Hellenotamiae

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Hellenotamiai (Attic Greek: ἑλληνοταμίαι [1] ) was an ancient Greek term indicating a group of public treasurers. [2] The Hellenotamiae were ten magistrates appointed by the Athenians (one from each tribe, possibly by election) to receive the contributions of the allied states, and were the chief financial officers of the Delian League. [3]

Attic Greek Ancient Greek dialect

Attic Greek is the Greek dialect of the ancient city-state of Athens. Of the ancient dialects, it is the most similar to later Greek and is the standard form of the language that is studied in ancient Greek language courses. Attic Greek is sometimes included in the Ionic dialect. Together, Attic and Ionic are the primary influences on Modern Greek.

Ancient Greece Civilization belonging to an early period of Greek history

Ancient Greece was a civilization belonging to a period of Greek history from the Greek Dark Ages of the 12th–9th centuries BC to the end of antiquity. Immediately following this period was the beginning of the Early Middle Ages and the Byzantine era. Roughly three centuries after the Late Bronze Age collapse of Mycenaean Greece, Greek urban poleis began to form in the 8th century BC, ushering in the Archaic period and colonization of the Mediterranean Basin. This was followed by the period of Classical Greece, an era that began with the Greco-Persian Wars, lasting from the 5th to 4th centuries BC. Due to the conquests by Alexander the Great of Macedon, Hellenistic civilization flourished from Central Asia to the western end of the Mediterranean Sea. The Hellenistic period came to an end with the conquests and annexations of the eastern Mediterranean world by the Roman Republic, which established the Roman province of Macedonia in Roman Greece, and later the province of Achaea during the Roman Empire.

Treasurer person responsible for running the treasury of an organization

A treasurer is the person responsible for running the treasury of an organization. The significant core functions of a corporate treasurer include cash and liquidity management, risk management, and corporate finance.

They were first appointed in 477 BC, when Athens, in consequence of the conduct of the Spartan general Pausanias, had obtained the command of the allied states. The money paid by the different states, which was originally fixed at 460 talents, was deposited in Delos, which was the place of meeting for the discussion of all common interests; and there can be no doubt that the Hellenotamiai not only received, but were also the guardians of these monies, which were called by Xenophon Hellenotamia (Ἑλληνοταμία). [4] [5] [6] [7]

Classical Athens city-state in ancient Greece

The city of Athens during the classical period of Ancient Greece was the major urban center of the notable polis (city-state) of the same name, located in Attica, Greece, leading the Delian League in the Peloponnesian War against Sparta and the Peloponnesian League. Athenian democracy was established in 508 BC under Cleisthenes following the tyranny of Isagoras. This system remained remarkably stable, and with a few brief interruptions remained in place for 180 years, until 322 BC. The peak of Athenian hegemony was achieved in the 440s to 430s BC, known as the Age of Pericles.

Sparta city-state in ancient Greece

Sparta was a prominent city-state in ancient Greece. In antiquity the city-state was known as Lacedaemon, while the name Sparta referred to its main settlement on the banks of the Eurotas River in Laconia, in south-eastern Peloponnese. Around 650 BC, it rose to become the dominant military land-power in ancient Greece.

Pausanias (general) ancient Spartan general

Pausanias was a Spartan regent, general, and war leader for the Greeks who was suspected of conspiring with the Persian king, Xerxes I, during the Greco-Persian Wars. What is known of his life is largely according to Thucydides' History of the Peloponnesian War, together with a handful of other classical sources.

The office was retained after the treasury was transferred from Delos to Athens in 454/453 BC, [3] on the proposal of the Samians. [6] [8] From 453 BC they paid the First Fruits to the treasury of Athena, and disbursed payments on the authority of the assembly, usually to Athenian general on campaign, but also for construction (e.g. Acropolis buildings). Some time around the oligarchic coup of 411 BC, a board of twenty Hellenotamiae were given authority over the state treasury of Athens, as well as that of the Delian League. [3]

Treasury government department related to finance

A treasury is either

Delos island in Greece

The island of Delos, near Mykonos, near the centre of the Cyclades archipelago, is one of the most important mythological, historical, and archaeological sites in Greece. The excavations in the island are among the most extensive in the Mediterranean; ongoing work takes place under the direction of the French School at Athens, and many of the artifacts found are on display at the Archaeological Museum of Delos and the National Archaeological Museum of Athens.

Athens Capital and largest city of Greece

Athens is the capital and largest city of Greece. Athens dominates the Attica region and is one of the world's oldest cities, with its recorded history spanning over 3,400 years and its earliest human presence starting somewhere between the 11th and 7th millennium BC.

