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Last Updated on 03 Mar 2017

Author: Maria-Gabriella Parissaki

CAPInv. 720: U-THR-010

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Thrace
ii. Region Propontic Thrace
iii. Site Perinthos

II. NAME

i. Association with unknown name U-THR-010

III. DATE

i. Date(s) ii AD

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) I.Perinthos 57 (ii AD)
Note See also: Jaccottet II no. 36; GRA I 88‚ AGRW 65

In the printed version of I.Perinthos 57 one line (and one member) has been omitted (l. 12: Σωτήριχος Δάδα, Soterichos Dada, mentioned before Μηνόφιλος β’, Menophilos b’, of l. 13).
Online Resources I.Perinthos 57 and AGRW ID 2606
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Sibylline oracle, followed by a list of names. The text is written in Greek.
ii. Source(s) provenance Perinthos, seen by Cyriacus of Ancona in 1444 AD built into the right side of the altar at Virgin Mary's church. No recorded autopsy since then; present whereabouts unknown.

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership ἀρχιβούκολος, archiboukolos (l. 6), on the ground that he is mentioned first in a group of three persons bearing titles.
iv. Officials ἀρχιμύστης archimystes (l. 8)
σπείραρχος, speirarchos (l. 9)
Eponymous officials ἀρχιμύστης archimystes (l. 8), on the ground that his name is mentioned in the genitive, though after that of the archiboukolos.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number Six persons mentioned by name, three with titles (see above, sectionVII.ii and iv) and four without. The list may have been initially longer, as suggested by Sayar, I.Perinthos p. 238. Jaccottet (2003: 76) also suggests that this must have been a much larger association.
ii. Gender Men
Note On the evidence of those mentioned by name in the text; but the presence of women should not be excluded (Jaccottet 2003: 76).

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship The sibylline oracle at the beginning of the text has been interpreted as describing some kind of initiation ritual, though its interpretation is hindered not only by the cryptic language common to oracles but also by the specific difficulties raised by Cyriacus' facsimile; thus the ΠΛΗΣΤΑ, PLESTA, given by him has been restituted as πλησ[θήσ]ετα[ι], ples[thes]eta[i], by Dumont, πλανήσεται, planesetai by Mommsen or πληγήσεται, plegesetai, by Sayar. As things stand, it is generally believed that this ritual started with the initiate -referred to as Βάκχος-, Bakchos- crying εὐοί, euoi, a ritual cry connected to the cult of Dionysos, and ended with the mixing of blood, fire and ash. For an analysis of the text and the ritual described, see Jaccottet 2003: 75-6 and Kloppenborg and Ascough 2011: 398.
Deities worshipped Dionysos (ll. 2-3: Βάκχος, Bakchos)

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The date is tentatively suggested by Jaccottet 2003: 73.
ii. Poland concordance Poland B 70
Poland B 71
iii. Bibliography Jaccottet, Fr. (2003), Choisir Dionysos: Les associations dionysiaques ou la face cachée du dionysisme. 2 vols. Zürich: 74-6, no. 36.
Kloppenborg, J.S., and Ascough, R.S. (2011), Greco-Roman Associations: Texts, Translations, and Commentary. I. Attica, Central Greece, Macedonia, Thrace. Göttingen: 395-98, no. 88.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note No name and no descriptive term for this association occurs in the text; but the Βάκχος, Bakchos (ll. 2-3), mentioned in the sibylline oracle and the title σπείραρχος, speirarchos (l. 9), bore by one of the members indicate that this was an association devoted to the cult of Dionysos.