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How do regions form and evolve? What are the human and geographical factors which help to unify a region, and what are the political considerations which limit integration and curtail co-operation between a region's communities? Through a diverse series of case studies focusing on the regional history of Lesbos and the Troad from the seventh century BC down to the first century AD, The Kingdom of Priam offers a detailed exploration of questions about regional integration in the ancient world. Drawing on a wide range of evidence - from the geography of Strabo and the botany of Theophrastos, to the accounts of eighteenth- and nineteenth-century travellers and the epigraphy, numismatics, and archaeology of the region - these case studies analyse the politics of processes of regional integration in the Troad and examine the insular identity of Lesbos, the extent to which the island was integrated into the mainland, and the consequences of this relationship for its internal dynamic. Throughout it is argued that although Lesbos and the Troad became ever more economically well-integrated over the course of this period, they nevertheless remained politically fragmented and were only capable of unified action at moments of severe crisis. These regional dynamics intersected in complex and often unexpected ways with the various imperial systems (Persian, Athenian, Macedonian, Attalid, Roman) which ruled over the region and shaped its internal dynamics, both through direct interventions in regional politics and through the pressures and incentives which these imperial systems created for local communities.
List of contents
- Frontmatter
- List of Maps and Figures
- List of Tables
- List of Abbreviations
- 0: Introduction
- 0.1: Unthinking a Space
- 0.2: Making a Region
- 0.3: The Experience of Regionalism
- 0.4: The View from the Bottom of the Well
- 1: Ilion and its Contexts
- 1.1: Introduction: The Regional Personality of Ilion
- 1.2: Strabo's Troad
- 1.3: The Posthumous Lysimachi of Ilion
- 1.4: Ilion and the Koinon of Athena Ilias
- 1.5: Conclusions
- 2: The Forests of Mt. Ida
- 2.1: Introduction
- 2.2: The Saint and the Shepherd
- 2.3: The Forests of Mt. Ida Imagined
- 2.4: Theophrastos and the Forests of Mt. Ida
- 2.5: Pitch Production on Mt. Ida
- 2.6: Timber and Transport
- 2.7: The Epiphenomenal Polis? Antandros, Mt. Ida, and the Troad
- 2.8: The Inhabitants of Mt. Ida
- 2.9: Conclusions
- Appendix: The Flora of Mt. Ida in Theophrastos' Enquiry into Plants
- 3: Horse Husbandry and Empire in the Middle Scamander Valley
- 3.1: Introduction
- 3.2: The Royal Herds around Mt. Ida
- 3.2.1: Eumenes on Mt. Ida
- 3.2.2: The Creation of the Royal Herds
- 3.2.3: The Size of the Royal Herds
- 3.2.4: Pasture
- 3.2.5: Horse Reading in the Middle Scamander Valley
- 3.3: The Royal Herds around Mt. Ida and Regional History
- 3.3.1: The Cost of Horse Rearing
- 3.3.2: The Adverse Impact of Large-Scale Horse Rearing
- 3.3.3: Managing the Impact of Empire: Tax, Horse Rearing, and Elite Politics
- 3.4: Conclusions
- 4: The Mytilenaian Peraia and the Aktaian Cities
- 4.1: Introduction
- 4.2: The Mytilenaian Peraia
- 4.2.1: The Aktaian Cities
- 4.2.2: Athens and the Aktaian Cities
- 4.2.3: Mytilene and the Aktaian Cities
- 4.2.4: The Nature of the Mytilenaian Peraia
- 4.3: Mytilene and the Mainland
- 4.3.1: Beyond Territorial Control
- 4.3.2: Coinage and Commercial Networks
- 4.4: Conclusions
- 5: The Hellenistic Koinon of the Lesbians
- 5.1: Introduction
- 5.2: The Refoundation of the Lesbian Koinon
- 5.2.1: Between Sovereignty and Cooperation
- 5.2.2: Federal Citizenship and Isopoliteia
- 5.2.3: Interstate Diplomacy
- 5.2.4: Foreign Judges
- 5.2.5: Deliberative Bodies and Magistrates of the Koinon
- 5.2.6: Mutual Defence and Tax Farmi
About the author
Aneurin Ellis-Evans is Departmental Lecturer in Ancient History at Oriel and Jesus Colleges at the University of Oxford. His doctorate, which he received from New College, Oxford, was awarded the Conington Prize for 2015.
Summary
The Kingdom of Priam offers a detailed exploration of questions about regional integration in the ancient world through a diverse series of case studies focusing on the regional history of Lesbos and the Troad from the seventh century BC down to the first century AD.
