RO 29 Decree of Athens and decision (<i>dogma</i>) of Second Athenian League for Paros, 373/2 and 372/1 BC

Decree of Athens and decision (dogma) of Second Athenian League for Paros, 373/2 and 372/1 BC

RO 29 Date: 373/2 BC (Allied decision), 372/1 BC (Athenian decree)

Athenian decree^[1] . . . . . . in accordance with tradition, and to the Panathenaia a cow and panoply and send to the Dionysia a cow and (5) phallos as a [commemoration], since they happen to be colonists of the Athenian People. Inscribe the decree and the reconciliation which the allies resolved for the Parians, and put the stele on the acropolis; (10) and for inscribing the stele the treasurer (tamian) of the People shall give 20 drachmas; and invite to hospitality in the city hall (prutaneion) tomorrow the ambassadors (presbeis) of the (14) Parians.

Allied decision (dogma) (14) In the archonship of Asteios (373/2). On the old and new day (henēi kai neai) (15) of Skirophorion. - of Thebes putting to the vote. The Allies decided: so that the Parians shall live [in harmony] and nothing violent shall happen [there?], if anybody kills [anybody unjustly?] those who are guilty (20) [shall be put to?] death . . . [pay?] the penalty in accordance with the laws . . . or exiles anybody contrary to the laws and this decree . . . . . . (25) . . . . . .

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Greek text

References:

RO 29 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 31.67 (PHI)

Crowther and Matthaiou, Συνθήκη Ἀθηναίων καὶ Παρίων, 31-38

IALD II 147 no. 12

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, P. J. Rhodes

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Council/People), Decision of Second Athenian League

Original location: Acropolis

Findspot: Acropolis (South slope) (EM 12821)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] The text in RO, translated here, was based on the work of Crowther and Matthaiou. This inscription contains a decision of the allied Council of the Second Athenian League (synedrion) passed on the last day of 373/2 and providing for a reconciliation between warring factions in Paros, an Aegean island which had been an early member of the League (RO 22, l. 89). It is preceded by an Athenian decree which must have been passed in early 372/1. In the lost beginning it perhaps affirmed the settlement, and provided for the Parians to send regular offerings to Athens, as was appropriate for colonists (for such offerings cf. e.g. Brea, OR 142). According to one tradition Paros had been colonised from Arcadia (Aristot. F 611.25 Rose), but the more prevalent tradition seems to have been that, like the other Cyclades, it was founded from Athens (Thuc. 1.12.4, Isok. 12.43, schol. Dion. Perieget. 525 [ii.451 Müller] etc.). The inscription is of interest in relation to the history of the Second Athenian League: (a) the care Athens takes to specify that the symbolic offerings are appropriate to the Parians as colonists would seem, like several other aspects of her handling of the League in the early years, to be a deliberate attempt to distance herself from the later phase of the 5th-century Empire, when all allies were subject to such requirements (OR 153 decree 2); (b) this is the only extant text of a decision of the allied Council of the Second Athenian League. It is notable that, though dated by the Athenian calendar, the chairman is not an Athenian (Athens may not have been a Council member), but a Theban, despite Thebes' waning support for the League by this time (Xen. Hell. 6.2.1) and the fact that its growing power in Boeotia and central Greece, including destruction of Plataia (Xen. Hell. 6.3.1, cf. Isok. 14) was causing unease in Athens. We do not know full details, but this inscription at least creates the impression of an independent allied Council actively involved in peace-making, supported by a benevolent Athens.

Added: 29 Jul 2014
Updated: 7 Jan 2024
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ID: AIO_821