TRACY, STEVEN V., "IG" II² 937: Athens and the Seleucids , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 29:4 (1988:Winter) p.383 IG 112 937: Athens and the Seleucids Stephen V. Tracy T HIS INSCRIPTION is composed of a number of pieces from the Agora and Epigraphical Museum (Agora I 4522, 4798, 4920, EM 2402, 2404). The actual fragment published as IG IF 937 is lost. B. D. Meritt published the first edition of the assembled pieces in 1967; 1 soon afterwards L. Robert rightly challenged Meritt's identi­ fication of the honoree and offered a valuable discussion of the text.2 The present edition incorporates a new fragment, includes a line which Meritt omitted, and takes account of Robert's suggestions. The new piece, fragment x (PLATE 1) is known only from a squeeze at the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton; it was identified by the hand, and joins at lines 33 and following. The present location of fragment x is unknown. ca a. 135 a. NON-STOleR. ca 39 [- - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - too ]- [t]€1;' [Ton O~P.WL - - - - - - - - - - - €L'lT€V·] , 5t[ \ \ 'E' I < \ .. I ] €'lTHu 1J KaL 'lTpOT€pOV VP.€V1J~ 0 'lTaT1Jp .1JVOUWpOV 4 !po"oyov/ AOYOVS with this verb see LSJ s. v. Of the dotted tau just the left tip of the horizontal appears. Line 27. Restoration, Robert. The tip of the topmost horizontal of the dotted epsilon appears in the top right of the letter-space. The left side of the dotted pi is visible along the break. Line 28. Meritt omitted the end of this line. Dotted sigma is read TRACY, STEVEN V., "IG" II² 937: Athens and the Seleucids , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 29:4 (1988:Winter) p.383 386 ATHENS AND THE SELEUCIDS on the basis of a horizontal, or nearly horizontal, stroke at the top of the letter-space. Epsilon, zeta, xi, pi, and tau are also possible. Line 31. Restoration, Robert. Line 32. The stone to the left of the dotted iota is worn; eta or nu could also be read. Omega is dotted because only the top half is preserved. Lines 33-39. The letters in bold-face are preserved on the new fragment. Line 36. Just the right tip of the topmost horizontal of the dotted epsilon is visible. In the erasure there appears a chi under iota and chi; iota was originally omitted. Line 37. KAI is squeezed in in the erasure and was obviously omitted at first. The erased area probably included OYN. Line 38. Merely the bottom of the dotted iota is visible. Lines 39-46. The underlined letters were preserved on the lost fragment IG IP 937. Line 43. Just the top of the dotted iota is preserved. Line 44. Only the serif at the top right of the dotted nu can be made out. Line 45. The right side of the dotted nu alone is preserved. Line 46. The upper right of the dotted rho and upper left of the dotted nu alone are legible. Line 47. The bottoms of the dotted letters appear; KAI seems a cer­ tain reading. Line 48. The bottom of the dotted iota is visible at the break. Line 49. Kappa was originally inscribed for the first preserved iota. It was not erased but rather the cutter made it into iota by inscribing kappa over the right side of it. Line 51. The bottom of the left vertical of the nu appears at the break. Line 52. Just the right tip of the horizontal of the dotted tau survIves. Line 53. The left half of the horizontal of the dotted tau is legible. None of the erased letters is visible; but crowding in the erased area suggests that the cutter first omitted two letters. Commentary The text was inscribed by a letter-cutter attested as working in Athens around 130 B.C.; his hand may also be seen on IG II 2 977 ( Agora XV 246) of 131/0 and IG IP 1331.3 With the date provided by the hand, we are in a position to see that Meritt's date of ca 170 was a generation too early and that the king referred to is Antiochus 3 For a description of his lettering and a complete list of his inscriptions, see the present writer's forthcoming study of Attic letter-cutters of 229 to 86 D.C. The present workman is there identified as the Cutter of IG IP 937. TRACY, STEVEN V., "IG" II² 937: Athens and the Seleucids , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 29:4 (1988:Winter) p.383 STEPHEN V. TRACY 387 VII Sidetes, the last great ruler of the Seleucid Empire (139-129 B.C.). Lines 26 to 37, which make fulsome reference to the lavish gifts and beneficence of the ancestors of the king, can now be recognized in large part as referring to Antiochus IV Epiphanes and his tremendous expenditures on the Olympieion (Liv. 41.20.8, Polyb. 