The Athenian Archon List in the Light of Recent Discoveries 9780231891998

Table of contents :
Preface
Contents
List of Periodicals and Abbreviations
Chronological Table
The Athenian Archon List in the Light of Recent Discoveries
Introduction
Peithidemos and the Archons before 262
Polyeuktos and Diomedon: The Cycles at the Middle of the Third Century
Diomedon and the Priests of Asklepios
Polyeuktos and the Soteria at Delphi
The Archons of the Third Century, After 262
The Archons of the Second Century
Notes on The Athenian Calendar
Bibliography
Indices

Citation preview

THE ATHENIAN

ARCHON

LIST IN T H E L I G H T O F RECENT DISCOVERIES

THE A T H E N I A N

ARCHON

LIST IN THE L I G H T OF RECENT DISCOVERIES

By W I L L I A M BELL DINSMOOR PROFESSOR OF ARCHAEOLOGY IN COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITY

MORNINGSIDE HEIGHTS : NEW YORK

COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY 1939

PRESS

A C O N T R I B U T I O N FROM THE A M E R I C A N C O U N C I L o r L E A R N E D S O C I E T I E S H A S A S S I S T E D IN THE P U B L I C A T I O N o r THIS V O L U M E

COPYRIGHT COLUMBIA

UNIVERSITY

1939 PRESS,

NEW

YORK

Foreign Agente: OxroRD U N I V E R S I T Y P R E S S , Humphrey Milford, Amen House, London, E. C. 4, England and B. I. Building, Nicol Road, Bombay, India; M A B U Z E N C O M P A N Y , LTD., 6 Nihonbashi, Tori-Nichome, Tokyo, Japan

M A N U F A C T U R E D IN THE U N I T E D S T A T E S OF A M E R I C A

To KYDENOR Athenian Archon in 24-3/2 B.C., whose first inscription, discovered in 1923, disarranged all archon lists compiled up to that time, and whose second inscription, discovered in 1938, disorganized all subsequent attempts at reorganization, this restudy of the problem is respectfully dedicated

P R E F A C E

I G H T Y E A R S have elapsed since I concluded my first work on the Athenian archons, The Archons of Athens in the Hellenistic Age—a work which was the resultant of two forces, the fascination which Ferguson's methods had exercised upon me from the moment of our first meeting, in 1907, and the chance discovery of an inscription in an excavation twenty-one years later. During these eight years, I have purposely abstained from further study of the problem, with the exception of one relapse in connection with the calendar of 307/6 B.C. Now, however, the new material accumulated through eight seasons of the Agora excavations is so vast, and the welter of conflicting opinion is so provocative, that I am once more induced to undertake a synthesis of the whole situation. A t the time of my former study, the problem of the Hellenistic chronology of Athens had been seriously investigated by only two American scholars, Ferguson himself and my fellow student at Athens, A. C. Johnson. Now conditions are entirely changed. The puzzle of the archons has almost become a popular pastime. A glance at my bibliography of recent publications shows that at least eight of the younger American scholars have contributed a steady stream of invaluable material during the intervening years. The reader will note, in the frequent references, how much I owe to Benjamin D. Meritt, whose unfailing zeal and generosity have kept me in touch with epigraphical developments in the Agora, enabling me to adjust my exposition to fit new discoveries. I wish here to record my gratitude also to the others to whom I am indebted for verification and criticism, particularly to Sterling Dow, Eugene Schweigert, and James H. Oliver, Jr., and once more to the teacher of us all, William S. Ferguson. For permission to reproduce de Jong's drawing on page 2, I thank Messrs. Shear, Dow, C. A. Robinson, and the Macmillan Company. And I wish also to acknowledge my obligation to the Columbia University Press and to the American Council of Learned Societies, whose cooperation has made feasible this publication. WILLIAM B E L L DINSMOOB COLUMBIA UNIVEB8ITY NEW YOBK MAY IS, 1939

CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION P E I T H I D E M O S A N D T H E A R C H O N S B E F O R E 162

3 26

P O L Y E U K T O S A N D D I O M E D O N : T H E C Y C L E S A T T H E M I D D L E OF T H E THIRD CENTURY

65

D I O M E D O N A N D T H E P R I E S T S OF A S K L E P I O S

92

P O L Y E U K T O S AND THE SOTERIA AT DELPHI

109

T H E A R C H O N S OF T H E T H I R D C E N T U R Y , A F T E R 262

141

T H E A R C H O N S OF T H E S E C O N D C E N T U R Y

170

N O T E S ON T H E A T H E N I A N C A L E N D A R

205

BIBLIOGRAPHY

251

INDICES

255

L I S T OF P E R I O D I C A L S A N D

ABBREVIATIONS

ABS: Annual of the British School at Athens Aevum: rassegna di scienze, storiche, linguistiche e filologiche AJA: American Journal of Archaeology AJP: American Journal of Philology AM: Mitteilungen des deutschen archäologischen Instituts, Athenische Abteilung Archiv für Papyrusforschung Art and Archaeology Athenaeum: studii •periodici di letteratura e storia dell' antichità BC H: Bulletin de correspondance heüénique CAH: Cambridge Ancient History CIG: Corpus inscriptionum Graecarum (Böckh) CP: Classical Philology CQ: Classical Quarterly CW: Classical Weekly DLZ: Deutsche Literatur-Zeitung EM : Epigraphical Museum (inventory), Athens Eos: commentarli societatis philologicae polonorum : 'ApxaioXo-yix^ 'E« That is, two spaces a little after 306/5 (IG* I I 554), 267/6 (II 666), 240/39 (II 784). ' « That is, three spaces in 270/69 (IG* I I 687). That is, six spaces in 303/2 (IG* I I 498).

