Inventory number
ΕΑΜ 1476
Artist
Attic workshop
Category
Inscription
Period
Classical Period
Date
331/30 BC
Dimensions
Height: 0.59 m
Length: 0.46 m
Width: 0.14 m
Relief dimensions: 0.26 x 0.4 m
Relief depth: 0.02 m
Material
Marble from Penteli
Location
First Floor, North
The stele was found in three pieces on the Acropolis in 1876, during excavations in the Sanctuary of Asklepios. It was reassembled and partly restored. Preserved are part of the relief decoration and the first twelve lines of an honorary decree.
The decree, carved in the Ionic alphabet, was issued when the Eponymous Archon in Athens was Aristophanes, whose name and official rank are inscribed in large letters on the third line. With this resolution, the Citizen's Assembly of Athens honoured Reboulas, son of Seuthes III, king of the Thracian tribe of the Odrysians, who already held the title of Athenian citizen, the greatest honour that could be bestowed on a foreigner.
It is possible that the decree relates to the anti-macedonian policy of the Athenians and the support they provided to Thrace against the Macedonian kingdom, as the Thracian Chersonese (peninsula) lay along the trade route to the Black Sea, a crucial source of grain, raw materials and slaves for Athens.
The fragmentarily preserved relief portrays the goddess Athena conversing with the honoree behind whom can be distinguished two horses. The honoree is rendered at a smaller scale than Athena since he is a mere mortal.
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