nuova serie

Rivista del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’antichità

Sezione di Archeologia
Fondatore: giulio q. giglioli

Direzione Scientifica

maria paola baglione, luciana drago, enzo lippolis,

laura michetti, gloria olcese, domenico palombi,
massimiliano papini, maria grazia picozzi, francesca romana stasolla

Direttore responsabile: domenico palombi

Redazione:
franca taglietti, fabrizio santi

Vol. LXVI - n.s. II, 5

2015

«L’ERMA» di BRETSCHNEiDER - ROMA
 Comitato Scientifico

Pierre Gros, Sybille Haynes, Tonio Hölscher,

Mette Moltesen, Stéphane Verger

Il Periodico adotta un sistema di Peer-Review

Archeologia classica : rivista dell’Istituto di archeologia dell’Università di Roma. -

Vol. 1 (1949). - Roma : Istituto di archeologia, 1949. - Ill. ; 24 cm. - Annuale. - Il
complemento del titolo varia. - Dal 1972: Roma: «L’ERMA» di Bretschneider. ISSN
0391-8165 (1989)

CDD 20.   930.l’05

ISBN CARTACEO 978-88-913-0923-5

ISBN DIGITALE 978-88-913-0926-6

ISSN 0391-8165

©  COPYRIGHT  2015 - SAPIENZA - UNIVERSITà DI ROMA

Aut. del Trib. di Roma n. 104 del 4 aprile 2011

Volume stampato con contributo di Sapienza - Università di Roma

 INDICE DEL VOLUME LXVI

ARTICOLI

Acconcia V., Riflessioni sullo sviluppo degli spazi funerari nell’Abruzzo inter-
no in età preromana (con un’appendice di Ferreri S.L.)............................... p. 1
Ambrogi A., Marmi riscolpiti: da rilievo funerario tardo-classico a ritratto tole-
maico................................................................................................................ » 189
Biagi F., Camilli A., Magliaro T., Milletti M., Neri S., Pitzalis F., Un’area
di culto nella necropoli etrusca di San Cerbone a Baratti (Populonia-LI).......... » 41
Ghisellini E., Due ritratti di bronzo tolemaici nel Museo Archeologico di Firenze...... » 225
Lejars Th., L’épée laténienne du sanctuaire de Junon à Gabies. Les témoigna-
ges archéologiques d’une présence celtique dans le Latium (avec la collabo-
ration de Bernadet R., conservateur-restaurateur)........................................ 121
Palombi D., Gabii, Giunone e i Cornelii Cethegi................................................. » 253
Papini M., Augusto tra testi e monumenti: gli ornamenti del santuario di Apollo
Palatino e un serpente sull’Ara Pacis.............................................................. » 319
Pavolini C., La musica e il culto di Cibele nell’Occidente Romano.................... » 345
Poli N., Per una definizione dello stile tarantino di età arcaica: la piccola plastica
fittile................................................................................................................. » 75
Vallori Márquez B., Cau Ontiveros M.Á., Orfila Pons M., The Tuscan
temple of Pollentia (Mallorca, Balearic Islands)............................................. » 289
Weissl M., «Fuori dalle solite rotte già tracciate». Emanuel Löwy dopo
il 1915.............................................................................................................. » 377

NOTE E DISCUSSIONI

Anzalone R.M., Kretikon Keimelion. Nota su una testa fittile da Agrigento....... » 417
Battistin F., Abitare nella Roma dei Severi. Studio delle tipologie abitative dai
frammenti della Forma Urbis marmorea......................................................... » 547
Bevilacqua G., Phileros e gli altri: una nuova defixio greca da Roma (con
un’appendice di Colacicchi O.).................................................................... » 493
De Leonardis V., Ferdinando Mariani: note archeologiche relative all’area set-
tentrionale della pianura subaventina............................................................... » 615
Fusco U., A New Mithraic Relief from Veii (with an introduction by Boitani F.)..... » 519
Gilotta F., Da Capua a Marzabotto. Qualche (discussa) testimonianza della
civiltà urbana di epoca tardo-arcaica in area etrusco-italica............................ » 429
 indice del volume lxvi

Giovagnoli M., Due nuove iscrizioni urbane relative al mondo degli apparitores... p. 511
Graells i Fabregat R., Herakles’ Thorax.......................................................... » 447
Paolucci G., Un canopo semiedito al Museo Archeologico Nazionale di Atene....... » 441
Pensabene P., Marmi pubblici e marmi privati. Note in margine ad un recente
volume di Ben Russell..................................................................................... » 575
Piccinini J., Between Epirus and Sicily: an Athenian Honorary Decree for Alcetas,
King of the Molossians?....................................................................................... » 467
Pulcinelli L., Monete e circolazione monetaria in Etruria Meridionale nel
III sec. a.C............................................................................................... » 481
Sassatelli G., Noterelle su Felsina...................................................................... » 407
Vismara C., Dalla cremazione all’inumazione (?)............................................... » 595

