Download PDF sample

ANCIENT GREECE
In this revised edition, Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland have expanded the chronological
range of Ancient Greece to include the Greek world of the fourth century. The sourcebook
now ranges from the first lines of Greek literature to the death of Alexander the Great,
covering all of the main historical periods and social phenomena of ancient Greece. The
material is taken from a variety of sources: historians, inscriptions, graffiti, law codes, epitaphs,
decrees, drama and poetry. It includes the major literary authors, but also covers a wide
selection of writers, including many non-Athenian authors. Whilst focusing on the main
cities of ancient Greece – Athens and Sparta – the sourcebook also draws on a wide range of
material concerning the Greeks in Egypt, Italy, Sicily, Asia Minor and the Black Sea.
Ancient Greece not only covers the chronological, political history of ancient Greece, but
also explores the full spectrum of Greek life through topics such as gender, social class,
race and labour. This revised edition includes:
•
•
Two completely new chapters - ‘The Rise of Macedon’ and ‘Alexander “the Great”,
336-323 bc’
New material in the chapters on The City-State, Religion in the Greek World, Tyrants
and Tyranny, the Peloponnesian War and Its Aftermath, Labour: Slaves, Serfs and
Citizens, and Women, Sexuality and the Family
It is structured so that:
•
•
•
Thematically arranged chapters are arranged to allow students to build up gradually
knowledge of the ancient Greek world
Introductory essays to each chapter give necessary background to understand topic areas
Linking commentaries help students understand the source extracts and what they
reveal about the ancient Greeks
Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Alexander the
Great. Third Edition, will continue to be a definitive collection of source material on the
society and culture of the Greeks.
Matthew Dillon is an Associate Professor in Ancient History in the School of Humanities,
University of New England, Australia. His main research interests are Ancient Greek
History, and Religion.
Lynda Garland is Professor and Head of the School of Humanities, University of New
England, Australia. Her main research interests are in the areas of Ancient History and
Byzantine Studies.
ROUTLEDGE SOURCEBOOKS FOR THE
ANCIENT WORLD
READINGS IN LATE ANTIQUITY: SECOND EDITION, Michael Maas
GREEK AND ROMAN EDUCATION, Mark Joyal, J.C. Yardley and Iain McDougall
THE REPUBLICAN ROMAN ARMY, Michael M. Sage
THE STORY OF ATHENS, Phillip Harding
ROMAN SOCIAL HISTORY, Tim Parkin and Arthur Pomeroy
DEATH IN ANCIENT ROME, Valerie Hope
ANCIENT ROME, Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
SEXUALITY IN GREEK AND ROMAN LITERATURE, Marguerite Johnson and Terry Ryan
ATHENIAN POLITICAL ORATORY, David Phillips
POMPEII, Alison E. Cooley and M.G.L. Cooley
GREEK SCIENCE OF THE HELLENISTIC ERA, Georgia Irby-Massie and Paul Keyser
WOMEN AND LAW IN THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Judith Evans Grubbs
WARFARE IN ANCIENT GREECE, Michael M. Sage
THE GOVERNMENT OF THE ROMAN EMPIRE, Barbara Levick
PAGANS AND CHRISTIANS IN LATE ANTIQUITY, A.D. Lee
ANCIENT GREEK LAWS, Ilias Arnaoutoglou
TRIALS FROM CLASSICAL ATHENS, Christopher Carey
GREEK AND ROMAN TECHNOLOGY, John Humphrey, John Oleson and Andrew Sherwood
ROMAN ITALY 388 bc – ad 200, Kathryn Lomas
THE ROMAN ARMY 31 bc – ad 337, Brian Campbell
THE ROMAN HOUSEHOLD, Jane F. Gardner and Thomas Wiedemann
ATHENIAN POLITICS, G.R. Stanton
GREEK AND ROMAN SLAVERY, Thomas Wiedemann
Forthcoming:
ANCIENT CITY OF ROME, Christopher Smith, J.C.N. Coulston and Hazel Dodge
WOMEN OF THE ANCIENT NEAR EAST, Mark Chavalas
GREEK RELIGION, Emma Stafford and Karen Stears
ANCIENT GREECE
Social and Historical Documents from
Archaic Times to the Death of
Alexander the Great
Third Edition
Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
First edition published 1994
Second edition first published 2000
This third edition first published 2010 by Routledge
2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4RN
Simultaneously published in the USA and Canada by Routledge
270 Madison Ave, New York, NY 10016
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2010.
