Cleruchi celtici in Grecia

Greek Tragedy or Gestation Period: Future of the Modern Church in Greece

The region of Cilicia is located in the southern part of Anatolia. The geographical conditions that divided the region of Cilicia into Rough (Cilicia Tracheia) and Plain (Cilicia Pedias) also affected the urbanization in the region. Although there are literary and epigraphical sources regarding the Hellenistic settlements in Plain Cilicia, being important because of controlling the eastern western route, archaeological remains are rarely found, hence discussions on the localization of some Hellenistic Period cities continue. A similar situation can be observed for Rough Cilicia. In this study, the Hellenistic period urbanization activities in Cilicia will be examined in terms of the characteristics of the region and cities in the light of the principles of the Hellenistic kingdoms’ colonization. To this end, first the cities established in the Hellenistic Period in the Cilicia region will be evaluated, and then the Olba Territory, providing important data about the Hellenistic period urbanization in the region because of its relations to rich archaeological remains and the Hellenistic kingdoms, will be discussed in detail.

The expanded, politically unified entity that resulted from the conquests of Alexander III facilitated the movement of people, products, and ideas in a way much easier and more effective than before. The governance of the vast and ethnically diversified Hellenistic kingdoms required the use of an accessible linguistic device, which we know as Hellenistic koine. This dialect of Greek, being a key component of cosmopolitan Hellenistic culture, played an important role towards the homogenisation of the vast Hellenistic world, becoming a lingua franca and allowing people of totally different cultural backgrounds to interact with each other formally and informally. Common cultural elements throughout the Hellenistic world, seem, on the surface, to extend beyond language to the area of material culture and, in particular, pottery. In fact, several scholars, including Werner Technau, Konstantina Gravani and Stella Drougou, have argued for a koine ceramic language characterised by the appearance of common pottery shapes, production methods, and decorative techniques throughout the Hellenistic world. In this paper, however, I argue that linguistic koine and ceramic koine are not parallel phenomena, as many researchers seem to accept, even though they arise from similar political and cultural developments. The former was at least originally imposed by the political administration of the Hellenistic kingdoms upon the people living in the Hellenistic world, while the latter reflects a bottom-up process. Hence, the issues I will be exploring below are the form of both the linguistic and ceramic ‘koinai,’ their origin, and their different formative processes.

Reviewed by: Lykophron’s Alexandra, Rome, and the Hellenistic World by Simon Hornblower Kenneth R. Jones Simon Hornblower. Lykophron’s Alexandra, Rome, and the Hellenistic World. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2018. Pp. xxiii, 254. $70.00. ISBN 978-0-19-872368-4. Hornblower describes his book as an unapologetic work of history and it comes as a welcome complement to the same author’s monumental commentary on the Alexandra (Oxford 2015), which addressed both historical and literary topics in the poem. Though it stands solidly on its own, the reader is often directed to more detailed arguments presented originally in the commentary. The book is divided into two sections. The first part establishes the boundaries of the poem’s geopolitical world through an analysis of all the places (cities, rivers, and mountains) mentioned, often obliquely, by the poet. The poet’s horizon encompasses the Hellenistic kingdoms of the eastern Mediterranean, though the eastern portions of the Seleucid realm are largely ignored in the poem; the cities and federations of Greece; Magna Graecia and Sicily; Rhodes; and Campania, Latium, and Rome. In general, the poet is much more interested in the western Mediterranean and especially Italy. Much of the account of Italy and the west comes through the poet’s retelling of the various nostoi narratives, for which the Alexandra is an important piece of evidence. The second part deals with two thematic chapters: the first, on the poem’s relation to a number of oracular and apocalyptic texts (Sibylline Oracle 3, Phlegon of Tralles’ Mirabilia, the biblical book of Daniel, and the “Oracle of the Potter”); the second, on a variety of religious topics (the Locrian maidens, cult epithets, and myths of foundation and identity). Hornblower advocates a composition date in the early second century bc in the wake of the Roman victories over Philip V and Antiochus III. In establishing this date, he moves far beyond the so-called “Roman Passages” (lines 1226–82 and 1446–50) that have usually served as the bases for such historical arguments. In the commentary, Hornblower argued at length that the poem showed familiarity with a host of Hellenistic poets of the third century—he does not recapitulate these arguments in the present book. The detailed investigation of places named in the poem shows the poet’s knowledge of developments in these places through the third century. Hornblower also argues that the Hannibalic War in Italy, especially in the south, left a deep impression on the poem. Though the evidence of the poem on these topics is rarely straightforward and the case is necessarily circumstantial, it is compelling. The poet also shows a strong interest in the Roman colonization of South Italy in the aftermath of Hannibal’s defeat. Based on the poet’s knowledge of South Italy and his concerns with developments there, Hornblower identifies the poet as a Greek from that region; more precisely, he suggests Italian Locris as the poet’s hometown. The poem’s treatment of Egypt is largely antiquarian and shows little interest in Ptolemaic rule. The main thesis of the book is that the Alexandra is an intensely political poem, preoccupied with Roman imperial successes and expansion. Like Polybius, the poet views Roman ascendancy in a favorable light. Indeed, the poem is a celebration of Roman power, though the poet is no sycophant. Prefiguring the approach of the writers of the Second Sophistic, the poet takes great pride in his Greek heritage. Greek myths serve as a lens to understand Rome’s incorporation into the Hellenistic world and the development of Roman hegemony over that world. The poet, however, is also aware of Roman myth. Hornblower argues that the Alexandra displays the earliest Greek recognition of the dual foundation of Rome by Aeneas and by Romulus and Remus. [End Page 500] This is an important book. Historians have largely limited their engagement with the poem to the passages dealing with Rome’s ascendancy over land and sea—the present reviewer is himself guilty of this approach. Hornblower has expanded the field of historical enquiry to encompass the entire poem. While readers might reject this or that argument in a book densely packed with detailed and specialized investigations...

