Support: High tapering marble stele, in two adjacent pieces, broken away on top, worn out on main side; rectangular cramp sinking on top (w: 0.55-0.62 × h: 1.53 × d: 0.28-0.30).

Layout: Inscribed on face.

Letters: 0.02 lines 1 and 23; 0.013 elsewhere; carefully cut, but not stoichedon as Ferri thought.

Date: Probably between 375 and 360 BC (Rosamilia) (lettering, textual context).

Findspot: Found by Ferri in 1922 at Cyrene ➚, reused as a step leading to the southern cold pool of the Byzantine Baths.

Place of origin: Cyrene ➚: Sanctuary of Apollo.

Last recorded location: Cyrene Museum, 8. Seen by Dobias-Lalou many times between 1976 and 2010 in Shahat: Cyrene Museum. Seen by Rosamilia in 2010 at the same place.

Text constituted from: Transcription from stone (CDL).

Apparatus

French translation

Dieu. Bonne fortune.

Proposition de Damis fils de Bathyklès: vu la proposition faite au nom des Théréens par Kleudamas fils d'Euthyklès pour le succès de la cité et la prospérité du peuple des Cyrénéens, à savoir rendre aux Théréens le droit de cité conformément aux traditions établies par nos ancêtres, tant ceux qui fondèrent Cyrène en venant de Théra que ceux qui restèrent à Théra, lorsqu'Apollon accorda à Battos et aux Théréens fondateurs de Cyrène de vivre prospères à condition de respecter les serments échangés par nos ancêtres (10) lorsqu'ils firent partir l'expédition colonisatrice selon la prescription d'Apollon Archégète; à la bonne fortune, plaise au peuple: Que soit maintenue pour les Théréens l'égalité des droits civiques, même à Cyrène, dans les mêmes conditions; que tous les Théréens résidant à Cyrène prêtent le même serment que celui qu'ont prêté jadis les autres; qu'ils s'établissent dans une tribu, une patra et dans (scil. l'une) des neuf hétairies; que l'on grave ce décret sur une stèle de marbre blanc fin et que l'on place la stèle dans le sanctuaire ancestral d'Apollon Pythien; que l'on grave aussi sur la stèle le serment qu'ont prêté les fondateurs lorsqu'ils eurent débarqué en Libye (20) en compagnie de Battos, arrivant de Thèra à Cyrène; quant à la dépense nécessaire pour la pierre ou la gravure, que les préposés aux comptes y pourvoient sur les recettes d'Apollon.

Clauses du serment des fondateurs

Il a plu à l'assemblée: attendu qu'Apollon a spontanément prescrit à Battos et aux Théréens de fonder la colonie de Cyrène, les Théréens considèrent comme décision définitive d'envoyer en Libye Battos comme chef de la mission et roi; que pour l'accompagner s'embarquent des Théréens; qu'ils s'embarquent dans des conditions égales et semblables pour chaque famille, à raison d'un seul fils enrôlé; que puissent aussi s'embarquer tous les autres [citoyens] adultes et, (30) parmi le reste des Théréens, tout homme libre [qui le voudra]. Si les colons maintiennent leur installation, que celui des Théréens qui fera par la suite la traversée vers la Libye obtienne sa part des [droits civiques] et des honneurs et reçoive par tirage au sort un lot de terre sans propriétaire; si au contraire ils ne maintiennent pas leur installation et ne sont pas en mesure de poursuivre l'établissement de leur cité dans un délai de cinq ans, mais sont accablés par la nécessité, qu'ils quittent leur terre sans crainte (scil. pour regagner) Théra et leurs biens et qu'ils y exercent leurs droits de citoyens; quiconque refusera de partir alors que la cité veut l'envoyer sera passible de mort et ses biens seront confisqués; quiconque le recueillera ou le cachera, qu'il s'agisse d'un père pour son fils ou d'un frère pour son frère, (40) subira la même peine que le réfractaire.

Telles sont les clauses sur lesquelles ils prêtèrent serment, aussi bien ceux qui restaient sur place que ceux qui embarquaient pour faire oeuvre colonisatrice, et ils prononcèrent des imprécations contre ceux qui transgresseraient ces clauses et ne s'y conformeraient pas, soit parmi ceux qui seraient établis en Libye, soit parmi ceux qui restaient sur place. Ayant façonné des figurines de cire, ils les firent brûler pendant qu'ils prononçaient ces imprécations, tous réunis, hommes, femmes, garçons et filles: "Qui ne sera pas fidèle à ces clauses de serment, mais les transgressera, qu'il fonde et se liquéfie comme les figurines, lui-même, sa descendance et ses biens. Que ceux qui respecteront ces clauses de serment, aussi bien (50) ceux qui s'embarquent pour la Libye que ceux qui [restent] à Thèra, connaissent toutes les prospérités, eux-mêmes [et leurs descendants]".

