Revisiting the Stephanephoroi of Early Hellenistic Miletos
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.36991/PHILIA.202303Abstract
Altay Coşkun (C.) recently wrote another detailed and rewarding investigation of early Hellenistic history in the pages of this journal (Philia 8, 2022, 23–40). The purpose of this note is only to clarify some key dates provided by the Milesian evidence. Ever since the work of Eugène Cavaignac, it should have been well recognised that the dates of the Milesian stephane¬phoroi, as originally developed by Rehm and maintained since in publications of the Milesian evidence, are not as assured as one might think. They should be adjusted to take into account two pairs of co-occurring names in the earlier list of eponyms, as well as the course of Alexander’s campaign. Cavaignac suggested that Alexander’s stephanephoria at Miletos took place only in 333/2 BC, not in 334/3 BC (Rehm et al.). This is convincing: one may add that at the start of the Milesian year 334/3, that is to say in spring 334 BC, Alexander had certainly not yet besieged or «liberated» Miletos. The eponym at Miletos had already been appointed when Alexander arrived and thus he was named the honorary stephanephoros for the year following his takeover of the city. To argue otherwise would imply that the Milesians somehow retrojected Alexander’s stephanephoria.
The starting point for any investigation of the Hellenistic period and its chronology at Miletos should therefore be Alexander’s stephanephoria in 333/2 BC. Accordingly, all of Rehm’s chronology in the third century is to be «downdated» by one year. This involves numerous small adjustments to our understanding of Milesian history, which are only indicatively sketched here for the first quarter of the third century BC, further illuminating some of the events discussed by C.
Downloads
References
Anson 2006 E.M. Anson, The Chronology of the Third Diadoch War, Phoenix 60, 2006, 226–235.
Bilabel 1920 F. Bilabel, Die ionische Kolonisation. Untersuchungen über die Grün-dungen der Ionier, deren staatliche und kultische Organisation und Bezi-ehungen zu den Mutterstädten (Philologus Suppl. 14.1), Leipzig 1920.
Blümel 1997 W. Blümel, Vertrag zwischen Latmos und Pidasa, EpigrAnat 29, 1997, 135–142.
Bresson et al. 2021 A. Bresson – R. Descat – E. Varinlioğlu, Décret des Mogoreis pour le stratège pto¬lé¬maïque Moschiôn de Théra, in: P. Brun – L. Capdetrey – P. Fröhlich (eds.), L’Asie Mineure au IIIe siècle, Bordeaux 2021, 141–171.
Carbon et al. 2021 J.-M. Carbon – S. Isager – P. Pedersen, A Pair of Brothers in the Court of An-tiochos I: A New Honorific Decree from Halikarnassos, in: P. Brun – L. Capdetrey – P. Fröhlich (eds.), L’Asie Mineure au IIIe siècle, Bordeaux 2021, 213–229.
Cavaignac 1924 E. Cavaignac, Les dékarchies de Lysandre, Revue des études historiques 90, 1924, 285–316.
Coşkun 2022 A. Coşkun, The Stephanephorate of Apollo and the Historical Context of the Milesian Decree for Queen Apama (I.Didyma 480), Philia 8, 2022, 23–40.
Driscoll 2019 E.W. Driscoll, The Milesian Eponym List and the Revolt of 412 B.C., Journal of Epigraphic Studies 2, 2019, 11–32.
Ehrhardt 1988 N. Ehrhardt, Milet und seine Kolonien. Vergleichende Untersuchung der kultischen und politischen Einrichtungen. 2 vols. Frankfurt etc. 1988.
Grzybek 1990 E. Grzybek, Du calendrier macédonien au calendrier ptolémaïque, Problèmes de chronologie hellénistique, Basel 1990.
Hackl 2020 J. Hackl, Bemerkungen zur Chronologie der Seleukidenzeit: Die Koregent¬schaft von Seleukos I. Nikator und Antiochos (I. Soter), Klio 102.2, 2020, 560–578.
Herda 2006 A. Herda, Der Apollon-Delphinios-Kult in Milet und die Neujahrsprozes-sion nach Didyma. Ein neuer Kommentar der sog. Molpoi-Satzung (Milesische Forschungen 4), Mainz 2006.
