AgoraXV 322 Honours for Tiberius Claudius Attikos of Marathon and Vibullia Alkia

Honours for Tiberius Claudius Attikos of Marathon and Vibullia Alkia

Agora XV 322 Date: ca. 120-130 AD

Pheidias (son of Pheidias) [of Rhamnous, the prytany secretary (?), proposed],^[1] since the prytaneis [of Aiantis in the archonship of – and] those with perpetual dining rights (aiseitoi), having praised [and crowned the high priest of the Augusti] for life, Tiberius [Claudius Attikos of Marathon,^[2] declare] (5) to the Council [that the treasurer has sacrificed all] the [proper sacrifices in the] prytany, with his wife [Vibullia Alkia, from their private resources on behalf of] Emperor [Caesar Trajan Hadrian Augustus’ eternal endurance] and of his whole [house and of the prytaneis and those with perpetual dining rights and of the] Areopagos Council [and of the Council of the Six Hundred and of the People of the Athenians] (10) and that he has managed (epimemelēsthai) [magnificently of all the other things relating to the] prytany, [which the laws and the decrees prescribe, and for never] lacking for the . . . each year for the . . . allocation (merismon) and . . . (15) most religiously . . . [and therefore they encourage the Council to permit them] [the dedication] of bronze statues . . . [and to] have them made with this inscription: “[Tiberius Claudius Attikos son of Hipparchos of Marathon and] Vibullia Alkia [the tribe of Aiantis (honours) on account of their good will (eunoias) and beneficence (euergesias) towards] [their fatherland,” so that the Council may also be seen] distributing [the appropriate] (20) [thanks to the benefactors of the People, with good fortune, the Council shall decide] to praise, for [being] benefactors of the [citizens, the high priest Tiberius Claudius] Attikos of Marathon and Vibullia [Alkia and to crown them with a golden] crown, with which it is [customary] to crown [the benefactors of the People, and also] to permit the prytaneis of Aiantis [and those with perpetual dining rights to set up] (25) statues of them, just as has been written earlier, [and the prytany] secretary [shall inscribe the decree] on a stone stele and [erect it . . . ]

col. 2

Eirenaios son of – (55) Achilleus son of – Dionysios son of – Rhamnousians: Pheidias (son of Pheidias)^[5] Leonteichos son of – (60) Claudius Charopeinos [son of Phrasineikos]^[6] Claudius Philonides son of – Eukeros son of – Aphrodeisios son of – Demetrios son of – (65)Phalerans: Nummius [Menis? son of –]^[7] Claudius Archi- son of – Claudius Archi- son of – Aristo- son of – (70) Dionys- son of – Menandros son of – Eraton son of – Claudius Anti- son of – . . . ^[8] (75) . . . [Trikorynthians] . . . . . . . . . (80) . . .

col. 3

[List of those with perpetual dining rights]

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References:

Agora XV 322 (Translated text) (PHI)

IG II² 1073 (PHI)

IG II² 1074 (PHI)

SEG 12.94 (PHI)

Ameling, Herodes Atticus II 56

Women and the Polis, 206-08 no. 52.1

Translation by: Chris de Lisle

Images: Krateros - (1, 2)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Council)

A - Findspot: Athens (EM 3595)
B - Findspot: Acropolis (EM 9482)
C - Findspot: Acropolis (EM 5723)
D - Findspot: Acropolis (EM 5431)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual note: AIO follows the text of Agora XV, including the restoration of l. 6, which goes back to S. Dow, Prytaneis (1937), 193-197, no. 121. The restoration of J. H. Oliver AJP 70, 1949, 299-308 (= SEG 12.94) and Ameling (καὶ τὴν γυ[μνασιαρχίαν ἠχέναι ...τεθυκέναι δὲ “and [has held the gymnasiarchy… and has sacrificed…”) is also possible, but requires that “sacrificed” be repeated. On l. 74, see n. 8 below.

