This long inscription is of interest both as a record of Greek colonisation on the Italian mainland and as a specimen of the western Greek dialect - it uses the digamma and heta characters, which became the letters F and H in the Latin alphabet. Not surprisingly, most of the literature about the inscription is in Italian; see for instance G. Zuchtriegel, "Alle origini dell'ellenismo in Magna Grecia: agricoltura, investimento e stratificazione sociale secondo le 'Tavole di Eraclea' e l'archeologia del paesaggio" ( PDF ), with plentiful maps and charts.
Some of the translation is adapted from the partial English translation by J. Carter, in "The Territory of Metaponto 1981-1982" ( PDF ). There is a French translation by I. Pernin, "Les baux ruraux en Grèce ancienne : corpus épigraphique et étude", pp.461-471 ( Persée ), and an Italian translation by F. Aversa & F. Frisone in "Problemi della 'Chora' Coloniale dall' Occidente al Mar Nero", pp.133-145 ( PDF ).
[A] { i } Ephor: Aristarchos son of Herakleidas. Month: Apellaios. The City and boundary inspectors {horistai} :
The boundary inspectors elected for the sacred lands of Dionysos :
We measured together, beginning from the boundary path {antomos} leading above Pandosia and separating the sacred lands from the private land up to the boundary path marking the division between the lands of Dionysos and the property of Kōneas, son of Dion, and of that we made four plots.
The first plot extends in width from the boundary path which flanks the property of Heroidas to the 30 foot path which crosses the sacred lands, and in length from the area of the springs {aporoa}, above to the Akiris River. In this plot were measured 201 schoinoi of arable land {erregeia}, and 646½ schoinoi of scrub {skiros}, uncultivated land {arrektos}, and woods {drymos}.
20 The second plot extends in width from the 30 foot path to the first boundary path, and in length from the area of the springs to the river. In this plot were measured 273 schoinoi of arable land, and 500 schoinoi of scrub, uncultivated land, and woods.
The third plot extends in width from the first boundary path leading alongside the 30 foot path to the second boundary path heading from the 30 foot path, and in length from the area of the springs to the river. In this plot were measured 312½ schoinoi of arable land, and 537½ schoinoi of scrub, uncultivated land, and woods.
30 The fourth plot extends in width from the second boundary path heading from the 30 foot path to the boundary path that marks the border between the sacred land and private land,and in length from the area of the springs to the river. In this plot were measured 308½ schoinoi of arable land, and 541½ schoinoi of scrub, uncultivated land, and woods.
The total of all the arable land is 1095 schoinoi, and the total of all the scrub, uncultivated land, and woods is 2225 schoinoi.
In addition, together we measured the alluvial land {"island"} which adjoins the uncultivated land. From this land, there had been lost 303½ schoinoi of arable land, 40 and 435 schoinoi of scrub, uncultivated land, and woods, as follows. For the first plot, next to the property of Heroidas, there were 76 schoinoi of arable land and 185 schoinoi of scrub, uncultivated land, and woods. For the fourth plot, next to the property of Phintias, there were 227½ schoinoi of arable land and 250 schoinoi of scrub, uncultivated land, and woods.
The total of all land we recovered for Dionysos was 738½ schoinoi. We recovered it, instituting legal procedures of thirty days against all of those who had turned sacred land into private land. 50 This same land, as much as we recovered, was then rented out for life for 300 medimnoi per year, and all the lands of Dionysos for 410 medimnoi and one kaddichos per year.
We also set up boundary stones {horoi} on the upper side: one on the boundary path towards Pandosia, which delimits Heroidas' land and marks the boundary between the sacred land and private land, having moved it from [the area of the] springs onto private land so that it will not disappear, submerged by the muck, like earlier boundary stones. Another, we placed on the boundary path which flanks the land of Phintias, near the papyrus grove and the canal, having likewise moved it onto private land. Other counter-markers {antoroi} we placed opposite these 60 along the carriage road that leads through the gully beside the wood, the slabs in the sacred ground, the counter-markers in the private land, leaving a boundary path of twenty feet; and we set up two central boundary stones on the road that leads from the city and from Pandosia through the sacred lands, and two central boundary stones in the hill-copses, all directly in line with each other; those boundary stones which face on the sacred side of the boundary path are inscribed "Sacred of the lands of Dionysos"; those in the private land are inscribed "counter-markers". Likewise, we placed two central boundary stones also on the boundary path which flanks the property of Phintias, two on the road which leads from the city 70 and from Pandosia across the sacred lands, and two on the wooded hills near the cheese makers.
