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[German version] (κωλακρέται; kōlakrétai). The etymological meaning of kolaketrai (from κωλᾶς and ἀγρεῖν) might be ‘thigh collector’ (for sacrificial purposes?). In Athens, kolaketrai were a group of ten financial officials. …

[German version] (κατόπται; katóptai, ‘observer’, ‘inspector’). Katoptai was generally used as a title in Boeotia as the name for a committee which supervised the expenses of officials, and indeed in the Boeotian League ( Boeotia with map; cf. the allusion to the katoptikòs nómos, IG VII 3073 = …

[German version] (νομοθέται; nomothétai, ‘lawmakers’). Officials responsible for compiling or enacting legislation. A text from Corcyra seemingly indicates that the nomothétai there compiled and recorded the final version of a decision taken in principle by the popular assembly (IMagn 44). In Cyme [3], a decision by the popular assembly had to be submitted by the law's proponent ( eisagōgeús ) to a ‘tribunal of nomothetai ’( nomothetikòn dikastḗrion (IK 5,12). If it is assumed that Thucydides (8,97,2) used the term correctly, then nomothétai were appointed in Athens in t…

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[German version] (συμπολιτεία/ sympoliteía, 'joint citizenship'). The verb sympoliteúein is used from the late fifth cent. onwards to denote the merging of separate communities in a single state, similar to synoikismos; e.g. Thuc. 6,4,1; Xen. Hell. 5,2, where the states threatened with incorporation in the Chalcidian koinon contrast sympoliteúein (5,2,12) with autopolítai eînai, ‘being autonomous’ (5,2,14).…

[German version] (δημοκρατία; dēmokratía, ‘people-power’) the standard Greek term for a form of government in which power resides with the many r…

[German version] (σίτησις/ sítēsis). Provision of food at public expense, on a particular occasion or regularly. There were three categories of recipients [5.308f.]: (a) Officials had the right of sitesis during their term of office; in Athens the prytáneis ate in the tholos (Ath. Pol. 43,3), and secretaries ( grammateîs ) and other officials ate with them [1.7-20] (these officials are called aeísitoi , 'regular eaters'; [1.86,84]). The archons (árchontes) ate in the thesmotheteîon (Schol. Plat. Phd. 235d; location unknown). (b) Recipients of major honours were given the permanent right of sitesis, in Athens in the prytaneîon (e.g. Dem. Or. 20,120) [2: 275–78]. (c) Envoys from foreign states (e.g. Dem. Or.19,234f.) and citizens who had served as envoys to foreign states (e.g. Dem. Or. 19,31f.) were entertained on a single occasion. A similar invitation could be issued to lesser honorands [2.262–75]; this invitation was to xénia ('hospitality') for foreigners, to deîpnon ('dinner') for citizens — probably the same entertainment. For epigraphic instances outside Athens see [3,392-394; 4,518]. Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham) Bibliography 1 Agora 15, 1974…

[German version] (διοικητής; dioikētḗs). In Ptolemaic Egypt as well as in other parts of the Greek world, the word dioíkēsis was used to designate the administration in general and the financial administration in particular. The title of dioiketes was held by the official in charge of the king's financial administration (see, for instance, OGIS 59; Cic. Rab. Post. 28). Local financial officials may also have held this title (Pol. 27,13,2 with Walbank, Commentary on Polybius, ad. loc.).  Dioikesis Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham)

[German version] (εὔθυναι; eúthynai). The term euthynai (‘straightening out’) was used specifically in reference to the audits of the official conduct of administrators after their departure from office. In Athens, this procedure was split into two parts: on the one hand, there was the lógos (‘statement of accounts’), which looked into the way officials handled public funds, carried out by a committee of ten logistaí (‘auditors’) plus one synḗgoros each (‘legal advisor’) ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 54,2), and on the other the euthynae in a stricter sense, offering the opportunity of passing compla…

[German version] (προεδρία/ pro(h)edría). The right to occupy a place in the front row in institutions of various kinds; it was conferred by the state on prominent fellow citizens and visitors and is recorded for many poleis. In the 6th cent. BC pro(h)edría was bestowed by Delphi on Croesus of Lydia (Hdt. 1,54,2), and Olympia gave it to a Spartan próxenos (SEG 11, 1180a). In Athens among the recipients of pro(h)edría were the oldest living descendents of Harmodius and Aristogiton (Isaeus 5,47); Demosthenes [2] provided the ambassadors of Philip [4] II of Macedonia with pro(h)edría at the Dionysia of 346 BC (Aeschin. In Ctes. 76). In Athenian inscriptions from the late 4th century BC pro(h)edría is enumerated among the various honours [1]. Seats in the Theatre of Dionysus in Athens bore the title or name of their proprietor (IG II2 5022-5064): the earliest inscriptions are from the late 4th or ear…

