held (annually?) in honour of Apollo Pythios, who was said to have protected the city during the Gauls' invasion (IG XII 4, 1 68). In the 240s the Aitolians, who had occupied Delphi since the beginning of the third century and had controlled the Amphictyonic Council from 262 BC at the latest, reorganized the festival in an effort to make it a Panhellenic event on the same level as the Olympic, Nemean, Isthmian, and Pythian games. This reorganization included altering the periodicity of the festival (from annual to quadrennial), introducing athletic and equestrian contests, and adding Zeus Soter as a second honoree alongside Apollo Pythios. This reform had a political aspect, as the Aitolians sought to use it obtain formal recognition of their control over Delphi, which several Greek cities were reluctant to concede (cf. T. Jim, Saviour Gods and Soteria in Ancient Greece, 2022, 54-7).

Other Greek inscriptions endorsing the Aitolian reorganization of the Soteria survive from Chios (F.Delphes III 3, 215), Tenos (F.Delphes III 1, 482), one of the Cyclades (F.Delphes III 1, 481), Smyrna (F.Delphes III 1, 483), and Abdera (SEG 24.382). In the second century BC, after Aitolian power over Delphi had waned, the Soteria still included athletic (IG XII 1, 78, l. 5; Bargylia 22) and probably also equestrian contests (IG IV 611, l. 5). An Athenian decree (F.Delphes III 2, 140) seems to deal with a post-Aitolian reorganisation of the festival. It seems to have ceased to be celebrated following the depredations of Delphi by Sulla in 87/6 BC during the First Mithridatic War (Paus. 9.7.4-6) and the Thracians in 85/4 BC (G. Daux, Delphes au IIe et au Ier siècle, 1936, 392-97). On the Soteria in general, see G. Nachtergael, Les Galates en Grèce et les Sôtéria de Delphes, 1975, 209-390, with a full corpus of Soteria-related inscriptions with French translation at 391-495.

The proposer of the decree, Kybernis son of Kydias of Halimous, was awarded the proxeny by the Delphians at about this time (F.Delphes III 2, 159). His father had been killed at Thermopylai in battle against the Gauls in 279 BC and honoured with a shield dedicated to Zeus Soter (Paus. 10.21.5).

Added: 25 May 2015
Updated: 5 Jun 2023
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