This decree was discovered on two bronze tablets in a house at Halaisa. Both tablets contain the same text, although one of them has been damaged. The Greek text, a French translation, and a discussion of some of the unusual features of the decree can be found in L.Dubois, "Une inscription sicilienne déconcertante" ( Persée ).
The format of the text is similar to a standard Hellenistic civic decree, but it was apparently composed by a council and assembly of priests. The personal names in the text look rather odd, because following a practice seen in some other Sicilian cities, each name is followed by a three-letter abbreviation, which probably indicates the tribe to which the person belonged.
It is unusual, but not unknown, for a Greek decree to mention the number of votes cast for the proposal; see M.Canevaro, "Majority Rule vs. Consensus", p. 110 ( academia.edu ). In this instance, it is surprising to find that a local assembly of priests contained as many as 825 voters.
When the priests were:
of Zeus : Dorotheos Lab., son of Apollonios
of Apollo : Apellas Kra., son of Zopyros
and Diogenes son of Diodoros ;
on the first day of the month of Eloreios.
President : Diodoros Per., son of Dazos.
It was resolved by the assembly {halia}, as also by the council from the temple of Apollo; the councillors were:
Since Nemenios Daphnis Hyst., son of Nemenios, shows evident goodwill towards the priests of Apollo, and happens to have acted well towards the community {koinon} of the priests of Apollo in every way, both saying and doing what is best and most advantageous for the priests of Apollo, both privately and publicly acting in a manner worthy of his own courage and nobility and of his ancestors' virtue; and it is right that good men 20 who demonstrate their goodwill should receive honour and privileged seating and that their memory should never die amongst those who have benefitted from their good deeds; therefore it is resolved by the assembly of the priests of Apollo, as also by councillors, that Nemenios Daphnis Hyst., son of Nemenios, shall have the status of benefactor, and that a bronze statue of him shall be set up and dedicated either in the temple of Apollo or in the basilica, and the inscription on it shall be: 'To all the gods, the community of the priests of Apollo dedicates this statue of Nemenios Daphnis Hyst., son of Nemenios, on account of his virtue and his goodwill towards the community,' so that it may be evident to future generations that the priests of Apollo are able to render gratitude and honours to benefactors as is fitting for their good deeds. The Diodoreian treasurers shall provide the money for the statue 30 and shall engrave this decree on two bronze tablets; they shall place one of the tablets within the temple of Apollo, in the pronaos of Zeus, and they shall hand over the other one to Nemenios.
Votes in favour, that Nemenios Daphnis Hyst., son of Nemenios, should have the status of benefactor : eight hundred and twenty five.
Votes against : none.
Attalus' home page | 30.06.18 | Any comments?