(φόρος/ phóros, plural phóroi, 'tribute', 'contribution', from phérein, 'carry', 'tak…

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[German version] (συμμαχία; symmachía). An alliance, literally an agreement between two or more states to fight (Gr. máchesthai) together ( syn-). Such alliances might be made either for a limited period or for all time. Thuc. 1,44,1; 5,48,2, distinguishes between a symmachia, as a full offensive and defensive alliance, and an epimachia…

[German version] (προστάτης/ prostátēs, pl. προστάται/ prostátai), a person 'standing at the fore', either as leader (e.g. Aesch. Supp. 963 f.) or protector (e.g. Aesch. Sept. 408). Both aspects converged when Cyrus [2] became the …

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[German version] (διωβελία; diōbelía). A payment of two   oboloí in Athens. According to the author of the Aristotelian Athenaion Politeia (28,3), the diobelia was introduced by Cleophon whereupon a certain Callicrates promised to increase the sum but in fact abolished the diobelia. The diobelia is attested from 410 to 406/5 BC from inscriptions (in 406 temporarily reduced to an obolos) and in 405/4 was probably replaced by a distribution of grain. The basis for the payment is uncertain but it was probably granted during the Decelean War …

[German version] (ἐπιγαμία; epigamía). In the Greek world, epigamia refers to the right of entering into a legal marriage with a person from a different state. It also granted legitimacy and citizenship to the children of such a marriage. It was possible to be granted this right in cases when such a marriage would not have been recognized according to the prevailing laws of the respective states. Examples can be found in international treaties (for instance between Aetolia and Acarnania: SIG…

[German version] (ἄξωνες; áxōnes; axes). In Athens the laws of  Dracon and  Solon were recorded on numbered axones. The term   kýrbeis , the origin of which is unknown, was another name for axones (ML 86; Aristot. Ath. Pol. 7,1; Plut. Solon 25). Probably they were three- or four-sided wooden pillars that were mounted vertically on axes in such a way that a person looking at them could turn them. In the 4th cent. BC it was probably still possible to read and study them, at the time of Plutarch small fragments were still in existence. Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham) Bibliography E. Ruschenbusch, όλωνος όμοι, 1966 R. S. Stroud, The A. and Kyrbeis of Drakon and Solon, 1979.

[German version] (ἰσοπολιτεία; isopoliteía). The term isopoliteia (equal citizenship), was used from the 3rd cent. BC, (instead of   politeia ) to denote the granting of citizenship by a Greek state to individual persons (e.g. IG V 2,11 = Syll.3 501) or indeed chiefly to whole communities (e.g. IG V 2, 419 = Syll.3 472). Modern research distinguishes between isopoliteia…

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[German version] (ἡγεμονία, ‘leading position’). An important basic feature of international relations in Greece was the formation of alliances in which one of the members took up a prominent position as hēgemṓn (‘leader’). The earliest example was a group of alliance agreements through which Sparta secured its position in the 6th cent. BC in the Peloponnese and which solidified into the  Peloponnesian League: therefore, Cleomenes I was therefore able ‘to collect an army from the entire Peloponnese’ in 506 (Hdt. 5,74,1), and …

[German version] (ἀμφικτυονία; amphiktyonía). Probably arose from amphi-ktiones…

(οἱ τριακόσιοι/ hoi triakósioi, 'the Three Hundred'). Collective name in ancient Athens for a group of 300 men, with various functions: [German version] [1] Group of the wealthiest Athenian citizens, 4th cent. BC A group of the 300 wealthiest citizens in 4th cent. BC Athens, made up of the three richest members of each of the 100 tax groups (Symmoria), created in order to raise the eisphora , a property tax. They were liable for the liturgy (I) of the proeisphora , by which they had to advance the whole sum due from their tax group, and then recover for themselves the contributions of the other members. The Three Hundred are first attested in 364/3 BC (Isaeus Or. 6,60) and may have been instituted shortly before [1; 2; 3]. In 340, Demosthenes imposed particularly heavy obligations on the Three Hundred in connection with the trierarchia (Aeschin. In Ctes. 222; Hyp. fr. 134 Jensen = Kenyon; Din. Or. 1,42; cf. [4]; [5]). Rhodes, Pe…

