Equality in the colonies: concepts of equality in Sicily during the eighth to six centuries bc

Abstract

In the late eighth and early seventh centuries bc, a series of Greek settlements of significant size and organization were established on the east coast of Sicily. Their spatial organization and systems of land tenure appear to have been established on the principle of equality. This stands in contrast to the widely held belief that relations between Greeks and the indigenous population were based predominantly on inequality. The aim of this article is to re-examine the material expression of equality in the Greek settlements and to reflect upon the ways in which our categories of colonizer and colonized have influenced the way that we look for and understand the social relations between people. I argue that the evidence of hybrid forms of existence as expressed through material culture represent different forms of equality that were experienced across the island in the Archaic period.