Loan Sharks in the Aegean Sea: Legal Culture and Epigraphy on Amorgos (20 min)

Presenters

Joshua Allbright, University of Southern California

Abstract

This paper seeks to offer a new interpretation of a series of loan inscriptions (IG XII, 7 63–70) from the city of Arcesine on Amorgos and what they reveal about legal culture in the Aegean islands. The island of Amorgos has historically been considered both geographically and epigraphically peripheral among the Cyclades and has thus received less attention than other islands such as Paros and Delos. Yet a peculiar collection of loan agreements from the island warrants more attention. The most complete of these inscriptions (IG XII 7, 67 and 69) provide intriguing details about these contracts. The terms of the agreements are incredible: for a loan of a few talents from private individuals from neighboring islands, the Arcesinians agree to offer their entire city and all its inhabitants’ (including metics’) possessions as collateral. The little scholarship on these inscriptions has focused almost entirely on resolving lexical issues, notably the meaning of ta huerpontia.

The relationship of the agreement itself to law is unusual, to say the least. In at least two of these texts, it is stipulated that "no law nor decree nor decision nor general nor magistracy shall supersede the written agreement to which the Arcesinians agreed" (IG XII, 7 67.76–78, 69.45–48). How can a loan contract supersede the law and all other political and military forces of Arcesine? Furthermore, how can the private lender enforce the terms of repayment when up against an entire city? W.W. Tarn has suggested that repayment is effectively only partially enforceable. But the inscriptions’ physical location suggests otherwise. These loan agreements, once inscribed, were placed in the temple of Hera in Arcesine. Though each island had its own legal code and culture, the Aegean islands formed sociopolitical networks called koina, and religion was an important way to tie them together. Thus temples (especially of Hera) on this and other islands were important sites of negotiation for the social and political activity within and between island communities. By setting up these inscriptions in the temple of Hera, the agreement becomes subject to the power of the god herself, ensuring fair dealing for both parties. The threat of punishment by the gods would itself be a guarantee against failure to abide by the terms of the contract. In addition, any complications arising from differences in the legal codes between Arcesine and another island polis could be resolved by viewing this contract as something outside of distinct legal systems. My study of these inscriptions thus expands our understanding of both insular legal culture and the relationship between epigraphy, law, and religion in ancient Greece.

  AIA-8A