Segesta decree — IG I³ 11 = ML 37

Segesta decree — IG I³ 11 = ML 37 — edition

IG I³ 11 = ML 37, lines 1–6 θεοί · ἔδοχσεν τει βολει καὶ τοι δέμοι · Ἀκαμαντὶς ἐπρυτάνευε Χαρίας ἐγραμμάτευε · Δίυλλος ἐπεστάτε Hάβρ̣ον / Ἀντι̣φ̣ον ἤρχ̣ε · ἔδοχσεν τει βολει καὶ τοι δέμοι Φερετίμας Ἀρ̣ιστέο εἶπε · Ἐγεσταίοις χσυμμαχίαν ποέσασθαι καὶ ὅρκον δοῦναι καὶ λαβεῖν

IG I³ 11 = ML 37, lines 7–14 ὅπος δ' ἂν ὁ ὅρκος γένηται, τὲν βολὲν διαχειροτονέσαι ν͂ν εὐθύς, ὅστις ἐπιτέδειος εἶναι δοκεῖ καὶ πέμψαι Ἀθ̣ε̣ν̣αίον τινὰς ὥσπερ ὁρκοτὰς ἐς Ἔγεσταν, hοίτινες ἀπολέχσονται τοὺς δυνατωτάτους ἀνδρὰς αὐτόθεν · ἐς δ̣ὲ τὸν ὅρκον τοῖς πρέσβεσι τοῖς Ἐγεσταίοις τοῖς νῦν παροῦσιν τὸν δῆμον ὁρκοῦν τὲν δὲ βολὲν τὸν Ἐγεσταίον δῆμον ὁρκοῦν τὰ μεγάλα νόμιμα ὀμνύντας τὰ ἐν αὐτεῖ τει πόλει τοῖς Ἐγεσταίοις · συντάχσαι δὲ τὸ̣ν ὅρκον τὸν στρατεγὸν τὸ ν͂ν παρόντα μετὰ τες βολες, καὶ τὸν πρόεδρον τὸν ἐπιστάτεν τες προεδρίας ἐπερωτᾶν τὸν δεμον ὅστις ἐπιτέδειος δοκεῖ εἶναι hόρκον δοῦναι καὶ λαβεῖν

IG I³ 11 = ML 37, lines 15–24 hοί δὲ πρέσβες οἱ Ἐγεσταίον τὲν χσενίαν καλέσαι ἐπὶ τὸ πρυτανεῖον ἐς αὔριον · τὸν δὲ στρατεγὸν τὸν παρόντ̣α ἐπιμέλε̣σθαι τὸς δὲ ὅρκος δόναι ν͂ν εὐθύς · τοῖς δὲ Ἀθεναίοις τοῖς ἐσομένοις πρέσβεσιν ἐς Σε̣γεσταίος ἐφόδιον δοῦναι ἐκ το͂ν Ἀθεναίον hόσον ἂν τοῖς κωλακρέταις δοκῇ τὸ δὲ ψέφισμα τόδε καὶ τὸν hόρκον ἀναγράψαι ἐν στέλει λιθίνει καὶ καταθεῖναι ἐν πόλει καὶ ἐν Ἐγέσται ἐν τοῖ hιεροῖ τες Ἀρτέμιδο̣ς τες Ἐγεσταίας · τὲν δὲ δαπάνεν τοῖς κωλακρέταις δοῦναι καλέσαι δὲ τὸς πρέσβες τοὺς Ἐγεσταίος ἐπὶ χσενίαν εἰς τὸ πρυτανεῖον ἐπὶ τὸ δεῖπνον ἐς αὔριον · γραμματεὺς τες β̣ο̣λες - - - ἀνέγραψεν

Segesta decree — IG I³ 11 = ML 37 — translation

Prescript with the archon-name lacuna (lines 1–6) (ll. 1–6)

Gods. Resolved by the council and the people. The tribe Akamantis was in prytany; [Char]ias was secretary; [Diyllos] was epistates; [Ha]bron / [An]tiphon was archon. Resolved by the council and the people. [Ph]eretimas son of Aristeus moved: that [an alliance be made with the Segestans], and that an oath be given and received.

