ΔΟΛΙΧΟΥΛΙΘΟΣΝΙΚΑΙ

A Νew Ιnterpretation on an Ιnscribed Roof-tile

from the Athenian Agora

Panοs Valavanis

National and Kapodistrian University of Athens

Στεφάνῳ τῷ φίλῳ,
δόσις ὀλίγη τε φίλη τε

A fragment of a laconian-type tegula (pan-tile) was found in a Hellenistic layer of the ancient
Agora, in 1934 (Fig. 1).1 In its slightly concave inside surface, covered with brown-black glaze, there
is a graffito of two verses: ΔΟΛΙΧΟΥ ΛΙΘΟΣ/ΝΙΚΑΙ (Fig. 2).
Because of the inscription, the tile was included by M. Lang in the Picture Book no. 14, where
it is dated to the 3rd century BC and, later on, in the publication of the dipinti and graffiti from the
Agora, where dated to the 3rd-2nd centuries BC. According to Lang, “in the first line the last letter
of the first word was originally a sigma, which was corrected to an upsilon”. Therefore the inscrip-
tion was finally read as δολίχου λίθο<υ> νῖκαι.2 Lang translated it as “Of the long race. Of the stone.
Victories”., and her interpretation reads as follows: “Apparently the heading of an informal list of
victories in two events: the long race and the stone (either weight-lifting or putting the shot”).3
Lang also believes that “it is also possible that the word in the second line is a verb than a noun”.4
In the commentary of the inscription in SEG, D. Lewis notes that νῖκαι appears to go with
δολίχου, not with λίθος, thus changing the words order to: ‘δολίχου/ νῖκαι/ λίθος’.5 Αl. Oikono-
mides6 was the first who offered a proper thorough interpretation of the inscription. According
to Oikonomides, the word δόλιχος does not refer to the long-distance race but is rather a primary
name,7 while the third word is not a noun (νῖκαι) but a verb (νικᾶι). Iota is adscribed: Δολίχου λίθος/
νικᾶι, meaning The stone of Dolichos is victorious (wins). Oikonomides interpreted the phrase as
“Definitely an ‘informal’ announcement of the victory of Dolichos in stone throwing”, thus cor-
rectly linking the inscription’ s expression to the oral announcement of the victory by the herald,
during the great games.8 Traill followed Oikonomides’ final reading while entering the name in the
dictionary of Athenian names,9 where Δόλιχος is mentioned as an athletic victor in competition
with stone.10
Overall, therefore, scholars link the above inscription to the announcement of the victory of
a certain man named Δόλιχος in stone games : Lang either with weight-lifting or putting the shot,

ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝ 391
 Panοs Valavanis

Figure 1. Fragment of the inscribed pan-tile from the Athenian Agora no. P 3289. Ameri-
can School of Classical Studies at Athens. Agora Excavations.

Oikonomides with stone-throwing and Traill, more vaguely, with stone competition in general.11
As I was studying this humble ancient artifact, I questioned myself whether the object bear-
ing the inscription, the tile that is, is not just the inscription’ s bearer, but was in some way re-
lated to it - in other words, whether the stone mentioned is actually the tile fragment itself. Why
though would the tile be mentioned as a stone? Could it be the same as what we used to do
when we were playing amades12 during our childhood? When we could not find a flat stone, we
played the game with tiles, which we nonetheless named amades (stones). This fact led me to
the thought that the victory mentioned in the inscription is not related to some game in general
but to the specific children’ s game, which could in fact be named λίθοι, similar to amades, since
we are not familiar with the ancient name of the specific game. But this is nothing more than a
mere speculation.
My next thought was that maybe the verb is not in the indicative, but rather in the subjunc-
tive mood, which is usually used to express a wish. In that case, the inscription is not referring to
the announcement of a victory, but rather to the wish for the specific child to win: ‘May the stone
of Δόλιχος be victorious!’ So, we are led to the opinion that Δόλιχος, while inscribing his verses
on the tile, was not announcing his victory, but was rather wishing to win a game in which the
specific tile was used. Moreover, even if the verb is in present indicative mood, this does not only
declare what happens in the present but also the actual event, according to the writer’ s allega-
tions. It also expresses a stable and sound opinion. In that case, with the verb νικᾷ in indicative
mood, the inscription’ s translation could well be ‘May the stone of Dolichos win’ or ‘The stone
of Δόλιχος always wins!’
Studying closely the sherd’ s shape, the fact that its concave side, the one that is bearing the
inscription, is glazed, while the convex side is left unpainted, leads us to the description of the

392 ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝ
 ΔΟΛΙΧΟΥΛΙΘΟΣΝΙΚΑΙ

Figure 2. Sketch of the inscription on the pan-tile of Fig. 1. American School of Classical Studies at Athens.
Agora Excavations.

