Abstract
ON THE INSCRIBED BASE for a statue of Caracalla, erected at Sparta probably to celebrate his attainment of the title Caesar in 196 A.D., there appears an institution called the synarchia.1 Of the known public institutions of Roman Sparta, the synarchia is least understood. Paucity of evidence is the main stumbling block, since we have the names of no members other than its chairmen (presbeis).2 On the other hand, the synarchia's competence seems to have been wide-ranging-it was involved in honouring a gymnasiarch; it dedicated an altar to Hadrian; it was empowered in a decree to pass judgement on appeals in disputes arising from an athletic contest; and a number of its chairmen paid expenses for the erection of honorific statue bases.3
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