The coveted shore: The ancient Propontis 675-386 B.C.E.

摘要

This thesis synthesizes the history of the Propontis region from the settlement of its cities in the 7th century B.C. E by the ancient Greeks to the transference of this region into Persian rule after the peace of Antalkidas in 386 B.C.E. The shoreline settlements of this sea were unified under the Athenian tributary division as an economic and administrative entity as the Hellespontine district through the fifth century. Nonetheless, previous studies of this region have tended to follow cultural and continental divisions focusing on the European or Asian areas separately. As a historical study in general therefore, this thesis has purported to tie in the events of the archaic and classical periods to the unified economic role this shoreline played as a whole in the ancient Greek economic and political world.;The aim of this dissertation has been to compile and analyze all evidence of Propontine history with a view to elucidating the economic productivity, political allegiances, and socio-cultural characteristics of the important city-states of Byzantion, Kalchedon, Perinthos, Selymbria, Sestos, Abydos, Lampsakos, and Kyzikos. The initial analysis of the geographic conditions of the region and its straits connecting the Black Sea to the Aegean illustrated some of the important reasons why the city-states mentioned above prospered economically throughout the archaic and classical periods. One of the challenges of this dissertation has been to research source material and evidence of internal attitudes of these cities towards the larger events of the power struggles between Athens, Sparta, and Persia. An analysis of each cities economy, as far as the source material has allowed and with some comparative studies with other regions of the ancient world illustrated the significance of trade and harbor tolls in the overall wealth of the region.;Although cities of the Propontis were unified economically through their roles as ports of call in one of the most important trade routes in the ancient Mediterranean, culturally we do see some differences both between the Ionaian and Dorian colonies and in their respective attitudes towards non-Greek natives of the area. In general a greater symbiosis between Greeks and other local populations, both Persian and native Phrygians can be observed in the southern Ionian littoral where Greek and Trojan cultures became interweaved into a common Homeric past by local historians. The northern Dorians and Thracians on the other hand had more antagonistic policies against each other.;My dissertation therefore aims to synthesize textual and material evidence from and about the ancient Greek settlements of the Propontis into a historical narrative. More importantly, using this evidence I have analyzed the local economy and culture of the region with a view towards identifying general patterns where possible and elucidating changes in conditions that lead to more complex developments such as the economic and political relationship between southern cities such as Kyzikos and the Persian lords of the hinterland as evinced in Greek craftsmenship in Persian architecture.