The gymnasium was one of the most important institutions in a Greek city, and the gymnasiarch who supervised it was treated with great respect. The king mentioned here is Ptolemaios Philometor - see R.S.Bagnall, "The Administration of the Ptolemaic Possessions outside Egypt", p.128 ( Google Books ).
It was resolved by the alumni of the gymnasium: since Baton son of Philon previously, when he was elected gymnasiarch for two years, governed it in an honourable manner, worthy of himself and of the respect of the alumni of the gymnasium; in recognition of which the state, holding him in high esteem, crowned him with a wreath of ivy for the aforesaid two years and as a memorial placed an inscription about this in the gymnasium on account of his honourable conduct and the care that he continually showed them in other matters; and again, being deemed worthy to remain as gymnasiarch for the 26th and 27th and 28th years, he maintained a fitting discipline and governed the place and the alumni in a yet more zealous and honourable manner; and he assisted to the best of his ability in regulating the gymnastic games that were held for Hermes and Herakles on behalf of the king, and from his own resources provided appropriate prizes for the contestants; upon which the state, observing that he displayed all eagerness and zeal concerning the gymnasium, bestowed golden crowns and honoured with a painted image Baton son of Philon, gymnasiarch consecutively for the third and fourth and fifth time, who during the aforesaid time governed the youths in a seemly and fitting manner; and now it is resolved to praise him for those things, and to crown him again with another golden crown, and to record the award of the golden crowns on a white tablet; and to inscribe this decree on a stone stele and to set it up in the most prominent place in the gymnasium; and to request him to remain as gymnasiarch for the 29th year, because all the alumni of the gymnasium will be grateful to him for doing this.
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