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Last Updated on 03 Jul 2019

Author: Annelies Cazemier

CAPInv. 891: Poseidoniastai

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Aegean Islands
ii. Region Delos
iii. Site Delos

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) Ποσειδωνιασταὶ (I.Délos 1751, l. 5 and other sources)
ii. Full name (transliterated) Poseidoniastai

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 125 - 74 BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

i. Name in other forms Ποσιδωνιασταὶ (I.Délos 1754, l. 20)
mag(istreis) Neptunales (I.Délos 1751, l. 11)
magistreis Neptuni (I.Délos 1753, ll. 13-14)
magistreis (I.Délos 1752, l. 7; cf. 1754, l. 7)
The Greek texts refer to Poseidoniastai / Posidoniastai, using a theophoric name, but the parallel Latin texts use the term magistreis, suggesting officials more specifically.
ii. Name elements
Theophoric:Poseidon

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) Poseidoniastai:
I.Délos 1751 (ca. 125 BC)
I.Délos 1752 (s. ii BC) (cf. Hatzfeld 1912: 156)

Poseidoniastai, Hermaistai, Apolloniastai:
I.Délos 1753 (113 BC)
I.Délos 1754 (l. ii BC)
I.Délos 1755 (ca. 100 BC)
I.Délos 1757 (97 BC)
I.Délos 1758 (74 BC)

possibly connected to the Poseidoniastai:
I.Délos 1756 (ca. 100 BC)
I.Délos 1759 (not dated)
Note Durrbach, Choix 98 (= I.Délos 1751)
Durrbach, Choix 116 (= I.Délos 1753)
Durrbach, Choix 144 (= I.Délos 1757)
Durrbach, Choix 157 (= I.Délos 1758)
AGRW 233 (= I.Délos 1751) (incl. English translation)
AGRW 237 (= I.Délos 1758) (incl. English translation)
Trümper 2011: 79, no. 24
Online Resources I.Délos 1751
I.Délos 1752

I.Délos 1753
I.Délos 1754
I.Délos 1755
I.Délos 1757
I.Délos 1758

I.Délos 1756
I.Délos 1759
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Dedications, one certainly by the Poseidoniastai alone (I.Délos 1751, bilingual, Greek and Latin) and another fragmentary dedication which has been identified specifically with the Poseidoniastai as well (I.Délos 1752, in Latin, though perhaps originally bilingual); further dedications together with the Hermaistai and Apolloniastai (I.Délos 1753-1755; 1757-1758; cf. 1756; 1759), some of which bilingual (Greek and Latin) (I.Délos 1753; 1754).
i.c. Physical format(s) I.Délos 1751: block of marble with socket on top
I.Délos 1752: marble plaque, in two fragments
ii. Source(s) provenance The dedication of the Poseidoniastai only (I.Délos 1751) was found re-used in a modern wall, north of the 'Agora de Théophrastos' (Guide de Délos 49). The lower fragment of the Latin dedication to Neptunus which has been connected to the Poseidoniastai (I.Délos 1752) was found in the vicinity, west of the so-called 'Salle Hypostyle' (Guide de Délos 50). Two of the joint dedications with the Hermaistai and Apolloniastai were also found in this area, where there once was a sanctuary of Poseidon (cf. Bruneau 1970: 259; Hasenohr 2002: 73). The dedication to Herakles / Hercoles (I.Délos 1753) was found near the south-west corner of the 'Salle Hypostyle', while the dedication to Zeus Ourios / Iuppiter Sequndanus (I.Délos 1754) was found re-used in a modern wall near that building. Finally, the joint dedications to Herakles and the Italians (I.Délos 1757) and to Apollo and the Italians (I.Délos 1758) were set up at the 'Agora des Italiens' (Guide de Délos 52). The same applies to a fragmentary Latin text referring to magistreis (I.Délos 1756).

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects Ἡρακλῆς, Herakles (I.Délos 1757, l. 3)

VII. ORGANIZATION

iv. Officials mag(istreis) Neptunales (I.Délos 1751, l. 11) / magistreis Neptuni (I.Délos 1753, ll. 13-14) / magistreis (I.Délos 1752, l. 7; 1754, l. 7, where the Posidoniastai, Hermaistai and Apolloniastai are collectively called magistreis, without addition of the name(s) of deities; cf. 1756, l. 14) -- The term magistreis (magistri) to indicate officials is used in Latin only; the parallel Greek texts simply refer to Poseidoniastai / Posidoniastai. Some of the texts refer to the listed individuals as Ποσειδωνιασταὶ (οἱ) γενόμενοι, Poseidoniastai (hoi) genomenoi (I.Délos 1757, l. 1; 1758, ll. 9-10) and according to Hasenohr (2002: 72) this means that these dedications were made after the men had left office.

