1. Δωρεαί in Law

The term δωρεά (pl. δωρεαί) is a complex one. Essentially it merely signifies the handing over of something to someone else as a gift, also in a legal sense.¹ A gift is nothing more than the transfer of something into the possession of the recipient by way of an act of donation. In a more specialized meaning, the δωρεά constitutes a grant of land (which may or may not be passed on as an inheritance) by a king to an underling or vassal. As a rule, however, we may assume δωρεαί to be gifts in the form of money or goods, or grants of land. The first two tended to remain the property of the recipient. Grants of land, however, were frequently tied to the individual and reverted to the donor after the recipient’s death (although they could occasionally also be passed on as an inheritance). As far as grants of land which a king made to his underlings are concerned, it usually included not only of the usufruct but also the authority over it. The system of δωρεαί was developed in pre-Hellenistic times, in both Macedon and the Achaemenid Empire.² Precursors of a considerably earlier date cannot be ruled out.

2. Classical Age

One of the first Greeks to be rewarded with a δωρεά was Themistokles, the victor at Salamis against Xerxes I. He paid the price for his exalted position in Athens less than ten years later by being exiled in an "οστρακισμός" (ostracism)³and, after also being condemned to death in absentia, he fled via North Western Greece and Macedon to Asia Minor. There he was welcomed graciously by King Artaxerxes II who provided for him by granting him the cities of Myous, Lampsakos and Magnesia as his fief.⁴ Apart from Themistokles there was also Koës who was given Mytilene by Dareios I for his useful advice during the crossing of the Danube⁵; Demaratos received Teuthrania and Halisarna,⁶ perhaps also Alkibiades⁷ and Gongylos of Eretria⁸. The earliest documented recipients of such gifts were Pytharchos of Kyzikos⁹ and Kroisos¹⁰; and generally, we may regard as beneficiaries of a δωρεά all so-called “Persian vassal tyrants”, normally Greeks or locals who were rewarded by the Achaemenid Great King or his satraps with a tyranny over their (home) polis.

3. Hellenistic Period

In Asia Minor several smaller principalities emerged as a result of the consolidation of the larger Hellenistic kingdoms after 306/305 B.C. They were able either to carve out their territories by taking advantage of periods of weakness of the individual kingdoms (e.g., Philetairos of Pergamon), or by being granted their lands as a reward for their services (κτήσις εν δωρεάν). No differences in this respect can be discerned among the regions of Asia Minor. During the third and second centuries δωρεαί are attested in both the southern and western coastal areas that were subject to prolonged Greco-Hellenistic influence and in Phrygia with its indigenous traditions.

More surprising is how Seleucid kings kept trying to establish contacts with these δωρεαί based rulers. By looking at the geographical distribution of this peculiar phenomenon it becomes clear that it occurs — apart from rare examples in the Ptolemaic kingdom — only within and near the Seleucid empire in Asia Minor.

As for the latter, it derives from the practices of the Achaemenid period, and Alexander the Great had already followed the example of his Achaemenid predecessors by granting four cities in Asia Minor to the Athenian general Phokion.¹¹ Other recipients of such gifts during the late fourth and third centuries BC were Mnesimachos of Sardeis,¹² Bulagoras of Samos,¹³ Aristodikides of Assos near Ilion and Skepsis,¹⁴ Eurydike of Miletos,¹⁵ Hermaios of Mylasa,¹⁶ and the Lysimachidai of Telmessos. From Syria we know Ptolemaios son of Thraseas received Skythopolis (modern Beth Shean).¹⁷ In Egypt the practice of rewarding worthy officials for their good services with a δωρεά also began in the third century. The best known one is the δωρεά received by the Ptolemaic διοικητής Apollonios, which was administered by Zenon.¹⁸ Ptolemaios Thraseou received his δωρεά while still in the services of the Ptolemies, and was able to keep his lands after he changed sides and joined Antiochos III during the Fifth Syrian War.