To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s
collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.
© 1994, 2000 and 2010 Matthew Dillon and Lynda Garland
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging in Publication Data
A catalog record for this book has been requested
ISBN 0-203-85455-1 Master e-book ISBN
ISBN 10: 0-415-47329-2 (hbk)
ISBN 10: 0-415-47330-6 (pbk)
ISBN 10: 0-203-85455-1 (ebk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-47329-3 (hbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-415-47330-9 (pbk)
ISBN 13: 978-0-203-85455-6 (ebk)
FOR ALL OUR STUDENTS , PAST, PRESENT AND FUTURE
CONTENTS
List of Tables and Maps
Glossary
Some useful definitions
How to use and cite Ancient Greece
Preface to the third edition
Preface to the second edition
Preface to the first edition
1
xi
xii
xvi
xviii
xix
xx
xxi
The polis: the Greek city-state
1
The government of the city-state 3
Athens: ‘the violet-crowned city’ 8
The workings of Athenian democracy 13
Rich and poor in Athens 22
Citizenship 26
The less than ideal citizen 29
City-states and their laws 31
Leagues, unions and federations 35
Trade and commerce 38
The grain trade 42
The superstars of the city-state 45
2
Colonisation
48
The Delphic oracle 50
The oikistes 50
Mother-cities and their colonies 52
The Colonisation of the west: Italy and Sicily 53
The Black Sea and Propontis 57
Spartan colonisation 61
The colonisation of Thasos by Paros 63
The Greeks at Cyrene 64
The Greeks in Egypt: traders and mercenaries 68
Greeks and indigenous populations 70
vi
C O NT E N T S
3
Religion in the Greek world
73
The Olympian religion and its critics 75
Sacrifice and public worship 79
Divination: omens and oracles 82
Festivals 86
The Eleusinian Mysteries 89
Asklepios the healer 95
Heroes 97
Sanctuaries and cult regulations 101
Death and funeral practices 102
Women and their religious role 106
Myrrhine, priestess of Athena Nike 109
Personal piety 110
Socrates and the ‘new atheism’ 112
The Greeks and their identity 121
4
Women, sexuality, and the family
123
Sappho of Lesbos 125
Early moralisers and misogynists 126
Spartan women and families 131
The ‘historical’ woman 135
Inscriptional evidence 139
The legal status of women 142
The working woman: at home and abroad 151
Women in Greek drama 155
Homosexuality and pederasty 163
Prostitution 171
Epilogue 178
5
Labour: slaves, serfs and citizens
180
Enslavement and the slave trade 183
Slaves: their occupations and training 186
Slave prices and earnings 188
Slaves in war 190
The legal position of slaves 192
Metics 197
Helots, perioikoi and serfs 201
Citizen labour 204
The dramatic slave 210
6
Sparta
214
Lykourgos ‘the lawgiver’ 216
vii
CONTENTS
The Spartan ethos 219
The Spartan constitution 225
Spartan kingship 228
Aristotle’s criticisms of the constitution 234
Community life in Sparta 237
Spartan foreign affairs 241
The Spartan economy and view of money 247
Kleomenes: the ‘mad’ Spartan king 250
Later views of the Spartans 255
7
Tyrants and tyranny
257
Tyranny at Sicyon: the Orthagorids, 656/5?–556/5? BC 260
Tyranny at Corinth: the Kypselids, c. 658–c. 585 BC 263
Theagenes and tyranny in Megara, c. 640 BC 268
Kylon’s attempted tyranny at Athens 269
Tyranny at Mytilene 271
Polykrates of Samos 273
Polykrates’ patronage of the arts 278
The earlier Sicilian tyrants 279
The fourth-century Sicilian tyrants 282
Sicilian tyrants and the pan-Hellenic games 289
Tyrants and public works 291
Aristotle on tyranny 292
8
The law-givers of Athens: Drakon and Solon
297
Drakon the law-giver 299
