Evan Vance (PhD, 2022) has just published a major new article, "Sacred Wealth and Institutional Development at the Argive Heraion," Hesperia 94.3 (2025), 343-95.
ABSTRACT:
This article reexamines three dedications by iaromnamones at the Argive Heraion dating to the early 5th century bce (ca. 480–460). While these inscriptions were published around the turn of the 20th century, their importance for understanding the finances of Hera’s sanctuary at a crucial point in Argive history has not been appreciated. The inscriptions reveal that iaromnamones regularly froze Hera’s wealth as dedications, suggesting an apprehension about maintaining a sacred treasury in cash. By situating the inscriptions in their Archaic context, this article offers a new paradigm for understanding magistrate dedications as a form of public accountability and highlights the institutional complexity of communal resources in the early Greek polis.