Stable URL: http://ancientassociations.ku.dk/assoc/1870Download as PDF
Last Updated on 21 Jun 2019

Author: Stella Skaltsa

CAPInv. 1870: scrutarei/grytopolai

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Aegean Islands
ii. Region Kos
iii. Site Kos

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) scrutarei/γρυτοπῶλαι, IG XII 4.2, 635, ll. 2, 5
ii. Full name (transliterated) scrutarei/grytopolai

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 27 BC - 14 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Professional:grytopolai: LSJ9 s.v.: seller of second hand wares.
According to Maiuri (NSER 466) this association was involved in the trade of women's cosmetics. It seems more likely that they traded second-hand wares (BE 1952 no. 139; Buraselis 2000: 46 n. 93 with references).

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IG XII 4.2, 635 (27 BC-14 AD)
Note NSER 466
IK 59: 137
Maillot 2013: no. 40
Online Resources NSER 466
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Bilingual inscription. The Latin text precedes the Greek text in the stone. Honorific inscription for Augustus who is equated to Hermes (Aug. Mercurio, ll. 1-2, Sebastos Hermes, l. 4) by the scrutarei/grytopolai (frippery dealers).
i.c. Physical format(s) Rectangular marble block. H. 81 x W. 61cm.
According to Benjamin and Raubitschek (1959: 68 n. 19) the block of stone was an altar. Maiuri (1925: 168) and Højte (2005: 257 no. 174) take it for a statue base. Similarly in IK 59: 137 the inscription is treated as an honorific inscription. See also Höghamher 1993: 137 no. 27.
ii. Source(s) provenance Found reused in the bastion (southwest corner) of the castle of Kos.

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership προστατών, prostaton (l. 6)
Diogenes son of Polycharos philokaisar was the prostates of the grytopolai. Note that the title of the leader bears resonance to the Koan prostatai, chief magistrates of the Koan state (Sherwin-White 1978: 178-9).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

iv. Status Diogenes son of Polycharis, the prostates of the grytopolai is called philokaisar, a title that somehow indicates Diogenes' personal connection to the emperor.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship Augustus is assimilated to Hermes (ll. 1-2, 4)
Deities worshipped Augustus Mercurius
Sebastos Hermes

XI. INTERACTION

ii. Interaction abroad The association honoured the emperor Augustus. The leader of the association had a close relation to the emperor, as the epithet philokaisar suggests. This personal relation between the leader of the association and the emperor may explain why the association honoured Augustus.

XII. NOTES

iii. Bibliography Benjamin, A & Raubitschek, A.E. (1959), 'Arae Augusti', Hesperia 28: 65-85.
Buraselis, K. (2000), Kos between Hellenism and Rome. Studies on the political, institutional and social history of Kos from ca. the middle second century B.C. until late antiquity. Philadelphia.
Höghmanner, K. (1993), Sculpture and Society: a study of the connection between plastic art and society on Kos in the Hellenistic and Augustan periods. Uppsala.
Højte, J.M. (2005), Roman Imperial Staute Bases from Augustus to Commodus. Aarhus.
Maillot, M. (2013), 'Les associations à Cos', in P. Hamon and P. Fröhlich (eds.), Groupes et associations dans les cités grecques. Geneva: 199-226.
Maiuri, A. (1925), Nuova Silloge epigrafica di Rodi e Cos. Firenze.
Sherwin-White, S. (1978), Ancient Cos. An Historical Study from the Dorian Settlement to the Imperial Period. (Hypomnemata 51). Gottingen.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The presence of a leader (prostates) suggests that the frippery dealers were in all likelihood organized as a formal and permanent group.