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Last Updated on 24 Mar 2017

Author: Benedikt Eckhardt

CAPInv. 713: koinon tes triakados

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area The Near East and Beyond
ii. Region Phoenicia
iii. Site Berytus (Deir el Qalaa)

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) κοινὸν τῆς τριακάδος (IGR III 1080, ll. 4-7)
ii. Full name (transliterated) koinon tes triakados

III. DATE

i. Date(s) i - iii AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

i. Name in other forms commune tricensimae (CIL III 6671, ll. 5-6)
ii. Name elements
Other:Ordinal number thirty: triakas, tricensima
iii. Descriptive terms κοινόν, koinon
commune
Note koinon: IGR III 1080, ll. 4-5
commune: CIL III 6671, ll. 5-6

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IGR III 1080 (i - iii AD)
CIL III 6671 (i - iii AD)
Note The Greek inscription is referred to by Rey-Coquais 1999: 623 without a reference to IGR, ed. pr. or the discussion by Mommsen; this is why SEG 49: 1990 wrongly records it as a new, unpublished text.
Online Resources TM 386786 (CIL III 6671)
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Two dedicatory inscriptions. IGR III 1080 is in Greek; CIL III 6671 is in Latin.
ii. Source(s) provenance Deir el Qalaa (15 km East of Berytus)

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects The Latin inscription (CIL III 6671) refers to the statue of the genius of the colony, that was erected "together with the columns, a pediment and a marble cover". These items were probably destined "à orner un édicule ou une petite chapelle" (Aliquot 2009: 217).

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership πατήρ, pater (IGR III 1080, ll. 3-4)

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship In the Greek inscription (IGR III 1080), the pater of the koinon has dedicated an unknown object. The Latin inscription records the dedication, made by a decurio, of a statue of the genius coloniae to the fortuna of the genius (cf. the text given by Aliquot 2009: 217); according to CIL: to Dea Fortuna and the genius). The dedication is made for his own salus, that of his family and of the commune.
Deities worshipped Genius coloniae

XII. NOTES

ii. Poland concordance Poland E *88Aa (IGR III 1080)
Poland E *88Ab (CIL III 6671)
iii. Bibliography Aliquot, J. (2009), La vie religieuse au Liban sous l’empire romain. Beyrouth.
Mommsen, Th. (1884), ‘Additamenta tertia ad corporis vol. III’, Ephemeris Epigraphica 4: 1-104.
Perdrizet, P. (1901), ‘Letter cited’, BSAF: 110-2.
Poland, F. (1909), Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesens. Leipzig.
Renier, L. (1878), ‘Inscription inédite de Beyrouth’, in Mélanges d’histoire et de philologie. Publiés par la section historique et philologique de L’École des Hautes Études pour le dixiéme anniversaire de sa fondation, Paris: 299-303.
Rey-Coquais, J.-P. (1999), ‘Deir el Qalaa’, Topoi 9: 607-28.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note Commune tricensimae is in all likelihood a translation of κοινὸν τῆς τριακάδος, koinon tes triakados. I therefore treat the two inscriptions as relating to the same organization (contra Rey-Coquais 1999: 623). The question remains what kind of association the designation refers to. The consensus, established by Mommsen for the Latin inscription, takes it to refer to tax-collectors, primarily on the basis of a comparison with the quadragesima portoriorum Asiae in Miletus (Milet VI.2 563; Mommsen 1884: 18; Perdrizet 1901: 110; Poland 1909: 372; Rey-Coquais 1999: 623 [for the Latin inscription, while the κοινὸν τῆς τριακάδος, koinon tes triakados, is regarded as a "groupement de trente personnes"]; Aliquot 2009: 217). Renier 1878: 302 believed that it referred to civic subdivisions; this view is rejected by Mommsen in a rather polemic manner. However, some doubts remains. Renier's speculation that tricensimae was a translation of τριακάδος, triakados, has been proven correct by the subsequent publication of the Greek inscription, and the fact remains that τριακάς, triakas, was a designation for a civic subdivision at least in Attica. In addition, neither the Greek nor the Latin inscription mention portorii or λιμενικοί, limenikoi, as in the parallels adduced by Mommsen.

It is clear in any case that the group was organized, had a leader (called πατήρ, pater, in the Greek inscription) and shaped the religious landscape of Berytus and its surroundings, by decorating a chapel for the genius coloniae in Deir el Qalaa.