We placed all of these accordingly in line with the boundary stones on the road that leads through the gully beside the wood; the boundary stones on the sacred side are inscribed "Sacred of the lands of Dionysos"; the boundary stones on the private land are inscribed "counter-markers", leaving a boundary path of twenty feet between them.
On the thirty-foot path that leads through the sacred lands on the upper side we placed two boundary stones thirty feet apart from each other, and we added two other counter-markers opposite them along the road that leads beside the wood, thirty feet apart from each other; 80 and in the area in the middle, on the thirty-foot path, we placed four boundary stones, one pair thirty feet apart from each other, and the other pair twenty feet. On the boundary path that is alongside the thirty-foot path we placed two boundary stones, twenty feet apart from each other, and another two counter-markers on the second boundary path, twenty feet apart from each other; these are all without writing, and delimit each of the plots for the tenants of the sacred lands.
The whole sacred land of Dionysos is delimited by boundary paths, one leading alongside the property of Heroidas and one leading alongside the property of Phintias from the area of the springs above to the Akiris river. Total of the boundary markers that we placed: on the boundary path that leads alongside the property of Heroidas, seven including the one on the side; 90 on the thirty-foot path, eight including the set of four markers; on the boundary path that is alongside the thirty-foot path and the next boundary path, two on each; on the boundary path alongside the property of Phintias, seven including the one by the papyrus corner and by the canal.
[B] Contract of the Lands of Dionysos
Ephor: Aristion. Month: Appellaios. The city and the polianomoi :
100 The tenants shall enjoy continued usufruct as long as they furnish guarantors and pay the rent yearly on the day before the month of Panamos. Further, if they pay ahead of time, they shall bring it to the public granary {damosios rhogos} and using the public chous they shall measure out, in the presence of sitagertai who are appointed each year, full measures of pure good grain, such as the land produces.
They shall also provide to the polianomoi, who are in office each year, guarantors for a period of five years whom the polianomoi are willing to accept. And if they should transfer the land that they have rented to someone else, or they should allocate it in bequest or they should sell the usufruct to others, those who take over or those for whose benefit the bequest is disposed or those who buy the usufruct shall present guarantors on the same conditions as those who originally entered into the lease. Anyone who does not produce guarantors or does not pay the rent as prescribed, shall pay double the rent for that year 110 and compensation to the polianomoi and sitagertai who are in office that year, to the extent of the difference between what was paid in rent for the first five years and the sum of the amount that was decreed for the first rent; and the plants grown on the property and the buildings there shall all belong to the city.
The tenants shall provide the following accommodation and maintenance works:
The tenant of the first plot, located along the boundary path which leads above Pandosia beside Heroidas' land as far as the thirty foot path, shall plant not less than ten schoinoi of vines, and in the soil suitable for olives, not less than four olive trees for every schoinos.
However, if the tenants should declare that the land is not suitable for growing olive trees, the polianomoi who are in charge that year and others that the polianomoi may choose from among the people, after swearing an oath shall investigate and report to the assembly, having examined the land in comparison with that of the neighbouring plots. The tenants shall also take care of the trees already present on the property: if any of the trees have fallen down due to old age 120 or because of winds, these shall be their (?) responsibility. They shall present everything, as indicated in the agreement, planted and in good condition, in the fifteenth year starting from the year following the year in which Aristion is ephor; if they have not planted the trees as prescribed, a fine of 10 silver coins for each tree shall be imposed for the olive trees, and for the vines two silver minas for each schoinos. The polianomoi in office for that year, having chosen from among the people no less than ten men to associate with them, shall investigate whether the tenants have cultivated everything according to the contract; they shall record the names of those who have cultivated in a report, and they shall also record how many trees have been planted; in the same way, if some tenants have not cultivated everything according to the contract, they shall record their names and impose the prescribed fines in addition to the other payments that are due.