RECENSIONI E SEGNALAZIONI

Acconcia V., Ritualità funeraria e convivialità. Tra rigore e ostentazione

nell’Abruzzo preromano (G. Melandri)........................................................ » 661
Babbi A., Peltz U., La tomba del Guerriero di Tarquinia. Identità elitaria, con-
centrazione del potere e networks dinamici nell’avanzato VIII sec. a.C.; Das
Kriegergrab von Tarquinia. Eliteidentität, Machkonzentration und dynami-
sche Netzwerke im späten 8. Jh. v. Chr. (P.G. Guzzo).................................... » 650
Barbet A., Peintures romaines de Tunisie (I. Bragantini)................................ » 653
Benseddik N., Esculape et Hygie en Afrique, vol. I: Recherches sur les dieux
guérisseurs; vol. II: Textes et images (C. Vismara)....................................... » 635
Boislève J., Dardenay A., Monier Fl. (éd.), Peinture murale et stucs
d’époque romaine. De la fouille au musée. Actes des 24e et 25e colloques de
l’AFPMA (I. Bragantini)............................................................................. » 655
Boldrighini F., La casa di Properzio ad Assisi. Aristocrazie municipali e cul-
tura urbana tra la fine della Repubblica e i primi anni dell’età imperiale
(F. Zevi)....................................................................................................... » 666
Brandon C.J., Hohlfelder R.L., Jackson M.D., Oleson J.P. et Al., Buil-
ding for Eternity. The History and Technology of Roman Concrete Enginee-
ring in the Sea (E. Felici)............................................................................... » 673
Cornini G., Lega C. (a cura di), Preziose antichità. Il Museo Profano al tempo
di Pio VI (B. Palma Venetucci).................................................................. » 657
Pera R. (a cura di), Il significato delle immagini. Numismatica, arte, filologia,
storia, Atti del secondo incontro internazionale di studio del Lexicon Icono-
graphicum Numismaticae (A. Polosa)........................................................... » 643
Spadea R. (a cura di), Kroton. Studi e ricerche sulla polis achea e il suo territo-
rio (F. Zevi)..................................................................................................... » 678
Zuchtriegel G., Gabii I. Das Santuario Orientale in Zeitalter der Urbanisie-
rung. Eisenzeitliche und archaische Funde der Ausgrabungen 1976/77 (L.
Cerchiai)........................................................................................................ » 646

Pubblicazioni ricevute............................................................................................. » 683

 Between Epirus and Sicily:
An Athenian honorary decree for Alcetas,
king of the Molossians?

A fragment of a Pentelic-marble relief1, found at the end of the 19th century on the
Acropolis, bears the inscription Ζ<ε>ὺς Νάϊος vvv Διώ[νη ---] (Fig. 1)2. It has received
scarce attention both in contemporary archaeological reports and in later scholarship and
to some extent its minimal state of preservation justifies its fall into oblivion3. This small
piece of evidence (h. 0.135 m; w. 0.14 m; t. 0.08 m), broken on almost all sides, consists
in the upper left corner of a pedimental stele, whose tympanon is partly preserved. On the
epistyle runs an incomplete inscription, under which only a male head remains, facing to
the left, perhaps with an attribute on his left. From the inscribed letter-shapes, the fragment
is generally dated to the 4th century B.C.4.
Since the words Ζ<ε>ὺς Νάϊος are precisely above the head of the male figure and
there is a gap between this and the next word Διώ[νη ---], it is logical to assume that each
inscription labelled the respective portrait beneath it: thus, beside Zeus Naios, of whom
only the head and an attribute, probably a sceptre, remain, there was also an image of the
goddess Dione underneath her name5. As these two gods, forming the divine couple at
Dodona, occupy the right half of the relief, there is enough space to hypothesize reason-
ably other figures, perhaps a couple, and their names on the lost left side of the stele.

The relief and a possible reconstruction

Since the bottom of the relief is not preserved, the concern here is to understand the
stele-type, the occasion and the context of such a dedication on the Acropolis. A stele with

1
I would like to express my gratitude to Prof. E. Greco, Prof. L. Moscati Castelnuovo, Dr. S.D. Lambert, Dr. M.
Melfi and Prof. M.C. Monaco for their comments on the first drafts of this paper. I am also indebted to Dr. Orlando
Cerasuolo for the reconstruction of the stele (Fig. 2) and Alessandro Candelari, who put his vast mathematical exper-
tise and precious time at the disposal of my epigraphic quibbles. The responsibility for any error, which remains, is
mine alone. This contribution, whose core was conceived while holding the ‘Elena Rossi’ scholarship at the Italian
School of Archaeology at Athens (SAIA), was written while working at the Institut für Römisches Rechts und Antike
Rechtsgeschichte, Universität Wien, at the FWF project n. P25418-G18 funded by the Austrian Science Fund.
2
Acr. Mus., inv. 4887.
3
Walter 1923, p. 89, n. 183.
4
Palagia 2002, p. 171. It is, however, very difficult to date precisely because of the very few letters pre-
served. The letters measure between 0,004 and 0,008 m.
5
As for Zeus and Dione in couple, see the 230-220 B.C. Epirote didrachm, Simon 1986, p. 412 and foot-
note 23.

ArchCl, LXVI, 2015, pp. 467-479

468 note e discussioni

Fig. 1. Athens, Acropolis Museum (inv. 4887). Fragment of a Pentelic

marble relief (photo author).

the portrait of gods might belong to the category either of votive or of document reliefs6.
Walter listed the fragment among the votive reliefs in reason of evidence testifying the cult
of Zeus Naios and Dione in the Acropolis7. Such a hypothesis is rejected by Palagia8, who
interprets the fragment as part of a stele carrying an official decree of the polis of Athens,
which dealt with the sanctuary of Zeus Naios and Dione at Dodona. Palagia dates this
document on the basis of a passage of Hyperides, attesting a rich votive offering by the
Athenians to Dione in the sanctuary of Dodona9, between 331 and 324 B.C.10.
Although the epigraphic evidence mentioning Zeus Naios (and Dione) from Athens
per se are not revealing of a cult or worship of the god of Dodona in the Acropolis, and in
this sense the issue remains open, the possibility that the fragment in question belongs to a
votive relief should be dismissed: 4th century B.C. votive reliefs, apart from very few excep-
tions11, consist of squared blocks with the top edge in the shape of a tiled roof and do not end
with a tympanon12, as the stele here examined. On the contrary, pedimental stelai are rather

