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Fifth century chronology and the Coinage Decree*

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  23 February 2012

Michael Vickers
Michael Vickers
Affiliation:
Ashmolean Museum, Oxford
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Extract

The debate over the chronology of the history of Athens in the fifth century BC has entered a new phase recently with the publication by Mortimer Chambers and his colleagues of physical evidence that seems to confirm Harold Mattingly's view that a crucial inscription bearing three-bar sigmas and tailed rhos (IG i 11) was cut during the archonship of Antiphon in 418/7, and not during that of Habron in 458/7 as was generally thought.

Type
Notes
Information
The Journal of Hellenic Studies , Volume 116 , November 1996 , pp. 171 - 174
Copyright
Copyright © The Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies 1996

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References

1 First expressed in his ‘The growth of Athenian imperialism’, Historia xii (1963) 257–73.

2 Chambers, M.H., Gallucci, R., and Spanos, P., ‘Athens’ alliance with Egesta in the year of Antiphon’, in Worthington, I. (ed.), Acta of the University of New England International Seminar on Greek and Latin Epigraphy (Bonn, 1990) 38–63Google Scholar; also published in ZPE lxxxiii (1990) 38–63; Chambers, M.H., ‘Photographic enhancement and a Greek inscription’, CJ lxxxviii (1992/1993) 25–31.Google Scholar For a survey of other readings, see Németh, G., ‘Was sieht ein Epigraphiker?’, Acta Classica Univ. Scient. Debrecen, xxvii (1991) 9–14.Google Scholar

3 Henry, A., ‘Through a laser beam darkly: space age technology and the Egesta Decree (IG I3 II)’, ZPE xci (1992) 137–46.Google Scholar

4 Chambers, M.H., ‘The archon's name in the Athens-Egesta alliance (IG I3 II)’, ZPE xcviii (1993) 171–4Google Scholar; idem, ‘Reading illegible Greek inscriptions: Athens and Egesta’, Thetis, Mannheimer Beiträge zur klassischen Archäologie und Geschichte Griechenlands und Zyperns i (1994) 49–52, pl. 5.

5 Tréheux, J., ‘Bulletin épigraphique: Attique’, REG civ (1991) 469.Google Scholar

6 Mattingly, H.B., ‘Epigraphy and the Athenian empire’, Historia xli (1992) 129.Google Scholar

7 Meiggs, R., ‘The dating of fifth-century Attic inscriptions’, JHS lxxxvi (1966) 98.Google Scholar

8 e.g. ATL ii. D 14; Meiggs, R. and Lewis, D.M., A selection of Greek historical inscriptions, 2nd edn (Oxford 1988) No. 45.Google Scholar

9 Tod, M.N., review of ATL in JHS lxix (1949) 105Google Scholar; Mattingly, H.B., ‘The Athenian Coinage Decree’, Historia x (1961) 148–88Google Scholar; Erxleben, E., ‘Das Münzgesetz des delisch-attischen Seebundes’, Archiv für Papyrusforschung xix (1969) 91–139Google Scholar; xx (1970) 66–132; xxi (1971) 145–162.

10 Schwertheim, E., ‘Ein Dekretfragment aus dem 5. Jh. v. Chr. aus Hamaxitus’, VI. Araştirma Sonuçlari Toplantisi (1988), 283–5.Google Scholar

11 Mattingly, H.B., ‘New light on the Athenian Standards Decree (ATL II, D 14)’, Klio lxxv (1993) 99–102.Google Scholar

12 Cf. Lewis, D.M., ‘The Athenian Coinage Decree’, in Carradice, I. (ed.), Coinage and administration in the Athenian and Persian empires (The Ninth Oxford Symposium on Coinage and Monetary History: B.A.R. International Series 343) (Oxford 1987) 56.Google Scholar

13 Mattingly (n. 11) 102.

14 Noe, S.R. ‘Two hoards of Persian sigloi’, NNM cxxxvi (1956) 42Google Scholar; cf. Hemmy, A.S., ‘The weight standards of ancient Greece and Persia’, Iraq v (1938) 65–81.CrossRefGoogle ScholarKarwiese, S., ‘Zur Metrologie der persischen Sigloi’, Res Orientates v (1993) 46–9Google Scholar argues for an ‘ideal weight’ for the heavier siglos of 5.574 grams related to a gold daric of 8.3611 grams. While the underlying principle is sound, these figures may be on the low side: see Vickers, M., ‘Metrological reflections: Attic, Hellenistic, Parthian and Sasanian gold and silver plate’, Studia Iranica xxiv (1995) 169–70.Google Scholar

15 [Dem.] xlix.32.

16 [Dem.] xlix.6.

17 W.E. Thompson in IG i3 pp. 318, 331–2.

18 Vickers, M., ‘Golden Greece: relative values, minae and temple inventories’, AJA xciv (1990) 613–25CrossRefGoogle Scholar; Vickers, M. and Gill, D.W.J., Artful crafts: ancient Greek silverware and pottery (Oxford 1994).Google Scholar

19 Although Stefan Karwiese kindly points out that they may be the equivalents of 666.66 sigloi (at 5.55 grams) and 266.66 sigloi (at 5.58 grams) respectively.

20 Vickers, M., ‘The metrology of gold and silver plate in classical Greece’, The Economics of Cult in the Ancient Greek World, Boreas (Uppsala) xxi (1992) 53–72.Google Scholar

21 Vickers (n. 17); idem, ‘Metrological reflections; the Georgian dimension’, in the Proceedings of the 7th Vani Symposium 1994 (forthcoming).

22 I am grateful to one of JHS's anonymous referees for having noted this.

23 Kent, R.G., Old Persian (New Haven 1950) 114, 157 (Wc).Google Scholar

24 Schmidt, E.F., The Treasury of Persepolis and other discoveries in the homeland of the Achaemenians (OIC xxi [Chicago 1939]) 62–3, fig. 43.Google Scholar

25 Xen. Anab. i.5.6.

26 Eddy, S.K., ‘Some irregular amounts of Athenian tribute’, AJP xciv (1973) 47–70.Google Scholar

27 Lewis (n. 12) 62.

28 Eddy (n. 19) 54.

29 The tribute figures are most conveniently given in Meiggs, R., The Athenian empire (Oxford 1972) 538–61.Google Scholar

30 By contrast, the ‘anomalous’ (H.B. Mattingly, ‘The Athenian Coinage Decree and the assertion of empire’, in Carradice [n. 12] 65) tribute payments made by Thracian Bergein 451, 446 and 434–31 may well have been made in Cyzicene staters, for 2880, 3240 and 3120 dr. are all divisible by 24, and produce 120, 135 and 130 staters respectively.

31 Cf. Lewis (n. 12) 62.

32 On which see Ostwald, M., From popular sovereignty to the sovereignty of law: law, society and politics in fifth-century Athens (Berkeley and Los Angeles 1986) 293Google Scholar; Vickers, M., Pericles on stage: political comedy in Aristophanes' earlier plays (Austin, Tx. 1995).Google Scholar

33 Chambers (n. 4) 52.

34 Langlotz, E., Zur Zeitbestimmung der strengrotfigurigen Vasenmalerei und der gleichzeitigen Plastik (Leipzig, 1920)Google Scholar, based in turn on the work of Ludwig Ross and Franz Studniczka: see Francis, E.D., Image and idea in fifth century Greece: art and literature after the Persian wars (London, 1990) 107–111.Google Scholar