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Last Updated on 17 Mar 2017

Author: Jonathan Prag

CAPInv. 1314: to koinon ton hiereon tou Apollonos

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Southern Italy with Sicily
ii. Region Sicily
iii. Site Halaisa

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) τὸ κοινὸν τῶν ἱερέων τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος (SEG 59: 1100, ll. 16, 25-26)
ii. Full name (transliterated) to koinon ton hiereon tou Apollonos

III. DATE

i. Date(s) f. i BC - f. i AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

i. Name in other forms οἱ ἱερέες τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, hoi hierees (l. hiereis) tou Apollonos (SEG 59: 1100, l. 28)
ii. Name elements
Professional:hiereis
Status-related:hiereis
Theophoric:Apollo

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) SEG 59: 1100 (probably f. i. BC)
Note SEG 59: 1100 presents the revised text from a forthcoming edition by J. Prag, with comments by R. Tybout. The ed. pr. is Scibona 2009a, followed by Manganaro 2009: 21-28, Manganaro 2011: 52-60, Dubois 2013 (cf. Dubois in BE 2010. no. 646).
Online Resources SEG 59: 1100
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Honorific decree of the association (in two copies) in Greek.
i.c. Physical format(s) Two bronze tablets (47-48 cm high x 24.5-29 cm wide x 0.5cm thick), in the form of a temple facade, bordered by a column to left and right, with a pediment above. The text is inscribed in the plain field surrounded by the architectural elements.
ii. Source(s) provenance Found in a destruction layer (i AD) within a building (private house?) in the ancient city of Halaisa.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

i. Archaeological remains The sanctuary of Apollo recorded in SEG 59: 1100 is referenced also in IG XIV 352 II, ll. 53-54 and Diod. Sic. 14.16.4. A temple site on the acropolis of the ancient city is traditionally identified with this sanctuary (excavation report in Carettoni 1961: 313-318; full discussion in Facella 2006: 318-322).
The identity of the basilika recorded in SEG 59: 1100 is not certain, but is most likely to be identified with the portico structure on the agora of Halaisa (see Scibona 2009b: 42-43) where a fragmentary later Latin text containing the word basilica has been found (AE 1973: 269). The structure is however more likely to be a public building of the polis than to belong to the koinon.
ii. References to buildings/objects τὸ ἱερὸν τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, to hieron tou Apollonos (SEG 59: 1100, ll. 8, 24)
ἡ βασιλική, he basilike (SEG 59: 1100, l. 25), although it is likely that this is a building of the polis not the koinon

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership ἱερεύς, hiereus of Zeus (x1) and of Apollo (x2) (SEG 59: 1100)
Eponymous office It should be noted that it is far from certain whether the three eponymous priests recorded in the prescript of the decree (SEG 59: 1100) are the eponymous priests of the polis of Halaisa or of the koinon of the priests of Apollo.
iii. Members οἱ ἱερέες τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, hoi hierhees (l. hiereis) tou Apollonos (SEG 59: 1100, l. 28)
iv. Officials προ(στάτας), l. προστάτης, pro(statas) l. prostates (SEG 59: 1100, l. 7). Note that it is not certain if this official is prostatas of the koinon or the polis.
οἱ ταμίαι οἱ Διοδωρεῖοι hoi tamiai hoi Diodoreioi (SEG 59: 1100, l. 29). Note that it is not certain if these officials are tamiai of the koinon or the polis. The qualification Diodoreioi may reflect the name of the contemporary prostates, Diodoros.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

i. Treasury/Funds If οἱ ταμίαι οἱ Διοδωρεῖοι, hoi tamiai hoi Diodoreioi recorded in SEG 59: 1100, l. 29 are the tamiai of the koinon and not the polis, then the koinon had a treasury and funds of its own.
ii. Realty A monogram of disputed interpretation is found on brick stamps in the city and recorded as a boundary marker in a cadastral inscription (IG XIV 352): on one intepretation, the monogram signifies the sanctuary of Apollo, and in that case attests to extensive realty in the ownership of the sanctuary/koinon. For discussion, see Facella 2006: 319 and Prestianni Giallombardo 2012: 185-186.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number At least 825, since this is the number recorded as voting in the decree SEG 59: 1100.
iv. Status All but one of the individuals recorded in SEG 59: 1100 have a three-letter abbreviation as part of their nomenclature, but none have an ethnic recorded. It is therefore assumed that the abbreviation is a local demotic or similar, and that all are citizens of Halaisa, where the decree was found. The city's name is not however present in the decree.
If SEG 59: 1100 is read literally, then all the members of the koinon were priests, ἱερέες τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος (hierees tou Apollonos).

