Greeks & Barbarians: The Genesis of Hellenic International Thought (original) (raw)

Greeks and Barbarians: The Genesis of Hellenic International Thought

Études helléniques / Hellenic Studies, 1999

L'univers hellénique antique constituait un microcosme du système socioculturel au sein de l'environnement géopolitique de la Mediterranée. On pourrait dire la même chose de la société européenne dans son contexte mondial actuel. Il est utile alors de savoir comment les Grecs se percevaient face à d'autres nations. Une telle perception révèle les origines de la pensée interna tionale classique. L'hypothèse qui suivra se base sur la dichotomie primordiale entre les Grecs et les barbares. Cette dichotomie aurait fourni la base même de l'idéologie internationale hellène. De plus, nous croyons que de telles distinctions affectent le raisonnement de l'homme depuis toujours, et par conséquent, encore aujourd 'hui. Même s'il ne faut pas aller trop loin dans l'analogie, il existe pour tant des parallèles bien définis entre le monde classique et le monde contemporain que le lecteur saura reconnaître et apprécier. Afin de vous mettre au parfum de l'époque, cet article puise dans les évènements critiques jusq'au Ve siècle avant Jésus-Christ ainsi que dans leur impact sur les philosophes qui suivront. Ainsi, les idéaux humanistes et cosmopolites de ces mêmes philosophes ont influencé la pensée internationale à travers les siècles.

Ioannis E Kotoulas History of Greek Geopolitics [930p., English summary]

History of Greek Geopolitics, 2021

History of Greek Geopolitics by the historian Ioannis E. Kotoulas (Ph.D. in Geopolitics, University of Athens, Faculty of Turkish and Modern Asian Studies, Ph.D. in History, University of Athens, Faculty of History and Archaeology) is based on the second doctoral dissertation of the author. This is a thorough and highly detailed study of the history of Greek geopolitical thought with appropriately rich documentation for the first time in Greek bibliography. The total length of the study exceeds 400,000 words and 930 pages with 2,900 footnotes and over 100 pages of Bibliography. This is an analytical in-depth examination of the historical development of Greek geopolitical thought of the 19th, 20th and the early 21st centuries. The author uses extensively primary and secondary bibliographical literature in his approach and considers not only the thematic field of Geopolitics, but also related fields, such as Anthropogeography, Economic Geography, Military Geography. The author examines such issues, as the transfer of fundamental loci of Classical Geopolitics (i.e., notions as Rimland, Heartland or ideas, such as demographic pressure) in Greek bibliography, the intertextual influence exerted on Greek authors by various external sources, as well as the historical development and the geopolitical background of the views of the Greek authors in every historical period.

ΟΙΚΟΥΜΕΝH - longue durée perspectives on ancient Mediterranean ‘globality’ (800 BC-AD 200)

In the 2nd century AD, the Greek orator Ailios Aristeides, one of the intellectual stars of his time, gave, in Rome, in speech On Rome (eis Rhomen), in which he praised the city on the Tiber for having united and unified the ancient Mediterranean world: “Now it is possible for both Greek and barbarian, with his possessions or without them, to travel easily wherever he wishes, quite as if he were going from one country of his to another.” Through the Romans, the old Homeric saying had finally come true that “the earth was common to all”. By creating an infrastructure facilitating safe mobility and, at the same time, a uniform legal framework for all human beings populating the Empire, the Romans had, according to Aristeides, organised ‘the whole inhabited world like a single household.’ Aristeides’ speech is a remarkable statement of ‘globality’ from the heyday of Roman civilization. It reflects a widespread feeling, at least among the elites, that the civilized oikoumene and the Roman Empire were essentially congruent: that the Empire was, politically, socially, economically and culturally, an integrated, unified body. A pivotal precondition for globality and integration is connectivity: Aristeides’ ‘household’ vitally depended on conditions, where people, goods and ideas could, theoretically at least, freely shift through space. Such conditions did, of course, not exist a priori: they were created by means of exploration, trade, imperial conquest, colonisation and (cultural, economic, social, political, legal) penetration. When the Homeric Odysseus had wandered the Mediterranean, travelling was a pioneering, dangerous and potentially life-threatening adventure. From an archaic Greek perspective, the Mediterranean’s distant coasts and islands were an exotic, often eerie country, hostile and strange. The Roman world is rather different: people travel as pilgrims, soldiers, officials, traders and tourists. Roman literature gives abundant proof that moving has become a day-to-day activity, despite the occasional perils of sea passages. The purpose of this paper will be twofold: firstly, it will, from a longue-durée perspective, trace the gradual increase in connectivity in the Mediterranean basin from the archaic to the Roman period: how did long distance trade, colonisation and imperial expansion shape trans-Mediterranean networks? And what repercussions did such developments have on the cultural development of Mediterranean peripheries? Secondly, the paper will attempt at modelling the impact Rome had on this process: how realistic was Aristeides’ vision of a ‘global’, integrated cultural koine sustained by the Roman Empire? Selected bibliography Sommer, Michael, 2007, 'Networks of commerce and knowledge in the Iron Age. The case of the Phoenicians', Mediterranean Historical Review 22, 97-112. Sommer, Michael, 2009, 'Imperiale Macht und lokale Identität. Universalhistorische Variationen zu einem regionalhistorischen Thema', in: Michael Blömer et al. (Hg.), Lokale Identität im Römischen Nahen Osten, Oriens et Occidens, Stuttgart, 235-248. Sommer, Michael, 2010, 'Homo Mercator. Handelsvölker und interkulturelle Netzwerke zwischen Orient und Okzident', in: Robert Rollinger et al. (Hg.), Interkulturalität in der Alten Welt. Vorderasien, Hellas, Ägypten und die vielfältigen Ebenen des Kontakts, Wiesbaden, 1-12. Sommer, Michael, 2010, ''Kontaktzone' und 'Rezeptivität' unter imperialem Vorzeichen - das Beispiel Rom. Eine Fußnote zur 'komplexen Welt der Kulturkontakte'', in: Robert Rollinger/Kordula Schnegg (Hg.), Die komplexe Welt der Kulturkontakte. Kontaktzone und Rezeptivität im Altertum, Stuttgart Ulf, Christoph, 2009, 'Rethinking cultural contacts', Ancient West & East 8, 81-132.