6
For the form of document reliefs, see Meyer 1989, pp. 26-28; Lawton 1995, p. 12, pp. 66-73, for the
differences between votive and document reliefs, see Id. 1995, p. 12.
7
Walter 1923, p. 89, n. 183. Evidence for the cult of Zeus Naios (and Dione) on the Acropolis is uncer-
tain. There was certainly a cult of Dione in Athens (IG II2 4643; IG I3 476.195, 223-224; IG II2 5113, for these
see Parker 2005, p. 108, n. 64) as well as a synodos of Zeus Naios in the late 2nd century B.C. (IG II2 4707),
but there is no certain proof a joint cult. For an altar of Dione found on the Acropolis, east of the Erechtheion, see
Elderkin 1941, pp. 122-123; IG I 3 475 and IG I3 476.
8
Palagia 2002, p. 174.
9
Hyp., Eux. 26.
10
Palagia 2002, pp. 171-173.
11
Ibid., p. 179, n. 6; Comella 2002, p. 101, fig. 93.
12
Neumann 1979, pp. 5-17, 42-55; Comella 2002, pp. 99-156.
 note e discussioni 469

common among document decrees13. Thus, if, on the one hand, there is sufficient proof to
agree with Palagia and to consider the stele as a document decree, on the other, it cannot be
excluded that the fragment might be something else, as a relief from an honorary decree.
As Lawton states, «the reliefs of honorary decrees most often convey the content of
their documents, by depicting the honorand or honorands, shown by their smaller scale
to be mortal, and one or more larger figures – deities, heroes, or personifications – who
represent the parties awarding the honours and sometimes the homeland or other affilia-
tion of the honorand14». In the case of alliances, treaties and honorary decrees fostered by
Athens15, the presence of figured personification of the polis that is granting the honours
is necessary to represent one of the two parties involved. Athens could be personified by
figures of the patron deity of the polis, Athena, the Demos, the Boule, or the Demokratia16.
It is highly probable that, in the fragment under consideration to Zeus Naios and
Dione’s left there was the figured personification of the polis of Athens. A potential recon-
struction of the relief, according to the measures here conjectured, would pose the hono-
rand between Zeus Naios and Dione on his left and the personification of Athens on his
right. From the systematic survey of Lawton’s study, moreover, it is evident that document
decrees maintained fairly consistent formal characteristics, such as their measurements,
which range between approx. 0,35 to 0,55 m in width, 0,90 to 1,50 m in height and 0,05
to 0,15 m in thickness, with the relief usually occupying either a quarter or a third of the
entire stone17. In this way, thanks to the only original dimension (i.e. the thickness), it is
possible to estimate the others: h. 1,08 m and w. 0,41 m (Fig. 2).
Further suggestion on the identification of the type of relief and the occasion of its
publication also come from its stylistic features, quite unique in its genre18: the articulated
decoration of the tympanon, running along the top – two parallel baguette mouldings –
and along the architrave – a baguette and an astragal moulding. They have strict terms
of comparison only in North-western Greek reliefs19. Given the considerable political
sophistication of the Attic reliefs, it is highly plausible that the stele echoes, also in style
and imagery, the Northern origins of the recipient20.

What type of document relief? An alternative hypothesis

Even if no particular doubt arises as to the identity of those who bestowed the hon-
ours – the polis of Athens21, which was very likely portrayed by the figures of Athena or

13
Lawton 1995, pp. 11-12 and nos. 21, 61, 89, 118(2), 120, 127, 131, 142, 143, 145, 146, 154, 157, 164,
178, 187.
14
Ibid., p. 30; Lawton 1993, p. 6.
15
Especially in the case of divine figures, what distinguished an alliance or an agreement from an honor-
ary decree is the congruity of each element of the iconography that is strictly connected to the text of the stele.
16
For the numerous examples representing the polis of Athens as the goddess Athena, the Demos, the Boule
and the Demokratia, see Lawton 1995, pp. 30-33, pp. 40-63 (as well as n. 124, 72, 49, 149, 38, etc.) and Smith
2011, pp. 23-26, pp. 91-107, pp. 108-141.
17
Lawton 1995, pp. 10-12.
18
As for the extreme variation of the stelai, see Lambert 2012, pp. 98-101.
19
Nothwistanding the paucity of published evidence North-western Greece offers useful comparisons for
the parallel baguetts mouldings: a few tombstones from Corcyra (Fraser, Rönne 1957, pl. 21, n. 1-4), Agrinion
(ibid., pl. 25, n. 1-4), Apollonia in Illyria (ibid., pl. 31, n. 3; Cabanes, Drini 1995, n. 16); a couple of stele from
Apollonia (Cabanes, Ceka 1997, n. 26, 174, 382).
20
Lawton 1995, pp. 31-32.
21
Parker 2005, p. 108, n. 64.
470 note e discussioni

Fig. 2. Reconstruction of the stele (© Jessica Piccinini).

the Demos or the Demokratia – it will prove more problematic to ascertain the identity of
the counterpart(s) and the type of document reliefs. Suggestions come, however, from the
worn fragment itself as, in part, the style of the moulding indicates. According to the prin-
ciple that the counterpart(s) of Athens in document decrees was usually represented by a
smaller scale figure and/or eponymous hero and patron deities, who join in the honouring
or alliance and provide a visual clue to the counterpart(s)’s origin22, the depiction of the
divine couple of Dodona, i.e. Zeus Naios and Dione, and the similarities with stele from
North-western Greece, must not be accidental. These elements point to Epirus, i.e. either to
the ethnicity of the other party involved in the grant, who should be of Molossian proven-
ance23 or to the shrine of Dodona, in which Zeus Naios and Dione were worshipped. The
representation of a hero/god or a divine couple, symbolising the counterpart of Athens in
document reliefs is variously attested in alliances and treaties24, specific honorary decrees25
as well as in acts of religious piety of the polis26. Thus, the fragment bearing the inscription
Ζε ὺς Νάϊος Διώ[νη ---] might be either an alliance between Athens and the Molossians or a
decree granting Athenian citizenship to a Molossian.