Ptolemaios, the second son of Lysimachos (died 281) and (first son of) Arsinoë (later Philadelphos), was a nephew of Ptolemy II Philadelphos. He was first involved in some rather curious and politically obscure events in Macedonia where he served for several months as regent. In the years during and after the Second Syrian War (261-254) we find him in Telmessos in Lycia (Makri, modern Fethiye), in a position that instantly reminds us of a δωρεά. There is a lengthy inscription from 240 BC according to which Telmessos received aid from Ptolemaios that the latter was able to provide only because he was in possession of territory that afforded him the means.¹⁹ His family continued to hold their territory in Telmessos for another two generations; it was only with the Treaty of Apamea (188 BC) and its specific clauses that we lose sight of this family. The evidence of a dedication of a phiale by a great grandson of Lysimachos at Delos, however, suggests the possibility that the Treaty of Apamea took the interests of this family into account.

This particular δωρεά is of special interest because an inscription survives from Telmessos dating from autumn 279 BC which shows that Ptolemy II Philadelphos proposed to divest himself of Telmessos as a gift (εις δωρεάν).²⁰ We do not know the intended recipient of the gift, but he may have been a close relative of the king, perhaps even Ptolemaios son of Lysimachos. Envoys sent from Telmessos were able, however, to persuade the king to abandon his royal plans. Ptolemy conceded that their city should not become a δωρεά: Όπως ουν εις δωρεάν μή καταχωρίζησθε, τοις τε παρ' υμων εξωμολογησάμεθα και πρός τούς περί Φιλοκλήν καί Αριστοτέλην γέγραπται (“that your city shall not become a δωρεά was conceded to your envoys and conveyed in letters to Philokles and Aristoteles”).

As result the citizens of Telmessos conveyed honours on the king and proclaimed a curse on all those who at some time might consider handing over or accepting Telmessos and its citizens as a gift: “ός δ’ άν τούτων τι ποιήσηι παρευρέσει ηιτινι ουν, μήτε αυτωι γη καρπόν φέροι μήτε γυναίκες τίκτοιεν κατά φύσιν, εξώλης δέ είη καί αυτός καί τό γένος αυτού παν καί είη αμαρτωλός εις τήν Λητώ καί τούς άλλους θεούς πάντας καί πάσας ά τε άν λάβηι ή κατακτήσηται εκ της χώρας έστω ιερά της Λητούς" (But to whoever commits such an act [i.e., to request or accept Telmessos as a gift], whatever the pretext may be, neither shall earth grow fruit nor women bear according to nature [i.e., bear healthy children], but he shall suffer destruction, he himself and all his descendants, and he shall be considered a blasphemer against Lato and other gods and goddesses, and may all that the harvests from the land or buildings on it be dedicated to Lato.” [ll. 32-41])

Inscriptions from later periods show that condemnation and concessions were little more than perfunctory phrases, since Ptolemaios indeed received Telmessos (as well as the city’s entire territory in the Fethiye plain) as a gift²¹, at the latest in 258/57 BC, which he was even able to pass on to his son and grandson, respectively.

In 227 BC, Rhodes suffered a severe earthquake in the wake of which it found its extremely important standing under threat. Damage to the city and its navy was enormous. The Hellenistic kings were persuaded by the arguments of the Rhodian envoys to invest huge sums in the reconstruction of the island state. They jointly offered the Rhodians building materials, funds and construction workers as a gift in order to restore the city to its earlier power and influence. Only seven years later Rhodes had regained its military strength to the degree that she was in a position to intervene in economic and political problems on the Bosporos.²²

Yet another δωρεά is mentioned in 2. Maccab. 4.30: Antiochos IV granted the Cilician cities of Tarsos and Mallos to his concubine Antiochis. The people in both cities, however, rebelled and after a lengthy struggle they achieved the cancellation of the gift.