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I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Aegean Islands
ii.	Region	Rhodes
iii.	Site	city of Rhodes

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	Διοσσωτηριαστ̣αὶ Ζηνωνιασταί (ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6, l. 13)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	Diossoteriastai Zenoniastai

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

ii - i BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Cultic:

Diossoteriastai unites Zeus and the epiklesis Soter, which is frequently used of this god: similar examples are I.Lindos II, no. 683: Διοσσωτηριαστᾶν κοινόν, Diossoteriastan koinon; ibid. no. 630: Διοσσωτηριαστᾶν Λυσιστρατείων (κοινόν), Diossoteriastan Lysistrateion (koinon) cf. IG XII.1 939, l. 1, with Poland 1909, 178-79, 238. The cult of Zeus Soter is attested in Lindos, Camiros and the city of Rhodos: D. Morelli, I culti in Rodi. Studi Classici e Orientali, 8 (Pisa, 1959), 51-2.

Personal:

Zenoniastai derives from the personal name Zenon. Since this name is common in Rhodes (see LGPN vol. 1, s.v.), no identification with a particular person is possible.

iii.

Descriptive terms

In line 15 of ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6, the association is referred to as κοινόν, koinon.

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, l. 2 (2nd cent. BC) ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6, ll. 13 (1st cent. BC)
	Note	In ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, l. 2, the first element of the name is restored: [Διοσσωτηριαστᾶν?] Ζηνωνιασ̣τᾶν. The restoration, accepted in LGPN vol. s.v. no. 95, seems most reasonable.
	Online Resources	ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2 ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, is a (presumably honorary) decree issued by the association. Doric dialect. ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6, is a dedicatory-honorific inscription. Doric dialect.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, is a fragmentary stele (only the right-hand part is preserved) of Lartian marble; photo in ASAA 22 (1939/40) Tav. I. ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6, is a fragmentary rectangular statue base of Lartian marble: photo in ASAA 22 (1939/40) Tav. IX.
ii.	Source(s) provenance	The provenance of both stones is simply given as Rhodes, the capital city of Rhodes.

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii.

References to buildings/objects

Line 6 of the decree ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, is probably to be read [. . τό]πων ἐς ταφίας, [top]on es taphias (ed.pr.: [- - - ]πων ἐς ταφίας): see IG XII 1, 736, ll. 3-4, 10, with ibid. 937 and ASAA 22 (1939/40) 156, no. 18, ll. 22-23. In that case, these taphiai ('burial grounds') had become the property of the association, probably through a donation by the person honoured by this decree himself or by his grandfather (ibid., line 7: ὁ π̣αππος αὐτοῦ, ho pappos autou). If our supplement τό[πων], top[on] (in the plural) is correct, then the presumed donation consisted of more than one plot of land.

