Artists of Dionysus

The Artists of Dionysus or Dionysiac Artists (Ancient Greek: οἱ περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον τεχνιταί, romanized: hoi peri ton Dionuson technitai) were an association of actors and other performers who coordinated the organisation of Greek theatrical and musical performances in the Hellenistic Period and under the Roman Empire. They are first attested in the 270s BC, when a number of regional associations are attested. They acted as independent political actors, engaging in collective bargaining with cities, kings, and the Roman Republic, in order to secure a wide range of privileges. They also quarreled with one another and with individual communities. In the late first century BC, following the establishment of the Roman empire, these regional associations mostly faded away.

Under the Julio-Claudian emperors, a single "universal" or "ecumenical" association of artists was established, which called itself the sacred thymelic synod of ecumenical artists of Dionysus, sacred victors, crown-wearers, and their fellow competitors (Ancient Greek: ἡ ἱερὰ θυμελικὴ σύνοδος τῶν ἀπὸ τῆς οἰκουμένης περὶ τὸν Διόνυσον τεχνειτῶν ἱερονεικῶν στεφανειτῶν καὶ τῶν τούτων συναγωνιστῶν), alongside a similar organisation for athletes. It is unclear whether the impetus for this came from the Roman emperors or the artists themselves. These artists flourished in the second and third centuries AD, when they had a headquarters in Rome and performed in festivals from southern Gaul to Egypt and Syria. They disappear from the record around 300 AD and had certainly died out by the 420s AD.