Antigonus I to Teos: the synoecism with Lebedus (the grain fund and the laws of Cos) magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub reading text and apparatus afterW. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum³ (ed. F. Hiller von Gaertringen), no. 344 (= SIG² 177; the base text followed here). magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub magalia.wiki — Epigraphy Matrix Hub Beijing 2026 magalia.wiki welles-teos-lebedus SIG³ 344 (Welles, RC 3–4) 344 3–4 CC-BY 4.0 — EpiDoc TEI edition for study and reuse. see provenanceSIG³ 344 (Welles, RC 3–4) 344 3–4 Stele from Teos; ~126+ lines in two letters; lines restored from 53 to 76 letters; the stone lost since 1898. Stele, two letters, ~126+ lines (53–76 letters per line) c. 303 BCE Teos Teos (Sığacık) — The stone lost by 1898; LeBas's copy + squeeze the sole authority W. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum³ (ed. F. Hiller von Gaertringen), no. 344 (= SIG² 177; the base text followed here). C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), nos. 3–4 (text, translation, commentary; the witness). P. Le Bas & W. H. Waddington, Voyage archéologique III (Paris 1870), no. 86 (the copy and squeeze; the stone lost by 1898). C. Michel, Recueil d'inscriptions grecques (Brussels 1900), no. 34; F. Schroeter, De Regum Hellenisticorum Epistulis (1932), 3/4. Linked data and external resources Pleiades 550913 magalia.wiki edition

Leiden conventions rendered as EpiDoc: restorations as supplied(reason=lost), gaps as gap, abbreviations as expan(abbr+ex), omitted letters as supplied(reason=omitted), surplus as surplus, corrections as corr. Critical apparatus as listApp. The facing translation is div type=translation; the historical commentary is div type=commentary.

 Ancient Greek English Antigonus I MonophthalmosThe writer (king, 306–301 BCE)Plans and micro-manages the synoecism of Lebedus into Teos — housing, plots, courts, laws, grain — part of his Ionian urban policy (he had already moved the Scepsians to Alexandreia Troas; cf. edition #1). The TeiansThe receiving cityHost the merger; their envoys negotiate the grain fund's size and the timetables. The LebediansThe relocated citySurrender their polis; receive equal building plots, liturgy exemptions, temporary housing, and a Panionion seat under Teos' name. The nomographoiThe law-draftersTo be elected to frame the joint code (laws the demos agrees on are used, disputed ones referred to the king); until then the laws of Cos govern. The base does not state the board's number. The CoansThe law-lendersCos supplies its laws — copied under the Coan seal — as the merged city's interim code. LysimachusThe aftermathTook Teos soon after; the synoecism was never completed and the Lebedians were moved instead to his new Ephesus. the council and people (boulē kai dēmos)issuing / addressee body
Antigonus I to Teos: the synoecism with Lebedus (the grain fund and the laws of Cos) — edition Βασιλεὺς Ἀντίγονος Τηίων τῆι βουλῆι καὶ τῶι δήμωι χαίρειν — — — ὅστις δ’ ἂν εἰς τὸ Πανιώνιον ἀποστέλληται, οἰό μεθα δεῖν πρᾶξαι πάντα τὰ κοινὰ τὸν ἴσον χρόνον, σκηνοῦν δὲ τοῦτον καὶ πανηγυρίζειν μετὰ τῶν παρ’ ὑμῶν ἀφικομένων καὶ καλεῖσθαι Τήιον. — οἰόμεθα δὲ δεῖν καὶ οἰκόπεδον ἑκάστωι τῶν Λεβεδίων δοθῆναι παρ’ ὑμῖν ἴσον ὧι ἂν καταλίπηι ἐν Λεβέδωι. ἕως — — — — — — — — — — — τούτους λῃτουργεῖν. — ἔφασαν δὲ καὶ παρὰ τῶν Λεβεδίων δεῖν ἐς σίτου παράθεσιν ἐξαιρεθῆναι ἀπὸ τῶν προσόδων χρυσοῦς τετρακοσίους καὶ χιλίους, ὥστε τὸμ βουλόμενον λαβόντα τὸ χρυσίον τοῦτο εἰς ὑποθήκην εἰσάγειν σῖτον εἰς τὴμ πόλιν καὶ πωλεῖν τὸν ἐνιαυτὸν ὁπόταν βούληται, ὅταν δὲ ὁ ἐνιαυτὸς τελευτή σηι, ἀποδίδοσθαι τὸ χρυσίον τῆι πόλει αὐτὸ καὶ τοὺς τόκους ἐφ’ οἷς ἂν λάβηι. ὧν ἀξιούντων ἄλλως τε συντάξαι ἡμᾶς καὶ νῦν τοῦτο γίνεσθαι, ὅπως ὑπάρχηι σίτου πλῆθος ἱκανὸν ἐν τῆι πόλει — οὐ γὰρ ποεῖν ὑμᾶς ἱκανὸν — ᾤοντο δεῖν καὶ οἱ παρ’ ὑμῶν ταὐτὸ γενέσθαι, ἠξίουν δὲ καὶ τὸ χρυσίον πλεῖον συνταχθῆναι, ἐπειδὴ ὁ συνοικισμὸς συντελεῖται καὶ πλέονες γίνεσθε εἰς ταὐτὸ ἐλθόντες· ἡμεῖς δὲ πρότερον μὲν οὐχ ἐβουλόμεθα μηδεμιᾶι πόλει δίδοσθαι τὰ σιτηγήσια μηδὲ σίτου γίνεσθαι παράθεσιν, οὐκ ἐῶντες τὰς πόλεις Βασιλεὺς Ἀντίγονος Τηίων τῆι βουλῆι καὶ τῶι δήμωι χαίρειν· ἡμεῖς τὸ πρότερον σκοποῦντες ὅπου τάχιστ’ ἂν συντελεσθείη ὁ συνοικισμός, οὐχ ἑωρῶμεν τὰ ἀναγκαῖα ὑμῖν χρήματα πόθεν πορισθῆι, τοῦ ἔχειν Λεβεδίοις τὰς τιμὰς τῶν οἰκιῶν τάχιστα ἀποδοῦναι, διὰ τὸ τὰ ἐκ τῶν προσόδων γινόμενα κατὰ χρόνους προσπορεύεσθαι ὑμῖν μακροτέρους· δεξάμενοι δὲ τοὺς τε παρ’ ὑμῶν καὶ τοὺς παρὰ τῶν Λεβεδίων διαπυνθανόμενοι αὐτῶν εἴ τινα ἔχουσιν ἡμῖν πόρον εἰση- γεῖσθαι, οὐ φαμένων δὲ ἔχειν ἔξω τῶν περὶ τὰ τέλη, ἐπισκοπούμενοι
Antigonus I to Teos: the synoecism with Lebedus (the grain fund and the laws of Cos) — translation
The Panionion delegate 'to be called a Teian'; plots equal to those left at Lebedus (ll. 1–6)