16

INTRODUCTION

w i s e b e f o r e t h e m o t i o n i t s e l f , w e find s o m e t i m e s a single s p a c e , 1 0 ' s o m e t i m e s t w o . 1 0 ' W e m a y r e f r a i n f r o m t h e e x a m i n a t i o n of i n s t a n c e s l a t e r t h a n t h e end of t h e t h i r d c e n t u r y . 1 1 0 B u t t h e c h a r a c t e r i s t i c m e t h o d of e m p h a s i s s u d d e n l y e v o l v e d a t t h e m i d d l e of the t h i r d c e n t u r y w a s a d e c i s i v e i n n o v a t i o n , t h e isolation of t h e Wofti'-clause t o w h i c h D o w h a s c a l l e d a t t e n t i o n . 1 1 1 I n t h e o r y this c o n s i s t e d in d e v o t i n g a n o t h e r w i s e e m p t y line t o t h e l5o{€»'-clause a n d of c e n t e r i n g t h e c l a u s e like a t i t l e in t h e m i d d l e of t h i s line, l e a v i n g e m p t y s p a c e s b o t h b e f o r e a n d a f t e r it. T h i s w a s f o r e s h a d o w e d e v e n as e a r l y a s 368/7 ( I G 2 I I 107 A ) , w h e n t h e c l a u s e o c c u p i e s a line q u i t e b y itself, d i f f e r i n g f r o m t h e " p e r f e c t d e s i g n " o n l y in t h a t it is n o t c e n t e r e d b u t b e g i n s a t t h e l e f t e d g e like t h e o t h e r lines. 1 1 2 A t r a n s i t i o n a l f o r m c o n s i s t e d in c e n t e r i n g t h e ?5of«i'-clause in w h a t r e m a i n e d of t h e line a f t e r t h e m e n t i o n of t h e symproedroi,

a s in 2 5 5 / 4 a n d 2 4 9 / 8 . " ' L a t e r i n s t a n c e s of t h e s a m e

t r e a t m e n t , a p p a r e n t l y e m p l o y e d f o r t h e r e a s o n m e n t i o n e d b y D o w , r a i s i n g t h e tSo^tvc l a u s e in o r d e r t o s a v e a line of s p a c e , o c c u r also in t h e t h i r d a n d second centuries. 1 1 4 B u t That is, one space at the end of the fourth century (IG' II 610), in 287/6 (II 662), 250/49 (II 769), 249/8 (II 779, 798), 248/7 (II 680), 236/5 (II 787), 235/4 (II 79o). 1« That is, two spaces in a decree shortly before 226 (IG* II 857). 114 For the sake of completeness, we may add instances of the use of a single blank space for emphasis elsewhere in the prescript, a custom which became more general in the period after the Chremonidean War. Thus we have it before the date by month in 249/8 (.IG* II 798), 246/5 (II 791), 245/4 (II 799); before the name of the prytany in 250/49 (II 769); before the word IxxXiprta in 261/0 (II 770), 251/0 (II 777 restored), 250/49 (II 769), 249/8 (II 778), 248/7 (Agora I 43*3), »45/4 (H 799); before the phrase introducing the secretary in 249/8 (II 770, 778, 781 restored), 248/7 (II 679 restored, 680, Agora I 4323); apparently also before the word kypapitiTtvtv in 250/49 (II 768, cf. Hesp., 1938, p. 144) and also seemingly in 246/5 (II 791, Bee below, p. 80); before the name of the proedros in 251/0 (II 777), 250/40 (II 769), 249/8 (II 778, 780), 248/7 (Agora I 4323), «47/6 (H 683), 235/4 (II 790); also after the name of the proedrot in 249/8 (II 780 A); and likewise before each name of the symproedroi in 257/6 (II 700), 250/49 (II 770), 229/8 (II 832). This analysis suggests, furthermore, that some of the blank spaces shown in current restorations are improbable. For instance, the use of three spaces before the phrase introducing the secretary is unprecedented and we never find authentic instances of empty spaces before the number of the prytany (II 462), nor before the words TUV RPMPWV (II 455, 662; in the latter case the space should be transferred to a position before tucKiiala). Similar doubts attach to IG' 697 of 289/8 and I I 684 of 265/4. Likewise in IG1 I I 679 the vacant space before TUV TpotSpaV should stand before txxXqffta. More problematical is the single space restored before the day of the prytany in Agora I 1051 of 270/69 ( Hetp., 1936, p. 419); I see no better alternative, though the date is rather early and the position unprecedented. The two spaces formerly restored before the day of the prytany in Agora I 219 of 302/1 (Hup., 1934, p. 6, no. 7) are now filled up (Hesp., 1935, p. 546). 1,1

D o w , AJ A, 1936, pp. 62-66.