VII. ORGANIZATION

i.	Founder(s)	Possibly, the Zenon after whom this koinon was named was the founder. He might or might not be the [Ze?]non mentioned in ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, line 3.
	Gender	Male
iii.	Members	ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2 yields four or perhaps five certain or probable members: (i) the Zenon after whom the association was named; (ii) the [Ze?]non of line 3 (if he is not the supposed founder himself); (iii) the proposer of the decree, who is described as 'the son Pheidon'; (iv) the person honoured (whose name does not survive); and lastly (v) the latter's unnamed grandfather. ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6 yields one probable member, the unknown individual with the ethnic Herakleotas, to whom this monument belonged. His ethnic, Herakleotas, shows that he was a foreigner. Heraclea Pontica is just one among several possibilities for this person's city of origin. From the fact that he had performed the liturgy of the choregia it can be inferred that he was residing permanently on Rhodes.
iv.	Officials	[Ze?]non (in ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, line 3) is described as ἐπίσκοπος, episkopos. The whole line is restored so as to make his name the essential part of a formula providing the date of the decree of the association. The restoration has something to recommend it but is not absolutely certain. Be that as it may, the main question here is whether episkopos is an official of the association or of the polis of Rhodes. There is evidence supporting each of these possibilities: (i) a board of three or five Rhodian state-officials plus their secretary: IG XII.1 49, ll. 42-49; I.Lindos II, nos. 208 (with commentary) and 208, ll. 57 ff.; Clara Rhodos 2 (1932) 193, no. 21, l. 8, cf. van Gelder 1900, 577-78; Hiller von Gaertringen 1931, 767; (ii) officials of associations: IG XII.3 329, l. 12 (Thera), with CAPInv 14 (episkopoi, in plural, as financial officials); I.Délos 1522, ll. 8, 10, 17 (Delos), with CAPinv 896 (a single episkopos performing various duties), cf. Poland 1909, 377. Given that episkopos here appears in a decree of an association, and on the (quite insecure, cf. line 1) assumption that line 3 is correctly restored to contain a dating formula, then possibility two ought to be preferred, i.e. this was an official of the association: dating formulas with reference to the office of episkopos are unattested in Rhodian state decrees, and on the whole it is a practice making its appearance in early Christian epigraphy, e.g. SEG 52.1385 (Pisisia, ca. 380 AD).
	Eponymous officials	Assuming that line 3 of ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, is correctly restored to contain the dating formula of the decree (but cf. line 1), the episkopos may have been the eponymous official of this association. However, this is far from certain.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

ii.

Realty

The association owned burial grounds with tombs, ταφίαι, taphiai. This is securely attested by the fragmentarily preserved ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, which possibly records the donation, by the honorand and/or his grandfather, of land to be used for that purpose. If the supplement I have proposed in line 6 is correct ([... τό]πων ἐς ταφίας, [to]pon] es taphias, then the donation involved more than one land plot. Moreover, the last line of the inscription (ed.pr.:[-- τα]φ̣ι̣ᾶ̣ν ἀ̣ρ̣χ̣α̣[-]) can be restored to read: [... τα]φ̣ι̣ᾶ̣ν ἀ̣ρ̣χ̣α̣[ίων], [ta]phian archa[ion], i.e. the 'old tombs' as opposed to newer ones, perhaps the taphiai of line 6.
Finally, [ὀ]κτακισχιλίω̣[ν], [o]ktakischilion, i.e. '8,000' (line 8) is likely related to the donation and might refer to either (part) of a measurement (e.g. podes, 'feet': SEG 42.145, Attica, ca. 350-250 BC) or (part of) a monetary value (e.g. IG XII.3 330, Thera, 210-195 BC, ll. 23-24).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii.	Gender	Men
	Note	The probable or possible members attested so far are men.
iv.	Status	Of the four or five persons who can be identified as probable or possible members of this association, only the status of one of them can be ascertained, namely, the person honoured in ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6: he was a foreigner from Heraclea.

X. ACTIVITIES

i.	Assemblies	The decree ASAA 22 (1939/40) 148, no. 2, was certainly passed in an assembly of the association.
iv.	Honours/Other activities	The honour awarded to a foreigner from Heraclea (in ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6) is specified as χρυσέωι στ̣ε̣φά̣ν̣ωι, chryseoi stephanoi, 'a gold wreath'. Moreover, the award is justified with reference to the honorand's eunoia and philodoxia towards the koinon (ll. 4-5). The same inscription records similar honours by three other koina: (i) the Aristobouliastai Soteriastai Hephaistiastai Agathodaimoniastai Menekrateioi toi syn Menekratei (see also CAPInv. 2024; (ii) the Aphrodisiastai Epitynchanonteioi kai Aphrodisiastai Meneteioi; and (iii) the Hermaistai Athanaistai Haliadai Haliastai.

XI. INTERACTION

ii.

Interaction abroad

An indirect connection can be made to Heraclea, the place of origin of the person honoured in ASAA 22 (1939/40) 151, no. 6. However, the identity of this Heraclea (Pontica?) remains unknown.

XII. NOTES