Christy Constantakopoulou
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199215959
- eISBN:
- 9780191706868
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215959.003.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
This chapter provides the methodological context for the research of this book. Using the discipline of geography, it examines insularity within the context of the Aegean Sea. Although islands can be ...
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This chapter provides the methodological context for the research of this book. Using the discipline of geography, it examines insularity within the context of the Aegean Sea. Although islands can be seen as moving between integration and isolation, isolation was a relatively unknown phenomenon for the lives of the insular Greeks. It then proceeds to show that the definition of an ‘island’ in ancient Greek thought was not a straightforward process: islands were not simply ‘pieces of land surrounded by water’ but an ideological construction, which put emphasis on their small size (therefore Sphacteria is an island but Sicily is not). It then investigates the importance of connectivity in the history of the Aegean islands, achieved because of the patterns of navigation, the winds and currents of the Aegean. Island interaction is beautifully illustrated in Callimachus' image of the islands dancing around Delos.Less
This chapter provides the methodological context for the research of this book. Using the discipline of geography, it examines insularity within the context of the Aegean Sea. Although islands can be seen as moving between integration and isolation, isolation was a relatively unknown phenomenon for the lives of the insular Greeks. It then proceeds to show that the definition of an ‘island’ in ancient Greek thought was not a straightforward process: islands were not simply ‘pieces of land surrounded by water’ but an ideological construction, which put emphasis on their small size (therefore Sphacteria is an island but Sicily is not). It then investigates the importance of connectivity in the history of the Aegean islands, achieved because of the patterns of navigation, the winds and currents of the Aegean. Island interaction is beautifully illustrated in Callimachus' image of the islands dancing around Delos.
Christy Constantakopoulou
- Published in print:
- 2007
- Published Online:
- January 2010
- ISBN:
- 9780199215959
- eISBN:
- 9780191706868
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/acprof:oso/9780199215959.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, World History: BCE to 500CE
This book examines the history of the Aegean islands and the changing concepts of insularity in the late archaic and classical period, with particular emphasis on the 5th century and the period of ...
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This book examines the history of the Aegean islands and the changing concepts of insularity in the late archaic and classical period, with particular emphasis on the 5th century and the period of Athenian imperial control over the Aegean world. The predominant presence of islands in the Aegean geographic landscape inevitably created a variety of different and sometimes even conflicting perceptions of insularity. Using the theoretical concept of network, the book examines the religious networks of the insular world of the Aegean (Calauria and Delos) and their later transformation into networks of imperial control for 5th-century Athens. Athenian control over the islands transformed the concept of insularity in Greek thought and even provided powerful imagery for Athenian self-representation, exemplified in the metaphor of the ‘island of Athens’. Imperial Athens may have strengthened some aspects of the concept of insularity, such as ‘weak island’ or ‘safe island’, but beyond imperial politics, there also lay a world of frequent interaction outside the sphere of mainstream political narrative. The book examines the cases of island-networking on a micro-political and economic level, as well the interaction between islands and their mainland dependencies, the peraiai.Less
This book examines the history of the Aegean islands and the changing concepts of insularity in the late archaic and classical period, with particular emphasis on the 5th century and the period of Athenian imperial control over the Aegean world. The predominant presence of islands in the Aegean geographic landscape inevitably created a variety of different and sometimes even conflicting perceptions of insularity. Using the theoretical concept of network, the book examines the religious networks of the insular world of the Aegean (Calauria and Delos) and their later transformation into networks of imperial control for 5th-century Athens. Athenian control over the islands transformed the concept of insularity in Greek thought and even provided powerful imagery for Athenian self-representation, exemplified in the metaphor of the ‘island of Athens’. Imperial Athens may have strengthened some aspects of the concept of insularity, such as ‘weak island’ or ‘safe island’, but beyond imperial politics, there also lay a world of frequent interaction outside the sphere of mainstream political narrative. The book examines the cases of island-networking on a micro-political and economic level, as well the interaction between islands and their mainland dependencies, the peraiai.
Christy Constantakopoulou
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- July 2017
- ISBN:
- 9780198787273
- eISBN:
- 9780191829345
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780198787273.001.0001
- Subject:
- Classical Studies, European History: BCE to 500CE, Archaeology: Classical
This book addresses the history of interaction in the Aegean world during the third century BC. The main focus is the island of Delos and its important regional sanctuary. Through a thorough ...