The present study evolved out of an attempt to explore the mechanisms involved in the transformation of a social practice and its spatial context from one cultural, technological and architectural system to another in a given geographical area in classical antiquity. The practice chosen was that of the bath, the two main and overlapping cultural traditions were the Greek and the Roman and the two technological traditions are termed in the present study 'before' and 'after' the hypocaust. The geographical area covered in the study is that of modern Greece with a more detailed analysis of the Peloponnese. Chapter 1 presents the description and classification of the different bathing traditions which appeared in the Greek territory before the 6th century BC, when the first relevant evidence becomes present in the archaeological record. The evolution of bath architecture in Italy, the main characteristics of the Roman bathing tradition, the spatial configuration of the bath in the Roman culture and finally the different kinds of typological classifications used by scholars are described in Chapter 2. In Chapter 3 the two basic bathing traditions which appear in Greece in classical antiquity are analyzed following the classification scheme which was described in the introductory chapter. The final chapter looks at the key issues of the Hellenization of the Roman bathing tradition, the Romanization of the bathing traditions of the Greek world and the long term evolution of the bath in antiquity are readdressed in the light of the present research.

In general terms, the Hellenistic Period, c. 330–30 BC, can be considered one of the best known historical periods of Antiquity. The three hundred years between the death of Alexander the Great (323 BC) and the fall of the last of the great Hellenistic kingdoms, Egypt, to the Romans (30 BC) produced an overwhelming amount of historical documents and material culture. This general observa- tion is true for almost all of the Mediterranean as well as for neighbouring regions, such as Mesopotamia and Iran, parts of the Seleucid kingdom, and for Egypt, home of the Ptolemies.

Intensification in agriculture and in settlement was a comparatively slow process in the Hellenistic period. For Seleukid agriculture, cuneiform sources from Babylon are the most important, but they are scarce for the period. An important phenomenon to consider when discussing Ptolemaic fiscal and agricultural practices are the periods of social unrest. The basis of agricultural production in all periods of Egyptian history was, of course, the Nile River. The Babylonian region was a “closed system”; i.e. agricultural production was unlikely to have moved outside of the region, given transportation costs and local needs. Land was assigned in land grants to new settlers throughout the kingdom as a means of social control and as a method of intensifying agricultural production. The distribution and tenure of land and state fiscal demands were regionally diverse and a mixture of deep historical traditions and innovations brought by new populations and new state fiscal demands.

