March 2020

Pairs of iron fetters («πέδαι»/bonds) from Akanthos (modern-day Ierissos)

Pairs of iron fetters («πέδαι»/bonds) from Akanthos (modern-day Ierissos) (Ι.120.136). © Ministry of Culture

Two different types of iron fetters from the Archaeological Museum of Polygyros. The fetters were found in twelve burials at the Akanthos cemetery, applied to the ankles of the "fettered dead". The burials were found without any grave goods and they date from the 4th to the 3rd cent. BC.

In the first pair (Ι.144.51), the links are made of ribbon-like sheets, fastened with small nails at the ends. The links were probably connected to each other by a rope which has not been preserved.

In the second pair (Ι.120.136), the links are circular in section and their ends penetrate into each other. They are connected by a straight piece with two rings to which the links are attached.

There have been various views on the identity of the fettered dead:

They may have been slaves and the fetters may have been the punishment for their arrogant behavior, a practice also mentioned by Diodorus. A second theory holds that they were mentally ill individuals whose violent behavior was treated with bonds. Or, they may have been convicts, who died while serving their sentence. One last case identifies them with the Greek mercenaries who fought alongside the Persians against the army of Alexander the Great, in the battle of the Granicus River in 334 B.C. Following the defeat of the Persians, according to Arrian, they were condemned to work in irons for the rest of their lives.

We cannot be sure of any of the above mentioned theories, because of the inadequacy of the data at our disposal. The fettered men of Akanthos may have been treated in the same way, but this does not necessarily mean that they shared a common destiny in their former lives. Perhaps in the Akanthian society each type of bonds was connected to different penal methods or to the treatment of different social issues.

Date: End of 4th - early 3rd century BC.

The exhibit is presented at the temporary exhibition entitled "From the South to the North: Colonies of the Cyclades in the northern Aegean"