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Last Updated on 04 Jul 2019

Author: Annelies Cazemier

CAPInv. 896: he synodos Ame(i)nicheiton

I. LOCATION

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

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) ἡ σύνοδος Ἀμε(ι)νιχεῖτων (I.Délos 1522, l. 12; 14; with Bruneau 1970: 630-3)
ii. Full name (transliterated) he synodos Ame(i)nicheiton

III. DATE

i. Date(s) e. ii AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Personal:Ame(i)nichos
iii. Descriptive terms σύνοδος, synodos
θίασος, thiasos
Note synodos: I.Délos 1522, l. 12; 14
thiasos: I.Délos 1522, l. 5, in new ed. Bruneau 1970: 630-1

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) I.Délos 1522 in new ed. Bruneau 1970: 630-1 (e. ii AD: see 'Comments')
Note new ed.:
Bruneau 1970: 630-3 (text Vatin; discussion Bruneau)
see also:
Jaccottet 2003, vol. 2: no. 163
Trümper 2011: 79, no. 28
Online Resources I.Délos 1522 (old ed.)
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Fragmentary honorary decree. Greek.
i.c. Physical format(s) Lower part of a stele, broken into two fragments.
ii. Source(s) provenance Found by Svoronos at the church of Agios Ioannis on Mykonos, but originating from Delos. Ziebarth 1900: 506-9; Roussel and Launey in I.Délos 1522; Bruneau 1970: 631.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects οἰκία / οἰκίαι (ἐν Δήλωι), oikia / oikiai (en Deloi) (I.Délos 1522, l. 4, in new ed. Bruneau 1970: 630-1) -- Due to the fragmentary nature of the text, it is not clear whether this should be singular or plural.
δέ[λτος], de[ltos] (I.Délos 1522, l. 10)
[β]ωμός, [b]omos (I.Délos 1522, l. 11)
κιβωτός, kibotos (I.Délos 1522, ll. 20-1)
στήλη, stele (I.Délos 1522, l. 21)
δάπεδον, dapedon (I.Délos 1522, l. 22)
ἱερόν, hieron (I.Délos 1522, l. 22)

VII. ORGANIZATION

i. Founder(s) Ame(i)nichos, after whom the synodos is named, may well have been the founder of the association. Cf. Bruneau 1970: 632.
iii. Members θιασῖται, thiasitai (I.Délos 1522, l. 18)
iv. Officials ἐπίσκοπος, episkopos (I.Délos 1522, l. 8; 10; 17) --- This official had to deal with the copy of the decree (l. 8; cf. ll. 19-20, where we learn that a copy had to be provided to the 'secretary of the council') and needed to make sure that it was transcribed on what seems to be a writing tablet (l. 10: deltos, restored). The episkopos was also responsible for the proclamation of honours every third year (ll. 16-17: κατὰ τριετηρίδαν, kata trieteridan, in new ed. Bruneau 1970: 630-1); if he failed to do so, he would have to pay 100 Attic drachmai.

note also (probably not an official of the synodos itself):
τῆς [β]ουλῆς γρα[μ]μ[α]τεύς, tes [b]oules gra[m]m[a]teus (I.Délos 1522, l. 20) -- This 'secretary of the council' is thought to be an official of the city of Athens. See below: 'Local interaction'.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

i. Treasury/Funds There is mention of 200 denarii (I.Délos 1522, l. 5, in new ed. Bruneau 1970: 630-1) and 100 denarii (l. 7, in new ed. Bruneau 1970: 630-1); both of these references occur in a section of the text which has been preserved only partly, and the exact context is therefore not clear. The sums may have something to do with the two honorands, who are said to have increased the 'revenues of the god' (I.Délos 1522, l. 14; 15-16: τοῦ θεοῦ πρόσοδοι, tou theou prosodoi).

