[eds] the role of power and tradition Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity Archaeological Studies Ton Derks & Nico Roymans & Nico Derks Ton Amsterdam University Press 13 Amsterdam Amsterdam Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity 13 Editorial Board: Prof. dr. E.M. Moormann Prof. dr. W. Roebroeks Prof. dr. N. Roymans Prof. dr. F. Theuws Other titles in the series: N. Roymans (ed.): From the Sword to the Plough Three Studies on the Earliest Romanisation of Northern Gaul ISBN 90 5356 237 0 T. Derks: Gods, Temples and Ritual Practices The Transformation of Religious Ideas and Values in Roman Gaul ISBN 90 5356 254 0 A. Verhoeven: Middeleeuws gebruiksaardewerk in Nederland (8e – 13e eeuw) ISBN 90 5356 267 2 F. Theuws / N. Roymans (eds): Land and Ancestors Cultural Dynamics in the Urnfield Period and the Middle Ages in the Southern Netherlands ISBN 90 5356 278 8 J. Bazelmans: By Weapons made Worthy Lords, Retainers and Their Relationship in Beowulf ISBN 90 5356 325 3 R. Corbey / W. Roebroeks (eds): Studying Human Origins Disciplinary History and Epistemology ISBN 90 5356 464 0 M. Diepeveen-Jansen: People, Ideas and Goods New Perspectives on ‘Celtic barbarians’ in Western and Central Europe (500-250 BC) ISBN 90 5356 481 0 G. J. van Wijngaarden: Use and Appreciation of Mycenean Pottery in the Levant, Cyprus and Italy (ca. 1600-1200 BC) The Significance of Context ISBN 90 5356 482 9 F.A. Gerritsen: Local Identities Landscape and community in the late prehistoric Meuse-Demer-Scheldt region ISBN 90 5356 588 4 N. Roymans: Ethnic Identity and Imperial Power The Batavians in the Early Roman Empire ISBN 90 5356 705 4 J.A.W. Nicolay: Armed Batavians Use and significance of weaponry and horse gear from non-military contexts in the Rhine delta (50 bc to ad 450 ISBN 978 90 5356 253 6 M. Groot: Animals in ritual and economy in a Roman frontier community Excavations in Tiel-Passewaaij ISBN 978 90 8964 0 222 Ethnic Constructs in Antiquity role f pw n tradition editors n k & nico yn msterdam nvy p This book meets the requirements of ISO 9706: 1994, Information and documentation – Paper for documents – Requirements for permanence. Cover illustration: Reverse of an Augustan denarius (RIC 201a), showing a barbarian in Germanic dress who hands over a child as hostage to emperor Augustus (cf. Roymans this volume fig. 9). Cover design: Kok Korpershoek, Amsterdam Lay-out: Bert Brouwenstijn, ACVU Amsterdam ISBN 978 90 8964 078 9 NUR 682 © Amsterdam University Press, Amsterdam, 2009 All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above, no part of this book may be reproduced, stored in or introduced into a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means (electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise), without the written permission of both the copyright owner and the editors of this book. n y f k whittak (25 octob 1929 - 28 nvb 2008) connts Introduction 1 Ton Derks / Nico Roymans Ethnic expression on the Early Iron Age and Early Archaic Greek mainland Where should we be looking? 11 Catherine Morgan The Ionians in the Archaic period. Shifting identities in a changing world 37 Jan Paul Crielaard From Athenian identity to European ethnicity. The cultural biography of the myth of Marathon 85 Hans-Joachim Gehrke Multi-ethnicity and ethnic segregation in Hellenistic Babylon 101 Bert van der Spek The Galatians in the Roman Empire. Historical tradition and ethnic identity in Hellenistic and Roman Asia Minor 117 Karl Strobel Material culture and plural identity in early Roman Southern Italy 145 Douwe Yntema Foundation myths in Roman Palestine. Traditions and reworkings 167 Nicole Belayche Ethnic discourses on the frontiers of Roman Africa 189 Dick Whittaker Cruptorix and his kind. Talking ethnicity on the middle ground 207 Greg Woolf Hercules and the construction of a Batavian identity in the context of the Roman empire 219 Nico Roymans Ethnic identity in the Roman frontier. The epigraphy of Batavi and other Lower Rhine tribes 239 Ton Derks Grave goods, ethnicity, and the rhetoric of burial rites in Late Antique Northern Gaul 283 Frans Theuws The early-medieval use of ethnic names from classical antiquity. The case of the Frisians 321 Jos Bazelmans Index of names and places 339 List of contributors 343 Introduction Ton Derks / Nico Roymans The present volume derives from two meetings that were organised in the framework of the research programme entitled The Batavians. Ethnic identity in a frontier situation. This programme, launched by the Archaeological Centre of the VU University Amsterdam, was funded by the Netherlands Organisation for Scientific Research (NWO) and ran between 1999 and 2005. Both at the beginning and the end of the project’s term, small-scale expert meetings were organised in order to present the results of the research group to an international audience. The first meeting was a two-day round table discussion held under the title of the present volume at the VU University