View

I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Western Asia Minor
ii.	Region	Mysia
iii.	Site	Pergamon

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	οἱ βάκχοι τοῦ εὐαστοῦ θ[εοῦ] (MDAI(A) 27 (1902): 94 no. 86, l. 3)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	hoi bakchoi tou euastou theou

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

b. 158 BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Cultic:

Bakchoi - followers of Bakchos (Dionysos)

eaustes theos - the epithet εὐαστής, euastes is attested in epigrams for Dionysos and quite often in Orphic poetry (see Ohlemutz 1968: 94; Müller 1989).
Cf. LSJ s.v. εὐαστής: one who cries εὐαί

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	MDAI(A) 27 (1902): 94 no. 86 (before or after 158 BC: Ohlemutz 1968: 93).
	Note	Jaccottet 2003, II no. 91 AGRW 113 Date: according to Hansen (1971: 465) this inscription dates after the death of Eumenes II.
	Online Resources	MDAI(A) 27 (1902): 94 no. 86 AGRW ID 549
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Dedication in Greek to king Eumenes II, saviour god and benefactor, by the bakchoi tou euastou theou.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	Rectangular block of white marble with moulding on top and bottom, broken in the right side. H. 57 x W. 41.5 x L. 23 cm. A dowel hole on the bottom for inserting the block into a plinth. A cutting on the upper surface. Prott and Kolbe (1902: 94) described this block of stone as an altar. However, the dative formula (βασιλεῖ Εὐμένει) along with the cutting on the upper surface of the block would rather indicate a base.
ii.	Source(s) provenance	Found 'in the side street, that leads from the ''Burgstrasse'' to the rectangular tower of the byzantine wall'.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii.

Members

βάκχοι, bakchoi (l. 3)

X. ACTIVITIES

iii.	Worship	The Bakchoi are designated as Bakchoi tou eaustou theou.
	Deities worshipped	euastos theos (Dionysos)
iv.	Honours/Other activities	The Bakchoi set up a dedication to king Eumenes II, saviour god and benefactor (ll. 1-2, θε[ῶι] σωτῆρι καὶ εὐεργέ[τηι]).

XI. INTERACTION

i.

Local interaction

The Bakchoi demonstrate their close links to king Eumenes II by setting up an offering to him and by endorsing the cult of Dionysos, ancestor of the Attalids.

XII. NOTES

i.	Comments	The findspot of the inscription not far away from the 'Podiensaal' (where two altars set up by the boukoloi were found) led scholars to tentatively suggest that the Podiensaal may have been used as the meeting place of a Dionysiac association already from the 2nd c. BC (Jaccottet 2003, II, 174; Schwarzer 2008: 92-7).
ii.	Poland concordance	Poland B *403.
iii.	Bibliography	Jaccottet, A.-F. (2003), Choisir Dionysos. Les associations dionysiaques ou la face cachée du Dionysisme. II. Documents. Paris. Müller, H. (1989), 'Ein neues hellenistisches Weihepigramm aus Pergamon', Chiron 19: 499-553. Nilsson, M. (1957), The Dionysiac Mysteries of the Hellenistic and Roman Age. Lund. Ohlemutz, E. (1968), Die Kulte und Heiligtümer der Götter in Pergamon. Darmstadt. Prott, H.v. and Kolbe, W. (1902), ‘Die 1900-1901 in Pergamon gefundenen Inschriften’, MDAI (A) 27: 44-151. Schwarzer, H. (2008), Die Stadtgrabung. Teil 4. Das Gebäude mit dem Podiensaal in der Stadtgrabung von Pergamon. Studien zu Sakralen Banketträumen mit Liegepodien in der Antike. (AvP 15.4). Berlin - New York.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Possible
	Note	The term Bakchoi alone does not suffice to qualify this group as a private association.

CAPInv. 913: hoi bakchoi tou euastou theou