If any one enters, or pastures his flocks, or carries off something from the sacred land, or cuts a tree, splits or saws it, or damages anything else, the tenant shall prosecute them to the fullest extent 130 and will keep for himself whatever he should get as compensation.
As for the ditches running across the lands and the creeks, the tenants shall not deepen, nor change their course; they shall neither dam up the water, nor divert it away. They shall clean up, as often as is necessary, the streams running beside their land. They shall not plough the paths which have been designated as such, nor block them or close them to traffic ; if they act in any of these ways contrary to the contract, the polianomoi shall fine them and punish them until they comply with the contract. No tenant shall cut, split, or saw any tree, nor shall another do it for him. He shall not make piles of earth beyond those already existing, nor holes more numerous than those already existing on the land which has been leased. He shall not make tombs in the sacred land, nor permit anyone else to do so. If he does not comply, he shall be held accountable for damaging the sacred land. He shall also build a house on these lands, a stall, a granary and a shed for storing straw. The stall, to measure 22 feet long by 18 feet wide; 140 the straw shed not less than 18 feet in length and 15 feet in width, and the granary, 15 feet in all directions. The tenants shall provide these completed, roofed, and furnished with doors at the same time when they are required to have planted the trees. If they do not provide them, they shall be fined six minas of silver for the stall, four for the shed, and three for the granary. They shall not sell, cut, or burn the wood in the woods or in the scrub. But for the outbuildings and for the vines, the tenants shall make use of as much wood as they need. They shall cut as much brush as is necessary for home needs and make use of the scrub and oak groves, each on his own plot. And as many vines and trees as grow old, ther cultivators of the land shall replace them so that the number is always the same.
Those who have rented the sacred property shall not mortgage these places 150 and shall not present the land or the outbuildings that are located there as a guarantee; otherwise, they shall be liable to prosecution according to the laws. In the event that one of those who are cultivating the sacred land dies without children and without a will, all the produce of the land shall belong to the polis. If by war the tenants are prevented from exercising the usufruct, the rent shall be revoked as the Herakleians decide and neither they nor the guarantors shall be responsible for the contractual obligations.
The guarantors at any time, along with the money that they have pledged, shall be held responsible for the payments and penalties and fines and compensation; there shall be no dispute or judicial review, and they shall in no way obstruct the city or those who are acting on behalf of the city. Otherwise, their actions shall be void.
2. The tenant who rents the second plot of land shall cultivate the land from the thirty-foot path that leads through the rectangular plots, up to the first boundary path, whichever that is; 160 and he shall act in every way in accordance with the contract, and both he himself and his guarantors shall be held to account if he does not act in accordance with the contract.
3. The tenant who rents the third plot of land shall cultivate the land from the boundary path above the thirty-foot path to the second boundary path from the thirty-foot path and he shall act in every way in accordance with the contract, and both he himself and his guarantors shall be held to account if he does not act in accordance with the contract.
4. The tenant who rents the fourth plot of land from the polianomoi in the year of Aristion as ephor, and from the boundary inspectors, and from the polianomoi in the year of Aristarchos son of Herakeidas as ephor - namely HA Flowers : Philonymos son of Philonymos, HA Beak : Herakleidas so of Timokrates - shall cultivate the land from the third boundary path away from the thirty-foot path up to the fourth boundary path, which marks the border of the land of Dionysos and of the property of Phintias son of Kratinos. The appointed tenant shall work the land in every other respect in accordance with the contract, as is prescribed also for the other tenants; and he shall take the best possible care of the vines; 170 and when any of the vines wither from age, he shall plant additional ones, so that there is always the same number of cultivated schoinoi as now, that is 24 schoinoi. If he does not do this, he shall be condemned to pay a fine of two minas for each schoinos. As far as the olive trees and figs are concerned, and all the other fruit trees which exist on this plot, [the tenant] shall dig trenches around them, heap up the earth, and perform the necessary pruning.
