The aim of the Oxford Classical Monographs series (which replaces the Oxford Classical and Philosophical Monographs) is to publish books based on the best theses on Greek and Latin literature, ancient history, and ancient philosophy examined by the Faculty Board of Classics.
Athenian Power in the Fifth Century BC
LEAH
LAZAR
Great Clarendon Street, Oxford, OX2 6DP, United Kingdom
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Acknowledgements
The research and writing for this book, and the original doctoral thesis, were highly collaborative, and I owe thanks to many friends, colleagues and teachers. First and foremost, I was very fortunate to have two fantastic doctoral supervisors, Peter Thonemann and Lisa Kallet, both of whom remain generous with their time and support. Peter continues to be a wonderful mentor, and I am so grateful for his unfailing wisdom and kindness.
Polly Low and Nino Luraghi were careful and constructive in their examination of the thesis, and have been very supportive in the years since. Andrew Meadows, Nikolaos Papazarkadas, and Rosalind Thomas examined parts of the thesis at earlier stages and gave formative advice. Alfonso Moreno was an excellent advisor for Oxford Classical Monographs. I would also like to thank the two anonymous referees for Oxford University Press, and Christy Constantakopoulou, who kindly read the full monograph manuscript shortly before submission.
My doctoral work was generously funded by the Oxford Classics Faculty, with support from the Aikaterini Laskarides Foundation, and by New College, with a 1379 Old Members’ Scholarship. The Aikaterini Laskarides Foundation also provided the beautiful image for the cover. Both the Classics Faculty (via the Craven Committee) and New College (via the Ella Stevens and Andrewes funds) supported multiple research trips in Greece and Turkey. I benefited from two peaceful and productive visits to the Fondation Hardt in Geneva, one funded by the Society for the Promotion of Hellenic Studies, and another by the Fondation itself.
New College was my academic home for eight years, and I would like to thank Andrew Meadows (in whose undergraduate tutorial the
seed for this book was planted), Robin Lane Fox (who introduced me to Greek history and his love of Thucydides), Robert Parker (who gifted me books from his library), Jane Lightfoot, and the late David Raeburn. I subsequently received support from colleagues at Corpus Christi College, Oxford (in particular Constanze Güthenke), St John’s College, Cambridge, the Cambridge Classics Faculty, and the Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents in Oxford. Much of my research and writing happened in the Bodleian Art, Archaeology and Ancient World Library in Oxford, the Classics Faculty Library in Cambridge, and the Combined Library of the Institute of Classical Studies and the Hellenic and Roman Societies in London, and I am thankful to all their staff.
I am very grateful to Charles Crowther for his epigraphic teaching, his generosity, and his cake. Elizabeth Foley and Martin Hallmannsecker have been excellent friends and travel companions, not to mention inspiring as historians. Juliane Zachhuber has been my go-to Rhodian expert. Marcus Chin has supported me since we began our doctoral studies together in 2016. I have learned a lot, numismatic and otherwise, from Aneurin Ellis-Evans. I have felt very supported by the doctoral and postdoctoral communities in Oxford and Cambridge, including Katherine Backler, Emily Clifford, Olivia Elder, Alexandre Johnston, Talitha Kearey, Max Leventhal, Harry Morgan, Thomas Nelson, and Hugo Shakeshaft. Chloë Colchester has provided much help and encouragement since I joined CSAD. I would like to thank Robin Osborne, from whose knowledge and expertise I have benefited greatly, along with the students in our Thucydides class in Cambridge in 2021. Irad Malkin chatted with me over multiple coffees, and Jack Kroll kindly corresponded with me on a number of topics. Asiya Islam, Jenny Chamarette, Siddharth Soni, Leanne Williams Green, and the other members of the Opening Lines writing group in Cambridge gave me crucial encouragement and motivation during the loneliness of the pandemic. Audiences in Oxford, Cambridge, and at Birkbeck College provided important feedback at various stages in the writing process. My recent thinking
about the empire has been encouraged by Eric Driscoll and Michael Loy, with whom I will collaborate on future work on the topic.
