My summer fellowship at the Center for Hellenic Studies centered on an article project which explored the state and local consequences of a gift of grain from the Numidian king Massinissa to Delos. Massinissa donated 2,796.5 medimnoi of wheat to Delos in 180 BCE whose sale the following year brought 9,919 drachmas 5.25 obols in revenue to the Delian state. The circumstances behind this donation appear to be a Delian attempt to establish diplomatic and economic connections with Numidia: one of the Delians mentioned in the sale of wheat (ID 442A101) was an ambassador while two further individuals constructed statues of Massinissa, a Delian involved in the sale of grain (IG XI.4 1115.3), and a Rhodian (IG XI.4 1116) who may have assisted in its transport. At the time of the grain’s arrival, Delos’ grain fund (sitonikon) was operating at full financial capacity and there was no evidence of food shortage on the island. The grain was sold over the course of five months at prices set by the Delian demos. The Numidian king’s grain, thus, was a supplemental food source. If every citizen household on the island purchased an allotment of one choenix of grain per day (1/48 medimnos), it would have taken 112 days to consume the entire gift. This transaction, then, signals two means of viewing the nascent diplomatic contact between Delos and Numidia: the Delians celebrate what they see as a diplomatic victory and the first step towards a fruitful relationship with Massinissa through public and private honors. Massinissa, on the other hand, does not appear to desire to enter into a relationship with Delos. The king’s actions make this clear: compared to other lavish gifts of grain from Hellenistic monarchs, Massinissa sends a very small donation to the island and does not appear to pursue any further contact, diplomatic or otherwise. Instead, he continues to supply Roman armies operating in Greece and Macedon with grain. His gifts ultimately support the Roman takeover of the eastern Mediterranean at the expense of politically independent Delos.
