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Thucydides’ construction of liquids and solids undermines both the rhetoric of Athenian characters within his History and the consensus reading of this text. This dissertation analyzes Thucydides’ depiction of liquids as active and destructive and contextualizes it within Greek history and literature.From the oldest extant Greek texts, authors have described all sorts of liquids as active, mutable, and in motion. Their activeness is the fundamental quality that separates them from solids. One major subcategory of liquid activeness in Greek literature is liquid destructiveness. Greek authors consistently show the sea and other liquids to be dangerous, destructive, and deadly. These authors developed this theme as Greek seafaring and naval warfare consistently increased in the Aegean from the end of the eighth century up through the fifth century BCE and beyond. Thucydides writes within these well-established traditions. He portrays the motion and activeness of liquids in scenes of changing topography. He maps the binary between active liquids and inert solids onto his important dichotomy between Athens and Sparta. The Athenians, who control a naval empire, are active, mutable, and loquacious; the land-based Spartans are stable, conservative, and laconic. Thucydides also develops the destructiveness of liquids throughout his text. Seawater and river water sink ships and kill soldiers. The historian constructs the plague in particularly liquid terms. The Athenians prove to be the most frequent victims of liquid destruction; their over-extended naval empire exposes them to the sea and other dangerous liquids. This reality undermines the rhetoric of Athenian characters within the text who argue for the stability and security of naval empire. This project thus argues against the consensus reading of Thucydides which frames him as a general supporter of Athenian naval imperialism; it contextualizes him within Greek history and literature; and it argues for the study of authors’ construction of physical, inanimate material as a useful analytical tool.

El auge de la memoria como categoría de análisis histórico permite aplicar conceptos que analizan las formas en las que se construye el pasado de una sociedad y cómo este permite la supervivencia de la comunidad. En la Atenas de finales del siglo VII y principios del VI a. C., se da un proceso de reelaboración del pasado, de los mitos fundacionales y de la topografía histórica de la ciudad. El análisis de los discursos, los espacios y los rituales a través de la memoria desvelan las nuevas ideologías de la ciudad, la jerarquización de espacios y las relaciones de poder entre grupos sociales., The rise of memory as a category for historical analysis opens the door to the use of concepts which allow us understand the ways in which the past of a given society was built, as well as this past is essential for the community to survive. A process of re-elaboration of the past, the foundational myths and the historical topography took place in Athens at the end of Archaism (7th to 6th centuries BC). Through discursive, spatial and ritual analysis we are able to observe the new ideologies of the city, the hierarchy of spaces and the relations of power within the social groups., Formación de Profesorado Universitario (FPU) del Ministerio de Universidades de España (FPU 17/03034)

SummaryThis paper investigates the Athenian gymnasiarchy, an office that remains badly understood. Originally a festival liturgy, the gymnasiarchy was transformed into a magistracy at the end of the fourth century BC. This paper first examines the reasons for the shift and argues that it was connected to broader political currents in late Classical Athens. Secondly, it sheds new light on the nature of the office in the Hellenistic period. Whereas earlier scholars assumed that the Athenian gymnasiarch was a minor official under thekosmetes, epigraphic and literary sources reveal that he was a fully-fledged gymnasium director, just as in otherpoleis.

“L’Été indien” athénien nous est apparu comme davantage marqué par le retour à la tradition que par des innovations. À Magnésie du Méandre le règlement des Eisitèria pour Artémis Leucophryènè comme à Démétrias celui du sanctuaire d’Apollon Coropaios rassemblent des dispositions traditionnelles. Il s’agit de faire en sorte que les divinités reçoivent toujours les mêmes hommages en dépit des aléas historiques. Tel est également le sens de l’ntervention des élites lorsqu’elles viennent au secour...

Dès l’époque archaïque, les cultes civiques, comme les cultes panhelléniques reçurent des bienfaits accordés par les élites, soit dans le cadre des liturgies (pour le financement des concours notamment), soit en dehors (tel personnage assumant les dépenses nécessaires à la construction d’un temple, ainsi Thémistocle offrant celui d’Artémis Aristoboulè à Mélitè afin de rappeler à tous que la déesse lui avait inspiré les meilleures décisions pour la cité et pour les Grecs). Bien que l’on nuance...