Konstantina Panousi gave me an invaluable tour of the archaeological remains on Thasos. John Papadopoulos, Yannis Tzifopoulos, and Sarah Morris were very giving with their time at Methone, when I made a formative visit to the site in 2016. Tolga Özhan made my year by letting me examine the Hamaxitos fragment of the ‘Standards decree’ at the Smintheion in August 2022. Özgür and Kari Şahan supported my first visit to north-western Turkey in 2018. Staff at the Agora and Epigraphic Museums in Athens helped me examine the decrees for Aphytis early in my doctoral studies. Eleni Zavvou at the Epigraphic Museum, Tania Gerousi at the British School at Athens, Wendy Watkins at the Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies, Ohio State University, John Thomassen at the American Numismatic Society, Andrew Shapland and the Picture Library staff at the Ashmolean Museum, Carol Stein at the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, Ioanna Bougatsou at the Acropolis Museum, Konstantinos Thanasakis at the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation, Oğuz Tekin, Nalan Eda Akyürek Şahin, Charles Crowther, and John Lazar helped me with images and permissions.
I am grateful to the editing and production team at Oxford University Press and Straive, including Charlotte Loveridge, Tara Werger, Saranya Ravi and Kim Richardson. Finally, I owe thanks to many colleagues not named here. All errors remain my own.
Beyond academia, I am lucky to have wonderful friends, from home in London, from New College (not least my fellow undergraduate classicists), and from graduate study. I inherited my love of Greece from my family. My grandmother Claire Lazar in Johannesburg has taken great interest in my work, and my brother Mark Lazar has been a constant cheerleader. Most of all, I want to thank my brilliant parents Susan Rosenberg and John Lazar, to whom this book is dedicated.
Formyparents,SusanandJohn
Contents
ListofFigures
ANoteonTexts,Translations,andTransliteration
ListofAbbreviations
ListofMaps
Introduction
A Familiar Monument of a Familiar Empire?
Two Centuries of Scholarship on the Athenian Empire
An Athenian Empire?
Empires and Negotiation
Sources: From Thucydides to Aristophanes
Sources: Athenian Fifth-Century Inscriptions
Alternative Sources: Beyond Athens, and beyond the Fifth Century
A New Direction: Negotiation, Flexibility, and Regionality
1. 1.1 1.2 1.2.1 1.2.1.1 1.2.1.2 1.3 1.3.1
Athenian Decrees, Negotiation, and Negotiators
Introduction: Aristophanes’ Babylonians
Inscribed Decrees: Spheres of Control and Concession
Traces of Negotiation?
Strategies of Negotiation: Temporal Contexts
Strategies of Negotiation: Regional Contexts
The Parameters of Negotiation
The Exchange of Oaths and the Enforcement of Control
2.
The Decrees for Chalkis
Privileges and Honours
The Decrees for Selymbria and Neapolis
The Negotiators: A Pre-Existing Elite Network
Elites, Democracy, and Negotiation
Conclusion
Negotiation, Flexibility, and Corruption in the Athenian Tribute System
Introduction
Tribute and Taxation
Sources
Snapshot 1: Varied Statuses and Allied Volunteerism
The Eteokarpathians of Karpathos
Regional Dynamics
Voluntary Contributions and Allied Agency
Beyond the Rubrics: A Broader History of Varied Assessment
Snapshot 2: The Council and the Court
The Empire-Wide Decrees and Corruption
Aristophanes and Imperial Revenues
Snapshot 3: The End of Tribute
Conclusion
3.
