DOI Page / Citation link:
https://doi.org/10.11588/diglit.45047#0059
ΑΤΤΙΚΑ. — FINANCE.
47
sures. These valuables were kept in three separate
treasuries—the Proneos, the Hekatompedos, and
the Parthenon (proper). The Proneos (πρόνεως, also
προνήϊον: see note on No. xxv) was the compart-
ment of the Parthenon into which the great eastern
entrance immediately opened : in it was kept a large
collection of sacred objects, chiefly of silver (see
Nos. xxv, xxvi). From the Proneos a massive door
(see No. xxxi, § 3) led into the cella, called the
Hekatompedos (νέως b έκατόμπεδος) because it mea-
sured in length exactly one hundred Attic feet.
The treasure here bestowed consisted chiefly of
chaplets (στέφανοι χρυσοί) and other objects of gold
(see Nos. xxvii, xxviii) : after the archonship of
Eukleides, however, this collection became more mul-
tifarious, and the Hekatompedos assumed greater
importance in the inventories. The eastern portion
of the cella was railed off by κιγχλίδες, and formed
the Parthenon proper, the adytum occupied by the
chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos. This
treasury, in the times before the Anarchy, was re-
markable for containing a large number of silver
bowls (φιάλαι άργνραΐ, over one hundred and fifty)
and articles of furniture, such as chairs (δίφροι), etc.,
all of which were employed at festival-time, besides
a quantity of weapons and musical instruments which
we may suppose to have been used in the various
contests at the Panathenaea. The British Museum
possesses no inventory of this collection earlier than
after the fall of Athens (b. c. 404): see Nos. xxxii,
xxxiii. The Opisthodomos, which served as the
national treasury, was immediately behind the Par-
thenon proper; and at the extreme west of the
building was a compartment answering to the Pro-
neos on the east, which was probably used as the
office of the treasurers (ταμιεΐον). On these divisions
of the temple the reader is referred to Michaelis,
Parthenon, p. 21, foil., and plate i, 3*.
Although the office of treasurer was an annual
one, and the treasures were duly revised every year,
yet it was only at the great Panathenaea (at least
before the Anarchy) that the inventories of the
whole πεντετηρίς were brought together and inscribed
upon stelae. These stelae were three in number,
and related to the Proneos, Hekatompedos, and
Parthenon respectively. The first year of the quad-
riennium is introduced by the words—ΤάA παρέδοσαν
at τέτταρες άρχαι at έδίδοσαν τον λόγον έκ Παναθηναίων ey
Παναθηναια τοΐς ταμίασι οΐς δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε, οι δε
ταμίαι οΐς δ δ etv α έγραμμάτευε παρέδοσαν τοΐς ταμίασι οΐς
δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε, εν τω Πρόνεω (or Παρθενωνι, or τω
νέω τω έκατομπέδω, as the case may be). For the
other three years the formula is—Τάδε ot ταμίαι των
ιερών χρημάτων της ’Αθηναίας, δ δεΐνα και ξυνάρχοντες, οΐς
δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε, παρέδοσαν τοΐς ταμίασι οΐς δ δεΐνα
έγραμμάτευε, παραδεζάμενοι παρά των προτέρων ταμιών οΐς
δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε, εν τω, κ.τ.λ. At the end of each
year’s inventory there is appended a list of objects
added during the office of the outgoing board—·
’ Επέτεια έπεγενετό, or ’ Επέτεια έπεγένετο έπι των ταμιών
οίς δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε.
The series of these treasure-lists, as now re-
covered, is nearly complete from b. c. 434 down to
the fall of Athens ; and though many of the slabs
on which they were inscribed are much mutilated,
yet the recurrence of the same objects in each
register renders the task of restoration compara-
tively easy (see Rangabe, Ant. Hell., i. pp. 92-165 ;
Bockh, Staatsh., ii. pp. 145-228 ; cp. Michaelis,
Parthenon, p. 295, foil.). The British Museum con-
tains a sufficient number of these documents to
enable the reader to gain an adequate idea of their
character in the following chapter.
One or two objects of value, however, which we
should expect to find mentioned in these lists are
omitted. One is the chryselephantine statue itself.
Bockh (C. I., p. 177) explained its omission by sup-
posing that the account of this statue was kept in
separate documents, which future excavations would
bring to light. This expectation has not been
realized, and it is more natural to conclude with
Michaelis (Parthenon, p. 291) that the annual cleans-
ing and re-adorning of the statue was considered
sufficient to secure its safe custody, no document
being drawn up concerning it except in the rare
event of repair or restoration (cp. Michaelis, ibid.,
p. 315, fol.). Another interesting relic not men-
tioned in the lists is the throne upon which Xerxes
sat to watch the battle of Salamis: Harpokration,
S. v. άργυρόπους δίφρος· δ — έρξου, δς αιχμάλωτος έπεκα-
λεΐτο· έ<φ ου καθεζόμενος έθεωρει την ναυμαχίαν, άνέκειτο
δε εις τον Παρθενώνα της ’Αθήνας. So Suidas, s. ν.