English translation

God. Good Fortune.

It was proposed by Damis son of Bathykles: about the proposal made on behalf of the Theraeans by Kleudamas son of Euthykles with a view to success and prosperity for the people of the Cyrenaeans, that is to say to give back city-rights to the Theraeans in accordance with the arrangements of our ancestors, both those who, coming from Thera, founded Cyrene and those who remained in Thera, since Apollo granted the Theraeans who founded Cyrene to live in prosperity if ever they would abide with the oaths taken with one another by our ancestors when (10) they dispatched the founding expedition following Apollo Archagetas’ injunction; to the Good Fortune, may it seem good to the people: That the Theraeans should keep on equal civic rights also in Cyrene in the same terms; that all Theraeans living at Cyrene should take the same oath as the one taken once by the others; that they settle themselves into a tribe, a patra and (scil. one amongst) the nine hetaireiai; that this decree should be engraved on a fine white marble stele and that the stele should be placed into the ancestral sanctuary of Apollo Pythios; that on the stele should also be engraved the oath that was taken by the founders when they landed in Libya (20) with Battos, arriving from Thera to Cyrene; as to the expense necessary for the stone or the engraving, those in charge of the accounts should provide it from Apollo’s income.

Clauses of the oath of the founders

It seemed good to the assembly: whereas Apollo spontaneously declared that Battos and the Theraeans should settle the colony of Cyrene, the Theraeans consider it decided that Battos should be sent to Libya as chief of mission and king; that Theraeans should sail off as companions; that they should sail off on equal and same terms from each family, one son being chosen from each family; that would also be allowed to sail off all the other [citizens] of age and (30) among the rest of the Theraeans any free man [who would be willing]; that, if the settlers hold on the settlement, anyone amongst the Theraeans who would later on sail to Libya should take part in the [ civil rights] and honours and should receive by lot a portion of owner-free land; that if on the contrary they do not hold on the settlement and are not able to settle on the city but are compelled by overwhelming necessity up to five years, they should fearless leave the country (scil. and sail back) to Thera and their belongings and be full-right citizens; that anyone who would refuse to sail when the city wants to send him would be liable to death penalty and his belongings should be confiscated; that anyone who would shelter or conceal him, be it a father for his son or a brother for his brother, (40) should be liable to the same penalty as the rebel.

Such are the clauses on which they took oath, as well those who remained on the spot as those who were sailing off with the aim of settlement, and they uttered curses against who would transgress those clauses and would not abide to them, either amongst those settled in Libya or amongst those remaining on the spot. Having formed waxen figurines, they burnt them off, all together, men, women, boys and girls, while uttering these curses: "Whoever will not abide to the clauses of that oath, but will transgress them, should melt away and flow down like the figurines, himself, his offspring and his belongings. Whoever will abide to these clauses, either (50) one sailing off towards Libya or one [remaining] in Thera, should enjoy all sorts of prosperity for himself [ and his offspring ]".

Italian translation

Dio. Buona Fortuna.

Proposta di Damis figlio di Bathykles: considerato quanto dice a nome dei Terei Kleudamas figlio di Euthykles per il successo della città e la prosperità del popolo dei Cirenei, vale a dire di concedere ai Terei il diritto di cittadinanza in conformità con le tradizioni stabilite dai nostri antenati, sia quelli che fondarono Cirene provenienti da Tera sia quelli che restarono a Tera, quando Apollo accordò a Battos e ai Terei fondatori di Cirene di vivere in prosperità a condizione di rispettare i giuramenti scambiati reciprocramente dai nostri antenati quando (10) inviarono la spedizione colonizzatrice secondo la prescrizione di Apollo Archegetes; alla Buona Fortuna, piaccia al popolo: che sia mantenuta per i Terei l'uguaglianza dei diritti civici anche a Cirene, alle stesse condizioni; che tutti i Terei residenti a Cirene pronuncino lo stesso giuramento che gli altri giurarono un tempo; che siano inseriti in una tribù, in una patra e in (scil. una) delle nove eterie; che si incida questo decreto su di una stele di marmo fino bianco e che si collochi la stele nel santuario ancestrale di Apollo Pizio; che si incida anche sulla stele il giuramento che pronunciarono i fondatori quando sbarcarono in Libia (20) in compagnia di Battos, arrivando da Tera a Cirene; quanto alla spesa necessaria per la pietra o per l'incisione, che gli addetti preposti ai conti provvedano dalle entrate di Apollo.