Athenian Festival Culture and Allied Integration
Introduction
Athenian Festivals and Allied Mobility
Athletes and Ambassadors
From Cows to Crowns: Honorific Culture and Allied Elites
Allied Responses to Athenian Festivals
The Panathenaia, the Dionysia, and Honorific Reciprocity at Priene
The Rhodian Dionysia
Conclusion (and a Brief Word on Bendis)
From the Thermaic Gulf to Thasos: Athenian Power in the North Aegean
Introduction
The Landscape of the North Aegean
The North Aegean in the Fifth Century
Athenian Negotiation in the North Aegean
Negotiation and Publicity: The Allied Poleisof Methone and Aphytis
Negotiation with Multi-PolisEntities
Negotiation with the Macedonian Kings
Negotiation with the Thracian Kings
Competition with Thasos: Thasos as a Colonial Power
Competition with Thasos: Detachment of Mainland Interests
Learning from the Competition: Athenian Foundations in the North Aegean
A Brief Diversion: Corinth, Potidaia, and the Outbreak of the Peloponnesian War
Competition through Honour: Athens, Thasos, and Neapolis
Learning from the Competition: Thasian Power at the End of the Fifth Century
Conclusion
Athens, Rhodes, and the Eastern Mediterranean
Introduction
The Island of Three Poleis
From the Aegean to Egypt: The Rhodian Proxeny Decrees
A Network Spanning Centuries
5.3
5.2.2
5.2.3
5.2.4
5.2.5
5.2.6
5.2.7
Athenian Interest in the Eastern Mediterranean before the Peace of Kallias
Traders and Tribute
Traders, Tribute, … and Tetradrachms
Fiscal Imposition in Achaemenid Egypt
Honouring Evagoras
The Rhodian Proxeny Decrees Again
Rhodes and Athens in the Southern Aegean
5.3.1
5.3.2
5.3.3
5.3.4
5.4
6.
Further Variations in Assessment
Rhodian Regional Power in the Fifth Century?
The Significance of Separate Assessment
The Eteokarpathians Again
Conclusion
Athens, Daskyleion, and Kyzikos: Athenian Power between the Aegean and the Black Sea
6.1
Introduction
6.1.1
6.1.2
6.2
From the Hellespont to the Bosporos: Mobility and Exploitation
The Straits in the Fifth Century
Kyzikos: Between Athens and Daskyleion
6.2.1
6.2.1.1
6.2.2
6.2.3
6.2.4
6.3
6.4
Athens and the Black Sea
Athens and the Kyzikene Staters
Athens and Kyzikene Agency
Achaemenid Satrapal Power at Daskyleion
Daskyleion and Kyzikos
Athenian Taxation in the Straits
6.3.1
The Decrees for Aphytis Explained
Conclusion
Conclusion: Revolt and Ruddle on Fourth-Century Keos
Appendix:
Fifth-Century Athenian Decrees
A.1
A.2
A.3
A.4 Decrees Concerning Individual Communities within the Empire
Drawing of the first stone (lapisprimus) of the tribute quota lists, ATL1 plate 1. Reprinted with the kind permission of the American School for Classical Studies in Athens.
Squeeze (paper mould) of a fragment of a tribute quota list from 442/41 BC (IGI3 270). Printed with the kind permission of the Center for Epigraphical and Palaeographical Studies, Ohio State University.
Thasian laws concerning informers (Pouilloux (1954) no. 18 = OR 176, Thasos Archaeological Museum; after 411 BC). Archive of L. H. Jeffery, Centre
5.1
5.2
5.3
6.1
6.2
for the Study of Ancient Documents, Oxford, printed with the kind permission of the Ephorate of Antiquities of Kavala/Thasos.
Sanctuary of Athena, Lindos, Rhodes. Photograph by John Lazar.
Proxeny decree of all the Rhodians found at the Sanctuary of Athena, Lindos (Lindos II16; late fifth century BC). Archive of the National Museum, Denmark (open licence).
Athenian decadrachm coin, dated c.460 BC. ANS 1949.119.1. Printed with the kind permission of the American Numismatic Society.
View of the mouth of the Hellespont from the site of Sigeion. Photograph by Charles Crowther, Centre for the Study of Ancient Documents, Oxford.
Electrum stater of Kyzikos, c.480–470 BC (von Fritze no. 105). Obverse: youth riding a dolphin holding a tuna fish. Reverse: incuse square. ANS 1974.53.7 Printed with the kind permission of the American Numismatic Society.
