Sometimes archeologists find something that shows how far we have come as a species. For example, humans used to bathe with water that was full of curses or mummify monkeys – practices we have almost completely abandoned in recent years.
Sometimes, we discover how similar our ancestors were to us. This is the case with a marble tablet that dates back nearly two millennia. Its ancient Greek inscription turns out to be a class yearbook.
“The inscription is the list of friends who went though the ephebate together, a year long of military and civic training for young men.” This note on the translation of tablet was published last week by Attic Inscriptions Online. It’s a research project that aims to translate and publish the approximately 20,000 Athenian inscriptions currently held in UK collections.
The notes state that the 31 ephebes in this list represent a subset from the entire cohort, which is most likely to have included over 100 young men. The ephebes are referred to only by their given names, with no patronymics or demotics. This may be an egalitarian touch that obscures social differences. Many of the ephebes are given shorter (“hypocoristic”) names of their names. For example, Theogas and Dionysas respectively for Theogenes or Dionysodoros (rather than ‘Pete, ‘Steve, or ‘Chris in English).
It is surprising that the tablet was found in Scotland, almost 3,000 km from its Athenian origins. It had been in storage for approximately 135 years. It was initially thought to be a copy of another tablet at the Ashmolean Museum, Oxford, England.
Peter Liddel explained to NPR that he discovered the inscription was a new one “when we looked at it a little closer,” he said. Liddel, in addition to being on the Attic Inscriptions Online editorial committee, is also a professor of Greek History and Epigraphy, at the University of Manchester, England. He’s also one of three translators of this tablet.
Liddel said that this is one of three Athenian inscriptions found in Edinburgh. It’s a rare find, and it’s very exciting.”
He said that it was “something quite unlike anything else known before.”
Attikos, a young man from Philippos, was kind enough date the yearbook to make it easier for future researchers. Researchers clarify that the last line of the class list reads “Of Caesar”.
Claudius is better known for his reign as the Roman Emperor Claudius. He reigned from 41 to 54 CE. It’s ironic that the tablet was discovered in the UK since Claudius was the Roman emperor who brought Britannia under Roman rule. However, Athens had fallen to Rome centuries before the tablet was written. The tablet shows that ephebes were taught to view serving the Emperor as an integral part of their identity.
Although we might be familiar with the military and political facts, many of the daily banalities of everyday life are often overlooked. Liddel explained to NPR that this Athenian yearbook was written by a child to record his school friends exactly as they were.
He stated that there are no objective accounts of ancient historical events. “What we need to do is reconstruct ancient history from the fragments available, and this is one example.”
