Athenian ephebes decree — RO 89 / IG II² 1156 — edition 55 σωφρονιστὴς ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου χειροτονηθεὶς ἀποφαίνει αὐτοὑς πειθάρχοντας καὶ τἄλλα πάντα ποιοῦντας φιλοτίμως, ἐπαι-νέσαι αὐτοὺς καὶ στεφανῶσαι χρυσῶι στεφάνωι ἀπὸ Π' δραχμῶν κοσμιότητος εἵνεκα καὶ εὐταξίας· ἐπαινέσαι δὲ καὶ τὸν σωφρονιστὴν αὐτῶν Ἤδειστον Ἀντιμάχου Ἀθμονέα, καὶ στεφανῶσαι χρυσῶι στεφάνωι ἀπὸ Π' δραχμῶν, ὅτι καλῶς καὶ φιλοτίμως ἐπεμελήθη τῶν τε δημοτῶν (καὶ τῶν) ἄλλων ἁπάντων τῶν τῆς Κεκροπίδος φυλῆς. ἐπιγράψαι δὲ τόδε τὸ ψήφισμα ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνάθημα ὃ ἀνατιθέασιν οἱ ἔφηβοι τῆς Κεκροπίδος καὶ ὁ σωφρονιστής.

Athenian ephebes decree — RO 89 / IG II² 1156 — translation

Athenian ephebes decree — RO 89 / IG II² 1156 — commentary

From the 330s onwards, the arrangements described in Ath. Pol. 42 prevailed, according to which when boys of 18 years of age had had their deme membership, and hence their Athenian citizenship, confirmed, they were given two years of military training at public expense under the supervision of a kosmetes and of ten tribal sophronistai. Their training involved visiting sanctuaries, doing garrison duty in the Piraeus and in the countryside, and being educated in the use of hoplite weapons, bow, javelin and catapult. This highly regulated ephebic training was almost certainly initiated in the middle of the 330s, partly in response to the Athenian defeat at Chaeronea in August 338 (cf. 80). The lexicographer Harpocration (e 101 Ἐπικράτης) records a mention in a speech by Lycurgus of an Epicrates who was honoured with a bronze statue for a law about the ephebes. Epicrates' law may well be the most relevant of the laws referred to here (ll. 28, 54), but it cannot be precisely dated. No fewer than eight ephebic inscriptions survive from the period 333–329 which list the ephebes for a particular year from a particular tribe, three of them relating to the [year covered here].

Verbatim source material (from formula-dossier case study):

Greek text (verbatim OCR) 55 σωφρονιστὴς ὁ ὑπὸ τοῦ δήμου χειροτονηθεὶς ἀποφαίνει αὐτο[ὑς] πειθάρχοντας καὶ τἄλλα πάντα ποιοῦντας φιλοτίμως, ἐπ[αι]-νέσαι αὐτοὺς καὶ στεφανῶσαι χρυσῶι στεφάνωι ἀπὸ [Π'] δραχμ[ῶν] κοσμιότητος εἵνεκα καὶ εὐταξίας· ἐπαινέσαι δὲ καὶ τὸ[ν] σωφρονιστὴν αὐτῶν Ἤδειστον Ἀντιμάχου Ἀθμονέα, καὶ στεφανῶσ[αι χρυσῶι στεφάνωι ἀπὸ] Π' δραχμῶν, ὅτι καλῶς καὶ φιλοτίμως ἐπεμελήθη τῶν τε δημοτῶν (καὶ τῶν) ἄλλων ἁπάντων τῶν τῆς Κεκροπίδος φυλῆς. ἐπιγράψαι δὲ τόδε τὸ ψήφισμα ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνάθημα ὃ ἀνατιθέασιν οἱ ἔφηβοι τῆς Κεκροπίδος καὶ ὁ σωφρονιστής. Source: RO 2003, p. 452 = PDF page 485 (verbatim OCR; OCR'd at 150 dpi with grc+eng Tesseract; the bracketed restorations [αι], [Π'], [ν] are reproduced from RO 2003's critical text)

English translation (verbatim from RO 2003) […that, since the sophronistes elected by the people declares that] they are obedient and do everything else with love of honour, praise them and crown them with a gold crown of 500 drachmas for their good order and discipline; and praise their sophronistes, Adeistus son of Antimachus of Athmonon, and crown him with a gold crown from 500 drachmas because he has looked after the demesmen and all the others of the Cecropid tribe well and with love of honour; and inscribe this decree on the dedication which the ephebes of Cecropis and the sophronistes dedicate. The tribe — The council — The Eleusinians — The Athmoneis. Source: RO 2003, p. 453 = PDF p. 486 (verbatim OCR extract)

RO 2003 commentary (verbatim OCR) From the 330s onwards, the arrangements described in Ath. Pol. 42 prevailed, according to which when boys of 18 years of age had had their deme membership, and hence their Athenian citizenship, confirmed, they were given two years of military training at public expense under the supervision of a kosmetes and of ten tribal sophronistai. Their training involved visiting sanctuaries, doing garrison duty in the Piraeus and in the countryside, and being educated in the use of hoplite weapons, bow, javelin and catapult. This highly regulated ephebic training was almost certainly initiated in the middle of the 330s, partly in response to the Athenian defeat at Chaeronea in August 338 (cf. 80). The lexicographer Harpocration (e 101 Ἐπικράτης) records a mention in a speech by Lycurgus of an Epicrates who was honoured with a bronze statue for a law about the ephebes. Epicrates' law may well be the most relevant of the laws referred to here (ll. 28, 54), but it cannot be precisely dated. No fewer than eight ephebic inscriptions survive from the period 333–329 which list the ephebes for a particular year from a particular tribe, three of them relating to the [year covered here]. Source: RO 2003, pp. 453–454 = PDF pp. 486–487 (verbatim OCR; the speech by Lycurgus, the reference to Harpocration, and Epicrates' law are RO 2003's discussion as preserved in the OCR'd text)

Critical apparatus σωφρονιστὴς … ἀποφαίνει αὐτοὺς πειθάρχοντας — Honorific motivation clause (formula slot): F.EPEIDE-style introduction ἐπαινέσαι αὐτοὺς — Praise verb (formula slot): F.EPAINESAI στεφανῶσαι χρυσῶι στεφάνωι ἀπὸ Π' δραχμῶν — Crowning verb (formula slot): F.STEFANOSAI (gold crown of 500 drachmas) κοσμιότητος εἵνεκα καὶ εὐταξίας — Motivation tag (formula slot): standard honorific motive — "for their good order and discipline" ἐπαινέσαι δὲ καὶ τὸν σωφρονιστὴν αὐτῶν Ἤδειστον Ἀντιμάχου Ἀθμονέα — Secondary honour clause (sophronistes) (formula slot): F.EPAINESAI + named officer with patronymic + demotic ἐπιγράψαι δὲ τόδε τὸ ψήφισμα ἐπὶ τὸ ἀνάθημα ὃ ἀνατιθέασιν — Publication clause (formula slot): F.ANAGRAPSAI on a dedication (rather than a free-standing stele)

Editions and commentary On the text. Text follows P. J. Rhodes and R. Osborne, Greek Historical Inscriptions 404–323 BC (Oxford 2003), no. 89 (= IG II² 1156). Formula Dossier case #10 — slot-by-slot decomposition.