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I. LOCATION

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

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	ἡ σύνοδος τῶν ἐν Ἀλεξανδρείαι πρεσβυτέρων ἐγδοχέων (I.Délos 1528, ll. 7-9; 1529, ll. 5-6)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	he synodos ton en Alexandreiai presbyteron egdocheon

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

127 - 116 BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Geographical:	en Alexandreiai
Professional:	egdocheis
Other:	presbyteroi -- on the interpretation of this term, see 'Comments'

iii.

Descriptive terms

σύνοδος, synodos

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	I.Délos 1528 (127-116 BC) I.Délos 1529 (127-116 BC)
	Note	old eds.: Fougères 1887: 249-52, no. 2 (= I.Délos 1528) Fougères 1887: 252, no. 3 (= I.Délos 1529) OGIS 140 (= I.Délos 1528) see also: Durrbach, Choix 108 (= I.Délos 1528) AGRW 230 (= I.Délos 1528) Trümper 2011: 78, no. 14
	Online Resources	I.Délos 1528 I.Délos 1529
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Honorary texts. Greek.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	Marble statue bases.
ii.	Source(s) provenance	Found at the 'Portique d'Antigone' (previously referred to as 'Portique des Cornes' -- Fougères 1887: 249; 252; cf. Holleaux 1907: 336-7).

VII. ORGANIZATION

iv.

Officials

πρεσβύτεροι, presbyteroi (I.Délos 1528, l. 8; 1529, l. 6) ? -- Whilst perhaps not strictly speaking officials, it has been suggested that these 'elders' were in charge of administrative matters on behalf of the egdocheis; see 'Comments'.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

iv.

Status

The synodos honored Krokos for his goodwill (eunoia) and justice (dikasiosyne) towards itself and
towards other foreigners (xenoi) (I.Délos 1528 l. 9-11), which suggests that the members of the association were foreigners, whether on Delos, at Alexandria, and/or in relation to Krokos, Ptolemaic governor of Cyprus.

X. ACTIVITIES

iii.	Worship	The honorary statues set up by the synodos were dedicated to Apollo, Artemis, and Leto (I.Délos 1528, l. 12; 1529, l. 8)
	Deities worshipped	Apollo Artemis Leto
iv.	Honours/Other activities	The synodos set up a statue of Krokos, kinsman (I.Délos 1528, l. 1: συ[γγε]νής, syggenes) of king Ptolemaios, of his sister, queen Cleopatra, and of his wife, also queen Cleopatra. Krokos was in charge of Cyprus (l. 7) and is called admiral (l. 5: ναύαρχος, nauarchos), commander-in-chief (ll. 5-6: στρατηγός αὐτοκράτωρ καὶ ὑπέρ[τατο]ς, strategos autokrator kai hyper[tato]s; or rather ὑπέρ[μαχο]ς, hyper[macho]s: BE 1954.258), and high priest (ll. 6-7: ἀρχιερεύς, archiereus). Krokos was honored for his goodwill (l. 9: εὔνοια, eunoia) and justice (l. 10: δικαιοσύνη, dikasiosyne) towards the association and other foreigners (l. 11: ξένοι, xenoi). The statue of Krokos was dedicated to Apollo, Artemis, and Leto. The synodos dedicated another honorary statue to Apollo, Artemis, and Leto (I.Délos 1528), but the inscription is only partly preserved; while this text also refers to the Ptolemaic royal family (and probably again to the two Cleopatras), it is not clear whom exactly was honored.

XI. INTERACTION

ii.

Interaction abroad

The synodos set up an honorary statue for Krokos, Ptolemaic governor of Cyprus, who is attested also in an honorary inscription from that island (SEG 13.572). On relations between the Ptolemies and Delos (as well as Cyprus) in this period, see Mavrojannis 2002.

While Delos is where the synodos set up their statues, their name tells us that they were based in Alexandria. Being forwarding agents (egdocheis), the members of the association must have been involved in trade, presumably between Alexandria and Delos via Cyprus, considering their honours for the Ptolemaic governor of the latter island.

XII. NOTES

i.	Comments	King Ptolemaios (I.Délos 1528, ll. 1-2; cf. 1529, ll. 1-2) has been identified as Ptolemy VIII Euergetes II (145-116 BC). Cleopatra II was the king's sister and also his first wife. Cleopatra III was the king's second wife. These three individuals appear in official documents together from 127 BC onwards, thus serving as terminus post quem. Fougères (1887: 252) dates I.Délos 1529 more specifically to 120-117 BC. Fougères (1887: 251-2) suggested that there were two associations of egdocheis at Alexandria, both trading with Delos, thus offering an explanation for the fact that the egdocheis setting up the statue of Krokos called themselves presbyteroi (I.Délos 1528, l. 8; 1529, l. 6), 'older' than that proposed other association (cf. Ziebarth 1896: 30; Poland 1909: 108; 171-2). More recently, however, scholars have preferred an interpretation of presbyteroi as 'elders' in charge of administrative matters on behalf of the egdocheis (Roussel 1987: 92-3; Durrbach, Choix 108; Roussel and Launey in I.Délos 1528).
ii.	Poland concordance	Poland E 89a (= I.Délos 1528) Poland E 89b (= I.Délos 1529)
iii.	Bibliography	Fougères, G. (1887), 'Fouilles de Délos (avril-août 1886): dédicaces grecques et latines', BCH 11: 244-75. Holleaux, M. (1907), 'Rapport sur les travaux exécutés dans l'île de Délos par l'École française d'Athènes pendant l'année 1906', CRAI 6: 335-71. Mavrojannis, T. (2002), 'Italiens et Orientaux à Délos: considérations sur l'« absence » des « negotiatores » romains dans la Méditerranée orientale', 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, BCH Suppl. 41, Paris: 163-79. Poland, F. (1909), Geschichte des griechischen Vereinswesens. Leipzig. Roussel, P. (1987), Délos: colonie athénienne. rev. ed. Paris. 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. Ziebarth, E. (1896), Das griechische Vereinswesen. Leipzig.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Certain
	Note	The descriptive term and the wellknown character and activity of this association guarantees its private status.

CAPInv. 894: he synodos ton en Alexandreiai presbyteron egdocheon