VIII. PROPERTY AND POSSESSIONS

i. Treasury/Funds The Posidoniastai with the Hermaistai and Apolloniastai (together called magistreis in Latin) made a dedication to Zeus Ourios / Iuppiter Sequndanus from their own funds (I.Délos 1754, l. 21: ἐκ τῶν ἰδίων, ek ton idion; cf. l. 7: de sua pequnia).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number The dedication made by Poseidoniastai only (I.Délos 1751) lists the names of four individuals, but these were officials and there would have been more members all in all. Cf. I.Délos 1752, a fragmentary dedication which has also been connected to the Poseidoniastai and which lists the names of six individuals.
ii. Gender Men
Note The Poseidoniastai listed in the sources are men.
iv. Status The Poseidoniastai listed in the sources have Roman names and were members of the Italian community on Delos. While the Kompetaliastai (CAPInv. 892) consisted of freedmen and slaves, the Poseidoniastai, Hermaistai, and Apolloniastai were free men (whether from birth or freedmen). Freedmen can be recognized only in the Latin versions of the texts. There is, for example, one freedman out of a total of four individuals in the dedication made by the Poseidoniastai only (I.Délos 1751, l. 9). There are also six freedmen out of a total of twelve individuals in the joint dedication to Herakles / Hercoles (I.Délos 1753, ll. 7-12) and again six out of a total of twelve in the joint dedication to Zeus Ourios / Iuppiter Sequndanus (I.Délos 1753, ll. 4-6). These texts do not specify which individuals were Poseidoniastai, Hermaistai, or Apolloniastai.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii. Worship The Poseidoniastai made a dedication to Poseidon / Neptunus (I.Délos 1751; cf. 1752). Together with the Hermaistai and Apolloniastai they made dedications to Apollo and the Italians (I.Délos 1758), Herakles / Hercoles (I.Délos 1753), Herakles and the Italians (I.Délos 1757), and Zeus Ourios / Iuppiter Sequndanus (I.Délos 1754).
Deities worshipped Poseidon / Neptunus
Apollo
Herakles / Hercoles
Zeus Ourios / Iuppiter Sequndanus

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction The Poseidoniastai made dedications together with the Hermaistai (CAPInv. 890) and Apolloniastai (CAPInv. 889) (I.Délos 1753-1754; 1757-1758; cf. 1755). One of these dedications was made to Herakles and the Italians (I.Délos 1757) and another to Apollo and the Italians (I.Délos 1758). The Poseidoniastai, Hermaistai, and Apolloniastai were closely connected to the Italian community on Delos, but the exact nature of this connection is debated. Recently, Hasenohr has argued (contra Hatzfeld 1912: 146-83; 1919: 257-73; Flambard 1982) that the Poseidoniastai, Hermaistai, and Apolloniastai did not constitute separate private associations (chaired by magistri), but that these three boards of officials were in fact dependent on the Italian community, whose representatives they were. Hasenohr 2002 (with references to previous scholarship). There is, however, no direct evidence for a formal connection. See 'Evaluation'.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments While the Greek texts refer to Poseidoniastai, using a theophoric name in line with other associations in the Greek-speaking world (and more specifically in line with the Berytian Poseidoniastai on Delos (CAPInv. 9), attested several decades before the Italian Poseidoniastai), the Latin texts use the term magistreis, suggesting officials of a larger group. Hasenohr (2002) argues that the Poseidoniastai, Hermaistai, and Apolloniastai did not constitute separate associations, but were representatives of the Italian community as a whole. See 'Local interaction' and 'Evaluation'.
ii. Poland concordance Poland B 164l (= I.Délos 1755)
Poland B 165a (= I.Délos 1758)
Poland B 165b (= I.Délos 1757)

Poland B 164o (= I.Délos 1756α)
Poland B 164q (= I.Délos 1759)
iii. Bibliography Baslez, M.-F. (1994), 'La politique et les affaires: à propos de deux familles orientales de Délos, à l’époque romaine', Ktema 19: 27-37.
Bruneau, P. (1970), Recherches sur les cultes de Délos à l'époque hellénistique et à l'époque impériale. Paris.
Flambard, J.-M. (1982), ‘Observations sur la nature des magistri italiens de Délos’, in F. Coarelli, D. Musti, and H. Solin (eds.) Delo e l’Italia, Rome: 67-77.
Hasenohr, C. (2002), ‘Les collèges de magistri et la communauté italienne de Délos’, in C. Müller and C. Hasenohr (eds.), Les Italiens dans le monde grec, IIe siècle av. J.-C. - Ier siècle ap. J.-C.: circulation, activités, intégration, Paris, 67-76.
Hatzfeld, J. (1912), 'Les Italiens résidant à Délos mentionnés dans les inscriptions de l'île', BCH 36: 5-218.
Hatzfeld, J. (1919), Les trafiquants italiens dans l'orient hellénique. Paris.
Migeotte, L. (1992), Les souscriptions publiques dans les cités grecques. Genève.
Rauh, N.K. (1992), 'Was the Agora of the Italians an Établissement du Sport?', BCH 116: 293-333.
Trümper, M. (2011), ‘Where the non-Delians met in Delos: the meeting-places of foreign associations and ethnic communities in late Hellenistic Delos’, in O.M. van Nijf and R. Alston (eds.) Political culture in the Greek city after the classical age, Leuven: 49-100.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Probable
Note While Hasenohr (2002) and other scholars have expressed doubts about the interpretation of the Poseidoniastai as a separate private association, it is clear that they were organized and that they existed for an extended period of time (more than 50 years). In the earliest available source (I.Délos 1751: ca. 125 BC), the Poseidoniastai appear on their own, while in later sources they are mentioned together with the Hermaistai and Apolloniastai. It is possible that the nature of these groups and their position in relation to each other as well as to the local Italian community developed and changed over time, depending also on the number of Italians resident on Delos. For lack of direct evidence that the Poseidoniastai or magistreis Neptuni / magistreis Neptunales officially depended on a 'public' body, we cannot exclude the possibility that they formed a 'private' association of some sort.