This monograph is a new commentary on the famous epigraphic document
known as the Astynomoi Law from Pergamon. In 1953/4 G. Klaffenbach
published his excellent philological commentary on this prostagma and
now, after six decades of archaeological and epigraphic discoveries a
fresh, thorough study of it is needed. The monograph is divided into two
parts: the first analyses the text line by line, the second focuses
instead on the officials called astynomoi in a study of evidence from
the entire Greek World which allows us to reassess their role and
standing in city administration. Over decades scholars have tended to
assume that the duties testified for the Athenian astynomoi were a
template for those of the homonymous officials in all the other Greek
communities. Only a complete reviewing of all now available evidence can
reveal whether their tasks were universally identical or not.