IGII34 291 Dedication by the general Epichares of Ikarion at Rhamnous

Dedication by the general Epichares of Ikarion at Rhamnous

IG II³ 4 291 Date: 269/8 BC (?)

The general [in charge of the coast] Epichares son of Pol- [of Ikarion]^[1] [dedicated] the headquarters (stratēgion)^[2] to the hero Archegetes [and] . . . ^[3]

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References:

IG II³ 4 291 (Translated text) (IG Online)

SEG 51.174

SEG 50.189

I Rhamnous 468

Knoepfler, Trésor documentaire, 22-25, 207

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Block

Inscription type: Dedication (general in charge of the coast (strategos epi ten paralian)), Dedication (hero Archegetes)

Findspot: Rhamnous fortress (Rhamnous Fortress 2290 Φ 228)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual Note Petrakos (I Rham. 468) restores 3-4 τὸ στρατήγιο[ν ἀνέθηκεν] | ἥρωι Ἀρχηγέτει κ̣[αὶ Ἀφροδίτει], "dedicated the headquarters to the hero Archegetes and Aphrodite". A sanctuary of Aphrodite Hegemonē was located adjacent to the small sanctuary of the hero Archegetes, cf. Knoepfler, who approves the restoration, for discussion of this location, east of the sanctuary of Nemesis.

Epichares was general of the coastal countryside in 269/8 BC (honoured by I Rham. 403, which dates his generalship to the archonship of Peithidemos, the same year as the decree of Chremonides inaugurating the Chremonidean War, IG II³ 1, 912). In l. 15 of the decree honouring him it is stated that he "made a headquarters (strategion), having constructed a sanctuary of -", and it is simplest to take this inscription as referring to the same headquarters building, though it cannot be ruled out that it relates to a separate headquarters established in a later tenure of Epichares as general. [2] The eventual headquarters (strategion) at Rhamnous has been identified by the excavators with a structure near the east gate of the fortress, constructed in 252/1 BC (I Rhamn. 10, ll. 11-12); the findspot of this inscription may indicate that a round tower and gate-house at the south gate served as headquarters before that date (SEG 51.174), but Knoepfler notes that the findspot may not be close to its original location. [3] The hero Archegetes (“Founder hero”) also appears in I Rhamn. 77-82 and Rhamnous inv. 890 Φ; the lack of a proper name and the designation Archegetes are common for the mythical founders of demes (Parker, Athenian Religion, 120 n. 67). For a priest of the Archegetes and other heroes in Aixone (?), see CGRN 57, 31-32; for the title Archegetes used in other contexts, IG I³ 1024 (Dedication by Sounians to Zeus Archegetes); Menelaos Archegetes, the heroized Spartan king, was apparently recipient of cult in ca. 400-350 BC in the deme on the east coast of Attica, Phegaia, alongside cult of "Herakles Archegetes" and of the Dioskouroi (IG II² 1932, 11-14, cf. R. Parker, Polytheism, 71 and Humphreys, Kinship, 885). For Athena as Archegetes of the whole city, IG II³ 1, 1296.

Added: 2 Apr 2019
Updated: 19 Nov 2025
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