AIO 2696 Honorific decree of Kephisia

Honorific decree of Kephisia

AIO 2696 Date: ca. 350-300 BC

[E]pikles proposed: since Phrour- . . . with love of honour (philotimōs) the sanctuaries or rites (hierōn) of the . . . [on?] his own land (chōriōi) which . . . . . . the fountain (krēnēn) and the . . . (5)constructed or repaired and or also of the wrestling-ground (palaistras) . . . . . . the changing room (apodutērion) of the wrestling-ground . . . and fenced off the fountain (krēnēn) so that [the livestock should not enter] into it and in other respects [shows or showed love of honour towards] the deme of the Kephisians, the demesmen shall decide (10)to praise Phrour- . . . . . . ^[1]

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Greek text

References:

AIO 2696 (Translated text) (AIO)

SEG 32.147 (PHI)

SEG 33.142 (PHI)

SEG 36.188 (PHI)

SEG 50.159

Humphreys, Kinship, 825-9

Russo, Ripartizioni, D59

Translation by: Stephen Lambert

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Decree (Deme Kephisia)

Findspot: Kephisia, at intersection of Charilaou Trikoupi and Karaiskaki Streets (Piraeus Museum ΜΠ 3514)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual Note. AIO's text is based on that of E. Vanderpool, AD 24, 1969, A.6-7 (SEG 32.147), with the following amendments: 1 Φρο[υρ-] and 10 Φρου[ρ- W. S. Morison, ZPE 131, 2000, 93-98 (SEG 50.159; we do not record here Morison's more doubtful restorations, on which cf. P. Gauthier, Bull. ép. 2001, 193) || 1 fin. We omit [καλῶς καὶ] ("finely and"), uncertainly restored here by previous eds. || 3 Morison || 4 τ]ὴν κρήνην καὶ τὸν̣ [ὀχετὸν ("and the [water channel]") Morison, after G. Panessa, ASNP 13, 1983, 380 n. 66 (SEG 33.142) || 5 [ἐπεσκ]εύασε ("repaired") Vanderpool, [κατεσκ]εύασε ("constructed") Morison after Panessa || 7 fin. τὰ πρόβατα ("the livestock") added by L. Robert, Bull. ép. 1971, 286 (SEG 36.188) || 8 fin. φι[λότιμός ἐστι πρὸς or εἰς] ("is honour-loving towards") Robert, φι[λοτίμως ἔπραξε πρὸς] ("acted honour-lovingly towards") Morison.

This inscription, first published by N. Verdelis, AD 21, 1966, B.106, is the only extant decree of Kephisia, a medium-sized deme of the inland trittys of Erechtheis (bouleutic quota 6, IG II³ 4, 54, 21-27, Agora XV 42, 31-37, only 2 in the early IG I³ 515, but that was not a full prytany list) located, the findspot of this inscription suggests, in the area of the homonymous modern outer Athenian suburb of Kephisia. On the deme and its members see Humphreys (Takeuchi reports, pers. comm., that the "other" deme decree, "not yet fully published", which she refers to does not relate to Kephisia); on the topography of the deme see the works cited at her 825, n. 37; on demes in general, RO 46.

The honorand had contributed in some way to (e.g. managed, or restored - the verb is not preserved) sanctuaries or rites in the deme (l. 2), and more specifically to building works at an exercise complex in the deme, apparently located partly or wholly on his own land (l. 3), including a wrestling-ground (palaistra, ll. 5, 6), a changing room (apodyterion, l. 7) and a water-source, i.e. a fountain or spring (krēnē, l. 4), which was fenced off to prevent access by [livestock] (l. 7). The facility, which was most likely associated with a sanctuary of Hermes or Herakles (cf. Papazarkadas, Sacred and Public Land, 126 n. 125), referred to in l. 2?, was perhaps located in the general area of the inscription's findspot, which is ca. 400 m. south of the great spring of Kephalari (Vanderpool, followed by Morison). Humphreys raises the possibility that the honorand was a descendant of Phrouros and/or Phourarchos who appear on the 5th-century Erechtheid casualty list, IG I³ 1147, ll. 49, 177. The proposer, Epikles, is not otherwise known. The Athenian Onomasticon has 37 entries for Kephisians with names in -kles, but no other Epikles.

The inscription dates, like the large majority of honorific decrees of the demes, to the second half of the 4th century BC (thus Vanderpool, on the basis of its letter forms). Morison notes some similarity to the lettering of Tracy's Cutter of IG II² 1176 (ADT, 129-31), whose small body of known work dates to ca. 330-324/3 BC, though Tracy does not include this inscription in the Addenda to his published lists of the work of his Cutters at Horos 26-31, 2014-2019, 39-50. Humphreys speculates that the construction works mentioned in the decree were connected with the foundation of the reformed ephebate ca. 335 BC (cf. RO 89).

Added: 28 Jul 2023
Updated: 24 Oct 2024
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ID: AIO_2696