Migration, Mobility, and the Hierarchy of Violence in the Classical and Early Hellenistic Polis

Abstract

This paper argues that the social structures of the classical and early Hellenistic polis were governed by a normative "hierarchy of violence" that rendered free Greek non-citizens vulnerable to extrajudicial harm. It looks beyond the legal protections afforded to some outsiders and explains that the use of extrajudicial violence was considered the prerogative of the nominally untouchable citizen. I conclude that hierarchies of violence persisted to varying degrees in poleis throughout the Aegean world, as citizens sought to preserve and enforce their privileges over outsiders while seeking to financially profit from the opportunities brought about by new commercial prospects.