26.1.11, Ath. 5.194A). The man honored, who was either [Ze]nodorus or [Me]no­ dorus, son of Eumenes, ofTrinemeia, is not otherwise attested.4 The body of the present decree falls into two principal sections: (1) the past accomplishments of the honoree and his father (lines 3-20), and (2) the particular current actions that provide the motivation for the decree (20-37). Lines 3 to 10 recount the accomplishments of the honoree's father Eumenes: he had been tropheus of the king, an office well attested in the Seleucid monarchy;5 he had lived in Athens, made himself useful to the people, and been crowned and made a citizen in return. Lines 10 to 20 then turn to the honoree himself and his past actions from the time of Antiochus VII's accession, recounting his general good offices towards the king and the people of Athens. The second major section (20-37) details the specific reasons for which [Ze/Me]nodorus is now being honored: appointed as ambassador of the king he has acted with zeal to benefit the Athenian people both in general and individually, and he has presented in the assembly an elaborate account of the benefactions of the Seleucids. The remainder of the decree (37-53) records the award of a gold crown and bronze statue in recognition of his efforts. The account of the present and past benefactions of the Seleucids (26-37), which is embedded in the narrative of the past and present benefactions of the honoree (10-37), creates a nice parallel between the actions of the king and the amabassador. This was surely the intention. In short, this decree seems to have been drawn up with care. It was also inscribed with an eye to impressing. The cutter used unusually large letters, 0.011 m. Even in its present fragmentary con­ dition this decree stands out. 6 The passage dealing with the Seleucids (26-37) is particularly be­ guiling because it defies (seemingly) detailed restoration. One can discern, I think, three parts: lines 26-31 form a general statement of the munificence and beneficence of the kings towards Athens; in 31, [a7T€AoytU JaTo Of Kat, if that is the correct restoration, begins the account of the actions of one king who did building activity (£7Tavop- 8cpuat TOV 071[f,t]ov, 32)1 and who resided in the city-the verbal form 4 His father, a naturalized Athenian citizen, probably came from Syria. It is note­ worthy in this connection that the name Zenodorus occurs commonly only in Palestine, Syria, and adjacent areas: see G. J. Toomer, GRBS 13 (1972) 180-88. 5 See the discussions of Robert (5f) and E. Bikerman, Institutions des seleucides (Paris 1938) 42f. 6 See pI. 21 in Hesperia 36 (1967). 7 On this expression see L. Robert, Hellenica XI-XII (Paris 1965) 517-25, 541. TRACY, STEVEN V., "IG" II² 937: Athens and the Seleucids , Greek, Roman and Byzantine Studies, 29:4 (1988:Winter) p.383 388 ATHENS AND THE SELEUCIDS uvvavaU[Tp€4> - - -] (34) can only mean this; and in 35, [l]'1J')'~uaTo a~ Kat. introduces a third section, probably a general summation of the extraordinarily useful actions of the kings towards the city. The central section clearly deals with Antiochus IV Epiphanes, who came to Athens from being a hostage in Rome. His nephew De­ metrius, son of Seleucus IV, was sent to Rome as his replacement. 8 A recently published inscription from Athens honoring Antiochus9 re­ veals that this exchange occurred earlier than we had supposed and that he was already in Athens in 17817. He apparently lived there for several years and was still in the city at the time of his brother's death in 175. This fact elucidates the reference to his residence in line 34 of the present inscription and enables us to explain how an Athenian decree inscribed at Pergamum 10 could reveal that in the first year of Antiochus IV's reign more than one statue of him had already been erected in the Agora of Athens. The freedom of action which resi­ dence in the city made possible doubtless also aided his accession to the throne. It is no wonder then that as king he lavished money on Athens, evidenced especially in his grandiose effort to complete the temple of Olympian Zeus begun by the Peisistratids in the sixth century. Antiochus was, if we can believe the accounts in Li vy (41.20) and Athenaeus (5.1930-195), a lavish spender and colorful character. There would have been many in the assembly in 135 B.C. who, directly or indirectly, remembered him and his lifestyle in Athens. I I [Ze/Me]­ nodorus used the memory to good effect in promoting the cause of his successor. THE INSTITUTE FOR ADVANCED STUDY, PRINCETON February, 1989 8 Polyb. 31.2.3. The initiative for this action seems to have been taken by Seleucus (see Polyb. 31.2.2 and E. Gruen, The Hellenistic World and the Coming of Rome II [Berkeley 1984) 646 n.172). His intention was no doubt to assure Rome of his loyalty. 9 Hesperia 51 (1982) 60-62. 10 I.Perg. 160.54f [OGIS 248}. II See also W. S. Ferguson's lively assessment of Antiochus IV's relationship with Athens: Hellenistic Athens (New York 1911) 302-07.