X. ACTIVITIES

i. Assemblies SEG 59: 1100 records a decree of the association, and attributes the decision to the following two bodies (note that the exact relationship between these bodies and the equivalent bodies of the polis in this decree remains a subject of debate):
ἡ ἁλία τῶν ἱερέων τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος, he halia ton hiereon tou Apollonos (SEG 59: 1100, l. 22).
ἡ βουλή ἡ ἐκ τοῦ ἱεροῦ τοῦ Ἀπόλλωνος he boule he ek tou hierou tou Apollonos (SEG 59: 1100, l. 8).
Known voting practice The decree (SEG 59: 1100) concludes with a record of the number of votes (l. 30: ψάφοι, l. ψήφοι, psephoi) in favour of (825) and against (0) the proposal.
iv. Honours/Other activities The koinon honours a private individual (SEG 59: 1100), Nemenios Daphnis Hysg., son of Nemenios, recorded without ethnic (and so also a citizen of Halaisa?). He is honoured for his benefactions towards the koinon and its members, and recognised as a benefactor (εὐεργέτης, euergetes, SEG 59: 1100, ll. 23, 26-27, 33). The honours include a bronze text of the decree in two copies (χαλκώματα δύο, chalkomata duo, SEG 59: 1100, l. 31), of which one copy to be erected in the sanctuary of Apollo in the pronaos of Zeus, and the other to be given to Nemenios himself; and a bronze statue (εἰκών χαλκέα, eikon chalkea, SEG 59; 1100, l. 29), on which is engraved an honorific inscription, and he is given the choice of whether the statue is located in the sanctuary of Apollo or the basilika.

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The koinon honours a local citizen (SEG 59: 1100, see X.iv above). The action of granting the honour of a statue in ἡ βασιλικὴ, he basilike (SEG 59: 1100, l. 25), which appears to be a public building of the city, implies interaction with the civic authorities. It is unclear whether any of the officials or bodies recorded in the decree (SEG 59: 1100) may in fact be parts of the polis organisation instead of the koinon.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The decree in SEG 59: 1100 provides the evidence for this association. It is likely that the fragmentary inscription IG XIV 354 (also from Halaisa) records another honorific by the same association (see Scibona 2009a: 104 no.10). It is possible, but no more, that the fragmentary inscription published in Calascibetta and Di Leonardo 2012, from Soluntum is also erected by this association (see CAPInv. 1287).
The challenge presented by this decree is the uncertainty over the extent to which the deliberative bodies and the magistrates recorded are those of the association or those of the city, since an association of at least 825 priests of Apollo is unparalleled, and the combination of boule and halia directly parallels Sicilian civic organisation, and is not obviously paralleled in the organisation of associations. However, the language of the decree itself is relatively unambiguous, attributing both boule and halia to the priests and the sanctuary. Debate is ongoing, and a new edition with further discussion (by J. Prag, R. Tybout and others) is forthcoming.
iii. Bibliography Calascibetta, A.M.G., and Di Leonardo, L. (2012), ‘Un nuovo documento epigrafico da Solunto’, in C. Ampolo (ed.), Sicilia occidentale. Studi, rassegne, ricerche, Pisa: 37-47.
Carettoni, G. (1961), ‘Tusa (Messina). Scavi di Halaesa (seconda relazione)’, NSA 8.15: 266-321.
Dubois, L. (2013), ‘Une inscription sicilienne déconcertante’, REG 126.1: 1-19.
Facella, A. (2006), Alesa Arconidea: ricerche su un'antica città della Sicilia tirrenica. Pisa.
Manganaro, G. (2009), ‘Il paesaggio agrario di Halaesa Archonidea’, Epigraphica 71: 9-28.
Manganaro, G. (2011), ‘Il sistema anagrafico nella Sicilia in epoca ellenistica’, in Da Halaesa ad Agathyrnum. Studi in memoria di Giacomo Scibona, Sant'Agata di Militello: 33-68.
Prestianni Giallombardo, A.M. (2012), ‘Spazio pubblico e memoria civica. Le epigrafi dall'agora di Alesa’, in C. Ampolo (ed.), Agora greca e agorai di Sicilia. Pisa: 171-200.
Scibona, G. (2009a), ‘Decreto sacerdotale per il conferimento della euerghesia a Nemenios in Halaesa’, in G. Scibona and G. Tigano (eds.), Alaisa-Halaesa. Scavi e ricerche (1970-2007), Messina: 97-112.
Scibona, G. (2009b), ‘L’Agorà (scavi 1970-2004)’, in G. Scibona and G. Tigano (eds.), Alaisa-Halaesa. Scavi e ricerche (1970-2007). Messina: 9-43.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The only questionmark over the evaluation of the association is whether its size and structure might entail that it is in fact equivalent or parallel to the polis of Halaisa.