IGII2 1362 Edict of priest of Apollo Erithaseos

Edict of priest of Apollo Erithaseos

IG II² 1362 Date: Ca. 350-300 BC

Gods.^[1] The priest of Apollo Erithaseos^[2] announces and forbids on behalf of himself and the demesmen and the Athenian People, (5) that in the sanctuary (hieron) of Apollo there be any cutting or carrying out of the sanctuary of wood (xula) or branches-with-leaves (kouron) or firewood (phrugana) or fallen leaves (phullobola); and if anyone is caught cutting or taking any of the forbidden items from the sanctuary (hierou), if the person caught is a slave, he will be flogged (10) with fifty lashes of the whip and the priest will hand him over, with the name of his master, to the king (basilei)^[3] and the Council in accordance with the decree of the Athenian Council and People;^[4] and if he is a free man, the priest, (15) together with the demarch, will fine him fifty drachmas and will hand over his name to the king (basilei)^[3] and the Council in accordance with the decree of the Athenian Council and People.^[4]

Previous - Sokolowski, LSCG 36 Next - Sokolowski, LSCG 38

References:

IG II² 1362 (Translated text) (PHI)

IG II² 5010

Syll.³ 984

Sokolowski, LSCG 37

Axon 350 (Axon)

Humphreys, Kinship, 928 (trikomia), 934-36 (demes)

Translation by: Stephen Lambert, Feyo Schuddeboom, Kazuhiro Takeuchi

Images: Krateros - (1)

Monument type: Stele

Inscription type: Edict (Priest)

Findspot: Attica, at estate of Queen Amalia by the road which leads from the estate to Kamatero (EM 7990)

Transliterations on Places on

[1] Normally, inscribed Athenian enactments were issued by collectives of citizens. This remarkable inscription is our only example from 5th and 4th century BC Athens of an inscribed edict issued by an individual, namely a priest, albeit that he is careful to associate himself with the Athenian People as a whole and with his deme. The personal character of the edict can be accounted for by the special quality of authority over their sanctuaries that, even under the democracy, priests were conceived of as having (cf. IG II³ 1, 359 n. 1; Lambert, Historia 59, 2010, 167-168; Priests and Priestesses, 73). On the prohibition on gathering wood etc. in the sanctuary, cf. IG II² 1177, ll. 17-21.

The location of the sanctuary of Apollo Erithaseos is not known other than from the findspot of this inscription. K. Pittakis, Eph. 1857, 1547-49, no. 3139, reports that not as Kamatero (north of Athens, a little south-west of Acharnai, = ancient Eupyridai?), as stated by Kirchner in IG II², and later scholars following him (cf. D. Whitehead, The Demes of Attica, 1986, 380 no. 48), but as the estate of Queen Amalia (at modern Ilion) on the road leading to Kamatero (= ancient Pelekes?) (Takeuchi, cf. Axon 350). [2] Obscure epithet of Apollo (evidently derived from erithos, "servant"/"labourer"), which, however, made its way ca. eight hundred years later into Hesychius' lexicon ("Erithaseus: Apollo in Attica"). IG II² 5010, "Apollo Erithaseos", was based on a misunderstanding; no such inscription exists (Priests and Priestesses, 73 n. 26). [3] The Athenian archon of this description. [4] The decree in question might be IG II³ 1, 292 (see lines 16-23) or the "previous decree of Philokrates about the sacred places" referred to at l. 55, or neither of these. Cf. Whitehead, Demes, 127-128, n. 39.

This is the only inscription possibly documenting (albeit indirectly) action by the small deme Pelekes (bouleutic quota 2, inland trittys of Leontis, IG II³ 4, 53, 50-52, IG II³ 4, 25, 74-78, cf. IG II³ 1, 417, 77-78) which is perhaps to be located south of Mt Parnes, between Parnes and the northern end of Mt Aigaleos, at a settlement site near Chasia (Humphreys, 935; Traill, Political Organization of Attica, 47). On demes in general, see RO 46, with notes.

Pelekes belonged to, and was perhaps the most northerly component of, the Trikomia of Eupyridai, with Eupyridai and Kropidai (also demes of the inland trittys of Leontis). The only firm evidence for this Trikomia, which by analogy with other associations of this type (e.g. the Tetrapolis, the Tetrakomoi) can be assumed to be of pre-Cleisthenic origin, is St. Byz. s.v. Eupyridai, though two inscriptions might (uncertainly) be connected with it: IG II² 1213; IG II³ 4, 234.

Once this inscription has been dissociated from Eupyridai, there is no epigraphically documented action by this small deme of Leontis (bouleutic quota 2, e.g. IG II³ 4, 25, 100-104). It has been tentatively assigned to a deme site near Kamatero, at the north-eastern end of Mt Aigaleos (see Humphreys; Traill, Political Organization of Attica, 46) to the west of Acharnai. If that is correct it was the southernmost component of the Trikomia.

There is also no epigraphically documented action by the very small deme Kropidai (bouleutic quota 1, IG II³ 4, 25, 90-92, IG II³ 1, 417, 37-8, Agora XV 42, 260-1), which is perhaps to be located at a settlement site west of Ano Liosia, and was the other component of the Trikomia of Eupyridai (Humphreys, 935; Traill, Political Organization of Attica, 47). The identification of Kropidai in the area of the gap between Mt Aigaleos and Mt Parnes (and hence the location of the other components of the Trikomia in the vicinity), is based mainly on the report of Thucydides (2.19), that the Spartans came through "Kropia" when they invaded Attica at the start of the Peloponnesian War in 431 BC.

Added: 20 Sep 2015
Updated: 26 Oct 2024
Feedback

ID: AIO_998