APPENDIX 9

THE IMPLICATIONS OF KEEPING RACEHORSES1

1 In a subsistence economy, as Greece as a whole seems to have been, some speak of the horse as a useless animal (e.g. Sallares (1991) 311). But there was a small but not insignificant minority who could afford to keep them, and in the fifth century many poleis could field a few hundred ;2 150 years earlier called his second taxation category hippeis, even if he could only have had a few hun- dred men in mind. Also, some areas of Greece were spoken of as horse rearing: Elis, , Sicyon, Argos, and Thessaly.3 It is unclear how extensive this was in any given place, and whether horses were bred essentially for internal use or also for export.

2 The four-horse chariot race at Olympia goes back to 680, accord- ing to Paus 5.8.7; for the 71 games down to 400, the names of 39 victors survive (55%). In addition to men from , Sparta, and

1 This appendix is complementary to the excellent discussion of the economics of Spartan horse keeping in Hodkinson (2000) 312–17, and indeed follows him on several points. It is not intended as a direct discussion of the costs of keeping one horse, whether for purely private use or as part of an obligation to participate in the cavalry of one’s . See Anderson (1961) 128–39 for the economics of main- taining one horse; and cf next note and para 5. 1 medimnos = 48 choinices; follow- ing Foxhall and Forbes (1982) 44, 46, 1 Attic choinix = 1.087 litre; of wheat = 0.839 kg; of barley = c1.1 kg. For human consumption, the Greeks used barley flour, alphita, for which we may take an average extraction rate of 65%; 1 choinix alphita = 0.699 kg.; 1 kg wheat = 3340 calories; 1 kg alphita = 3320 calories. 2 For mainland Greece, see Spence (1993) 2–9, 17–30; van Wees (2004) 65–8. Various numbers are spoken of for Athens: 300 (Andoc 3.5; Aeschin Fals Leg 173; 600 per Schol Ar Eq 627), subsequently increased to 1200 (Thuc 2.13.8; Ath Pol 24.7; Andoc 3.7; Aeschin Fals Leg 174, Schol Ar Eq 627 (1000, Ar Eq 225); gen- erally Spence 9–17. For whether there was ever a naucraric cavalry see Appx 2 para 4. 3 Spence (1993) 7 (Elis) 19 (Boeotia) and 23 (Thessaly); for Boeotia and espe- cially Thessaly he can cite evidence other than . He dismisses Sparta and Argos, 3–4, on the basis that they are not known to have had cavalry until the later fifth or fourth centuries. But if Homer is good enough evidence for Elis, why not Argos also (called flppÒtrofow at Pind Nem 10.41)? For Sparta see Alc I 122d; Sicyon, Griffin (1982) 30. 514 appendix 9

Sicyon, noted by , some 10 other poleis figure.4 We might imagine that a typical contest might have 5 or 6 teams. As noted on ofik¤hw, §35.1, to rear a team of horses for the event would enhance your status in the eyes of your fellow-citizens; to win the race would certainly do so. It is instructive to look at the costs of this “liturgy”, both in terms of food supply and size of land-holdings; it not being relevant here whether the holding was that of the individual or his family, so that a man such as Miltiades was, in effect, a life tenant (cf para 9).

3 Any such discussion is circumscribed by two points. We cannot assume that costs were either perceived or discharged in coinage terms; indeed, they could not be until a polis acquired coinage, and it is clear that the racing predated that. Secondly, it is very hard to translate drachmae into modern terms: cf on pentÆkonta, §136.3. Evidence from Athens indicates daily wages of half or one drachma per day during the fifth century. It would mean that a man with no other resources, e.g. land, might have an “income” of some 180–360 drachmae per annum; how far that corresponded to reality, and for how many citizens, is another question. In a family which could depend on land for its livelihood much less actual cash might well pass through its hands.

4 No doubt there were those with large land holdings who could maintain an establishment large enough to breed horses; the costs associated with that would be even higher than those discussed here; although after a time, animals would not have to be purchased, and something might be recouped by the sale of animals.5 In practice

4 I confine the statistics to the end of the fifth century, and use the numbers in Moretti (1957): Athens, 10 times (81, 106, 120, 124, 127, 164, 169, 176, 320, 345); Sparta, 12 times (110, 113, 117, 157, 195, 305, 311, 315, 324, 327, 332, 339); Elis, 39, 364; Sicyon, 52, 96; Argos, 233; Thebes, 33, 136, 206; uncertain, perhaps Sparta or Thessaly, 278. From outside Greece proper: , 151, 185; Agrigentum, 220; Syracuse, 246; Camarina, 292; Cyrene, 268; Macedonia, 349. While most of these winners were individuals, three are “group” entries: the citizens of Dyspontion (probably then in Elis: Roy (2002) 234–5), 39, Argos, 233, and two men of Thebes jointly, 206. For no 339 see on paradido›, §103.2. Several were rulers: of Sicyon (both victories); Demaratos, king of Sparta, 157; Gelon of Gela, 185; Hieron tyrant of Syracuse, 246; the kings of Cyrene and Macedonia, 268, 349. Note that a starting date of 648 is also given: Drees (1968) 41, following RE 17 2529–30 (Zielen). 5 So Arist Pol 1289b33–40 and 1321a10–13 associated flppotrof¤a with owning