The Athenians gave citizenship to the surviving Plataians for their loyalty to Athens, requiring that each Plataian be examined for eligibility and that the names of those given citizenship be inscribed and displayed prominently. These naturalized citizens were restricted from serving as archons or holding priesthoods.
104
προεμένοις < προ-ἵημι
μετέδοτε τῆς πολιτείας: “to give a share of citizen rights,” with τῆς πολιτείας being a partitive genitive; cf. Thucydides, who says that the Plataians received citizenship before 427. Carey 1992: 139 suggests there were two grants, an earlier honorary one to reward the Plataians for their service at Marathon, and a second practical one after they were forced to flee Plataia.
ἱερῶν καὶ ὁσίων: a common idiom, roughly meaning “sacred and secular” (LSJ ἱερός II.2); on the relationship between ἱερά and ὅσια in Athens, see Connor 1988.
πλήν: Carey 1992: 140 thinks that something is missing before πλήν, possibly along the lines of “but not the priesthoods,” with εἴ τις ἱερωσύνη ἢ τελετή ἐστιν ἐκ γένους referring to any hereditary priesthoods they had back in Plataia. Kapparis does not believe that anything is missing, arguing that εἴ τις ἱερωσύνη refers to priesthoods in Athens from which they would be barred by virtue of not belonging to a γένος (Kapparis 1999: 395–96). The only difficulty with this interpretation is reconciling it with §106, where Apollodoros says the Plataians were banned from all priesthoods, but as Kapparis suggests, that might be an exaggeration.
τελετή: here, “sacred office”
τοῖς δ’ ἐκ τούτων: that is, their descendants can be one of the nine archons. We don’t see here the detail we find in §92 (and §106), namely that their mother must be a citizen married to their father, but that must be understood. The δέ here appears to be strongly adversative (S. 2835).
Ἀθηναίῳ: take as predicate
μὴ εὑρομένῳ: “unless he receives it.” This participle has conditional force, as indicated by the use of μή instead of οὐ. For εὑρίσκω = “get, gain,” see LSJ IV.
105
ἠξίωσε: “required that,” followed by the accusative and infinitive construction after a verb of commanding (S. 1465)
δοκιμσαθῆναι ἐν τῷ δικαστηρίῳ: this is in a sense parallel to the scrutiny that natural-born citizens underwent when they turned 18.
τῶν φίλων: partitive genitive; that is, “(one) of the friends”
ἔπειτα: what follows is a continuation of the lengthy indirect command (πρῶτον μέν…ἔπειτα) initiated by ἠξίωσε.
παρὰ τῇ θεῷ: that is, by the temple of the goddess Athena: namely, the Parthenon
ᾖ ἐξελέγξαι ὅτου ἂν ἕκαστος ᾖ συγγενής: “so that it might be possible to prove of whom each man is a relative,” i.e., so people in the future could prove their citizen status by showing kinship to one of the original Plataian grantees.
106
ὕστερον: “at a later period,” “subsequently”; take with γίγνεσθαι. The word is emphatically placed, and in antithesis with νῦν.
οὐκ ἐᾷ γίγνεσθαι Ἀθηναῖον ἐξεῖναι: “was not allowing it to be possible...” i.e., made it impossible. The subject of ἐᾷ is the framer of the decree mentioned in 105. ἐᾷ governs the impersonal ἐξεῖναι, which in turn governs γίγνεσθαι; take Ἀθηναῖον as the predicate, agreeing with an understood τινά.
τοῦ….κατασκευάζειν: genitive articular infinitive of purpose (see §57, G. 576, S. 2032e).
τὸν νόμον διωρίσατο: “defined the law,” i.e., added a qualifying proviso, described in the next clause
πρὸς αὐτούς: “regarding them,” “applicable to them,” the Plataians
καὶ μὴ ἐξεῖναι: Dilts 2009 brackets the καί, following Sauppe
λαχεῖν: “to be chosen by lot as one of”
τοῖς δ᾽ ἐκ τούτων: “but (it is permitted) to their descendants” (see §104)
ἐξ ἀστῆς γυναικὸς καὶ ἐγγυητῆς κατὰ τὸν νόμον: this stipulation is not in the decree that Apollodoros has just quoted, though it is mentioned in §92. Perhaps the law is later.