game ὀστρακίνδα/ostrakínda, for which Suetonius mentions that the inner side of the sherds
used for the game was anointed with tar.13 The ‘shard game’ or ‘day and night game’, was a run-
ning and catching game played by Greek boys: the game was played of two groups with an equal
number of players, one group stands facing east (day) and the other west (night) on a line over
which a player throws a shard (ὄστρακον) that is painted white on one side = day (ἡμέρα) and
black on the other = night (νύξ); as he does so, the thrower calls ‘day or night’. If the disc falls on
the black side, the members of the west team attempt to catch the east team who are running
etc.14 It is not precisely stated whether the game went on until all the fugitives were caught, nor
whether there was a point of safety to be reckoned, but it is very likely that the game was played
in the whole Greek and Roman antiquity with varying rules at different times and places.
What is very intriguing is the sherd’s important role, as the whole game (ὀστρακίνδα) was
named after it (ὄστρακον), although it was only used in the beginning, in order to decide which
team would play first. Naturally, in similar games who is first plays a very important role. Moreover,
the form of the inscription, with the name of Δόλιχος included in it, denotes property of the stone
by the specific person, a fact opposing the team-playing nature of the ὀστρακίνδα game. However,
even team-games always have leaders of each side, those who would perform the sherd’ s rota-
tion (ὀστράκου περιστροφήν). In other words, we would see in the Agora’ s tile that Δόλιχος, while
inscribing the sherd, was attempting to influence in his favour the rotation’ s result.
The rotation of the sherd was, therefore, a widely popular habit in many solitary or group
games of competitive nature, aiming at showing which team or which player would first start the
game.15 We could thus suppose that this was the specific tile young Δόλιχος was using in every
similar game he would participate to, which required a sherd’ s rotation in order to begin.
The fact that in many laconian-type tegulae (pan-tiles) the concave side was usually glazed
shows that those particular sherds were the most appropriate ones for such games, as they were
ready to be used in the game, without requiring any further processing, while at the same time
they were thick and sturdy enough, so that they wouldn’ t easily break. This means that many
sherds of laconian roof-tiles, usually found in places populated by children in ancient times, could
well have been used for their games.
Whatever might be the case, we can come to the conclusion that the tile (ὄστρακον) from the
Athenian Agora is not simply bearing an inscription, but was in fact forming part of a children’ s

ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝ 393
 Panοs Valavanis

game. The inscribed name of the child, Δόλιχος, provides us with a vivid picture of children’ s
everyday life in ancient times. A life which remained unchanged in Greece until the 1960s, the
time when Stephen Miller first visited our country, got acquainted and fell in love with it for life.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

I would like to express my thanks to the Athenian Agora colleagues (L. Saraga, Kl. Tsogka) and
the ASCSA (I. Diamant, S. Dumont, C. Mauzy) for their help with the study of the material, as well
as for permission to use the inscription’ s drawing. I benefited greatly from discussing the topic
with specialists in epigraphy, Dr Voula Bardani and Dr Angelos Matthaiou. The latter read an early
draft of the present paper and provided me with valuable remarks. For a refinement of the English
language, I wish to thank the Editors of the present volume.

394 ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝ
 ΔΟΛΙΧΟΥΛΙΘΟΣΝΙΚΑΙ

NOTES

1. Index number Ρ 3289. Sherd’ s dimensions: 0,10 Χ 0,07 Χ 0,013-0,018.

2. Lang 1976, 10. Later she adds: ‘‘There was no room for a similar correction at the end of λίθος’’. I cannot
see these corrections, same as Traill 1997, 110.
3. Lang 1974, no 54. Lang 1976, 10 no B16, pl. 3. Of course if this was true, in other words this was a cata-
logue of victories, there should be following the names of the games in which the victories were
achieved.
4. Lang 1976, 10. See below Oikonomides’ reading.
5. Lewis 1979, 287.
6. Oikonomides 1988, 40 no 21.
7. For the name Δόλιχος see Bechtel 1917, 484. Osborne, Byrne 1994, 134. The name is obviously a co-
gnomen, fitting a long, that is tall person (LSJ9 s.v. Δόλιχος). The dedication of an inscribed Panathenaic
amphora of the 4th century BC in Eleusis, bearing an inscription reading ΔΩΛΙΧ, is a possible reference
to the game or a votive dedication to the homonym hero of Eleusis (Τιβέριος 2000, 25-27 note 86).
8. See the reverse side of the Panathenaic amphora attributed to the Swing Painter, in the British Museum,
where the words ΔΥΣΝΙΚΗΤΟΥ ΙΠΠΟΣ ΝΙΚΑΙ exit the herald’ s mouth (Κεφαλίδου 1996, 226, no I 2).
9. Traill 1997, 110, no 371850.
10. For similar games see Gardiner 1930, 54, 60, 154-5.
11. See the relevant citations above.
12. Amades is a game played by children allover modern Greece. Each participant holds a flat stone and,
within a specific perimeter, tries to hit the others’ stones.
13. Suetonius 8, 65, 70. For the ancient sources on ὀστρακίνδα see RE 18.2 (1942) 1673 s.v. ὀστρακίνδα
(C.A. Forbes).
14. Pollux, ix. 111, Hurschmann, Rolf (Hamburg). “Ostrakinda” Brill’s New Pauly. Antiquity volumes edited
by H. Cancik and H. Schneider. Brill Online, 2015. Reference. 23 March 2015 <http://referenceworks.
brillonline.com/entries/brill-s-new-pauly/ostrakinda-e902330>
15. The same practice is met at all times, using two-sided stones or tiles, rotated and thrown high up in the
air, accompanied by phrases such as ‘sun or rain’, ‘spitted or non spitted’ etc. Today’ s practice of coin
flipping and the phrase ‘heads or tails’ is practically the same (Λάζος 2002, 436-438).

