IRhamn 401 Decree of Rhamnous (and Athenian residents?) honouring the general Adeimantos

Decree of Rhamnous (and Athenian residents?) honouring the general Adeimantos

I Rhamnous 401 Date: ca. 290 BC

[In the archonship of -].^[1] The [Rhamnousians] decided, - son of - of Rhamnous proposed: since Adeimantos having previously been elected general (5) for the countryside managed the countryside and the defence of the forts well and with love of honour (philotimōs) and on that account the People crowned him many times, and those stationed in the forts (crowned him too); and (10) again having been appointed general for the countryside by king Demetrios for two years, continues to be well disposed, saying and doing what is beneficial for king Demetrios and his descendants (15) and the Athenian People and the deme of the Rhamnousians, making himself useful both collectively and individually to each of those in need; and now in wartime conditions has managed (20)the gathering [of all the crops] in the countryside [from?] . . . and himself [going out?] . . . reckoning (?) . . . of greater value . . . . . .

Next - Oetjen, Athen im dritten Jahrhundert, no. 2
Greek text

References:

I Rhamnous 401 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 43.27

SEG 70.59

Oetjen, Athen im dritten Jahrhundert, no. 1

Knoepfler, Trésor documentaire, 95-105, 206.4

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Deme Rhamnous and Athenian residents?)

Findspot: Rhamnous (Rhamnous Fortress 1235 Φ)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual Note Our text follows I Rhamnous except 1-2 Ῥ̣α̣|[μνουσίοις] Santini, SEG 70.59. τ̣[οῖς] | [δημόταις] Petrakos

This decree honours a general, Adeimantos, for his services to king Demetrios and his descendants, the Athenian People and the Rhamnousians (ll. 13-16). Ll. 3-9 refer to a previous period of office as general for the countryside, elected in the democratic manner by the Athenian People, 10-24 to a subsequent tenure of the same office for two years, appointed by king Demetrios. Some scholars have supposed that both generalships were held during the first period that Athens was under the control of Demetrios Poliorketes and his father, Antigonos, ca. 307-301 BC, but Knoepfler argues attractively that the unconstitutionality of the second appointment (two-year tenure and appointed by Demetrios rather than elected by the Athenian People) would suit better Demetrios' second, arguably more severe, period of rule, 295/4-288/7 BC, comparing the two-year tenure of the eponymous archonship by Olympiodoros, 294/3 and 293/2, and noting that Olympiodoros has the correct number of letters in the genitive, i.e. 12, to have been named in l. 1 of our inscription. He would identify Adeimantos with the Adeimantos of Lampsakos who was a friend of the king, proedros of the League of Corinth as reconstituted in 302 BC, and a trustee of the will of Theophrastos (cf. L. Robert, Hellenica II, 15-33; Diog. Laertius 5.7). In favour perhaps of the later dating is that the decree is less laconic than the deme decrees of Rhamnous of the end of the 4th cent. (I Rhamnous 14, 15, 63). Knoepfler suggests further that the decree of soldiers based at Sounion (IG II² 1260), honouring a general whose name is not preserved, might be one of the earlier decrees issued by garrisons for Adeimantos referred to in l. 9, and that the war referred to in ll. 19-24 is the war of resistance to Demetrios' rule which was waged by Thebes and the Boeotians after 294 BC (Knoepfler, 98-9, cf. Y. Kalliontzis, Contribution à l'épigraphie et à l'histoire de la Béotie hellénistique, 2020, 108 ff.). For the emphasis on protecting agriculture in decrees honouring generals at Rhamnous cf. I Rhamnous 403 and I Rhamnous 407.

It is not certain that this decree was passed by the deme Rhamnous acting alone. This is not so much because "demesmen" (or better "the Rhamnousians" - see textual note) in ll. 1-2 is completely restored, as because the resolution clause does not survive, and while I Rhamnous 17, albeit rather later (235/4 BC), appears from its opening lines to be a deme decree, ll. 30-31 associate all the other Athenians resident in Rhamnous as joint parties to the decree with the deme. On the fluidity of definition of bodies passing decrees at Rhamnous see the notes to I Rhamnous 17 and I Rhamnous 31. On the deme Rhamnous in general and its inscriptions see I Rhamnous 182.

Added: 2 Apr 2026
Updated: 2 Apr 2026
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