The Tyrants Dossier from Eresos

Abstract

The so-called Tyrants Dossier from Eresos (IG XII 2, 526) is a collection of Eresian decrees and royal letters produced over the course of the last three decades of the 4^th c. BC which collectively re-affirm the right of the Eresian demos not to reconcile with their exiles. Contrary to the arguments of A. Heisserer, the inscription’s two parts do not represent two separate monuments, but rather a single monument which was inscribed not over the course of three decades, but all at once ca. 306–301 BC. The decision of the Eresian demos to re-publish these documents in a monumental format several decades after the events these texts describe therefore provides important insights into the political culture of Eresos in the early Hellenistic period and invites reflection on the long-term impact of exile on a political community, the nature of the relationship between city and king, the uses which cities made of royal documents, and the politics of epigraphic publication.