Poverty and inequality in Attica before Solon 301
Solon and his background 303
The seisachtheia 305
Solon’s constitutional reforms 308
Solon’s social and judicial legislation 311
Solon on trade and agriculture 312
Solon’s ‘apodemia’ 314
Reactions to Solon’s legislation 315
Solon and tyranny 316
9
Peisistratos and his sons
318
The three ‘parties’ 319
Peisistratos’ first tyranny 320
Peisistratos’ second tyranny 322
Peisistratos in exile 323
Peisistratos returns to power for the third time 324
Peisistratos as tyrant 326
viii
C O NT E N T S
Peisistratos’ family 327
The reign of the Peisistratidai 329
The tyrants and public works 332
The assassination of Hipparchos 333
The tyranny becomes harsher 335
The overthrow of the tyranny by the Spartans 336
The cult of the tyrannicides 338
Drinking songs in praise of the tyrannicides 339
10 Kleisthenes the reformer
341
Kleisthenes, Isagoras and Kleomenes 342
Tribes, boule and strategia 345
Ostracism 347
Demes and trittyes 352
11 The Persian Wars
356
Darius and the Persians 358
The Ionian Revolt 360
Marathon, 490 BC 363
Xerxes’ campaigns 368
Greece prepares for the attack 369
Thermopylai and Artemision 373
Salamis 376
Plataea 383
12 The Delian League and the Pentekontaetia
391
The origins of the Delian League 393
The aftermath of the Persian Wars 397
Constitutional change in Athens 400
Athenian military campaigns 400
The First Peloponnesian War, 460–445 BC 403
Perikles ‘the Olympian’ 406
The tribute 408
Athenian decrees concerning Athens’ allies 409
13 The Peloponnesian War and its aftermath
The outbreak of the Peloponnesian War 416
The Archidamian War, 431–21 BC 418
The tribute in the Peloponnesian War 425
The Sicilian Expedition and its aftermath 433
The fall of Athens 442
Lysander ‘who crowned unsacked Sparta’ 444
The rule of the Thirty Tyrants 446
ix
413
CONTENTS
14 The rise of Macedon
452
Sparta versus Persia, 401–387 BC 454
Sparta, Thebes and the battle of Leuktra in 371 BC 465
Events in northern Greece 471
Demosthenes 485
Philip and Athens 489
15 Alexander ‘the Great’ of Macedon, 336–323 bc
496
The Macedonian assault on Asia 502
Issos and ‘missed out on a kiss’ 506
Alexander increases his grip on the Persian empire 509
The final conquest of Persia 513
Alexander moves east 518
Alexander and the Greek poleis 526
Alexander’s death: ‘he drank and partied’ 531
16 The ancient sources
536
Logographers and historians 540
Biography 550
Geography 550
Drama 551
Lyric and elegiac 553
Political philosophy 554
Orators 555
Chronological table
Bibliography
Index of ancient sources
General index
Genealogical tables
Maps
557
562
568
578
591
595
x
LIST OF TABLES AND MAPS
GENEALOGICAL TABLES
Table I
Table II
Table III
Table IV
The Alkmeonidai
The family of Peisistratos
The Philaidai
The family of Kleomenes I
MAPS
Map I
Map II
Map III
Map IV
Map V
Map VI
The Greek world
The Greeks in the east
The Greeks in the west
Attica and the demes of Aigeis (II)
Philip and the Greeks
Alexander’s conquests
xi
GLOSSARY
acropolis:
agema:
agoge:
agora:
agoranomoi:
aisymnetes:
Amphictyonic Council:
apoikia:
architheoros:
archon:
Areiopagos:
atimia:
boeotarch:
boule:
chiliarch:
choregos:
cleruchy:
Companions:
decarchy:
demagogue:
deme:
demos:
dikasterion:
citadel, the highest part of a city
the Macedonian guard
the Spartan system of education
the market square, civic centre of a city-state
market magistrates at Athens
an elected tyrant
representatives of the twelve states responsible for the
upkeep and welfare of the sanctuary and games at Delphi
a colony or settlement (pl.: apoikiai)
