SEG 34.103 Decree of Halai Araphenides honouring a deme liturgist

Decree of Halai Araphenides honouring a deme liturgist

SEG 34.103 Date: ca. 334/3-314/3 BC

Gods. Peithias proposed: since Philoxenos served as sponsor (chorēgēsen) for the pyrrhichistai well and with love of honour (philotimōs), (5)and has performed all the other liturgies in the deme well and with love of honour (philotimōs), the Halaians shall decide to praise (10) Philoxenos son of Phrasikles and crown him with a gold crown of 500 drachmas, and the treasurers shall give him five drachmas for a sacrifice; (15) and the herald shall announce at the Tauropolia in the competition, that the deme of the Halaians crowns Philoxenos son of Phrasikles for his justice and love of honour (philotimias) (20) concerning the deme of the Halaians; and he shall have a seat of honour (proedrian) in all the competitions that the Halaians put on, and the herald shall invite (25)him to his seat of honour; and the demarch shall inscribe this decree on a stone stele and stand it in the sanctuary of Artemis; and (30)the treasurer [of the gods?] shall give 20 drachmas for inscribing the stele and account for it to the demesmen . . . ^[1]

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References:

SEG 34.103 (Translated text) (PHI)

SEG 45.123

Tracy, ADT 124 (date)

Russo, Ripartizioni, D53

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Deme Halai Araphenides)

Original location: Halai Araphenides, Sanctuary of Artemis

Findspot: Loutsa (= Halai Araphenides) (EM 12807)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] For the deme Halai Araphenides and its sanctuary of Artemis Tauropolos see SEG 46.153 (deme decree honouring choregoi) with notes. A third decree, SEG 55.252, honours two non-members of the deme. Philoxenos son of Phrasikles had sponsored the dance in armour (pyrrhiche), attested otherwise in Attica at the Panathenaia (IG II³ 4, 433, with notes), but here doubtless an event of the Tauropolia (cf. P. Ceccarelli, in P. Murray and P. Wilson, eds., Music and the Muses, 2004, 91-117, at 100). He had also performed "all the other deme liturgies". The precise scope of these is unclear, but they presumably included the choregia at the Rural Dionysia to which SEG 46.153 relates. The honours awarded by this decree are more extravagant than in that one (e.g. 500 dr. gold crown, cf. the foliage crown in SEG 46.153). There are several possible explanations for this, including that the context in this case was the more prestigious Tauropolia, and Philoxenos was a single individual apparently here being honoured for a series of services, whereas Antimachos and Soinautes of SEG 46.153 are a pair being honoured for a single choral sponsorship.

Like the choregoi honoured by SEG 46.153, Philoxenos son of Phrasikles, is not otherwise known. Phrasikles son of Menes, ephebe of Aigeis in 250/49 BC, IG II³ 1, 1008, l. 51, was probably a relation. The proposer, Peithias, is not identifiable.

Added: 12 Dec 2022
Updated: 28 Feb 2024
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