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I. LOCATION

i.	Geographical area	Southern Italy with Sicily
ii.	Region	Sicily
iii.	Site	Syracuse

II. NAME

i.	Full name (original language)	σύνοδος τῶν περὶ τὴν ἱλαρὰν Ἀφροδίτην τεχνιτῶν (Dimartino 2010: A, ll. 16-17; B, ll. 13-14)
ii.	Full name (transliterated)	synodos ton peri ten hilaran Aphroditen techniton

III. DATE

i.

Date(s)

82 (?) - 42 BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii.

Name elements

Professional:	technitai
Theophoric:	Aphrodite Hilara

iii.

Descriptive terms

σύνοδος, synodos

Note

synodos: Dimartino 2010: A, ll. 13, 21-22; B, ll. 9, 11

V. SOURCES

i.	Source(s)	Dimartino 2010: A (a. 46-45 BC) Dimartino 2010: B (post 82 BC?)
	Note	See also: Le Guen I nos. 76-77; Aneziri nos. F4a-F4b; SEG 60: 1015-1016.
	Online Resources	AGRW ID 24299
i.a.	Source type(s)	Epigraphic source(s)
i.b.	Document(s) typology & language/script	Dimartino 2010: A is a Greek honorific decree issued by the synodos ton peri ten Aproditen Hilaran techniton to honour Marcus Acilius Kaninus (ll. 9-10), proconsul Siciliae (anthypatos Romaion) in 46-45 BC; Dimartino 2010: B is another Greek honorific decree issued by the same synodos to honour Ateilius Sarranus Sopatros (ll. 2-3), datable to the 1st century BC.
i.c.	Physical format(s)	Dimartino 2010: A: rectangular limestone stele broken on the right side; between ll. 5 and 6 a space was left in order to paint an honorific wreath. Dimartino 2010: B: rectangular limestone stele broken on the left side; between ll. 3 and 4 a space was left in order to paint an honorific wreath.
ii.	Source(s) provenance	Dimartino 2010: A, B: from Syracuse. The stelai were reused in two private houses.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iii.	Members	Referred to as τεχνῖται, technitai (Dimartino 2010: A, ll. 16-17; B, ll. 13-14), professionals of different sectors (theatrical performances, artisanal arts and manufactures like sculpture, drawing, painting; cf. Dimartino 2010).
iv.	Officials	Officials are collectively called ἄρχοντες, archontes Dimartino 2010: A, l. 9; B, l. 6). Individual officials: ἱερεύς, hiereus (Dimartino 2010: A, l. 6; B, l. 4).

X. ACTIVITIES

iv.

Honours/Other activities

The synodos technitai of Aphrodite Hilara is attested to have awarded προξενία καὶ ἐυεργεσία, proxenia kai euergesia (Dimartino 2010: A, ll. 1-2, 12-13; B, ll. 1-2, 12-13) to Μάαρκος Ἀκίλιος Μαάρκου υἱὸς Κανίνος, ἀνθύπατος ᾽Ρωμαίων, Markos Akilius Kaninus son of Marcus anthypatos Romaion (Dimartino 2010: A, ll. 3-5, 9-11) and [praenomen] Ἀτείλιος Σαρρανὸς [patris nomen ὑιὸς Σ]ώπατρος, [praenomen] Ateilius Sarranus [patris nomen son of S]opatros (Dimartino 2010: B, ll. 2-3, 7-8).
The honours are justified with reference to:

A) the honorand's being continuously an eunoos towards the membership (Dimartino 2010: A, ll. 12-13; B, l. 8) and the gods (Dimartino 2010: A, l. 11), providing always many services both publically and privately to the synodos (Dimartino 2010: B, ll. 9-11).

B) the association's wish to make it apparent to all that it honours those who choose to be its benefactors (Dimartino 2010: A, ll. 20-23).

XI. INTERACTION

i.

Local interaction

The first decree honours Μάαρκος Ἀκίλιος Μαάρκου υἱὸς Κανίνος, ἀνθύπατος ᾽Ρωμαίων, Marcus Akilius Kaninus son of Marcus, anthypatos Romaion (Dimartino 2010: A, ll. 3-5, 9-11), proconsul Siciliae in 46/5 BC (Cic. Ad Famil. XIII 30-39).

XII. NOTES

i.	Comments	Thanks to the mention of Marcus Acilius Caninus, the first document is dated to 46/5 BC (Cic. Ad Famil. XIII 30-39). If we accept the identification between Aphrodite Hilara and the Venus Felix, whose cult may have been introduced by Sulla at the beginning of his dictatorship, the second decree can be dated after 82 BC. The paleographic analysis permits to confirm this chronology (see Dimartino 2010).
iii.	Bibliography	Aneziri, S. (2001), ‘A different guild of artists’, Archaiognosia 11: 47-56. Aneziri, S. (2003), Die Vereine der dionysischen Techniten im Kontext der hellenistischen Gesellschaft: Untersuchungen zur Geschichte, Organisation und Wirkung der hellenistischen Technitenvereine. Stuttgart. Dimartino, A. (2010), ‘Venus Felix a Siracusa? Per una rilettura dei decreti della synodos di technitai di Afrodite Hilara a Siracusa’, Epigraphica 72: 21-49. Fountoulakis, A. (2000), ‘The Artists of Aphrodite’, AC 69: 133-47. Gentili, G.V. (1961), ‘Nuovi elementi di epigrafia siracusana’, Archivio Storico Siracusano 7: 5-25. Le Guen, B. (2001), Les associations de technites dionysiaques à l’époque hellénistique. Paris. Manganaro, G. (1963), ‘Nuove ricerche di epigrafia siceliota’, SicGymn 16: 51-64. Moretti, L. (1963), ‘I technitai di Siracusa’, RFIC 91: 38-43. Rizzo, F.P. (1989), La Sicilia e le potenze ellenistiche al tempo delle guerre puniche I. Rapporti con Cos, l’Egitto e l’Etolia. Palermo.

XIII. EVALUATION

i.	Private association	Probable
	Note	The terminology employed and the nature of the technitai suggest a probable private association.

CAPInv. 39: synodos ton peri ten hilaran Aphroditen techniton