The Early Hellenistic Peloponnese: Politics, Economies and Networks 338-197 BC

by: Shipley, G.

Using all available evidence - literary, epigraphic, numismatic, and archaeological - this study offers a new analysis of the early Hellenistic Peloponnese. The conventional picture of the Macedonian kings as oppressors, and of the Peloponnese as ruined by warfare and tyranny, must be revised. The kings did not suppress freedom or exploit the peninsula economically, but generally presented themselves as patrons of Greek identity. Most of the regimes characterised as 'tyrannies' were probably, in reality, civic governorships, and the Macedonians did not seek to overturn tradition or build a new imperial order. Contrary to previous analyses, the evidence of field survey and architectural remains points to an active, even thriving civic culture and a healthy trading economy under elite patronage. Despite the rise of federalism, particularly in the form of the Achaean league, regional identity was never as strong as loyalty to one's city-state (polis).

The first detailed study of a large region of over 100 city-states that were central to Greek identity as they passed through a crucial transition (from the Macedonian conquest to the establishment of Roman power)
Refutes the conventional view of a backward, depressed region ruined by an outside power, and shows how the Greek city-state remained vibrant and creative after the age of Alexander
Avoids heavy exposition of theoretical models

Table of Contents
1. The Acropolis of Greece
2. Warfare and control
3. Power and politics
4. Economies and landscapes
5. Region, network, and polis.

The Early Hellenistic Peloponnese: Politics, Economies and Networks 338-197 BC

by: Shipley, G.

• ISBN-13: 9780521873697 / 978-0-521-87369-7
• ISBN-03: 052187369X / 0-521-87369-X
• Cambridge University Press, Cambridge, 2018