E´RANI
E´RANI (
ἔρανοι) was
the name given to clubs or societies established for convivial purposes, the
members dining together at stated periods, probably once a month. Every
member (
ἐρανιστὴς in Inscr.;
πληρωτὴς ἐράνου, Dem.
c. Mid.
p. 547.101, p. 574.184 f.; [Dem.]
c. Aristog. i. p. 776.21;
Etym. M. s. v.
ἐρανιστής; Harpocr. s. v.
ἐρανίζοντες) was bound to pay his monthly subscription (also
called
ἔρανος,1
or
φορά, εἰσφορά, σύνοδος, Koehler in
Mittheil. d. d. Arch. Inst. 1884, p. 293, n.), which in
the society of the
Ἡροισταὶ amounted to
three drachmas (
C. I. A. ii. No. 630). Such societies usually
united in the common worship of some deity, such as Sarapis (
C. I.
A. ii. No. 617=Brit. Mus. Inscr. 1.21), for whom they appointed
special sacrificial officers (
ἱεροποιοί,
C. I. A. ii. Nos. 615, 616, 617). From this point of view
they were called
θίασοι (
Athen. 8.362 e), and Aristotle
(
Nicom. Ethic. 8.9, 5, p. 1160 a) groups
θιασωταὶ and
ἐρανισταὶ together as
κοινωνίαι formed
δι᾽ ἡδονὴν, θυσίας
ἕνεκα καὶ συνουσίας, as opposed to
κοινωνίαι ἃι τοῦ συμφέροντος ἐφίενται: cf. also
Photius, p. 82,
θιάσου, ὅσπερ ἐστὶν ἡ ἀπὸ τοῦ
πίνειν συναγωγή, and Pollux, 6.8,
τοὺς δὲ συνιόντας συμπότας, ὁμοσίτους συσσίτους, συνουσιαστάς,
θιασώτας ἢ θιασίτας, εἰλαπινας τάς, ἐρανιστάς. Foucart
can therefore be scarcely right in distinguishing between
éranes civils and
éranes
religieux (
Des Assoc. Relig. chez les Grecs, p. 3).
Such clubs had their own common funds (
ὅρος χωρίου
πεπραμένου ἐρανισταῖς τοῖς μετὰ Καλλιτέλους,
C. I. A. ii. No. 1110; cf. Nos. 1119, 1111, and
Rangabé,
Antiq. hellén. No. 885) and
their own laws: e. g. the
νόμος ἐρανιστῶν
(
C. I. A. iii. No. 23), prescribing the dokimasia of new
members and the expulsion of disturbing elements; cf. also the Solonian law
(
Dig. 47,
22,
4) ordaining that any agreement between members should
be binding, provided it did not contravene the laws of the state. The
κοινὸν of such a club might vote and
bestow the honour of a crown, and an
ἔπαινος on deserving members, etc.
2 The dokimasia was conducted by the
προστάτης, the
ἀρχιερανιστής,
the secretary, the treasurers, and the
σύνδικοι. These officials, probably with the exception of the
προστάτης, were annually chosen by lot
(
κληρωτοι κατὰ ἔτος,
C. I. A. iii. No. 23); yet from Harpocr . s. v.
πληρωτής, it would appear that the
ἀρχιερανισταὶ or
ἐρανάρχαι were at one time elected (Salmasius reads,
τοῖς ἤτοι λαχοῦσιν ἢ ᾑρημένοις:
in an inscr. publ. in the
Revue archéol. 10.1864,
p. 400a
ταμίας is called
αίρεθείς). Other functionaries were
ἐπιμεληταί (
C. I. A. ii. No.
616), a
προερανίστρια. (
C. I.
A. ii. No. 617), etc.; it is probably a mere chance that only in
connexion with the treasurer is there mention of an oath on entering office
(
Revue archéol. 11.1865, p. 500). Hesychius'
explanation of
πληρωτής, viz.
ἐράνου συναγωγός, has led some scholars to
suppose that the
ἐρανάρχης had to advance
the necessary sums, if members made default (
ἐκλείπειν τὴν φοράν). Such clubs numbered among their
members women (an
ἔρανος consisting
entirely of women, Keil,
Zur Syll. Inscr. Boeot. p. 624),
foreigners, even slaves.
Ἔρανος is also used in the sense of a
contribution made by friends (
ἑταῖροι καὶ φίλοι
σοὶ καὶ συνήθεις, Philem.
fr. 213
in Kock,
Comic. Att. Fragm. 2.1) to assist a person in
difficulties, e. g. when that person had to pay a heavy fine, or to ransom
himself from captivity, etc. As a rule, the person in distress applied to
his friends in person for assistance (
συλλέγειν
ἔρανον, Antiph.
Tetral. i.
β, § 9; [Dem.]
c. Neaer.
p. 1355.31;
c. Nicostr. p. 1249.11--
συλλέγεσθαι ἔρανον, Lys.
c. Aeschin. fr. 1;
Dem.
c. Mid. p. 547.101--
ἐρανίζειν
τινά, Dem.
