IRhamn 423 Council decree on repairs to Rhamnous fortress

Council decree on repairs to Rhamnous fortress

I Rhamnous 423 Date: 74/3 - ca. 63 BC

In the archonship of Asklepides,^[1] -teenth day of Mounichion. Since, having made an approach to the Council, the general in charge of Rhamnous, Euthy[krates] son of Euthykrates (5)of Myrrhinous demonstrates that due to the . . . which happened at the hands of the pirates in the fortress . . . was destroyed and some things are also required . . . as far as possible of the equipment both for . . . safety (asphaleian) and the common . . . in it . . . (10)he calls on the Council to allow him to . . . having met the cost from his private resources . . . the inhabitants (enoikountes) of the proper . . . For good fortune, the Council shall decide [to allow] the general to make the repairs . . . (15)in the fortress and to undertake the management (epimeleian) of them, providing the cost for these things from his private resources, so that, when these things have been accomplished, it shall be clear that the Council and this . . . fortress . . . and of utility. Antiochos son of Theophilos [was secretary].

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Greek text

References:

I Rhamnous 423 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 48.115

SEG 41.63

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Bench

Inscription type: Decree (Council)

Findspot: Rhamnous Fortress (Rhamnous Fortress 1024 Φ)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This is one of the earliest decrees from after the sack of Athens by the Roman general L. Cornelius Sulla in 86 BC. The period from the sack until the reign of Augustus (31 BC – 14 AD) is characterised by particular prominence of Council decrees, with securely dated Assembly decrees encountered only in the 40s and 20s BC. According to Appian Mith. 6.38-39, after the sack, Sulla "said to the free [Athenians] that he granted them their freedom, but as for voting and election rights, he removed them from those who had made war on him, but granted their descendants even these things" and then he "established laws for all [the Athenians] nearly the same as those previously laid down for them by the Romans." Some have suggested that Sulla introduced an oligarchic constitution that gave a greater role to the Council, the Areopagos, and major magistrates (especially the hoplite general and the herald of the Areopagos), which would have been relaxed in the 40s, reintroduced under M. Antonius in 38 BC, and revised once more under Augustus (e.g., D. Geagan, ANRW 2.7.1, 1979, pp. 373-74). This reconstruction is difficult to substantiate, given the limited amount of evidence and difficulties with dating many of the decrees (discussion in Habicht, Athens 314-20; see also Agora XVI 333 with notes).

The main form of decree passed by the Council in this period were the post-Sullan prytany decrees. These had previously passed by the Council and then confirmed by the Assembly (see AIUK 4.2 (BM, Decrees), no. 15 with note), but were now passed by the Council alone – around fifty examples, mostly very fragmentary, are preserved from the mid-first century BC until the early 1st century AD (see SEG 28.95 with notes). In addition to these, the Council also passed decrees: (1) authorising repairs to the Asklepieion on the Acropolis south slope in 52/1 BC (IG II² 1046) and (2-3) resolving disputes at the sanctuaries of Agdistis at Rhamnous (I Rhamnous 179) and Isis at Teithras in the second half of the century (IG II³ 4, 1132a). (4-8) Ephebic decrees, previously passed by the Council and Assembly together (e.g. IG II³ 1, 1256), are passed by the Council alone in 79/8 BC (IG II² 1039) and in 37/6 or 36/5 BC (IG II² 1043), but the Council and Assembly collaborate in 43/2 or 42/1 BC (IG II² 1041), 40/39 or 39/8 BC (AIUK 4.2 (BM, Decrees) 16), and 24/3-21/0 BC (IG II² 1040+1025). The Council-only ephebic decrees are funded by the hoplite general and herald of the Areopagos, while the Council and Assembly ephebic decrees are funded by multiple generals and the treasurer of the military funds, which might indicate a constitutional shift. (9) The earliest dated post-Sullan Assembly decree is IG II² 1047 from 49/8 BC, responding to some aspect of the civil war between Pompey and Julius Caesar. In the Augustan period, there are several Assembly decrees, mostly clustering around the archonship of Apolexis (ca. 24/3-20/1 BC): (10) I Eleusis 300 honouring the dadouch for reforms to the Eleusinian cult; (11-12) SEG 47.143a-b, regarding a dispute over land in the Athenian cleruchies on Lemnos, and (13) Agora XVI 336, a Council decree instituting cult honours for Augustus following an earlier Assembly decree. Two further Assembly decrees cannot be dated with certainty. (14) Agora XVI 333, confirming a law on the appointment of magistrates, with notable democratic elements, probably belongs to the first half of the first century BC, but it is uncertain whether it was issued under one of the regimes that preceded the Sullan sack or as part of a post-Sullan settlement. (15) IG II² 1035, arranging the restoration of sanctuaries and other public properties in Salamis, Piraeus, and Athens, is probably Augustan, but an alternative date in the 70s-50s BC has been proposed. On decrees from the first two centuries AD, see SEG 21.499 with notes.

This decree authorises the general in charge of Rhamnous to repair damage within Rhamnous fortress. For the garrison at Rhamnous, see I Rhamnous 3 and 17 with notes. This is the latest reference to it or any of the other garrisons in the Athenian countryside and may be the only evidence for their continued operation after the sack of Athens by Sulla. Euthykrates was an ephebe in 102/1 BC (IG II² 1028 l. 131), so his generalship must fall after 88 BC and the archons for the next years are known, so the archonship of Asklepides must be 74/3 BC or later (C. Habicht, REA 100, 1998, 488-89 = SEG 48.115). The references to "safety" (l. 9) and "utility" (l. 18) suggest repairs to fortifications or infrastructure. An attack by pirates that caused this level of damage inside the fortress seems most likely in the context of the Third Mithridatic War (73-63 BC), when pirates made attacks throughout the Mediterranean, including the sack of Delos, then an Athenian possession, in 69 BC (Phlegon, FGrH 257 F12-13). The decree is carved on the top surface of IG II³ 4, 1548, a bench dedicated to Aphrodite Hegemone in the 4th or 3rd centuries BC, located in the generals’ headquarters at Rhamnous. On these benches, see IG II³ 4, 295. On the headquarters, see I Rhamnous 17 with notes.

Added: 12 Dec 2022
Updated: 24 Sep 2023
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