OGIS 1 266: KINGS AND CONTRACTS IN THE HELLENISTIC WORLD

Matthew Trundle

In his fourteenth Idyll, Theokritos (14.58–59; see Lewis 1986, 10–11) praised Ptolemy II Philadelphos of as the best paymaster (mis- thodotes… aristos)forafreeman(eleutheros), in the words of a friend advising a lovesick companion seeking a life elsewhere. No doubt this was a subtle advertisement to all those seeking the patronage of a great man and who could choose their patron. Such statements were not new. heard his friend Proxenos praising Kyros in exactly the same terms over a century earlier (Xenophon 3.1.4), and all who served Alexander saw him as the greatest of gift-givers. The Hellenistic world of monarchs and mercenaries was a new age in which reciprocal conditions of service and relationships flowed between kings and mercenaries. Mercenaries travelled the world and would-be employers needed ways in which to promote themselves to these poten- tial allies and bind them to their service. Many scholars see the end of the classical period and the birth of the Hellenistic age sometime during the fourth century BCE, perhaps with the ascent of Philip and the Macedonians (Fine 1983;Davies 1989;Griffith 1935), or the death of in 323BCE ( 2006), or even in 301BCE with the of Ipsos (Parke 1933). These are arbitrary acts of historical convenience. In a recent study of Greek mercenaries several reasons justified its termination with the Lamian in 322BCE (Trundle 2004, 8–9; but see also Hammond 1959, 651). Firstly, this war was a turning point in Greek history, and particularly in Athenian history, as no longer could Greek communities claim an independent foreign policy (pace Green 1990, 11;Cary1935, 6–9). This of course is not strictly true, as many Greek states such as Rhodes and the communities of the Aetolian League continued to have and to wage through the third century BCE (Ma 2000, 337–376). Secondly, the size of the Hellenistic kingdoms dwarfed the poleis, and as a consequence the focus of Greek history moves from the small poleis to amorphous monarchies incorporating large and diverse territories and peoples (see for example Braund 2003, 21). Thirdly, the 104 matthew trundle nature of all relationships changed from those dominated by the civic community to that of the powerful individual and his network of friends and associates (for example Billows 1990, 250; McKechnie 1989, chapter 8; Savalli-Lestrade 1998). National or cultural ties still played some role in determining rela- tionships after 322BCE, but better rewards could be found with the great providers amongst the Hellenistic monarchies. Ties to cities played less of a role in motivating individuals to fight, though for many men like Memnon and Mentor of Rhodes this was not necessarily true in the fourth century, and arguably it was not true for Xenophon in the fifth century BCE. In addition, military settlements (apoikiai, klerou- choi and katoikiai) and garrisons (phrouroi) created special circumstances in on a much more uniform and stable footing (Cohen 1978, 45–60; Chaniotis 2005, 84–93), though even these garrisons had their forerunners in the later fifth and fourth centuries BCE in west- ern Asia (Tuplin 1987, 167–245). Egypt, about which we have the most information, provides a detailed picture of the allotment of land (kleroi) to military settlers (Lewis 1986, 24–27) in order to create a permanent and hereditary military class upon which the could rely (Lewis 1986, 21). Finally, and perhaps most justifiably, the sources for the history of events after the end of the Lamian war make it practically impossible to distinguish between mercenary, citizen and professional soldiers. This is particularly true during the period of the diadochoi wars as the fluid nature of allegiances and the sketchy evidence make it difficult to ascertain a distinction between mercenaries and professionals. These wars allowed for the proliferation of professional soldiering on a much larger scale when compared to earlier periods (Parke 1933, 206–211). As a consequence, being a mercenary had become the norm and all soldiers appear as professionals. The terminology in our sources was transformed, a point not lost on H.W. Parke (1933, 208–209)when justifying the terminus of his book on Greek mercenaries:

Instead of simplifying our task, this prevalence of the mercenary makes it the more difficult. For when once all soldiers have been reduced to one professional type, our authorities cease often to distinguish the mercenary as such. All fighting men are stratiotai and pezoi or hippeis.

Griffith, who began his Mercenaries of the Hellenistic World with the reign of Alexander the Great, had similar reasons to see a division between Classical and Hellenistic history. As he stated, ‘the professional soldiers