22
To mention only a few examples: in the relief document concerning Athens and Samos, the polis of Athens
is represented by Athena and Samos by its chief goddess Hera (Lawton 1995, n. 12); Sotimos of Herakleia is
honoured in the presence of Athena and Herakles (ibid., n. 72); in the honorary decree for Socharos of Apollonia,
Athena represents the polis and Apollo, the patron deity of Socharos’ Apollonia, is portrayed as seated on an
omphalos at the far right, with a female figure, probably his mother Leto (ibid., n. 29); see also ibid., pp. 32-33.
23
As for Zeus Naios and Dodona symbolising Molossia, see Franke 1961, pl. 17-19, 32-33; moreover,
for the links between the shrine of Dodona and Molossia, see Strabo VII, 7, 5; Hyp., Eux. 26, Funke 2000;
Meyer 2013, pp. 72-79.
24
See, for instance, the alliance between Athens and Samos (Lawton 1995, n. 12), Athens and Argos
(ibid., n. 5), Athens and Arcadia, Achaia, Elis and Pheloious (ibid., n. 24) and Athens and Corcyra (ibid., n. 96).
25
Especially honouring members of royal families or when (the name of) the honorand has special links with
a particular hero/god: Athens honours Menelaios of Pelagonia (ibid., n. 23); Athens honours Sochares of Apollonia
(Lawton 1995, n. 29); Athens honours Sotimos of Herakleia (ibid., n. 72). For the presence of Herakles in many
honorary decrees as a god in connection with the honorand, see ibid., n. 72, 111, 129, 133, 158.
26
Athens honours Zeus Ammon and other gods, ibid., n. 22.
 note e discussioni 471

From the second half of the 5th century

B.C. Athens turned its attention to North-
western Greece, counteracting Corinthian
leadership. Athenians first in 456/5 B.C.
assisted the Messenian helots to settle in
Naupactos after the third Messenian war27,
in 437/6 B.C. they sent Phormio to help
the Epirotes fighting with Ambracia28 and
erected a tropaion at Dodona after Pelo-
ponnesian allies’ defeat in the first phases
of the war in 425/4 B.C.29. The relation-
ships between Athens and, at least, Molos-
sian royal families got closer and closer, so
that in the 4th century B.C. two alliances
were established. In ca. 375 B.C. Alcetas
and Neoptolemos of Molossia joined the
second Athenian league30 and in 343/2
B.C. Athens granted asylum and alliance
to Arybbas the Molossian, fled to Athens
under Macedonian pressure31.
Although this hypothesis cannot be
excluded a priori, one might wonder what
other alliance in the 4th century B.C. Athens Fig. 3. Athens, National Museum. Athenian
established with Molossia. decree (inv. 2948) honouring Arybbas the
The fragment could also be honorary Molossian, 343/2 B.C. (from Lawton 1995,
decree granting Athenian citizenship to a pl. 65, n. 122.1).
Molossian32. In looking for the possible
identity of the Molossian(s) honoured in
the 4th century B.C. at Athens, the enormous epigraphic heritage of the Acropolis comes
to our assistance. A 343/2 B.C. Athenian citizenship decree for Arybbas, king of the
Molossians33, might hint at which king was honoured in our fragment (Fig. 3). The
decree followed Arybbas’ flight from Molossia as a consequence of Philip II’s inter-
ventions in Epirus: the Macedonian expelled Arybbas in favour of Olympias’ brother
Alexander, Neoptolemos’ son. With this decree, Arybbas and Athens renewed a long
established alliance, reinforcing the pledge of mutual aid34. The opening lines of the
decree contain explicit mention of previous citizenship honours granted by the Atheni-

27
Paus. IV, 25. Before that, it might be worth mentioning here Themistocles’ arbitratus on Leucas (Thuc.
I, 135; Plut., Them. 24; Piccirilli 1973, n. 13).
28
Thuc. III, 68; Fantasia 2006.
29
Thuc. II, 80; Lazzarini 1976, n. 988.
30
Rhodes, Osborne 2003, n. 22, ll. 109-110.
31
Ibid., n. 70.
32
The possibility that the entire Molossian population was honoured with this decree, as the Athenians
did with the Chians (Lawton 1995, n. 9), has to be discarded: traditionally the Molossians were linked with
the Peloponnesians, at least until 385/4 B.C., when they tried to counteract Alcetas’ return with the help of the
Spartans. A different case altogether is the Molossian royal family, who demonstrated a sort of penchant for the
Athenians from the 420s B.C. Thus, most likely the decree was for one or more of the Molossian sovereigns.
33
IG II2 226 = IG II3 1, 411; Rhodes, Osborne 2003, n. 70. As for the exceptional measures of the decree,
see Lawton 1995, n. 122, 134-135, pl. 65 and Lambert 2012, p. 98, p. 99, p. 102, n. 4.
34
IG II3 341 = IG II2 226, ll. 7-14; 36-47; Lawton 1995, n. 122, pl. 65.
472 note e discussioni

ans to members of the Molossian royal family, Arybbas’ father and grandfather, that is
to say, Alcetas I and Tharyps35:

[ἐπειδὴ — — — ἡ πολιτ]-
1 εία ἡ δοθ[εῖ]σα [τῶι πατρὶ κα]
ὶ τῶι πάππωι κα[ὶ αἱ ἄλλαι δ]-
ωρειαὶ vv ὑπάρχ[ο]υσ[ι καὶ α]-
ὐτῶι καὶ τοῖς ἐκγόνο[ι]ς κα-
5 ί εἰσι κύριαι. ἐπιμε[λ]ε[ῖσθαι]
δὲ Ἀρύββου ὅπως ἂμ μηδ[ὲν ἀ]-
δικῆται τὴν βουλὴν τὴν ἀε-
ὶ βουλεύουσαν καὶ τοὺς στ-
ρατηγοὺς τοὺς ἀεὶ στρατη-
10 γοῦντας καὶ ἐάν τις ἄλλο-
ς που Ἀθηναίων παρατυνχά-
νει· […]

«…the citizenship granted to [his father and?] grandfather and the other grants apply
both to him and his descendants and are valid; and there shall take care of Arybbas, so that
he suffers no harm, the Council in office at any time and the generals in office at any time,
and any other Athenian who happens to be present; […]».

