It is known that during the fourth century B.C. Athens gave its citizens a sum of money called ekklesiastikon if they attended popular assemblies. According to Aristotle, this was intended to encourage poorer citizens to become involved in the democratic process; see E.M.Burke, "The Habit of Subsidization in Classical Athens", page 37 ( Google Books ).
This inscription shows that a similar payment was made by the city of Iasos, and that the process of payment was specified in great detail. The translation follows the revised Greek text of P.Gauthier, "L'inscription d'Iasos relative à l'ekklesiastikon" ( Persée ). For some recent observations on the use of ekklesiastikon at Iasos, see K.Konuk, "The Payment of the Ekklesiastikon at Iasos in Light of New Evidence" ( academia.edu ) and R.Fabiani, "Magistrates and phylai in late Classical and early Hellenistic Iasos", pp.469-470 ( PDF ).
. . . [in order that] the ekklesiastikon [may be] given . . .
On the first day of each month, the [treasurers] shall [give] to the neopoiai one hundred and eighty [(?) drachmas] as ekklesiastikon, and on the sixth day of each month and on (?) election days the [neopoiai] shall put out at the start of the day a jar with a capacity of one metrētēs, full of [water], which has a hole the size of a bean, [not] less than seven feet from the ground. The water shall be released at sunrise, and the neopoiai shall sit down. Next to each of the neopoiai there shall be placed a box, sealed by the presidents {prostatai}, which has an aperture two fingers long and one finger wide, and the name of the tribe shall be inscribed on the box. Each person going into the [assembly] shall give a token {pessos} [to the] neopoiēs of his tribe, after inscribing his name and his father's name on the token . . . The neopoiēs shall put [(?) the tokens into the box and] their names and their fathers' names shall be (?) written . . . a token immediately . . . the (?) seals of the boxes . . .
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