Beyond the Polis

Bibliographic Data

ID23403221
AuthorsChristy Constantakopoulou (corresponding author)
Year2015
Pages213-236
Publication date2015-04-01
Open AccessNo
TypeCHAPTER
VenueCommunities and Networks in the Ancient Greek World (SOURCE_BOOK)
PublisherOxford University Press (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1093/acprof:oso/9780198726494.003.0009
OpenAlexW2486481548
ISBN9780198726494
LanguageEN
Citations received11

The classical Greek world is predominantly viewed as a world of the polis. But beyond the community of citizens of a Greek polis, there existed a plethora of alternative formations, some of which were actively involved in the taking of ‘political’ decisions. This chapter therefore examines some attestations of koina in the Aegean in the classical and early Hellenistic periods in order to argue that the existence and functioning of such groups implied an active community of citizens and non-citizens being engaged in political decisions, which in turn signified a certain degree of access to political participation and therefore power for non-citizens. By looking at the koina of three Aegean islands, Herakleia, Syme, and Karpathos, this chapter reveals an alternative to polis communities in which citizens and non-citizens are schematically separated, which are mostly invisible in our sources.

Geography · Ancient Mediterranean Archaeology and History · Byzantine Studies and History · Classical Antiquity Studies

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