AIO 2883 Law about the harvest and export of olive oil ("Hadrian's law")

Law about the harvest and export of olive oil ("Hadrian's law")

AIO 2883 Date: 124/5 AD or later

Chapter of the law-code (?) of Hadrian:^[1] Those who farm olives shall deliver a third, or an eighth for those who possess the estates of Hipparchos which were sold (5)by the Fiscus (phiskou), since they alone have this right (dikaion).^[2] They shall deliver it as the harvest begins in batches, in proportion to what is [harvested], to the olive-buyers (eleōnais), (10)[giving it to those] taking care of the [public need]. They shall register [an account of the] harvest before . . . and the herald,^[3] providing two [copies] and (15)taking one away, after it has been signed (hypographēn). The registration (apographē) shall be with an oath stating both how much he harvested in total, and that (it was done) by such-and-such a slave or such-and-such a freedman. If the master (despotēs) of the (20)estate, or the farmer (geōrgos), or the crop-buyer (karpōnēs) should sell the crop,^[4] then the one selling for export (exagōgē) shall also register before them how much he is selling, and to whom, and where their boat is anchored. (25)Anyone [who has sold] for export without registering, even if he has delivered what he owed to the city, shall be deprived of the sale. Anyone who makes false declarations, whether about the harvest or about (30)the export or regarding their estate - [if someone] who had bought an estate from the Fiscus that [had] not been Hipparchos' delivered an eighth - [shall be deprived of it], and the informer shall get [half]. [ . . . export] of unregistered (35) . . . if . . . . . . of the deprived . . . . . . he himself or whoever . . . he shall - from . . . . . . but he shall keep half of the price, (40)if he has not yet given it, or he shall take it (back?), and the other half shall be public property (dēmosion).^[5] The merchant (emporos) shall also record what he exports and how much from each (seller). And if someone who has not registered (this information) is caught sailing away, he shall be deprived of it (i.e the oil). (45)But if he sails away before he is charged, he shall be indicted in his homeland by the People and to me.^[6] Cases about these matters, up to fifty amphorae shall be judged by the Council alone, and cases over that amount together with (50)the People. If someone from the (merchant's) boat should provide information, it is compulsory for the general to gather the Council the next day and, if the information should be about more than fifty amphorae, the Assembly, and half shall be given to (55)the accuser. If someone should appeal either to me or to the proconsul, the People shall elect public advocates (sundikous). So that the penalties against the wrongdoers shall be inescapable, the oil shall be delivered to the public treasury (dēmosion) (60)at whatever the price is in the country.^[7] If it should ever happen that, owing to a glut of olive oil, the amount delivered from the thirds and eighths is more than the public need for the whole year, it shall be allowed for those who have not yet given the oil, either in whole (65)or in part, to make a second registration and declare how much oil is then owing that the olive-buyers or the financial treasurers (argurotamiai) do not want to take from them,^[8] what they owe [up to that day] (70)they shall keep [as their own . . . ] . . . register . . . declare . . . to - of the price . . . . . . declare . . . . . . what he or they owed . . . (75) . . . the other . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . (80) . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

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Greek text

References:

AIO 2883 (Translated text) (AIO)

IG II² 1100 (PHI)

SEG 14.80

SEG 15.108 (PHI)

SEG 46.144 (PHI)

Oliver, Constitutions 92

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Wikimedia Commons - (1)

Monument type: Gateway

Inscription type: Law (emperor)

Findspot: Roman Agora (In situ)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual note: AIO follows the text of Oliver Constitutions, except for l. 13, where Oliver, Constitutions has [τοὺς πρυτάνεις ("the prytaneis") and Graindor, Athènes sous Hadrien (1934), 74-79 has [τὴν βουλὴν "the Council," while Meritt in Hesp. Supp. 8, 1949, 221-225 = SEG 14.80 restores [τοὺς ἐλεώνας ("the oliver-buyers"); AIO declines to restore (see n. 3). AIO follows Meritt and Oliver's resolution of the mysterious abbreviation in l. 1; other proposals are κε(φάλαιον) νό(μου) θε(ιοτάτου) Ἁδριανοῦ ("chapter of the law of the most divine Hadrian") in IG II² and κε(φάλαιον) νό(μου) θε(ωρικοῦ) Ἁδριανοῦ ("chapter of the theoric law of Hadrian") in E. Kapetanopoulos, Horos 10-12, 1992-1998, 218 (= SEG 46.144). Most of the text from l. 59 onwards is known only from a transcript made by Francis Vernon in 1675.

