Lo spazio ionico e le comunità della Grecia nord-occidentale

Diabaseis 1 

Lo spazio ionico 

e le comunità della Grecia nord-occidentale 

Territorio, società, istituzioni 

a cura di 

Claudia Antonetti 

Edizioni ETS

Lo spazio ionico e le comunità 

della Grecia nord-occidentale 

Territorio, società, istituzioni 

a cura di 


Atti del Convegno Internazionale 

Venezia, 7-9 gennaio 2010 

Edizioni ETS

www.edizioniets.com 

Il volume è stato pubblicato con i fondi del PRIN 2007 (MIUR 20072KYY8C_003) 

e con un contributo del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità e del Vicino Oriente 

dell’Università Ca’ Foscari di Venezia 

© Copyright 2010 

EDIZIONI ETS 

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info@edizioniets.com 

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Distribuzione 

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ISBN 978-884672849-4

INTRODUZIONE 

La prima volta che ho messo piede in Etolia e in Acarnania era l’estate del 

1981 e certamente non avrei mai immaginato di trovarmi un giorno a presentare 

un convegno sulla Grecia nord-occidentale nella mia città e nella mia Università: 

ne sono particolarmente felice e ringrazio tutti coloro che hanno reso possibile 

la realizzazione dell’iniziativa, in particolar modo l’équipe di ricerca cafoscarina 

che dal momento della fondazione, il 1999, lavora sotto la mia guida nell’ambito 

del Laboratorio di epigrafia greca del Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità 

e del Vicino Oriente: Damiana Baldassarra, Edoardo Cavalli e Francesca 

Crema. 

Negli ultimi dieci anni le ricerche storico-epigrafiche sulla Grecia occidentale 

sono state l’obiettivo principale delle attività scientifiche del nostro Laboratorio 

attraverso alcuni progetti di respiro internazionale: l’edizione – ormai in dirittura 

d’arrivo – delle collezioni epigrafiche dei Musei di Tirreo ed Agrinio, condotta 

di concerto con la 36 a Eforia Ellenica alle Antichità Preistoriche e Classiche, 

diretta dalla Dr. Maria Stavropoulou-Gatsi (e precedentemente dal Prof. 

Ioannis Papapostolou e dal Dr. Lazaros Kolonas) e congiuntamente al Seminar 

für Alte Geschichte della Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster diretto 

dal Prof. Peter Funke; la collaborazione con le Inscriptiones Graecae della Berlin-Brandenburgische 

Akademie der Wissenschaften per l’aggiornamento dei 

corpora della Grecia centro-occidentale, condotto in accordo con i Prof. P. Funke 

e Klaus Hallof e con la partecipazione della Dr. Daniela Summa; l’edizione 

delle iscrizioni rinvenute nel santuario di Termo dal Prof. Photios Petsas† all’inizio 

degli anni ’70. Sono particolarmente lieta che i partner di questi progetti 

abbiano preso parte attiva ai lavori del convegno 1 . 

1 Su questi progetti, cf. Antonetti in Antonetti, Baldassarra 2004, 28-31 e Antonetti, Baldassarra, 

Cavalli, Crema 2010, 312 e n. 1, oltre al sito Web del Laboratorio di Epigrafia greca: 

http://www.unive.it/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=27506.

VI 


A partire da questo background, la partecipazione al progetto di rilevante interesse 

nazionale (PRIN) La Grecia terza e l’Occidente 2 con il programma 

“Fondazioni, rifondazioni, basileis in Grecia nord-occidentale” ha rappresentato 

per me e Stefania De Vido un approdo naturale, una cornice ideale nella quale 

inserirci con un compito specifico, quello di indagare dal punto di vista storico le 

dinamiche egemoniche e fondative proprie all’area greco-occidentale e sud-illirica 

attraverso due filoni di ricerca: il primo dedicato all’intreccio fra fondazioni, 

tradizioni e identità, il secondo mirato a focalizzare gli aspetti politici e istituzionali 

delle comunità della Grecia nord-occidentale con particolare riferimento 

all’età classica e all’età ellenistica. Sono i primi risultati di questa seconda ricerca 

che vengono qui presentati alla comunità scientifica: il gruppo veneziano, 

ultimamente esteso anche a Silvia Palazzo, Ivan Matijašić, Anna Ruggeri e Lazzaro 

Pietragnoli, ha operato un lavoro collettivo di ricerca e confronto critico 

che si articola in una duplice prospettiva, storico-istituzionale e storico-sociale. 

