Metics and the Athenian 'Phialai'-Inscriptions: A Study in Athenian Epigraphy and Law

Beneath the shining world of the citizen of Classical Athens was the perilous shadow-realm of the resident foreigner, the metic. Emblematic of the status of metic was the requirement to pay a special metic tax, the metoikion . And if a metic failed to pay this tax, he or she would be sold into slavery, a fate that threatened no citizen of the classical Athenian polis. In the late fourth century BC the Athenians, in the face of widespread departure of metics in the face of economic recession and legal harassment, moved to improve metics' legal situation in order to entice metics back to Athens. It is to the context of these legal reforms of the metic condition, this volume argues, that a celebrated set of fourth-century BC Athenian inscriptions recording dedications of silver cups, phialai , belong. Known since the nineteenth century as the "Attic Manumissions", these inscriptions have been thought to be the result of a legal process by which slaves were set free. Here these inscriptions are published as a corpus for the first time. And it is argued that they represent not the freeing of slaves, but preserve instead the traces of prosecutions of metics for failure to pay the metoikion . In the new pro-metic atmosphere of the 330s BC, persons who sued metics for failing to pay the metic tax, but did not win a conviction, were fined to discourage frivolous suits, and part of that fine was dedicated to divinity in the form of a phiale .

Beneath the shining world of the citizen of Classical Athens was the perilous shadow-realm of the resident foreigner, the metic. Emblematic of the status of metic was the requirement to pay a special metic tax, the metoikion. And if a metic failed to pay this tax, he or she would be sold into slavery, a fate that threatened no citizen of the classical Athenian polis. In the late fourth century BC the Athenians, in the face of widespread departure of metics due to economic recession and legal harassment, moved to improve metics' legal situation in order to entice metics back to Athens. It is in the context of these legal reforms of the metic condition, this volume argues, that a celebrated set of fourth-century BC Athenian inscriptions recording dedications of silver cups, phialai, belong. Known since the nineteenth century as the Attic Manumissions, these inscriptions have been thought to be the result of a legal process by which slaves were set free. Here, these inscriptions are published as a corpus for the first time. And it is argued that they represent not the freeing of slaves, but preserve instead the traces of prosecutions of metics for failure to pay the metoikion. In the new pro-metic atmosphere of the 330s BC, persons who sued metics for failing to pay the metic tax, but did not win a conviction, were fined to discourage frivolous suits, and part of that fine was dedicated to divinity in the form of a phiale.

The world of the resident foreigner in Classical Athens, the metic, was perilous. Emblematic of metic status was the requirement to pay a special metic tax, the metoikion. If this tax were not paid, the metic would be sold into slavery. A celebrated set of Athenian inscriptions recording dedications of silver cups, phialai, here published for the first time as a corpus, reflect this procedure. Known since the nineteenth century as the "Attic Manumissions," these inscriptions have been thought to be the result of a legal process by which slaves were set free. But it is shown here that they preserve traces not of the liberation of slaves, but prosecutions of metics for failure to pay the metic tax. In the context of legislation in the 33os BC to improve the lot of metics and entice more to Athens, prosecutors who did not win conviction were fined, and a tithe was paid to the god in the form of a silver cup. --Book Jacket Contents 6 Acknowledgments 8 Introduction 10 Part I. History 12 I. Characteristics of the Phialai-Inscriptions 12 II. Interpretations 18 III. The Legal Disabilities and Vulnerability of Metics in Fourth-Century Athens 29 IV. Unsuccessful Prosecutions for aprostasiou, and Legal Protections for Metics 48 V. The Phialai-Inscriptions and the Lycurgan Reforms 60 VI. Defendants and Prosecutors in the Phialai-Inscriptions 70 VII. Conclusion 79 Part II. Epigraphy 82 I. Texts and Discussions 82 II. Summary of New Readings 143 III. Relative Dating 144 List of Photographs 146 Works Cited 148 Indices 156 Index 158 Index of Sources 164