The office was abolished on the conquest of Athens by the Peloponnesians in 404 BC. The Hellenotamiae were not reappointed after the restoration of the democracy; for which reason the grammarians give us little information regarding their responsibilities and duties. The German classical scholar Philipp August Boeckh, however, concluded from inscriptions that they were probably ten in number, chosen by lot (like the treasurers of the gods) out of the Pentacosiomedimni , and that they did not enter upon their office at the beginning of the year, but after the Panathenaea and the first Prytaneia. With regard to their duties, Böckh supposes that they remained treasurers of the monies collected from the allies, and that payments for certain objects were assigned to them. In the first place they would of course pay the expenses of wars in the common cause, as the contributions were originally designed for that purpose; but as the Athenians in course of time considered the money as their own property, the Hellenotamiai had to pay the Theorica and military expenses not connected with wars on behalf of the common cause. [9] [10]

The Peloponnesian League was an alliance in the Peloponnesus from the 6th to the 4th centuries BC, dominated by Sparta. It is known mainly for being one of the two rivals in the Peloponnesian War, against the Delian League, which was dominated by Athens.

Theorica was in ancient Athens the name for the fund of monies expended on festivals, sacrifices, and public entertainments of various kinds; and also monies distributed among the people in the shape of largesses from the state.

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Choregos

In the theatre of ancient Greece, the chorêgos was a wealthy Athenian citizen who assumed the public duty, or choregiai, of financing the preparation for the chorus and other aspects of dramatic production that were not paid for by the government of the polis or city-state. Modern Anglicized forms of the word include choragus and choregus, with the accepted plurals being the Latin forms choregi and choragi. In modern Greek the word χορηγός is synonymous with the word "grantor".

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The Second Athenian League was a maritime confederation of Aegean city-states from 378–355 BC and headed by Athens, primarily for self-defense against the growth of Sparta and secondly, the Persian Empire.

The Delia were festivals and games celebrated in classical antiquity at the great celebratory gathering (panegyris) on the island of Delos.

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The apodektai were public officers at Athens, who were introduced by Cleisthenes in the place of the ancient kolakretai (κωλακρέται). They were ten in number, one for each Athenian tribe (phyle), and their duty was to receive all the ordinary taxes and distribute them to the separate branches of the administration, which were entitled to them. They accordingly kept lists of persons indebted to the state, made entries of all monies that were paid in, and erased the names of the debtors from the lists. They had the power to decide causes connected with the subjects under their management; though if the matters in dispute were of importance, they were obliged to bring them for decision into the ordinary courts.

The Aphrodisia festival was an annual festival held in Ancient Greece in honor of the goddess of love and beauty, Aphrodite. It took place in several Ancient Greek towns, but was especially important in Attica and on the island of Cyprus, where Aphrodite was celebrated with a magnificent celebration. The festival occurred during the month of Hekatombaion, which modern scholars recognize as starting from the third week in July to the third week of August on the Gregorian calendar. Aphrodite was worshipped in most towns of Cyprus, as well as in Cythera, Sparta, Thebes, Delos, and Elis, and her most ancient temple was at Paphos. Textual sources explicitly mention Aphrodisia festivals in Corinth and in Athens, where the many prostitutes that resided in the city celebrated the festival as a means of worshipping their patron goddess. Though no textual sources expressly mention an Aphrodisia festival in Cythera, Thebes, or Elis, it likely occurred since textual and iconographical sources indicate that Aphrodite Pandemos had a cult following in these areas. The Aphrodisia festival was one of the most important ceremonies in Delos, though we do not know much about the details of the celebration. The inscriptions merely indicate that the festival required the purchase of ropes, torches and wood, which were customary expenses of all Delian festivals.

References

  1. ↑ In an Old Attic Greek inscription the word is found as ℎελλενοταμίασι: SEG 39:21 (archaic spelling, inflected form).
  2. ↑ Smith, William (1870), "Hellenotamiae", in Smith, William, Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities , Boston: Little, Brown and Company, pp. 590–591
  3. 1 2 3 Gomme, Arnold Wycombe (1996), "hellenotamiai", in Hornblower, Simon, Oxford Classical Dictionary , Oxford: Oxford University Press
  4. ↑ Xenophon, de Vectig. v. 5
  5. ↑ Thucydides, i.95
  6. 1 2 Plutarch, Aristides 24-25
  7. ↑ Andocides, de Pace p. 107
  8. ↑ Diodorus Siculus, xii. 38
  9. ↑ Philipp August Boeckh, The Public Economy of Athens p. 176, 2nd ed.
  10. ↑ Corp. Inscrip. No. 147

Sources

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William Smith (lexicographer) English lexicographer

Sir William Smith was an English lexicographer. He also made advances in the teaching of Greek and Latin in schools.

<i>Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities</i> book

A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities is an English language encyclopedia first published in 1842. The second, improved and enlarged, edition appeared in 1848, and there were many revised editions up to 1890. The encyclopedia covered law, religion, architecture, warfare, daily life, and similar subjects primarily from the standpoint of a classicist. It was one of a series of reference works on classical antiquity by William Smith, the others cover persons and places. It runs to well over a million words in any edition, and all editions are now in the public domain.

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