Il collegamento fra la ricerca e la didattica che con Stefania De Vido abbiamo 

fortemente voluto e realizzato ha portato all’inserimento fra i relatori del convegno 

anche di Elisa Bugin ed Elisa Criveller, oltre a suscitare l’interesse di qualche 

collega veneziano come Tomaso Lucchelli. Quello che presentiamo è dunque 

il lavoro di un’unità di ricerca composita, molto giovane, fortemente orientata 

alla formazione alla ricerca sul campo e che ha collaborato in spirito di amicizia 

con i colleghi delle altre unità di ricerca di Napoli, La Calabria, Roma La Sapienza 

e Parma, tutti rappresentati negli Atti del convegno. 

Quest’Ellade occidentale, a lungo trascurata dagli studi sul mondo greco, è 

oggi portata alla ribalta e rivelata nel suo volto inedito grazie a un’attività archeologica 

dinamica e innovativa di cui l’uditorio veneziano ha avuto il piacere 

di conoscere i protagonisti, i direttori delle Eforie Elleniche alle Antichità Preistoriche 

e Classiche responsabili delle ricerche archeologiche nelle regioni in 

oggetto: l’8 a , Corfù, diretta dalla Dr. G. Metallinou; la 32 a , Tesprozia, diretta 

dalla Dr. E. Kanta-Kitsou e di cui fa parte la Dr. K. Lazari; la 33 a , Epiro meridionale, 

Arta e Preveza, diretta dal Dr. G. Riginos; la 35 a , Cefalonia, Itaca e 

Zacinto, diretta dal Dr. A. Sotiriou; la 36 a , Etolia, Acarnania e Leucade, diretta 

dalla Dr. M. Stavropoulou-Gatsi. Alle loro relazioni archeologiche è stata dedicata 

l’intera prima sezione del convegno perché le novità, insieme di dettaglio e 

di prospettiva generale, sono innumerevoli. Si vedrà come esse abbiano trovato 

2 Sul progetto di rilevante interesse nazionale (PRIN) 2007 La ‘terza’ Grecia e l’Occidente si veda 

il sito Web http://www.cdlstoria.unina.it/grecia/index.php e Antonetti c.d.s. a. Le Unità di ricerca 

associate sono le seguenti: Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II (unità centrale, coordinatore 

scientifico: Luisa Breglia); Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza (responsabile 

scientifico: Maria Letizia Lazzarini); Università degli Studi di Parma (responsabile scientifico: 

Ugo Fantasia); Università della Calabria (responsabile scientifico: Giovanna De Sensi Sestito).

Introduzione 

un’eco nelle successive sezioni del congresso che hanno affrontato il tema di una 

possibile koine interregionale nell’ambito della storia istituzionale e sociale mentre 

ad affermati studiosi stranieri che sono un punto di riferimento negli studi di 

settore oltre che vecchi amici come Peter Funke e Pierre Cabanes – il ‘decano’ 

in quest’ambito di ricerca – è stato affidato il compito di introdurre e di concludere 

i lavori. 

Il quadro delle interrelazioni di quest’area nord-occidentale della Grecia ovviamente 

non si limita alle Isole ioniche e alle regioni direttamente prospicienti, 

in realtà coinvolge profondamente il continente greco, l’area illirica a nord e il 

Peloponneso, oltre a chiamare fortemente in causa l’altra sponda, quella italica e 

magnogreca. Quest’ultimo aspetto tematico, quello dei rapporti con l’Occidente, 

introdotto nella sezione finale del convegno veneziano, è stato il ‘filo rosso’ che 

ha condotto al secondo incontro programmatico del nostro PRIN, quello di Cosenza 

(Πλέοντα εἰς τὴν Σικελίαν: l’Epiro, Corcira e l’Occidente, 5-6 maggio 

2010), mentre l’insieme delle interrelazioni della Grecia ‘terza’ gravitante sul 

Golfo di Corinto e sull’area ionica verrà rappresentato nell’ambito del congresso 

conclusivo che sarà organizzato dall’unità centrale di Napoli nel gennaio del 

2011. A testimonianza della forte coesione che ha caratterizzato i lavori del 

gruppo di ricerca nel suo insieme e per meglio sottolinearne l’ispirazione generale 

pur nella diversità delle scansioni tematiche si è deciso di pubblicare la serie 

degli Atti dei convegni di Venezia, Cosenza e Napoli sotto uno stesso titolo emblematico 

e benaugurante: ‘Diabaseis’. 

Mi è gradito infine esprimere la mia riconoscenza all’Istituto Ellenico di Studi 

Bizantini e Postbizantini di Venezia nella persona della direttrice, Prof. Chrissa 

Maltezou, che ha garantito l’ospitalità dei colleghi greci offrendo una collaborazione 

pronta e generosa rivelatasi decisiva per la realizzazione dell’iniziativa. 

