Aiolian Land

This chapter examines the role which Mytilene’s peraia in coastal Aiolis played in shaping elite Mytilenaian identity in the first century BC/AD. It is argued that, in this period, Mytilenaian elites began to privilege the Aiolian aspect of their identity over the Lesbian aspect in response to a long-running dispute over Mytilene’s right to its peraia in Aiolis (disputed by neighbouring cities on the mainland) and the tax status of this territory (disputed by the publicani). Although this dispute was probably resolved for good early in the reign of Augustus, under subsequent Julio-Claudian emperors Mytilenaian elites continued to promote the idea that Mytilene was the metropolis of the Aiolians and therefore had a natural right to territory on the mainland. This is seen most prominently in the assimilation of Agrippina the Elder and later Agrippina the Younger to Thea Aiolis Karpophoros, and the fortuitous discovery that Mytilene could both assert its right to the peraia and honour prominent members of the imperial family by emphasizing its Aiolian identity in part explains the continued popularity of this identity claim. By contrast, these ideas appear to have been of no interest to Methymna and Eresos. While in part this reflects the fact that neither city possessed a peraia in Aiolis, it may also be significant that they belonged to a different conventus to Mytilene and thus Roman rule framed their identities in quite different ways.

The Hellenistic Koinon of the Lesbians

This chapter considers what kind of collective identity was fostered by the insular location of the Lesbian cities. It is usually assumed that the cities of Lesbos were particularly inclined to cooperate with one another because of their insular geography, and as a result the treaty refounding the Lesbian koinon from c.200 BC should be interpreted as evidence that the island’s cities were headed for political unification. Here it is instead argued that the cities of Lesbos kept the level of cooperation between themselves at a bare minimum and usually viewed Lesbian identity as something to compete over and claim exclusive ownership of rather than as a rationale for political cooperation. A reassessment of the treaty of the refounded koinon suggests that it attests a much more limited level of intra-island cooperation than has previously been assumed. Insofar as this is nevertheless a greater level of cooperation than we see in earlier and later periods, this reflects the dangerous and uncertain political context which engulfed many Greek cities in the immediate aftermath of the collapse of Ptolemaic hegemony in the Aegean in the 200s BC.

Conclusions

The concluding chapter returns to the four methodological points concerning regional history which were discussed in the introduction and now considers four further points which build on these: firstly, how to define a region; secondly, how to talk about the space in a region; thirdly, the idea that difference might be a more productive leitmotif than similarity for writing regional history; and finally the relationship between regionalism and imperialism. In each case relevant case studies from the preceding studies are adduced to illustrate the methodological points under discussion and to bring out connections between the individual chapters.

Introduction

The introductory chapter considers four central problems in regional history and sets out how each will be approached in this book. Firstly, I consider the contribution which historical geography can make as a form of comparative history. Secondly, I lay out how I have defined my region of study and why it is more important to focus on the underlying mechanisms which produce a region than on its precise territorial extent. Thirdly, I argue for the importance of focusing on intra-regional rivalries, resistance to regional integration, and failures of co-operation when writing regional history in addition to the more traditional themes of political solidarity and economic co-operation. Finally, I argue for the importance of regional history for understanding imperialism in antiquity.

The Mytilenaian Peraia and the Aktaian Cities

This chapter explores the relationship between Lesbos and Anatolia by examining Mytilene’s relationship with communities in the coastal Troad and Aiolis before and after Athens confiscated its mainland territorial possessions (the peraia) in 427 BC. It is argued that Mytilene, like many other Aegean islands with peraiai, actively suppressed polis status in these off-island territories in the Troad and Aiolis so as to extract greater profit from them. This provides another example of an unequal form of regional integration to complement that which was discussed in Chapter 3, and also helps explain how Mytilene was in a position to attempt to dominate all of Lesbos through an enforced synoikism in 428. A reconsideration of the evidence of the Athenian tribute assessment decrees from 425/4 and 422/1 suggests that, by contrast with how the Mytilenaians had treated these communities, the Athenian Empire actively encouraged them to become poleis so as to disrupt any future attempt by the rebellious Mytilenaians to reconstitute the peraia. While the political relationship between Mytilene and the mainland was therefore very different post-427, numismatic evidence shows that it still maintained a vibrant commercial network on the mainland. Mytilene’s relationship with the mainland therefore did not end in 427 but rather transformed.

Horse Husbandry and Empire in the Middle Scamander Valley

This chapter examines the power dynamics which can exist in processes of regional integration. While regional integration can be pursued in such a way that it is mutually beneficial to all participants, economies of scale and political unification can equally be achieved at the expense of the political sovereignty, economic advantage, and communal identity of less powerful communities. This was the case with the communities of the middle Scamander valley in the late Classical and Hellenistic periods: a region of the Troad which had supported up to seven small to medium-sized cities in the Classical period was carved up by Ilion and Alexandreia Troas in the course of the Hellenistic period, leaving only Skepsis independent by the second century BC. This process is usually assumed to have begun with Antigonos Monophthalmos in the 300s. However, this unequal power dynamic between coast and interior had already existed in the Classical period and was allowed to develop by the nature of Persian rule. The chapter examines the impact which the creation of a royal horse stud in the middle Scamander valley in the fourth century BC will have had on this region and places this development within the longer history of the unequal power dynamic between coast and interior in the Troad.

The Forests of Mt Ida

This chapter looks at the role which physical geography plays in promoting regional integration by examining how the forests of Mt Ida functioned within the Troad. Mt Ida has often been imagined as a place free from, even hostile to, human intervention and habitation. We encounter this characterization not just in the literature produced by urban elites who may not have had first-hand experience of the forests, but also in the religious practices of those who lived around Mt Ida in antiquity, and indeed in the folklore of the Turkmen who live there today. Yet the reality, as revealed in particular by the evidence of Theophrastos’ Historia plantarum, is that the forested uplands of Mt Ida were intensely cultivated by the lowland cities of the middle Scamander valley and the coastal Troad. Mt Ida has historically been an important source of resources, above all pitch and timber, which have been crucial to the lowland economy and which gained significant value through convenient access to water-borne transport via the Scamander and the Aegean. It is thus precisely the environmental differences between the forests of Mt Ida and the lowland Troad which bring them together. This is true not just economically, but also culturally: the idea of the forests as the antithesis of lowland urban society has played an important role in identity formation for precisely those communities which know these forests best.

Ilion and its Contexts

This chapter considers the human factors which promote regional integration by examining the regional identity of Hellenistic Ilion from three distinct perspectives. Firstly, I consider the narrative of the city’s history embedded in Strabo’s account of the Troad. This has been highly influential on modern scholarship, but needs to be treated with considerable scepticism given Strabo’s intellectual priorities in the Geography. Secondly, I look at the phenomenon of cities producing coinages with the posthumous types of Alexander and Lysimachos in the first half of the second century BC. This indicates that the Troad was not, as Strabo wanted to believe, a natural unity, but rather divided between a northern half orientated towards the Bosporos (to which Ilion belonged) and a southern half orientated towards the coast of western Asia Minor. Finally, I examine the koinon of Athena Ilias, a religious confederation which organized the annual Panathenaia festival for Athena Ilias at Ilion from the late fourth century BC down to the second century AD. The creation of this institution not only greatly benefited Ilion, but also served to stitch together the northern and southern halves of the Troad into a more coherent whole.