Today I’m going to continue looking at the Greeks’ practice of sacral manumission. Again, most of information about this practice comes from Delphi, but it was done elsewhere in the Greek mainland, including the small town of Chaironeia in Boiotia. Here’s an inscription from Chaironeia that is indicative of the kind of formula (standard way of writing) that was used:
Ἀρχεδάμω ἀρχῶ, μεινὸς Ὁμολωΐω
πεντεκαιδεκάτη, Ἄλ<υ>πος Ἱππίαο
ἀντίθειτι τὰν ϝιδίαν δούλαν Εὐρώ-
παν ἱαρὰν τεῖ Σεράπει, τὰν ἀνάθε-
σιν ποιιούμενος διὰ τῶ σουνε-
δρίω κατὰ τὸν νόμον. (IG VII 3356)
With Archedamos as archon, on the 15th on the month of Homoloios, Alypos, son of Hippias, dedicated his personal slave, the hallowed woman Europa, to Serapis; the dedication having been done through the council and according to the law. (translation my own)
Note how in this inscription the slave is not directly described as being manumitted, but rather as being dedicated to the god Sarapis. Also, that the slave is already described as being hollowed or made holy. We should also remember Zelnick-Abramowitz’s critique of the complicated groupings of manumission: really the most important factor is whether or not the manumission is public or private. Here it’s clear that Alypos and Europa want to stress that this manumission has the backing of both the god Sarapis as well as the local government. In this way the text is attempting to use many different strategies to gain authority over the manumission of Europa. Such a struggle for authority is quite different from the representation of manumission in the Roman world, in which is frequently presented as quite simple. For example, at the end of the play Epidicus, the slave Epidicus is freed simply by the words of his master.
Ἀρχεδάμω ἀρχῶ, μεινὸς Ὁμολωΐω
πεντεκαιδεκάτη, Ἄλ<υ>πος Ἱππίαο
ἀντίθειτι τὰν ϝιδίαν δούλαν Εὐρώ-
παν ἱαρὰν τεῖ Σεράπει, τὰν ἀνάθε-
σιν ποιιούμενος διὰ τῶ σουνε-
δρίω κατὰ τὸν νόμον. (IG VII 3356)
With Archedamos as archon, on the 15th on the month of Homoloios, Alypos, son of Hippias, dedicated his personal slave, the hallowed woman Europa, to Serapis; the dedication having been done through the council and according to the law. (translation my own)
Note how in this inscription the slave is not directly described as being manumitted, but rather as being dedicated to the god Sarapis. Also, that the slave is already described as being hollowed or made holy. We should also remember Zelnick-Abramowitz’s critique of the complicated groupings of manumission: really the most important factor is whether or not the manumission is public or private. Here it’s clear that Alypos and Europa want to stress that this manumission has the backing of both the god Sarapis as well as the local government. In this way the text is attempting to use many different strategies to gain authority over the manumission of Europa. Such a struggle for authority is quite different from the representation of manumission in the Roman world, in which is frequently presented as quite simple. For example, at the end of the play Epidicus, the slave Epidicus is freed simply by the words of his master.