128 SLOBODAN DUSANIG

THE YEAR OF THE ATHENIAN ARCHON ARCHIPPUS II (318/7)

An interesting decree honouring the epilektoi of the tribe Kekropis was passed on the last day of Gamelion of the year 318/7. The decree was published first in 1935 by J. H. Oliver (1). The badly damaged text runs in Oliver's reading as follows (the part after [επειδή], 11. 4-6):

[ο]ί επίλεκτοι Κεκροπίδο[ς ]

5 [αύ]τδν άπέκτειναν, τ[ο]ύς ΔΕ[ ]

[- - α]ύτούς έπήινεσεν κα[ί ]

The editor supposes that the participation of the epilektoi in the execution of a public enemy, probably one of the accusers of Phocion, was the cause of this distinction. L. 6 έπήινεσεν is taken by Oliver as somebody's personal praise addressed to the corps, presumably Cassander's. The reading and the interpretation of the decree have been considerably improved by P. Roussel (2). He found on Oliver's photograph that the second surviving letter of 1. 5 was an omega and not an omicron (3) and suggested in this connection the following text:

τους μεν]

5 [αύ]τών άπέκτειναν, τ[ο]ύς δε [έξέβαλον ? ]

basing his restoration partly on the decree of a deme (IG II2 1209) issued in honour of its epilektoi at the same time. Roussel pointed out the clearly military character of the corps of epilektoi and rightly rejected Oliver's idea of connecting the decree with civil retaliations that had taken place after the fall of democracy in Athens. In Roussel's opinion, the inscription quoted alludes to a war incident, possibly the same which