Clausole del giuramento dei fondatori.

È parso giusto all'assemblea: poiché Apollo ha spontaneamente prescritto a Battos e ai Terei di fondare la colonia di Cirene, i Terei considerano come decisione definitiva di inviare in Libia Battos come capo della missione e re; che per accompagnarlo si imbarchino dei Terei; che si imbarchino in condizioni di parità e uguaglianza per ogni famiglia, nella misura di un solo figlio scelto (scil. per famiglia); che si possano imbarcare anche tutti gli altri [cittadini] adulti (30) e, tra gli altri Terei, ogni uomo libero [che lo vorrà]. Se i coloni mantengono il loro insediamento, colui tra i Terei che faccia in séguito la traversata verso la Libia ottenga la sua parte dei [diritti civici] e degli onori e riceva in sorte un lotto della terra senza proprietario; se, al contrario, essi non mantengono il loro insediamento e non sono in grado di fondare la città ma soffrano per la sventura tra cinque anni, lascino la terra senza timore (scil. per far ritorno) a Tera e ai loro beni e ne siano cittadini; chiunque si rifiuti di partire nel momento in cui la città lo invia sarà punibile con la morte e i suoi beni saranno confiscati; chiunque lo accolga o lo nasconda, che si tratti di un padre per suo figlio o di un fratello per suo fratello, (40) subirà la stessa pena di chi non vuole partire.

Tali sono le clausole sulle quali prestarono giuramento, sia quelli che restarono sul posto sia quelli che si imbarcarono per fondare una colonia, ed essi pronunciarono delle maledizioni contro coloro che avessero trasgredito queste clausole e non si fossero ad esse conformati, sia tra coloro che si fossero stabiliti in Libia sia tra coloro che fossero rimasti sul posto. Dopo aver modellato delle statuette di cera, le fecero bruciare mentre pronunciavano queste maledizioni, tutti riuniti, uomini, donne, fanciulli e fanciulle:"Chi non sarà fedele a queste clausole di giuramento, ma le trasgredirà, che fonda e si liquefaccia come le statuette, lui, la sua discendenza e i suoi beni. Coloro che rispetteranno queste clausole di giuramento, (50) sia coloro che si imbarcano per la Libia sia coloro che [restano] a Tera, abbiano ogni bene, loro [e i loro discendenti]".

Commentary

Restorations which are not mentioned in apparatus are Oliverio's. Most of the different readings adopted here are from Dobias-Lalou 1994. Slight differences in certainty for one letter have been dropped from the apparatus.

At line 15 ΘΕ (either read θ᾿ἑ or θε) has been supposed by all commentators to have an aspirate under influence of a ghost-form ἑννῆα with an aspirate that never existed. For IGCyr, we preferred θ to be a symbol of numeral, followed by ἐ erroneously written here as beginning of ἐννῆα, whereas the word is written in full at next line. Rosamilia 2023 put forward that alphabetic numerals are not to be found at Cyrene before the middle of the third century and that a coordination particle is necessary. Therefore he supposed that a first version of the handwritten text had ἔς θ᾿ ἑταιρήιας with τε and that ἐννῆα was inserted afterwards for sake of clarity, creating in fact a new obscurity for the stonecutter. Although this hypothesis seems rather complicated, we accept it here. Anyhow the meaning is clear: hetaireiai.

Historical commentaries are numerous. The debate about the genuineness of the different parts is somewhat biased because of modern ideas about authenticity. It is clear anyway 1) that no decree such as the one presented here in the second part (ll. 24-40) could have been taken in archaic Thera; 2) that the third part (ll. 40-51) is not the exact formula of an oath but rather a chronicle of events including an oath. The linguistic analysis appended to Dobias-Lalou's re-reading is a confirmation of that threefold structure.

We follow Alonso Déniz's explanation for the identification and meaning of the verb ἀδηίζω at line 39: 'make invisible, conceal'.

As rightly pointed out by Berthelot 2016, the infinitive καταστᾶμεν should have an intransitive, whence reflexive, meaning. The Theraeans will be able to choose the division of the city into which they will be registered.

The most recent study of this inscription is that of Boffa 2021, who brings new insights into the structure of the document and into the circumstances of its composition. Following him, we changed slightly in this edition the reading at line 34, linking ἔτη ἐπὶ πέντε with the preceding verbs and inserting a comma after that phrase, which produces a clearer rule.

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All citation, reuse or distribution of this work must contain a link back to DOI: https://doi.org/10.60760/unibo/igcyrgvcyr2 and the filename (IGCyr000000 or GVCyr000), as well as the year of consultation.

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