Tanagra area [Aulis] (Boeotia, Greece and Macedonia — Pleiades map), early II BCE
GRA I 59 =
A. Schachter, "Aristiastai: An Inscription from Vathy (Boiotia) Reconsidered," ZPE 23 (1976) 251-54
= Roesch 1982,122-23 (no.3)
= Marchand 2015, 259-260 (no. 6)
= SEG 26 (1976), no. 614
= PHI 327030
= AGRW ID# 3985
Copenhagen Inventory info: 932
Rectangular slab of white marble with a triangular relief at the top (65 x 29-33 x 10 cm). Found in the vicinity of the church of Prophetis Elias (a few kilometres north of Tanagra), near the ancient site of Aulis. Now in Thebes Museum (inv. 32211). Marchand (2015, 245-246) proposes that the Aristiasts may be a group of military men named after the "award of merit" (ἀριστεῖον)–here personified as Aristeion–bestowed upon brave soldiers. It is also possible that this is a group named after the goddess Ariste or a goddess with the epithet Ariste ("Best"). This may also be a group devoted to a heroized man named Ariston or Aristion. A less likely scenario is that the group is named after a founder named Aristion or Ariston (the formation is unusual for a founder).
Euklidas. The Ariste-devotees (Aristiastai) and Aphrodite-devotees (Aphrodiastai), fellow-sacrificers (synthytai), and the archers (pharatritai) buried him.
Translation by: AscoughΕ̣ὐκλίδας | οὗτον ἔθαψαν τὺ | σουνθούτη τὺ Ἀριστ[ι]|αστὴ κὴ Ἀφροδισιαστ[ὴ] || κ̣ὴ τὺ φαρατρίτη.
Item added: October 15, 2012
Item modified: September 4, 2020
ID number: 3985
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