A building inscription from Epidauros. IG IV2 1, 114, SEG XLII 298, IG IV2 1, 110

The sanctuary of Asclepios at Epidauros, excavated by the Archaeological Society at Athens, has produced a group of inscriptions of the 4th century BC, financial accounts for the building program that had been initiated shortly after 400 BC.¹ Among the published inscriptions are the accounts of Asclepios temple (IG IV² 1, 102), the Tholos (IG IV² 1, 103) and the temple of Aphrodite (IG IV² 1, 106).

The construction of the buildings was usually supervised by building commissioners (ἐπιστάται), and the jobs were farmed out by a group of ἐντόπιοι (persons who give out contracts). The money comes from the priest or from the ἱερομνήμονες (highest officials of the sanctuary).⁴ The work is done by entrepreneurs, ἐργολάβοι, with assistants from the workshops.⁵ The ἐργόλαβοι take on the jobs farmed out by the ἐντόπιοι and were paid either in advance, in which case the commission holds back a security usually of 10% (ἐπιθεκόν), and sometimes of 20% (ἐπιτέττητον), given to them after examination of the work, or they were paid 100% of the price after they delivered the goods or when the entire job was completed.

The commissioners give an account (εὔθυνα, vide infra) of the income and expenditure after the end of each year. The inscriptions that we have are surely excerpts of the archives of the officials, in some cases written on stone after a building period of several years, and they were erected in the sanctuary to give public record.