(Transl. S.D. Lambert, www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IG1131/411)

Such citizenship decrees, those of Tharyps and Alcetas36, are clear reflections of Athe-
nian late 5th-beginning of the 4th century B.C. foreign policy. Contacts between the Molos-
sian royal family and Athens began in the 20s of the 5th century B.C. In the first phases
of the Archidamic War, the Molossians, as well as the other Epirote ethne, sided with the
Corinthians37. Seemingly something changed, since ancient sources report that in 426 B.C.
the Molossians did not help the Ambraciotes against Argos38 and the king, Tharyps, who
at the time of the Rhion battle was only a child39, was sent to Athens to be educated, very
likely around 428-424 B.C.40. On that occasion, or maybe a little after, he might have been
granted Athenian citizenship as the first lines of IG II3 1, 411 testify41. According to the dat-

35
Very likely the names Tharyps and Arybbas indicated the same person as sources document. The thearo-
dokoi list of Epidauros, for example, dating between c. 360 and 311, mentions a certain Tharyps as represent-
ative of the Molossians (IG IV2, 95; Davies 2000, p. 247; Perlman 2000, p. 278; Melfi, Piccinini 2012a, pp.
39-40; Eaed. 2012b, p. 54); see also Iust., epit. Pomp. Trog. XVII, 3, 10.
36
Osborne 1982, pp. 81-83 D 14 (ca. 342 B.C.) and Id. 1983, pp. 29-30 T6 (428-424 B.C.) and p. 50
T37 (375 B.C. or earlier), lists with reason two separate decrees, since when Athenian citizenship was granted to
Tharyps in the late 5th century B.C., Alcetas was not yet born.
37
Thuc. II, 80-83.
38
Thuc. III, 112, 6.
39
Thuc. II, 80, 5. Athens’ intention to gain closer contacts with North-western Greece, the Molossians
and the Chaonians in particular, is also indicated in contemporary Athenian comedies and tragedies (Aristoph.,
Acharn. 604, 613 of the 425 B.C.; Aristoph., Hipp. 78-79, of the 424 B.C.; Eurip., Androm. 1243-1450, pro-
duced before 425 B.C.). See Hammond 1967, pp. 502-507. For Athenian embassies in Thesprotia and Molossia
at the end of the 5th century B.C., see Ps. Andoc. 41 and Vanotti 1996.
40
Iust., epit. Pomp. Trog. XVII, 3, 10; Plut., Pyrrh. I, 4. Hammond 1967, p. 507.
41
IG II3 1, 411= IG II2 226, ll. 1-3, see also Osborne 1982, pp. 81-83 D14.
 note e discussioni 473

ing of our fragment, it cannot be associated with Athenian honours for Tharyps, who likely
died before his son Alcetas’ exile to Syracuse42, around the end of the 5th century B.C.43.
Thus, it is more likely that the fragment bearing the inscription Ζε ὺς Νάϊος Διώ[νη ---] is
the citizenship decree for Alcetas, king of the Molossians. From this hypothesis a question
naturally arises: why honour Alcetas? Tharyps spent time in Athens, was educated there and,
in the light of the Molossians’ past alliance with the Corinthians, a citizenship decree, which
should have cemented a newly born tie, is easy to explain. Seemingly, Alcetas had little to do
with Athens, especially at the beginning of the 4th century B.C. when he had been sent out of
his country and thus was not a strategic ally in North-western Greece.

If so, why Alcetas?

The answer to this question, however, should rather lie in the intricate net of personal
and political ties established by the Athenians (and, in this case, also by the Molossians)
in the first half of the 4th century B.C. Certainly Alcetas, once he regained possession of
Molossia, was a good ally of the Athenians. In 378/7 B.C. he joined, with his son and core-
gent Neoptolemos44, the second Athenian League45, very likely as a consequence of the
military successes of Timotheos, Conon’s son, over the Spartans at Alyzia in Acarnania46.
He then gave assistance in the territory to the Athenian troops passing through his land to
reach Corcyra in 373/2 B.C.47. After the Peloponnesian war Athens, in order to potentiate
its economic and political position, increasingly bestowed honorary decrees upon those
foreigners, mainly leaders and members of royal families, of strategic importance48. It is
also true that North-western Greece started to be strategically important for the Athenians
at the end of the 5th century B.C.49 and that perhaps Alcetas’ participation in the Second
Athenian league might have been sufficient to renew the Athenian citizenship already
obtained as a son of Tharyps. But, as a matter of fact, he was largely useless as a strategic
ally in North-western Greece at least until 385/4 B.C. However, was his strategic import-
ance limited only to assuring Athenian control of the North-West?
A closer look at ancient sources reveals that Alcetas also played an important role as a
political go-between for the Athenians. He passed from being a good ally, as a loyal king
in a strategically important region traditionally linked to Peloponnesians, to being a key
man in Athenian foreign politics. As mentioned above, at some point at the end of the 5th
century/beginning of the 4th century B.C. the young Alcetas was expelled from his country
and found hospitality in Sicily at the court of Dionysios I of Syracuse50. He became so

42
Diod. XV, 13, 1-3.
43
Problematic dating, see Vanotti 1996.
44
Diod. XV, 36, 5; Nep., Tim. 2.
45
IG II2 43, ll. 109-110.
46
Diod. XV, 35, 5. The friendship between Timotheus and Alcetas is also proved by the fact that Alcetas
also gave testimony of the good actions of Timotheus when he was put on trial (Ps. Dem. 49, 9; 22; 24).
47
Xen., Hell. VI, 2, 10.
48
Lawton 1995, p. 32.
49
Plut., Them. 2-3; Ps. Andoc. 41; Vanotti 1995; Gazzano 1999, p. 159; Davies 2000, pp. 243-244;
Fantasia 2006, pp. 59-68; Visconti 2011; Melfi, Piccinini 2012a, pp. 37-38.
50
The practice to expel their kings is not unusual among the Molossians; see, for example, what happened
to Arybbas (Iust., Prol. VIII; Front., Strateg. II, 5, 19), his sons Alcetas II (Paus. I, 11, 5; Diod. XIX, 88, 1)
and Aeacides (Diod. XIX, 36, 4; Plut., Pyrrh. 11, 1); see also Di Leo 2003, pp. 240-242.
According to Diodoros (Diod. XIII, 95) he became tyrant under the inspiration of Peisistratos in 406 B.C.
and consolidated his power with the help of the Spartans (Diod. XIV, 10, 70; XIV, 67; 70; Xen., Hell. I, 1).
474 note e discussioni