La caractérisation des fêtes hellénistiques soulève une autre difficulté car, dans le domaine de l’histoire des cultes, il n’est pas certain que la période hellénistique présente véritablement une unité. Johann Gustav Droysen l’a définie le premier comme la période durant laquelle la civilisation grecque, par la conquête d’Alexandre, entre en contact avec d’autres civilisations et impose la monarchie dite “hellénistique” comme système de gouvernement. Avant lui, le mot ne s’était appliqué qu’...

Afin de déterminer si l’époque hellénistique forme un ensemble homogène dans le domaine des cultes civiques ou si, au contraire, il est possible d’y discerner des phases successives, nous proposons un inventaire des témoignages épigraphiques en partant, non de la mort d’Alexandre, mais du milieu du ive siècle, pour arriver au seuil de l’époque impériale. En effet, des évolutions se dessinent effectivement dès la période qui suit Chéronée, notamment à Athènes avec la politique religieuse conce...

En 171, les Athéniens envoient une ambassade à Rome essentiellement, semble-t-il, pour plaider la cause de la petite cité béotienne d’Haliarte, détruite à cause de son insoumission. Devant l’intransigeance du Sénat, les ambassadeurs athéniens renoncent à leur première demande et formulent des prétentions sur Délos et sur Lemnos. Les Romains cèdent à leurs instances, en dépit de leur propre alliance avec Délos, non pour complaire aux Athéniens (malgré les bénéfices secondaires qu’ils pouvaient...

Les aléas politiques ou financiers de l’histoire athénienne ont abouti à l’abandon de certaines fêtes à plusieurs moments de la période hellénistique (d’abord, pour quelques-unes, à l’époque des Diadoques et, pour d’autres, durant le iiie siècle). Cependant, durant les deux générations qui avaient suivi l’éviction de Démétrios Poliorcète en (287/286) et après le départ de la garnison macédonienne (229), les Athéniens étaient revenus à leurs cultes ancestraux, dans l’esprit de Lycurgue. De mêm...

À Athènes, l’“été indien” est d’abord caractérisé par un retour aux cultes anciens, comme le montre notamment la restauration de la Pythaïde ou du concours des Théseia. Les témoignages épigraphiques donnent une grande place à des expressions désignant les rites traditionnels (κατὰ τὰ πάτρια, αἱ θυσίαι αἱ καθηκοῦσαι, αἱ θυσίαι αἱ πάτριοι). Cet état d’esprit n’est pas exclusif d’Athènes, mais se rencontre dans d’autres lieux du monde égéen. Deux autres cités, situées chacune sur l’une des rives...

Fêtes civiques commémorant un événement historique Date Nature de l’intervention Type de fête Nom de la fête et divinité(s) honorée(s) Cité après 338 Institution Fête commémorant la victoire sur les Perses Eleuthéria Zeus Éleuthérios Homonoia des Grecs Platée BCH 99 (1975), 51-75. 313 ou 308/307 ou 196-194 Institution Fête anniversaire de la libération d’Érétrie par une garnison macédonienne ou lagide ? Dionysos Érétrie IG XII.9, 192 = LSS 46. 304/303 Institution Fête anniversaire de la vict...

La religion civique est l’une des composantes majeures de l’identité de la polis ; elle joue même un rôle éminent dans son élaboration. Cette dernière n’est pas figée une fois pour toutes (par exemple au moment de la fondation de la cité) ; elle a besoin périodiquement d’être réaffirmée, voire réinventée au gré des aléas historiques : passage d’une domination à une autre, synœcisme, règlement de frontières. Ainsi le synœcisme de Rhodes comportait évidemment le risque de diluer l’identité des ...

Dans les textes officiels des années 167-88 a.C., le trait dominant de l’attitude religieuse des Athéniens consiste à manifester clairement qu’ils exécutent tous les rites et qu’ils offrent à chaque dieu ce qui lui revient selon la tradition. La série de décrets en l’honneur des prytanes auxquels le dèmos décerne une couronne en donne le témoignage. Elle commence avec Agora XV.78 en 273/272 : les sacrifices offerts par les prytanes sont alors détaillés et, en particulier, sont mentionnées les...