The episkopos had to proclaim the awarded honours. If he failed in this task, he would have to pay 100 Attic drachmai (I.Délos 1522, ll. 17-18); anyone among the members of the association (l. 18: thiasitai) denouncing him would be entitled to a third part of the fine (I.Délos 1522, l. 19: πρόστιμον, prostimon).
ii. Realty It is not clear whether the sanctuary (I.Délos 1522, l. 22: hieron) was owned by the synodos. Cf. Bruneau 1970: 632; Jaccottet 2003, vol. 2: 272. The same applies to the oikia / oikiai (l. 4, in new ed. Bruneau 1970: 630-1).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Men
Women
Note If the two honorands (a man and a woman) were members of the association, the membership included both men and women, but this is by no means certain. Cf. Jaccottet 2003, vol. 2: 272.
iv. Status A copy of the decree of the synodos was to be sent to the secretary of the council (I.Délos 1522, l. 20: tes boules grammateus), thought to be the council of the city of Athens. Bruneau (1970: 632-3) therefore thinks it likely that the association consisted of Athenians.
v. Relations The two individuals crowned by the synodos seem to have been brother and sister (cf. Bruneau 1970: 631); it is not clear whether they were members of the association.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship The inscription refers to 100 Attic drachmai (I.Délos 1522, ll. 17-18) owed to Dionysos by the episkopos if failing in his prescribed task. There is also mention of a sum of 100 denarii given or owed to 'the god' (l. 7, in new ed. Bruneau 1970: 630-1) and both honorands are said to have increased the revenues of 'the god' (l. 14; 15). The god referred to in both cases presumably is Dionysos. Cf. Bruneau 1970: 632.
Deities worshipped Dionysos
iv. Honours/Other activities The synodos honored two individuals because they had increased the revenues of the god, presumably Dionysos (see above: 'Worship'). One of the honorands is [Τίτος] Φλαούιος Δημήτριος, [Titos] Phlaouios Demetrios, son of Sopater. The other honorand is a woman called [Thea]no, daughter of Sopater, from the Attic deme Melite. Presumably they were brother and sister.

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The synodos honoured a man and a woman who both seem to have been Athenians (see above: 'Honours/other activities'). Whether or not they were members of the association is difficult to say.

A copy of the decree of the synodos was to be sent to the secretary of the council (I.Délos 1522, l. 20: tes boules grammateus), thought to be the council of the city of Athens. Bruneau 1970: 632-3.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments While the name of the association was not clear initially (Roussel and Launey 1937 in I.Délos 1522, l.
14: ἡ σύνοδος Α….ΙΧΕΙΤΩΝ; cf. l. 12: ἡ σύνοδος ΑΛ….ΕΙΤΩΝ; with a possible restoration Ἀ[λεξ]ιχεῖτων, Alexicheiton put forward by Ziebarth 1900: 508; followed by Poland 1909: 561, no. B 186; cf. p.
316), a new edition of the text (by Vatin) was published by Bruneau (1970: 630-1; cf. 632), providing a
reading of ἡ σύνοδος Ἀμ̣ενιχεῖτων, he synodos Amenicheiton or Ἀμ̣εινιχεῖτων, Ameinicheiton in line 14 (cf. l. 12). Cf. BE 1971.456; Jaccottet 2003, vol. 2: no. 163; Trümper 2011: 79, no. 28.
On the basis of letter forms, I.Délos 1522 was initally thought to date to the late 2nd century BC
(Ziebarth 1900: 508-9; Poland 1909: 561, no. B 186), but the text has since been re-dated. The
honorand mentioned in ll. 12-13 was identified with Τίτος Φλαούιος Δημήτριος, Titos Phlaouios Demetrios (I.Délos 1597, l. 6) who oversaw the setting up of a statue for the Roman emperor Trajan (AD 103-116). On the basis of that
identification, I.Délos 1522 must date to the early second century AD. Roussel and Launey in I.Délos
1522; cf. Bruneau 1970: 631; Jaccottet 2003, vol. 2: 270, n. 547; Trümper 2011: 79, no. 28.
ii. Poland concordance Poland B *186
iii. Bibliography Bruneau, P. (1970), Recherches sur les cultes de Délos à l'époque hellénistique et à l'époque impériale. Paris.
Jaccottet, A.-F. (2003), Choisir Dionysos: les associations dionysiaques, ou, La face cachée du dionysisme. Zürich.
Trümper, M. (2011), ‘Where the non-Delians met in Delos: the meeting-places of foreign associations and ethnic communities in late Hellenistic Delos’, in O.M. van Nijf and R. Alston (eds.) Political culture in the Greek city after the classical age, Leuven: 49-100.
Ziebarth, E. (1900), ‘Zu den griechischen Vereinsinschriften’, RhM 55: 501-19.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The descriptive term and the wellknown character and activity of this association guarantees its private status.