Current Epigraphy
ISSN: 1754-0909

The first thematic panel of Monday included communications on diplomatic (Lambert) and political (Scafuro) practice and chronology (Tracy). Simone Follet, who was also scheduled to offer a communication, was unable to attend.

Stephen Lambert (Cardiff University), “The Shape of Athenian External Relations 352/1-322/1: the Perspective of the Inscribed Decrees”, offered an overview of trends and patterns in Athenian foreign policy during the third quarter of the third century BC, based on his work for the forthcoming fascicle of IG II³. He observed that, as expected, few treaties or decrees honouring cities survive from the period between the battle of Chaironeia and the Lamian war. This should not be taken to imply, however, that diplomatic activity itself had diminished; honorific decrees for individual foreigners testify to the contrary. From now on, there is an increasing emphasis on diplomacy through the mediation of individuals.

Stephen Tracy (ASCSA, Athens), “- -sinos, A New Archon of Athens”, presented an unpublished inscription from the Library of Hadrian (inv. no. BA 457), read and restored by Paraskevi Bardani. This ephebic catalogue’s main interest lies in the certain mention of a new third-century BC Athenian archon, whose name (in the genitive) ends in [—]σίνου (perhaps [Τελε]σίνου). Letter-type, parallels in the disposition of the catalogue, possible prosopographical connections and the few remaining gaps in the Athenian archon-list led the speaker to a tentative dating in the late 260’s.

Adele Scafuro (Brown University), “A Crown for the Asking: Athenian Requests to Honor Athenians, the Epigraphical Evidence: 337/6-279 B.C.”, dealt with requests by Athenian citizens for honours, especially in the context of an office they held. First, she examined the relative terminology (paralleled by the one used for verbal reports in front of the Council or the Assembly). Then, she focussed on procedure, especially in cases where honours were voted before the honorand’s service was concluded. She argued that the procedure was simpler than previously assumed: the honorand went through the euthyna after his term of office and was only then allowed to have the decree in his honour inscribed; since the document he had in his possession was the original one, voted before his service was concluded, the inscribed text still includes the –now irrelevant– phrase “… after he goes through the euthyna”. Finally, the speaker tentatively suggested that Clinton, I. Eleusis n^o 95 (IG II² 1191), a text problematic in several details, includes the honorand’s request for honours.

An announcement from Stefan Krmnicek:

I would like to announce an article relating to Greek and Roman epigraphy which has been published in the latest issue of the open access online-journal FeRA (Frankfurter elektronische Rundschau zur Altertumskunde / Frankfurt electronic Review of Antiquity):

P. Probst, Überarbeiteter Index zu Personen-, Orts- und Götternamen (Indices 1, 2 und 3) der Edition der Inschriften aus dem Archäologischen Museum von Konya

The article contains a revised version of the indexes to personal names (Index 1), names of places (Index 2) and names of gods (Index 3) of the Inscriptions from the Konya Archaeological Museum published by B. H. McLean in 2002. The article is free for download via the website www.fera-journal.eu and may be used as an additional instrument to the publication of the inscriptions.

(Direct link to PDF of article.)

The conference opened with a first plenary session which featured informative lectures by two prominent experts in the fields of Greek and Roman religion respectively.

Robert Parker (New College, University of Oxford) offered an overview of the value of inscriptions, especially sacred laws, for the study of Greek religion. He noted that these texts for the most part yield only chance fragments of useful ritual information, since they were often inscribed for other purposes (e.g. accounting, which appears to be the main purpose of cultic calendars like that of the Attic genos of the Salaminioi: F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées des cités grecques, Supplément no.19). Assuming that most sacred laws were not written as blueprints for rituals, unlike the books used by marginal groups such as the Orphics, Parker offered two alternative reasons why sacred laws were inscribed: 1) to draw the attention of worshippers to details which were unexpected in normal ritual practice; and 2) to record innovations in ritual practice (traditional practices could thus remain unwritten). As a unique exception, he drew attention to the issue of pollution and purification, which appears to have required special exegesis. The salient examples are two famous cathartic laws: M. Jameson, D. Jordan and R. Kotansky, A Lex Sacra from Selinous (GRBM 11, 1993), and the sacred law from Cyrene, P. Rhodes and R. Osborne, Greek Historical Inscriptions no.97.

Parker’s presentation usefully presented a collection of interesting sacred laws to a wide audience yet it also raised at least a few concerns about this approach to the subject of epigraphy and Greek religion. First, detailed sacred laws like the cathartic laws of Selinous and Cyrene, not to mention other extensively detailed inscriptions like the regulation of the mysteries at Andania (F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrées des cités grecques no.65), seem to prove that epigraphic blueprints for rituals were not uncommon in the Greek world. Second, whether one can convincingly distinguish between innovations, exceptions, and traditional practice in Greek rituals is problematic and certainly warrants more caution in future research on the subject.

John Scheid (Collège de France, Paris) presented a discussion of Latin epigraphy and religion that neatly paralleled Robert Parker’s paper. He surveyed the genres of inscriptions that particularly illuminate the study of Roman religion: sacerdotal commentaries such as those of the Arval Brethren, regulations, fasti, defixiones, and votive inscriptions. This was followed by a brief history of the growing importance of epigraphy in scholarship from Mommsen and Wissowa to Degrassi and Panciera, culminating in an appraisal of Ittai Gradel’s, Emperor Worship and Roman Religion (Oxford 2002). Scheid further noted that the epigraphic sources for Roman religion are comparable with those for Greek religion, since the inscriptions are often ambiguous and laconic as far as details of rituals are concerned. He emphasised that religious texts were intended to be read by a limited audience, if not simply as dedicatory monuments addressed to a deity. In conclusion, Scheid praised the value of inscriptions for the study of graeco ritu festivals at Rome, notably the ludi saeculares (the relevant texts are collected in B. Schnegg-Koehler, Die Augusteischen Saekularspiele, Leipzig and Munich 2002).