SEG 60.162 Letter from emperors on the Panhellenia

Letter from emperors on the Panhellenia

SEG 60.162 Date: 161-169, 177-180, or 197-211 AD

. . . this same from . . . ^[1] . . . things laid down as laws (nomothetoumena) . . . . . . for those who have won the games (agōna) among you, unless they should demonstrate some [good reason] (5)why they did not enter the Panhellenia, shall be stripped of the allowances (suntaxeis) for their victories among you, and those who have not won shall not henceforth be allowed to enter any of the sacred games among you. And we will make this clear to the association (sunodō),^[2] (10)but you, whenever someone skips the games [without] [reason], will inform us of your decisions. [He also reported] to us about the statues which you erected in our honour. We too [would have] happily given all the distributions (dianomas) . . . ^[3] (15) . . . honourific . . .

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Greek text

References:

SEG 60.162 (Translated text) (AIO)

IG II² 1106 (PHI)

Oliver, Marcus Aurelius 22

Oliver, Constitutions 188

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Letter (emperors)

Fr. a - Findspot: Acropolis (EM 9492)
Fr. b - Findspot: Acropolis (EM 9493)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This Imperial letter deals with sanctions for athletes who skipped the Panhellenia games at Athens. It is unclear whether it is addressed to the Athenians or to the Panhellenion (in the latter case "among you" in ll. 6-8 might apply to all the League's member cities). The Roman emperors awarded the status of "sacred games" to the prestigious Panhellenic games festivals and regulated them closely (cf. SEG 56.1359 and C. P. Jones, ZPE 161, 2007, 145-156). From the reign of Hadrian, Athens hosted four sacred games (more than any other city), one for each year of the Olympic cycle: the Great Panathenaia, the Olympia, the Hadrianeia, and the Panhellenia. Athletes who won these games were entitled to various privileges and monetary allowances (syntaxeis, cf. P. Oxy. 3611; J.-Y. Strasser, REG 123, 2010, 595 = SEG 60.162). The letter must postdate the establishment of the Panhellenia in 131/2 AD and the first person plurals in ll. 9, 13, and 14 show it was written by multiple co-regent emperors, which probably restricts the possible dates to 161-169 AD (Marcus Aurelius and Lucius Verus), 177-180 (Marcus Aurelius and Commodus), 197-211 (Septimius Severus, Caracalla, and Geta). On the Panhellenia games, see Oliver, Constitutions 245, a very similar letter from Septimius Severus and Caracalla on the same topic. On the Panhellenion, generally, see IG II³ 4, 215 with notes and, on inscribed Imperial letters at Athens, see I Eleusis 513. The stele was cut up and reused as a pair of column capitals in Byzantine times. [2] The association (synodos) is probably the Universal Athletes’ Association, which managed athletes throughout the Roman Empire. It had a headquarters in Rome and officials and sanctuaries throughout the empire and a range of prestigious offices which were almost exclusively held by successful hieronikai, who played a role in assessing athletes' entitlement to participate in games (cf. IG II² 2193 with notes). Presumably, it is notified because it is expected to enforce the sanctions outlined in ll. 3-9, which is an indication of its level of organisation, especially if these sanctions were expected to apply to all members of the Panhellenion. A similar body, the Dionysian Artists, existed for actors (AIUK 4.3A (BM: Decrees), no. 9, cf. B. Fauconnier, Athletes and Artists, 2023). [3] Distributions of money or food to crowds were a normal part of sacred games and civic life in the Imperial period (cf. A. Zuiderhoek, The Politics of Munificence, 2009, 94-108). An ephebic inscription (IG II² 2221 = Wilson, Ephebic Inscriptions, E.283, ll. 153-155) mentions that distributions of money were made to the ephebes from the Sebastophoric fund for sacrifices at the Panhellenia (cf. AIO Papers 12, sect. 3.1), but presumably the distributions referred to here were made to a broader group.

Added: 6 Mar 2026
Updated: 6 Mar 2026
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