Amsterdam in December 2001. Its chronological and thematic scope ranged from Archaic Greece to Early Mediaeval Western Europe. In December 2004, on the occasion of a large temporary exhibition focussing on the history and archaeology of the Batavi, as well as on the impact of the ‘Batavian myth’ on Dutch national history and popular culture from the 16th century onwards, the Museum Het Valkhof at Nijmegen hosted a one-day workshop on Tribal identities in the frontier provinces of the Roman empire. Papers were read by Karl Strobel, Dick Whittaker and Greg Woolf as well as the present authors. All papers presented at these three days have been gathered in the present volume. A further article, written by Bert van der Spek, was added in the editorial process. Both the round table discussion and the workshop aimed for an interdisciplinary, comparative explo- ration of the complex themes of ethnicity and ethnogenesis in the ancient world, such with reference to recent discussions in the social and historical disciplines. The volume’s starting point is the current view of ethnicity as a subjective, dynamic construct that is shaped through interaction with an ethnic ‘other’. If ethnicity was the central focus of both meetings, we were well aware that ethnic identities cannot be studied in isolation from other forms of identity. The thirteen case studies collected in this volume demonstrate that ethnic identity is often related to questions of power, religion, law, class and gender. Ethnicity may be expressed through language, material culture or social practices. Given these complex interrelationships, it will come as no surprise that, despite shared views on the concept of ethnicity and fruitful exchanges of ideas during each of the meetings, some areas of disagreement between the indi- vidual contributors have remained. The following pages aim to draw some general conclusions whilst making explicit and bringing up for discussion the most important differences of opinion or approach. It is hoped that these lines may thus serve not just as a general introduction to the volume, but as a stimulus for further discussion in the future. ethn constructs, pw n tradition Ethnic identities are always constructed in close association with political systems. It is politics that define ethnicity, not vice versa. Ethnic affiliation may be expressed at different scales of social organisation. At the highest level, there are macro-ethnic formations (Großstamme) such as Ionians and Achaians, or Gauls and Germans. At a local or regional level, smaller social groups may be discerned that coincide with localised political communities (e.g. poleis, civitates, or tribes). Despite frequent claims by ethnic groups to the contrary, all ethnic formations are intrinsically unstable and dynamic over time. Much of this dynamism is to be understood in close association with conflict, violence and changing constellations 1 of power. Expanding or collapsing empires, for instance, create new – or bring an end to old – ethnic groups. But smaller formations such as tribes too, are continuously subject to ethnic change. In this context, Reinhard Wenskus’ concept of a Traditionskern (‘nucleus of tradition’) still seems valuable today. Essentially, the model assumes the hand of the political elite in conferring ethnic traditions onto a much larger, and sometimes quite heterogeneous, population group. However, as Roymans has argued earlier,1 besides the small aristocratic group that Wenskus wanted to see as the sole keepers and propagators of the group’s core values, other social agents may be important contributors to the group’s ethnicity as well (e.g. encroaching empires or lower social groups within the tribe). With this qualification in mind, we still believe the model has strong explanatory power. Hence the title of the first symposium and the present volume. ethny n language Communication is essential for the continued existence of any community; ethnic communities are no exception. Communities can call on different media in order to convey their messages: the language of the spoken or written word, other sets of symbolic codes and/or collective rituals.2 In studies of ethnicity, particular weight is often attributed to language. An example from this volume is Strobel’s contribution on the Galatians of Central Asia Minor. His paper revolves around the central argument that a common and distinct language was the key to the perseverance of the Galatians’ self-consciousness as an ethnic group. His contribution invites a few comments on the importance of language for ethnic constructs. Firstly, we have to acknowledge that, if we did not have the literary evidence at our disposal, we would probably not have been able to identify the Galatians as an ethnic group at all. As it happens, their aris- tocratic leaders quickly adopted a Hellenistic lifestyle, learned Greek as a second language and became full members of the Hellenistic koine that characterised the period.