1187: Phile of Priene
The First Woman Elected as Magistrate in Priene, Ancient Greece
Lived: c.100-50 BC, Priene, Ancient Greece (Present-day Güllübahçe, Aydın, Turkey)
Greek Alphabet: Φίλη
Phile personally paid for the city’s aqueduct and reservoir, which is how she was elected as a magistrate (or local judicial officer). Historians know she was a real person because a monument was erected in her honor, with her name inscribed on it.
According to Attalus.org, the inscription (translated to English) reads in full:
“[Phil]ē daughter of Apollonios, the wife of Thessalos the son of Polydeukes, who was the first woman to have served as stephanephoros, dedicated from her own resources the reservoir of water and the aqueducts in the city.”
There is very little information about Phile surviving on the internet today. Her name is found on Judy Chicago’s famous “Dinner Party” art installation and is therefore listed on the Brooklyn Museum of Art’s website about the art installation, but that’s about all the information for her out there.
The ancient city of Priene was listed as a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 2018.
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