IGII25 13248 Edict on Maximum Prices (301 AD)

Edict on Maximum Prices (301 AD)

IG II² 5 13248 Date: 301 AD

. . . ^[1] [ (9) Also shoes (kalikōn): ]^[2] (Price) of farmers’ [shoes] of the first class, or those of muleteers (mouliōnikōn) [120 denarii] Also soldiers’ shoes without (5)nails [100 denarii] Generals’ shoes [150 denarii] (Price) of senatorial shoes [100 denarii] (Price) of horsemen’s or equestrians’ shoes [70 denarii] (Price) of women’s shoes [60 denarii] (10)(Price) of soldiers’ boots (campaganōn)^[3] [75 denarii] Also sandals and Gallic shoes (trochadōn):^[4] (Price) of farming men’s gallic shoes [80 denarii] (Price) of men’s single-soled gallic shoes [50 denarii] (Price) of courier’s (koursorōn) gallic shoes [60 denarii] (15)(Price) of sandals (sandalōn) or gallic shoes [for women],^[5] double-soled [50 denarii] (Price) of single-soled women’s (sandals) [30 denarii] Also of Babylonian sandals (hupodēmatōn) [120 denarii] (Price) of Phoenician or [sea-purple] sandals [60 denarii] (20)(Price) of white sandals [ - denarii] Also slippers (sokkōn) or warm shoes (phournōn)^[6] (Price) of men’s slippers of the first class [60 denarii] (Price) of women’s slippers of the first class [50 denarii] (Price) of gold-weaved slippers [80 denarii] (25)(Price) of white Babylonian slippers [80 denarii] likewise of gilt sandal-slippers (soliōn) [75 denarii] (Price) of wool-lined ox hide footwear [50 denarii] (10) Also leather items (lōramentōn): (Price) of a saddlebag (abertēs) of the first class [with . . . 1500 denarii] . . .

Next - IG II² 5 13249

References:

IG II² 5 13248 (Translated text) (PHI)

IG II² 1120 (PHI)

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Edict

Findspot: Acropolis (EM 8109)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This fragment is part of the left side of a copy of the Edict of Maximum Prices issued from Antioch between 20 November and 10 December 301 AD by the Emperor Diocletian (r. 284-305 AD), along with his co-ruler Maximian and their subordinate co-rulers Galerius and Constantius Chlorus. This edict responded to inflation in the empire by instituting maximum prices for almost all commodities and services, on pain of death. The full edict consisted of a highly rhetorical preamble, justifying the edict as a proportionate response to high prices which the authors attribute to untrammelled greed and profiteering, followed by a list of maximum prices for around 1,400 goods and services. The initiative was probably linked to the Currency Edict of September 301, which appears to have attempted to double the face value of some Imperial coins (M. Crawford, Aphrodisias 13: Diocletian's edict of maximum prices at the Civil Basilica in Aphrodisias, 2023, 127-31). The measure almost immediately failed (cf. Lactantius De Mort. Pers. 7.6-7.7), although there are signs that it was not fully abandoned until the 320s. For an overview of the edict and its context, see S. Corcoran, The Empire of the Tetrarchs, 1996, 205-33 and for full text and translation, see S. Lauffer, Diokletians Preisedikt (1971); A. Kropff, "New English translation of the Price Edict of Diocletianus" (2016); Crawford, Aphrodisias 13 (2023). For other inscribed Imperial edicts at Athens from the Tetrachic period, see IG II² 5, 13249-13250 (both also in Greek). For an earlier attempt at price control at Athens, see IG II³ 4, 214 and for earlier Roman price controls, see Plin. Nat. Hist. 14.95; P. Garnsey, Famine and Food Supply in the Graeco-Roman World, 1988, 222-27.

The preserved portion of the Athenian copy gives the text of chapter 9 and the beginning of chapter 10, which deal with the prices for shoes and leather items respectively. Over forty copies of the edict have been found in various parts of the Greek East, including at least fourteen from the province of Achaia: Aigeira in Achaia (CIL III supp. 2 2328), Argos (SEG 13.245), Boiai in Lakonia (SEG 43.130), Geronthrai in Lakonia (IG V 1, 1115), Gytheion in Lakonia (CIL III 823, supp. 1915, supp. 2208, SEG 43.131), Megalopolis in Arkadia (S. Fritzilas in Αρχαιολογική και ιστορική περιήγηση στη Βόρεια Λακεδαίμονα, 2013, 17-34), Megara (IG VII 22), Opous in East Lokris (IG IX 1² 5, 1923), Sparta (SEG 56.458), Tegea in Arkadia (Fritzilas), Thelpousa in Elis (SEG 37.335), Thespiai (Roesch, Les inscriptions de Thespies 2007, no. 43), Thisbe in Boiotia (SEG 23.282), and Troizen (IG IV 836). The original text was in Latin, but in all the copies from Achaia, except for the Ageiran one, the list of prices has been translated into Greek. Many terms are simply transliterated from Latin to Greek, even when standard equivalencies existed, e.g. sokkoi rather than embades for Latin socci (‘slippers’). This may reflect the greater penetration of Latin terminology in Greek commercial contexts than in Greek literary ones, cf. E. Dickey, Latin Loanwords in Ancient Greek, 2023 and SEG 62.148. [2] The shoes or half-boots (Latin calcei / Greek kalikoi) in ll. 1-9 were closed shoes covering the whole foot and shin, tied in place with leather straps, for formal and outdoor use (J. Radicke, Roman Women’s Dress, 2023, 525-530). [3] The soldiers’ boots (campagi / kampagones) in l. 10 were sturdy closed shoes. [4] The Gallic shoes (gallicae / trochades) in ll. 11-14 were sturdy semi-open footwear, partway between a sandal and a shoe, which originally came from Gaul (J. Radicke, Roman Women’s Dress, 2023, 554-55). [5] The sandals (crepides, sandalia, hypodemata) in ll. 15-20 consisted of a sole tied to the foot with straps, like a modern sandal. Sandal-slippers (solea / solia) were generally a simpler sandal (J. Radicke, Roman Women’s Dress, 2023, 539-548), although the words are not consistently distinguished and the gilt footwear described in l. 26 is unlikely to have been simple. [6] Slippers (socci / sokkoi) in ll. 21-25 were closed shoes of soft fabric, held in place with laces, which were worn in relatively informal settings inside and outside (J. Radicke, Roman Women’s Dress, 2023, 525-530).

Added: 6 Mar 2026
Updated: 6 Mar 2026
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