Lastly, the regatta which took place on the last day of the festival was also a competition between tribes. According to the inscription two prizes were offered: the winning tribe received 200 drachmae for a feast besides some other object, possibly three oxen, valued at 300 drachmae. The prize for the second place is also broken off in the inscription, but its value was 200 drachmae. Of the details of the regatta we know nothing. Perhaps we may connect with the Panathenaea a relief found at Athens representing torch-race, wrestling, and boat-race (Fig. [36]). It forms part of an ephebic inscription of Roman times in the archonship of C. Helvidius.[[416]]
The prizes in the athletic and equestrian events consisted, as we have seen, in certain quantities of oil. This oil, which was obtained from the sacred olive-trees scattered over Attica, belonged to the state, and none might sell or export it except the victors in the games. The olive-trees were under the care of the Areopagus, and were every year inspected by its officials, and the oil itself was collected by the archon, who handed it over to the treasurers of the festival. In later time this system was abolished and the land was assessed at a certain number of olive-trees, each proprietor being required to supply a certain quota of oil to the state.[[417]]
Fig. 36. Relief on Stele. Athens, National Museum, 3300. Imperial period.
Besides this the victor received as a memento “a richly painted amphora.”[[418]] In view of the care with which these amphorae were preserved it seems unlikely that the victor received more than one such amphora. A large number of them are still in existence. They date from the middle of the sixth to the close of the fourth century. They are painted in black on a red ground or panel. On one side is an athletic scene, typical of the event for which the amphora was given; on the other, the figure of Athene clothed in her aegis, and brandishing her shield and spear. She stands usually between two Doric pillars surmounted by some emblem, a cock, sphinx, siren, panther, or vase, or in later times by the figure of Victory or Triptolemus. Along the left-hand pillar runs an inscription: “One of the prizes from Athens,” ΤΟΝΑΘΕΝΕΘΕΝ.Α.ΘΥΟΝ: to which is added on the Burgon amphora[[419]] the word ΕΜΙ, “I am.” On the early amphorae the letters are parallel, on the later at right angles to the column. To the inscription is sometimes added the name of the archon. The earliest of these dated vases belongs to the archonship of Polyzelus in 367 B.C., the latest to that of Polemon in 312 B.C.[[420]] Two fragmentary inscriptions suggest that sometimes the name of the Kosmetes, or Agonothetes, was substituted for that of the archon.[[421]] The dates of the archon do not always coincide with the years in which the great Panathenaea took place; and Michaelis therefore assigns such vases to the lesser Panathenaea. It seems more likely that, as the oil was collected every year by the archons, the inscription merely records the name of the archon who collected the oil. On two vases we also find the name of the vase-painter.[[422]]
Fig. 37. Panathenaic amphora, in British Museum, B. 144. Sixth century.
The scene on the reverse usually represents the actual contest. Occasionally the name of the event is added. On some of the sixth-century amphorae, made perhaps before the tradition was absolutely fixed, the painter seems to have allowed himself more licence in his choice of subject. Thus a British Museum amphora represents the proclamation of a victory in the horse-race (Fig. [37]). The victorious youth is mounted on his horse, and in front of him stands a herald in full official robes, from whose lips issue the words: “The horse of Dyneicetus is victorious”: ΔΥΝΕΙΚΕΤΥ: ΗΙΠΠΟΣ: ΝΙΚΑΙ. Behind the rider an attendant bears a wreath and a tripod: we often hear of tripods as prizes; perhaps in early days they may have been given as prizes at the Panathenaea. On another amphora in the British Museum (Fig. [38]) a seated athlothetes binds a fillet of wool on a youthful victor’s head. The latest of the signed vases has a more fanciful representation of victory.[[423]] Two naked youths have just received palm branches from an athlothetes, by whom a herald stands. One of the youths is standing still, the other, who is perhaps a victor in the foot-race, runs off joyfully. Occasionally the reference to the contest is more obscure. For example, on one early Panathenaic vase in the British Museum the battle of the Giants is depicted, on another an acrobatic scene[[424]] (Fig. [39]). The Athenians were intensely fond of acrobatic performances, and, as we know from the story of Hippocleides,[[425]] even high-born Athenians did not disdain to acquire proficiency in them. The scene is certainly in keeping with all that we know of Athenian festivals, where such side-shows must have been common. Are we, however, to suppose that a sacred prize amphora was actually given as a prize for acrobats? or was this a special mark of honour bestowed on some popular acrobat, like the statue erected at a later age at Athens in honour of a professional ball-player? Perhaps the simplest course is to regard the vase as an imitation Panathenaic amphora. It was found at Camirus in Rhodes, and its provenance, its general character, and the absence of the usual inscription render this explanation probable.[[426]] Imitation Panathenaic amphorae are numerous: many of them bear representations of musical contests for which, in Aristotle’s time at least, a different prize was given. There are also numerous small amphorae, the object of which is uncertain. Were they prizes for boys’ events, or second prizes? These are some of the numerous questions with regard to these interesting vases which still await solution.
Fig. 38. Panathenaic amphora, in British Museum, B. 138. Sixth century.