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https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45047#0058
CHAPTER II. —FINANCE.
INTRODUCTION.
T he class of documents contained in Chapter I is
familiar to all readers of Greek literature from the
specimens of ψηφίσματα which occur in Demosthenes
and other authors (cp. Thukyd. iv. 118; Andokid.,
De Mysteriis, passim), and the parodies of their for-
mulae which amuse us in Aristophanes (Thesmoph.
372, foil.) and Lukian (Deor. Concil. 14 ; Timon,
50, foil.). The documents which occupy Chapter II
are of a less familiar kind, and require a few words
of introduction : I shall, however, be as brief as
possible, and would refer the reader who wishes for
a comprehensive treatment of the subject to Bockh,
C. I., p. 176, foil.; Staatsh. i. p. 217, foil., 575, foil.;
Kirchhoff, Abhandlungen d. Berlin. Akad., 1864;
Michaelis, Parthenon, p. 288, foil.
Upon the completion of the Parthenon (b. c. 438)
the treasures which had been hitherto kept else-
where on the Akropolis, were transferred (with one
or two exceptions) to the newly-dedicated build-
ing : indeed it seems to be established that the
Parthenon was not an ordinary temple for wor-
ship, but was itself a magnificent ανάθημα to
Athena Polias, and intended partly to form the
centre of the Panathenaic festival, and partly to
serve as a storehouse of sacred treasure. The
treasure here deposited was placed under the
charge of a board of ten ταμίαι, appointed by lot
yearly, one from each tribe, from among the wealth-
iest class in the state (πεντακοσιομεδιμνοι). Their
office extended from one Panathenaic festival to
another, and each recurrence of the Great Pana-
thenaea marked the beginning of a new financial
period (πεντετηρίς-—at τετταρες άρχαί). The expres-
sion ιερά χρήματα τής ’Αθηναίας was of wide import.
It included not only the valuables of all kinds which
were offered to the goddess as αναθήματα, and the
money accruing to her treasury from sacred lands or
from the tenth of the spoils of war, but also to her
were dedicated all honorary gifts presented by other
states to Athens (αρισταα τής πόλεως), while even the
national treasure (i. e. the balance of the national
income which was not required for current expenses)
was considered as dedicated to her. This balance
could not be drawn upon for state-purposes without
an a Ata previously obtained (see No. xxiii, line 3.)
Accordingly, Harpokration thus defines the func-
tions of the ταμίαι. (s. v.) : αρχή τις παρ’ ’ Αθηναίοις ήν
οί ταμίαι, δέκα τον αριθμόν παραλαμβάνουσι δ’ ουτοι τό τε
άγαλμα τής ’ Αθήνας (the chryselephantine) καί. τάς
Νίκας καί τον άλλον κόσμον καί τά χρήματα εναντίον τής
βουλής, ως φησιν ’Αριστοτέλης εν ’Αθηναίων πολιτεία.
Not long after the institution of these officers we
hear of another board similar to them in all respects,
and bearing the title of ταμίαι των άλλων θεών. This
new board was appointed to take charge of the
treasures of the ‘ other gods,’ an expression that in-
cluded all shrines upon Attic soil, with the exception
only of the treasuries of Athena Polias and the
Parthenon. More will be said of these ταμίαι in
the notes on No. xxix.
All the inscriptions comprised in Chapter II (ex-
cept Nos. xxxv, xxxvi) are accounts drawn up by
ταμίαι of Athena. They fall into two classes : (1) ac-
counts of expenditure; (2) inventories of Ιερά χρή-
ματα handed on from one board to another.
Nos. xxiii and xxiv, and the last few lines of
No. xxxii, are of the former kind, and may be com-
pared with several other documents of a similar
character published by Bockh (Staatsh. ii. p. 2, foil.)
and Rangabe (Ant. Hell., vol. i. p. 166, foil.). These
accounts of expenditure were made out yearly, and
refer only to money, and not to other kinds of
treasure. This money was almost always drawn
from the Opisthodomos, or national treasury; in
other words, the money was paid out of the surplus
funds, and not from the revenue annually raised, by
taxation and in other ways, to meet current ex-
penses. The accounts are arranged according to
prytanies, and it is usually specified to whom, and
for what purpose, the payment is made; also from
what source it is taken, viz. εξ ων αυτοί ξυνελεξαμεν, or
εξ ων παρελάβομεν παρά των προτερων ταμιών. In one
or two cases it appears that the sum is furnished not
from the Opisthodomos, but from other treasuries,
as from that of ‘ Athena Nike’ (No. xxiv A, line 15 ;
B, line 23).
