The Politics of Ethnicity and the Crisis of the Peloponnesian League. (Hellenic Studies 32, Center for Hellenic Studies) by Peter Funke, Nino Luraghi

Abstract

420 PHOENIX referring tosomeadditional English-language literature; infact, evenClifford Geertz andShakespeare nowhave cameos. On theother hand, some ofthenewpassages have been rather roughly spliced into existing sentences; theresults arenotalways happy. The translation istechnically quite competent, although itsclose adherence tovarious features oftheoriginal prose doesnotmake for a bookthat readily gives upitssecrets. In the end, though, onceoneoverlooks thesomewhat awkward andpolemical packaging there isa gooddealinthis bookthat isuseful, sophisticated, andcreative. YorkUniversity Benjamin Kelly ThePoliticsofEthnicity andthe Crisisofthe Peloponnesian League.Edited byPeterFunkeandNinoLuraghi. Cambridge, MA andLondon:Harvard University Press (Hellenic Studies 32,Center for Hellenic Studies). 2009.Pp.x, 258. PeterFunke andNinoLuraghihavecompiled inthis volume a setofessays which explore thecentrifugal forces that undermine attempts atfederation andpolitical unification . Mostofthepapers were originally delivered ata conference heldin2003at the Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität inMünster, a conference that focused onethnic movements inthePeloponnese inthefourth century b.c.andtheimpact ofsuch movements onSparta's control ofthe Peloponnesian League. Thevolume asa whole explores theextent towhich a putative upsurge inethnic sentiment inthefourth century b.c. contributed tothecollapse ofSpartan domination inthePeloponnese. Thebookthus makes animportant contribution toscholarship bychallenging theconventional view, which tends toascribe thedownfall ofSpartan power wholly toSpartan mismanagement ofitsown hegemony after the Peloponnesian Warandtothestunning Theban victory at Leuctra in371andEpahiinondas' subsequent invasion ofthePeloponnese. Byexaminingfactors internal tothe various regions ofthePeloponnese andbytracing questions of ethnic identity backtoperiods prior to404,thevarious essays addconsiderable nuance tothepicture ofPeloponnesian affairs inthefourth century b.c. Thepapers inthisvolume fallbroadly intotwocategories: themajority ofthem examine particular ethnic regions, suchas Elis,Messenia, Arcadia, andso on,while a smaller group ofpapers analyzes thematic issues suchas theroleplayed byreligious orpolitical practices andbeliefs. Peter Funke's introductory chapter setsthestage by offering some general reflections intended togive shape andcontext tothecollection as a whole. He reassesses historical accounts oftherole played byThebes inreshaping the Peloponnesian world after Leuctra, arguing that Thebes' claim tobethepowerbroker is aninflated oneandthat tensions - including regional impulses towards autonomy - were present inthePeloponnese decades before Leuctra. Papers onindividual regions include Achaea (KlausFreitag), Elis(James Roy), Triphylia (Claudia Ruggeri), Pisatis (Maurizio Giangiulio), Arcadia (MariaPretzier), and Messenia (NinoLuraghi). Thesepapers feature a variety ofapproaches anddemonstrate theunique characteristics ofethnic construction ineachoftheregions under consideration .Theindividual studies, while exploring thedepth andimpact ofethnic loyalties anddesires for self-determination, alsoreveal thefragility ofmany ofthese attempts. AsPretzier argues inheressay onArcadia, while thefoundation oftheArcadian state in 370 b.c.was"a crucial factor in thedisintegration ofthePeloponnesian League" BOOK REVIEWS/COMPTESRENDUS 421 (86),thevery removal oftheSpartan state as anactive threat ledtothedissolution of panArcadian sentiment andcollectivity ofaction. Giangiulio's examination ofPisatan ethnicity concludes that, withal theextensive Pisatan efforts toattach their identity to thegreat sanctuary atOlympia, "Pisatan ethnic identity remained underdeveloped and feeble" (76).Inany case, thePisatans enjoyed only fleeting self-determination, since they "presumably rapidly returned toElis"after theBattle ofMantinea in362,asRoypoints outinhiscontribution (37). Royspaper offers a complete andmeticulous survey ofElis anditsethnic identity, though inthecontext ofthe volume, onemight have expected a somewhat narrower focus onthequestion ofrelations between ElisandSparta; nevertheless , Roypresents a number ofinteresting insights into theethnic sentiments ofElis' own perioikoi. Thephenomenon ofmanufactured ethnicity isdiscussed inRuggeri's paper onTriphylia ; as shepoints out,theveiy name oftheregion is a signofitsartificiality as an ethnic collective. If,as Ruggeri argues, theSpartans were instrumental inconstituting Triphylia asa federal state (from perioikoi removed from Eleancontrol), itwould seem that Sparta wasfully capable ofexploiting ethnic tensions initsowninterests. Freitag's chapter onAchaea, ontheother hand, reaches the"essentially negative" conclusion that, while theAchaeans recognized themselves andwere recognized byothers as anethnic unit, ethnicity played little ornorole inrelations between the Achaeans andtheSpartans inthelatefifth andearly fourth centuries b.c. The"climax" - ifonemay callitthat ofthechapters onvarious regions ofthePeloponnese isLuraghi's lengthy contribution onMessenia.Theliberation ofMessenia hasofcourse longbeenheldtohavebeen a fundamental factor inthedownfall oftheSpartan state; Luraghi addsconsiderable dimension tothis picture through hisexamination of"the dynamic mixture oftradition andinnovation that always accompanies ethnogenesis" (110). The final four papers in thevolume takemore thematic andat times theoretical approaches to thequestion ofethnicity in thefourth-century Peloponnese. Mostof these papers aresomewhat lengthier, though thefirst, byEricRobinson, is relatively brief. Clearandconcise, Robinson's essay surveys Peloponnesian affairs inthefourth century b.c.with aview todetermining whether ideological differences between oligarchy anddemocracy hadany role toplay instruggles for ethnic autonomy. He concludes that, with theexception ofthefounding oftheArcadian state in370,there isnodiscernible linktobe found between a democratic ideology andantiSpartan ethnic movements. Catherine Morgan's essay is more open-ended: sheexamines thearchaeological record for traces ofethnically-oriented material remains, such asthe Arcadian statue group from Delphi orthe Pisatan...