The First Library Rules: The Inscription of Pantainos in Ancient Athens

Ancient room regulations: The Pantainos inscription of past Athens. Public Domain

The Library of Pantainos, a important taste and acquisition instauration successful Roman Athens, had possibly the earliest known inscription successful the satellite which laid retired rules for the visitors. “No publication is to beryllium taken out. Open from the archetypal hr until the sixth,” the marble inscription reads, suggesting that it functioned arsenic a notation room alternatively than a lending institution.

The inscription is present preserved successful the Epigraphic Museum of Athens. This museum, located adjacent the National Archaeological Museum, houses 1 of the world’s largest collections of past Greek inscriptions.

The operation “Open from the archetypal hr until the sixth” refers to the Roman timekeeping system, which divided daylight into 12 adjacent hours. The archetypal hr of the time started astatine sunrise (~6:00 AM, depending connected the season). The sixth hr was midday (~12:00 PM).

The room was built successful the precocious 1st oregon aboriginal 2nd period AD during the Roman period. It was donated to the metropolis by Titus Flavius Pantainos, a philosopher and benefactor, on with his family. The room was portion of a larger analyzable that included lecture halls and a courtyard, serving arsenic a halfway for learning and intelligence beingness successful Athens.

Situated adjacent the Roman Agora successful Athens, on the Panathenaic Way, which housed mostly scrolls was built during the reign of Emperor Trajan, and reflects the Roman patronage of Greek culture. The Romans admired Greek philosophy, literature, and science, and institutions similar this helped support Athens’ presumption arsenic an intelligence hub.

Second inscription astatine the Pantainos room of Athens

The room was established by Titus Flavius Pantainos, an Athenian philosopher and benefactor. His household apt played a relation successful backing and maintaining the library. An inscription recovered astatine the tract reads:

To Athena Polias and to the Emperor Caesar Augustus Nerva Traianus Germanicus arsenic good arsenic to the metropolis of Athens, the clergyman of the Muses of philosophers, T. Flavius Pantainos, lad of the Flavius Menander the Successor, dedicated astatine his ain disbursal the outer galleries, the peristyle, the room with the books and each the ornaments contained therein, with his children Flavius Menander and Flavia Secundilla.

The halfway of the gathering consisted of 2 spaces. One was a ample unfastened courtyard measuring 20 × 13.5 m, the level of which was paved with tiny irregular marble tiles embedded successful mortar. The different abstraction was a ample quadrate room, unfastened to the east, whose level was paved with marble slabs. Later, a peristyle was added to the courtyard, the cardinal portion of which was besides paved with marble slabs

It was 1 of respective notable libraries successful past Athens, alongside the Library of Hadrian, which was built somewhat aboriginal and connected a grander scale.

The room was apt destroyed by the Heruli, a Germanic people that invaded Athens successful 267 AD, on with galore different structures successful the city.

Unlike the larger Library of Hadrian, which was aboriginal restored, the Pantainos Library was not rebuilt and gradually disappeared from humanities records.

Related: Rome Conquered Greece, and Then Greece ‘Conquered’ Rome