Munn 324-30, no. 5 Military dedication (by <i>hypaithroi</i>) from Panakton

Military dedication (by hypaithroi) from Panakton

Munn, Inscriptions from Panakton 324-30, no. 5 Date: 255-200 BC

heading broken away . . . these men stationed in the open country (hupaithroi) dedicated (this):^[1] . . . . . . of Angele (5) . . . of Rhamnous . . . of Hermos . . . of Alopeke . . . of Oion . . . of Kydantidai (10) . . . of Aphidna . . . of Cholargos . . . of -nidai . . . of Phyle . . . of Thebes^[2] (15) . . . of Aphidna . . . of Hamaxanteia . . . of - . . . of - . . . of Kydantidai (20) . . . of - . . . of Paiania . . . of Amphitrope . . . of Sounion . . . of -

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References:

Munn, Inscriptions from Panakton 324-30, no. 5 (Translated text)

IG II³ 4 324 (IG Online)

SEG 46.249 (PHI)

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Chris de Lisle

Monument type: Base

Inscription type: Dedication (hypaithroi)

Findspot: Panakton, modern Skourta (Thebes Museum inv. Panakton 1992-250)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Textual note AIO's translation follows the most recent text of Munn, which differs significantly from the IG text as follows: 1 IG prints an erasure in this line, Munn notes that there are no signs of an erasure but suggests the heading has been deliberately broken off || 2 ὕπα]ι̣θ̣ροι οἵ{ι}δε ἀ[ν]έθ̣εσαν Munn, -θ̣ροι οἵδε ἀ[ν]έ̣θ̣ε̣σ̣αν IG.

This is one of six inscriptions discovered by M. Munn at the fortress of Panakton. Initially published by him in Boeotia Antiqua 6, 1996, 53‒55 (SEG 46.249), this inscription has now been republished, with the other five, in his Inscriptions from Panakton. These inscriptions tend to confirm the identification of Panakton with their findspot in the ruins north of Eleusis and west of Phyle on the summit overlooking the southwestern edge of the Skourta plain from above the village of Prasino (formerly Kavasala). The earlier suggestion that the fortifications at Gyphtokastro, further to the west, were the site of Panakton was maintained by Clinton in I Eleusis, but has generally now been abandoned and Gyphtokastro identified as Eleutherai and under Boeotian control. Cf. Munn, 281-82, with map.

On the "men stationed in the open country", or "under the open sky" (hypaithroi) see most recently Munn, Inscriptions from Panakton, 327-30. It seems they were units assigned the duty of patrolling the countryside in late-iii BC in succession to the peripoloi and ephebes of a century earlier. Firmly attested only after 229 BC, Munn suggests that they may have been created earlier than this, perhaps at the time of the partial restoration of Attic forts to Athenian control in 255 BC. Though mainly composed of Athenian citizens, l. 14 shows that non-citizens might also belong to these units. They seem to have ceased to exist after the war with Philip V which began in 200 BC, a war in which the fortress at Panakton was destroyed. Cf. I Eleusis 211; AIO 823, with n. 4.

There is a circular cutting on the upper surface of the base at front left.

Added: 2 Apr 2019
Updated: 23 Sep 2022
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ID: AIO_1783