Attic Text Reflecting the Influence of Cleopatra Oliver, James H Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies; Winter 1965; 6, 4; ProQuest pg. 291 Attic Text Reflecting the Influence of Cleopatra James H. Oliver ROLUMN with two inscriptions was discovered in the Attic deme of Teithras and published by J.J. Politt, who on the basis of the lettering dated the first inscription, the one in which we are here interested, to the second half of the first century B. c. l The second inscription, two or three generations later perhaps, records a dedica­ tion to Isis,2 who is presumably "the goddess" mentioned in the last line of the first inscription. Taken together, the two inscriptions attest a hitherto unknown sanctuary of Isis. The importance of our text, the first on the column, lies primarily in the evidence it provides for the acceptance of the cult of Isis. The cult is not simply tolerated but protected like one of the Athenian state itself. Violation of this protection becomes a basis for legal action as asebeia in the Council. The date would surely fall before the Battle of Actium and probably in or soon after 37 B.C., when Antony married Cleopatra, the New Isis, who fostered the image by appearing on state occasions in the garb ofIsis.3 Many like Vergil were to see the coming struggle with Antony as one between the gods of Rome and the gods of Egypt. Political hopes and fears received a religious expression. The 1 J. J. Polin, "The Egyptian Gods in Attica: Some Epigraphical Evidence," Hesperia 34 (1965) 125-130 with photographs. The letters, he says, are "very similar to those in an Attic ephebic inscription dating from the year 38/37 B.C." 2 The unrelated second inscription on the column reads as follows: LJ 7J ,.,.64>t).,0 ~ L1tOJIVo{ov 3 EOlIl'tfV~ o I(a, L1&4>vos {3a(17'&~wv TOI' 6 ~yt",.,.&va reus l(aJJl(lAAolIs "latBt &V€01JI([t:] Is the phrase in lines 5-6 a reference to the lifting of the head of the first ox, TOV ~i'fp.Ova (flow), to be sacrificed? Compare SIG3 717, lines 10-11, ijpaJJTo B€ I(a, TOl:S ,.,.vaT7Jplots TOUS {3ofJs lv 'EAt:va'ivL T'i}t Ovalat. 3 E. Bevan, A History of Egypt under the Ptolemaic Dynasty (London 1927) 370-377. 291 292 ATTIC TEXT REFLECTING INFLUENCE OF CLEOPATRA Athenians who publicized their devotion to Isis were committed also to the New Isis and her consort. Secondly, the inscription raises questions concerning the position of the Council of the Six Hundred. Politt did not dare restore ,Bou J 1A.~v at the end of line 13, but the restoration is certain as comparison with SIG3 147, line 35, and 204, line 83, and with ATL 2, D 7, lines 35-39, shows (in all these the adjective Kuplu refers to the Council). The Demos had left the entire regulation of the sanctuary to the discretion of the Council, and what we have is the dogma of the Council after the latter was empowered to make all arrangements. How often did the Council assume control of a sanctuary and have to be asked for per­ mission to set up a dedication 14 Though he usually has found the meaning, Politt has made two errors which should be corrected. First, he has recognized the right procedure but restored the wrong word in line 9 for the initiation of legal action. The term was endeixis, not phasis, when an Athenian spoke of a denunciation before the basHeus. Prosecution for asebeia on the basis of an endeixis to the basileus is actually attested in an Athenian inscription of the first century,S as well as in Classical literature. Secondly, Politt has restored the 07TWS clause in lines 18-19 without a verb. Surely a verb is indispensable. The following text corrects some flaws and includes new readings by D. J. Geagan (per epistulas) in lines 1, 2 and 12 and new resto­ rations by the author: ~---------------------------~ [- - - - - - - - - - - - "1]uL8L [IC]<;X['] fL17 [- - - - - --] [- - - - - - - - - - - -Jas 7TPOuL8puuaTw[uav - - - - - - --] [- - - - - - - - - - -J ETW TO 7TUPd- TaVr<;X [- - - - - - - - ] [- - - - - - - - - - OfL Jolws 8E fL1JT' EV T[ - - - - - - - -] 5 [- - - - - - - - - - - ]~"JIu' El 8E fL1J, 6cPLA./TWUUV KU[ . ....... ] [ - - - - - - - - - IC] <;X, EVOXOL EUTwuav Tfj &UE,B~~ [ ....... ] [ - - - - - - - - - - ] WV, fL~ E~'UTW 8E ~alCopEvLV 8 ['s T0 av] [T0' Ed-V 8' TL]~ 1!l!