Fig. 4. Athens, Acropolis Museum. Athenian decree (inv. 1349)

honouring Alcetas of Syracuse, 373/2 B.C. (from Lawton 1995, pl.
11, n. 21).

close to the tyrant and his family, that they helped him to regain his realm in 385/4 B.C.
Dionysios I, although probably more impelled by his personal ambitions in the Adriatic51,
as a good xenos, made an alliance with the Illyrians and invaded Epirus. According to Dio-
doros, the Spartans helped the Molossians to hamper Dionysios I’s advance and plan52.
In the light of the extant evidence it is not possible to say whether in 385/4 B.C. or soon
thereafter Alcetas managed to regain possession of Epirus. However, it is paramount here
to stress and highlight the strong ties established between Alcetas and Dionysios’ family
during the years of his exile.
In this regard, a further piece of evidence testifies to this close relation. A 373/2 B.C.
Athenian honorary decree mentions an honorand who is probably the nephew of Dionysi-
os I of Syracuse (Fig. 4). The relief of the decree depicts a horse turned left, under which

51
Diod. XV, 13, 1-4; Stylianou 1998, pp. 191-196; Malkin 1998, pp. 247-248.
52
Diod. XV, 13, 3. As at the beginning of the Peloponnesian war, the Spartans supported the Molossians
(Thuc. II, 80, 3). Thus it might be likely to suggest that the exile of Alcetas, dating a few decades before, might
have been also encouraged by the Spartans.
 note e discussioni 475

there is a crown; the inscription is preserved only in its top part, in which a Syracusan, the
son of Leptines, is named Alcetas – Ἀλκέτο τοῦ Λεπτίνο Συρακοσίο. No evidence remains
for the full decree beneath the crown. The identity of Alcetas the Syracusan has been an
object of debate. Some scholars believe that Alcetas the Syracusan, the son of Leptines,
and Alcetas the king of the Molossians are the same person: Alcetas the Molossian could
have been so ‘adopted’ by Leptines, brother of Dionysios I, during his exile. The horse
would point to the social status of the honorand and the crown to some agonistic victories
that he gained53. But one might wonder why Alcetas the Molossian, soon after having
joined the Second Athenian League in 378/7 B.C. with his son Neoptolemos, would have
called himself ‘Syracusan and the son of Leptines’?
Other scholars, and I am more inclined to agree with them, suggest that the two sym-
bols, the horse and the crown, stand respectively for the city of Syracuse and for the
honour(s) granted in the decree54. Animals in honorary decrees often symbolize the hono-
rand city55 and the horse with no rider is commonly associated with Syracuse, as Syracu-
san gold coins demonstrate. Furthermore, according to Plutarch, at the time of the Sicilian
expedition, the Syracusans branded the Athenian prisoners with the image of a horse on
their foreheads56. Thus, the document indicates that a member of Dionysios’ family – one
brother of Dionysios I was named Leptines – probably born in the 490s, was named after
the xenos Alcetas the Molossian and it should be interpreted as the proof of the xenia
between Alcetas and the family of Dionysios I. The child was named after a xenos, accord-
ing to a practice well attested in ancient Greece57. Why Leptines’, and not Dionysios’ son,
received Alcetas’ name might have been the result of simple practicality: the child was
probably born during the years of Alcetas’ exile in Syracuse58. So in the late 390s Dionysi-
os’ older sons were possibly already born, the first named after Dionysios himself and the
second after Dionysios’ father, Hermokritos59; Leptines’ son might have been the first boy
born capable of assuming the xenos’ name in order to honour him. The close relations of
xenia between Alcetas and Dionysios I’s family went beyond Alcetas’ exile and extended
to other members of the tyrant’s family. Ancient sources testify that when in ca. 386 B.C.
Leptines and Philistos were exiled by Dionysios I, they first went to Thurii and later, when
Leptines was called back to Syracuse after three years, the historian Philistos, who had
married Leptines’ daughter, went probably to Molossia and the court of Alcetas60.
In the first half of the 4th century B.C. establishing an alliance with Dionysios was
a target that had been among the most compelling priorities in Athenian foreign affairs,
as literary and epigraphic sources prove61. Starting from Conon, Athens tried to attract
Dionysios I into its orbit mainly by using personal and private association. In 394/3 B.C.
Athens honoured both Dionysios I of Syracuse and his family with a decree (Fig. 5)62 and,

53
Syll.3 154, 213; Walter 1940, p. 8; Tod 1948, pp. 2, 217; Woodhead 1970, p. 506; Lawton 1995,
n. 21.
54
Foucart 1888, p. 177; Guarducci 1970, pp. 597-598; Vanotti 1996, pp. 86-87.
55
See, for example, Lawton 1995, p. 91, n. 17, pp. 94-95, n. 25, p. 97, n. 32, p. 102, n. 42, pp. 120-121,
n. 79.
56
Plut., Nik. 29.
57
Herman 1989; Mitchell 1997, pp. 46-72; Habicht 2000, pp. 119-121.
58
If he was no longer under age in 373/2 B.C., Alcetas the Syracusan, son of Leptines, might have been
born in the 390s.
59
IG II2 103, ll. 20-21; Luca 1994, p. 159; Bruno Sunseri 2002, pp. 365-366.
60
Plut., Dion 11, 5-6.
61
Bearzot 1981, pp. 121-124; Giuliani 1994, pp. 157-158; Vanotti 1996, p. 80.
62
IG II2 18; IG II2 101; IG II2 103.
476 note e discussioni

Fig. 5. Athens, Epigraphic Museum. Athenian decree (inv.