the leader of a sacred embassy
a magistrate; the most important archonship in Athens
was the eponymous archonship (the holder gave his
name to the year)
a hill west of the acropolis; the council of the Areiopagos, which was composed of ex-archons, met here
loss of citizen rights (adj.: atimos, pl.: atimoi)
a chief magistrate of the Boeotian league
the council of a city; the bouleterion (council chamber)
was its meeting place
a Macedonian commander (of 1,000 men)
a wealthy citizen who financed a dramatic chorus for a
festival
a colony where the settlers retained their original
citizenship
cavalry in the Macedonian army
a government of ten men
a popular leader or speaker (a fourth-century term)
a village; Kleisthenes divided Attica into 140 units called
demes
the people of a city, the citizens; sometimes the
assembly
a jury-court (pl.: dikasteria)
xii
G LO S S A R Y
dokimasia:
ekklesia:
Eleven, the:
emporion:
ephor:
epigonoi:
epimetelai:
epoptes:
eunomia:
eupatridai:
euthyna:
genos:
gerousia:
gnorimoi:
harmost:
hegemon:
heliaia:
hellenotamiai:
helot:
hetaira:
hetaireia:
hieromnemones:
hieropoioi:
hippeis:
homoioi:
hoplite:
hypaspistai:
isonomia:
King:
kolakretai:
komos:
Lakedaimon:
Lakonia:
liturgy:
medise:
the scrutiny of a person’s qualifications for office or
citizenship
the assembly of adult male citizens
the police commissioners at Athens
a trading station (pl.: emporia)
a Spartan magistrate; five were elected annually
the successors of Alexander the Great
supervisors
the highest grade of initiate at Eleusis (pl.: epoptai)
good order
nobles, aristocrats
the examination of an official’s conduct or accounts at
the end of his term (pl.: euthynai)
a clan, group of families (pl.: gene)
a council of twenty-eight elders (gerontes) in Sparta
plus the two kings
the notables, wealthy
a governor imposed by Sparta
a leader or commander (as of the League of Corinth)
a court (generally of appeal) at Athens
financial officials of the Delian League
a Spartan serf
a courtesan, higher-class prostitute
a club, association of citizens (pl.: hetaireiai)
representatives on the Delphic Amphictyonic Council
sacred officials, temple overseers
cavalry; the second of Solon’s four propertied classes in
Athens
‘equals’; a term used in Sparta for full citizens, the
Spartiates
a heavily armed infantryman
Macedonian shield-bearers; a brigade of guards
equality of rights
the (Great) King of Persia
Athenian financial officials
a band of revellers; a celebratory procession
Sparta; the Spartans were known as Lakedaimonians
Sparta’s immediate countryside; ‘Lakonian’ often
means Spartan
public duty imposed on wealthy citizens, such as
financing a dramatic chorus or paying for the
maintenance of a trireme for a year
to support or collaborate with the Persians (Medes)
xiii
G L O S SA R Y
metic:
mystagogos:
mystes:
neodameis:
oikistes:
oikos:
Olympiad:
penestai:
pentakosiomedimnoi:
perioikoi:
pezetairoi:
phoros:
phratry:
phyle:
polemarch:
polis:
politeia:
poletai:
prostates:
prytaneion:
prytany:
Pythia:
Relatives:
rhapsode:
sarissa:
satrap:
skolion:
Spartiate:
stasis:
stele:
strategos:
an immigrant, foreign resident
someone who introduces others to the Eleusinian
Mysteries
an initiate, especially at the Eleusinian Mysteries (pl.:
mystai)
new citizens (in Sparta); enfranchised helots
the founder of a colony (pl.: oikistai)
a household (pl.: oikoi)
the four-year period between one Olympic games and
the next
Thessalian serfs
the 500 bushel-class, the first of Solon’s four propertied
classes
neighbours; peoples subject to Sparta in the