6.3
6.4
6.5
Electrum stater of Kyzikos, c.500–475 BC (von Fritze no. 120). Obverse: the Tyrannicides Harmodios and Aristogeiton holding swords, tuna fish. Reverse: incuse square. ANS 1944.100.42712. Printed with the kind permission of the American Numismatic Society.
Weight of Kyzikos with owl and tuna fish. Photograph by Ôguz Tekin, printed with the kind permission of the Ashmolean Museum.
Funerary stele from Miletopolis for Hypermenes, son of Hagnodemos, the Athenian, c.410–400 BC. Bursa Archaeological Museum, photograph and kind permission from Nalan Eda Akyürek Şahin.
Cover image Cavalcade, north frieze of the Parthenon, reproduced from The Antiquities ofAthens measuredanddelineatedby James Stuart F.R.S. and F.S.A. andNicholas Revettpainters andarchitects, volume II, London, John Nichols, 1787. Reproduced with kind permission of the Aikaterini Laskaridis Foundation Library.
A Note on Texts, Translations, and Transliteration
For the sake of accessibility, I have not provided Greek texts of wellknown literary texts, except where necessary for my analysis. In these cases, I have used the most recent Oxford Classical Text edition. Translations of Thucydides are by Crawley, those of Herodotus by Purvis (in both cases using the accessible Landmark editions by Strassler), and those of Aristophanes by Sommerstein, sometimes lightly adapted. In the case of other literary sources, translations are indicated where relevant.
In the case of Athenian inscriptions, I have provided references to Inscriptiones Graecae and, where available, Osborne and Rhodes (2017) and Attic Inscriptions Online. I have mostly provided Greek quotations of texts from the most recent available edition, unless otherwise indicated. Where a translation is provided by Osborne and Rhodes or AIO, I have used it; otherwise I have provided my own. All fifth-century Athenian decrees under discussion are listed in the Appendix, along with information about dating.
For proper names, I have mostly used more direct transliterations from the Greek, except where other spellings are more common in English.
Agora XVI
AIO
AIUK
ATL
CH
ID
IG
IGBulg
IGCH
IGUR
IK.Rhod.Per.
I.Priene2
Lindos II
LSAG
ML OR
List of Abbreviations
Woodhead, A. G., 1997. Inscriptions: The Decrees(The Athenian Agora, 16). Princeton.
Attic Inscriptions in the United Kingdom; also available at www.atticinscriptions.com.
Meritt, B. D., McGregor, M. F., Wade-Gery, H. T., 1939–53. The Athenian Tribute Lists. 4 volumes. Princeton. 1975–2010. Coin Hoards. 10 volumes. London and New York. 1926–72. Inscriptions de Délos. 7 volumes. Paris. Inscriptiones Graecae.
Mihailov, G., 1958–70, 1997. Inscriptiones graecae in Bulgaria repertae. Sofia.
Thompson, M., Mørkholm, O., Kraay, C. M., Noe, S. P., 1973. An Inventory ofGreekCoin Hoards. New York.
Moretti, L., 1968–90. Inscriptiones graecae urbis Romae. Rome.I.Kalch.Merkelbach, R., Dörner, F. K., Şahin, S. 1980. Die Inschriften von Kalchedon. Bonn.
Blümel, W., 1991. Die Inschriften der Rhodischen Peraia. Bonn. Blümel, W., Merkelbach, R., Rumscheid, F., 2014. Die Inschriften von Priene. Bonn.
Blinkenberg, C., 1941. Lindos. Fouilles et recherches, 1902–1914. Vol. II: Inscriptions. Copenhagen and Berlin.
Jeffery, L. H., 1990. The Local Scripts of Archaic Greece. Revised Edition. Oxford.
Meiggs, R., Lewis, D. M., 1988. A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions to the End of the Fifth Century B.C. Revised Edition. Oxford.
Osborne, R., Rhodes, P. J., 2017. Greek Historical Inscriptions, 478–404 BC. Oxford.
Pouilloux RO
SEG
TAD
Tit.Cam. Von Fritze
Pouilloux, J., 1954. Recherches sur l’histoire et les cultes de Thasos. Paris.
Rhodes, P. J., Osborne, R., 2003. Greek Historical Inscriptions, 404–323 BC. Oxford.
