From Spolia to Showcase: A 1st-Century BC Decree in Motion

Nicolas C. Nicolaides In 1816, “Monsieur Mertrud” a French merchant and antiquities dealer resident in Athens, discovered a 1st-century BC marble stele inscribed with a decree honoring ephebes and their superintendent (kosmetes), reused as spolia in the wall of a house (Fig. 1). In 1821 the stele was acquired by Percy Clinton Smythe, sixth Viscount Strangford (1780–1855), British ambassador at Constantinople (İstanbul), and entered the British Museum in 1864. Tracing the stele’s movement fro...