Dedica di una decima ad Apollo da parte dei Focidesi

At the beginning of the last century, French excavations at Delphi revealed a base with marks of statues’ feet (inv. 4553αζ= Jacquemin 1999, no. 397) featuring a fragmentary dedication (Syll.3 202B). The base most probably consisted in 9 slabs (but only 4 of them are preserved) and the inscription mentions the dedication of a tithe of the spoils to Apollo (the δ, dimly visible, is restored as δ[εκάταν]). It is very likely that the monument was erected after a victory in war. As such, it raises some relevant issues concerning Phocian history. The first issue relates to the chronology; the second issue, which is connected to the first one, to the battle that is commemorated. Most of the editors maintain that this monument refers to a battle fought between Phocians and Thessalians at the end of the 6th (or at the beginning of the 5th) century BC and told by Herodotus, Pausanias and Plutarch. The article also revisits the problem of the chronology of Aristomedon of Argos