New perspectives on the Hellenistic Peloponnese : history, politics and material culture

"This volume fills a gap in current research on the Hellenistic Peloponnese, complementing and challenging traditional interpretations by adopting new perspectives on its complex social and political history in response to emerging trends in research. By examining aspects of the region's interstate relations, contemporary politics and modes of representation that have been relatively little studied to date, it affords a much more well-rounded picture of the Hellenistic Peloponnese and a rich basis for broadening scholarly debate and stimulating further research on the area. Each chapter promotes interdisciplinary approaches to a wide range of ancient evidence and material culture, and offers a renewed understanding of how socio-political transformations unfolded within the region. Together they shed new light on key agents of the period and their interactions, material evidence and political history both in and beyond the Peloponnese - from the enduring Macedonian influence in the 3rd century BCE and the violence and terror tactics deployed within the Achaian Koinon, to strategies of identity construction and memory politics wielded by local elites - and will be crucial points of reference for graduate students and scholars with an interest in the region."-- Provided by publisher Cover Halftitle page Also available from Bloomsbury Title page Copyright page CONTENTS FIGURES CONTRIBUTORS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS A SHORT NOTE ON NAMES AND ABBREVIATIONS PREFACE: TOWARDS NEW PERSPECTIVES ON THE HELLENISTIC PELOPONNESE From the Hellenistic period to the region of the Peloponnese New perspectives on the Hellenistic Peloponnese: a synopsis Notes INTRODUCTION: INVENTING THE HELLENISTIC PELOPONNESE Introduction Invention Itinerant manuscripts An Olympian effort In defence of invention Notes PART I: SPARTA’S INTERNAL AND EXTERNAL RELATIONS CHAPTER 1 A DE FACTO KING: KLEONYMOS Introduction The evidence Kleonymos in Southern Italy Kleonymos in Crete Kleonymos in Boiotia Kleonymos in the Peloponnese: Messenia and Argolis Conclusion Notes CHAPTER 2 HELLENISTIC PERIOIKOI: FROM THE PERIOIKIC POLEIS TO THE KOINON OF THE LAKEDAIMONIANS Introduction Defining the perioikoi: space and time Perioikic status, Lakedaimonian entity and identity The perioikoi: a view from archaeology and epigraphy Some conclusions on the Hellenistic perioikoi Notes CHAPTER 3 HELLENISTIC GENERALS? SPARTAN MILITARY LEADERS ABROAD Spartan service abroad: mercenary alliances? Agesilaos in Egypt: income beyond spoils Akrotatos in Sicily: traditional duties and personal ambitions Kleonymos in Magna Graecia: a failed basileus Towards a Hellenistic Sparta? Notes PART II: STRUCTURES AND NARRATIVES OF POWER CHAPTER 4 SPARTAN PLANS FOR THE PELOPONNESE IN THE THIRD CENTURY BCE Introduction Hellenistic Sparta: on Peloponnesian leadership An expansionist agenda: the Spartans as hegemons (again) Looking south: Spartan kings and Crete Some conclusions: reassessing Spartan agency Notes CHAPTER 5 THE ENDS JUSTIFY THE MEANS: UNPACKING POLYBIOS’ CONSTRUCTION OF THE MANTINEIAN GENOCIDE Introduction Polybios’ Achaian prokataskeuē Constructing Mantinean membership and Achaian benevolence Polybios, Phylarchos and Mantineia: genocide apologetics Some remarks: Polybios’ rhetoric and nationalism Notes CHAPTER 6 THE HISTORIES OF THE ACHAIAN KOINON: CONSTRUCTING IDENTITIES IN THE EARLY HELLENISTIC PELOPONNESE Introduction From local to quasi-regional: Achaians and the creation of a regional identity From local to regional: the Hellenistic Achaian Koinon There and back again: diverse localities in a regional plan The agency of the elite: from local towards the Oikoumene Notes CHAPTER 7 GARRISONS AND ‘TYRANTS’: NOTES ON THE ANTIGONID PELOPONNESE (295-196 BCE) Introduction An Antigonid century (295–196): a brief outline of the Macedonian rule during the third century The allies of the Macedonian king in the Peloponnese and the nature of their regimes Some conclusions Notes PART III: ARCHAEOLOGY AND LOCAL PERSPECTIVES CHAPTER 8 ‘NO FIGURES WARRANTED ABSOLUTELY ACCURATE’: THE FINAL PHASES OF THE LEAD VOTIVES AT THE SANCTUARY OF ORTHIA Introduction The Spartan lead votive figurines Problems with Wace’s study of the lead votives The perennial question: were the Spartan lead votives produced into the third century BCE ? Notes CHAPTER 9 ὙΠΌΜΝΗΜΑ ΤΗΣ ΟἸΚΕΙΌΤΗΤΟΣ: THE GENS MAGNA OF EPIDAUROS FROM THE SECOND CENTURY BCE TO THE FIRST CENTURY CE Introduction The Gens Magna : notes from epigraphy Conclusion Notes CHAPTER 10 SOCIETY AND CULTURE IN HELLENISTIC PATRAS: A VIEW FROM THE TOMBS Patras in the Hellenistic period A mortuary approach to society and culture Burial location Grave typology and mode of disposal Marking the burial site Burial assemblages The emergence of a stratified society Notes CHAPTER 11 MAKING CHANGE: CIVIC COINAGES OF THE EARLY HELLENISTIC PELOPONNESE Introduction From the late Classical to the early Hellenistic period Elements of Macedonian influence in the coinages of the Hellenistic Peloponnese Korinthos and Sikyon Argos Messene Sparta The (early) Achaian Koinon Civic coinage and the refocus of local economies Conclusions Notes THE PRESENT IN THE PAST: BY WAYOF AFTERWORD Place and space Regions – Why? Always, and never, the same Rules of engagement Futures Notes BIBLIOGRAPHY INDEX LOCORUM INDEX NOMINUM ET VERBORUM