This is a prytany decree passed by the Council in honour of the treasurer of the prytany of Aiantis, Tiberius Claudius Attikos, and his wife Vibullia Alkia Agrippina, on whom see n. 2. They were the parents of the famous Herodes Attikos, on whom see AIUK 11 (Ashmolean), no. 15. On post-Sullan prytany decrees, see SEG 28.95 and, on Athenian decrees of the first and second centuries AD, see SEG 21.499 with notes. Agora XV 324 is a second prytany decree for Attikos, probably from the same year. These are by far the latest prytany decrees passed by the Council. The type was otherwise replaced with catalogues that the prytaneis erected on their own authority by 83/4 AD at the latest (Agora XV 313). The inscription is thus an example of the epigraphic archaism which is common in Roman Athenian inscriptions, especially those making significant changes or dealing with powerful people (cf. Agora XVI 336 and AIUK 4.2 (BM, Decrees), no. 17 with notes); both factors seem to apply here. The text mostly conforms the traditional form of the Council’s prytany decree (cf. IG II³ 1, 1231, ll. 36-66), honouring the treasurer for successfully carrying out sacrifices (at his own expense) followed by a catalogue of all the prytaneis and those with perpetual dining rights (the aisitoi, various magistrates and priests entitled ex officio to dine in the tholos every night).

This decree diverges from the traditional form in four significant ways: (1) The findspots of the fragments suggest it was erected on the Acropolis rather than in the Agora. (2) The sacrifices are now carried out in first instance in honour of the reigning emperor and his family and only after that for the Athenians (ll. 7-8, cf. F. Camia, Theoi Sebastoi, 2011, 111-12). (3) The treasurer is joined by his wife certainly in l. 18 and perhaps also in l. 6 (see textual note). While elite women often assumed magistracies and liturgies in the Roman period, this trend is less marked in Athens than in other cities and there are no other examples anywhere of women being involved in the internal operation of Councils and other decision making bodies (cf. R. Van Bremen, Limits of Participation, 1996, 55-59). (4) ll. 12-15 contain a clause that cannot be restored with no parallel in earlier prytany decrees, involving an allocation of funds (merismos, cf. IG II² 29 with note) in connection with something that will happen “each year.” The most likely explanation is that Attikos and Alkia had performed the treasurer’s role for all tribes in the year this stele was erected and then established a fund to pay for the treasurers’ expenses permanently (J. H. Oliver AJP 70, 1949, 299-308). This benefaction would be the cause of a set of statues erected in the Agora by each of the tribes in honour of Attikos (IG II² 3597a-d, Leone, Polis, Platz und Porträt, no. 79) and Alkia (IG II² 4063), probably to be identified with the statues mentioned in ll. 15-20. Oliver further proposed that this system survived until Attikos’ death (sometime in the late 130s: Byrne Roman Citizens, 113), when his son, Herodes Atticus, cancelled his father’s will (Fronto, ad M. Caes. 3.3; Philostr. Vit. Soph. 2.1.3). Oliver linked the latter event to the disappearance of the office of prytany treasurer and the new office of prytany eponymos which appears in prytany inscriptions from Agora XV 333 of 138/9 AD onwards. However, it is unclear how the cancellation of Attikos’ will could affect an endowment established while he was alive (W. Ameling, Herodes Atticus, 1983, II, pp. 87-90, cf. E. Muñiz Grijalvo in J. Cortés Copete, F. Lozano, and E. Muñiz Grijalvo, Empire and Religion, 2017, 27-28). [2] Tiberius Claudius Attikos Herodes (PIR² C 801; Byrne Roman Citizens, 110-14), father of the famous Herodes Atticus, was a member of the Claudii of Marathon, a wealthy and powerful family from the time of Julius Caesar (see IG II³ 4, 12 with notes). The family was exiled and their property confiscated by Domitian, but Attikos reclaimed it under Nerva (Philostr. Vit. Soph. 547, cf. SEG 55.248bis with note) and was high priest of the Augusti from ca. 100 AD (Ameling no. 37). He was the first Athenian to enter the Senate (cf. Corinth VIII.2, 58) and to serve as consul (in Sept.-Dec. 133: W. Eck, P. Holder, and A. Pangerl, ZPE 174, 2010, 193-95). He was also enrolled in the prestigious priestly college of the XVviri sacris faciundis in Rome (Bol, Statuenprogramm, no. 13). At Athens, he was involved in the expansion of the imperial cult at Athens under Hadrian, the completion of the Temple of Olympian Zeus, and sumptuously funded the Panathenaia and Dionysia festivals (Philostr. Vit. Soph. 2.549). He was honoured by the Areopagos, Council, and People in the Roman Agora (IG II² 3595), at Eleusis (I Eleusis 460), and with seats in the Theatre of Dionysos for him and Alkia (IG II³ 4, 1989, 2020). He was also honoured for benefactions at Corinth (Corinth VIII.2, 58; ILGR 97), Isthmia (Ameling, no. 36), Megara (IG VII 88), Plataia (IG VII 2509), Gytheion (IG II² 3596), and especially at Sparta, where he was patronomos (Ameling no. 74-79) and manager of Kythera (SEG 11.492). See W. Ameling, Herodes Atticus (1983) I, pp. 21-35 for discussion and II, pp. 65-93 for all associated inscriptions.