Supplementum Epigraphicum Graecum.
Porten, B., Yardeni, A., 1986–93. Textbook of Aramaic Documents from Ancient Egypt. 3 volumes. Jerusalem. Pugliese Carratelli, G., Segre, M., 1949–51. TituliCamirenses.
Fritze, H. von, 1912. ‘Die Elektronprägung von Kyzikos’. Nomisma 7, pp. 1–38.
List of Maps
All maps were created by the author using Tableau Public.
Map 1 Athens and the Aegean.
2 The
3
Map
North Aegean from Macedon to the River Strymon.
Map
The North Aegean from the River Strymon to Thasos.
Map 4 Rhodes and the Eastern Mediterranean.
Map 5 Rhodes, Syme, Chalke, and the Chersonesioi.
Map 6 Rhodes and Karpathos.
Map 7 The Hellespont, Propontis, and Bosporos.
8
Map
The Bosporos and Black Sea.
Introduction
These first-fruits, all separately, were the first to be declared to the Thirty by the Hellenotamiai to whom [----] was secretary for the goddess from the allied tribute in the archonship of Ariston at Athens, one mina per talent.
Athenian tribute quota list, 454/3 BC1
0.1 A Familiar Monument of a Familiar Empire?
In 454 BC, the Athenian Acropolis still bore the scars of the Persian sack of almost three decades before. No monumental structures had been built since the archaic temples and treasuries had been destroyed by the Persians, and their remains buried by the Athenians on their return to the city.2 It would only be at the beginning of the subsequent decade that the familiar architecture of the Parthenon would start to rise in the sanctuary, then the Propylaia, the Erechtheion, and Athena Nike temple.3 There were a handful of public inscriptions, some private dedications, but the Acropolis was not yet the epigraphic forest of the later classical period.
It was in this sparse sacred landscape that a massive marble block of over 3.5 metres in height, quarried from nearby Mount Pentele, was erected (see Figure 0.1). Only a few constituent blocks of the Parthenon would ever rival its size.4 At the top of one side, a list of numbers and names under a heading was inscribed. The names were the communities who had contributed tribute to the Athenians that year. Tribute was a key way in which the Athenians’ presence was felt in the communities under their control, the one aspect of Athenian power emphasized by Thucydides in his description of its origins after the Graeco-Persian Wars.5 The numbers recorded the one-sixtieth portion taken by the Athenians from each community’s tribute contribution and dedicated to Athena as the aparchai or first-fruits, thereby implicating these cities in the worship of the Athenians’ own goddess.
This huge stone, or stele, would have been one of the most conspicuous monuments on the Acropolis, relatively empty compared to earlier and later years. It had religious significance: as a monument in the sacred space of the sanctuary, it can perhaps be regarded as a dedication in itself, not just a record of dedications.6 It was also a publicly accessible account in the public space of this democratic city. It showed that the Hellenotamiai, the magistrates in charge of tribute, had passed the correct dedications over to the auditors (logistai). But perhaps most of all, it was a strong declaration of Athenian ambition, even to an illiterate viewer. The stone’s expanse of uninscribed white marble was an emphatic statement through absence: there would be future dedications, future tribute contributions, and no end to Athenian power.7
Fourteen years later, all the surfaces of this first stone (hence its modern name, the lapis primus) had been filled, and another monumental slab of marble was erected for the inscription of the dedications.8 When this stone too was fully inscribed, smaller stelai were used.9 Across these stones, thousands of entries were recorded, listing dedications taken from communities from the Aegean and beyond. Even as the Acropolis was adorned with monumental architecture and numerous inscriptions, at least to some extent funded with the revenues derived from tribute,10 the lapis primus would continue to stand out. It was the largest inscribed stone ever erected by the Athenians, for all their epigraphic productivity.
By 1927—two and a half millennia after its construction—more than 180 fragments of the lapisprimus had been found on or near the Acropolis. The first fragments were published in the decades after the end of Ottoman rule and the foundation of the modern Greek state in 1821, when the antiquities of Athens began to be