6899) honouring Dionysios of Syracuse, 394/3 B.C. (from
Lawton 1995, pl. 9, n. 16).

through the employment of Conon and his personal ties, tried to persuade Dionysios to
marry the daughter of Evagoras of Salamis in Cyprus, who was a trusted ally of Athens
and personal friend of Conon, with the help of Eunomos, xenos and philos of the tyrant63.
It is well known that these two attempts did not bring the desired results. A few years
later Timotheos, son of Conon, pursued his father’s strategy of using another xenos and
philos of Dionysios I: Alcetas, king of the Molossians. Most probably the Athenians tried
to exploit the reduced influence of the Spartans over Syracuse in the early decades of the
4th century B.C.64 and, according to a scheme widely tested65, they managed through the
intermediation of Alcetas, who besides being a xenos of Dionysios I was also a friend of
Timotheos and a good ally of the Athenians. The plan seems to have worked, since in
369/8 the tyrant of Syracuse received Athenian citizenship66 and in 368/7 B.C. Athens and
Dionysios I made an alliance67, in which it was stated that in case of attack both the Atheni-
ans and Dionysios had to supply help «both by land and by sea, with all their strength, as

63
Lys. XIX, 19.
64
See what happened in 385/4 when Dionysios and his allies, the Illyrians, attacked the Molossians, see
Diod. XV, 13, 1-3.
65
Herman 1989; Mitchell 1997, pp. 46-72; Habicht 2000, pp. 119-121.
66
IG II2 105; Rhodes, Osborne 2003, n. 33.
67
IG II2 103; Rhodes, Osborne 2003, n. 34.
 note e discussioni 477

far as possible68» and it was not permitted to Dionysios or his descendants «to bear arms
for harm against the territory of the Athenians either by land or by sea69». Thus Athens
attempted to prevent Syracusan support of Sparta in case of war, in order to change the
political alliances and isolate her main enemy.
The decree of Alcetas might be framed by such a context. On the one hand, it rein-
forced a long established tie and alliance between Athens and her North-western ally, on
the other it worked either as a spur or expression of gratitude for the Molossian’s media-
tion with Dionysios I.

Jessica Piccinini

Bibliography

Bearzot 1981: C. Bearzot, «Platone e i ‘moderati’ ateniesi», in MIL 37, 1981, pp. 3-157.
Bruno Sunseri 2002: G. Bruno Sunseri, «Matrimoni alla corte dei Dionisî», in N. Bona-
casa, L. Braccesi, E. De Miro (a cura di), La Sicilia dei due Dionisî, Atti della settimana
settimana di studio (Agrigento, 24-28 febbraio 1999), Roma 2002, pp. 361-371.
Cabanes, Ceka 1997: P. Cabanes, N. Ceka, Corpus des inscriptions grecques d’Illyrie méri-
dionale et d’Epire, I.2, Paris 1997.
Cabanes, Drini 1995: P. Cabanes, F. Drini, Corpus des inscriptions grecques d’Illyrie méri-
dionale et d’Epire, I.1, Paris 1995.
Comella 2002: A. Comella, I rilievi votivi greci di periodo arcaico e classico. Diffusione, ideo-
logia, committenza, Bari 2002.
Davies 2000: J.K. Davies, «A Wholly Non-Aristotelian Universe: The Molossians as Ethnos,
State, and Monarchy», in R. Brock, S. Hodkinson (eds.), Alternatives to Athens, Varieties
of Political Organization and Community in Ancient Greece, Oxford 2000, pp. 234 -258.
Di Leo 2003: G. Di Leo, «Monarchia e statualità in Epiro prima della conquista romana», in C.
Bearzot, F. Landucci Gattinoni, G. Zecchini (a cura di), Gli Stati territoriali nel mon-
don antico, Milano 2003, pp. 225-252.
Elderkin 1941: G.W. Elderkin, «The Cults of the Erechtheion», in Hesperia 10, 1941, pp. 113-124.
Fantasia 2006: U. Fantasia, «Formione in Acarnania (Thuc. II 68, 7-8) e le origini della Guerra
del Peloponneso», in Incidenza dell’Antico 4, 2006, pp. 59-98.
Foucart 1888: P.-F. Foucart, «Décrets athéniens du IVe siécle», in BCH 12, 1888, pp. 153-178.
Franke 1961: P.R. Franke, Die antiken Münzen von Epirus, Poleis, Stämme und epirotischer
Bund bis 27 v.Chr., Katalog und Untersuchung, Wiesbaden 1961.
Fraser, Rönne 1957: P.M. Fraser, T. Rönne T., Boeotian and West Greek Tombstones, Lund
1957.
Funke 2000: S. Funke, Aiakidenmythos und epeirotisches Königtum: der Weg einer hellenischen
Monarchie, Stuttgart 2000.
Gazzano 1999: F. Gazzano, Pseudo-Andocide, Contro Alcibiade, Genova 1999.
Giuliani 1994: A. Giuliani, «Dionigi I, Sparta e la Grecia», in RIL 128, 1994, pp. 149-166.
Glowacki 2003: K. Glowacki, « A Personification of Demos on a New Attic Document Relief»,
in Hesperia 72, 2003, pp. 447-466.
Guarducci 1970: M. Guarducci, Epigrafia greca, II, Roma 1970.
Habicht 2000: C. Habicht, «Foreign Names in Athenian Nomenclature», in S. Hornblower,
E. Matthews (eds.), Greek Personal Names, Their Value as Evidence, Proceedings of the
British Academy 104, Oxford 2000, pp. 119-127.

