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I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Aegean Islands
ii.	Region	Euboea
iii.	Site	Eretria

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	ὁ θίασος τῶν παιδαρίων (BCH 99 [1975]: 93 no. 2)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	ho thiasos ton paidarion

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

ii - i BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Other:

paidarion: deriving from pais: young children or young slaves (s.v. 'paidarion', LSJ⁹).
For the various ways one could interpret this term see Te Riele 1975: 95-96:
- The meaning of young slaves is usually to be found in manumission inscriptions (Te Riele 1975: 95).
- The paidarion in the sense of young child is occasionally vested with pejorative connotations (Te Riele 1975: 95).
Given that the term paidaria (appears in conjunction with the term thiasos, Te Riele (1975: 96) thinks that a religious or mystic dimension to the meaning of the term should also be borne in mind.

iii.

Descriptive terms

θίασος, thiasos

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	BCH 99 (1975): 93 no. 2 (ii/i BC)
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Epitaph in Greek for Demon, son of Dionysios, by the thiasos ton paidarion.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	Complete rectangular stele. H. 88 x W. 45.5 x Th. 19.5 cm.
ii.	Source(s) provenance	Found in 1968 in a privately-owned field (Mrs Kotzia) in the surroundings of Eretria. This field is part of the eastern necropolis of the ancient city. Now in Eretria Museum.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

i.

Archaeological remains

The findspot of the inscription lies within the eastern necropolis of Eretria (Te Riele 1975: 94).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

iii.	Age	Children
	Note	The term paidaria may stand for the young age of the members.
iv.	Status	The meaning of the term paidaria would suggest a subordinate status (slaves) or members with non-citizens rights (due to their young age). However, the nature of the inscription does not give any clue to the status of its member. It should be noted, however, that the deceased bears a patronymic.

X. ACTIVITIES

iv.

Honours/Other activities

The thiasos ton paidarion set up a funerary stele for Demon son of Dionysios.

XII. NOTES

i.	Comments	The editor of BE 1976: no. 544 is skeptical about the nature of the inscription (i.e. epitaph). However, note that the inscription was found in the eastern necropolis. According to Te Riele 1975: 94 the accusative for the name of the deceased follows a regional trend in epitaphs well attested in the city of Tanagra.
iii.	Bibliography	Te Riele, G.-J. (1975), 'Deux inscriptions d'Érétrie', BCH 99.1: 89-96.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Certain
	Note	Although there is no evidence for the organizational facet of this thiasos, its name together with the nature of the inscription (funerary stele) suggest that the group had not only a sense of collective identity (name) but was also involved in collective actions (set up of funerary stele).

CAPInv. 28: ho thiasos ton paidarion