άργυρόπεζα (cp. Demosthenes, adv. Timokr., p. 741,
Reiske). Perhaps Harpokration here confused the
temple of Athena Polias with the Parthenon, a
mistake all the more excusable owing to the number
of δίφροι actually kept in the Parthenon proper (see
note on xxxii, § 10) : δίφροι άργυρό[π]οΑί are indeed
mentioned in a late list of the Parthenon in Mi-
chaelis, p. 297, No. 14.
What has hitherto been said refers only to the
lists before Eukleides : in the later ones considerable
changes are noticeable. Although some objects re-
appear which were mentioned in the earlier lists, yet
* All that is here said entirely accords with Thukyd. ii. 13. There Perikles first mentions the surplus funds that were kept in the
Opisthodomos: θαρσεΐν τε eKeXeve προσιόντων μεν εξακοσίων ταλάντων ως επί τό πολύ κατ' ενιαυτόν από των ξυμμάχων τή πολει ανευ τής άλλης
προσόδου, υπαρχόντων δε εν τή ακροπόλει (i. e. in the Opisthodomos) ετι τότε αργυρίου επίσημου εξακισχιλίων ταλάντων. Next to this national
fund he places the Ιερά χρήματα stored in the three treasuries of the Parthenon, viz. Proneos, Hekatompedos, and Parthenon proper:
χωρίς δε χρυσίου άσημου καί αργυρίου (kept in the Opisthodomos ; see No. XXIV B) εν τε άναθήμασιν ίδιου (dedicated by individuals) και
δημοσίοις (by the State) και όσα ίερα σκευή περί τε τάς πομπός καί τους αγώνας και σκύλα Μηδικά (this describes the contents of the Paithenon
proper, which comprised few real αναθήματα} και εί τι τοιουτότροπον, ουκ έλάσσονος ή πεντακοσίων τάλαντων. He goes On to allude to the
treasuries of the ‘ Other gods ετι δέ και εκ των Άλλων ιερών προσετίθει χρήματα ουκ ολίγα, οίς χρήσεσθαν αϋτους :—and finally suggests the
possible dismantling Of the chryselephantine statue itself: καί ήν πάνυ εξείργωνται πάντων, καί αυτής τής θεού τοις περικειμενοις χρυσίοις. In
mentioning the statue last of all, and as if quite distinct from the contents of the various treasuries, Thukydides is also in agreement
with the extant lists, which never include it.
N 2
47
sures. These valuables were kept in three separate
treasuries—the Proneos, the Hekatompedos, and
the Parthenon (proper). The Proneos (πρόνεως, also
προνήϊον: see note on No. xxv) was the compart-
ment of the Parthenon into which the great eastern
entrance immediately opened : in it was kept a large
collection of sacred objects, chiefly of silver (see
Nos. xxv, xxvi). From the Proneos a massive door
(see No. xxxi, § 3) led into the cella, called the
Hekatompedos (νέως b έκατόμπεδος) because it mea-
sured in length exactly one hundred Attic feet.
The treasure here bestowed consisted chiefly of
chaplets (στέφανοι χρυσοί) and other objects of gold
(see Nos. xxvii, xxviii) : after the archonship of
Eukleides, however, this collection became more mul-
tifarious, and the Hekatompedos assumed greater
importance in the inventories. The eastern portion
of the cella was railed off by κιγχλίδες, and formed
the Parthenon proper, the adytum occupied by the
chryselephantine statue of Athena Parthenos. This
treasury, in the times before the Anarchy, was re-
markable for containing a large number of silver
bowls (φιάλαι άργνραΐ, over one hundred and fifty)
and articles of furniture, such as chairs (δίφροι), etc.,
all of which were employed at festival-time, besides
a quantity of weapons and musical instruments which
we may suppose to have been used in the various
contests at the Panathenaea. The British Museum
possesses no inventory of this collection earlier than
after the fall of Athens (b. c. 404): see Nos. xxxii,
xxxiii. The Opisthodomos, which served as the
national treasury, was immediately behind the Par-
thenon proper; and at the extreme west of the
building was a compartment answering to the Pro-
neos on the east, which was probably used as the
office of the treasurers (ταμιεΐον). On these divisions
of the temple the reader is referred to Michaelis,
Parthenon, p. 21, foil., and plate i, 3*.
