IGII25 13281 Statue base for Ploutarchos

Statue base for Ploutarchos

IG II² 5 13281 Date: late iv AD

The People of Erechtheus dedicated (this statue of) the king of words, Ploutarchos, a support (erma) of steady self-control (saophrosunēs), who also thrice approached the temple of Athena, having steered the sacred ship, having poured forth all his wealth (plouton).^[1]

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References:

IG II² 5 13281 (Translated text) (PHI)

IG II² 3818 (PHI)

Puech, Orateurs 208

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Statue base (People)

Findspot: Athens (Agia Kyra Kandeli in Plaka) (EM 10512)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This set of elegiac couplets was inscribed on a statue base for Ploutarchos, a philosopher and orator. The people of Erechtheus (l. 1) are the Athenians. The approach to the temple of Athena with a sacred ship (ll. 3-4) refers to the Panathenaic procession (on this ship, see IG II³ 4, 1398). Nautical terminology runs through the whole poem - the word "support" (herma) describes both the ballast that keeps a ship steady at sea and the props used to hold it in place when drawn ashore; "approached" (epelassen) and "steered" (elasas) are used in Homer for ships. The end of l. 4 puns on ploutos ("wealth") and Ploutarchos (see Puech for detailed analysis of the poem). The title "king of words" emphasises Ploutarchos' rhetorical prowess and perhaps also recalls the Athenian office of king archon. It may be that Ploutarchos actually held this office. Civic constitutions were reformed by the Tetrarchs and Constantine in the late third and early fourth centuries AD, but there are indications that Athens retained its traditional institutions (cf. IG II² 5, 13274). Alternatively, the title may refer poetically to a more typical Late Antique civic office like patronus, defensor or ekdikos (cf. E. Rizos, AnTard 26, 2018, 207).

Ploutarchos also erected IG II2 5, 13283, a statue base for Herkolios, the praetorian prefect of Illyricum (which contained Greece) from 408 to 411 AD, providing an approximate date for this inscription. In that inscription, Ploutarchos calls himself "treasurer of myths," another combination of a traditional civic office with emphasis on rhetorical prowess. He is also honoured on a fragmentary altar or statue base (IG II² 5, 13286), which mentions Zeus, perquisites for a priest, and a precinct. He is perhaps to be identified with Ploutarchos the scholarch of the Platonic Academy (died 431-434), who is mentioned in Neo-Platonic sources (Marinus, Vit. Proc. 12, Suda Δ 1355, Π 1794) and probably built the Academy's Late Antique headquarters, the "House of Proklos" on the south slope of the Acropolis (on this figure, see P. Castrén and A. Karivieri, in P. Castrén, Post-Herulian Athens, 1994, 6-7, 12-13, 115-40). For attempts to distinguish the two figures, see Puech, pp. 394-95, with further bibliography.

Another statue base (IG II² 5, 13287) of similar date also refers to someone organising or participating in the Panathenaia three times and may also have been erected for Ploutarchos. These two inscriptions are the latest records of the Panathenaia. The procession is also mentioned by the fourth-century orator Himerios (Or. 47.12-13). For the continued vitality of traditional Athenian religion through the fourth century AD, see AIUK 11 (Ashmolean), no. 3, IG II² 5, 13252-13253, 13273 with notes. Emperor Theodosius I issued a series of edicts in 391, 392, and 395 AD closing temples and banning pagan sacrifices (Cod. Theod. 16.10.10-13). It is likely that the Panathenaia ceased to be celebrated after this (J. Shear, Serving Athena, 2021, 6-8).

This was the base's second reuse; it had originally been created for Flavius Teisamenos ca. 230 AD (IG II² 3701) and was then reused for the archon Hegeias at the beginning of the fourth century (IG II² 5, 13273).

Added: 28 Jul 2023
Updated: 27 Jun 2024
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