Abstract
Abstract structure but a fluid and dynamic organism which was always the sum of its constituent parts, namely its citizens. The life and freedom of the politai of the poleis in th<..: l lcllcnistic period arc generally cast in a negative light; some have cwn suggested that the polis had disappcan.:d by this timt:. For many modern commentators the ideas of freedom and autonomy had become so devalued during the Hcllcni;,tic age that promises of cleutheria and autonomia had become mere slogans. Historians of the Hellenistic period need to revise their perceptions of these term;,. What was really understood in ancient sources by eleuthrria and autonomia? This chapter highlights the need for clarification about what ancient pold.1 understood by terms like freedom and autonomy. How did the decision-making processes and the control of the poli tai over their internal affairs and relation;, with the outside world develop? What did it mean to be free in the Grcekpoli.1 during the Hellenistic period? ·rhcsc arc big questions. Although they cannot be answered in depth here, it will be important to keep them in mind.
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