Eleans-and-Heraeans treaty — ML 17 / IvO 9 — edition ἁ ϝράτρα τοῖρ ϝαλείοις. καὶ τοῖρ Ἐρϝαοίοις. συνμαχία κ' ἔα ἑκατὸν ϝέτεα· ἄρχοι δέ κα τοῖ· αἰ δέ τι δέοι· αἴτε ϝέπος αἴτε ϝέργον· συνέαν κ' ἀλάλοις· τά τ' ἄλα καὶ πὰρ πολέμο· αἰ δὲ μὰ συνέαν· τάλαντόν κ' ἀργύρο ἀποτίνοιαν τἀι Δὶ Ὀλυνπίοι· τοὶ καδαλεμένοι λατρειόμενον· αἰ δέ τιρ τὰ γράφεα ταῖ καδαλέοιτο· αἴτε ϝέτας αἴτε τελεστὰ αἴτε δᾶμος· ἐν τἐπιάροι κ' ἐνέχοιτο τῶι 'νταῦτ' ἐγραμένωι. For the Elean dialect, see Bechtel, GD ii. 827 ff., Buck, pp. 159 f. ἔα, συνέαν (ll. 2, 4, 5) = Attic εἴη, συνεῖεν. τοῖ, ταῖ (ll. 3, 8) = τοδί, ταδί (τόδε, τάδε). πὰρ (l. 4) = περί (Günther, Indog. Forsch. xx 1906-7 139). καδαλεμένοι, καδαλέοιτο (ll. 6-7, 8) = καταδηλούμενοι, καταδηλοῖτο. ϝέτας survives in Arcadian prose until the first century B.C. (IG v. 2. 20). ἐπιάροι (= ἐφιέρωι) (l. 9) seems to mean 'fine' rather than 'curse' here. For ϝράτρα cf. No. 8. Jeffery, by confining her investigations to the allied alphabets of Elis, Arcadia, and Laconia and avoiding the remoter parallels by which this text has sometimes been dated, has lowered its date substantially. Arguments as to whether it should predate or postdate 572, the traditional date at which the Eleans finally wrested from the Pisatans the control of Olympia and its festival (Paus. vi. 22. 2), now seem beside the point. The circumstances in which Elis made this alliance with Heraea of western Arcadia must remain unknown. Heraea, to judge by its coins (Head, HN² 447), was not unimportant at this date, and there is no trace of subordination in the terms of the treaty. The alliance was for a hundred years, beginning with 'this year'. The indefiniteness may perhaps be due to the fact that a century's alliance was regarded as practically unlimited (Keil, Εἰρήνη, 8) and therefore its starting-point need not be precisely dated.

Eleans-and-Heraeans treaty — ML 17 / IvO 9 — translation

Eleans-and-Heraeans treaty — ML 17 / IvO 9 — commentary

For the Elean dialect, see Bechtel, GD ii. 827 ff., Buck, pp. 159 f. ἔα, συνέαν (ll. 2, 4, 5) = Attic εἴη, συνεῖεν. τοῖ, ταῖ (ll. 3, 8) = τοδί, ταδί (τόδε, τάδε). πὰρ (l. 4) = περί (Günther, Indog. Forsch. xx (1906-7) 139). καδαλεμένοι, καδαλέοιτο (ll. 6-7, 8) = καταδηλούμενοι, καταδηλοῖτο. ϝέτας survives in Arcadian prose until the first century B.C. (IG v. 2. 20). ἐπιάροι (= ἐφιέρωι) (l. 9) seems to mean 'fine' rather than 'curse' here. For ϝράτρα cf. No. 8. Jeffery, by confining her investigations to the allied alphabets of Elis, Arcadia, and Laconia and avoiding the remoter parallels by which this text has sometimes been dated, has lowered its date substantially. Arguments as to whether it should predate or postdate 572, the traditional date at which the Eleans finally wrested from the Pisatans the control of Olympia and its festival (Paus. vi. 22. 2), now seem beside the point. The circumstances in which Elis made this alliance with Heraea of western Arcadia must remain unknown. Heraea, to judge by its coins (Head, HN² 447), was not unimportant at this date, and there is no trace of subordination in the terms of the treaty. The alliance was for a hundred years, beginning with 'this year'. The indefiniteness may perhaps be due to the fact that a century's alliance was regarded as practically unlimited (Keil, Εἰρήνη, 8) and therefore its starting-point need not be precisely dated.