Oath-exchange (lines 7–14) (ll. 7–14)

In order that the oath may be sworn, [the council] shall now immediately elect [by show of hands] those who seem suitable and shall send [some Athenians as] oath-receivers to Segesta, who shall pick out [the most powerful] men there. For the oath, the [Segestan] envoys [now present here] shall swear the people; and the council shall swear [the Segestan people] swearing the great customs which are at home in the polis for the Segestans. The general now present, together with the council, shall draw up [the oath, and the prytany-president of the day] shall ask [the people who is to be appointed] to give and receive [the oath].

Closing clauses (lines 15–24) (ll. 15–24)

The Segestan envoys are to be invited to hospitality in the prytaneion tomorrow; the general now present is to see to it. Let the oaths be administered now immediately. To the Athenians who shall serve as envoys to Segesta, let viaticum be given from [Athenian funds] as much as the kolakretai think fit. This decree and the oath shall be inscribed on a stone stele and set up on the Acropolis [and at Segesta] in the sanctuary [of Artemis of] Segesta. The expense is to be supplied by the kolakretai. The Segestan envoys are to be invited to hospitality for the dinner [in the prytaneion tomorrow]. The secretary of the council [---] has inscribed this.

Segesta decree — IG I³ 11 = ML 37 — commentary

The prescript is the canonical 5th-c. BCE Athenian decree opening: ἔδοξεν τῇ βουλῇ καὶ τῷ δήμῳ + tribe-in-prytany + secretary + epistates + archon + proposer + motion. The slot-grammar is the conventional one (per Henry 1977, ch. 1–3; Rhodes 1985, ch. 4). The crux is line 3: the archon's name has lost all but its final iota — ...ϝος ἤρχ̣ε — leaving Habron (458/7 BCE) and Antiphon (418/7 BCE) as the surviving candidates. Lewis 1997 (pp. 9–21) makes the case for Habron on letter-form grounds + the political context of the early 450s; Lambert 2017 surveys both positions.

What the formulaic-restoration thesis says about this case: the slot itself is uncontested (the genre supplies the dating-formula); the choice of filling is the philological residue. This is the same pattern as the Laudatio Turiae's proscription episode (case-21 §4) — genre supplies the slot, history supplies the filling, philology decides.

The oath-exchange formula. Standard slot-set in 5th-c. BCE Athenian alliance-decrees: (a) the verb of swearing (ὀμνύναι), (b) the divine guarantors, (c) the bilateral commitment, (d) the duration (often unstated = ἀίδιον / 'in perpetuity'). Compare ML 17 (Eleans-Heraeans, c. 500 BCE) for the same slot-set in the earlier-republican alliance-tradition.

The closing clauses: (a) viaticum-payment to the Athenian envoys returning from Segesta, (b) introduction of the Segestan envoys to the council and assembly, (c) publication-clause specifying inscription on a stone stele on the Acropolis. The publication-formula is the canonical Attic ἀναγράψαι ἐν στήλῃ λιθίνῃ καὶ καταθεῖναι ἐν τῇ Ἀκροπόλει; same slot as ML 73 (Eleusinian First-Fruits, case study #13) and many others.

Critical apparatus [Hά]βρ̣ον / [Ἀν]τι̣φ̣ον ἤρχ̣ε — Habron 458/7 BCE Lewis 1997 : Antiphon 418/7 BCE alii. The lapis preserves only the final iota; both readings are formally possible. [Φ]ερετίμας Ἀρ̣[ιστ]έο εἶπε — ἀρ̣[ιστ]έο restored per ML 1969 ad loc. [--- συμμαχίαν ποέσασθαι πρὸς Ἐγεσταίος ---] — Restoration after ML 1969 no. 37; the alliance-oath body is heavily restored from genre parallels.

Editions and commentary R. Meiggs & D. Lewis, A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century BC (Oxford 1969), no. 37. D. M. Lewis, Selected Papers in Greek and Near Eastern History (Cambridge 1997), pp. 9–21. S. Lambert, Two inscribed documents of the Athenian empire: the Chalkis decree and the tribute reassessment decree (Oropos 2017). A. S. Henry, The Prescripts of Athenian Decrees (Mnemosyne Suppl. 49, Leiden 1977), ch. 1–3. P. J. Rhodes, The Athenian Boule (Oxford 1972, 2nd ed. 1985), ch. 4. IG I³ 11.