The Politics of Association in Hellenistic Rhodes

by: Thomsen, C.A.

A new perspective on political organisation in Hellenistic Rhodes and the ancient Greek citystate
The first comprehensive study of Rhodes in more than 20 years and one of the few books dedicated to a single Hellenistic city-state
Introduces the reader to Hellenistic Rhodes, an important, but also remarkably understudied, city-state of the ancient Greek and Roman world
Challenges traditional assumptions about political organisation in the ancient Greek city-state
Documents the existence of an alternative conception of the ancient Greek city-state, which will inspire new approaches to the study of the ancient Greek city-state, politics and society
Christian Thomsen offers a study of political institutions on the island state of Rhodes – an important power in the eastern Mediterranean and the first city of the Hellenistic world. Using Aristotle?s notion of the polis as an ?association of associations? as its point of departure, Thomsen provides an analysis of political institutions, taking a broader view of what constitutes an institution than traditional studies of the ancient Greek city-state.

Among the institutions surveyed are the family, civic subdivisions such as tribes and demes as well as private associations. He argues that these organisations served as important junctions in the networks of political elites and shaped the political landscape of Hellenistic Rhodes.

Contents
List of Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
Abbreviations
Maps

1. Introduction
Democracy, Classical and Hellenistic
Disaggregating the Polis
The Politics of Association in Hellenistic Rhodes

2 Rhodian Democracy
Political Institutions
Civic Careers
Out of Office
Wealth and the Magistrate

3 The Oikos
Preserving the Oikos

4 Public Associations
Being Lindian
Demes against Demes

5 Private Associations
Community Building
Equality and Inequality in Private Associations

6 Private Associations and Human Resources
The Rich and the Talented
Political Associations

7 The Civic Aspirations of Private Associations
The Public Relations of Private Associations
Public Recognition
Civic Virtues and Association Virtues
Corporate Endorsements and the Rhodian Monumental Order
Associations as Civil Society

8 The Corporate Polis

Bibliography
Index

The Politics of Association in Hellenistic Rhodes

by: Thomsen, C.A.

• ISBN-13: 9781474452564 / 978-1-4744-5256-4
• ISBN-03: 1474452566 / 1-4744-5256-6
• Edinburgh University Press, Edinburgh, 2022