Qu’est-ce que la religion civique ? Quelle est la spécificité des cultes civiques ? S’il semble possible de le savoir dans l’Athènes classique, la réponse à cette question paraît hors d’atteinte dans les autres cités par défaut de documents. À l’époque hellénistique en revanche, les lois sacrées se multiplient dans l’ensemble du monde égéén et nous montrent que, contrairement à une idée reçue, les cultes civiques ne connaissent pas de désaffection. C’est même à l’époque hellénistique tardive (moment où les cités risquent de s’effacer dans l’Empire romain) que ces textes épigraphiques éclairent le mieux la question. Ils permettent de décrire la réalité matérielle des cultes civiques (rituels, implication de la cité dans leur organisation, intervention des évergètes, financement) et de comprendre les enjeux idéologiques des « restaurations ». En effet, à cette époque, non seulement l’Athènes redevenue prospère par la grâce de l’alliance romaine, mais de nombreuses cités égéennes tentent de réaffirmer leur identité et d’assurer leur cohésion en restaurant ou en « amplifiant » les « cultes traditionnels ». Même lorsqu’elles n'ont pas les moyens de cette ambition, elles privatisent le financement tout en gardant un contrôle étroit sur des cultes qu’elles considèrent comme leurs biens propres. Il apparaît donc qu'il n’y a pas plus, à l’époque hellénistique tardive, de déclin des cultes civiques que de déclin de la cité, mais au contraire, un été indien de la religion civique dans l’ensemble du monde égéen.

Les témoignages épigraphiques que nous avons étudiés sont des documents officiels (pour la plupart, des décrets civiques) et ils nous apprennent sporadiquement comment les cités égéennes justifient les mesures prises concernant les cultes civiques. Sur ce point, il est remarquable que la singularité d’Athènes s’efface dans le tableau général des cités du monde égéen : quand il s’agit de leurs cultes civiques, toutes ces cités, petites ou jadis puissantes, alliées de la première heure avec les...

Si certaines manifestations cultuelles ont été restaurées après une véritable interruption, comme les Pythaïdes ou les Théseia, d’autres cultes ont simplement connu de nouveaux aménagements. Il arrive aussi que ceux qui les accomplissent fassent l’objet d’une attention nouvelle de la part de la cité : ainsi, les petites filles qui participent à la confection du péplos remis solennellement à Athéna lors des Panathénées se voient décerner des honneurs. Autour d’Athéna Polias Le culte d’Athéna P...

Chronologie et disparités régionales Lorsqu’on compare les textes de cette troisième partie avec les témoignages athéniens, un certain décalage apparaît. Alors qu’elle avait partagé le sort commun de la plupart des cités grecques au iiie s. a.C., Athènes était, au iie siècle, redevenue une exception : elle bénéficiait de l’alliance romaine, ses élites n’avaient pas été décimées par la nouvelle puissance, elle jouissait d’une conjoncture économique exceptionnelle, notamment grâce à la “Restitu...

Nous possédons une série de décrets par lesquels les Athéniens (et souvent aussi les Salaminiens, c’est-à-dire la communauté des Athéniens vivant à Salamine) honorent les éphèbes, leurs magistrats (cosmètes) et leurs instructeurs (didaskaloi) ; ils s’échelonnent entre 127/126 et 96/95 a.C. : 127/126 (archontat de Théod[ôridès]) : SEG 15.104 (= O. W. Reinmuth, Hesperia 24[1955], 220-239) + divers fragments (= Perrin-Saminadayar 2007, T 25).Décrets en l’honneur des éphèbes, de leurs instructeur...

