View

I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Central Greece
ii.	Region	Boiotia
iii.	Site	Thespiai

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	οἱ τεχνῖται οἱ ἐξ Ἰσθμοῦ καὶ Νεμέας (I.Thespiai 156, ll. 6-7)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	hoi technitai hoi ex Isthmou kai Nemeas

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

l. iii - i BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

i.

Name in other forms

οἱ τεχνῖται: I.Thespiai 161, l. 4; I.Thespiai 165, l. 5; I.Thespiai 166, l. 5; I.Thespiai 167, l. 5; I.Thespiai 169, ll. 3-4 and 6; I.Thespiai 171, l. 5; I.Thespiai 172, l. 4

ii.

Name elements

Geographical:	ex Isthmou kai Nemeas
Professional:	technitai

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	I.Thespiai 156 (c. 225 BC) I.Thespiai 161 (c. 210-203 BC) I.Thespiai 165 (c. 175-150 BC) I.Thespiai 166 (c. 175-150 BC) I.Thespiai 167 (c. 146-95 BC) I.Thespiai 169 (c. 146-95 BC) I.Thespiai 171 (c. 110-90 BC; c. 110, SEG 54: 516comm.) I.Thespiai 172 (after 84 BC)
	Note	See also: I.Thespiai 156: Le Guen I no. 22 Aneziri no. B4 Manieri 2009: Thes. 10 I.Thespiai 161: SEG 32: 434 Le Guen I no. 23A Aneziri no. Gb1 Manieri 2009: Thes. 17 I.Thespiai 165: SEG 32: 435 Le Guen I no. 23B (see also SEG 32: 498 and SEG 36: 472) Aneziri no. Gb2 Manieri 2009: Thes. 23 I.Thespiai 166: Roesch 1982: 190, no. 34 Le Guen I no. 23C Aneziri no. Gb3 Manieri 2009: Thes 24 I.Thespiai 167: Roesch 1982: 190, no. 35 Le Guen I no. 23D Aneziri no. Gb4 Manieri 2009: Thes. 27 I.Thespiai 169: SEG 32: 436 Le Guen I no. 23E Aneziri no. Gb5 Manieri 2009: Thes. 29 I.Thespiai 171: Roesch 1982: 192, no. 38 Le Guen I no. 23G Aneziri no. Gb7 Manieri 2009: Thes. 31 I.Thespiai 172: Roesch 1982: 192-3, no. 39 Le Guen I no. 23H Aneziri no. Gb8 Manieri 2009: Thes. 33
	Online Resources	I.Thespiai 156 I.Thespiai 161 I.Thespiai 165 I.Thespiai 166 I.Thespiai 167 I.Thespiai 169 I.Thespiai 171 I.Thespiai 172
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	I.Thespiai 156: decree of the technitai concerning the reorganisation of the festival of the Mouseia. I.Thespiai 161 and following: victors' list at the Mouseia All inscriptions are written in Greek.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	I.Thespiai 156: large limestone block. Picked band on the left and at the top picked. Two columns are illustrated on the stone. I.Thespiai 161: base of white limestone in the shape of a triangular pyramid. I.Thespiai 165: stele of white limestone broken to the right and at the bottom. I.Thespiai 166: upper part of a stele of white limestone. I.Thespiai 167: stele of white limestone with pediment, broken at the bottom. Only the left acroterion, decorated with leaves, is preserved. I.Thespiai 169: stele of beige limestone with pediment and acroteria, broken at the bottom. I.Thespiai 171: pedimental stele of white limestone with acroteria broken at the bottom. I.Thespiai 172: pedimental stele of beige limestone with acroteria. Broken in two pieces.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii.	Members	τεχνῖται, technitai
iv.	Officials	Priest: I.Thespiai 156, A l. 3; I.Thespiai 161, l. 4; I.Thespiai 165, l. 5; I.Thespiai 166, l. 5; I.Thespiai 167, l. 4; I.Thespiai 169, ll. 3-4; I.Thespiai 171, l. 5; I.Thespiai 172, l. 5. In the victors lists at the Mouseia I.Thespiai 161 and following (see above) the priest sent by the technitai appears as an envoy (ἀπὸ δὲ τῶν τεχνιτῶν, apo de ton techniton) named just after the local priest of the Muses (see Aneziri: 134-5 and 273). The priest is a priest of the Muses. In I.Thespiai 167 he is from Sikyon, and in I.Thespiai 169 and 171 from Thebes. Pyrphoros (the expression πυρφοροῦντος, pyrphorountos is used): a pyrphoros is sent by the technitai in I.Thespiai 169 and 171. Both are from Thebes. In I.Thespiai 172 the pyrphoros sent by the technitai is from Argos, but a vacat was left for his name. On pyrphoroi: Aneziri: 137.

X. ACTIVITIES

i.	Assemblies	Attested by the fact that the technitai pass decrees (I.Thespiai 156).
ii.	Meetings and events	Participation in the organisation of the Thespian Mouseia. On this, see Aneziri: 271-83 and Aneziri 2007: 68-80.
iii.	Worship	The priest sent by the technitai is a priest of the Muses, implying that the technitai were worshipping the Muses. On the technitai and the Muses: Le Guen 2001: 85-6.

XI. INTERACTION

i.

Local interaction

The technitai organise jointly with the city of Thespiai the festival of the Mouseia and send priests, sometimes alongside pyrphoroi, to the festival (see Le Guen 2001: 18).

XII. NOTES

i.	Comments	The festival of the Mouseia at Thespiai underwent a reorganisation in the latter part of the 3rd century BC. The chronology of the events is complex and still debated among scholars (see among others Knoepfler 1996, Schachter 2010-11, Le Guen I; Manieri 2009: 318-25). The technitai agree in their decree I.Thespiai 156 to make of the festival of the Mouseia a stephanites avon. The decree refers to the fact that the festival was already shared between the city of Thespiai and the technitai. The lastest victors list (I.Thespiai 172) mentioning envoys from the technitai dates to after 84 BC.
iii.	Bibliography	Aneziri, S. (2003), Die Vereine der dionysischen Techniten im Kontext der hellenistischen Gesellschaft. Untersuchungen zur Geschichte, Organisation und Wirkung der hellenistischen Technitenvereine. Stuttgart. Aneziri, S. (2007), ‘The Organisation of Music Contests in the Hellenistic Period and Artists' Participation: An Attempt at Classification’, in P. Wilson (ed.), The Greek Theatre and Festivals, Oxford: 67-84. Knoepfler, D. (1996), ‘La réorganisation du concours des Mouseia à l’époque hellénistique: esquisse d’une solution nouvelle’, in A. Hurst and A. Schachter (eds.), La montagne des Muses, Geneva: 141-67. Le Guen, B. (2001), Les associations de technites dionysiaques à l’époque hellénistique. vol 2. Nancy. Manieri, A. (2009), Agoni Poetico-musicali nella Grecia Antica, 1. Beozia. Roma. Schachter, A. (2010), ‘The Mouseia of Thespiai: Organization and Development’, Rudiae 22-23: 29-61. Roesch, P. (1982), Etudes béotiennes. Paris.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Certain
	Note	The Dionysiac technitai present all features of a private association. The internal organization of the Dionysiac technitai has been meticulously established in modern scholarship.

CAPInv. 992: hoi technitai hoi ex Isthmou kai Nemeas