Introduction. The Ancient Near East 1. The origins of the civilisations of Egypt and Mesopotamia 2. The third millennium BC: Memphis, Sumer and Akkad, Egypt, the Old Kingdom (2600-2150), Mesopotamia: Sumer and Akkad, Epilogue 3. The second millennium: Thebes, Assur and Babylon (c. 2000-1600), Egypt, the Middle Kingdom (c. 2000-1800), Mesopotamia, The Old Assyrian empire (c.2000-1760), The Old Babylonian empire (c.1800-1600), The 'concert of powers' (c.1600-1200), Egypt, the New Kingdom (c.1550-1100), Babylonia and Assyria, Mitanni, The Hittite empire, Crete and Mycenae, International relations 4. The first millennium: Disruption and recovery (1200-750), Egypt, the Third Intermediate period (c. 100-715), Syria and the Phoenicians, Israel, The empires of the Levant (750 BC-AD 700), The Neo-Assyrian empire, The Neo-Babylonian empire, The Persian empire, The Hellenistic kingdoms, The Parthian empire, The Sasanian empire, The Roman empire, The Arabs 5. Religion, Polytheism, Henotheism and monotheism 6. Economy and Society, Agricultural economy, land tenure, 'Redistribution economy', Means of payment, Trade, Social organization 7. Government, Kingship, The administrative machinery, The army, GREECE 8. The Dark Ages, 1200-800 BC 9. The Archaic period, 800-500 BC, Introduction, Demographic and economic changes, The polis, Colonization, Social changes, Military changes, Cultural changes, The alphabet, Literature, The visual arts, Architecture, Religion, Philosophy, Political changes, Tyranny, Sparta, Athens 10. The Classical period, The Persian Wars, Sparta and Athens after 479 BC, The Delian League (477-404), Athenian leaders in the fifth century, Athens' state power income, The Great Peloponnesian War (431-404 BC), The years between 404 and 336 BC, The Second Athenian League (377-355), Social and military changes, The rise of Macedonia, Philip II (359-336): the end of the Classical period in Greek history, The Athenian population in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, The metics, The slaves, Women in Athens and Sparta, Further development of the Athenian democracy, The Council of the Areopagus in 462/1, Pericles, The democracy and the fleet, Old and new politicans, The stability of the Athenian democracy, Criticism of the Athenian democracy, Athens as the centre of Greek culture in the Classical period, Attic drama, Philosophy: the sophists, Rhetorical education, Socrates, Plato and Aristotle, Historical writing, Herodotus (c.485-425), Thucydides (c.460-400), Rhetorical historical writing, The Greeks in the Western Mediterranean 11. The Hellenistic era: Introduction, Alexander the Great, From Alexander to the Roman conquest, Greece, Athens and Sparta, Leagues of states in Greece, The Seleucid kingdom, The Ptolemaic kingdom, The government and the cities of the Hellenistic kingdoms, Economy and society, Greece, The Near East, Cultural aspects: general, Religion, Near Eastern religions, Philosophy and science, The impact of Hellenistic culture in

The discovery of a well-preserved boundary stone of royal land in a field near (ancient and modern) Europos, dating from the Hellenistic period, raises again the much-discussed question of royal land in Macedonia and, more generally, in the Hellenistic kingdoms. The authors of the present paper seize the opportunity of this unique discovery in order to review the use of boundary stones (ὅροι) in Macedonia and to discuss the meaning of 'royal' (βασιλικός) as opposed to 'civic' or 'sacred', and of the term 'land' (χώρα), which can apply to royal possessions as well as to land belonging to the Macedonian ethnos (normally subdivided in civic units). In fact, boundary stones of royal land are destined to preserve public property not for the sake of a king as an individual, but of the common weal which he represents.

The Hellenistic period in the Aegean is one notoriously devoid of firmly established chronological markers with more than local significance and which might be used to divide the cultural material into smaller groupings. This is especially true for pottery. The Aegean basin was parcelled out among numerous ceramic provinces which, though all were obviously heirs to the traditions established in the Classical period, yet managed to interpret any new ideas in their own way and at their own speed. These apparently newly emerged styles were in fact of hoary antiquity. They represent the resurgence of local mores and traditions in pottery manufacture whose existence in the Classical and Archaic periods had been well-nigh overlooked by the excessive concentration on the study of the products of Corinth and Athens. Their re-emergence was occasioned by two factors consequent on the establishment of the Hellenistic kingdoms. The first was the collapse of Attic pottery production as a result of a series of disastrous wars and defeats in the later fourth and early third centuries B.C. The second was the very real prosperity enjoyed by the provincial centres in the newly Hellenised world.

