{{Short description|Ancient Greek voting token}} [[Image:Pinakion_Archilochos.jpg|thumb|alt=Bronze dikast ticket of Archilochos of Phaleron.|A bronze jury pinakion from about 370–362 BCE, reused after 350 BCE, held in the [[British Museum]].]]
In [[ancient Greece]], a '''pinakion''' ({{langx|grc|πινάκιον}}, pl. {{Transliteration|grc|pinakia}}) was a small bronze or wooden plate used as a form of citizen's token. Pinakia for candidates for political office or for jury membership were designed to be inserted into randomization machines ([[Kleroterion|kleroteria]]) so votes could be as accurate as possible to a wider community. Pinakia were common in Athens, but there are examples of non-Athenian pinakia as well.<ref name=":0">{{cite journal|last=Liddel| first=Peter| year=2020| title=Timodemides' ''Pinakion'', Manchester Museum 42015| journal=Grammateion| volume=9| pages=77–80| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606201756/https://grammateion.gr/sites/grammateion.gr/files/articles/grammateion_9_2020_77-80.pdf| archive-date=2023-06-06|url=https://grammateion.gr/sites/grammateion.gr/files/articles/grammateion_9_2020_77-80.pdf| access-date=2023-06-06}}</ref>
==Origins==
During the [[Golden Age of Athens]], the use of pinakia developed from earlier forms of voting. These early methods included dropping pebbles in labelled vases and voting by raising hands.<ref name=":1">{{cite journal|last=Boegehold| first=Alan L.| year=1963| title=Toward a Study of Athenian Voting Procedure| journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens| volume=32| number=4| pages=366–374| doi=10.2307/147360| jstor=147360}}</ref> The first pinakia and secret vote in Athens were recorded in the mid-5th century BCE.<ref name=":1" />
While wood was occasionally used, the best surviving pinakia are bronze. The use of bronze to create these Athenian ballots began {{circa|388 BCE}} and ended {{circa|322 BCE}}.<ref name=":2">{{cite journal|last=Pietilä-Castrén| first=Leena | year=2016| title=A Lost Pinakion Rediscovered| journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens| volume=85| number=1| pages=201–205| doi=10.2972/hesperia.85.1.0201| jstor=10.2972/hesperia.85.1.020| s2cid=183914066 }}</ref> The owner's name was engraved on line 1, and his deme was on line 2.<ref name=":2" /> The words and symbols were added by using the technique of [[punching]].<ref name=":2" />
==Sorting process==
Pinakia were inscribed with a "section letter"<ref name=":0" /> that matched a column of slots on the kleroteria. After the votes were cast, a pre-selected group of jurors counted them and reported the results.<ref name=":1" />
==Dikastic and nondikastic pinakia==
The pinakion was a method of secret voting. They were labeled with names, but these were only seen and counted by a select group, of the general public.<ref name=":1" /> There were nondikastic and dikastic types of bronze pinakia.<ref name=":2" /> A dikastic pinakion had to be returned to the government after use, and the engravings were removed so the bronze could be reinscribed with the name of somebody else. A nondikastic pinakion could be kept as a valuable token throughout a person's life. Because of this, many pinakia are recovered from tombs.
== References == {{reflist}}
== Bibliography== {{refbegin}} * {{cite journal|last=Boegehold| first=Alan L.| year=1963| title=Toward a Study of Athenian Voting Procedure| journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens| volume=32| number=4| pages=366–374| doi=10.2307/147360| jstor=147360}} * {{cite web| author=[[Brooklyn Museum]]| date=2016-01-30| title=Pinakion| url=https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/37940| access-date=2023-06-06| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230125124429/https://www.brooklynmuseum.org/opencollection/objects/37940| archive-date=2023-01-25}} * {{cite journal|last=Liddel| first=Peter| year=2020| title=Timodemides' ''Pinakion'', Manchester Museum 42015| journal=Grammateion| volume=9| pages=77–80| archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20230606201756/https://grammateion.gr/sites/grammateion.gr/files/articles/grammateion_9_2020_77-80.pdf| archive-date=2023-06-06|url=https://grammateion.gr/sites/grammateion.gr/files/articles/grammateion_9_2020_77-80.pdf| access-date=2023-06-06}} * {{cite journal|last=Pietilä-Castrén| first=Leena | year=2016| title=A Lost Pinakion Rediscovered| journal=Hesperia: The Journal of the American School of Classical Studies at Athens| volume=85| number=1| pages=201–205| doi=10.2972/hesperia.85.1.0201| jstor=10.2972/hesperia.85.1.020| s2cid=183914066 }} {{refend}}
[[Category:Identity documents]] [[Category:Athenian democracy]]
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