• Teos to Abdera, 167-160 BC (synedros, gr. σύνεδρος, en. commissioner)

This man, together with other anonymous Teians, was appointed by Teos to assist the Abderites in the preparation of their defense against some legal claims of Maroneia. The context is that of an arbitration between Abdera and Maroneia concerning the possession of a disputed territory; Erythrae was chosen as arbitrator among them by the Roman senate. The date of this arbitration must be shortly after the end of the Third Macedonian War. In their long decree regarding the merits of the Teians, the Abderites in fact describe an initial situation of devastation, which fits in well with the sacking of the city by L. Hortensius in the summer of 170 BC, as described by Liv. 43 4, 8-13 and Diod. Sic. 30, 6 (cfr. Adak, Thonemann 2022, pp. 1-3).

The inscription names these men as synedroi, litt. “those who sit together with others”, hence “assessors”. Their task was an ereune (“enquiry”) to find evidence to support the Abderite claims of land possession, and weak points to undermine those of Maroneia. Two qualities of these men are highlighted, namely their ability to think and give themselve body and soul to the legitimisation of the Abderite claims. The activity of these men seems to have taken place mainly in the preliminary phase before the exetasmos, i.e. before the judges verified the validity of the claims of both parties.

It is difficult to say with certainty where the activities of these synedroi took place. Most likely, they may have travelled to Erythrae to follow the first hearings and the presentation of the opposing arguments, as well as to Abdera and the site of the dispute itself, i.e. the territory between Abdera and Maroneia; they may also have carried out archival research in Teos itself, to find evidence in support of ancestral rule over the disputed land.

As Adak, Thonemann 2022, 47-8 point out, the closest parallel to the role of these synedroi is that of Amymon and Magathymos, two other Teian envoys who (on another similar occasion) took part in synedriai to prepare the defence of Abdera against the territorial claims of a Thracian king named Kotys.

• Adak, M., Thonemann, P. (2022), Teos and Abdera. Two cities in peace and war, Oxford.