A fifth-century Athenian decree concerning Athena Nike records the installation of a priestess and arrangements for her support. In the edition presented by Attic Inscriptions Online, the office is opened to Athenian women rather than restricted to one hereditary descent group. Some wording, including the mechanism of selection, is restored.
The decree also specifies fifty drachmas and portions from public sacrifices. These details matter because they make the office concrete. Sacred service was sustained through civic decisions and material provision.
This arrangement differs from the priesthood of Athena Polias. Athens could honor the same goddess through offices organized on different principles. The contrast is evidence for institutional variety within one city, not a reason to imagine that one system governed all Greek priesthoods.
The inscription’s date is debated, with proposals placing it around the middle of the fifth century or somewhat later. Presenting that uncertainty does not diminish the record. It helps readers distinguish what the decree directly preserves from the historical reconstruction surrounding it.