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Last Updated on 02 Mar 2017

Author: Paschalis Paschidis

CAPInv. 827: hoi egoranomekotes (l. agoranomekotes)

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Macedonia
ii. Region Odomantike
iii. Site Serrhai

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) οἱ ἠγορανομηκότες (Samsaris 1989: 231-3 no 35, l. 3)
ii. Full name (transliterated) hoi egoranomekotes (l. agoranomekotes)

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 212 - m. iii AD

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Status-related:agoranomoi. If an association is indeed attested here (see below, under XIII.i: Evaluation), its members are self-identified as former agoranomoi of the city.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) Samsaris 1989: 231-3 no 35 (iii AD)
Note See also: SEG 30: 590.

That the date postdates the Constitutio Antoniniana is assured by the fact that all persons bear the nomen Aurelius. Samsaris argues for a date ca. 215.
Online Resources Samsaris 1989: 231-3 no 35
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Greek dedication
i.c. Physical format(s) Crowned stele

VII. ORGANIZATION

ii. Leadership The former agoranomoi as a group were explicitly led by a προστάτης, prostates, who served for life (l. 3: προστατεύοντος διὰ βίου. prostateuontos dia biou).
iii. Members The members self-identified as former agoranomoi, agoranomekotes (l. 3).
iv. Officials A γραμματεύς, grammateus is also attested (l. 4).

IX. MEMBERSHIP

i. Number Mihailov 1980: 7-8 no. 11 supposed that the list of 32 persons in ll. 6-37 is a list of the former agoranomoi mentioned in l. 3. Papazoglou 1988: 380 n. 18 takes for granted that Mihailov was mistaken and that the club of former agoranomoi is only represented by its prostates and its grammateus (in which case the persons listed in ll. 6-37 would be other wealthy citizens). Indeed, the syntax (οἱ ἠγορανομηκότες ... κὲ οἱ ὑποτεταγμένοι, hoi egoranomekotes ... ke hoi hypotetagmenoi, "those having served as agoranomoi AND the undersigned") seems to favour Papazoglou's interpretation, in which case we would have no evidence on the number of the former agoranomoi. If, however, we suppose that the text is syntactically flawed and the list consists of former agoranomoi, their extraordinarily high number would only be explained if the agoranomoi of Serrhai served in a college and for a limited period of time (for agoranomoi serving briefly, e.g. for only three months, see Dmitriev 2005: 217-8).
ii. Gender Men
Note If the list represents former agoranomoi, all members appear to be men, as expected.
iv. Status Whatever the exact nature of the college of former agoranomoi (see under XIII.i: Evaluation, below), it is clear that they belonged to the city's elite.

X. ACTIVITIES

iv. Honours/Other activities The former agoranomoi (alone or along with other citizens; see IX.i: Number, above) dedicated a monument in honour of the emperors.

XII. NOTES

iii. Bibliography Mihailov, G. (1980), ‘Inscriptions de la Thrace égéenne’, Philologia 6: 3-19, esp. 7-8 no 11.
Papazoglou, F. (1988), Les villes de Macédoine à l’époque romaine. Paris: 379-80 and n. 18.
Samsaris, D. (1989), ‘La vallée du Bas-Strymon à l’époque impériale. Contribution épigraphique à la topographie, l’onomastique, l’histoire et aux cultes de la province romaine de Macédoine’, Dodone 18: 203-382, esp. 231-3 no. 35, with earlier literature.
Dmitriev, S. (2005), City Government in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor. Oxford.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Possible
Note The existence of an organized group of former agoranomoi at Serrhai is guaranteed by the presence of officials (prostates and secretary) and its stable structure by the fact that its leader served for life. Nevertheless, the exact nature of the group eludes us. It might be anything from an institutionalized group of ex-archons serving in some formal capacity to a private group of former agoranomoi formed for social purposes and / or as a pressure group for the interests of the local elite.