… [the delegate] who is sent to the Panionion [shall transact all] the common business with the others for the duration, shall share the festival tent and take part in the festival with those who come from you, and shall be called a Teian. — We think too that a building plot should be given to the Lebedian at your city equal to the one he leaves behind at Lebedus …

Law-drafters and the demos; fetch Cos's laws under seal (deadlines of 3, 30 and 10 days) (ll. 47–66)

(the law-drafters and the laws of Cos, §9 — Welles's translation, verified:) … Of the laws proposed, whatever the people ratifies by agreement they are to use; whatever is disputed is to be referred to us, so that we may decide it [or appoint a city to decide it]; and if any are found drafting laws not for the best but unsuitably, [we may charge them with it] and punish them. As to the laws of Cos, we decided that this should be done, [and we have requested the Coans] to give you the laws to copy. We think it best that three men be [appointed] as soon as this answer is read, and that they be sent [to Cos in] three [days] to copy the laws; that those who are sent [shall bring back the] laws sealed with the Coan seal in [thirty] days; and that when the laws [are brought back], you and the Lebedians shall elect the (new) officials [within] ten [days].

The revolving fund: borrow on security, import and sell, repay with interest (ll. 73–85)

§10 (Welles's translation, verified): The envoys of the [Lebedians] said [that it was necessary] to set aside from the revenues [one thousand] four hundred gold staters for the supply [of grain, so that] anyone who wished, taking this money against security, [might import grain into the] city and sell it throughout the year whenever he wished, and that [at the end of the year] he should return the money to the city, both the capital and the interest at the rate [at which he took it].

When they particularly requested us to order that this be done now, so that there might be [a sufficient quantity] of grain [in the city] — for you could not produce enough — your envoys expressed [their approval but asked] that more money be appropriated as the synoecism [was being completed] and the population was becoming [larger] as you moved into one city. Previously we were un[willing] that [any] city should undertake the importation of grain or maintain a (subsidized) grain-supply, for we were not willing to have the cities spend large sums of money unnecessarily for this purpose; we did not [wish] even now to give this permission, for the crown [land] is near …

The king revisits the timetable (opening, ll.109–116) (ll. 109–116)

King Antigonus to the council and people of Teos, greeting. We were formerly considering (§13) how the synoecism might be completed as quickly as possible; [but] we did not see whence the money you need would be found — so that the Lebedians might have the value of their houses paid promptly — because the revenue accruing to you from the public sources comes in only over [rather long] periods. So, having received the envoys both from you and from those of the Lebedians, and inquiring of them whether they had any source of funds to propose to us, and when they said they had none apart from the tax-revenues, we examined the matter …

Appraisers; the fifteen-day housing count (close, in Welles's translation) (ll. 117–126)

(§14, in Welles's translation:) those who are sent for the laws should bring them from Cos and report them within the period which we specified in the answer (i.e. the previous letter); those who are sent for the appraisers should bring them back as quickly as possible; [we think it best] that the houses in your city which must be given to the Lebedians for [temporary residence] be counted [within] fifteen [days] from the reading of (this) answer, and that those who are to count and assign them be elected by each [tribe] at the next assembly.

