PERSIAN οίκος*
A . Treloar
G. L. Cawkwell in his discussion o f the King’s Peace mentions the puzzling
use o f οίκος in Greek sources with a Persian reference.1
He states that ‘the uses o f ν/θ- in the Old Persian inscriptions (cf. R. G.
Kent, Old Persian Grammar, p .208) do not advance the case’. Now it is true
that of the 23 instances listed by Kent in his Lexicon on p.2082, 12 can mean
‘the royal house’ and in 3 o f these ν/θ- is distinguished from dahyaum
‘land’. However, in 10 o f the remaining cases (2 in the Instrum ental and 8 in
the Locative) the meaning cannot refer to a kinship group: but must mean
rather ‘palace’, e.g. DB2.16 VQa-patiy = ‘in the palace’, and DPc
Darayavahaus: Xshya: vi0iya: karta = ‘made in the house of King Darius’.
In one o f these cases the palace is expressly contrasted with the camp: yaQamaiy: tya: kartam. . . uta: viQiya: uta: spaQmaidaya = ‘when what has been
done by me both in the palace and in the war-cam p’. In the unique instance
of the plural form the meaning must be ‘houses’, since Darius here claims to
have restored to the people their property, including houses, taken from
them by G aum ata (DB 1.65).
However, the O P inscriptions also use xsaqa- ‘kingship, kingdom’ and
tauma- ‘family’; that is kingly power (at A 2Hc 19-20 distinguished from
\iQam) and blood relations.
Clearly ν/θ- is something between tauma-, the Achaemenid clan, and the
land or provinces expressed by dahyu- (cf. especially the title xsayaQiya:
dahyiinam = ‘King o f countries’, e.g. DB 1-2), while xsaqa- is rather an
abstract idea.
This semantic development is supported by the Avestan cognate \is- = ‘a
noble house’ as distinct from nmana = 'a com m oner’s house’, then the com­
plex of buildings associated with a noble household, as distinct from nmana- ‘a single household’, soiQra- ‘district’ and dahyu — ‘land’3.
It appears then that ν/θ- as distinct from tauma- means the royal
household in the broadest sense, which in an ancient monarchy included the
administrative departm ents o f state just as in Imperial Rome. Note that OP
could distinguish the ‘palace’ in this sense from the building for which hadis
was used.4
* My colleague, Dr B. A . M arshall, drew m y attention to this problem and discussed it with
me.
1. G. L. Cawkwell, The K ing’s Peace. CQ xxxi 1981 6 9-83, at p p .71-2 and n.10.
2. R. G. Kent, O ld Persian. 2nd ed ., New H aven, 1953. A ll references to the O P inscriptions
are to this edition.
3. C. Bartholom ae, Altiranisches Worterbuch s.vv.
4. N ote that νίθά-patiy ‘in the palace’ at both places where it occurs is used o f household
troops, and ν/'θι>β: karta ‘m ade in the palace’ implies the work and presence o f craftsm en,
whereas hadis (: Greek έδ ο ς) is merely a building.
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A. TRELOAR
Although in their success as empire-builders, the Persians stand com­
parison with the Romans and the British, they did not succeed in imposing
their language on the peoples they ruled. This was perhaps one result of
their tolerance as compared with Roman and British reluctance to conduct
official business in foreign languages. M oreover even among Iranianspeakers, Avestan had the strong support o f religion and Median had its an­
cient traditions in the world o f the Medes and Persians.
A t any rate official Persian documents survive in other languages o f the
empire. So SIG 22 is a letter in Greek addressed by Darius to his satrap
Gadates in Ionia.5 Although it dates from Hadrianic times, it has been
accepted as a copy with modernisation o f the Ionic dialect o f the original.
The opening form ula certainly is true to the Persian style:
βασιλεύς βασιλέων Δαρεϊος ό 'Υ στάσπεω Γ αδάται δούλωι
τάδε λέγει . . .
Cf. DBa:
: adam : Darayavaus : xsaya0iya : vazraka : xsaya
Giya : xsayaGiyanam: xsayaGiya : Parsaiy : xs
ayaOiya : dahyunam : V staspahya: puga :
Arsamahya : napa : Haxamanisiya : 0atiy : Dara
yavaus . . .
I am Darius, the Great King, King o f Kings, King in Persia, King of
countries, son o f Hystaspes, grandson of Arsames, an Achaemenid,
saith Darius . . .
Moreover, δούλωι reflects Persian usage, since in the OP inscriptions ba"daka — lit. ‘servant, slave’ is the regular expression applied to a satrap or
army commander, cf. DB 3.13-4 mana : badaka : Bdxtriya : xsacapava =
my subject, satrap in Bactria’.
In other words the whole administrative system was seen as an extension
of the royal household or ν/θ-.
But this stage Aramaic had stronger claims to be an international
language than Greek, and the book o f Ezra reflects this in the Aramaic
documents, which if not verbatim copies of originals at least reflect the Per­
sian style. According to the Authorised Version o f Ezra iv. 14 the
opponents o f the Jews wrote: ‘Now because we have maintenance from the
king’s palace . . .’ In Aramaic (and Hebrew) the word translated ‘palace’ is
bD 7 n there is nothing corresponding to ‘the king’s’ nor is there any need for
such a correspondence, since in both Hebrew and Aramaic i>:nn is a loan­
word from the Sumerian E.G A L, lit. ‘big house’, which means a temple or
5. It is printed with a com m entary as no. 12 in Russell M eiggs and David Lewis, A Selection
o f Greek Historical Inscriptions to the end o f the Fifth Century B.C. (O xford, 1969).
PERSIAN οίκος
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palace, and by a natural extension the administrative system controlling the
property o f temple or palace. As ancient kingdoms waxed and waned, the
scribes m aintained their office systems and their ideographic terminology.
It was just as natural for the Persians when their turn came to represent
E.GAL by their word ν/θ-, as it was for them to use xsayaQiya: vazraka to
represent LUGAL.GAL lit. ‘big king’, that is ‘Great King’.
As D. F. G raf has shown, the Persian Empire did not involve disruption
of the Median Em pire.6 The scribes carried on, the conquerors had to adapt
their language to the system, so E.GAL, already borrowed a s io ^ n , was
translated by ν/θ- and by οίκος.
Ancient Egypt provides an interesting and instructive parallel, since the
title ‘P haraoh’ represents the Egyptianp r-3 , lit. ‘the great house’.
6. D. F. G raf, Medism: the origin and significance o f the term. JHS civ 1984 15-30.