AIO 816 Alliance with Thracian, Paionian and Illyrian kings

Alliance with Thracian, Paionian and Illyrian kings

AIO 816 Date: 356/5 BC

Fragments ab

^[1] Relief^[2] Secretary Lysias son of Lys- of Pithos.^[3] Alliance of the Athenians with Ketriporis the Thracian and his brothers and with Lyppeios the Paionian and with Grabos the Illyrian. In the archonship of Elpines (356/5). In the first 5 prytany, of Hippothontis. On the eleventh of the prytany. Of the presiding committee Mnesarch- of - was putting to the vote. The Council and the People decided. Kallisthenes^[4] proposed: for the good fortune of the People of Athens, to accept the alliance [on the terms which Mono?]unios^[5] the brother of Ketriporis says 10 were agreed by his brother and the [envoy of?] the People of Athens to Ketriporis and his brothers and to Lyppeios the Paionian and to Grabos the Illyrian; and the presiding committee allotted to preside at the next Assembly shall introduce to the People [Monounios?] the brother 15 of Ketriporis and Peisianax^[6] and the embassies that have come from Lyppeios and Grabos and - who has come from Chares,^[7] and submit the opinion of the Council to the People, that it seems good to the Council to accept the alliance,^[8] since . . . 20 the – [of Monounios?] . . . Chares . . . the People of Athens . . . for war . . . Philip . . . 25 . . .

Uncertain number of lines missing

Fragment c

. . . . . . the money; and to praise Ketriporis and his brothers because they are good men with regard to the People of Athens; and to praise also [Monounios?] the brother who has come from Ketriporis 30 for his [excellence and good will], and invite him to hospitality in the city hall tomorrow; and to praise also Peisianax, and invite him to dinner in the city hall tomorrow; [and to invite – and Arist]oteles? who have come from [the other kings?] to the city hall tomorrow; and if 35 this decree lacks anything, the Council shall be authorised.^[9] [Ambassadors appointed:] Lysikrates of Oinoe, Antimachos of -, Thrason of Erchia.^[10] 1 line uninscribed 'I swear by Zeus and Earth and Sun and Poseidon and Athena and Ares that I shall be a friend to Ketriporis and the brothers of 40 Ketriporis and an ally, and I shall wage with Ketriporis^[11] the war against Philip without deceit, with all my strength, as far as possible, and I shall not put an end in advance to the war against Philip without Ketriporis and his brothers, and [such territories as] Philip [now] holds I shall join in subduing with 45 Ketriporis and his brothers, and I shall join in taking Krenides with Ketriporis and his brothers, and I shall give back the . . . '

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Greek text

References:

AIO 816 (Translated text) (AIO)

IG II² 127 (PHI)

SEG 68.46

Syll.³ 196

SdA II 309

Lawton 27

RO 53

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, P. J. Rhodes

Images: Krateros - (1)
Ohio - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Council and People)