The ancient city of Sardis and Bin Tepe Lydian Tumuli developed under the influence of different civilizations throughout history and gained great importance in terms of cultural heritage. Sardis, which stood out as the capital of the Lydians, a local Anatolian civilization in the 7th and 6th centuries BC, maintained its importance during the Persian, Hellenistic and Roman periods. The invention of coins by the Lydians during the Lydian period was considered an important development in the world economy and spread to other civilizations in a short time. In the Hellenistic period, it was included in the Hellenistic kingdoms and became the western capital of the Seleucid Empire. In the Roman period, the city, which was enriched with its art and architecture, developed under the Roman peace. This historical process was also reflected in the multi-layered architectural structure of Sardis, leaving traces in a wide range from the monumental tomb structures and city walls of the Lydian period to the theaters and temples of the Hellenistic period, and the bath-gymnasium, columned streets and synagogue of the Roman period. The cultural richness of the site led to the inscription of the Sardis and Bin Tepe Lydian Tumuli on the UNESCO World Heritage Temporary List in 2013. This development is considered an important step in the process of the site's to permanent world heritage status. This article examines the cultural heritage values of the ancient city of Sardis and the Lydian Tumuli of Bin Tepe in the context of the nomination process for the UNESCO World Heritage List. The examination is based on UNESCO's 'Outstanding Universal Value' criteria and seeks to demonstrate the universal importance of these heritage sites.

Like the works of Homer, Euripides and other classical authors, early lyric poetry quickly became part of the cultural treasure of the Greeks, even when - or should I say particularly when - they moved abroad, in search of a new life in the Hellenistic kingdoms in Egypt and Asia. Archaic melic, iambic and elegiac poems were no longer performed by the third century BCE, but they were studied carefully by philologists and, in selection, formed part of the syllabus of would-be orators. Likewise the learned lyric poetry produced by scholars was conceived mainly for reading, or recitation in closed circles. Lyric for wider audiences could still be performed in religious ceremonies or at public festivals, but for many reasons (historical, cultural, linguistic) lyric genres were slowly going out of fashion, increasingly outnumbered by simpler compositions in non-lyric (especially dactylic and iambic) metres. The most significant cultural feature of the Hellenistic period as regards lyric poetry was the importance that was attached to collecting and preserving texts from earlier periods. From performance to edition In the fifth and fourth centuries BCE, traditions about lyric poets of local and international renown flourished in mainland Greece, Magna Graecia and Asia Minor, yet Athens seems to have been where the memory of lyric poetry interacted most visibly with the production of new creations. Famous odes were used as educational texts. Dramatic authors composed lyric pieces as sections of their tragedies and comedies, where the chorus still played a fundamental role. Tragedians took inspiration from myths treated in lyric1 and often alluded to specific songs. Comedians not only quoted lyric poets, but made Sappho one of their favourite characters.

For a long time the orthodox scholarly view on ancient Greek democracy had been that it more or less disappeared when the Greek city-states were defeated by the Macedonians in the battle of Chaeronea in 338 B.C., never to revive again under the Hellenistic kingdoms and the Roman Empire. Over the last decade part of this view has been successfully challenged. Today, the new consensus is that democracies continued to exist well into the Hellenistic period. The death of democracy and popular ideology is now often linked to the advent of the Romans. A few dissident voices have recently foregrounded reasons to doubt this view at least to some extent. In this article I will analyse the rhetorical discourse of several orations of Dio Chrysostom (Or. 7, 32, 34 and 46) from the perspective of the so-called ‘discourse paradigm’. By focusing on Dio’s description of ‘the people’ and his communication with ‘the people’ I intend to establish that popular ideology continued to influence civic politics in the 2nd century A.D.

the reverse of the denarii minted in Rome in 63 or 62 BC, with one of the moneyers at the time being L. Aemilius Lepidus Paullus, shows the conqueror of Macedonia L. Aemilius Paullus Macedonicus, as well as Perseus, the captured last king of the Antigonid dynasty, his children and a trophy. Some of these coins have the trophy depicting a shield of the so-called «Macedonian type» with its typical geometric and astral design. In 2012 a well preserved sample of this denarius from the so-called «Mayflower Collection» was sold at an auction. On that particular coin Perseus is illustrated wearing a kausia, a headdress probably of Macedonian origin, which became widespread in the Hellenistic world. The captive king’s facial features bear resemblance to the portraits of Perseus on the tetradrachms minted during his reign. Both the «Macedonian shield» and the kausia were seen as symbols of Macedonia and other Hellenistic kingdoms, still recognizable a century after Alexander the Great’s homeland had lost its independence.

In the last two decades historians have paid attention to several and complex political phenomena developed during the so called “Hellenistic age”. The following paper attempts to review for the Spanish-reading public three recently published books on the Hellenistic kingdoms. It is discussed here their main lines of approaching to this phenomenon, placing at the same time these works in the context of the current historiography on the topic.