In 2017, a large burial stele, which was found as a result of illegal excavation in a parcel in the Melde locality belonging to the district of Mustafakemalpaşa/Bursa (on the land of the General Directorate of Agricultural Enterprises - TİGEM), was brought to the Bursa Museum. In antiquity Melde, where the stele was found, was the location of the city of Miletupolis. This tombstone would have stood in one of the necropolises of this city. In the article, this stele is examined and is interpreted through its epigraphic, historical and archaeological aspects.A one-day salvage excavation was carried out by the Bursa Museum at the site of the stele. The tomb was formed as a cist from large blocks that were cut neatly, and a skeleton was found inside. The stele was found lying on the tomb. As can be seen in the photographs of the find spot, it is understood that the stele did not lie deep under the ground (Fig. 1-4). The stele was found broken in two pieces underground. On the upper part, there is an Ancient Greek funerary inscription of 3 lines, which is reminiscent of the stoichedon style and reads: (The tomb of) Hypermenes from Athens, son of Hagnodemos. The inscription does not tell us why this Athenian lived in Miletupolis.On the main body of the stele, a standing grown man facing to the right and a dog siting at his feet and pointing its head upwards towards its owner are depicted in high relief. This main motif depicted on the stele is well known in the archaeological world and these steles are known as the tombstones with a “man and dog” theme. The stylistic features of the stele and its reliefs and the lettering of the inscription indicate that the work was made during the Classical Period. Although a number of tombstones produced in this style between the Late Archaic Period and the Early Classical Period have been found (see figure 38-40 here), to date no tombstones of this type have been found dating from the (High) Classical Period. From this point of view, this find is unique and the work is important in this respect. An embossed burial stele of this style from the Mysia region and of such an early date was not known. It may be wondered why an Athenian, who died in the city of Miletupolis, had a tombstone made with such a motif. First, the style of the stele and the reliefs on it is definitely in the Attic style. There must have been stonemasons who produced Attic style tombstones for the city of Miletupolis at that time. In fact, the “man and dog” motif was abandoned many years earlier in Greece and in surrounding areas and even in Asia Minor (Ionia). This reworking of an old depiction is surprising. Hypermenes, a citizen of Athens living in Miletupolis, obviously wanted to continue an old tradition of the country he lived in. The “man and dog” motif used on tombstones has been studied in many aspects in terms of archaeology. According to C. Schneider, who was the last to evaluate such steles, the theme of these steles depicts the public lifestyle of a grown respected aristocratic man, who is a part of the daily life of the society. According to him, these steles with dogs represent the happiness of the deceased enjoyed throughout his life. Some concepts such as being of good age or arete/virtue are also emphasized in the description. Such steles show the status, prestige, wealth and maturity of the deceased in society. With such a symbol on the tombstone the fact that a life was lived to the fullest is emphasized. For this reason, these steles, which were carefully prepared and placed in the most prestigious places, are understood as being the tomb monuments of wealthy families. It would be correct to understand the tomb owner Hypermenes in this context. As a result of the stylistic features of the work and comparison with similar works, it can be said that it belongs to the end of the 5th century B.C., that is to say, it can be dated to ca. 410/400.In addition to the archaeological features mentioned and importance of this tombstone, it has also a most considerable importance in terms of the history of the place where the stele was found. In this article, known documents and finds from this period, and both earlier and later evidence concerning Miletupolis are brought together. It is understood that the city of Miletupolis had a close relationship with Athens in that period. It is accepted by many scholars that the city was an Athenian colony. However, although there are many indications of the strong relations between the two cities, definitive evidence that the city was founded by the Athenians is still lacking. This tombstone provides new evidence of Miletopolis’ close relationship with Athens in the 5th and 4th century B.C.

Według Plutarcha Aleksander z Feraj został uhonorowany przez Ateńczyków posągiem z brązu. Przyznanie tak wysokiego wyróżnienia trudno jednak uzasadnić efemeryczną współpracą polityczną między Feraj a Atenami. Autor stara się wykazać, że ten honor mógł być rezultatem zaangażowania rodziny ferajskich tyranów w handel morski z tym miastem. By uwiarygodnić tę tezę, Autor zbiera argumenty wskazujące na istnienie powiązań handlowych między Pagasai a Pireusem oraz na zaangażowanie Ferajczyków w handel morski. According to Plutarch, the Athenians honoured Alexander of Pherae with a bronze statute. It is difficult to explain such a high award with the ephemeral political cooperation between Pherae and Athens. The author aims to show that the honour could have resulted from the involvement of the family of the Pheraean tyrants in maritime trade with Athens. To substantiate this thesis, the author collects arguments showing the existence of trade relations between Pagasae and Piraeus and the Pheraeans’ involvement in maritime trade.

