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Last Updated on 17 Jan 2019

Author: Matt Gibbs & Philip F. Venticinque

CAPInv. 1940: hoi peri ton Dionyson kai tous allous theous technitai

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Egypt
ii. Nome Oxyrhynchites (U19)
iii. Site Oxyrhynchus

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) οἱ̣ π̣ερὶ τ̣ὸ̣[ν] Διό̣νυσ[ον καὶ] τ̣οὺς ἄ̣λλους [θε]ο̣ὺς τεχνεῖτ̣[αι] (l. τεχνῖται) (P. Oxy. LXXIX 5202 ll. 23-4)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hoi peri ton Dionyson kai tous allous theous technitai

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 25 - 99 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Professional:technitai
Status-related:technitai
Theophoric:peri ton Dionyson kai tous allous theous

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) P.Oxy. LXXIX 5202
Online Resources P. Oxy. LXXIX 5202
TM 290109
i.a. Source type(s) Papyrological source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script ancient Greek
Copy of an honorific inscription for the poetic victor Apion
i.c. Physical format(s) papyrus

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii. Members Members of the (local?) branch of the artists of Dionysos: οἱ περὶ τὸν Διό̣νυσον καὶ τοὺς ἄλλους θεοὺς τεχνεῖται, hoi peri ton Dionyson kai tous allous theous techneitai (ll.23-24)

Those members of the association at Rome: οἱ ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκουμένης εἱερονεῖ καὶ οἱ τούτων ἐπιστάται, hoi apo tes oikoumenes heieronei kai hoi touton epistatai

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Men
iii. Age Adults
iv. Status Apion, at least, was an Alexandrian citizen. But at what point he became one is problematic: according to Joseph. Ap. 2.28-30 he was an Egyptian and claimed to be Alexandrian (citizenship was forthcoming by all accounts though).

The city that is honouring Apion here appears to be Alexandria.
vi. Proper names and physical features Apion, son of Posidonius

X. ACTIVITIES

iv. Honours/Other activities Apion was honoured with a statue and a portrait tondo in the Dionyseum by the (local) branch of Dionysiac technitai: ἀνδριάς, andrias (l.5); ἀσπιδεῖον, aspideion (l.5) [on this as a portrait or round-shaped portrait, see Łukaszewicz 1987: 109-10 and Nowicka 1993: 123-24).


By the association in Rome, he was honoured with a statue and a gold-plated portrait tondo.

He received several other honours through his agonistic victories by various communities: at Actium, Delphi, the Isthmus, Nemea, and Olympia, statues of him were erected. The Syracusans honoured him with two statues, a gold-plated shield portrait, a golden crown (worth 50 gold pieces), and residence in the Museum. Presumably these rewards in particular were connected to his victory noted in ll.4-5.

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction Apion was honoured by a branch of the association of Dionysiac artists (perhaps local? Or regional? Based in metropoleis?) [ll.23-24]
ii. Interaction abroad Apion was also honoured by the association of worldwide sacred victors in Rome (see 'comments' below).

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The branch of the association based in Rome appearing in ll. 26-27 (ἐν Ῥ̣ώμ̣[ῃ οἱ] ἀ̣πὸ τῆ̣ς οἰ̣κ̣[ου]μ̣έ̣νη̣ς εἱερο̣ν[εῖ]κ̣αι <καὶ> ο̣ἱ̣ το̣ύ̣[των] ἐπ[ισ]τ̣άτα̣[ι en Rhome how apt tes oikoumenes hieronikai kai how touton epistatai) was likely the σύνοδος τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκουμένης ἱερονικῶν (καὶ στεφανιτῶν) synodos ton apo tes oikoumenes hieronikon kai stephaniton, an elite association of athletic victors but the relationship between this group and the Dionysiac artists in this document (and generally) is unclear. See Ricciardetto 2012: 52-53.
The branch based in Rome has not received an entry on its own as it falls outside the present geographical limits of the database.
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.
Benaissa, A. (2014) edd. P.Oxy. LXXIX 5202 comm.
Łukaszewicz, A. (1987) "ἀϲπιδεῖον." ZPE 67: 109-10.
Remijsen, S. (2014) "Appendix: Games, competitors, and performers in Roman Egypt," in W.B. Henry and P.J. Parsons (ed) The Oxyrhynchus Papyri Vol. LXXIX. London: 190-206.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note These are private associations, but certainly enjoy significant imperial privilege (as the Pap.Agon. papyri clearly illustrate).