Epist. iii. p. 1484.38);
occasionally, however, a friend might undertake the collecting (Aeschin.
de Fals. Leg. § 41,
συνιστάναι τὸν ἔρανον), who probably fixed the amount to
be paid by each (
Corn. Nep. Epam.
3). From
D. L. 6.63, it would seem that
sometimes the
ἐρανάρχης undertook the task
of collection for a member of his club; cf. also the inscription from
Amorgus,
τοῦ ἐράνου ὃν συνέλεχεν
Ἀρισταγόρας (the
ἀρχέρανος),
Ἀρχαιολ. Ἐφημ. N. S. No. 77. An
ἔρανος πεντακοσιόδραχμος, i. e. one
to which each had to contribute 500 drachmas, is mentioned in Dittenberger,
S. I. G. No. 433, 1. 4; whilst the
ἔρανος εἰκοσίμνως in Lys.
c. Autocr. fr.
49 (= Pollux, 9.57) and the
ἔ.
τετταρακονταμναῖος in Dittenberger, No. 462, 1. 12, represent the
total amount collected. The
[p. 1.759]friends who paid their
share are said
ἐρανίζειν τινί (Dem.
c. Boeot. i. p. 999.18),
εἰσφέρειν ἔρανον, etc. The relief was looked upon as a
friendly loan, repayable by the borrower, probably by instalments (Lys.
c. Aeschin. fr. 1), when in better circumstances
(Theophr.
Char. 17): it was neither a present (yet see Dem.
de Cor. p. 329.312; [Dem.]
c.
Nicostr. p. 1249.9; Theophr.
Char. 15), nor a
loan (
χρέως), but something between the two
(
ἐξ ἐράνου ὔφλημα, Isae.
Hagn. § 43: cf. Dem.
c. Aphob. i.
p. 821.25; Lyc.
c. Leocr. § 22). Security for an
ἔρανος is mentioned in the inscription
from Amorgus (quoted above), and in Wescher et Foucart,
Inscr. de
Delphes, No. 139. Some scholars are of opinion that there were
actual associations for the purpose of mutual relief, resembling in some
degree our friendly or benefit societies; yet this view is shown to be wrong
by Van Holst,
de Eran. vet. Graec. p. 73 ff. (Cf. Caillemer,
Le Contrat de Société à
Athènes, p. 24 ff.; Thalheim,
Rechtsalterth. p. 65, n. 2.)
For the recovery of such loans when the person assisted was in a position to
pay them back, but unwilling to do so, for the decision of disputes amongst
the
ἐρανισταί--
e.g., about the payment of each member's share, or the use made of the
contributions by the president, etc.--there were special
ἐρανικαὶ δίκαι [
EMMENOI DIKAI]. Plato (
Legg. xi. p.
915 E) disapproved of lawsuits in such matters, and would not allow them in
his republic.
The various purposes for which clubs were formed we learn from the law which
Gaius ascribes to Solon,
ἐὰν δὲ δῆμος ἢ
φράτορες ἢ ἱερῶν ὀργίων θύται (Mommsen;
ἢ ναῦται, MS.)
ἢ
σύσσιτοι ἢ ὁμόταφοι ἢ θιασῶται ἢ ἐπὶ λείαν οἰχόμενοι ἢ
εἰς ἐμπορίαν, ὅτι ἂν τούτων διαθῶνται πρὸς ἀλλήλους, κύριον
εἶναι ἐὰν μὴ ἀπαγορεύσῃ δημόσια γράμματα (
Dig. 47,
22,
4). By
σύσσιτοι (or
ὁμόσιτοι, Pollux, 6.7) probably
members of a dinner club are meant; men who either possessed no
establishment of their own, bachelors and widowers, or those who preferred
taking their meals in male society rather than at home with their wives,
combined to form such clubs. According to Plat.
Lach. p. 179
B, Lysimachus, the son of Aristides, and Milesias, the son of Thucydides,
were members of a club of the kind (Schömann,
Griech.
Alterth. i. p. 363).--The
ὁμόταφοι can scarcely be the
γεννῆται, who as such had a claim to the
πατρῷα μνήματα (
ὧν ὅσοιπέρ
εἰσι τοῦ γένους κοινωνοῦσιν, Dem. c.
Eubul.
p. 1307.28; cf. [Dem.]
c. Macart. p. 1077.79;
Plut. Cim. 4; Ps.
Plut. Vitt. X. Oratt. p. 838 B), for the
γεννῆται are distinguished from
οἷς ἠρία (Harpocr. s. v.=
τάφοι)
ταὐτά
in Dem.
c. Eubul. p. 1319.67. Sometimes the
ἔρανος looked after the burial of its members,
e. g. Koumanoudes,
Ἐπιγραφαὶ
ἐπιτύμβιοι, No. 2362,
Ἀρτεμίδωρος
Σελευκεύς: ἐρανισταί: cf. also
C. I. A. ii.
No. 621. According to a Rhodian inscription (
Bull. de Corresp.
hellén. 1880, p. 139 ff) a piece of land was given to
the
ἐρανισταὶ as a present
εἰς ταφία, which J. Martha explains to mean
that the revenue from this piece of land was to be used in defraying the
burial expenses of members, whilst in E. L. Hicks' opinion (
Brit.