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[German version] (νεωροί/ neōroí). Public officials in Greek states who bore responsibility for shipyards ( neṓria). Athenian inscriptions from the 5th cent. BC mention neōroí (IG I3 154; IG I3 127 = ML 94) and hoi epimeloménoi tōi neōríōi (‘those who care for the shipyard’; IG I3 153); epimelētaí are found at the end of the 5th cent. (IG I3 236); in the 4th cent. the title epimelētaí tōn neōríōn was frequently used. These epimelētaí of the 4th cent. were responsible for the ships and the entire

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[German version] (ἐπιστάται; epistátai, ‘chairmen’, ‘superiors’). Title for various officials of the Greek world; see also epimelētaí, epískopoi. 1. Epistatai are most frequently found within the administration of both sacred treasures and public works. In Athens, committees of epistatai existed to oversee several of the public building projects of the Periclean era (e.g. ML 59 regarding the Parthenon), to supervise the treasure of the goddesses of Eleusis (IG I3 32; II2 1672), as well as other sacred funds. Epistatai of this nature were also found in other locations, such as Cyzicus (Syll.3 799), Ilion (330), and Rhodes (340; 931). In Miletus, epistatai looked after boys supported by a charitable foundation (Syll.3 577, 73). 2. In a more specific meaning, epistates referred to the chairman of a committee or an assembly. In Athens, the prytáneis and the próhedroi had one epistates for each day ([Aristot.] Ath. pol. 44). In many other cities, epistateîn described the position of chairman of the council or the citizens' assembly, among…

[German version] (σύνταξις/ sýntaxis, pl. syntáxeis; from táttein 'to arrange' and syn- 'together'). Term devised by Callistratus [I 2] in the 4th cent. BC for financial contributions to the (Second) Athenian League (Theopomp. FGrH 115 f 98) purposely concealing the compulsion behind it, after the Athenians had promised not to collect …

[German version] (κάτοικος; …

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[German version] (τριττύες/ trittýes, sing. τριττύς/ trittýs, 'a third'). At Athens, name for the subdivisions both of the four ancient phylaí (Phyle [1]) and of the ten new phylaí of Cleisthenes [2]. Little is known of the twelve old trittyes. An ancient identification with the phatríai (Phratria; [Aristot.] Ath. pol. Fr. 3 Kenyon = Fr. 2 Chambers) seems to be incorrect. The …

[German version] (ἀστυνόμοι, ‘municipal administration’). This office is mostly found in Ionian communities. In his survey of officials required by a town, Aristotle mentioned the astynomoi immediately with market supervisors, the agoranómoi (Pol. 6,1321b 18-27), as responsible for the proper state of public and private buildings, the repair and maintenance of buildings and roads and for boundary disputes. There could also be special officials for the walls, wells and ports. In Athens 10 astynomoi, who were annually determined by lot, officiated in the 4th cent. B…

[German version] (οἱ τριάκοντα/ hoi triákonta, 'the Thirty'). In Athens, the oligarchic body of thirty men who ruled in 404/3 BC after the Peloponnesian War (Oligarchia). They were appointed at the urging of the Spartan Lysander [1], with a double commission, to make proposals for constitutional reform, and to rule the state until the reform was accomplished. They began a process of legal revision, aiming to purge the excesses of the demokratia ([Aristot.] Ath. pol. 35,2-3), but before long they obtained the support of a garrison from Sparta and began to rule despotically, identifying three thousand men who were to have some rights of citizenship and expelling all others from the city. Theramenes played a prominent part in setting up the regime but disapproved of the result; the extremists, led by Plato’s relative Critias, condemned him to death.…

[German version] (γραμματεῖς; grammateîs). In the Greek world, grammateis were protocolists, secretaries with a wide range of tasks. Generally, they are distinguished from the árchontes (‘officials’), but like them, they were appointed by the citizenry for a set period of time, either by election or by lot. In Athens, the chief secretary of the state was referred to as the ‘council secretary’ or ‘secretary at the prytany’. He was responsible for the publication of documents resulting from the activities of the council or the citizens' assembly. Until the 360s BC, he was a member of the council (  boulḗ ), elected for the period of one   prytaneía , but subsequently, he was appointed (probably in the interest of greater efficiency) by lot from citizens who volunteered for the position ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 54,3). The appointments were made from the phyles, according to their official order. This rotation is an important tool for the definition of chronology in Hellenistic Athens; a break in the rotation is seen as a sign for a change of government in Athens [5; 6]. Numerous other secretaries are also evident in Athens. The author of the Aristotelian …