Marcellesi 2004 M.-C. Marcellesi, Milet des Hécatomnides à la domination romaine, Mainz 2004.
Meyer 2017 E.A. Meyer, Inscribing in Columns in Fifth-Century Athens, in: I. Berti – K. Bolle – F. Opdenhoff – F. Stroth (eds.), Writing Matters: Presenting and Per-ceiving Monumental Inscriptions in Antiquity and the Middle Ages, Berlin – Boston 2017, 205 – 261.
Migeotte 1984 L. Migeotte, L’emprunt public dans les cités grecques, Recueil des do-cuments et analyse critique, Québec – Paris 1984.
Migeotte 2014 L. Migeotte, Les finances des cités grecques aux périodes classique et hellénistique, Paris 2014.
Müller 1976 H. Müller, Milesische Volksbeschlüsse. Eine Untersuchungsgeschichte der Stadt Milet in hellenistischer Zeit, Göttingen 1976.
Rhodes 2006 P.J. Rhodes, Milesian “Stephanephoroi”: Applying Cavaignac Correctly, ZPE 157, 2006, 116.
Rhodes 2008 P.J. Rhodes, After the Three-Bar “Sigma” Controversy: The History of Athenian Imperialism Reassessed”, CQ 58.2, 2008, 500–506.
Parker 2008 R.C.T. Parker, The Molpoi, ClassRev 58.1, 2008, 178–180.
Samuel 1972 A.E. Samuel, Greek and Roman Chronology, Munich 1972.
Sherk 1990 R.K. Sherk, The Eponymous Officials of Greek Cities I, ZPE 83, 1990, 249–288.
Sherk 1991 R.K. Sherk, The Eponymous Officials of Greek Cities III, ZPE 88, 1991, 225–260.
Trümpy 1997 C. Trümpy, Untersuchungen zu den altgriechischen Monatsnamen und Monats¬folgen, Heidelberg 1997.
van Bremen 2003 R. van Bremen, Ptolemy at Panamara, EpigrAnat 35, 2003, 9–14.
van Bremen 2017 R. van Bremen, Labraunda and the Ptolemies: a reinterpretation of three documents from the sanctuary of Zeus (I. Labraunda 51, 45 and 44), Studi ellenistici 31, 2017, 223–259.
van Bremen 2020 R. van Bremen, Mylasa in 261 BC, EpigrAnat 53, 2020, 1–20.
Wheatley – Dunn 2020 P. Wheatley, C. Dunn, Demetrius the Besieger, Oxford 2020.
Will 19792 E. Will, Histoire politique du monde hellénistique (323–30 av. J.-C.), vol. I, De la mort d’Alexandre aux avènements d’Antiochos III et de Philippe V, Nancy 19792 [1966].
Wörrle 1977 M. Wörrle, Epigraphische Forschungen zur Geschichte Lykiens I, Chi-ron, 7, 1977, 43–66.
Wörrle 1988 M. Wörrle, Inschriften von Herakleia am Latmos I. Antiochos III., Zeuxis und Herakleia, Chiron 18, 1988, 421–476.
Wörrle 2003a M. Wörrle, Inschriften von Herakleia am Latmos III. Der Synoikismos der Latmioi mit den Pidaseis, Chiron 33, 2003, 121–144.
Wörrle 2003b M. Wörrle, Pidasa du Grion et Héraclée du Latmos: deux cités sans avenir, CRAI 147.4, 2003, 1361–1379.
Published
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2023 PHILIA. International Journal of Ancient Mediterranean Studies
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
The Philia Journal has undergone a significant update in its publication process since 2024. The journal, which was previously published only in print, is now published by Phoibos Publishing Company and is also available in digital format as Open Access.
The Open Access policy of PHILIA is fully aligned with the Budapest Open Access Initiative (BOAI) principles. All articles published in PHILIA are licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY). This license permits all users to copy, share, and redistribute the articles, data sets, figures, and supplementary materials published in the journal on any platform, provided that appropriate credit is given to the author(s), the article title, the journal citation, and the DOI (Digital Object Identifier).
