The Public Seal of Athens

DURING his single day of office, the President of the Athenian Boule, the brIardr-s r7CV 7rpvrdUvewV, kept in his possession the keys of the state treasuries, and the public seal. So says the author of the Constitution of Athens, writing probably in the twenties of the fourth century, and modern historians have usually assumed that the statement holds good for the fifth century as well.' It is the purpose of this note to suggest that Athens did not have a public seal until just before the middle of the fourth century. The most definite and useful evidence on the subject is provided by three inscriptions. The first of these, I.G. I2. 66, the decree of Kleinias of 447 B.C.,2 lays down rules and regulations for the collection of the tribute. It is provided that Athens will make seals for the allied cities; when these cities pay their tribute they are to write down the amount they are sending on a tablet and seal it with the seal; the sealed tablet is then to be brought to Athens by the same officers who bring the tribute, and both tablet and tribute are to be presented simultaneously to the boule.3 We may infer from this that in the middle of the fifth century the use of state seals was ad hoc-Athens does not trouble to inquire whether the allied cities have a state seal or not: for tribute-paying purposes they are to use the one she makes for them. It seems clear that no one is interested in the question what device is to be used upon

Ancient history · Seal (emblem · American Constitutional Law and Politics · Classical Antiquity Studies · History · Organic Chemistry Synthesis Methods

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