Ethnic Constructs from Inside and Out: External Policy and the Ethnos of Achaia Phthiotis (original) (raw)

2019, Ethnos and Koinon: Studies in Ancient Greek Ethnicity and Federalism, edited by Hans beck, Kostas Buraselis and Alex McAuley

The foundation of the Thessalian League in 197 BCE appears to formalize pre-existing notions of a regional Thessalian identity. From the onset, this koinon bears all the hallmarks of a true ethnos: a shared mythological ancestry, central sanctuaries, a collective religious calendar, a common dialect, and a central political authority. However, not everyone subscribed to this blueprint; there are many signs that the originally independent perioikoi, often described as ethne in their own right in earlier sources, displayed reluctance in abandoning their cultural and perhaps economic and political independence. Throughout the history of Achaia Phthiotis, one such perioikic region, its inhabitants sought to define themselves from tetradic Thessaly and employed various forms of resistance tactics against the federal program of the Thessalian League. This resistance predominantly took the form of adherence to and monumentalization of local religious practices (Haagsma and Karapanou, in press) and reluctance to the adoption of the new religious calendar of the Thessalian League (Graninger 2011). The manifestation of regional identity by the Phthiotic Achaians through political, religious and cultural means is nothing new. Already in earlier periods the status of this ethnos was solidified in its participation in the Amphiktyonic league; nevertheless, we see further evidence of regional expressions in the material culture, especially in the early Hellenistic period. These expressions are, among others, found in the coinage of various poleis minted with the AX monogram, in citizens of local poleis referring to themselves as Achaians, and in the development of the political, social, and economic structures of these poleis and their spatial organization (Stissi 2014). These developments seem to have been fostered or perhaps even fuelled by Macedonian presence in the region, especially in the eastern part of Achaia Phthiotis. The ethnos of Achaia Phthiotis may not have pushed for a centralized foreign policy; rather, it was the diplomatic policies of external groups that led to a short-lived but explicit manifestation of regional togetherness in the early 3rd century BCE. However, thirty years later, this ethnic unity had already subsided. From this period onward Achaia Phthiotis becomes a major conflict zone between Macedonians, Aitolians, and later, Romans. The foreign interventions called upon unifying ethnic sentiments in the region while simultaneously acting as causes of political discord. This resulted on the one hand in a waning external focus on maintaining a regional united front and the emergence of inter-polity territorial conflicts as recorded in epigraphic land arbitrations, while adhering to regional religious customs on the other. Using a synthesis of historic, epigraphic, numismatic, and archaeological sources, we will chart the shifting expressions and perceptions of regional identities of the Phthiotic Achaians throughout the Hellenistic period. The evidence demonstrates that constructions of identities in peripheral regions such as Achaia Phthiotis were multifarious and were negotiated on different planes simultaneously.