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Basking in the Shadow of Kings: Local Culture in the Hellenistic Greek Mainland

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Basking in the Shadow of Kings: Local Culture in the Hellenistic Greek Mainland Basking in the Shadow of Kings: Local Culture in the Hellenistic Greek mainland Alexander J. McAuley Department of History and Classical Studies Faculty of Arts McGill University August, 2015 A thesis submitted to McGill University in partial fulfilment of the requirements of the degree of Doctor of Philosophy © Alex McAuley 2015 Table of Contents Abstract ............................................................................................................................................ 4 Abrégé .............................................................................................................................................. 5 Preface & Acknowledgements / Avant-propos et remerciements ...................................................... 6 Notes on Scholarly Conventions ........................................................................................................ 8 Introduction: Re-connecting the Dots ................................................................................................ 9 A Brave New World? The Hellenistic Problem ........................................................................................ 9 An Empty Region? ................................................................................................................................. 20 Progressive Conservatism? ................................................................................................................... 25 Archaic Beginnings, and Classical Ends? ............................................................................................... 38 No Baggage to Check: The Hellenistic ‘Greeks’ .................................................................................... 49 Ethnicity Now & Then, and the Identity of Identity .............................................................................. 60 From the Negative to the Positive: Re-approaching Local Culture ....................................................... 69 Chapter I Hellenistic Antiquity: The Argolid ..................................................................................... 88 Introduction: Impressions and Illusions ................................................................................................ 88 More than just a Region: The Scholarly Tradition of Argos .................................................................. 97 Déjà vu: The Argolid in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries ....................................................................... 105 The Argolid and Monarchy in the Fifth and Fourth Centuries ............................................................ 113 The Argolid and Monarchy in the Hellenistic Period: .......................................................................... 121 External and Diplomatic Relations of the Hellenistic Argives: ............................................................ 131 Deceptive Antiquity: The Cultic Traditions of the Hellenistic Argolid ................................................. 145 The Asklepieion at Epidauros .......................................................................................................... 149 The Heraion ..................................................................................................................................... 153 The Sanctuary of Zeus at Nemea and the Nemean Games ............................................................ 158 Changes ........................................................................................................................................... 163 Land & Settlement Patterns ................................................................................................................ 166 Greek Conclusions, Roman Epilogue ................................................................................................... 169 Chapter II Practically the Middle of Greece: Euboea ...................................................................... 173 Introduction: Cursed Geography ......................................................................................................... 173 Not Athens: Euboea in Contemporary Scholarship ............................................................................. 183 A Preferable Imperialism: Euboea under the Athenian Yoke .............................................................. 189 2 Calm amidst the Storm: 340-267 BC ................................................................................................... 198 Macedonian Sunrise: Euboea in the Third Century ............................................................................. 210 The Very Local Level: Carystos and the Carysteia ............................................................................... 227 Conclusions .......................................................................................................................................... 231 Chapter III Stability and Innovation: Hellenistic Boeotia ................................................................. 239 Introduction: The Greek Countryside .................................................................................................. 239 Impending Doom: Scholarship on Hellenistic Boeotia ........................................................................ 250 The Best of Times, or the Worst of Times? Boeotia under Thebes ..................................................... 262 The Beginning of the End? Dispelling the Archaeological Fog ............................................................ 270 From Thebes to Macedon: Politics in Hellenistic Boeotia ................................................................... 276 Good Credit: Boeotia’s Economy ......................................................................................................... 294 From the Cradle: The Ephēbeia in Hellenistic Boeotia ........................................................................ 301 The Religious Landscape of Hellenistic Boeotia .................................................................................. 316 Conclusion and Epilogue: Sub Imperium Populi Romani Dicionemque .............................................. 327 Conclusion: The Horizon of the Immediate .................................................................................... 339 The Opinio Communis ......................................................................................................................... 339 The Argolid: ......................................................................................................................................... 343 Euboea: ............................................................................................................................................... 346 Boeotia ................................................................................................................................................ 350 Currents and Trends ............................................................................................................................ 354 Kings & Cities ................................................................................................................................... 354 Civic and Regional Government ...................................................................................................... 357 Land, Demography, and Settlement ............................................................................................... 360 Religion............................................................................................................................................ 362 All Roads Lead to Magnesia ................................................................................................................ 365 The Horizon of the Immediate, Then & Now ...................................................................................... 374 Epilogue: Contemporary Echoes ......................................................................................................... 380 Bibliography ................................................................................................................................. 387 3 Abstract This thesis examines the local culture of the mainland Greek regions of the Argolid, Euboea, and Boeotia with an eye to reconsidering two preconceptions regarding the period: first, that there is fundamental discontinuity between the Classical and Hellenistic Periods, and second, that the Hellenistic Period was marked by widespread demographic, social, and economic decline in mainland Greece. Considering each of these regions on the local revel instead reveals, I argue, that the rule of Macedon did not disrupt the local traditions and lifestyles of its subject communities. During the third and second centuries BC, each region exhibits a flurry of activity on the economic, religious, political, and social realms, and this local vitality endures as wider networks of extra-regional connections are established. The introduction provides an overview of the opinio communis regarding the Hellenistic Period, and argues against the supposition that there was a large-scale emigration of Greeks from the mainland at its outset. I also review the evidence for continuity of Greek civic traditions outside Greece itself, before turning to a review of scholarly literature on ethnicity, identity, and certain problems that arise from the analytical construct. I propose a turn towards local culture as a means
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