The sources know two versions of the establishing of Panathenaia, the main public holiday of the Athenian polis. The earliest version of aition of Panathenaia is associated with the history of the Athenian indigenous king Erichthonius. The son of Gaia and Hephaestus, Erichthonius was raised by the goddess Athena on the Acropolis, and after becoming king of Athens, he dedicated the feast of Panathenaia to the goddess. In the source, he is the first founder of the holiday. However, two types of Panathenaia were known in Athens: the Lesser Panathenaia, which were held annually, and the Greater Panathenaia, which, like the Olympic Games, were held every four years. Gradually, there appear pieces of new information about the history of the establishing of the Panathenaia in the mythological tradition. Now the authors distinguish two stages in the history of the feast, wherein the earlier one was called Athenaia. Gradually Erichthonius was relegated to the background, as founder Athenaeus, whereas the holiday got a new name - Panathenaia. This process was often associated with the synoekismus of Theseus, when he had united all the Athenians into one urban community. The cult of Theseus became especially popular in Athens after the reforms of Cleisthenes. Theseus' exploits are becoming a popular theme in Attic vase painting, especially scenes depicting the struggle, which Theseus was believed to be the founder of in Athens. At the same time, the program of the Panathenaic Games was expanding, the Panathenaia gradually acquired a supra-regional character.

In addition to the rhetoricians and orators who at Athens supported or opposed Philip, a number of playwrights – such as Ephippus and Alexis – did not hesitate to express their opinions of the Macedonian king. Some fragments of their works, however, seem to show conflicting positions, for if Ephippus supported the anti-Macedonian party, Alexis, while including Philip in some comedies, did not blame the king by turning him into a comic mask, but praised his political decisions and his respect for religion and traditions.

In line with cognitive semiotics, this paper suggests a synthetic account of the important but controversial notion of narrative (in street art, and more generally): one that distinguishes between three levels: (a) narration, (b) underlying story, and (c) frame-setting. The narrative potential of street art has not yet been considerably studied in order to offer insights into how underlying stories may be reconstructed from the audience and how different semiotic systems contribute to this. The analysis is mainly based on three contemporary street artworks and two political cartoons from the 1940s, involving the same frame-setting, which may be labeled as “Greece vs. Powerful Enemy.” The study is built on fieldwork research that was carried out during several periods in central Athens since 2014. The qualitative analyses with the help of insights from phenomenology show that single static images do not narrate stories themselves (primary narrativity), but rather presuppose such stories, which they can prompt or trigger (secondary narrativity). Notably, the significance of sedimented socio-cultural experience, collective memory and contextual knowledge that the audience must recruit in order to reconstruct the narrative potential through the process of secondary narrativity is stressed. Author BiographyGeorgios Stampoulidis, Centre for Language and Literature, Division for Cognitive Semiotics, Lund University, Sweden Georgios Stampoulidis is a PhD candidate at the Division for Cognitive Semiotics at Lund University. His research interests are in the fields of polysemiotic communication and multimodality, narrative and metaphor, and urban creativity. His work focuses on street art as a cross-cultural medium of meaning-making, cultural production and political intervention in urban space, and thus, he has previously conducted fieldwork in Athens, Greece. His most recent publications are “A Cognitive Semiotic Exploration of Metaphors in Greek Street Art” (Cognitive Semiotics, 2019) and “Urban Creativity in Abandoned Places. Xenia Hotels Project, Greece” (Nuart Journal, 2019). Currently, he is research fellow at Urban Creativity Lund and Scandinavian Metaphor networks.

Starting in the mid-fifth century BCE, the Achaemenid Persian empire entered into a series of treaties with various Greek city-states. While treaties had often been used across the Ancient Near East prior to the Persian conquests, they did not play a role in the Achaemenids' imperial strategy; indeed, the Achaemenids did not sign any treaties with any non-Greek state. By examining Greco-Persian treaties, that is, by investigating what the Persians of old might have hoped to gain from treaties with Athens, Sparta, or any other Greek state, the present dissertation seeks to gain unique insight into the Achaemenid imperial strategy.I demonstrate that the Achaemenid conception of imperial rule may have been partially inherited from their Elamite and Neo-Assyrian forebears. I establish the continuities between Achaemenid rule and that of their Near Eastern predecessors, as well as what constitutes uniquely Achaemenid innovations. I give special attention to the Achaemenid endeavor to exert control over various subjects in their empire by dialoguing with, and even reproducing, indigenous manifestations of law and governance. However, scholarly models describing the use of local practices by the Achaemenids have been hitherto restricted to regions under direct Achaemenid rule. I argue, however, that the Greco-Persian treaties were most likely resulting from the Achaemenid desire to extend a proven strategy of governance, which aimed at engaging local traditions and practices, beyond their imperial borders. The exploitation of traditional Greek treaty customs allowed the Achaemenids to achieve the stability necessary for the achievement of imperial goals in the region, and befitted their overall political strategy.

