HESPERIA 7I (2002) ARCH ITRAVAL Pages26I-293 ARROGANCE? DEDICATORYINSCRIPTIONS IN GREEKARCHITECTURE OF THE C LAS S I CA L P ER I OD ABST RACT Currentorthodoxyconsiders the proliferation of architravalinscriptionsnam- ing the donorsof architecturaldedications in the middleof the 4th centurya strikingdeparture from Greek practice of the High Classicalperiod, when modestself-effacement is supposedto havebeen the rule.I argue,however, that a comprehensiveview of the evidencesuggests substantial continuity ratherthan drastic change: that inscribing personal names on the architraves of Greekbuildings is not the productof foreigninfluence or royalarrogance, noran appropriationby individuals of rightspreviously exercised only by the state,but rather a naturaland predictable manifestation of widespreadGreek votiveand epigraphical habits of long standing. Dedicatoryinscriptions are attested on Greekarchitectural monuments fromthe 6th century B.C. onward.lThey record dedications made both by individualsand corporate groups (usually cities), and appear on a variety of structures,including temples, treasuries, altars, stoas, gateways, foun- tainhouses, and commemorative monuments. Extant examples for the 6th and5th centuries,however, are far fewer in number,and sometimes lessimpressive in appearanceaswell, than those from the 4th centuryand later.In fact,the second halfofthe 4th centurywitnesses a striking prolifer- ationof architecturaldedicatory inscriptions, most of themrecording gifts by individuals.2This proliferationhas oftenbeen considereda product of the greatchanges in Greeksocial and political life fromthe Classical 1. I am indebtedto morepeople on writtendrafts I amparticularly 2. No extantexamples of inscribed thanI canname for their comments gratefulto CarolLawton, Ronald architecturaldedications by individuals on andresponses to earlierversions Stroud,Hans Rupprecht Goette, areknown from the period460-360 of thispaper presented as talksat the MollyRichardson, and anonymous B.C., but morethan a dozendate be- Universityof California,Berkeley, referees.I wishalso to thankthe Arts tween360 and300. This dramatic the Universityof Virginia,McMaster ResearchBoard of McMasterUniver- increaseis not accompaniedby an University,and in Chicagoat the sityfor financialsupport, and the analogousupsurge in dedicatoryin- 99thAnnual Meeting of the Archaeo- DeutschesArchaologisches Institut scrlptlons. namlng . cltles . or corporate logicalInstitute of America.For advice, andEcole fran5caise d'Athenes for groups. information,references, and comments photographsand assistance. American School of Classical Studies at Athens is collaborating with JSTOR to digitize, preserve, and extend access to Hesperia ® www.jstor.org UMHOLTZ 262 GRETCHEN tothe Hellenisticperiod an indexof the declineof oldercivic values of thepolis and the riseof the ambitiousindividual, no longerrestrained by thereligious or socialscruples of the ClassicalAge.3 In thearchaeological record of theClassical period, architraval dedica- toryinscriptions by individualsseem to makea suddenand spectacular debut,not in the heartof the Greekworld, but rather in Caria,with the imposingdedications of Maussollosand his brother Idrieus in thesanctu- aryof Zeusat Labraunda(350s-340s B.C.).4 Theseinclude two imposing androns,one dedicated by Maussollos and one by Idrieus, a stoadedicated byMaussollos, and a peristyletemple, a gateway,a suite of oikoi,and anoth- erDoric building, all dedicatedby Idrieus.Many of thesemonuments carryprominent, elegantly carved dedicatory inscriptions in the centerof theirmarble architraves.5 In his publicationof theseinscriptions, Jonas Crampawrites: "It was contrary to theolder Greek spirit to recorda pub- licor private dedication of anedifice to (a)god(s) by an inscription on the wallsor on thearchitrave, though some few instances are known."6 In one formor anotherthis view is sharedby manyscholars.7 It continuesto be widelyaccepted in partbecause it fitsso wellwith much that we know,or thinkwe know,about Greek (and particularly Athenian) political and socialvalues of the 5th centuryand the hostilityof Atheniandemocracy towardanyone setting himself above his fellows.8 Accordingly, the phenom- enonof privatearchitectural dedication, and the prominentinscribing 3. Forexample, Lehmann (Samo- 4th-centuryexamples of architraval detailby Gunter(1985, pp. 118-119). thrace4.2, p.118) writes:"In the dec- inscriptions.Ongoing work by H. R. 7. See,for example, Hornblower theirdedi- 340-30 B.C.... the recordingof Goettesuggests that Athenian choregic 1982,p.274: "By inscribing of . ade . sucha personaldedication of a building monumentscould have taken the form catlonsln consplcuousposloons on t.ze . n a monumenta. lnscrlptlon on ltSen- ofbuildings with