Although the office of treasurer was an annual
one, and the treasures were duly revised every year,
yet it was only at the great Panathenaea (at least
before the Anarchy) that the inventories of the
whole πεντετηρίς were brought together and inscribed
upon stelae. These stelae were three in number,
and related to the Proneos, Hekatompedos, and
Parthenon respectively. The first year of the quad-
riennium is introduced by the words—ΤάA παρέδοσαν
at τέτταρες άρχαι at έδίδοσαν τον λόγον έκ Παναθηναίων ey
Παναθηναια τοΐς ταμίασι οΐς δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε, οι δε
ταμίαι οΐς δ δ etv α έγραμμάτευε παρέδοσαν τοΐς ταμίασι οΐς
δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε, εν τω Πρόνεω (or Παρθενωνι, or τω
νέω τω έκατομπέδω, as the case may be). For the
other three years the formula is—Τάδε ot ταμίαι των
ιερών χρημάτων της ’Αθηναίας, δ δεΐνα και ξυνάρχοντες, οΐς
δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε, παρέδοσαν τοΐς ταμίασι οΐς δ δεΐνα
έγραμμάτευε, παραδεζάμενοι παρά των προτέρων ταμιών οΐς
δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε, εν τω, κ.τ.λ. At the end of each
year’s inventory there is appended a list of objects
added during the office of the outgoing board—·
’ Επέτεια έπεγενετό, or ’ Επέτεια έπεγένετο έπι των ταμιών
οίς δ δεΐνα έγραμμάτευε.
The series of these treasure-lists, as now re-
covered, is nearly complete from b. c. 434 down to
the fall of Athens ; and though many of the slabs
on which they were inscribed are much mutilated,
yet the recurrence of the same objects in each
register renders the task of restoration compara-
tively easy (see Rangabe, Ant. Hell., i. pp. 92-165 ;
Bockh, Staatsh., ii. pp. 145-228 ; cp. Michaelis,
Parthenon, p. 295, foil.). The British Museum con-
tains a sufficient number of these documents to
enable the reader to gain an adequate idea of their
character in the following chapter.
One or two objects of value, however, which we
should expect to find mentioned in these lists are
omitted. One is the chryselephantine statue itself.
Bockh (C. I., p. 177) explained its omission by sup-
posing that the account of this statue was kept in
separate documents, which future excavations would
bring to light. This expectation has not been
realized, and it is more natural to conclude with
Michaelis (Parthenon, p. 291) that the annual cleans-
ing and re-adorning of the statue was considered
sufficient to secure its safe custody, no document
being drawn up concerning it except in the rare
event of repair or restoration (cp. Michaelis, ibid.,
p. 315, fol.). Another interesting relic not men-
tioned in the lists is the throne upon which Xerxes
sat to watch the battle of Salamis: Harpokration,
S. v. άργυρόπους δίφρος· δ — έρξου, δς αιχμάλωτος έπεκα-
λεΐτο· έ<φ ου καθεζόμενος έθεωρει την ναυμαχίαν, άνέκειτο
δε εις τον Παρθενώνα της ’Αθήνας. So Suidas, s. ν.
άργυρόπεζα (cp. Demosthenes, adv. Timokr., p. 741,
Reiske). Perhaps Harpokration here confused the
temple of Athena Polias with the Parthenon, a
mistake all the more excusable owing to the number
of δίφροι actually kept in the Parthenon proper (see
note on xxxii, § 10) : δίφροι άργυρό[π]οΑί are indeed
mentioned in a late list of the Parthenon in Mi-
chaelis, p. 297, No. 14.
What has hitherto been said refers only to the
lists before Eukleides : in the later ones considerable
changes are noticeable. Although some objects re-
appear which were mentioned in the earlier lists, yet
* All that is here said entirely accords with Thukyd. ii. 13. There Perikles first mentions the surplus funds that were kept in the
Opisthodomos: θαρσεΐν τε eKeXeve προσιόντων μεν εξακοσίων ταλάντων ως επί τό πολύ κατ' ενιαυτόν από των ξυμμάχων τή πολει ανευ τής άλλης
προσόδου, υπαρχόντων δε εν τή ακροπόλει (i. e. in the Opisthodomos) ετι τότε αργυρίου επίσημου εξακισχιλίων ταλάντων. Next to this national
fund he places the Ιερά χρήματα stored in the three treasuries of the Parthenon, viz. Proneos, Hekatompedos, and Parthenon proper:
χωρίς δε χρυσίου άσημου καί αργυρίου (kept in the Opisthodomos ; see No. XXIV B) εν τε άναθήμασιν ίδιου (dedicated by individuals) και
δημοσίοις (by the State) και όσα ίερα σκευή περί τε τάς πομπός καί τους αγώνας και σκύλα Μηδικά (this describes the contents of the Paithenon
proper, which comprised few real αναθήματα} και εί τι τοιουτότροπον, ουκ έλάσσονος ή πεντακοσίων τάλαντων. He goes On to allude to the
treasuries of the ‘ Other gods ετι δέ και εκ των Άλλων ιερών προσετίθει χρήματα ουκ ολίγα, οίς χρήσεσθαν αϋτους :—and finally suggests the
possible dismantling Of the chryselephantine statue itself: καί ήν πάνυ εξείργωνται πάντων, καί αυτής τής θεού τοις περικειμενοις χρυσίοις. In
mentioning the statue last of all, and as if quite distinct from the contents of the various treasuries, Thukydides is also in agreement
with the extant lists, which never include it.
N 2