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Last Updated on 28 Feb 2017

Author: Sophia Zoumbaki

CAPInv. 551: hoi aleiphomenoi

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Peloponnese with Adjacent Islands
ii. Region Argolis
iii. Site Troizen

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) οἱ ἀλειφόμενοι (IG IV 790, l. 1)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hoi aleiphomenoi

III. DATE

i. Date(s) iii - ii BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Other:hoi aleiphomenoi. Refers to those who anoint themselves with oil, namely those who use the athletic facilities and exercise in the gymnasion.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IG IV 790 (l. iii BC)
IG IV 792 (ii - i BC)
Note Ed. pr. of IG IV 790: Legrand 1893: 96.
Online Resources IG IV 790
IG IV 792
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script IG IV 790: Honorary inscription in Greek erected by the aleiphomenoi for Bitos, son of Theudoros.
IG IV 792: Honorary inscription in Greek erected by the aleiphomenoi for Ariston, son of Antisthenes.
i.c. Physical format(s) Both monuments are marble statue bases decorated with cymatia on the top and bottom.
ii. Source(s) provenance Both monuments were found in the ruins of the church Palaia Episkope.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Men
Note As they are called aleiphomenoi and consequently they took part in the exercises in the gymnasion, they were men.

X. ACTIVITIES

iv. Honours/Other activities The aleiphomenoi honour Bitos, son of Theudoros and grandson of Kallippos, and Ariston, son of Antisthenes. Both honorands are designated as benefactors. Probably they were functionaries of the gymnasion, perhaps gymnasiarchoi.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments IG IV 792 seems, as far as the facsimile presented in IG allows us to conclude, to be a more recent than IG IV 790. Whilst M. Fraenkel dates IG IV 790 to the late 3rd c. BC, the lettering of IG IV 792 seems to be dated to the 2nd or even to the 1st c. BC. This chronological distance between the two inscriptions may indicate that hoi aleiphomenoi were not simply those who exercised themselves in the gymnasion and votedad hoc for the erection of monuments for their benefactors, but perhaps an organized collectivity.
For groups active in the gymnasia see Fröhlich 2013: 64 n. 20.
There is a reference at Troizen (IG IV 749) where neoi are attested already in the 4th c. BC as a group active in the gymnasion. However, this attestation does not allows us to consider it an association.
iii. Bibliography Fröhlich, P. (2013), ‘Les groupes du gymnase d’Iasos et les presbytéroi dans les cités à l’ époque hellénnistique’, in P. Fröhlich and P. Hamon (eds.), Groupes et associations dans les cités grecques (IIIe siècle av. J.-C. – IIe siècle apr. J.-C.), Genève: 59-111.
Legrand, P.E. (1893), ‘Inscriptions de Trézène’, BCH 17: 84-121.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note It is possible that the aleiphomenoi formed a private association in the framework of the gymnasium's life, as they voted honours for Bitos and Ariston. However, there is no further concrete evidence, that they formed an organized group with enduring activity (the chronological distance between the two inscriptions [see above XII.i: Comments] is perhaps to be taken into account) and not simply those who exercised themselves in the gymnasium and voted ad hoc for the erection of monuments for their benefactors, perhaps functionaries of the gymnasium.