Fragment a - Findspot: Acropolis (EM 6967)
Fragment b - Findspot: Acropolis (South slope) (EM 6966)
Fragment c - Findspot: Acropolis (South slope) (EM 6966a)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual Note. Our text is based on RO 53, with adjustments reflecting A. P. Matthaiou’s autopsy and preparatory work for IG II³ (kindly communicated to us per ep.). 6 Μνήσαρχ[ος or Μνησαρχ[ίδης Matth. 10 [πρεσβευτὴν τὸν], cf. IG II² 117, l. 20, IG II³ 1, 455, ll. 3, 10, or [πεμφθέντα παρὰ] Matth., [ἐσταλμένον παρὰ] previous eds. after Wilhelm. 14 Matth. after other eds., προσα[γαγεῖν εἰς τὸ]ν Koumanoudes, Rhodes. 20 τὸν Μ̣[ο?]ν[ο?]νίο[υ?] Matth. 24 Matth., or Λυ]ππ[ε]ι[- previous eds. 34 Matth., based largely on letters read by early eds. which are no longer legible, Ἀρ[ισ]τοτέλη [τοὺς] Koumanoudes, [ἐπὶ ξένια τοὺς πρέσβες τὸς ἡ]κοντας RO 53 after Wilhelm. 45 Matth., [τἆλλα χωρία, ἃ] RO 53 after Koehler. [2] The partially preserved relief depicts a prancing horse and rider. [3] Since coming to the Macedonian throne in 359 BC, Philip II had expanded his power at the expense of the parties to this alliance. In 358 BC he had defeated both the Paionians and the Dardanian Illyrians under Bardylis (Diod. 16.4.6), and he now posed a threat to their neighbours, the Illyrians under Grabos. Of particular impact on Athens was Philip's capture in 357 BC of Amphipolis, originally an Athenian colony, over which Athens had been seeking to recover control since 368 BC (cf. RO 49 with notes). Ketriporis, who, with his brothers, had recently succeeded his father as king of western Thrace, was alarmed by Philip's capture of Krenides (l. 46), which Philip proceeded to refound as Philippi (Diod. 16.8.2-7). In 357/6 BC Philip had concluded an alliance with the Chalcidians whose state was centred on Olynthos (see RO 50) and Athens had made an agreement with the three kings of Thrace, including Ketriporis' father, Berisades (see RO 47). Our alliance, concluded at the beginning of 356/5 BC (first prytany, ll. 4-5, i.e. ca. July), came to nothing. Athens was distracted by her war with her allies, the Social War (see RO 48), and Diod. 16.22.3 records under 356/5 BC that the Thracian, Paionian and Illyrian kings combined against Philip, but he appeared before they were ready to confront him and forced them to join the Macedonians. This was probably also the context in which Philip II's general, Parmenio, won a victory over the Illyrians, recorded by Plut. Alex. 3.8. [4] Kallisthenes is not an uncommon name, making confident identification of this man impossible, but he might be the Kallisthenes who, in 357/6 BC, had been involved in some way with grain obtained from the Bosporan kingdom (Dem. 20.33, cf. IG II³ 1, 298). Athenian interests in this region were driven in part by a desire to secure grain supply routes from the Black Sea. The fact that this is a probouleumatic decree (cf. n. 8 below) implies that Kallisthenes was on the Council in 356/5 BC, in which capacity he had formulated this proposal and brought it forward to the Assembly. [5] The name of Ketriporis' brother, who is also referred to in ll. 14, 20? (a possible reference to him noted for the first time by Matthaiou), and 30, is uncertain. [6] Peisianax, who is invited to dinner (implying that he was an Athenian citizen) at ll. 32-33, is presumably the name of the Athenian envoy referred to in. l. 10. [7] Chares (also mentioned l. 21) was the Athenian general who had commanded the infantry in the battle of Chios, early in Athens' Social War (Diod. 16.7.3-4, cf. RO 48) and, most relevantly in this context, had negotiated the treaty with the Thracian kings in 357 BC (Dem. 23.173, see RO 47). [8] This wording implies that fr. a + b are from a probouleumatic decree, i.e. one agreed by the Assembly on the basis of a resolution as worded by the Council (cf. n. 4). It was common for probouleumatic decrees to be followed on the stone by riders proposed in the Assembly (for this in the period after 352/1 BC see IALD II pp. 240, 254). It is uncertain whether fr. c, which Matthaiou takes to follow a+b after an uncertain interval, belongs to such a rider. Fr. c is broken at the bottom, and, while possible, it is not certain that l. 48 was the last line of this inscription. [9] Clauses of this kind, giving the Council power to address any points on which the Assembly's decree is lacking, are not uncommon. For such clauses in the period after 352/1 BC see IG II³ 1, 292, ll. 84-86, IG II³ 1, 370, ll. 95-100, and IG II³ 1, 404, with IALD II, 248-49 notes a and e. The inclusion of the clause at this point might, but does not certainly, imply that this section of the decree was part of a rider, proposed in the Assembly, rather than part of the probouleumatic decree proposed by Kallisthenes contained in fr. a + b. [10] These Athenian envoys are not mentioned anywhere else in the surviving text of the inscription and their naming here may be a supplementary provision of the Council made under the clause contained in the previous line. They were most likely appointed to go to the other parties to the alliance (one to each of the three kings?) to administer its ratification (i.e. by swearing of oaths). [11] The wording of this oath (to be sworn by all the parties?) would seem to confirm the indications elsewhere in the inscription (ll. 9-12) that the initiative for this alliance lay with Ketriporis and that it was designed primarily to support his efforts to recapture Krenides from Philip.

Added: 29 Jul 2014
Updated: 30 Jan 2024
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ID: AIO_816