-Rq. TufiTa 7Tpa~rJ 1} ,BLa<17JTuL, EUTW IC[UT' UVTOV] [€Jl8€L~L]S 7TpOS ~v ,BouA.~v lCa, TOV ,BauLMa 'Ae~[V7JuwJ ( For a survey of the evidence, see Daniel J. Geagan, The Athenian Constitution after Sulla (forthcoming as Hesperia Supplement). 6 F. Sokolowski, Lois sacrees des cites grecques (Paris 1962) no. 15. first published by J. H. Oliver. Hesperia 10 (1941) 65-72. JAMES H. OLIVER 10 [Tlp {3ovAOf-L€JVlfJ ois €gWTLV· KWAV€TCJJaaV De Ka, T[ WV Tau] [ra 7TapEJA1JAv8orwv oaov~ aToas 1J 00 ro ts <{>at[ V1}TaL ] • ,~ " '" , , I [ I ] E7TLT1JU1JOV € LvaL 7TpO~ TO f-LEVLV €L~ TOV 7Tav Ta XPOVOV ra oo~aVTa Tfi {3ovAfi· TO O~ aUTO Kat, €V aaVLOt A€[AEVKWJ , , ~ I ~ t ~" " [" ] JLEV[} Kat 7TapauoTW (a >av TlfJ '€PL 07TWS EKKLf-L€VOV EXT! ~ ., \ ~ ~'" \ r .. !l T1J~ 1Jf-L€pa~ 7TpO TOV vaov, tva TOVTWV aVVT€I\OVlJ-"EJ 20 vwv q,aLV1}Tat ~ {3ovA~ 7TALaT1Jv 7TpOVOtav 7TOLOVJLEfV[ 1JJ rf}s 7TpOS T~V OEOV EvaEf3E{as 293 RESTORATIONS: 1 "I]moL .Eap[am]oL Politt, [K]a[,] f-LTJ Oliver. 2 Oliver. 4 Politt. 5 f-L~ Oliver, f-LTJ Politt. 6 Politt. 7 Oliver. 8 aVT0 et K[aT' aVTov Oliver; €aV De TLJs et K[aTa avlTov Politt. 9 €VOELgL]S Oliver, aaL]S Politt; 'A8~[V1]aLJI] Politt. 10 initio Politt. 10/11 T[WV TaulTa Oliver, T[OVTOVS I TWV 7TapE]A1JAV8oTWV Politt. 11 fine Ela[dvat is] Oliver, Ela[EAOEtv Politt. 12 [Ta EvaE]fJij Oliver, [TO lEp]OV et avan8[evTas] Politt. 13 [lSpvf'Ja[TaJ et fJoVJIA~V Oliver; Kvpt[av Politt. 14 Politt. 15 THETOAE lapis; eXv ToLS Oliver, eXVTOLS Politt. 16-17Politt. 18 7TapaOoTwavPolitt, llAPALJ 0 TQSAN lapis; [€X?1 Oliver, [8,' €Kaa Politt. 19-20 Politt. Line 1: Geagan considers the restoration L'ap[am]I)L highly unlikely and reads MH. Line 7; The zakoros at Athens is well known in the cult of Asclepius,6 where tenure may have been limited to one term. On Delos the zakoros is prominent in the cult of the Egyptian Gods,7 and the office could be held repeatedly.8 Line 12; Geagan's reading, J{31J, eliminates Politt's restoration [TO lEP ]6v and concomitantly the identification of the sanctuary as legally that of the Egyptian Gods rather than of Isis alone. With the prohibition €la[dvat l~ Ta €ua€J{3ij rwv 8€wv for those guilty of sacrilege, compare the Pergamene text, SIG3 1219 = Sokolowski, 6 TAPA 71 (1940) 388; IG II2 3798-99, 3804, 3962-64, 4466, 4477, 4481, 4486-87, 4514, 4521a, 4821, perhaps also 5158. For the less known Athenian ~aKopo!: TWV ~dwv €lK6vwv see L. Robert, "Recherches epigraphiques," REA 62 (1960) 316-324. 7 Inscriptions de DClos 2080-81, 2087-88, 2094, 2104, 2153-56, 2160, 2204-05, 2209-10, 2212-13, 2218. 8 Inscriptions de Delos 2205, dated after 88/7 B.C. : 'aKOp€VOVTOS EvoSov TO OKTW Kat MKcxrov. 294 ATTIC TEXT REFLECTING INFLUENCE OF CLEOPATRA Lois sacrees de r Asie Mineure no. 16, lines 25-27: Kat IL~ oawv aV'TaLS" l ., f3' (j' (j' (j ~ ,\~, " € va" WS" aa€ ovaaLS", V€W IL''J €V, €WV €1" O€Ka €TYJ. Lines 18-19: The text on a whitened board 9 is to be given to the priest 10 "so that he may have it on view daily in front of the temple." THE JOHNS HOPKINS UNIVERSITY November, 1965 9 For the use of a whitened board see the examples cited by Adolf Wilhelm, Beitriige zur griechischen Inschriftenkunde (= Sonderschriften des Osterreichischen Arch1iologischen Instituts in Wien 7 [1909]) 249-257, and by editors of the Tabula Hebana (AJP 75 [1954] 225-249), which in line 20-21 reads: tabulas dealbatas in quib(us) nomina candidatorum scripta sint, quo loco commo[dissime legi] possint, ponendas curet. See also ATL 2, D 7, line 44, and D 8, line 14. My wife adds the material on Delos cited by J. H. Kent, Hesperia 17 (1948) 243f. 10 This priesthood may well be that of the l"p€1JS crroALUrryS "IuL3os lCall:€pa'1n3os known from IG II 212318. On the other hand, the dedication to Isis, IG IP 4702, dated by priest and zakoros, may have come Originally from Delos; in any case it was in modem times dis­ covered at Athens and does not pertain to the sanctuary at Teithras.