68
IG II2 103, ll. 10-12, 20-23. Transl. S.D. Lambert in www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGII2/103.
69
IG II2 105, ll. 12-18. Vice versa Athens promised not to attack Dionysios or his descendants (ll. 27-30).
Transl. S.D. Lambert in www.atticinscriptions.com/inscription/IGII2/105.
478 note e discussioni

Hammond 1967: N.G.L. Hammond, Epirus, The geography, the ancient remains, the history and
the topography or Epirus and adjacent areas, Oxford 1967.
Herman 1987: G. Herman, Ritualised Friendship and the Greek City, Cambridge 1987.
Lambert 2012: S. Lambert, Inscribed Athenian Laws and Decrees 352/1-322/1 B.C.: Epigraph-
ical Essays, Leiden 2012.
Lawton 1993: C.L. Lawton, « An Attic Document Relief in the Walters Art Gallery », in JWal-
terArtGal 51, 1993, pp. 1-9.
Lawton 1995: C.L. Lawton, Attic Document Reliefs, Art and Politics in ancient Athens, Oxford 1995.
Lazzarini 1976: M.L. Lazzarini, Le formule delle dediche votive nella Grecia arcaica, Roma 1976.
Luca 1994: R. Luca, «Tod 133: Atene, Dionigi il vecchio e alcuni problemi sulla sua succes-
sione», in Hespería 4, Roma 1994, pp. 159-164.
Malkin 1998: I. Malkin, The Returns of Odysseus: Colonization and Ethnicity, London 1998.
Melfi, Piccinini 2012a: M. Melfi, J. Piccinini, «Geografia storica del territorio di Hadrianopo-
lis nella valle del Drino (V sec. a.C.-44 a.C.) », in R. Perna, Dh. Çondi (a cura di), Hadria-
nopolis II, Risultati delle indagini archeologiche 2005-2010, Bari 2012, pp. 37-50.
Melfi, Piccinini 2012b: M. Melfi, J. Piccinini, «Le fonti», in R. Perna, Dh. Çondi (a cura
di), Hadrianopolis II, Risultati delle indagini archeologiche 2005-2010, Bari 2012, pp. 51-65.
Meyer 1989: M. Meyer, Die griechischen Urkundenreliefs, Berlin 1989.
Meyer 2013: E.A. Meyer, The Inscriptions of Dodona and a new History of Molossia, Stuttgart
2013.
Mitchell 1997: L.G. Mitchell, Greeks Bearing Gifts, The Public Use of Private Relationships
in the Greek World, 435-323 B.C., Cambridge 1997.
Neumann 1979: G. Neumann, Probleme des griechischen Weihreliefs, Tübingen 1979.
Osborne 1982: M.J. Osborne, Naturalization in Athens, II, Commentaries on the decree grant-
ing citizenship, Brussels 1982.
Osborne 1983: M.J. Osborne, Naturalization in Athens, III-IV, Brussels 1983.
Palagia 2002: O. Palagia, «Ζευς Νάιος και Διώνη στην Ακρόπολη των Αθηνών», in D. Dama-
raskos (ed.), Αρχαία Ελληνική Γλυπτική. Αφιέρωμα στη μνήμη του γλύπτη Στέλιου Τριάντη.
Μουσείο Μπενάκη. 1ο Παράρτημα, Athens 2002, pp. 171-180.
Parker 2005: R. Parker, Polytheism and Society at Athens, Oxford 2005.
Pearlman 2000: P. Perlman, City and Sanctuary in Ancient Greece: The Theorodokia in the
Peloponnese, Göttingen 2000.
Piccirilli 1973: L. Piccirilli, Gli arbitrati interstatali greci, I. Dalle origini al 338 a.C, Pisa
1973.
Rhodes, Osborne 2003: P.J. Rhodes, R. Osborne, Greek Historical Inscriptions, 404-323
B.C., Oxford 2003.
Simon 1986: E. Simon, s.v. Dione, in LIMC III, 1, Zürich-München 1986, pp. 411-413.
Smith 2011: A.C. Smith, Polis and Personification in Classical Athens, Leiden-Boston 2011.
Stylianou 1998: P.J. Stylianou, A Historical Commentary on Diodorus Siculus, Book 15,
Oxford 1998.
Tod 1948: M.N. Tod, A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions, Oxford 1948.
Vanotti 1995: G. Vanotti, «La carriera politica di Feace», in Hespería 5, Roma 1995, pp. 121-
143.
Vanotti 1996: G. Vanotti, «Alceta, Siracusa, Atene», in Hespería 7, Roma 1996, pp. 77-90.
Visconti 2011: A. Visconti, «Una nota sui rapporti tra Atene e gli ethne epiroti nel V secolo a.C.
e un nuovo progetto di ricerca sulla Grecia centrale nord-occidentale», in J.-L. Lamboley,
M.P. Castiglioni (éd.), L’Illyrie méridionale et l’Épire dans l’antiquité V, Actes du Ve collo-
que international de Grenoble (10-12 octobre 2008), Paris 2011, pp. 701-713.
Walter 1923: O. Walter, Beschreibung der Reliefs im kleinen Akropolismuseum in Athen, Wien
1923.
Walter 1940: O. Walter, «Die Stele des Molosser Königs Arybbas», in ÖJh 32, 1940, pp. 1-24.
Woodhead 1970: G. Woodhead, «The ‘Adriatic Empire’ of Dionysius I of Syracuse», in Klio
52, 1970, pp. 503-512.
 note e discussioni 479

RIASSUNTO

Rinvenuto sull’Acropoli di Atene alla fine del XIX secolo, un piccolo frammento iscritto di stele
in marmo pentelico fa riferimento a Ζε ὺς Νάϊος Διώ[νη ---], la coppia divina oracolare del santua-
rio di Dodona in Epiro. Il presente contributo intende proporre una ricostruzione del manufatto e
del testo epigrafico che, forse pertinenti a un decreto onorario, possono essere collocati nel contesto
delle relazioni diplomatiche e religiose tra Atene e la Molossia durante il IV secolo a.C.