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Turning to the case of 12 phylae, the number of phylae was increased from 10 to 12 in the year 307/6 B.C. by the addition of two phylae, the Antigonis and the Demetrias. This situation endured until the addition of a 13th phyle, the Ptolemais, in 223 B.C. In 201/200 B.C., the phylae Antigonis and Demetrias were abolished, and the phyle Attalis was created, resulting in a total of 12 phylae once again. |
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During these periods, Aristotle's information is not applicable. There is good evidence to support the idea that intercalary years of 384 days were simply allocated equally among the 12 prytanies (384/12 = 32), with the last month receiving the adjustment. |
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Thus, the 12-prytany calendar for intercalary years would be: |
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| Prytany Number | Prytany Length | | 1 | 32 | | 2 | 32 | | 3 | 32 | | 4 | 32 | | 5 | 32 | | 6 | 32 | | 7 | 32 | | 8 | 32 | | 9 | 32 | | 10 | 32 | | 11 | 32 | | 12 | 32 ± 1 |
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This structure supplies a calendar for intercalary years of 384 days plus or minus 1 day and is largely consistent with the information from the historical record. |
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The year 307/6 B.C. itself cannot be reconstructed. The archon is known to have tampered with the civil calendar, since an inscription has been found for a second intercalated 23rd day of Gamelion. The existing inscriptions are too fragmentary to be of use. This year, in other words, is a calendric write-off. |
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The case of ordinary years in the 12-phylae periods is less certain. In this case, some alternation of 29 and 30 days (354/12 = 29.5) is in effect. Pollux (VIII, 115) implies that the lengths of the prytany and the length of the civil month were equal in this period. Pritchett and Neugebauer (p. 78) reject the idea of an exact correspondence between the two calendars, however, on the strength of a single deviation of one day of the kata theon dates from the prytany dates in the second century B.C. |
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The two logical alternative proposals, of course, are either an alternation of 29 and 30 days or a pattern of six 29-day prytanies and six 30-days prytanies. The epigraphical evidence is simply too fragmentary to permit a distinction between these two hypotheses. |
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