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This book addresses the history of interaction in the Aegean world during the third century BC. The main focus is the island of Delos and its important regional sanctuary. Through a thorough investigation of the Delian epigraphic and material evidence, it explores how and to which degree the islands of the southern Aegean formed active networks of political, religious, and cultural interaction. The book aims to show that this kind of regional interaction in the southern Aegean resulted in the creation of a regional identity, which was expressed, among other things, in the existence of a federal union of the islands, the so-called Islanders’ League. It is structured along the lines of four case studies which explore different types of networks around Delos: the federal organization of islands (Islanders’ League), the participation of Delian and other agents in the processes of monumentalization of the Delian landscape, the network of honours, and the social dynamics of dedication through the record of dedicants in the Delian inventories.Less
This book addresses the history of interaction in the Aegean world during the third century BC. The main focus is the island of Delos and its important regional sanctuary. Through a thorough investigation of the Delian epigraphic and material evidence, it explores how and to which degree the islands of the southern Aegean formed active networks of political, religious, and cultural interaction. The book aims to show that this kind of regional interaction in the southern Aegean resulted in the creation of a regional identity, which was expressed, among other things, in the existence of a federal union of the islands, the so-called Islanders’ League. It is structured along the lines of four case studies which explore different types of networks around Delos: the federal organization of islands (Islanders’ League), the participation of Delian and other agents in the processes of monumentalization of the Delian landscape, the network of honours, and the social dynamics of dedication through the record of dedicants in the Delian inventories.
T. Douglas Price
- Published in print:
- 2013
- Published Online:
- November 2020
- ISBN:
- 9780199914708
- eISBN:
- 9780197563267
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Oxford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.1093/oso/9780199914708.003.0004
- Subject:
- Archaeology, European Archaeology
This book is about the prehistoric archaeology of Europe—the lives and deaths of peoples and cultures—about how we became human; the rise of hunters; the birth and growth of society; the emergence ...
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This book is about the prehistoric archaeology of Europe—the lives and deaths of peoples and cultures—about how we became human; the rise of hunters; the birth and growth of society; the emergence of art; the beginnings of agriculture, villages, towns and cities, wars and conquest, peace and trade—the plans and ideas, achievements and failures, of our ancestors across hundreds of thousands of years. It is a story of humanity on planet Earth. It’s also about the study of the past—how archaeologists have dug into the ground, uncovered the remaining traces of these ancient peoples, and begun to make sense of that past through painstaking detective work. This book is about prehistoric societies from the Stone Age into the Iron Age. The story of European prehistory is one of spectacular growth and change. It begins more than a million years ago with the first inhabitants. The endpoint of this journey through the continent’s past is marked by the emergence of the literate societies of classical Greece and Rome. Because of a long history of archaeological research and the richness of the prehistoric remains, we know more about the past of Europe than almost anywhere else. The prehistory of Europe is, in fact, one model of the evolution of society, from small groups of early human ancestors to bands of huntergatherers, through the arrival of the first farmers to the emergence of hierarchical societies and powerful states in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The chapters of our story are the major ages of prehistoric time (Stone, Bronze, and Iron). The content involves the places, events, and changes of those ages from ancient to more recent times. The focus of the chapters is on exceptional archaeological sites that provide the background for much of this story. Before we can begin, however, it is essential to review the larger context in which these developments took place. This chapter is concerned with the time and space setting of the archaeology of Europe.
Less
This book is about the prehistoric archaeology of Europe—the lives and deaths of peoples and cultures—about how we became human; the rise of hunters; the birth and growth of society; the emergence of art; the beginnings of agriculture, villages, towns and cities, wars and conquest, peace and trade—the plans and ideas, achievements and failures, of our ancestors across hundreds of thousands of years. It is a story of humanity on planet Earth. It’s also about the study of the past—how archaeologists have dug into the ground, uncovered the remaining traces of these ancient peoples, and begun to make sense of that past through painstaking detective work. This book is about prehistoric societies from the Stone Age into the Iron Age. The story of European prehistory is one of spectacular growth and change. It begins more than a million years ago with the first inhabitants. The endpoint of this journey through the continent’s past is marked by the emergence of the literate societies of classical Greece and Rome. Because of a long history of archaeological research and the richness of the prehistoric remains, we know more about the past of Europe than almost anywhere else. The prehistory of Europe is, in fact, one model of the evolution of society, from small groups of early human ancestors to bands of huntergatherers, through the arrival of the first farmers to the emergence of hierarchical societies and powerful states in the Bronze and Iron Ages. The chapters of our story are the major ages of prehistoric time (Stone, Bronze, and Iron). The content involves the places, events, and changes of those ages from ancient to more recent times. The focus of the chapters is on exceptional archaeological sites that provide the background for much of this story. Before we can begin, however, it is essential to review the larger context in which these developments took place. This chapter is concerned with the time and space setting of the archaeology of Europe.