This law regulating the compulsory state purchase and export of olive oil is inscribed on one of the interior jambs of the Gate of Athena Archegetis in the Roman Agora (on which, see IG II³ 4, 12 with notes). It is the only surviving extract from the revised Athenian law-code issued by Emperor Hadrian at Athenian request in 124/5 AD (Syncellus Chron. p. 349a = 659.9) or possibly 121/2 AD (Jerome Chron. 280h). It is unknown whether this law was inscribed at this time or later in the second century AD. Eusebius and Syncellus state that this revision was modelled on the ancient laws of Drakon and Solon (on which, see OR 183A with notes). Solon's laws apparently included provisions on the export of olive oil (Plut. Sol. 24.1), but this law can have little connection with Solon's one, since throughout it takes account of contemporary political and economic norms of Athens (esp. ll. 3-5, 47-54) and the Roman Empire (esp. ll. 45-47, 55-57). For other evidence for Hadrian's law code – all indirect – see S. Follet, Athènes (1976), 116-25. Prominent Athenians had served as lawgivers in 61/2 AD (IG II² 1990) and from 101/2 until 108/9 AD or later (I Délos 2535-2537). Hadrian also revised civic law codes at Megara (IG VII 70-72), Sparta (SEG 38.331), Cyrene (IRCyr. C14), and probably Synnada (Sardes et Synnada 2, l. 30) and the Delphian Amphiktyony (CID IV 152 ii, ll. 37-40). Subsequently, Hadrian and his successors sent dozens of letters regulating aspects of Athenian law and life (see I Eleusis 513 with notes). On Hadrian and Athens, see IG II² 5185 with notes. For earlier Athenian laws see AIO 819 with notes.