Vibullia Alkia Agrippina (Byrne Roman Citizens, 478-80) was a member of the Vibullii, a wealthy family who held Athenian citizenship but were based in Corinth (the provincial capital) and probably descended from the colonists settled there by Julius Caesar. The Vibulli and Claudii intertwined over several generations. Alkia herself was Attikos’ niece, daughter of his sister, Claudia Athenis. Her brother, L. Vibullius Hipparchos of Marathon (PIR² C 1076), archon in 100/1 AD, later adopted Herodes Atticus, who in turn adopted the sons of his cousin P. Aelius Vibullius (IG II² 3979). Alkia served as hierophantis around 155 AD (IG II² 3553), erected monuments for Polydeukion on his death in 157/8 (IG II² 3972-73), and was honoured by the Eleians and the Athenians in the 150s and 160s (IvO 621; SEG 59.253). [3] It is normal for the treasurer of the prytany to be listed again in first place in the catalogue. The fact that the prytaneis of Marathon and Phaleron with Roman citizenship are listed first (ll. 28-35, 66-68) indicates some correlation between Roman citizenship and status within Athens in this period (cf. IG IV² 1, 82-84). However, this was not absolute, as shown by the presence of non-Romans in first place in Rhamnous (ll. 58-59) and other Roman citizens (perhaps of freedman origin) lower down the list in ll. 45, 73 (cf. C. Brélaz, in M. Lavan and C. Ando, Roman and Local Citizenship, 2021, 255-83). [4] Phloros (i.e. Florus, Latin for “floral”) son of Kalamis (Greek for “reed”) is probably identical with a landowner in IG II² 2776, l. 104. [5] Pheidias is the prytany secretary of l. 1. It is normal for the prytany secretary to appear first in the catalogue of his demesmen (or second when he came from the same deme as the treasurer). He was manager of the Agora in the city in IG II² 3545 [6] cf. Charopeinos or his homonymous grandfather (depending on the date of this catalogue) dedicated IG XII 8 645 on Peparethos in 99/100 AD. For this family, see AIUK 11 (Ashmolean), p. 235. [7] cf. OGIS 504-507 C. [8] E. Kapetanopoulos Balkan Studies 22 (1981) 152-54 reconstructs l. 74 as aisitoi (ἀί[σειτοι). If correct, then the catalogue had no prytaneis from the deme Trikorynthos and contained less than fifty prytaneis in total, placing the inscription after the reduction of the Council from 600 to 500 members, which took place when the tribe Hadrianis was created in 124/5 AD (Byrne, Roman Citizens, 512). However, lists of aisitoi require 12-18 lines, so this would have resulted in substantial empty space below col. 1. It is much more likely that the aisitoi appeared in a third column, to the right. A date after 124/5 AD remains possible, but not necessary. The terminus post quem is thus the accession of Hadrian (l. 7) in 117.

Added: 20 May 2023
Updated: 9 Oct 2024
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