Stable URL: http://ancientassociations.ku.dk/assoc/434Download as PDF
Last Updated on 28 Feb 2017

Author: Sophia Zoumbaki

CAPInv. 434: synodos

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Peloponnese with Adjacent Islands
ii. Region Arcadia
iii. Site Tegea

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) σύνοδος (IG V.2 26, l. 8)
ii. Full name (transliterated) synodos

III. DATE

i. Date(s) i BC - i AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

iii. Descriptive terms σύνοδος, synodos
Note synodos: IG V.2 26, l. 8

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) IG V.2 26 (I BC)
Online Resources IG V.2 26
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script A Greek decree by an association, the full name of which is not preserved, in honour of C. Asinius Felix.
i.c. Physical format(s) A fragment of the right part of a stele.
ii. Source(s) provenance Tegea

VI. BUILT AND VISUAL SPACE

ii. References to buildings/objects In l. 6 τὸ μνημεῖον, to mnemeion is mentioned. It is probably to be understood as the funerary monument which the association has to crown with flower wreaths in the feast of rosalia.

VII. ORGANIZATION

iv. Officials In ll. 7-8 the title of an official of the association is to be restored. The title is unknown, but the phrase [τοῦ καθ'] ἔτος ἀντιτυνχάνον̣[τος] l. ἀντιτυγχάνον̣[τος], [tou kath] etos antitynchanon[tos], shows that his term of office was annual.

X. ACTIVITIES

ii. Meetings and events On the basis of the decree of this association, certain ceremonies are to be organized in memory of C. Asinius Felix on a special day (restored as [τὴν γενέθλιον ἡμέραν, [ten genethlion hemeran, l. 4) during the feast of rosalia, a feast close connected with associations. This event is to be repeated annually.
The restoration of the text in IG (ll. 3-4) as ἄγειν δὲ αὐτοῦ κα[ὶ] | [τὴν γενέθλιον ἡμέραν κατ’ ἐνιαυ]τὸν ἐν τοῖς ῥόδοις, agein de autoi ka[i] | [ten genethlion hemeran kat eniau]ton en tois rhodois, is to be dealt with caution, as there is no reason to restore that the individual's birthday should be the day dedicated to his memory, cf. Kokkinia 1999: 213. On the terms ῥόδα, ῥοδοφόρια, ῥοδισμός, rhoda, rhodophoria, rhodismos, as Greek renderings of the Roman feast rosalia and its diffusion of the feast in the eastern part of the Roman Empire see Toynbee 1971: 62-3.
iv. Honours/Other activities Although the fragmentary state of the inscription does not allow us to restore the decree of the association in details, it is established that a special day during the feast of rosalia certain ceremonies are to be organized in memory of C. Asinius Felix.

XI. INTERACTION

i. Local interaction Due to the fragmentary state of the inscription the relation of the polis (ll. 9-10) with the association is obscure, but it seems that there was some interaction between them.
The feast of rosalia mentioned in the inscription is a Roman feast celebrated primarily in May and devoted to the commemoration of the dead. The celebration of rosalia in Tegea is an indication of "Romanization". The name of the individual honoured by the association, Caius Asinius Felix, and the date of the inscription to the Augustan period, imply that we have to do with a Roman who is a temporary or permanent resident of Tegea. The celebration of rosalia may however imply the presence of a Roman community in the town.

XII. NOTES

iii. Bibliography Kokkinia, C. (1999), ‘Rosen für die Toten im griechischen Raum und eine neue ῥοδισμός-Inschrift aus Bithynien’, MH 56: 204-21.
Toynbee, J.M.C. (1971), Death and burial in the Roman world. London: 62-3.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The terminology employed (synodos) and the character of the celebrations by the group point to a private association.
ii. Historical authenticity The epigraphic evidence renders the historical authenticity of the association indisputable.