[German version] (προβολή/ probolḗ)…

[German version] (ναυτοδίκαι/ nautodíkai, ‘Overseers of trials involving seafarers’). Officials in Athens responsible for court cases between seafarers, whether traders or klēroûchoi . N autodíkai were documented for the first time around 445 BC (IG I3 41, 90-91) when they brought cases to court within a specific month. For the year AD 397, a complaint can be found in Lysias [1] (17,5) that the nautodíkai had failed to complete a court case about businessmen ( émporoi ) in a specific month, but it was not a matter concerning trade. The nautodíkai were also responsible for complaints …

[German version] (κύρβεις; kýrbeis). In Athens, name of the medium on which the Laws of Dracon [2] and Solon were written. The word áxōnes , was also used. The origin of the word is unknown. Contrary to the opinion that kyrbeis sh…

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[German version] (Ἀγύῤῥιος; Agýrrhios). Athenian politician from the deme Collytus, active from c. 405-373 BC. He introduced between the end of the Peloponnesian War and c. 392 the payment of an obol for visiting the assembly and later raised the sum from two to three oboles (Aristot. Ath. Pol. 41,3). Therefore probably in error, the introduction of the   theorikon was ascribed to him (Harpocr. s. v. θεωρικά; …

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[German version] Modern term for a group of allied states led by Sparta, which existed from the 6th cent. until 365 BC. The alliance never encompassed the whole of the Peloponnese (Argos [II 1] always refused to acknowledge Sparta's leadership), but did at times include states outside the Peloponnese (e.g. Boeotia in 421 BC: Thuc. 5,17,2). It began to form in the middle of the 6th cent., when Sparta gave up its policy of expansion through conquest and direct annexation and made neighbouring Tegea …

[German version] [1] See Scythae See Scythae. Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham) [German version] [2] Group of slaves in Athens, c. 400 BC In late 5th and early 4th cent. BC Athens used a body of Scythian archers as public slaves (Demosioi) who were to keep order at the meetings of the Council and Assembly (e.g. Aristoph. Ach. 54; Equ. 665). They were also called Speusínioi after their alleged founder Speusinus (Suda, s.v. τoξóται; Poll. 8,132). A force of 300 was bought in the mid 5th cent. (And. Or. 3,5 = Aeschin. Leg. 173). According to the lexica they lived on th…

[German version] (οἱ ἕνδεκα; hoi héndeka). The ‘Eleven’, an office of eleven men, were in charge of the prison in Athens and of the execution of prisoners who had been sentenced to death. They executed ordinary criminals ( kakoûrgoi) or exiles who were apprehended in Athens and turned over to them by means of the   apagōgḗ , without a trial if the prisoner confessed, or they presided over the trial if the prisoner denied his guilt. They also presided over trials that were instituted by means of   éndeixis and over cases…

[German version] (παράβυστον/ parábyston, literally 'pushed aside') referred to an Athenian law court held in an enclosed space, apparently on the Agora (perhaps next to the route of the Panathenaea procession; s. Athens with map). This court dealt with matters that fell within the jurisdiction of the Eleven ( héndeka ) (Paus. 1,28,8; Harpocration, s.v.). Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham)…

[German version] (πορισταί/ poristaí, 'providers', from πορίζειν/ porízein, 'provide, supply'), officials in Athens in the last years of the  Peloponnesian War, whose duty was presumably to find sources of money for the city. They are mentioned for the first time in 419 BC, before Athens was in serious financial difficulty (Antiph. Or. 6, 49), and for the last time in 405 (Aristoph. Ran. 1505). Poristai are not attested in inscriptions. Rhodes, Peter J. (Durham)

[German version] ( dikastaì katà dḗmous) are itinerant judges who in Athens visited the demes to resolve minor matters of litigation. Appointed first by Peisistratus ([Aristot.] Ath. Pol. 16,5) to counteract the power of the nobles in their places of residence, they were probably abolished after the fall of the tyrants. They were revived in 453/2 BC (Ath. Pol. 26,3) to relieve the increasingly overburdened jury courts of minor cases. Their number then totalled 30, perhaps one judge per trittys. In the last years of the Peloponnesian War they were probably unable to visit a…

[German version] (ἀριστοκρατία; aristokratía, ‘power in the hands of the best’). In the Greek states there was no institution to ennoble families but in the archaic period the families that were most successful after the  Dark Ages and stood out by wealth and status considered themselves the best ( aristoi). The place of a governing king was taken by a government of members of these leading families: some early testimonials explicitly mention that appointments were made aristíndēn, from the ranks of the best (for examp…