Dedications of the ephebes, their magistrates and liturgists up to the 4th century BCE: a topographical analysis

Abstract

The aim of this paper is to identify the original locations of dedications of ephebes, their magistrates and gymnasiarchs in the Attic landscape based on their findspots. The analysis covers the early period of their dedication practice (from the end of the 5th century for the gymnasiarchs and from the time of Lykourgos for the ephebes and magistrates) until the end of the 4th century. The close relationship between the categories of dedicators studied (which, in the case of fragmentary texts, sometimes makes it impossible to identify the actual dedicators) allows a parallel analysis of the topographical distribution of their dedications in order to identify similarities and differences, reasons and implications of the presence of these documents (which testify to a cultic act, but also serve as a means of making oneself visible in the social fabric of the polis) in specific locations.