Peloponnese
foot-guards in the Macedonian army
tribute contribution (e.g. to Athens from members of
the Delian League)
a brotherhood with social and religious associations
a tribe; Kleisthenes organised the Athenians into ten
tribes (phylai)
a war leader; one of the archons in Athens
a city-state (pl.: poleis)
constitution; or (by extension) citizenship
Athenian financial officials
champion, leader of a political party; patron of metics
town hall
one-tenth of the Athenian administrative year, during
which the representatives of one of the ten tribes (the
fifty prytaneis) presided in the boule and assembly; the
prytaneion was the town hall
the priestess at Delphi
an elite corps of Persians
a bard, minstrel
the basic Macedonian weapon, a six-metre pike
a Persian governor
a drinking song (pl.: skolia)
a full Spartan citizen
civil dissension, factional disturbance; a party or faction
a slab; an inscription, such as a gravestone or decree
(pl.: stelai)
a general (pl.: strategoi); strategia is the command held
by a stratego
xiv
G LO S S A R Y
synoikismos:
syssitia:
tagos:
theoria:
theoroi:
thetes:
the Thirty:
tholos:
trireme:
trierarch:
trittys:
tyrant:
tyrannos:
zeugitai:
the union of several towns to form a single state
(synoecism)
public messes at Sparta (also pheiditia)
the chief magistrate of Thessaly
a sacred embassy
sacred envoys
the lowest of Solon’s four propertied classes
(sing.: thes)
the oligarchs who ruled Athens in 404/3
the round house; the headquarters of the prytaneis
a warship with 170 rowers
the commander of a trireme
a regional division of Attica (pl.: trittyes)
a ruler with no hereditary right to rule
a tyrant (pl.: tyrannoi)
the third of Solon’s four propertied classes
xv
SOME USEFUL DEFINITIONS
Athenian months
Hekatombaion (June/July)
Metageitnion (July/August)
Boedromion (August/September)
Pyanopsion (September/October)
Maimakterion (October/November)
Posideion (November/December)
Gamelion (December/January)
Anthesterion (January/February)
Elaphebolion (February/March)
Mounichion (March/April)
Thargelion (April/May)
Skirophorion (May/June)
The ten Athenian tribes in their official order
Erechtheis (I)
Aigeis (II)
Pandionis (III)
Leontis (IV)
Akamantis (V)
Oineis (VI)
Kekropis (VII)
Hippothontis (VIII)
Aiantis (IX)
Antiochis (X)
Attic coinage
6 obols (ob.) = 1 drachma (dr.)
100 dr. = 1 mina
2 minas = 1 stater
60 minas = 1 talent (T.)
Measurements of capacity
1 kotyle (jug) = 285cc
12 kotylai = 1 chous (3.4 litres)
12 choes = 1 metretes (41 litres)
192 kotylai = 1 medimnos (55 dry litres)
xvi
S O M E US EF UL DE F I N I T I O N S
Measurements of distance
1 daktylos (finger) = approx. 7/10 in.; 1.9 cm
24 daktyloi = 1 cubit (approx. 1 ft 5 in.; 45 cm)
1 orguia = 1 fathom (approx. 6 ft; 1.80 m)
100 orguiai = 1 stade (approx. 606 ft; 180 m)
Symbols used in documents
()
[]
[[ ]]
F
explanatory addition to text
letters or words in inscriptions restored by modern scholars
enclosed letters or words deliberately erased
fragment
xvii
HOW TO USE AND CITE ANCIENT GREECE
Students frequently ask the authors about the setting out of the documents which are
contained in Ancient Greece. This is best explained by taking the example given below. Here
3.90 is simply the document number of the extract in Ancient Greece: document number 90
in Chapter 3. This has nothing to do with the ancient source itself. The document is taken
from Herodotos 8.144.2, in which Herodotos is the name of the author and 8.144.2 refers
to where the extract can be found in Herodotos’ work: Book 8, chapter 144, paragraph 2.
