IGII2 1197 + Add. p. 672 Decree of Aixone honouring officials (<i>syndikoi</i>?)

Decree of Aixone honouring officials (syndikoi?)

IG II² 1197 + Add. p. 672 Date: ca. 350-325 BC

. . . . . . ^[1] Gla[uk-?] . . . -sthenes . . . -ides son of Ka- (?) . . . (5)son of Philotheros . . . those accompanying . . . -tes son of Antich[ar-], - son of Kallias, Go[rg-] son of -, Leophilos son of Eudikos, the demarch (10) in office shall invite them to their seat of honour (proedrian), and they shall have all the same grants as have been given in accordance with the laws to the legal representatives (sundikois) with (15) Laches, in order that others may also show love of honour (philotimōntai), knowing that they will receive thanks from the demesmen;^[2] and Philotheros the demarch shall inscribe this (20) decree on a stone stele and stand it in the theatre. Crown

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References:

IG II² 1197 + Add. p. 672 (Translated text) (PHI)

Ackermann, Aixone, 101-107 no. 1

Csapo and Wilson II, 73-74

Russo, Ripartizioni, D12

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Deme Aixone)

Original location: Aixone (theatre)

Findspot: Pirnari (= Aixone) (NM 1205)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual Note AIO's translation follows the IG text, with minor adjusments in l. 2 (ς Γλα̣[υκίδην or Γλα̣[ύκωνα Takeuchi ap. Ackermann, ΣΓΑ IG) and l. 7 (Ἀντιχ[άρμου IG Add., or Ἀντιχ[άρους Ack.).

Aixone was a sizeable deme of the tribe Kekropis (bouleutic quota apparently 9-11 in the 4th cent. BC, Ackermann, 341-42, cf. Traill, Demos and Trittys, 13, 22-25 - the total is inferred only and not directly attested - equivalent to an adult male population of ca. 600) located on the west coast of Attica south of Athens in the area of modern Glyphada, bounded to the east by the southern reaches of Mount Hymettos, to the north by Halimous and to the south by Halai (Aixonides) (for the decrees of which, and in general on Attic demes, see RO 46). Its main centre seems to have been in the area of the church of Agios Nikolaos to the eastern side of Glyphada at Pirnari, on the ancient route from Athens to Sounion and to the north of this church (Ackermann, 93, 272-74); but it also had a small port in the bay to the north of cape Exonis, Ackermann, 75-77 (in general on Attic deme harbours and their connections with wagon roads see now M. C. McHugh, ABSA 114, 2019, 207-40 (map), and D. M. Lewis, Pnyx 1, 2022, 81-101, at 90-94 (map)); for a summary of the topography of the deme see Csapo-Wilson II, 62 (and see also A. P. Matthaiou, Horos 10-12, 1992-1998, 133-169). Aixone has recently (2018) been the subject of a detailed study by Delphine Ackermann, which includes fresh editions of all relevant inscriptions (with maps), including security horoi and funerary monuments, as well as an extensive prosopography of deme members. The deme is discussed also by Humphreys, Kinship, 1070-1083; and by Csapo-Wilson II, 62-74. Ackermann concludes that agriculture was the primary economic activity; and archaeological and literary evidence attests also to fishing and beekeeping.

Aixone is richly documented epigraphically. Including this decree, nine inscriptions containing decrees of the deme are extant (ten if Ackermann no. 7 is included), a total second only to that of the deme Eleusis (see I Eleusis 68): Ackermann no. 2, of 326/5 BC, honouring choregoi; no. 3, of 317/6 BC, honouring choregoi; no. 4, of 340/339 BC (?), honouring choregoi; no. 5, of 340/339 BC (?), honouring two men; no. 6, of ca. 316/5 BC, honouring Demetrios of Phaleron; no. 16, of 320/19 BC, honouring officials and priests in connection with festival of Hebe; no. 17, of ca. 330-320 BC, honouring officials in connection with festival (of Hebe?); Ackermann no. 7, of 345/4 BC, about lease of public land; no. 8, of 326/5 BC (?), regulating payments for pasturage. In addition, there are two relevant dedications: Ackermann FR 2, by someone who had perhaps been honoured by the demesmen of Aixone; Ackermann FR 5, by a demarch of Aixone. Ackermann no. 15, of 400-350 BC, is a list of payments to priests, possibly by the deme Aixone. Decrees of the deme were erected in the deme theatre (Ackermann nos. 1-5; for a collection of deme decrees inscribed in deme theatres see G. Tozzi, Archeologia Classica 70, 2019, 55-108); note also in this decree and others the award of proedria in the theatre and the abundant evidence for the Rural Dionysia in this deme, cf. Ackermann no. 2, with notes, and on the Rural Dionysia in general, IG II³ 4, 498); and the sanctuary of Hebe (Ackermann no. 7, no. 16).

