Stable URL: http://ancientassociations.ku.dk/assoc/1212Download as PDF
Last Updated on 20 May 2019

Author: Benedikt Eckhardt

CAPInv. 1212: Bakcheion

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Western Asia Minor
ii. Region Ionia
iii. Site Smyrna

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) Βαχχεῖον (I.Smyrna 733, l. 5)
ii. Full name (transliterated) Bakcheion

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 193 - 235 (?) AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Topographical:bakcheion originally designates a sanctuary for Dionysos.
iii. Descriptive terms βαχχεῖον, bakcheion
Note bakcheion: I.Smyrna 733, l. 5

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) I.Smyrna 733
Online Resources I.Smyrna 733
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Dedicatory inscription, greek
i.c. Physical format(s) The inscription was written on a mosaic floor; the mosaic shows kantharoi and ivy growing out of them, and a lion below the inscription.
ii. Source(s) provenance Found in Bornova

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects ψηφοθεσία, psephothesia (l. 5). The mosaic was dedicated by Tiberius Iulius Septimius Iulianus.

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership The dedicator was a bouleutes (l. 2), periodoneikes (ll. 2-3) and xystarches (l. 3); he was also the owner of the place. If the bakcheion was an association (see comments), he might well be the leader.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

ii. Realty The place is the private possession of the dedicator.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship “Ob es sich hier um ein Heiligtum des in Smyrna von einer Kultvereinigung verehrten Dionysos Breiseus handelt, lässt sich nicht entscheiden” (Rohde 1940: 69).
Deities worshipped Dionysos

XII. NOTES

iii. Bibliography Robert, J., and Robert, L. (1944), ‘Bulletin Épigraphique’, REG 57: 224.
Rohde, G. (1940), ‘Neue Inschriftenfunde (I)’, Türk Tarih, Arkeologya ve Etnografya Dergisi 4: 65-79, esp. 67-71.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note Bakcheion can mean both a building and an association. It is normally assumed (e.g. by Robert and Robert 1944: 224; Petzl in I.Smyrna) that Tiberius Iulius Septimius Iulianus dedicated the mosaic “to the association”. But as the object in question is a mosaic floor, it is certainly possible that bakcheion designates the building adorned with that floor. If bakcheion refers to the sanctuary as such, there is no need to assume that there was an association involved.
ii. Historical authenticity Certain