After comes a short title: Religion as Part of the Greek Identity. This is not a title drawn
from Herodotos. Rather, it is a description given by Dillon and Garland to the document,
to give the reader a quick idea of what the extract is about. Under the actual heading
comes an indented comment by Dillon and Garland: once again this is not the ancient
source itself but a brief introduction to the passage, intended to help elucidate its main
features. In a larger font size, under this comment, comes the ancient source itself.
3.90 Herodotos 8.144.2: Religion as Part of the Greek Identity
When the Spartans heard that Mardonios had sent to the Athenians a proposal that they make terms
with Persia, they sent envoys who were present when the Athenians gave their answer. This was the
Athenians’ reply.
8.144.2 There are many important reasons which prevent us from doing this, even if we so
wished, the first and greatest being the burning and demolishing of the statues and temples of
our gods, which we must avenge with all our power rather than making terms with the agent of
their destruction. Furthermore there is the fact that we are all Greeks, sharing both the same
blood and the same language, and we have the temples of our gods in common and our sacrifices and similar lifestyle, and it would not be right for the Athenians to betray all these.
Another question which is often asked is how to give a traditional footnote or in text reference
to a document in Ancient Greece. Once again, taking the above example, we would suggest:
Herodotos 8.114.2, in Dillon, M. and Garland, L. Ancient Greece: Social and Historical
Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Alexander the Great, London, 2002, doc.
3.90, p. 121–22.
An abbreviated form of this could be:
Herodotos 8.114.2, in Dillon and Garland, Ancient Greece, doc. 3.90, p. 121–22.
xviii
PREFACE TO THE THIRD EDITION
This third edition of Ancient Greece has been expanded in its historical range down to the
death of Alexander III ‘the Great’ of Macedon, and so has a new title: Ancient Greece: Social
and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the Death of Alexander the Great. Over the last ten
years since the second edition of Ancient Greece, the authors have become convinced that it
was necessary to give a fuller historical treatment of ancient Greece so that users of the
book could learn what happened in Greece in the fourth century bc. This also means that
the social history chapters could contain documents from this century, giving a fuller indication of what ancient Greek society was like.
In addition, we feel that there is a need for a textbook, appearing in conjunction with
this third edition, which will give the full background to the texts translated in Ancient
Greece. This textbook, The Ancient Greeks: History and Culture from Archaic Times to the Death of
Alexander, has the same chapter titles as Ancient Greece, and will provide students with the
necessary background knowledge and details for understanding each historical period
and social aspect of ancient Greece. Accordingly, many of the extensive comments accompanying individual documents have been reduced in scope and size in Ancient Greece itself.
What we aim to give in this edition is enough commentary on each document to make it
comprehensible, with the overall background to be given in the textbook. Our teaching
from Ancient Greece over the last fifteen years has also taught us that less is often more. We
have tried to give the necessary background for each document but have not tried to
‘overload’ the students with information. As first-year undergraduates tend not to follow
up the detailed references to modern authors given with the documents in the first and
second editions, these have been taken out and replaced with a shorter more useable
selection of reading for each chapter, to be found in the Bibliography.
We give a special thanks to all our students over the last fifteen years, not just at the
University of New England, but those who have used this book in Australia, New Zealand,
Britain, Ireland, Germany and the United States. We would like to thank Routledge most
sincerely for the invitation to write a third edition and Brian E. Colles for allowing us to use
his translation of the Bisitun Rock Inscription (doc.11.2).