E M 12717 (Hetp., 1933, p. 403, no. 20) seems to be of the "perfect design" but is assigned by Broneer to the fourth century, which would be anachronistic. The inscription is strange, however, in terminating the upper part of the preamble with an unfinished word, 2 T P , as if an arbitrary amount of space had been left for the subsequent insertion of the names of the generals. With this explanation, it could have been an inscription of simple block form. 111

111 That is, 255/4 (IG* II 702 = Dow, Prytaneis, p. 63, no. 21, photograph on p. 64), 249/8 (II 798, as restored by Meritt, Hesp., 1935, p. 583).

That is, 216/5 (IG* II 794 = Harvard Studies, 1937, p. 108), 215/4 (IG* II 846 = ibid., p. 117 n. 6), 186/5 (IG' II 896 B), 125/4 (Agora I 78 = Hesp., 1933, p. 163, no. 9), 104/3 (H 989). 101/0 (II

INTRODUCTION

17

just after the middle of the third century, in 2 4 9 / 8 , b e g i n s the long series of true examples of the "perfect design," 118 of which the latest dates from 109/8. 1 1 7 It should be noted, however, that even in these examples of the "perfect design" the Mo^ec-clause is rarely accurately centered. In fact, we find exact centering only once, in IGi I I 791 of 246/5. The axis of the Wo£«p-clause is } space to the left in two instances (IG 2 I I 778 of 249/8, Agora I 4323 of 248/7), 1 space to the right in four instances ( I G 2 I I 679 of 248/7, Agora I 4 1 3 8 of 239/8, IG2 II 788 of 235/4, Agora I 3 3 1 9 of 232/1), i i spaces to the left in one instance ( I G 1 I I 833 of 229/8), and i§ spaces to the right in two instances (IG 2 II 781 of 249/8, I G 1 II 787 of 236/5). 11 » Another important characteristic of form is the uniform spacing of the letters (usually accompanied by uniform lengths of lines) known as stoichedon, which prevails in decrees, though with increasing numbers of violations, until the period of the liberation of Athens in 229. Thereafter it was generally abandoned, 119 apart from a few sporadic survivals of 1028 B; also II 1028 A of the same year employs a similarly economical attempt at isolation with four vacant spaces before and five after the clause). »< Dow, at the time of writing (AJA, 1936, p. 65), dated the earliest example 255/4 (IG1 II 679); but this was with reference to the impossibly early date for Polyeuktos. »• That is, 249/8 (/(?»II 778, 781), 248/7 (II 679, Agora I 4323 = Hesp., 1938, p. 121, no. 24), 246/5 (II 791), 239/8 (Agora I 4138 = Hesp., 1938, p. 125, no. 25), 236/5 (II 787, 788), 232/1 (Agora I 3319 - Hesp., 1938, p. 115, no. 21), ca. 231 (Agora I 1679 = Dow, Prytaneis, p. 70, no. 27), eo. 229/8 (II 833), 227/6 (II 837), before 226 (II 852), 226/5 (Agora I 918 =• Hesp., 1935, p. 525, no. 39), 222/1 (ii 848, cf. Dow, Prytaneis, p. 81, no. 36, photograph on p. 84), 221/0 (II 839), 215/4 (II 846, 847), 210/09 (II 917, cf. Dow, Prytaneis, p. 76, no. 30, with photograph), ca. 208/7 (Agora I 2498 — Dow, Prytaneis, p. 86, no. 38), end of third century (II 86i, 865), beginning of second century (II 929, Agora I 1680 •= Dow, Prytaneis, p. 94, no. 44), ca. 200-175 (Agora I 2145 = Dow, Prytaneis, p. 113, no. 56), 196/5 (Agora I 605 =» Hesp., 1936, p. 422, no. 15), 187/6 (Agora I 2155, unpublished), 186/5 (H 896 A), 175/4 (II 905), 171/0 (Agora I 166 = Hesp., 1934, p. 14, no. 17), 169/8 (Agora I 164 = Hesp., 1934, p. 18, no. 18 = 1936, p. 429, no. 17), 145/4 (II 967)1 141/0 (II 968), 140/39 (II 970) 137/6 (II 974), 135/4 (Agora I 2145c, unpublished), 125/4 (II 1003), 112/1 (II 1012), 109/8 (II 1014). 117 Dow states that the latest example is JG* II 1014 of 109/8, which agrees with my hasty survey; only the "semi-perfect" examples IG' II 989 and 1028 B are later (104/3 and 101/0). 111 Among the datable instances just after the middle of the third century, for instance, IG* I I 778 (phot. Hesp., 1938, p. 119) of 249/8 has 3 vacancies at the left and 4 at the right of the &o{