For a discussion of the deme Aixone in the context of the political life of the city see Ackermann, 157-75. She observes (159) that in the 5th and 4th centuries BC it was an averagely wealthy deme as measured by the proportion of demesmen attested performing liturgies, and that, as usual in the Attic demes, the overlap between members active in the deme and those prominent at city level, was slight (158). Prominent families at city level discussed by Ackermann include those of Laches son of Melanopos, well-known general in the Peloponnesian War and eponym of a Platonic dialogue (160-61), Lysis son of Demokrates, likewise eponym of a Platonic dialogue (161-63), Chabrias, prominent general in the Second Athenian League (163-65), and Kallippos son of Philon, adventurer and associate (and assassin) of Dion of Syracuse, and briefly himself tyrant of that city (166-67). Summary of families active in deme affairs: 167-68. An (otherwise unknown, but presumably prosperous) Archippe daughter of Kleogenes of Aixone dedicated a statue of her daughter, also called Archippe, sculpted by Praxiteles in the third quarter of the 4th century BC, the base of which was discovered in the Agora (Agora XVIII 325; Löhr, Familienweihungen no. 106; Ackermann, 168-70). The most notable Aixonean family in the Hellenistic period was that of Leon and Kichesias, attested across 9 generations, holders of prominent positions in the city and active internationally (170-75). Overall deme society was very mobile, with many Aixoneans attested outside their deme and frequent mixed marriages involving members of other demes.

This inscribed decree was discovered together with Ackermann no. 3 and other inscriptions of Aixone at Pirnari (to the east of Glyphada, see Ackermann, 117, with fig. 2). It honours a number of men and (apparently) their associates (l. 6), who are awarded the same honours as "the syndikoi with Laches" (13-14), from which it has generally been inferred, perhaps correctly, that they were also syndikoi, i.e. men who had represented the deme in litigation. The only other reference to officials of this description in an Attic deme is in Ackermann no. 8, where they represent the deme in case of litigation with holders of pasturage rights. It seems not unlikely that our syndikoi, and/or those with Laches, were identical with those in no. 8. The date of our inscription is indicated by letter forms and the appearance of Leophilos son of Eudikos (9) in a list of men of uncertain type datable to ca. 350-300 BC, IG II² 1927, ll. 50-51, listed there before Demokrates, choregos for the deme in 326/5 BC, Ackermann no. 2). Laches (14) was probably a descendant of the well known general of that name of the Peloponnesian War (discussed by Ackermann, 160-61). Note that one of the syndikoi (5) is the son of the current demarch, Philotheros (20). The precise location of the theatre at Aixone, place of erection of the decree (21), has not been identified (Ackermann, 69-71). [2] It is notable that three of the four substantially preserved decrees of this deme honouring deme members include hortatory intention clauses, stating explicitly that the honours are awarded to encourage others to show similar honour-loving behaviour (philotimia) towards the deme: cf. Ackermann no. 4 and no. 2; no. 5 contains no such clause; the relevant part of no. 3 is not preserved. This type of clause begins appearing in Assembly decrees in the 340s BC, at the same time as the regular series of inscribed decrees honouring Athenian officials (cf. IG II³ 1, 306, with notes; IG II³ 1, 301), and this is not long after demes also began inscribing honorific decrees (for one of the earliest see RO 46 and cf. IG II² 1180, with notes). This is revealing as to one of the key underlying purposes of such decrees, both at deme and city level, and helps to explain their proliferation: to act as an incentive to other members of the community to behave in similarly beneficial ways towards the deme/the city. It is notable that while the other two decrees honour men for financial outlay, the honorands' benefaction would not seem to be of a financial character in this case. While philotimia might include financial benefaction, therefore, it also comprehended other kinds of service to the community.

Added: 19 Jul 2022
Updated: 14 Oct 2024
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