The second and more numerous class of financial
documents consists of inventories of temple-trea-
INTRODUCTION.
T he class of documents contained in Chapter I is
familiar to all readers of Greek literature from the
specimens of ψηφίσματα which occur in Demosthenes
and other authors (cp. Thukyd. iv. 118; Andokid.,
De Mysteriis, passim), and the parodies of their for-
mulae which amuse us in Aristophanes (Thesmoph.
372, foil.) and Lukian (Deor. Concil. 14 ; Timon,
50, foil.). The documents which occupy Chapter II
are of a less familiar kind, and require a few words
of introduction : I shall, however, be as brief as
possible, and would refer the reader who wishes for
a comprehensive treatment of the subject to Bockh,
C. I., p. 176, foil.; Staatsh. i. p. 217, foil., 575, foil.;
Kirchhoff, Abhandlungen d. Berlin. Akad., 1864;
Michaelis, Parthenon, p. 288, foil.
Upon the completion of the Parthenon (b. c. 438)
the treasures which had been hitherto kept else-
where on the Akropolis, were transferred (with one
or two exceptions) to the newly-dedicated build-
ing : indeed it seems to be established that the
Parthenon was not an ordinary temple for wor-
ship, but was itself a magnificent ανάθημα to
Athena Polias, and intended partly to form the
centre of the Panathenaic festival, and partly to
serve as a storehouse of sacred treasure. The
treasure here deposited was placed under the
charge of a board of ten ταμίαι, appointed by lot
yearly, one from each tribe, from among the wealth-
iest class in the state (πεντακοσιομεδιμνοι). Their
office extended from one Panathenaic festival to
another, and each recurrence of the Great Pana-
thenaea marked the beginning of a new financial
period (πεντετηρίς-—at τετταρες άρχαί). The expres-
sion ιερά χρήματα τής ’Αθηναίας was of wide import.
It included not only the valuables of all kinds which
were offered to the goddess as αναθήματα, and the
money accruing to her treasury from sacred lands or
from the tenth of the spoils of war, but also to her
were dedicated all honorary gifts presented by other
states to Athens (αρισταα τής πόλεως), while even the
national treasure (i. e. the balance of the national
income which was not required for current expenses)
was considered as dedicated to her. This balance
could not be drawn upon for state-purposes without
an a Ata previously obtained (see No. xxiii, line 3.)
Accordingly, Harpokration thus defines the func-
tions of the ταμίαι. (s. v.) : αρχή τις παρ’ ’ Αθηναίοις ήν
οί ταμίαι, δέκα τον αριθμόν παραλαμβάνουσι δ’ ουτοι τό τε
άγαλμα τής ’ Αθήνας (the chryselephantine) καί. τάς
Νίκας καί τον άλλον κόσμον καί τά χρήματα εναντίον τής
βουλής, ως φησιν ’Αριστοτέλης εν ’Αθηναίων πολιτεία.
Not long after the institution of these officers we
hear of another board similar to them in all respects,
and bearing the title of ταμίαι των άλλων θεών. This
new board was appointed to take charge of the
treasures of the ‘ other gods,’ an expression that in-
cluded all shrines upon Attic soil, with the exception
only of the treasuries of Athena Polias and the
Parthenon. More will be said of these ταμίαι in
the notes on No. xxix.
All the inscriptions comprised in Chapter II (ex-
cept Nos. xxxv, xxxvi) are accounts drawn up by
ταμίαι of Athena. They fall into two classes : (1) ac-
counts of expenditure; (2) inventories of Ιερά χρή-
ματα handed on from one board to another.
Nos. xxiii and xxiv, and the last few lines of
No. xxxii, are of the former kind, and may be com-
pared with several other documents of a similar
character published by Bockh (Staatsh. ii. p. 2, foil.)
and Rangabe (Ant. Hell., vol. i. p. 166, foil.). These
accounts of expenditure were made out yearly, and
refer only to money, and not to other kinds of
treasure. This money was almost always drawn
from the Opisthodomos, or national treasury; in
other words, the money was paid out of the surplus
funds, and not from the revenue annually raised, by
taxation and in other ways, to meet current ex-
penses. The accounts are arranged according to
prytanies, and it is usually specified to whom, and
for what purpose, the payment is made; also from
what source it is taken, viz. εξ ων αυτοί ξυνελεξαμεν, or
εξ ων παρελάβομεν παρά των προτερων ταμιών. In one
or two cases it appears that the sum is furnished not
from the Opisthodomos, but from other treasuries,
as from that of ‘ Athena Nike’ (No. xxiv A, line 15 ;
B, line 23).
The second and more numerous class of financial
documents consists of inventories of temple-trea-