TAMIAS

A treasurer; a title borne by several officials in Athens. (1) The most important of these was the treasurer (epimeletes) of the revenue, elected by show of hands every four years. He received from the apodectoe (general collectors) all the money which was to be disbursed for public expenses, and he paid away into the treasuries of the several authorities what was necessary for purposes of administration in their respective departments. He also provided the funds voted by the people for extraordinary purposes. (2) The same name was also borne by the ten treasurers of the goddess Athene, who had the care of the treasure of the goddess which was kept in the inner chamber of the Parthenon, besides the State treasure which (according to the ordinary account) was kept in the same place. They were elected annually by lot, one from each of the phyloe. (3) Similarly, we have a board of ten regularly constituted treasurers to the rest of the gods. Their duty was to manage the sacred treasures, which in earlier times were kept in the separate temples, but in 418 B.C. were transferred to the Parthenon. [(4) Under the title of tamias ton stratiotikon, we read of a financial officer of the war department. He was probably appointed after the Peloponnesian War in place of the hellinotamioe (q.v.). Besides his duties in connexion with the war department, he had a share in the management of the Panathenaic festival (Aristotle, Constitution of Athens, 49).]