A stone monument with an historic Greek inscription within the collections of Nationwide Museums Scotland was lately found to be a beforehand unknown, unpublished Athenian ephebic listing. Principal Curator Margaret Maitland and the Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections challenge crew clarify the importance of this discover, and what it tells us about Athenian society.
This discovery represents an vital new supply of details about Athenian society within the mid-first century AD. This was an important interval for Athens because it tailored to its place underneath the Roman Empire, which had conquered the Greek peninsula in 146 BC. Athens, nevertheless, was allowed to proceed to function as an impartial city-state. Inscriptions from this era are comparatively uncommon, with solely round twenty ephebic inscriptions surviving. This makes it all of the extra putting that it belongs to the identical yr and cohort as one other inscription, now within the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford.
Ephebic lists recorded the names of younger males inducted into the ephebate, a yr of training undertaken across the age of eighteen, meant to arrange them for all times as grownup members of the neighborhood. This apply dated again to the fourth century BC.
When Professor Peter Liddel from the Arts and Humanities Analysis Council-sponsored Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections challenge first received in contact requesting to see a Greek-inscribed object in our assortment, he assumed from its description that it should be a solid of the merchandise held within the Ashmolean Museum. When the pandemic foiled plans for a analysis go to, I tracked down the article in our shops to take some images for the researchers.
Totally anticipating to discover a plaster solid, I used to be as an alternative greeted by the sight of a roughly inscribed slab of reused marble. I instantly realised there should be extra to the article. Professor Liddel’s pleasure was palpable from his reply: it should be a real inscription from the identical interval because the one within the Ashmolean, however one which was but unknown to students of historic Athens. This was confirmed by a research go to from Professor Low and Dr de Lisle.
The Nationwide Museums Scotland inscription lists a bunch of pals who went by way of the Athenian ephebate collectively through the reign of the Roman Emperor Claudius (AD 41-54). The listing was meant to commemorate the shut relationships they’d fashioned in hope that they might endure for all times. The sense of camaraderie throughout the ephebic cohort is palpable within the reference to the youths as ‘fellow ephebes’ and ‘pals’. Many ephebes are referred to with acquainted types of their names (the equal of ‘Pete’ for ‘Peter’). The oil amphora depicted on the prime of the monument references athletic competitors, which was intently tied to concepts of masculinity and Greek id on this interval.
Comparability with the Ashmolean inscription from the identical yr reveals that this listing solely represents a subset of the ephebic cohort, which is prone to have numbered 100-200 people. The inscribing ephebe, Attikos son of Philippos, presents himself because the central determine of his privileged social circle, figuring out who received to be one of many ‘fellow ephebes and pals’. Attikos positioned his identify within the prescript of the inscription, alongside the archon of Athens and the superintendent (kosmetes) of the ephebate.
A lot of the ephebes that made the reduce for each this listing and the Ashmolean listing are identified to have belonged to high-ranking aristocratic households. They’re named first on each lists, displaying an implicit standing hierarchy throughout the circle. Each Attikos and the inscriber of the Ashmolean listing strove to say and publicise shut connections to key members of the Athenian elite.
The monument gives the primary proof of the inclusion of non-citizens within the Athenian training system through the early Roman interval of the first century AD. The listing is split into two sections with an area in between. The names listed on the backside are non-citizens, corresponding to overseas residents and freed previously enslaved individuals, indicating a type of historic ‘entry initiative’. A few of the names are widespread names for foreigners or freed previously enslaved individuals, reinforcing that identification. We knew that such individuals have been inducted into the Athenian training system in a lot earlier and later durations, however that is the primary proof that this occurred within the first century AD.
In these earlier and later instances, the non-citizens are clearly designated as second-class members, labelled as “foreigners” or “secondary enlistees”. This listing is extra diplomatic, indicating the distinction in standing solely by way of the spacing. Together with different factors, corresponding to utilizing extra acquainted types of names and leaving out the names of the ephebes’ fathers, the monument appears to have been devised to ship a message about social inclusion and egalitarianism. Mockingly, this was throughout a interval in Athenian historical past when social inequality was larger than ever earlier than and quickly rising.
One of many key developments in Athens within the Imperial interval was the incorporation of expressions of loyalty to and veneration of the Roman Emperor into all features of public life, particularly the ephebate. This may be seen within the reference to Caesar (i.e. Emperor Claudius) within the remaining line of the inscription, in bigger letters than used elsewhere within the textual content. Via these numerous particulars, the inscription offers us a beneficial snapshot of the sociology and ideologies of a bunch of elite Athenians within the first century AD.
The monument was donated to the Society of Antiquaries of Scotland in 1887. The importance of the inscription was recognised by way of collaboration with the Arts and Humanities Analysis Council-sponsored Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections challenge, a four-year, £500,000 challenge, led by Professor Stephen Lambert (Cardiff College) with Professor Polly Low (Durham College) and Professor Peter Liddel (College of Manchester). The challenge will create the primary complete publication of all inscriptions of historic Athens held in UK collections and hopes to publish the inscription with Dr Christopher de Lisle (Durham College) in 2022.
Comply with this hyperlink for an annotated translation of the inscription by the Attic Inscriptions in UK Collections challenge.
