Chapter On the Format and Layout of Athenian Building Accounts (Again)

Athenian building accounts inscribed on stone underwent a gradual evolution in classical Athens. The first preserved specimens, dating to the third quarter of the fifth century BCE, adopted a “list-like format,” with receipt and expenditure entries with their relevant monetary figures organized in m...

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मुख्य लेखक: Carusi, Cristina
स्वरूप: Online
भाषा:अंग्रेज़ी
प्रकाशित: Firenze University Press 2025
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ऑनलाइन पहुंच:ONIX_20250801T173835_9791221504569_322
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author Carusi, Cristina
author_browse Carusi, Cristina
author_facet Carusi, Cristina
author_sort Carusi, Cristina
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description Athenian building accounts inscribed on stone underwent a gradual evolution in classical Athens. The first preserved specimens, dating to the third quarter of the fifth century BCE, adopted a “list-like format,” with receipt and expenditure entries with their relevant monetary figures organized in multiple columns. In the last quarter of the same century, by contrast, they began to accommodate many more details, attaining a decidedly “narrative format” at the expense of the user-friendly layout chosen previously. This evolution, rather than being interpreted in light of the dichotomy between the symbolic and functional purpose of inscribed documents, should be attributed to a change in the ways in which the city chose to celebrate its building achievements. Whereas “list-like” accounts emphasized the financial means the city had deployed to realize its building projects, “narrative” accounts focused on describing how a building project was carried out, pointing less to the financial aspects and more to the deployment of the human and technical resources necessary to realize it. As regards the columnar format that features prominently in building accounts, at first glance it seems to recall the uses of writing on non-stone media. However, one should not assume a direct derivation of inscribed accounts from contemporary accounting documents written on perishable materials. In fact, the two-sub-column format with numerals on the left that characterizes earlier building accounts was originally and expressly designed for inscribing financial documents in which monetary figures were to occupy a prominent position. Notably, even later “narrative” accounts, in which entries proceed in a continuous-line format with numerals embedded in the text, did not abandon the columnar format, which remained a layout feature inextricably linked to this type of epigraphic document.
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1635122025-08-02T05:12:58Z Chapter On the Format and Layout of Athenian Building Accounts (Again) Carusi, Cristina Athenian building accounts functionalism vs. symbolism accounting documents columnar format numerals. Athenian building accounts inscribed on stone underwent a gradual evolution in classical Athens. The first preserved specimens, dating to the third quarter of the fifth century BCE, adopted a “list-like format,” with receipt and expenditure entries with their relevant monetary figures organized in multiple columns. In the last quarter of the same century, by contrast, they began to accommodate many more details, attaining a decidedly “narrative format” at the expense of the user-friendly layout chosen previously. This evolution, rather than being interpreted in light of the dichotomy between the symbolic and functional purpose of inscribed documents, should be attributed to a change in the ways in which the city chose to celebrate its building achievements. Whereas “list-like” accounts emphasized the financial means the city had deployed to realize its building projects, “narrative” accounts focused on describing how a building project was carried out, pointing less to the financial aspects and more to the deployment of the human and technical resources necessary to realize it. As regards the columnar format that features prominently in building accounts, at first glance it seems to recall the uses of writing on non-stone media. However, one should not assume a direct derivation of inscribed accounts from contemporary accounting documents written on perishable materials. In fact, the two-sub-column format with numerals on the left that characterizes earlier building accounts was originally and expressly designed for inscribing financial documents in which monetary figures were to occupy a prominent position. Notably, even later “narrative” accounts, in which entries proceed in a continuous-line format with numerals embedded in the text, did not abandon the columnar format, which remained a layout feature inextricably linked to this type of epigraphic document. 2025-08-02T05:12:56Z 2025-08-02T05:12:56Z 2025-08-01T16:00:54Z 2024 chapter ONIX_20250801T173835_9791221504569_322 2612-7997 https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/104872 9791221504569 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/163512 eng Edizioni dell’Istituto Papirologico «G. Vitelli» open access image/jpeg Attribution 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/104872/1/43355.pdf Firenze University Press 10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.04 10.36253/979-12-215-0456-9.04 2ec4474d-93b1-4cfa-b313-9c6019b51b1a 9791221504569 23 Florence open access
spellingShingle Athenian building accounts
functionalism vs. symbolism
accounting documents
columnar format
numerals.
Carusi, Cristina
Chapter On the Format and Layout of Athenian Building Accounts (Again)
title Chapter On the Format and Layout of Athenian Building Accounts (Again)
title_full Chapter On the Format and Layout of Athenian Building Accounts (Again)
title_fullStr Chapter On the Format and Layout of Athenian Building Accounts (Again)
title_full_unstemmed Chapter On the Format and Layout of Athenian Building Accounts (Again)
title_short Chapter On the Format and Layout of Athenian Building Accounts (Again)
title_sort chapter on the format and layout of athenian building accounts again
topic Athenian building accounts
functionalism vs. symbolism
accounting documents
columnar format
numerals.
topic_facet Athenian building accounts
functionalism vs. symbolism
accounting documents
columnar format
numerals.
url ONIX_20250801T173835_9791221504569_322
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