Long after tyrants no longer presented a real and present danger for Athens, tyranny and tyrannicide continued to occupy the imagination and public discourse of the Athenian democracy. The Athenians’ response (real or fabricated) to tyranny gave them a powerful (if imaginary) model to identify and manage the elites and leaders whose ambitions worried them. This conceptual flexibility was clearly an asset of the Athenian democracy. But just as importantly, tyrannicide occupied a place in the Athenians’ understanding of democratic citizenship. Tyrannicide framed the potential of every citizen to protect the democracy when threatened, a potential that underlay his civic responsibilities and powers. In addition, this paper argues, the memory and celebration of the tyrannicides, Harmodius and Aristogiton, their achievement and, most of all, their relationship, gave the Athenians a public narrative that illustrated the concepts of friendship and equality framing their everyday political lives., Longtemps après que les tyrans avaient cessé de présenter pour Athènes un danger réel et actuel, la tyrannie et le tyrannicide continuaient d’occuper l’imagination et le discours public de la démocratie athénienne. La réaction (réelle ou revue et corrigée) des Athéniens à la tyrannie leur offrait un modèle puissant (bien qu’imaginaire) leur permettant d’identifier et de contrôler les élites et dirigeants aux ambitions inquiétantes. Cette souplesse conceptuelle était évidemment un avantage de la démocratie athénienne. Mais, de façon tout aussi importante, le tyrannicide jouait un rôle dans la manière dont les Athéniens comprenaient la citoyenneté démocratique. Le tyrannicide marquait le potentiel de tout citoyen amené à protéger la démocratie en cas de menace, potentiel qui sous-tendait ses responsabilités et pouvoirs civiques. En outre, comme le soutient la présente communication, le souvenir et la célébration des tyrannicides Harmodius et Aristogiton, de leur accomplissement et, surtout, de leur relation offraient aux Athéniens un récit public illustrant les concepts d’ amitié et d’égalité qui donnaient un cadre à leur vie politique de tous les jours., Mcglew James F. The Tyrannicide Citizen in Fifth-Century BCE Athens. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne. Supplément n°21, 2021. Tyranny: new context. pp. 37-56.

In this article, I present an interpretation in religious terms of what Athenians were doing when they went to Delphi as representatives of their city. I begin by briefly outlining the key moments of Athenian involvement with Delphi in the classical period, which is roughly from 479 to 338 BCE, and the general relationship between city and sanctuary. I then look at the activities of the Athenian delegates to the Delphic Amphiktyony, whose responsibilities included representing the city of Athens at the festival of the Pylaia at Anthela and offering sacrifice at Delphi. I then turn to sacred ambassadors coming to consult the oracle, and show that occasions of consultation were festival occasions and that the experience of the theōroi was profoundly religious. I demonstrate that more than any immediate political concerns, maintaining a good relationship with Apollo was central to these activities. Evidence will be drawn largely from inscriptions from Delphi and literary sources from Athens, dating to the period under investigation.

This article examines the role played by the sea in the policy of the tyrants of Pherae. Although it has often been emphasised that control over the port in Pagasae and the profits from the maritime trade were closely linked to the city’s increasing importance in the late 5th and first half of the 4th century, these issues are yet to be the subject of a more detailed analysis. This article is the first part of a comprehensive study on the maritime activity of the Pheraean tyrants in the period from Jason’s first documented political move to the end of the reigns of Lycophron and Peitholaus. It focuses on political moves, and especially on relations with Athens, as the largest maritime power of the period. One of the most important instruments of maritime policy was maintaining a fleet. The article considers the circumstances of its building, its size and its use.