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

Greek text (verbatim OCR) ἁ ϝράτρα τοῖρ ϝαλείοις. καὶ τοῖρ Ἐρϝαοίοις. συνμαχία κ' ἔα ἑκατὸν ϝέτεα· ἄρχοι δέ κα τοῖ· αἰ δέ τι δέοι· αἴτε ϝέπος αἴτε ϝέργον· συνέαν κ' ἀλάλοις· τά τ' ἄλ(α) καὶ πὰρ πολέμο· αἰ δὲ μὰ συνέαν· τάλαντόν κ' ἀργύρο ἀποτίνοιαν τἀι Δὶ Ὀλυνπίοι· τοὶ καδαλεμένοι λατρειόμενον· αἰ δέ τιρ τὰ γράφεα ταῖ καδαλέοιτο· αἴτε ϝέτας αἴτε τελεστὰ αἴτε δᾶμος· ἐν τἐπιάροι κ' ἐνέχοιτο τῶι 'νταῦτ' ἐγραμένωι. Source: ML 1969, p. 32 = PDF p. 050 (verbatim OCR with grc+eng Tesseract; digamma ϝ and Doric forms preserved through OCR)

English translation (verbatim from ML 1969) "This is the covenant between the Eleans and the Heraeans. There shall be an alliance for a hundred years, and this (year) shall be the first; and if anything is needed, either word or deed, they shall stand by each other in all matters and especially in war; and if they stand not by each other, those who do the wrong shall pay a talent of silver to Olympian Zeus to be used in his service. And if anyone injures this writing, whether private man or magistrate or community, he shall be liable to the sacred fine herein written." Source: ML 1969, p. 32 (verbatim OCR extract)

ML 1969 commentary (verbatim OCR) For the Elean dialect, see Bechtel, GD ii. 827 ff., Buck, pp. 159 f. ἔα, συνέαν (ll. 2, 4, 5) = Attic εἴη, συνεῖεν. τοῖ, ταῖ (ll. 3, 8) = τοδί, ταδί (τόδε, τάδε). πὰρ (l. 4) = περί (Günther, Indog. Forsch. xx (1906-7) 139). καδαλεμένοι, καδαλέοιτο (ll. 6-7, 8) = καταδηλούμενοι, καταδηλοῖτο. ϝέτας survives in Arcadian prose until the first century B.C. (IG v. 2. 20). ἐπιάροι (= ἐφιέρωι) (l. 9) seems to mean 'fine' rather than 'curse' here. For ϝράτρα cf. No. 8. Jeffery, by confining her investigations to the allied alphabets of Elis, Arcadia, and Laconia and avoiding the remoter parallels by which this text has sometimes been dated, has lowered its date substantially. Arguments as to whether it should predate or postdate 572, the traditional date at which the Eleans finally wrested from the Pisatans the control of Olympia and its festival (Paus. vi. 22. 2), now seem beside the point. The circumstances in which Elis made this alliance with Heraea of western Arcadia must remain unknown. Heraea, to judge by its coins (Head, HN² 447), was not unimportant at this date, and there is no trace of subordination in the terms of the treaty. The alliance was for a hundred years, beginning with 'this year'. The indefiniteness may perhaps be due to the fact that a century's alliance was regarded as practically unlimited (Keil, Εἰρήνη, 8) and therefore its starting-point need not be precisely dated. Source: ML 1969, p. 32 (verbatim OCR; Bechtel, Buck, Jeffer

Critical apparatus ἁ ϝράτρα τοῖρ ϝαλείοις. καὶ τοῖρ Ἐρϝαοίοις — Heading-as-formula (formula slot): wratra-heading (Doric equivalent of Attic ψήφισμα-heading; cf. ML 1969 reference "No. 8") συνμαχία κ' ἔα ἑκατὸν ϝέτεα — Substantive declaration (formula slot): treaty-of-alliance declaration: 100-year συμμαχία αἰ δέ τι δέοι... συνέαν κ' ἀλάλοις τά τ' ἄλα καὶ πὰρ πολέμο — Mutual-assistance clause (formula slot): conditional clause + reciprocity formula (ἀλλήλοις) τάλαντόν κ' ἀργύρο ἀποτίνοιαν τἀι Δὶ Ὀλυνπίοι — Sanction clause (formula slot): penalty formula: talent of silver to Olympian Zeus αἰ δέ τιρ τὰ γράφεα ταῖ καδαλέοιτο... ἐν τἐπιάροι κ' ἐνέχοιτο — Inscription-protection clause (formula slot): sanction-against-erasure clause: ancestor of the canonical Athenian "anyone who erases this stele" formula

Editions and commentary On the text. Text follows R. Meiggs and D. Lewis, Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century BC (Oxford 1969), no. 17 (= IvO 9). Elean dialect: ἔα, συνέαν = Attic εἴη, Formula Dossier case #12 — slot-by-slot decomposition.