Stable URL: http://assocgr.saxo.sc.ku.dk/assoc/1985Download as PDF
Last Updated on 27 Feb 2017

Author: Mario C.D. Paganini

CAPInv. 1985: to koinon t]on en tei nesoi tas<s>omenon [...

I. LOCATION

i. Geographical area Cyprus
ii. Region Cyprus
iii. Site Nea Paphos

II. NAME

i. Full name (original language) τὸ κοινὸν τ]ῶν ἐν τῆι νήσωι τασ<σ>ομένων [... (SEG 13: 573, ll. 3-4)
ii. Full name (transliterated) to koinon t]on en tei nesoi tas<s>omenon [...

III. DATE

i. Date(s) 127 BC

IV. NAME AND TERMINOLOGY

ii. Name elements
Geographical:en tei nesoi
Professional:tassomenoi: soldiers stationed on the island
Status-related:tassomenoi: soldiers stationed on the island
iii. Descriptive terms κοινόν, koinon (?)
Note koinon: SEG 13: 573, l. 3. Although the term is entirely supplied, it seems certain on the basis of parallels.

V. SOURCES

i. Source(s) SEG 13: 573 (shortly after 127 BC)
Online Resources SEG 13: 573
i.a. Source type(s) Epigraphic source(s)
i.b. Document(s) typology & language/script Greek honorific statue base for the governor of Cyprus.
i.c. Physical format(s) Statue base.

IX. MEMBERSHIP

ii. Gender Men
Note Given the military character of the koinon, it is likely that the members were men only.
iv. Status The koinon grouped the mercenaries (whose ethnic is lost) stationed on the island.

XII. NOTES

i. Comments The ethnic of this koinon is lost in lacuna. It is therefore difficult to say whether this inscription was produced by one of the already attested ethnic koina of Cyprus: Cretans (CAPInv. 1320), Cilicians (CAPInv. 1981), Ionians (CAPInv. 1982), Lycians (CAPInv. 1983), Thracians (CAPInv. 1984).
On military koina of Cyprus see also: Thompson Crawford 1984: 1073-4 and Kruse 2015: 292-6.
iii. Bibliography Kruse, T. (2015), 'Ethnic koina and politeumata in Ptolemaic Egypt'. in V. Gabrielsen and C. A. Thomsen (eds.), Private Associations and the Public Sphere: Proceedings of a Symposium held at the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters, 9-11 September 2010. Copenhagen: 270-300.
Thompson Crawford, D. J. (1984), 'The Idumaeans of Memphis and the Ptolemaic Politeumata', in Atti del XVII Congresso Internazionale di Papirologia. vol. 3. Napoli: 1069-75.

XIII. EVALUATION

i. Private association Certain
Note The terminology employed (koinon) and the character of the group, together with parallels of other military koina on the island, point to a private association. It is less likely that the koinon was the loose community of mercenaries without a more structured and durable associational organisation.