In the third and second centuries BC, the city-states of Karia began to assert their independence in a rather noticeable way: they merged into larger polities. In order to explain why they did so, Polis Expansion and Elite Power in Hellenistic Karia rewrites the history of the region, which has traditionally been seen as dominated by empires and home to communities whose claims of freedom and democracy were a sham. With a detailed study of epigraphical, literary, and archaeological evidence, this study reveals a high level of local agency, as communities sought to shape their own destiny at moments of imperial weakness or withdrawal. Not everyone in these communities benefited equally from these mergers. Elites in particular reaped unique gains that provided them with access to well-connected cities or to regionally important sanctuaries, both of which represented important avenues for self-advertisement and status acquisition. Although these benefits suggest the ability of the wealthy to influence decisions that impacted entire communities, such influence did not spell the decline and fall of democracy for these city-states. Rather, they illustrated the complex power relationships that defined the practice of democracy as it continued to evolve alongside the momentous rise and fall of Hellenistic empires, until the ascendancy of Rome curtailed popular government in the region permanently. This study furthers our understanding of the political landscape of Karia, the balance of power within the Hellenistic polis, the impact of interstate relations on local politics, and political and social identity within ancient democratic states.

The papers in Karia and the Dodekanese, Vol. I, focus on regional developments and interregional relations in western Asia Minor and the Dodekanese during the Late Classical and Early Hellenistic period. Throughout antiquity, this region was a dynamic meeting place for eastern and western civilizations. Cultural achievements of exceptional and everlasting importance, including significant creations of ancient Greek literature, philosophy, art and architecture, originated in the coastal cities of western Anatolia and the adjoining Aegean islands. In the fourth century BC, the eastern cities experienced a new economic boom, and a revival of Archaic culture, sometimes termed ‘The Ionian Renaissance’, began. The cultural revival furthered rebuilding of old major works such as the Artemision at Ephesos, the embellishment of sanctuaries and a new royal architecture, such as the Maussolleion at Halikarnassos. The rich cultural revival was initially promoted by the satrapal family of the Hekatomnids in Karia and in particular by its most famous member, Maussollos, whose influence was not confined to Asia Minor, but included the Dodekanese islands Kos and Rhodos. Partly under the influence of the Karian satrapy, a number of cities were founded on a new common urban model in Rhodos, Halikarnassos, Priene, Knidos and Kos. When Alexander the Great conquered the satrapies in western Asia Minor in 334 BC, the culture initially promoted at the satrapal courts was carried on by gifted thinkers, poets and architects, preparing the way for Hellenistic cultural centres such as Alexandria.

Karia and the Dodekanese, Vol. II, presents new research that highlights cultural interrelations and connectivity in the Southeast Aegean and western Asia Minor over a period of more than 700 years. Throughout antiquity, this region was a dynamic meeting place for eastern and western civilizations. Modern geographical limitations have been influential on both archaeological investigations and how we approach cultural relations in the region. Comprehensive and valuable research has been carried out on many individual sites in Karia and the Dodekanese, but the results have rarely been brought together in an attempt to paint a larger picture of the culture of this region. In antiquity, the sea did not constitute an obstacle to interaction between societies and cultures, but was an effective means of communication for the exchange of goods, sculptural styles, architectural form and embellishment, education, and ideas. It is clear that close relations existed between the Dodekanese and western Asia Minor during the Classical period (Vol. I), but these relations were evidently further strengthened under the shifting political influences of the Hellenistic kings, the Roman Empire, and the cosmopolitan late antique period. The contributions in this volume comprise investigations on urbanism, architectural form and embellishment, sculpture, pottery, and epigraphy.

