The Sacred and Civil Calendar of the Athenian Year

243 Pages·8.499 MB·English

by  Jon D. Mikalson

THE SACRED AND
CIVIL CALENDAR OF THE
ATHENIAN YEAR
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THE
SACRED AND CIVIL
CALENDAR OF THE
ATHENIAN YEAR
JON D. MIKALSON
PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
PRINCETON, NEW JERSEY
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COPYRIGHT © 1975 BY PRINCETON UNIVERSITY PRESS
Published by Princeton University Press,
Princeton and London
All Rights Reserved
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication data will
be found on the last printed page of this book
Publication of this book has been aided by
The Andrew W. Mellon Foundation
This book has been composed in Monotype Times Roman
Printed in the United States of America
by Princeton University Press,
Princeton, New Jersey
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TO MARY
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CONTENTS
PREFACE ix
ABBREVIATIONS xi
I. INTRODUCTION
1. History of the Study 1
2. Meeting Days and Festival Days 3
II. PROLEGOMENA TO THE CALENDAR
1. Denotation of Days 8
2. Validity of Restored Texts 10
3. Athenian Monthly Festival Days 13
III. CALENDAR OF THE ATHENIAN YEAR 25
IV. CONCLUSIONS
1. Meeting Days of the Ekklesia 182
2. Festival Days and Meeting Days of the Ekklesia 186
3. Meeting Days of the Boule 193
4. Festival Days and Meeting Days of the Boule 196
5. Probable Dates for Major Athenian Festivals 197
APPENDIX I. CALENDAR OF DATED FINANCIAL TRANSACTIONS 207
APPENDIX II. PSEUDO-PSEPHISMATA 215
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PREFACE
THE INVENTION and early use of calendars in ancient Greek society
were an attempt to systematize and regularize the celebration of
religious festivals within the city-state. The calendars, which differed
markedly from one city-state to another, were thus religious institu-
tions. These calendars were prescriptive in that they proclaimed that
specific religious festivals and sacrifices were to be held every year
on specific days of specific months. The original purpose of these
calendars is reflected in the surviving fragments of the sacred calen-
dars of the state of Athens and of the demes. But these calendars also
provided a convenient framework by which one could record secular
activities such as meetings and financial transactions. And thus in
antiquity the Greeks used their calendars for both sacred and secular
purposes: to prescribe the days of festivals, and to record the specific
dates of secular activities.
It was my interest in Greek religion and in the Athenian cults and
religious festivals which led me to the study of the Athenian calendar.
In this I differ from other scholars who devote their attention to the
Athenian calendar. They are, almost without exception, epigraphists
whose primary interest is in restoring the fragmentary texts of dated
decrees of the Athenian legislative assemblies.
This fundamental difference of approach to the Athenian calendar
has resulted in two major differences in the treatment of the subject.
Firstly, whereas previous studies have concentrated solely on the
epigraphical and secular evidence, I have collected all the literary,
scholiastic, lexicographic, and epigraphic evidence which relates to
the dating of all sacred and secular activities in the Athenian year.
Secondly, I have attempted to ascertain and gather only what can be
proved conclusively concerning the dating of these festivals, meetings,
and other activities. My goal has not been to increase our store of
restored texts, but rather to determine and collect the evidence which
can be proved valid as historical evidence. I have, therefore, proposed
and followed rigid criteria for the acceptance of restored epigraphical
texts as evidence. I have then used only that evidence which fulfills
these criteria in discussing certain basic problems concerning the
Athenian calendar. My criteria are conservative, and intentionally
so. The great dissension which has marked recent calendric studies
has been occasioned primarily by hypothetical theories based on
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