War, Food, and Politics in Early Hellenistic Athens

by G. J. Oliver

Overview

G. J. Oliver provides a new assessment of the economic history of Athens in the Hellenistic era, when the city was no longer an imperial power and struggled to maintain its territory, both at home in Attica and overseas in the cleruchies. Oliver assesses how political and military change affected the fragile economies of the Athenian polis. Warfare in Attica required the Athenians to protect their domestic grain supply and seek out those beyond the city to provide commodities from abroad. Oliver stresses the economic importance of benefaction and civic honours, and shows how much the citizens of Athens contributed to the defence and finances of their city.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780191536229
Publisher:	OUP Oxford
Publication date:	09/06/2007
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
File size:	4 MB

About the Author

G. J. Oliver is Lecturer in Ancient Greek Culture at Liverpool University.

Table of Contents

List of Tables     xiv
List of Maps     xv
List of Figures     xvi
Abbreviations     xvii
Introduction     1
Economic Vulnerabilities
Economic Fragilities in Fourth-Century Athens     15
Dependency Cultures     15
Models of Dependency     17
Quantifying Dependency on Imported Grain     18
The Economic Realities of Moving Grain     22
Ateleia-the Economic Function of Honours     30
Bread Baskets: Overseas Territories     37
The Taste for Gain: Financing Commerce     39
The Threat of Macedon: Athenian Economies before 322     41
Piraeus and 'Peraea'     48
Introduction     48
Polis and Piraeus     49
Out of Attica: The Athenian Peraea     68
Athenian Territory and Polis Economies     73
People of Attica     74
Demography and Economics     74
Labour and Manpower     75
The Population of Fourth-Century Attica     76
Movements of People: 'a culture founded on mobility'     87
Settlement and Demes in Early Hellenistic Attica     100
Surveying Change in the Archaeology of Attica     105
Conclusion: The Fragility of Human Resources     109
War in the Athenian Polis
Warfare and the Athenian Countryside     113
Introduction     113
The Years 307-304 BC     116
The Mid-290s     119
The 280s     121
The 260s: The Chremonidean War     127
The 250s and 240s     131
The Polis and Its Territory     133
The Dynamics of Defence: Infrastructure     138
Territory, Autonomy, and Manpower     138
Defensive Infrastructure in Attica c.500-c.200     142
The Fortified Demes of Early Hellenistic Attica     148
The Rubble Camps     153
Garrisoned Attica     158
Defending the Polis: Command     160
The Structure of Command     160
The Hoplite General     163
The Regionalized Generalship for the Countryside     164
Royal Interference     167
The Piraeus and Salamis under Macedonian Leadership     169
Military Command in Early Hellenistic Athens     171
Military Manpower     173
Introduction     173
Protecting Attica: The Cavalry     173
Ephebes     175
Garrisoning the Fortified Demes     176
Special Forces     179
Non-Citizen Soldiers     183
Military Organization in Athens and Attica     188
Polis Economies: Finance, Food, and Friends
Saving the Polis: Civic Finances     193
Civic Finances in Early Hellenistic Athens: Revenues     193
The Epidosis of Diomedon's Archonship (248/7)     200
Epidosis: Honours for Benefactors     204
The Salvation of the Polis and Defence of the Countryside     209
Benefactors of the Athenian Polis: Buying Food     213
The Financial Management of the Polis     223
Friends Abroad: Food, Commerce, and the Economics of Benefaction     228
Introduction     228
The Need for Grain from Overseas     229
Grain Prices     241
Sources of Grain     247
Civic Intervention: Sitonia     255
Conclusion     260
Appendices     267
The Eponymous Archons of Early Hellenistic Athens     267
The Hoplite Generals of Early Hellenistic Athens     270
Non-Civic Appointments in Early Hellenistic Athens     272
Groups Represented in the Epigraphy of the Fortified Demes of Attica     274
Analysis of the Contributors to the Epidosis of 248/7 BC     277
Regional Representation in the Epidosis of 248/7 BC?     282
Imported Grain in Early Hellenistic Athens     285
Grain Prices on Delos, 282     291
Bibliography     292
General Index     323
Index locorum     338

Editorial Reviews

"Oliver gives scholars a book that is impressive in both clarity and erudition. Relying particularily on his mastery of inscriptional evidence, Oliver's sophisticated analysis weaves together aspects of Athens' economic, political, military, and institutional history from 307 to 229 BCE. Historians of the ancient economy or ancient Greek polis shoudl read this book. Oxford University Press deserves credit not only for publishing the book, but also for publishing it right—with good footnotes, eight appendixes, and a fine bibliography. Highly recommended." —CHOICE

From the Publisher