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I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Aegean Islands
ii.	Region	Rhodes
iii.	Site	City of Rhodos Lartos, Lindian territory

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	Ἑρμαισταί, I.Lindos II 656, l. 7.
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	Hermaistai

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

ii - i BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Theophoric:

From the god Hermes. For the god's cults in Rhodes, see D. Morelli, I culti in Rodi. SCO 8 (Pisa, 1959) 44-5, 133-35.

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36, ll. 3-4. (ii BC) I.Lindos II 656 (i BC)
	Note	The date proposed here for ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36, the second century BC, is primarily based on the letter forms: see also LGPN I, s.v. Timostratos no. 56.
	Online Resources	ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36 I.Lindos II 656
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36: Dedicatory-honorary I.Lindos II 656: Dedicatory-honorary In Greek
i.c.	Physical format(s)	ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36: rectangular base, the top surface of which has the form of a round base (to receive a round altar?). I.Lindos II 656: fragmentary statue base of Lartian marble. Originally it was furnished with an entablature on which the first (and now not extant) part of the inscription was carved, and which supported the statues of two persons. C. Blinkenberg (I. Lindos II 656, commentary ad loc.) considers it probable that the the two statues were of a man and his wife.
ii.	Source(s) provenance	ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36: Discovered at the excavations of the Mosque of Suleiman (within the old city). I.Lindos II 656: Discovered in a site south of the village Lartos, close to the sea.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii.

Members

The person to whom ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36 belonged,
was the adopted son of Timostratos of the Lindian deme Brasioi (LGPN I, s.v. Timostratos no. 56). He was a member of this association.

The two persons to which the base I.Lindos II 656 belonged (probably a man and his wife, see Blinkenberg's comment ad loc.) were members of the association.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii.	Gender	Men Women
	Note	If C. Blinkenberg's view about the individuals to whom the monument I.Lindos II 656 belonged is correct (see above), then a man and his wife were among the members of this association.
iii.	Age	Adults
iv.	Status	One of the persons concerned, the adoptive son of Timostratos Brasios, was a citizen: ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36. In I.Lindos II 656, the persons honoured are called χρηστοί (chrestoi). If, as has been argued, this indicates non-citizen status, i.e. foreigners and especially slaves (L. Robert, Etudes Anatoliennes, (Paris, 1937) 369; P.M. Fraser, Rhodian Funerary Monuments (Oxford 1977), then I.Lindos II 656 would concern non-Rhodians. However, this theory is still in need of formal proof.

X. ACTIVITIES

iv.

Honours/Other activities

The Hermaistai honoured the adoptive son of Timostratos with the award of a wreath (kind unknown). In ClRhod 2 (1932) 203, no. 36, the association is mentioned together with other associations which likewise had awarded honours: the Lapethiastai (Λαπηθιασταὶ), the Diagonia Thymoterpidan (διαγονία Θυμοτερπιδᾶν) and the Hagesi[t]imeioi kai Kallikrate[ioi] (Ἁγησι[τ]ίμειοι καὶ Καλλικράτε[ιοι]).

In I.Lindos II 656, the honour awarded by the Hermaistai consisted of a gold wreath (χρυσέωι στεφάνωι, chryseoi stephanoi). They are listed together with four other bodies, of which at least two -- the Adoniasta[i](Ἀδωνιαστα[ί]) and the Sarapiast[ai] (Σαραπιαστ[αί]) -- were private associations.

XI. INTERACTION

i.

Local interaction

Since the Hermaistai are attested in the city of Rhodes and in Lartos, in the Lindian territory, they may have interacted with both places.

XII. NOTES

i.

Comments

Since the evidence concerning the Hermaistai comes from two different places and is dated to two different centuries, it cannot be completely excluded that we are dealing with two distinct associations. However, this does not seem very likely. In Rhodes and its possessions homonyms are often avoided by creating composite names or variants of the same name (e.g. Hermaizontes, Ἑρμαίζοντες. Moreover, other associations, too, (e.g. the Sarapiastai) are attested in both the city of Rhodos (IG XII.1 162) and in Lindos (I.Lindos II 656).

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Certain
	Note	The theophoric name renders it certain that this is a private association.

CAPInv. 1822: Hermaistai