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Bechtel, F. 1917. Die historischen Personennamen des Griechischen bis zur Kaiserzeit. Halle.
Gardiner, Ε.Ν. 1930. Athletics in the Ancient World. Οxford.
Κεφαλίδου, E. 1996. Νικητής. Εικονογραφική μελέτη του αρχαίου ελληνικού αθλητισμού. Θεσσαλονίκη.
Λάζος, X. 2002. Παίζοντας στο χρόνο. Αρχαία ελληνικά και βυζαντινά παιχνίδιa. Αθήνα.
Lang, M. 1974. Graffiti in the Athenian Agora. Princeton.
―. 1976. Graffiti and Dipinti. The Athenian Agora XXI. Princeton.
Lewis, D. 1979. SEG 29.
Oikonomides, A.N. 1988. Graffiti and Dipinti. Greek Inscriptions from the Excavations of the Athenian Agora
at Kerameikos, Part II in: Horos 6: 39-54.
Osborne, M.J. and S.G. Byrne (eds.) 1994. A Lexicon of Greek Personal Names II (Attica). Oxford.
Τιβέριος, M. 2000. Μακεδόνες και Παναθήναια. Αθήνα.
Traill, J. 1997. Persons of Ancient Athens 6. Princeton.

ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝ 395
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ABSTRACT

ΔΟΛΙΧΟΥΛΙΘΟΣΝΙΚΑΙ
A NEW INTERPRETATION ON AN INSCRIBED ROOF-TILE
FROM THE ATHENIAN AGORA
A fragment of a laconian type tegula (pan-tile), found in the Athenian Agora, bears the in-
scription ΔΟΛΙΧΟΥΛΙΘΟΣ/ΝΙΚΑΙ. Scholars have interpreted the inscription as the announcement
of the victory of a man named Δόλιχος in a game related with stones. Recent observations lead
us to different possible meanings: a) that the tile is not simply the bearer of the inscription, but it
rather forms part of the game itself, b) that the verb νικᾷ could express wish or certainty for the
victory, in other words the inscription could mean: ‘may the stone of Δόλιχος win’ or ‘the stone of
Δόλιχος (always) wins’ and c) the fact that the inscription is found in the concave side of the sherd
led us to the hypothesis that it could well be an ὄστρακον, used for the ὀστράκου περιστροφήν
(sherd rotation) in order to decide which team would play first in the game ὀστρακίνδα, as well
as in other ancient solitary or group competitive games.

ΠΕΡΙΛΗΨΗ

ΔΟΛΙΧΟΥΛΙΘΟΣΝΙΚΑΙ
MIA NEA EΡΜΗΝΕΙΑ ΕΝΕΠΙΓΡΑΦOY ΚΕΡΑΜΙΔIOY
ΑΠΟ ΤΗΝ ΑΘΗΝΑΪΚΗ ΑΓΟΡΑ
Σε τμήμα κεραμιδιού (στρωτήρα λακωνικού τύπου) που βρέθηκε στην αθηναϊκή Αγορά,
υπάρχει εγχάρακτη επιγραφή ΔΟΛΙΧΟΥΛΙΘΟΣ/ΝΙΚΑΙ. Σ’ αυτήν η έρευνα ανεγνώριζε την αναγγελία
ενός νικητή με το όνομα Δόλιχος σε αγώνισμα σχετιζόμενο με πέτρα. Νέες παρατηρήσεις οδηγούν
σε άλλες πιθανές ερμηνείες: α. Ότι το κεραμίδι δεν είναι απλώς φορέας της επιγραφής αλλά ότι
ανήκει σε παιδικό παιχνίδι β. Ότι το ρήμα νικᾷ μπορεί να εκφράζει επιθυμία ή βεβαιότητα για
νίκη, δηλ. η επιγραφή να σημαίνει: ‘ας νικήσει η πέτρα του Δολίχου’ ή ‘η πέτρα του Δολίχου νικάει
(πάντα)’ και γ. Το γεγονός ότι η επιγραφή βρίσκεται χαραγμένη στην βαμμένη κοίλη πλευρά του
κεραμιδιού οδήγησε στην υπόθεση ότι το αντικείμενο θα μπορούσε να είναι ὄστρακον, που
χρησιμοποιούνταν για την ὀστράκου περιστροφήν, με την οποία οριζόταν ποιος ή ποια ομάδα
θα έπαιζε πρώτη στο παιχνίδι ὀστρακίνδα, όπως και σε πολλά άλλα αρχαία ατομικά ή oμαδικά
παιχνίδια ανταγωνισμού.

396 ΦΙΛΕΛΛΗΝ