Armidale, Australia
August, ad 2009
xix
PREFACE TO THE SECOND EDITION
This second edition of Ancient Greece: Social and Historical Documents from Archaic Times to the
Death of Socrates owes its existence to all those readers who found the first edition of use and
who commented on its strengths and omissions. We have been prompted to write a second
edition rather than reprinting the original Ancient Greece by these comments, which have
led us to include many new documents, mainly on prostitution and homosexuality. The
numbering of documents in the first twelve chapters of the new edition is the same as in
the last; a new passage of Thucydides on the Greek colonisation of Sicily is included as
1.10.ii, and recently discovered material from Simonides’ elegies on the Persian Wars as
document 7.43.ii. A passage (8.4.ii) on Timokreon’s views of his contemporary Themistokles is also included. It seemed better to include this new material as subsections with
Roman numeration rather than to disturb the numeration of the original edition. Chapter
thirteen contains many new documents; docs 1–64 are largely the same as in the first
edition, but doc. 13.65 has now become 13.93, and documents 13.24, 13.52 and 13.56 have
joined the sections on pederasty and prostitution as 13.70, 13.80 and 13.89, respectively. A
new chapter has been added on the ancient sources themselves and their methodology to
help students and readers in general become aware of the more important problems in
using ancient authors as historical sources. The bibliographies and references accompanying the notes on individual documents throughout the book have been updated as
much as possible. Finally, we would like to thank all those who have made encouraging
comments on the first edition, and we hope that the second edition will prove to be equally
useful.
Armidale, Australia
March 1999
xx
PREFACE TO THE FIRST EDITION
This work was originally intended as a sourcebook for use with the first unit of Ancient
History offered by the Open Learning Agency of Australia, Ancient Greece: Early History,
which we wrote in 1993. But in the event it has developed into a sourcebook aimed at
undergraduate students of Greek history at all levels, with some uses also as a research tool
for the reader interested in further study. The period covered is that of the Greek world
from the archaic period to the end of the fifth century and the documents have been carefully chosen to reflect contemporary views of the main issues of political and social history
within that period. Any sourcebook is naturally open to criticisms regarding the selection
of material: the authors have attempted impartiality in their choice of topics and documents but inevitably some imbalance of emphasis has probably occurred. Nevertheless the
main areas of Greek social and political history have been covered in depth, with special
focus on the manifestations in the archaic period of colonisation and tyranny throughout
the Greek world and Athenian politics in the sixth century. The history of the classical
period per se is represented by sections on the Persian Wars, the Delian League and Pentekontaetia and the Peloponnesian War, and Sparta’s history and society in both archaic and
classical times is covered by a separate section. These chapters, however, are also intended
to be supplemented by the material in the so-called ‘social’ sections of this book. In these
chapters on social history, we present a view of the realities of life in ancient Greece, with
particular emphasis on the city-state and its relevance to Greek life and politics, labour,
and the extent to which slaves, metics, serfs and citizens competed in the labour market,
religion in all its manifestations, and women and sexual relationships in Greek society. The
aim has been to give a wide range of material from contemporary sources, which will, if the
authors’ aim is achieved, be more than sufficient for study at an undergraduate level.
Since this book is intended to give a view of the Greek world as a whole, where possible
documents have been chosen relating not simply to Athens and Sparta but to the lesserknown centres of Greek civilisation and culture, and the aim has been to keep the reader
continually in mind of the geographical and chronological scope of Greek history and
civilisation. A book covering so broad a subject must inevitably suffer from incompleteness
in some areas, and we have had to limit not merely the topics covered, but the number of
texts illustrating each section. We can only hope that our choice of material does not
appear too arbitrary, and have tried to ensure that we have given references throughout to
other useful passages which will direct the student to further documents of relevance in
the area. We have also given suggestions for further reading on particular points of importance and envisage that the chapter bibliographies will enable students to pursue detailed
research on particular topics.
