Abstract
The text of a set of sacred norms recently found in Thessaly and published by J.-C. Decourt and A. Tziaphalias (Kernos 28 [2015] 13-51) contains a clause mentioning an inscription on the peristyle of the temple (lines B22-23: ἐπιγραφὴ εἰςτὸ περίστυλον) with the order to make a preliminary offering of incense to Phylake and to Men (Προθύσαι πρώτηι τῆι Φυλ[α]|κῆι καὶ τῶι Μηνὶ θύματα λιβανωτόν). This does not refer to the text of the stele on which it is found, but to another text inscribed on the colonnade, which contained only the command to make an offering. Unlike the text on the stele, this command contained only the brief instruction, which was relevant to the place where it was inscribed and omitted the elaborate set of norms inscribed on the stele. This simple command, in this case, an extract from a set of sacred norms, is what we would call a sign. This paper will analyze the distinction between laws, decrees, and by-laws containing sacred norms, on the one hand, and warning signs containing brief instructions on the other. The analysis draws on my discussion in "Toward a Typology of Greek Regulations about Religious Matters: A Legal Approach" (Kernos 28 [2015] 53-83, at 58-60). Sacred norms contained in laws, decrees, and by-laws often contain dating formulas, enactment formulas indicating the authority that created them, penalty clauses, the officials responsible for enforcing the norms, publication formulas, and (sometimes) entrenchment clauses. They are generally published on free-standing stelae and may be placed in a sanctuary or in a public space not associated with a shrine (LSCG no. 136, l. 13-18).
By contrast, signs can be posted on altars (LSCG nos. 24, 25, 26, 27, 95 [?], 114, 131; LSS nos. 30, 55, 58, 62, 74), at the entrance to a cave (LSCG nos. 9, 133), on a rock (LSCG no. 132; LSS no. 5), the wall of a fountain house or other building (LSCG nos. 76, 113; LSS no. 50), the architrave of a temple (LSS no. 123), the lintel of a building (LSS no. 49) or on horoi (boundary-markers) (LSCG no. 121; LSS no. 34; LSAM nos. 75 and 83). The lettering on signs may be larger than the lettering on normal stelae and designed to draw the attention of the viewer. Signs may contain the names of officials or penalties for non-compliance, but generally they do not. Because warning signs do not contain enactment formulas, it is often difficult to know which authority created them. In some cases, we know from the context that a private individual set up the sign as in the case of the inscriptions placed by Archedemus of Thera at the Vari cave in Attica (IG I3, 977, 978, 980). In other cases, such as the signs found in the Passage des théores on Thasos, the public location near official buildings indicates that the orders are imposed by the community.
