Accustomed to Obedience?

Many histories of Ancient Greece center their stories on Athens, but what would that history look like if they didn’t? There is another way to tell this story, one that situates Greek history in terms of the relationships between smaller Greek cities and in contact with the wider Mediterranean. In this book, author Joshua P. Nudell offers a new history of the period from the Persian wars to wars that followed the death of Alexander the Great, from the perspective of Ionia. While recent scholarship has increasingly treated Greece through the lenses of regional, polis, and local interaction, there has not yet been a dedicated study of Classical Ionia. This book fills this clear gap in the literature while offering Ionia as a prism through which to better understand Classical Greece. This book offers a clear and accessible narrative of the period between the Persian Wars and the wars of the early Hellenistic period, two nominal liberations of the region. The volume complements existing histories of Classical Greece. Close inspection reveals that the Ionians were active partners in the imperial endeavor, even as imperial competition constrained local decision-making and exacerbated local and regional tensions. At the same time, the book offers interventions on critical issues related to Ionia such as the Athenian conquest of Samos, rhetoric about the freedom of the Greeks, the relationship between Ionian temple construction and economic activity, the status of the Panionion, Ionian poleis and their relationship with local communities beyond the circle of the dodecapolis, and the importance of historical memory to our understanding of ancient Greece. The result is a picture of an Aegean world that is more complex and less beholden narratives that give primacy to the imperial actors at the expense of local developments

Accustomed to Obedience?

Many histories of Ancient Greece center their stories on Athens, but what would that history look like if they didn’t? There is another way to tell this story, one that situates Greek history in terms of the relationships between smaller Greek cities and in contact with the wider Mediterranean. In this book, author Joshua P. Nudell offers a new history of the period from the Persian wars to wars that followed the death of Alexander the Great, from the perspective of Ionia. While recent scholarship has increasingly treated Greece through the lenses of regional, polis, and local interaction, there has not yet been a dedicated study of Classical Ionia. This book fills this clear gap in the literature while offering Ionia as a prism through which to better understand Classical Greece. This book offers a clear and accessible narrative of the period between the Persian Wars and the wars of the early Hellenistic period, two nominal liberations of the region. The volume complements existing histories of Classical Greece. Close inspection reveals that the Ionians were active partners in the imperial endeavor, even as imperial competition constrained local decision-making and exacerbated local and regional tensions. At the same time, the book offers interventions on critical issues related to Ionia such as the Athenian conquest of Samos, rhetoric about the freedom of the Greeks, the relationship between Ionian temple construction and economic activity, the status of the Panionion, Ionian poleis and their relationship with local communities beyond the circle of the dodecapolis, and the importance of historical memory to our understanding of ancient Greece. The result is a picture of an Aegean world that is more complex and less beholden narratives that give primacy to the imperial actors at the expense of local developments

Centered on the periphery : the changing dynamic between Ionia and imperial powers 454-c.294 BCE

Field of study: History.Advisor, Ian Worthington.Includes vita."May 2017."Consisting of twelve cities on the coast of Asia Minor and proximate islands, Ionia is commonly thought to have flourished in the Archaic period, only to go into decline after the Persian conquest in 540 BCE before suffering through a long, fallow Classical period. In this interpretation, Ionia was reborn in the early Hellenistic period In the intervening years, the standard narrative goes, Ionia was a prize to be won by imperial contenders in the Aegean, and peripheral to both Greek and Persian history. Thus, Ionia is marginalized from histories of Classical Greece. This dissertation demonstrates that the traditional view of Ionia is far from true. The region was one of the nodes that connected East and West in the ancient world and thus was a frequent site of conflict. Ionians remained deeply embedded in Aegean networks, with their merchants playing a central role in the Aegean economy and their intellectuals playing critical roles both in local politics and in the evolution of Greek literature. I focus on the political, social, and economic situation of the Ionian cities along two axes of networks: one, regional interaction between Ionian communities, and another, how these regional relationships intersected with the broader imperial interaction in the Mediterranean world. By centering the narrative for Greek history on Ionia, I demonstrate that these communities and their inhabitants continually negotiated their position within the restrictions of larger conflicts. The Ionian cities played a critical role in Mediterranean history as active partners in the imperial projects of the states that subjugated the region.Includes bibliographical references (pages 446-488)

Centered on the periphery : the changing dynamic between Ionia and imperial powers 454-c.294 BCE

Consisting of twelve cities on the coast of Asia Minor and proximate islands, Ionia is commonly thought to have flourished in the Archaic period, only to go into decline after the Persian conquest in 540 BCE before suffering through a long, fallow Classical period. In this interpretation, Ionia was reborn in the early Hellenistic period In the intervening years, the standard narrative goes, Ionia was a prize to be won by imperial contenders in the Aegean, and peripheral to both Greek and Persian history. Thus, Ionia is marginalized from histories of Classical Greece. This dissertation demonstrates that the traditional view of Ionia is far from true. The region was one of the nodes that connected East and West in the ancient world and thus was a frequent site of conflict. Ionians remained deeply embedded in Aegean networks, with their merchants playing a central role in the Aegean economy and their intellectuals playing critical roles both in local politics and in the evolution of Greek literature. I focus on the political, social, and economic situation of the Ionian cities along two axes of networks: one, regional interaction between Ionian communities, and another, how these regional relationships intersected with the broader imperial interaction in the Mediterranean world. By centering the narrative for Greek history on Ionia, I demonstrate that these communities and their inhabitants continually negotiated their position within the restrictions of larger conflicts. The Ionian cities played a critical role in Mediterranean history as active partners in the imperial projects of the states that subjugated the region.</jats:p