xxi
P R EF A C E T O T H E F I R ST E D I T I O N
In our translations we have followed the Greek as closely as possible, even to punctuation where this does not involve confusion, and poetry is as far as possible translated in
lines following those of the original text. Present in our minds has been the thought that
this would be a suitable text for use in a unit on ‘Greek for historians’, and to that end we
have made comparisons of the translations with the original sources as easy as possible. For
this reason we have carefully inserted all chapter and section numbers of the original
sources in the text of our translations. For those students who do not as yet have Greek, we
can perhaps hope that this study of some of the more important documents of Greek
history will inspire them to attempt to acquire the language. Titles of ancient sources are
given in English, but references to the texts used in our translations can be found in the
index of ancient sources. There is probably no way to avoid the pitfalls inherent in the
transliteration of Greek names and terms into English. Where possible a literal transliteration has been preferred, except where the names and terms might be thought to be better
known to the reader in an anglicised form. This naturally has involved some arbitrary
judgements and appearance of inconsistency, of which the authors are aware.
Our thanks are particularly due to two of our colleagues for their help and support:
Professor Trevor Bryce, now Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Lincoln University in New Zealand,
and Mrs Annette Ince, who has given us invaluable assistance with the formatting and presentation of this book. Our thanks are also due to Dixson Library, University of New
England.
Armidale, NSW
June 1994
xxii
1
THE POLIS: THE GREEK CITY-STATE
The central focus of civilisation for the Greeks, after the oikos or family unit, was the polis (plural:
poleis). Polis is usually translated as ‘city-state’ as a polis was generally an independent state,
with its own laws, customs, political system, military force, currency and sometimes calendar.
According to Aristotle those who did not live in a polis were ‘tribeless, lawless, hearthless’, and to
the Greeks the fact that they lived in a city-state was proof that they were a civilised people (doc.
1.1). But the polis should also in Aristotle’s opinion be limited in size and self-sufficient. He was
the first to employ the metaphor of the ‘ship of state’. Too few inhabitants and the polis could not
be self-sufficient, too many and the ship would be too big, and the administration of the polis
would be adversely affected (doc. 1.3).
Aristotle’s well-known statement that ‘man is a political animal’ should in fact be translated as
‘man is a creature who lives in a polis’ (Arist. Pol. 1253a 2–3: doc. 1.1), while according to Thucydides (7.77.7) ‘it is men who are the city, and not walls or ships with no men inside’. Much of the
history of the Greeks is the history of the interaction between its cities. City-states were generally
independent, and, though various cities at different times attempted to dominate the other cities in
Greece, these attempts were generally short-lived. The cities, rather than uniting with each other,
were prone to fight amongst themselves, and nearby neighbours were often the most implacable
enemies, such as Sparta and Argos. While there was a concept of mutual identity when faced with
an outside enemy, as when during the Persian Wars the Hellenic League was formed to combat
Xerxes (docs 11.19, 11.24), most Greeks saw themselves not primarily as Greek, but as a member
of their city-state. Aristotle viewed the Greeks as superior to other peoples; the Greeks attained the
‘highest political development’ and Greece ‘could rule everyone else, if it could achieve political
unity’ (doc. 1.2). But such unity was achieved only under Philip and Alexander of Macedon.
Apart from links with a mother-city which had sent out a colony, individual communities preferred
to be self-sufficient, though many states were members of leagues, larger organisations formed to
protect smaller cities or contribute to the power of the largest city-state in the region, such as the
Peloponnesian League and Boeotian federation (docs 1.57–58, cf. 6.62–63). Athens was to gain
power over a number of cities through the Delian League. There could also be cultural and religious
unions between different cities (docs 1.59–60). While the Greek states shared several cultural
features, such as the same language, religious beliefs, and system of writing (doc. 3.90), there
were still differences between states: there were dialectical variations, each state had its own
tutelary deities with different cults, names and festivals, and there could be differences of alphabet
(cf. doc. 2.10).
Athens was the largest mercantile and commercial centre but had a rival in Corinth whose
position on the Isthmus made it a major shipping centre and trading depot, with goods being transferred across the Isthmus to avoid the longer sail around the Peloponnese (docs 1.61–62). From
1