SEG 52.104 Law concerning repairs to buildings in the sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron

Law concerning repairs to buildings in the sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron

SEG 52.104 Date: 354/3-343 BC?

Gods.^[1] -les son of Hierokles of Philaidai^[2] proposed: in order that everything in the sanctuary [of the] Brauronian [goddess] may be secure (sa) and sound (hugiē), and the temple, both [the ancient one (archaios)?] and the Parthenon, and the houses (oikoi) may be roofed, and the Amphipoleion in which [the bears (arktoi)] (5) reside and the upper storey (huperōia) above the Amphipoleion, and the gymnasium and the wrestling-ground (palaistra) and the stables (hippōnes), and everything else which the city built and dedicated to the goddess for the preservation of the Athenian People, for good fortune, the lawgivers (nomothetais) shall decide, that the inspectors (exetastas) from the Council and the treasurers (tamias) (10) of the Other Gods, having inspected all these things accurately, the number of the doors and of the tables and of everything else, that they may be in place for the goddess, are to hand (the report) over (paradidonai) to the superintendents (epistatais) and write them up (anagraphein) on the same stele on which the other dedications are recorded; and so that such repairs as are needed (15) in the sanctuary are carried out, the architect elected for the sanctuaries shall be required to go to the sanctuary, whenever the superintendents (epistatai) order him, and he shall first take care of the statue, whatever is needed, next examining whatever has need of repair (episkeuēs) in the sanctuary, and having compiled the specifications (suggraphas) he will hand them over to the official sellers (pōlētais), (20) and the sellers (pōlētas) will let a contract for them in the Council according to the law, and the receivers (apodektas) shall allocate to the contractors for the works the money from the revenue of Artemis, apportioning (merizontes) . . . ; but if the superintendents (epistatai) do not instruct the architect . . . . . . superintendents (?) (epistata-) . . . (25) . . .

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Greek text

References:

SEG 52.104 (Translated text) (AIO)

IALD 208

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Robert Pitt

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Law

Findspot: Sanctuary of Artemis at Brauron

Transliterations on Places on

[1] This inscription records a law providing for repairs to the sanctuary of Artemis in eastern Attica at Brauron. We translate SEG 52.104, which reproduces the partial "pre-publication" of this inscription from a photograph by P. G. Themelis, in B. Gentili and F. Perusino eds., Le orse di Brauron (2002), 103-16. Themelis prints ll. 1-25 of an estimated 47 surviving lines. A photograph of the inscription was first published by J. Papadimitriou, Scientific American 208 no. 6 (June 1963), 118. Inclusion of the father's name and demotic of the proposer implies a date after 354/3 BC. Enactment by the nomothetai is not otherwise attested after 322/1; the treasurers of the Other Gods not after the 340s (amalgamated with the treasurers of Athena perhaps in 343, see Agora XIX L6 with Papazarkadas, Sacred and Public Land, 30); the apodektai not after 323/2 (IG II³ 1, 375 l. 38, IG II² 1631 ll. 34-35). It seems, therefore, that the date of the law was no later than the 340s (see P. J. Rhodes, Greece and Rome 60, 2013, 203-23 at 215 with n. 85, cf. Topoi 20, 2015, 395-409, at 399 with n. 22). In offering an initial opinion on the hand of the cutter, based only on the photograph, S. V. Tracy dated it ‘close to 200 or even a bit later’ (IALD), giving rise to theories that the law was reinscribed on the occasion of a later programme of repair. We doubt, however, that the cutter is as late as this and believe that parallels for the lettering can be found in other inscriptions of ca. 340s BC. It seems more likely, therefore, that this is an original law of ca. 354-343 BC. The buildings referred to cannot be identified with confidence with known structures at the site of the sanctuary; some, such as the gymnasium, wrestling-ground (palaistra) and stables, would appear to be wholly undiscovered; see G. Ekroth, Kernos 16 (2003), 59-118 (SEG 53.103). A law was required for this measure rather than a decree because it made provisions relating to the merismos, the allocation of sources of revenue for spending purposes, a matter governed by law (cf. IG II³ 1, 429 with n. 1). [2] Perhaps brother of the hipparch, Patrokles son of Hierokles of Philaidai, on the mid-iv BC dedication, IG II³ 4, 249, l. 4 (the name "Patrokles" itself does not fit the surviving number of letter spaces in our l. 2).

Added: 10 Jan 2017
Updated: 2 Jul 2023
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ID: AIO_1184