Associations in the Greco-Roman World (AGRW)

An expanding collection of inscriptions, papyri, and other sources in translation (run by Philip A. Harland)

[21] Decree of Dionysiasts Recognizing a Hero (176/175 BCE) Piraeus - Attica


Piraeus (Attica, Greece and Macedonia — Pleiades map), 176/175 BCE
AGRW 21 = GRA I 36 = IG II² 1326 = LSCG 49 = PHI 3542 = AGRW ID# 3170
Copenhagen Inventory info: 235


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Plaque of Pentelic marble found near the ruins of a sanctuary to Dionysos, now in the Epigraphical Museum, Athens.

Gods! To good fortune! In the year that Hippakos was civic leader (archōn), in the month of Poseideon at the regular assembly, Solon son of Hermogenes of Cholargos proposed the following motion: Whereas it has happened that Dionysios has left this life, and he had displayed in many things the goodwill that he had and continued to have toward all who brought the synod (synodos) together for the god. Also, when he was asked he was always the cause of some good thing, both for individuals and for the common good, being a benefactor (philanthropos) at all times. Whereas he has already been honored by the devotees of Dionysos (Dionysiastai), he has received the priesthood of the god, and he has been appointed treasurer, further increasing the common revenues by contributing one thousand silver drachmas from his own resources. And after all of the other expenditures he contributed a place in which they could come and sacrifice each month to the god in accordance with their ancestral customs.

He contributed in addition another five hundred silver drachmas, from which funds the statue of Dionysos was prepared for the sacrificing associates (orgeōnes), and it was installed in accordance with the oracle of the god. With respect to these matters, the plain demonstrations that exist concerning this man are registered in the archives for all time. On account of these things, the devotees of Dionysos, recognizing them, have honored him as being worthy and have crowned him in accordance with the law, so that the members who bring the synod together for the god might be seen to remember him, both while he was alive and after he died, remembering his beneficence and his goodwill toward them. Because of these things, they have publicly honored his children, since it happened that he has left behind successors to the things he possessed with glory and honor.

Concerning these successors, the law of the sacrificing associates also invites, first in this case, the eldest of the sons, just as also he had been introduced into the group in the place of his brother Kallikrates while his father was still alive. The sacrificing associates resolve that the priesthood of Dionysios be given to Agathokles son of Dionysios of Marathon, and that he hold it for life on account of all the honors with which his father has been honored. This was done because he has continued to maintain the treasury for the period after Dionysios’ death and has enhanced the revenue, devoting himself to these things without hesitation, wishing to demonstrate his own goodwill and beneficience to all of the devotees of Dionysos. He also introduced his brother Dionysios son of Dionysios of Marathon into the synod in virtue of the possessions of his father, possessions which he shares, in accordance with the law. Furthermore, the sacrificing associates resolved to recognize that Dionysios has been canonized as a hero and to set up a statue of him in the temple beside the statue of the god, where there is also a statue of his father, so that he may have the most beautiful memory for all time. Let this decree be inscribed on a stone monument (stele) and erected beside the sanctuary of the god. The cost of the monument and its erection shall be borne by the treasurer (tamias). These things were moved by Solon.

