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Last Updated on 12 Jul 2019

Author: Ilias Arnaoutoglou

CAPInv. 1527: synodos t[on thiasoton? Dio] nysou

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Central Greece
ii. Region Megaris
iii. Site Megara?

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) σύνοδος τ[ῶν θιασωτῶν? Διο]νύσου (SBAW 1903: 90-1, no. 2, ll. 3-4)
ii. Full name (transliterated) synodos t[on thiasoton? Dio] nysou

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 141 AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Cultic:Worshippers of Dionysus
iii. Descriptive terms σύνοδος, synodos
Note synodos: SBAW 1903: 90-1, no. 2, l. 3

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) SBAW 1903: 90-1, no. 2 (141 AD)
Note Other publications:
Jaccottet II no. 7
GRA I no. 60 (with an English translation)
AGRW 60 (Engl. translation)
Online Resources AGRW ID# 3202
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Decision of the association granting membership? and exemption from dues and liturgies. Greek.
ii. Source(s) provenance According to Boeckh's notebook it was seen in 1835 in the office of Megara's leading citizens (demogerontia).

VII. ORGANIZATION

iv. Officials It is debatable whether the temple warden (ναοποιός, naopoios, l. 5) and the life long priest ([διὰ βίου ἱε]ρέα, [dia biou hie]rea, ll. 5-6) were officers of the association or titles of the new member.
ix. Privileges The person is released from any other duty (ἀπολελύσθω δὲ τῆς ἄλλης ὑπηρεσίας, apolelystho de tes alles hyperesias, ll. 6-7) and is granted immunity from dues and liturgies (καὶ ἀ[τελὴς ἔστω καὶ ἀλειτούρ]γητος, kai a[teles esto kai aleitour]getos, ll. 7-8).

X. ACTIVITIES

Deities worshipped The association worshipped Dionysos.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The date of the inscription was calculated on the assumption that the date referred to is the Actian era (i.e. 31 BC). There are some features of the inscription that may raise some doubts about its origin; in particular the beginning of the text with a dating formula, and the titles naopoios and hiereus dia biou, do not feature in any other inscription from Megara.
The proposed restorations are unsettling and Jaccottet II is right to feel uncertain about them. In particular, the collocation ἠ σύνοδος τ[ῶν θιασωτῶν Διο]νύσου, he synodos t[on thiasoton Dio]nysou occurs very rarely, if ever; I would suggest to restore ἡ σύνοδος τ[ῶν μυστῶν Διο]νύσου, he synodos t[on myston Dio]nysou. It is also difficult to understand what exactly the phrase εἶναι Διονύ[σου θιάσῳ Ἀντίπα]τρον, einai Diony[sou thiasoi Antipa]tron ton naop[oion kai dia biou hie]rea means. It would have made more sense to restore εἶναι Διονύ[σου μύστην Ἀντίπα]τρον, einai Diony[sou mysten Antipa]tron, that is the association confers membership to the group together with immunities to Antipatros, temple warden and life long priest of a different cult.
Note also the mistaken translation of ναοποιός, naopoios in Jaccottet II no. 7, GRA I no. 60 and AGRW 33 as the one "who built the temple of Dionysus for the association".
ii. Poland concordance Poland B*3
iii. Bibliography Fraenkel, M. (1903), ‘Beiträge zur griechischen Epigraphik aus Handschriften’, Sitzungsberichte der koeniglich Preussischen Akademie der Wissenschaften philos.-hist. classe 5: 82-90.
Jaccottet, A.-Fr. (2003), Choisir Dionysus. Les associations dionysiaques ou la face cachee du dionysisme. 2 vols. Zurich.
Kloppenborg, J., and Ascough, R. (2011), Greco-Roman associations: Texts, translations, and commentary. I. Attica, central Greece, Macedonia, Thrace. Berlin.
Harland, Ph., Kloppenborg, J., and Ascough, R. (2012), Associations in the Greco-Roman world. A sourcebook. Waco, Berlin.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note Jaccottet II no. 7 argues that the group may have had a quasi-official role, because of the immunities granted to the new member. However, there are precedents of exemption from dues among the orgeones of Bendis in Piraeus (IG II2 1283). It is possible that the membership conferred is an honorary one, given the offices/titles that [Antipa]tros held.