The ancient state of Rhodes was famous for many things in the Hellenistic period; it emerged as an economic powerhouse thanks to its strategic position on maritime trade routes, its status further bolstered by its proud independence in an era of great kings, and its cultural successes and heritage celebrated by contemporaries as well as later writers. But what did this state look like on the inside, and what social and religious forces contributed to its success? This book explores the origins of the Rhodian state in the late fifth century BC, a union born out of three separate city-states, Lindos, Cameiros, and Ialysos. By digging deep into the abundant epigraphic culture that survives, narratives emerge that tell the stories of these Rhodians and their communities. Despite the political unification and the foundation of a famed and successful capital city, Rhodes-town, the three old centres continued to exhibit distinctive and seemingly lively local religious cultures. What these looked like, and the question of whether they indicate cultic vitality rather than ossification, is considered in detail by examining the local pantheons and the religious dynamics and interactions that characterised and shaped them. Pulling together the diverse threads and local customs, a diachronic religious history of Rhodes is sketched. The role religion played in the social landscape of Hellenistic Rhodes is addressed through a thorough examination of priesthoods. Finally, providing a counterbalance to the institutional side of religion, the lived experience of Rhodian religious associations is depicted. The resulting picture offers a nuanced insight into the religious life and history of a Hellenistic city-state.

In Urban Rituals in Sacred Landscapes in Hellenistic Asia Minor, Christina G. Williamson examines the phenomenon of monumental sanctuaries in the countryside of Asia Minor that accompanied the second rise of the Greek city-state in the Hellenistic period. Moving beyond monolithic categories, Williamson provides a transdisciplinary frame of analysis that takes into account the complex local histories, landscapes, material culture, and social and political dynamics of such shrines in their transition towards becoming prestigious civic sanctuaries. This frame of analysis is applied to four case studies: the sanctuaries of Zeus Labraundos, Sinuri, Hekate at Lagina, and Zeus Panamaros. All in Karia, these well-documented shrines offer valuable insights for understanding religious strategies adopted by emerging cities as they sought to establish their position in the expanding world.

Why did Egyptian cults, especially those dedicated to the goddess Isis and god Sarapis, spread so successfully across the ancient Mediterranean after the death of Alexander the Great? How are we limited by the established methodological apparatus of historiography and which innovative methods from other disciplines can overcome these limits? In this book, Tomáš Glomb shows that while the interplay of different factors such as the economy, climate, and politics created favorable conditions for the early spread of the Isiac cults, the use of innovative quantitative methods can shed new light and help disentangle the complex interplay of individual factors. Using a combination of geospatial modeling, mathematical modeling, and network analysis, Glomb determines that, at least in the regions of the Hellenistic Aegean and western Asia Minor, the political channels created by the Ptolemaic dynasty were a dominant force in the local spread of the Isiac cults. An important contribution to the historiography of the ancient Mediterranean, this book answers the specific question of “how it happened” as well as, “how can we answer it beyond the limits of the established methodological apparatus in historiography.”

Citizenship in Antiquity brings together scholars working on the multifaceted and changing dimensions of citizenship in the ancient Mediterranean, from the second millennium BCE to the first millennium CE, adopting a multidisciplinary and comparative perspective. The chapters in this volume cover numerous periods and regions – from the Ancient Near East, through the Greek and Hellenistic worlds and pre-Roman North Africa, to the Roman Empire and its continuations, and with excursuses to modernity. The contributors to this book adopt various contemporary theories, demonstrating the manifold meanings and ways of defining the concept and practices of citizenship and belonging in ancient societies and, in turn, of non-citizenship and non-belonging. Whether citizenship was defined by territorial belonging or blood descent, by privileged or exclusive access to resources or participation in communal decision-making, or by a sense of group belonging, such identifications were also open to discursive redefinitions and manipulation. Citizenship and belonging, as well as non-citizenship and non-belonging, had many shades and degrees; citizenship could be bought or faked, or even removed. By casting light on different areas of the Mediterranean over the course of antiquity, the volume seeks to explore this multi-layered notion of citizenship and contribute to an ongoing and relevant discourse. Citizenship in Antiquity offers a wide-ranging, comprehensive collection suitable for students and scholars of citizenship, politics, and society in the ancient Mediterranean world, as well as those working on citizenship throughout history interested in taking a comparative approach.