Mus. Inscr. 2.360) the land was granted as a burial-ground to
certain eranists.--
Οἱ ἐπὶ λείαν
οἰχόμενοι are men banded together for the purpose of
privateering, to exercise in time of war the right of reprisal, which
corresponds somewhat to the modern letters of marque (Schömann,
Antiq. jur. publ. Gr. p. 368 n.).--Trading companies are
frequently mentioned in inscriptions,
e.g. C. I. G. No. 124=
C. I. A. ii. No. 475,
ναύκληροι
καὶ ἔμποροι οἱ φέροντες τὴν σύνοδον τοῦ Διὸς τοῦ
χενίου in the Piraeus;
C. I. G. No. 2271, 1. 35,
τὸ κοινὸν τῶν Τυρίων Ἡρακλεϊστῶν
ἐμπόρων καὶ ναυκλήρων;
Journ. of Hell. Stud. viii. p. 415aguild of Thasian merchants
had taken Hermes
κερδέμπορος for their
patron-god; they styled them-selves accordingly
κερδέμποροι, and their president was called
ἀρχικερδέμπορος, etc. Cf. Harpocr. s. v.
κοινωνικῶν καὶ περὶ τῶν ἑκούσιον κοινωνίαν
συνθεμένεν ἐμπορίας ἤ τινος ἄλλου, such as trading
companies (Lys.
c. Frument. § § 9, 17, 21;
Dem.
c. Dionys. p. 1285.7 ff.), mining companies (
οἱ κοινωνοῦντες μετάλλου, Dem.
c.
Pantaen. p. 977.38; Hyperid.
pro Eux. col. 44;
Xen.
de Redit. 4, 30 f.), farmers of taxes
(Andoc.
de Myst. § 133; Lyc.
c.
Leocr. § § 19, 58;
Plut.
Alc. 5), or lessees of the theatre in Piraeus (
C. I.
A. ii. No. 573), etc.--For the constitution, etc., of the various
σύνοδοι τῶν περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον
τεχνιτῶν in Athens (
C. I. A. ii. No. 551), Thebes
(
C. I. G. No. 1600), Argos (
C. I. G. No.
3068 C;
C. I. A. ii. No. 552 b), Teos (
C. I.
G. No. 3067), and Cyprus (
C. I. G . Nos. 2619, 2620),
etc., see A. Müller,
Bühnenalterth. p. 392
ff. The general name for all such associations was
ἑταιρεῖαι ( “sodales sunt qui ejusdem collegii sunt
quam Graeci
ἐταιρείαν vocant,”
Gaius, l.c.), but in its special sense
ἑταιρεῖαι meant political clubs. These were not like the
preceding societies, recognised and authorised by the state, but were at
best only tolerated. Such clubs played an important part in Athenian
politics. Themistocles owed much of his power to such a club (
Plut. Alc. 2); Thucydides, the son of Milesias,
united the aristocrats into an association in opposition to Pericles. until
he was ostracised and the
ἑταιρεία in
consequence broken up (
Plut. Per. 11,
14). Yet it was only after the death of
Pericles that these clubs became established “conspiracies for the
management of trials and elections” (
ξυνωμοσίαι ἐπὶ δίκαις καὶ ἀρχαῖς,
Thuc. 8.54; cf. 3.82-85; Plat.
Theaet. p. 173 D,
σπουδαὶ ἑταιριῶν
ἐπ᾽ ἀρχάς, and [Andoc.]
c. Alcib. §
4), which were not very scrupulous in their choice of means, and did not
disdain the employment of such measures as false testimony and corruption
(Dem. c.
Mid. p. 560.139;
c. Zenoth. p.
885.10;
c. Pantaen. p. 978.39). They were secretly conducted
(Plat.
Rep. ii. p. 365 D), and used to put down the democracy
(
ξυνωμότας δὲ ἔλεγον τοὺς ἐπὶ καταλύσει
τοῦ δήμου συνερχομένους, Schol.
Aristoph. Wasps 342), and on that account
for-bidden. (Cf. the first section of the
νόμος
εἰσαγγελτικὸς in Hyperid.
pro Eux. col. 22,
and the
Lex in [Dem.]
c. Steph.
p. 1137.26.) The mutilation of the Hermae was proposed at a convivial
meeting of the club to which Andocides belonged (Andoc.
de
Myst. § 61 ff.); the Athenians ascribed the offence to
conspirators who wanted to effect a revolution and to over-throw the
democracy (
Thuc. 6.27; Andoc.
de
Myst. § 36). The charge against Alcibiades ran:
συνάγει τὴν ἑταιρίαν ἐπὶ νεωτέροις πράγ
μασιν, etc. (Isocr.
de Big. § 6; cf.
Thuc. 6.61; Diod. Sicul. 13.5). In the days of the
Roman
[p. 1.760]empire friendly societies, under the name of
ἔρανοι, were frequent among the Greek
cities, but were looked upon with suspicion by the emperors as leading to
political combinations (
Plin. Ep. 10.93,
94).
[
C.R.K] [
H.H]