Antigonus I to Teos: the synoecism with Lebedus (the grain fund and the laws of Cos) — commentary

The opening of letter 3 is lost; the surviving text begins mid-§1. Two rulings set the tone of total administrative care: the Lebedian delegate to the Panionion keeps his place in the Ionian league's festival — sharing the Teians' tent — but 'is to be called a Teian' (civic identity reassigned by royal letter); and every relocated Lebedian receives at Teos a building plot equal to the one he abandons (Welles 1934, 15–27; SIG³ 344).

Elected law-drafters (nomographoi) are to frame a joint code: of the laws proposed, those the demos ratifies by agreement are used, while disputed ones are referred to the king to decide; should anyone be found drafting badly rather than for the best, the king reserves to 'charge him with it and punish him'. Until the code is ready, the merged city is to run on the laws of Cos: three men sent within three days of this answer being read, the laws copied and brought back under the Coan seal within thirty days, the new officials elected within ten of their return. The most concrete legal transplant in Greek epigraphy. Given here in Welles's verified translation (the Greek occupies SIG³ 344 ll.~47–66). The base names the law-drafters but does not state their number; the 'three' belongs to the men sent to Cos.

The dossier's most famous section. The Lebedian envoys asked that 1400 gold staters be set aside from the revenues as a revolving grain fund: any citizen may borrow against security, import grain and sell it through the year, repaying capital and interest at year-end — 'so that there may be a sufficient quantity of grain in the city'. Antigonus grants it against his own stated policy: 'previously we were unwilling that any city should be given grain-import subsidies or maintain a grain-reserve…' The concession measures both the scale of the synoecism and the cities' anxiety about food (Welles 1934, 22–24; SIG³ 344 ll.73–85).

The second letter answers a further Teian embassy and tightens the machinery: the men sent for the laws are to bring them from Cos within the period already specified; those sent for the appraisers are to return as quickly as possible; the houses to lodge the Lebedians temporarily are to be counted within fifteen days of this answer's reading, with the counters elected by tribe at the next assembly. The synoecism itself never came to completion — Lysimachus took Teos soon after, and the Lebedians were transplanted to his new Ephesus (Welles 1934, 24–27).

Critical apparatus (the law-drafters and the laws of Cos, §9) — given in Welles's verified translation; the Greek (SIG³ 344 ll.~47–66, p.577) is summarised, not transcribed per-line, in this increment. τὸν ἴσον χρόνον — 'for an equal period' — the delegate shares the common business for as long as a Teian would; re-collated from the print (an earlier reading 'τῶν ἄλλων χρόνον' was corrected, 2026-06-14). καλεῖσθαι Τήιον — 'and shall be called a Teian' — the Panionion delegate's civic identity reassigned (SIG³ 344 §1). χρυσοῦς τετρακοσίους καὶ χιλίους — 1400 gold staters — the size of the revolving grain fund; Welles transl. '[one thousand] four hundred'. μηδεμιᾶι πό]λει δίδοσθαι τὰ σιτηγήσια — the king's prior refusal of grain-import subsidies to any city; the bracketed supplement after Hiller (SIG³). [Βασ]ιλεὺς Ἀντίγονος Τηίων τῆι βουλῆι καὶ τῶι δήμωι χαίρειν — letter 4's prescript — only [Βασ] is restored, the rest stands on the stone; the SIG³ marginal section §13 begins here. τὰς τιμὰς τῶν οἰ[κιῶν — 'the value of the houses' — re-collated from the print (an earlier reading 'τὰς γαῖας', the lands, was corrected, 2026-06-14).
Editions and commentary W. Dittenberger, Sylloge Inscriptionum Graecarum³ (ed. F. Hiller von Gaertringen), no. 344 (= SIG² 177; the base text followed here). C. B. Welles, Royal Correspondence in the Hellenistic Period (New Haven 1934), nos. 3–4 (text, translation, commentary; the witness). P. Le Bas & W. H. Waddington, Voyage archéologique III (Paris 1870), no. 86 (the copy and squeeze; the stone lost by 1898). C. Michel, Recueil d'inscriptions grecques (Brussels 1900), no. 34; F. Schroeter, De Regum Hellenisticorum Epistulis (1932), 3/4.