Conceptions and Sources
and both shows every willingness in being constantly well disposed
towards the People of Erythrae and has contributed money without
interestbothtowardsthesendingawayofthesoldiersandtherazing
oftheacropolis,ithasseemedrighttotheCounciltocrownPhanes
sonofMnesitheuswithagoldcrownworthfiftyPhilippicstaters,and
toproclaimthisattheDionysia.Zenodotustheagonotheteistoseeto
theproclamation.He[Phanes]shouldbegrantedmaintenanceinthe
prytaneion.This decree is to be inscribed on twostelai,of which one
istobeplacedinthesanctuaryofAthenaandoneinthesanctuaryof
Heracles,sothatallmayknowthatthePeopleknowshowtoreturn
appropriatethanksforthebenefits[euergetemata]conferredonit.Itwaspreciselythisperfectlyconsciousandexplicitconventionofthere-
paymentofconcretebenefits(inthiscase,itseems,simplybribingaPersian,
orperhapsearlyHellenistic,garrisontogoaway)withhonoursandceremo-
nialrightsandtheimmortalisationoftheseonstoneinappropriateplaces,
whichwasthesourceofsomanyofthetensofthousandsofpublicinscrip-
tions surviving from the Greek cities.Taken individually, they may often
donomorethanalludetoelementsofsocial,economic,andreligiouslife;
theuseofaparticularcurrency,theobservanceoffestivals,theroleofcity
officials,publicmaintenanceforthemandavarietyofhonorandsinthepry-
taneion,ortheexistenceofcertainimportantsanctuaries.Takencollectively,
they may allow the exploration of a vast, but not infinite, range of ques-
tionsaboutancientGreeksocietyanditsinstitutions;andallthemoresoif
considered along with literary, numismatic, and archaeological evidence.^87
Giventhevolumeandcomplexityoftheepigraphicevidenceandthevari-
ous strategies available forapproaching it—whetheron a local basis,or by
studyingvocabulary,concepts,andideologies,orbyisolatingparticularinsti-
tutions—there is almost infinite scope forexploring what the inscriptions
dotellus,whetherexplicitlyinwhattheyreportorimplicitlyinthefunda-
mentalstructuresofthevaluesandassumptionswhichtheyembody.Inthe
vastmassoftheinscriptionsoftheGreekcitiesandsanctuaries,aboveallin
AsiaMinor,whichstretchfromthefourthcentury..tothethirdcentury
..,wecanforonceperhapsaffordnottoworrytoomuchaboutthemany
areasofsocialandeconomiclifetowhichtheywillonlyallude(orwhich
theywillpassoveraltogether)untilwehaveexploredmorefullyhowmuch
theydoconvey.
Inoneparticularareathe(relatively)unexploredpossibilitiesareobvious,
. Forarelevantexample,seeS.G.Miller,The Prytaneion: Its Function and Architectural
Form(Berkeley,).