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I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Western Asia Minor
ii.	Region	Bithynia
iii.	Site	Prusa ad Olympum

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	σακοπλόκοι (I.Prusa 1036)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	sakoplokoi (l. sakkoplokoi)

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

ii AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Professional:

sakkoplokoi (cf. Zimmermann 2002: 68; BE 1994: no. 262)

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	I.Prusa 1036 (ii AD)
	Note	See also: AGRW 101 SEG 43: 898
	Online Resources	I.Prusa 1036 AGRW ID# 75
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Funerary monument in Greek.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	Marble stele with a bust of a man (Ariston) in relief above the inscription.
ii.	Source(s) provenance	The inscription was bought from a private dealer of antiquities. The exact provenance is unknown.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii.

Members

The only known member is referred to as συνθιασείτης, synthiaseites (fellow-member of the thiasos: ll. 2-3).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii.	Gender	Men
	Note	The only known member is a man.

X. ACTIVITIES

iv.

Honours/Other activities

The association sets up a funerary inscription in memory of its member Ariston. This suggests that the association saw to the burial of Ariston but whether this was a general practice applied to all the members or whether the association owned a burial plot cannot be ascertained (on the funerary activities of professional associations see Van Nijf 1997: 38-55).

XII. NOTES

i.	Comments	In editing I.Prusa 1036, Th. Corsten read the name of the association as σακοπλοκοί, sakoplokoi. However, it is more preferable to read σακοπλόκοι, sakoplokoi (i.e. σακκοπλόκοι, sakkoplokoi) as Zimmermann (2002: 68, 141, 208 and 219) does. Furthermore, the term synthiasites used for the deceased member of the sakkoplokoi, Ariston, led Corsten to suggest that the association of manufacturers of bags in Prusa ad Olympum was also called thiasos. Corsten admits that this term is rarely attested for professional associations (he refers to I.Knidos 23 as the only example), but attempts to put it in the context of the religious and cultic activities to which such groups were often engaged. On the other hand, Zimmermann (2002: 68) arrives at the completely opposite conclusion, pointing out that the designation of Ariston as synthiasites does not impose the conclusion that the sakkoplokoi also called themselves thiasos, particularly since such term is not attested for associations of craftsmen. Admittedly no safe conclusion can be reached on this problem, but is should be noted that there is nothing in I.Knidos 23 (CAP Inv. 839) to prove that the thiasos recorded there as recipient of contributions was indeed a professional association. The erection of a funerary monument by the sakkoplokoi raises the possibility of regular contributions imposed on the members. The money required for the erection of Aristion's funenrary monument by the sakkoplokoi may have derived either from ad hoc contributions by the members or from a common treasury.
iii.	Bibliography	Ascough, R.S., Harland, P.A., and Kloppenborg, J.S. (2012), Associations in the Greco-Roman World: A Sourcebook. Berlin. Van Nijf, O. (1997), The Civic World of Professional Associations in the Roman East. Amsterdam. Zimmermann, C. (2002), Handwerkervereine im griechischen Osten des Imperium Romanum. Mainz.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Certain
	Note	Τhe name σακοπλόκοι, sakoplokoi (l. σακκοπλόκοι, sakkoplokoi), and the use of the term συνθιασείτης, synthiaseites, for a member indicate that this was a private association.

CAPInv. 124: sakoplokoi (l. sakkoplokoi)