The present work analyzes the meaning of the discursive context of Plato’s Republic and puts it in relation to the philosopher’s political thought. Two coordinates are studied : the place that frames the conversation, Piraeus, and its date, the festival of Bendideia. This examination will allow to identify both elements as a mirror of the heterogeneity of democratic Athens that fought against the oligarchy precisely in Piraeus and very close to the temple of Bendis. Thus, we will see the Republic’s scenario as the portrait of the same democracy that Plato intends to transcend in the work., La présente étude analyse la signification du contexte discursif dans la République de Platon et la met en relation avec la pensée politique du philosophe. Deux paramètres sont étudiés : le lieu qui encadre la conversation, le Pirée, et le moment, la fête de la Bendideia. Cet examen nous permettra d’identifier les deux éléments comme un miroir de l’hétérogénéité de l’Athènes démocratique qui a lutté contre l’oligarchie précisément au Pirée et tout près du temple de Bendis. Ainsi, nous verrons la cadre de la République comme le portrait de la même démocratie que Platon entend transcender dans cette œuvre., El presente trabajo analiza el significado del contexto discursivo de la República de Platón y lo pone en relación con el pensamiento político del filósofo. Se estudian dos coordenadas : el lugar que enmarca la conversación, el Pireo, y el tiempo, el festival de las Bendideia. Este examen permitirá identificar ambos elementos como un espejo de la heterogeneidad de la Atenas democrática que luchó contra la oligarquía precisamente en el Pireo y muy cerca del templo de Bendis. Así, veremos el escenario de la República como el retrato de la misma democracia que Platón pretende trascender en la obra., Terceiro Sanmartín Nerea. Contexto discursivo y filosofía política en la República de Platón. In: Dialogues d'histoire ancienne, vol. 48, n°1, 2022. pp. 217-247.

Nel santuario di via della Foce a Ostia sono state scoperte tre basi iscritte relative a statue di scultori greci. Molto probabilmente facevano parte del bottino di un generale romano. La statua di Platone, autore della «Commedia Antica», opera di Lysikles e quella del filosofo Antistenes, opera di Phyromachos, provengono probabilmente da Atene, mentre quella della Pizia Charite, opera di Phradmon di Argo, proviene da Delfi. Date le provenienze e la datazione delle basi (i primi decenni del I secolo a.C.), non c’è dubbio che le statue siano state dedicate da Silla, unico possibile autore del saccheggio sia di Atene che di Delfi. Altri due oggetti provenienti dal santuario di Ostia portano alla stessa conclusione. In primo luogo, una lastra, parte di un grande basamento che potrebbe aver sostenuto la statua del dittatore, dove sono rappresentate in rilievo le figure di Teseo e Demetra, anch’esse allusive ad Atene. In secondo luogo, il rilievo dell’aruspice C. Fuluius Saluis, che raffigura la consultazione delle sortes nel santuario di Ercole a Ostia prima di partire per la guerra, forse le guerre di Silla in Oriente. In questo caso Silla sarebbe stato rappresentato nella parte sinistra del rilievo, ora mancante, al momento del sacrificio di ringraziamento al dio. In the sanctuary of Via della Foce at Ostia three inscribed bases were discovered relating to statues by Greek sculptors, very probably part of the booty of a Roman general. The statue of Platon, author of the «Ancient Comedy», by Lysikles and that of the philosopher Antistenes, by Phyromachos probably come from Athens, while that of the pythia Charite, the work of Phradmon of Argos comes from Delphi. Given the provenances and the date of the bases (the first decades of the first century BC), there is little doubt that the statues were dedicated by Sulla, the sole possible author of the sacking of both Athens and Delphi. Two other objects from the sanctuary at Ostia lead to the same conclusion. Firstly, a slab, part of a great base which may have supported the statue of the dictator, where the figures of Theseus and Demeter, also alluding to Athens, are represented in relief. Second, the relief of the haruspex C. Fuluius Saluis, which depicts the consultation of the sortes in the sanctuary of Hercules at Ostia before leaving for war, perhaps Sulla’s wars in the East. In this case Sulla would have been represented in the left part of the relief, now missing, at the moment of the thanksgiving sacrifice to the god.

The least significant of all ancient settlements called Athenai was located east of Trapezous on the Pontic coast. It maintained its name well into the 20th century, when its successor was renamed Pazar. That Arrian provides us with the first (surviving) description of this chorion is due to a storm that compelled him to anchor parts of the Roman fleet in its little harbour (AD 132). In the 6th century, Prokopios mentions the village only to refute the local tradition that it had been founded by its more famous namesake. Scholars have shared this skepticism and thus largely relegated Pontic Athens to footnotes or condemned it to complete oblivion. But nothing is more plausible than regarding it as a result of Perikles’ expedition to the Euxine (ca. 437/35 BC). Athenai may have a pre-history as a Milesian apoikia called Limne. Less certain is the role it played after the breakdown of Athenian thalassocracy (405 BC). It probably stood under Sinopean hegemony, before being absorbed into the Pontic kingdom in the early-2nd century BC. By then, however, Pontic Athens had shared the economic downturn of the area between Trapezous and Phasis. It lived on as a village regardless, and thus demonstrates that a polichnion could escape the historical record for centuries without ceasing to exist.