inscribedarchitraves architravesand facades of religious tablaturewas a noveltyattainable only asearly as the 360s B.C. (Goette1999). buildings,the Hekatomnidsbroke with bya memberof a royalfamily.... The 5. Forthese buildings and inscrip- a firmarchaic and classical Greek precedentfor dedications recorded on tions,see a fullerdiscussion below. tradition.The traditionwas that which thegreat altars of Greeksanctuaries 6. Crampa(Labraunda III.2, p. 5) enjoinedself-effacement by the wasoffered by city-states. and,in brieflyadumbrates a slow and sporadic dedicants,however generous, of such the fourthcentury, only royalty could developmentof the practice,which he buildings.... Hence,precedents for assumesuch prerogatives." Similarly, seesbecoming more common in the Hekatomnidpractice may be sought withparticular reference to temples, Hellenisticperiod and normal by frombeyond the Greekworld." Other Hornblower(1982, p.281) remarks: Romantimes. In lightof eastern examplesare listed in n. 3, above. "Greekpractice regarding temple precedents(Egyptian, Lydian, and 8. The institutionof ostracism,the dedicationsis sociallyilluminating. In Persian),however, he concludesthat cessationof the use of funeraryrelief few otherareas is it possibleto traceso it was"natural that Mausollus and sculpture,and the tendencyin por- clearlythe developmentfrom the clas- otherHecatomnids proudly recorded traitureto emphasizecommunally sicalcorporatism of old Greeceto the theirdedications of monumental valuedcivic virtues rather than indiv- assertivenessof the Hellenisticperiod." edificesby meansof inscriptions, idualfeatures all seemto supportthis Otherexamples include Morgan 1993, mostlyplaced on the architraves, generalview; see Scholl1996, pp.26- p. 19;and Labraunda III.2, p.5, both wherethey could be readin the most 29, n. 178.Yet, recent scholarship also .. quotedbelow, as well as Botermann . mpresslve* way. highlightsthe complexityof ongoing 1994,p. 182;Bean 1966, pp.58-59; The mostcomprehensive presenta- tensionsbetween individual and Picard1965, p.95. tionof the precedentsfor and signifi- communalprestige and the remarkable 4. The earliestof theseis the andron canceof the dedicatoryinscriptions rangeof responsesto thesetensions in dedicatedby Maussollos(Andron B) fromLabraunda is thatof Hornblower variousarenas of Athenianpublic life; on the terracebelow the Temple of (1982,pp. 286-288). The possible an excellentexample is PeterWilson's Zeus(discussed below). The monu- contributionsand significance of Near studyof the choregeia(Wilson 2000, mentsat Labraundamay soon have to Eastern(especially Persian) and esp.pp. 11-49, 109-197). surrendertheir status as the earliest Anatolianmodels are discussed in ARCHITRAVAL ARROGANCE? 263 of the nameof the donor,particularly in sucha highlyvisible location as thearchitrave, has been frequently viewed as an example of thecitizens of Greekpoleis adopting the practices of foreigners,tyrants, and kings.9 In the followingreconsideration of Greek architectural dedications, I arguethat the significanceand novelty of placinga dedicatoryinscription on a building'sarchitrave should not be overestimated,that foreign influ- enceis negligiblefor this Greek practice, and that fundamental political or religiouschanges need not be invokedto accountfor the proliferationof survivingexamples in mainlandGreece in the secondhalf of the4th cen- tury.The inscribedmonuments at Labraundahave deservedly played a prominentrole in scholarshipon thistopic (and will be discussedin more detailbelow), but they are not the sole,or eventhe primary,focus of this paper.The goal here is to assemblea morecomplete picture ofthe rangeof possibilities,precedents, and expectations that shaped Greek attitudes to- wardinscribing architectural dedications. In lightof theirremediable loss of one of the mostessential categories of evidencefor classicalpractice, . namey palntecWlnscnptlons on wooc Wor plaster, lt 1S verylmportant not to ignoreor marginalizethe potentiallyrelevant types of evidencethat do remain.Accordingly, the followingdiscussion takes a broadview, consid- eringepigraphical, aesthetic, and religious as well as sociopoliticalfactors, andtheir manifestations in othermedia as well as architecture.I shall ar- guethat architraval inscriptions should be viewednot as a departurefrom thetraditions of major(uninscribed) public architectural monuments, but ratheras a consistentmanifestation of long-standingepigraphical habits applicableto personalreligious dedications of alltypes. EXAMPLES FROM THE ARCHAIC AND EARLY CLASSICAL PERIODS The extantexamples of inscribedGreek architectural dedications from the Archaicand Early Classical periods are relatively few in number,but theyprovide important background for assessing later monuments. These