If the appointed tenant does not act in accordance with the contract or not within the prescribed timescales, he shall be accountable to the polianomoi and sitagertai of that year, as is written elsewhere in the contract; and if the polianomoi and sitagertai of any year do not act completely in accordance with the contract, they too shall be accountable, as is written in the contract.
On these terms, 180 the first allotment from the property of Heroidas was leased to : ME Box : Bormion son of Philotas, for 57 medimnoi and one kaddichos.
Guarantor for his person : ME Box : Arkas son of Philotas.
The second allotment was leased to : HA Beak : Damarchos son of Philonymos, for 40 medimnoi.
Guarantor for his person : : Theodoros son of Theodoros.
The third allotment was leased to : FE Hand : Peisias son of Leontiskos, for 35 medimnoi.
Guarantor for his person : KN Balls : Aristodamos .
The fourth allotment was leased to : AL Tub : Philippos son of Philippos, for 278 medimnoi.
Guarantor for his person : PE Caduceus : Apollonios son of Heraklētos.
Secretary : FE Hand : Aristodamos, son of Symmachos.
Surveyor {gametras} : Chaireas, son of Damon, citizen of Neapolis.
[C] { ii } Ephor: Dazimos. The City and the boundary inspectors {horistai} :
The boundary inspectors elected for the sacred lands of Athena in Koilā :
10 We measured together, beginning from the boundary path which leads from Kainai to the thirty foot road which leads to the sea, and from the boundary path bordering on the creek where cattle drink {boubetis}, which runs from the city across the fields {guai}. There resulted an area of seven guai, and from the creek where cattle drink to the thirty-foot path thirteen guai. From the thirty-foot path to the other thirty-foot path that leads through the plots of one and a half guai, there resulted nine plots of one and a half guai each.
Crossing the thirty-foot path, we then measured towards the twenty-two-foot (?) road and measured out the tenth plot of one and a half guai. We found that the plots of three guai were not complete as they had been in the past, 20 but only two and a half guai remained of two of the plots of three guai; some persons had turned the rest into private property. We restored this land to Athena as it was in the past. The land from the twenty-two-foot (?) road, next to the Akiris river between the hundred-foot road and the Herakleia road, had also all been turned into private property by some persons. Some of them gave up the land after an argument, and the others we prosecuted with thirty-day trials. We restored this land to the goddess as it was in the past; we divided it and placed boundary stones on each plot.
Alongside the tenth plot of one and a half guai we created the first plot of three guai, 30 adding to the two and a half guai some of the land that we recovered, so that it was a full three guai in width, and its length was from the hundred-foot road up along the boundary stones to the Herakleia road; its measurement was 138 schoinoi, 8 oregmata, of which 133 schoinoi, 26 oregmata, one foot were unplanted, and 4 schoinoi, 11 oregmata, 3 feet were cultivated with vines. This land was leased for the first five years for 269 medimnoi, one chous, two choinikes.
Going from this plot of three guai towards the twenty-two-foot (?) road we measured a second plot of three guai, in width up along the boundary stones, and in length from the hundred-foot road to the Herakleia road; its measurement was 139 schoinoi, of which 123 schoinoi were unplanted, 40and 16 schoinoi were cultivated with vines. This land was leased for 695 medimnoi.
Crossing the twenty-two-foot (?) road we then measured a first plot alongside the hundred-foot road, in which the land is good for growing vines, and we cut a common access road of twenty feet, from the twenty-two-foot (?) road to the building, and we cut a road of eight feet from the building alongside the vines as far as the river. And going from the twenty-two-foot (?) road we measured the area towards the Akiris in the direction of the transversal strip of land, which starts from the common access road that leads to the hundred-foot path. Its measurement was 59½ schoinoi, of which 51 schoinoi 7 oregmata were unplanted, and 8 schoinoi 8 oregmata were cultivated with vines. This plot was leased for 446 medimnoi, 4 kaddichoi.
50 The second plot, where the building is, has its length from the twenty-two-foot (?) road to the trench by the river, and its width from the boundary stones and the 8-foot approach road that leads towards the river up to the next boundary stones. Its measurement was 63 schoinoi 12 oregmata; to this plot we assigned the first strip of vines that is next to the 100-foot path, measuring 8 schoinoi 26 oregmata 2 feet; and the measurement of the whole plot was 72 schoinoi 8 oregmata 2 feet. This plot was leased for 632 medimnoi.
