 previous article in this issue | next article in this issue  |
Preview first page |
Document Details : Title: Kriton, stolarque au service d'Apollonios le diœcète Author(s): HAUBEN, H. Journal: Ancient Society Volume: 36 Date: 2006 Pages: 175-219 DOI: 10.2143/AS.36.0.2017835 Abstract : No less than 47 documents in the Zenon archive mention the name Kriton. In Clarysse’s standard prosopography 34 are listed as referring to the so-called stolarches of the dioecetes Apollonios, minister for economic and financial affairs of Ptolemy II (285/282-246 BC) during the second half of his reign, and one of the wealthiest entrepreneurs of his time. The present article focuses on both the meaning of the term stolarches (which occurs only once in the archive, viz, in P. Cairo Zen. I 59048) and the manifold tasks, specific profile and individual career of Kriton. An exhaustive analysis of the Hellenistic and Roman literary, epigraphical and papyrological sources seems to confirm the traditional view that the stolarchia involved a (military or commercial) fleet command, rather than a control of clothing or responsibility for equipment, as claimed by more recent interpretations. As commander of Apollonios’ small flotilla (obviously in charge of the organization of river — not overseas — transport and communications) Kriton was one of his most trusted employees as well as perhaps the closest collaborator of the minister’s secretary (subsequently estate manager) Zenon, especially in the years 258-256 BC, when Apollonios and his staff were travelling around in Northern Egypt. A study of the papyri not belonging to the core dossier of 34 texts leads to the conclusion that, with the exception of two (PSI V 495 l. 7 and P. Cairo Zen. III 59462), all the references to Kriton may probably also be ascribed to the (ex-)stolarches, who, after the accession of Ptolemy III (246) and the subsequent disappearance of the minister in 245, seems to have established himself (like his friend and former colleague Zenon had done after his dismissal in 248/247) in the region of Philadelphia in the Fayum, making a living from his vineyard, his ship and other business. |
|