This law requires cultivators of oil to sell a third of their harvest (or an eighth, see n. 2) to civic magistrates called "olive-buyers" (eleonai) before they can export any of their crop (ll. 2-11, cf. the grain-buyers in Agora XVIII 345). Evidence from other cities suggests that the olive-buyers were expected to meet this cost from their own funds (Digest 50.4.18.5). Since it is presumed that the cultivators would prefer to export, the sale must be at an artificially low price (despite ll. 59-60). This form of coercive purchase originated in the late Classical period (cf. Aristot. Oec/ 1348b-49a) and became common under Roman rule (cf. AE 1925, no. 126, ll. 32-46 and K. Harter-Uibopuu in O. van Nijf and R. Alston, Feeding the Ancient Greek City, 2008, 127-33). Cultivators are required to register an account of their whole harvest under oath, one copy of which is filed in the archives, while another is returned to them as proof of registration (ll. 12-24). Failing to register or giving an inaccurate account leads to confiscation of their profits or their harvest (ll. 25-41). Merchants must also register what they buy (ll. 42-47). Cases are heard before the Council and People, but defendants might appeal to the provincial governor or the emperor (ll. 47-57, see n. 7). If the harvest was so large that this process would bring in more oil than Athens required, the excess could be remitted through a second registration process, the details of which are lost (ll. 60-75). This remittance procedure indicates that the goal of the law was to ensure that Athens had a sufficient supply of olive oil for public purposes (especially the operation of gymnasia, a particular concern of Hadrian, see IG II² 1102 with notes); the city was not expected to on-sell the oil for additional revenue. The law is our clearest glimpse at the robust systems of recordkeeping, financial management, and commercial regulation maintained by Athens in the Imperial period (cf. IG II² 1103 regulating on-selling of imports, Agora XVIII 345 on state purchase of grain, and IG II³ 4, 214 regulating prices of meat). The location of the inscription suggests that the process or part of it took place in the Roman Agora, bolstering the normal interpretation of this as a space for commerce and wholesaling (cf. SEG 36.233 and D. S. Sourlas, in V. Chankowski and P. Karvonis eds., Tout vendre, tout acheter, 2012, 119-38). For detailed discussion of the law, see M. Rizzi, Legislazione di mercato ad Atene (2016), 111-57 with bibliography. [2] Hipparchos was a leading Athenian in the late first century AD. In 92/3, he was convicted of tyranny and his property was confiscated (Philostr. Vit. Soph. 2.1.2). This inscription indicates that it went to the Fiscus, the emperor's treasury, which also held other land in Attica (ll. 30-32). The one-eighth rate is also enjoyed by farmers on Salamis in AIO 2662, l. 35-37, probably from the 40s AD. It is unclear whether this indicates a connection between Salamis and Hipparchos' estates. The Fiscus probably sold the right to cultivate the land (i.e. a lease), rather than selling it outright (cf. IG VII 2226/2227, ll. 14-18 from Thisbe). [3] The registration is performed before an entity whose name is lost and a herald. These officials might be the prytany/Council and the herald of the Council and People or the olive-buyers and their own herald (see textual note). The Council judges cases where registration is not carried out at ll. 47-50 (see n. 7) and its presence here would indicate it had general oversight of the process (as would have been expected in earlier times, cf. AIUK 4.2 (BM, Decrees), no. 5, P. J. Rhodes, Athenian Boule, 1972, 88-113). Registration before the olive-buyers would be more efficient, but would also make them essentially self-regulating. [4] The law distinguishes three classes who might dispose of the harvest (ll. 19-21): the master or owner of the estate (despotes), the farmer (georgos), and the "crop-buyer" (karpones). The farmer is presumably a long-term tenant, while the crop-buyer is a sharecropper, who bought the crop from the estate's owner/tenant in advance and then carried out the harvest themselves (cf. P.Oxy. IV 728). It seems that any of these classes might employ a slave or freedman to do the actual work of harvesting the crop (ll. 18-19). Textual evidence and archaeology shows that Attica and the rest of Achaia were characterised by fewer, larger estates in the Imperial period than earlier times, although these were often fragmented and some smallholdings existed too (cf. IG II² 2776; D. D'Aco and G. Steinhauer in A. D. Rizakis and I. P. Touratsoglou, Villae Rusticae, 2013, 440-85 and, more generally, A. D. Rizakis, Pharos 20.1, 2014, 241-68 [link]). On agricultural leases in the Classical period, see IG I³ 84 with notes. [5] In ll. 25-34 the law establishes that any seller who does not register fully and truthfully will have the money they received confiscated (with the accuser getting a portion, as was common in ancient legal proceedings). The next section is fragmentary, but seems to include consequences for the purchaser of unregistered oil, who gets to keep half of the purchase price if he has not yet paid or reclaim it from the seller if he has already paid, but has the other half confiscated (ll. 39-41), but other explanations are possible (Rizzi 2016, 137-39). [6] i.e. to Hadrian. On appeals to the emperor see next note. [7] Cases are to be judged by the Council and more serious ones by "the Council with the People," which appears to mean a joint-session (a procedure attested in other cities in the second century AD, cf. S. Dmitriev, City Government in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor, 2005, 327 n. 189). The general's role in gathering the Council and Assembly is attested in decrees from the early second century BC (IG II³ 1 1287, ll. 4-5; 1335, ll. 5-7) and fits with the wide-ranging powers of the office at this time (cf. D. Geagan, Athenian Constitution after Sulla, 1967, 18-31). The Council is often attested as a court in the Classical and Hellenistic periods, but this inscription is the only evidence for either Council and Assembly playing a judicial role at Athens in the Imperial Period (P. J. Rhodes, 1972, 179-207; the latest instance aside from this inscription is IG II³ 4, 1132, ll. 8-9 of the late first century BC). In Hadrian's law on on-selling (IG II² 1103) cases are judged by the Areopagos, which is the main Athenian court mentioned in literary evidence from the Imperial period (cf. AIUK 4.3A (BM Decrees) no. 10; D. Geagan, Athenian Constitution after Sulla, 1967, 48-50). IG II² 1732-1733 show that a system of courts (dikasteria) operated in Athens at the beginning of the first century AD and Pausanias refers to various courts in the present tense in the 170s AD (Paus. 1.28.8). On the Athenian court system under the empire, see J. Fournier, Entre tutelle romain et autonomie civique (2010), 127-61.

Allowance is made for defendants to appeal to Roman authorities, as was frequent in the Imperial Period even in so-called "free cities" like Athens (cf. ll. 45-47 and SEG 29.127). Most people had to appeal to the proconsul (i.e. provincial governor) in first instance; privileged appellants, such as Roman citizens and free cities, had the right to appeal directly to the emperor. Communities chose advocates (Greek: syndikoi, Latin: defensores) to defend their interests before Roman courts, at their own expense (Digest 50.4.18.13; J Fournier, Cahiers du Centre Gustave Glotz 18, 2007, 7-36). Hadrian assumes that the Athenians are familiar with the process. During the appeal, the value of the oil is placed in the Athenian public treasury (ll. 57-60), presumably as a guarantee that the appellant would be able to pay costs if they lost. Payment is in money, probably because storing oil for the duration of the appeal would be expensive and it might have spoilt by the time a ruling was issued. [8] On the financial treasurers (argyrotamiai), see Puech, Orateurs 1 with notes.

Added: 17 Aug 2024
Updated: 17 Aug 2024
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ID: AIO_2883