The fortifications of Athens have been a recurrent theme of archaeological investigation. In the past two centuries, parts of the walls have been located during rescue interventions at numerous sites in the urban fabric. At present, the visibility of the entire monument remains rather low as the traces of the walls are hidden beneath the modern city, marginalized within larger archaeological sites or preserved entirely by record. Despite the high level of scholarly work devoted to synthesize the available material, the volume of information accumulated over the years requires a novel approach that would systematize different types of evidence using digital media. In this respect, we attempt to revisit the city walls of Athens through the use of geospatial technologies. We target the informed development of an efficient GIS platform to record, store, integrate, explore and eventually disseminate resources on the Athenian fortifications. Our research employs published and archival sources (e.g. excavation drawings) in combination with historical maps (e.g. early cadastral maps, first maps of modern Athens) and complementary historical evidence (e.g. writings, illustrations, photography) to locate, document and integrate in space and time available data on lost and surviving fortification remains.

Portraits of a group of thirty kosmētai, public philosophy teachers in Athens, were found among the fill in the Valerian Wall by the Roman Agora in Athens in 1861. From the Hellenistic period onwards, the kosmētai had taught the philosophy or Aristotle, though, with time, the teaching became more varied. In the first century AD, the number of students had a peak of three hundred a year. In the third century, when the portraits were buried in the Valerian Wall, the number of students had decreased, much as it had in other pedagogic institutions. The activity of the kosmētai ended about AD 280 when the Valerian Wall was built. The dating of the Valerian Wall is based on coins with the portrait of emperor Probus (AD 276-282), which have been found among the building debris. What we know about the kosmētai from the written sources leads to several questions, such as why the kosmētai portraits were used as building material at a time when the identity of the sitters could sill be remembered. Why were some of the portraits recut into those of other individuals shortly before they were put into the wall? Some of the kosmētai portraits were produced recut and discarded during the span of a few decades. This paper discusses the portraits of the kosmētai and their significance in Roman Athens and explores questions related to the disposal of them, as well as to context, style, workshop, and patronage.

This article surveys epigraphic evidence for Damaris, Damares and Damari(o)n to show that these are distinctively Spartan or Laconian names. It rejects the hypothesis that Damaris is a Lukan construction from Homeric δάµαρ (wife) or a typical name for a courtesan. Positively, it suggests that the woman named Damaris in Acts 17:34 could be imagined as a member of the Voluseni family, a prominent Spartan family connected with the Athenian elite. Finally, it examines the rhetorical force that a recognizably Spartan name could have in the narrative of Acts.

A close look at the urban surfaces of Athens during the years of the economic crisis reveals the extensive phenomenon of the people’s interaction with the surface of the cityscape, the skin of Athens. A derma of crises that reflects Greece’s socio-political conditions over this period, and the austerity measures enforced by the official state. This rapidly transformed and ever-changing surface imagery can be recorded and used for reading and further understanding of how the public sphere responds to this period of decline, and reacts to the recession’s strategies of sovereignty. The urgency to document, give prominence to this urban field and examine it as a whole is of pivotal importance, considering the fact that the official authorities (such as the mayor of Athens) have recently taken action to eliminate the urban traces. However, these inscriptions bear witness to the continuous crisis mirrored on the Athenian walls and architectural volumes. Over the last years, there have been numerous scholars and researchers that have engaged with the study of the Athenian cityscape. Nonetheless, they particularly focus on graffiti, street art and slogans, and this engagement sometimes facilitates the emerging artistry or the discussion of socio-political connotations. In contrast to this, this article moves towards the identification of the phenomenon as a dynamic potential of a derma–city skin and does not specifically focus on them as mere details (often intentionally made, e.g. a graffiti). It examines the wholeness, the anonymity, the unintentional activity; how they contribute to the formulation of an urban collage, an assemblage of visual elements that co-exist making Athens a unique case of an over-marked city. The study of various dimensions of this skin and of the virtual preservation means aims to add a further layer of understanding to the urban space as a main field of socio-political connotations during the crisis.