The third plot has its length from the twenty-two-foot (?) road to the trench by the river, and its width from the boundary stones of the second plot to the next boundary stones. Its measurement was 66½ schoinoi of unplanted land; 60 to this plot we assigned the second strip of vines heading from the 100-foot path, measuring 7 schoinoi 17 oregmata; and the measurement of the whole plot was 74 schoinoi 2 oregmata. This plot was leased for 630 medimnoi, 2 kaddichoi, 2 choinikes.
The fourth plot has its length from the twenty-two-foot (?) road to the trench by the river, and its width from the boundary stones of the third plot to the next boundary stones and to the boundary path that cuts through the plots of land, the road that we cut from the twenty-two-foot (?) road to the river, to be used in common by all the tenants of the sacred land. The measurement of the land is 68 schoinoi 13 oregmata of unplanted land. To this plot we assigned the third strip of vines heading from the 100-foot path, the strip that adjoins the 8-foot approach road, measuring 15 schoinoi 7 oregmata; 70 and the measurement of the whole plot was 83 schoinoi 20 oregmata. This plot was leased for 630 medimnoi.
Starting from the twenty-foot boundary path that cuts through the land and leads to the river, we measured in length to the Herakleia road, and in width from the twenty-two-foot (?) road to the first boundary stones, and we left a twenty-foot access road leading from the twenty-foot road to the building. The measurement of this plot was 62 schoinoi of unplanted land. To this plot we assigned the first row of vines that is alongside the twenty-two-foot (?) road, the twenty-two-foot (?) road 6½ schoinoi; and the measurement of the whole plot was 68½ schoinoi. This plot was leased for 856 medimnoi, 4 kaddichoi.
80 The second plot heading from the twenty-two-foot (?) road, where the building is, has its length from the boundary path leading to the river up to the Herakleia road, and its width from the boundary stones to the next boundary stones; and its measurement was 59½ schoinoi of unplanted land. To this plot we assigned the second row of vines heading from the twenty-two-foot (?) road, measuring 6½ schoinoi; and the measurement of the whole plot was 66 schoinoi. This plot was leased for 458 medimnoi, 14 kaddichoi, 2 choinikes.
The third plot heading from the twenty-two-foot (?) road, towards the vines, has its length from the boundary path leading to the river up to the Herakleia road, and its width from the boundary stones to the next boundary stones; and its measurement was 63½ schoinoi of unplanted land. 90 To this plot we assigned the third row of vines heading from the twenty-two-foot (?) road, measuring 6½ schoinoi; and the measurement of the whole plot was 70 schoinoi. This plot was leased for 306 medimnoi, 4 kaddichoi.
The fourth plot heading from the twenty-two-foot (?) road has its length from the boundary path leading to the river up to the approach road leading to the vines, and its width from the boundary stones to the next boundary stones; and its measurement was 48 schoinoi of unplanted land. To this plot we assigned the fourth row of vines heading from the twenty-two-foot (?) road, measuring 6½ schoinoi; and the measurement of the whole plot was 54½ schoinoi. This plot was leased for 235 medimnoi, 15 kaddichoi.
The fifth plot heading from the twenty-two-foot (?) road 100 has its length from the boundary path leading to the river up to the approach road leading along the vines, and its width from the boundary stones to the island; and its measurement was 64 schoinoi of unplanted land. To this plot we assigned the fifth row of vines heading from the twenty-two-foot (?) road, measuring 7 schoinoi, 17 oregmata, 2 feet; and the measurement of the whole plot was 71 schoinoi, 17 oregmata, 2 feet. This plot was leased for 580 medimnoi, 15 kaddichoi.
The sixth plot is the angular piece of land alongside the vines, adjoining the Herakleia road and the river, with its width from the boundary stones to the island; and its measurement was 30 schoinoi of unplanted land. To this plot we assigned 8½ schoinoi of vines adjacent to the place; 110 and the measurement of the whole plot was 38½ schoinoi. [This plot was leased for] . . . medimnoi . . .
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