Translation by: Kloppenborg



θεοί. | ἀγαθεῖ τύχει· ἐπὶ Ἱππάκου ἄρχοντος, Ποσιδεῶ|νος ἀγορᾶι κυρίαι· Σόλων Ἑρμογένου Χολαργεὺς | εἶπεν· ἐπειδὴ συμβέβηκεν Διονυσίωι μεταλλά|ξαι τὸν βίον ἀποδεδειγμένωι ἐμ πολλοῖς ἣν ἔ||χων εὔνοιαν διετέλει πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς τὴν | σύνοδον φέροντας τῶι θεῶι, αἰεί τινος ἀγαθοῦ πει|[ρ]ώμενος παραίτιος γίνεσθαι καὶ ἰδίαι καὶ κοινεῖ | [φ]ιλάγαθος ὢ[ν] ἐμ παντὶ καιρῶι· ὃς γοῦν προτι|μηθεὶς ὑπὸ τῶν Διονυσιαστῶν καὶ λαβὼν τὴν ἱε||ρεωσύνην τοῦ θεοῦ καὶ κατασταθεὶς ταμίας τάς | τε κοινὰς προσόδους ἐπηύξησεν ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων | ἐπιδοὺς αὐτοῖς ἀργυρίου χιλίας δραχμὰς καὶ τό|πον μετὰ τῆς ἄλλης χορηγίας πάσης εἰς ὃν συν|ιόντες θύσο[υ]σιν κατὰ μῆνα ἕκαστον τῶι θεῶι κα||τὰ τὰ πάτρια, ἐπέδωκεν δὲ καὶ ἄλλας ἀργυρίου | πεντακοσίας δραχμὰς ἀφ’ ὧν κατεσκευάσατο τὸ | ἄγαλμα τοῦ Διονύσου τοῖς ὀργεῶσιν καὶ προσιδρύ|σατο κατὰ τὴν μαντείαν τοῦ θεοῦ, καὶ περὶ ἁπάντων | τούτων ὑπά[ρ]χουσιν αἱ ἀποδείξεις ὑπὲρ τἀνδρὸς σα||φεῖς διὰ τῶν χρηματισμῶν εἰς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον· | ἀνθ’ ὧν ἐπιγνόντες οἱ Διονυσιασταὶ ἐτίμησαν | αὐτὸν ἄξιον ὄντα καὶ ἐστεφάνωσαν κατὰ τὸν | νόμον· ἵνα ο[ὖ]ν φαίνωνται οἱ τὴν σύνοδον φέρον|τες μεμνη[μ]ένοι αὐτοῦ καὶ ζῶντος καὶ μετηλλα||χότος τὸν β[ίο]ν τῆς πρὸς αὐτοὺς μεγαλοψυχίας | καὶ εὐ[νοίας κ]αὶ ἀντὶ τούτων φανεροὶ ὦσιν τιμῶν|τες τοὺς ἐξ [ἐκ]είνου γεγονότας, ἐπειδὴ συμβαί|νει διαδόχους αὐτὸν κ[α]ταλελοιπέναι πάντων | τῶν ἐν δόξ[ε]ι καὶ τιμεῖ αὐτῶι ὑπ[α]ρχόντων, περὶ ὧν || καὶ ὁ νόμος τῶν ὀργεώνων καλεῖ πρῶτ[ον ἐ]πὶ [ταῦ]|τα τὸν πρεσβύτατον τῶν ὑῶν, καθὼς καὶ προεισ[ῆ]|κται ἐπὶ τὴν χώραν τἀδελφοῦ Καλλικράτου ζῶν|τος τοῦ πατρός· δεδόχθαι τοῖς ὀργεῶσιν, τὴν ἱερεω|[σύ]νην τοῦ Δ[ι]ονύσου δεδόσθαι Ἀγαθοκλεῖ Διονυσίου || [Μα]ραθωνίωι καὶ ὑπάρχειν αὐτῶι διὰ βίου ἐπὶ ταῖς | [τιμ]αῖς ταῖς αὐταῖς αἷς ἐτετίμητο καὶ ὁ πατὴρ αὐ|[τοῦ], ἐπειδὴ ὑπομεμένηκεν τὴν ταμιείαν εἰς τὸν | [με]τὰ ταῦτα χρόνον διεξάξειν καὶ ἐπαυ[ξ]ήσειν τὴν | [σύνο]δον διδοὺς εἰς ταῦτα ἑαυτὸν ἀπ[ροφ]ασίστως, || [βουλ]όμενος ἀποδείκνυσθαι τὴν ἑαυτοῦ εὔνοιαν | [καὶ] καλοκαγ[α]θίαν πρὸς ἅπαντας τοὺς Διονυσιαστά[ς], | [εἰσή]γαγεν [δ]ὲ καὶ τὸν ἀδελφὸν αὐτοῦ Διονύσιον Διο|νυσίου Μαρα[θ]ώνιον εἰς τὴν σύνοδον ἐπὶ τὰ τοῦ πατρ[ὸς] | ὑπάρχοντα [μ]εθέξοντα τῶν κοινῶν κατὰ τὸν νόμο[ν]· || φροντίσαι δὲ τοὺς ὀργεῶνας ὅπως ἀφηρωϊσθεῖ Δι[ο]|νύσιος καὶ ἀ[ν]ατεθεῖ ἐν τῶι ἱερῶι παρὰ τὸν θεόν, ὅπου κα[ὶ] | ὁ πατὴρ αὐτοῦ, ἵνα ὑπάρχει κάλλιστον ὑπόμνημα αὐτοῦ | εἰς τὸν ἅπαντα χρόνον. ἀναγράψαι δὲ τόδε τὸ ψήφισμα ἐ[ν] | στήλει λιθίνει καὶ στῆσαι παρὰ τὸν νεὼ τοῦ θεοῦ, τὸ δὲ || γενόμενον ἀνάλωμα εἰς τὴν στήλην καὶ τὴν ἀνάθεσιν | μερίσαι τὸν [τ]αμίαν. ταῦτα Σόλων εἶπεν.

Item added: September 18, 2012
Item modified: April 6, 2020
ID number: 3170
Short link address:
http://www.philipharland.com/greco-roman-associations/?p=3170

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