Aspetti dell'amministrazione pubblica della terra a Chio in età classica ed ellenistica

This paper deals with two inscriptions from Chios providing insights into land tenure on the island. Public records and archival practices with regard to land administration are also explored. The connecting thread is represented by the adjective ἀείδασμος featuring in both documents. In the first text, the so-called «Attalus’ inscription» (Bringmann, von Steuben 1995, no. 231), that lists a substantial number of private properties registered as security for «perpetual» loans, the expression δασμὸς ἀείδασμος is explained as referring to the «tribute» (in fact the interest) bound «for ever» as a lien to the land, regardless of future sale transactions and ownership changes. The second text is the inscription recording the lease documents of the Klytidai (Pernin 2014, no. 130), one of the groups (a phratry?) into which the Chian demos was subdivided. It is a dossier assembling four different lease contracts, possibly as a result of a survey aiming at reclaiming and bringing into cultivation marginal land. Ἀίδασμος (γῆ), «land subject to a fixed tax or rent», as opposed to ἑκατοστηρίη, «land subject to a 1% tax», must here reflect an administrative classification referring to the fiscal status of the land, probably depending on its quality and/or «category». A detailed analysis of the two documents is offered.