“Who Cares about the Greeks Living in Asia?”: Ionia in Fourth-Century Attic Oratory

Abstract

In his On the Chersonese, Demosthenes challenges his audience with the question: “who cares about the Greeks living Asia?” (8.27). He implies that those who did were unpatriotic, but in doing so reveals that the Greeks of Asia were a concern in Athens to an extent that is not reflected in fourth-century sources. This paper investigates the corpus of works by the Attic orators, analyzing the relationships that can be established between Athens and Ionia based on references in the extant speeches. Behind Demosthenes' rhetorical question is a robust Athenian discourse about Ionia shaped by the evolving political context in the eastern Aegean.