Un doveroso ringraziamento va al Prof. Giandomenico Romanelli, Direttore 

della Fondazione dei Musei Civici di Venezia, per l’autorizzazione, esente da diritti, 

alla pubblicazione della bellissima carta settecentesca del Museo Correr che 

figura in copertina (Mss P.D. c 842/3). 

Un pensiero riconoscente va alla segreteria del convegno che è stata tenuta 

con solerzia e dedizione da Damiana Baldassarra e da Edoardo Cavalli e alle 

laureande e ai laureandi che si sono messi a disposizione dell’organizzazione per 

gestire lo svolgimento ordinato delle tre giornate di lavori: Giulia Barichello, 

Chiara Cavasin, Anna Perdibon, Elisabetta Rossi, Paolo Saccon, Elena Trolese, 

Rosa Maria Zumbo. Ringrazio anche il Dipartimento di Scienze dell’Antichità e 

del Vicino Oriente che ha contribuito al finanziamento della pubblicazione. 

Edoardo Cavalli ha realizzato la cura editoriale degli Atti con la precisione e 

la competenza che gli sono proprie mentre Stefania De Vido mi ha affiancata 

VII

VIII 


nella lettura e nella revisione dei contributi dei più giovani, per molti dei quali 

quest’occasione rappresenta la prima esperienza di stampa: che entrambi trovino 

qui l’espressione della mia affettuosa gratitudine. 

Venezia, 10 luglio 2010 Claudia Antonetti 

When I was in Aitolia and Akarnania the first time ever, in 1981, I couldn’t 

foresee that one day I would introduce a congress on North-Western Greece in 

my own town and University: I thank everyone, who made all of this possible, 

first of all my research team in Ca’ Foscari, Damiana Baldassarra, Edoardo 

Cavalli, and Francesca Crema, who have been working under my guidance in 

the Laboratory for Greek Epigraphy of the Department of Sciences of Antiquity 

and Near-East since 1999. During the last ten years the main target of the 

Laboratory has been historical-epigraphical research on North-Western Greece, 

through the following international projects: the (now imminent) edition of the 

epigraphical collections of the Museums in Thyrio and Agrinio, thanks to the 

generosity of the 36 th Hellenic Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities 

directed by Dr. Maria Stavropoulou-Gatsi (previously by Prof. Ioannis Papapostolou 

and by Dr. Lazaros Kolonas), and in tandem with the Seminar für Alte 

Geschichte of the University of Münster, directed by Prof. Peter Funke; the 

updating of the corpora of Western Greece, in collaboration with the Inscriptiones 

Graecae of the Brandenburgische Akademie Berlin, in concert with Prof. 

P. Funke and Klaus Hallof and with the participation of Dr. Daniela Summa; 

the edition of the inscriptions found in Thermo by Prof. Ph. Petsas† in the 

1970s. I am glad the partners in these projects did take an active part in the 

Congress 3 . 

With this background, joining the Research Project The ‘third’ Greece and 

the West 4 with the programme, “Foundations, re-foundations, basileis in North- 

3 On these projects see Antonetti in Antonetti, Baldassarra 2004, 28-31; Antonetti, Baldassarra, 

Cavalli, Crema 2010, 312 n. 1; and the Web site of the Laboratory for Greek Epigraphy: 

http://www.unive.it/nqcontent.cfm?a_id=27506. 

4 On the Project of Relevant National Interest (PRIN) 2007 The ‘third’ Greece and the West 

see the Web site http://www.cdlstoria.unina.it/grecia/index.php and Antonetti c.d.s. a. The research 

Units involved are: Università degli Studi di Napoli Federico II (central unit, scientific 

coordinator: Luisa Breglia); Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza (scientific responsible: 

Maria Letizia Lazzarini); Università degli Studi di Parma (scientific responsible: Ugo Fantasia); 

Università della Calabria (scientific responsible: Giovanna De Sensi Sestito).

Introduzione 

Western Greece”, has been a natural choice for Stefania De Vido and me – the 

ideal framework to put ourselves in, with the specific task to investigate the 

hegemonic and foundational dynamics in the Western-Greek and South-Illyrian 

areas following two main lines of research: the intertwining of foundations, 

traditions, and identity, and the political and institutional aspects of North- 

West communities, particularly during the Classic and the Hellenistic periods. 

The first results of the latter research are now presented to the scientific community: 

the Venetian group, recently extended to Silvia Palazzo, Ivan Matijašić, 

Anna Ruggeri, and Lazzaro Pietragnoli, has carried out a collective work of 

research and critical confrontation, here presented under a double perspective: 

institutional and social. The link between research and teaching, so strongly 

looked after and realized by Stefania De Vido and me, has led to the inclusion of 

Elisa Bugin and Elisa Criveller among the congress’ speakers, arising as well 

the interest of some Venetian colleagues, such as Tomaso Lucchelli. All in all, 

we are presenting the work of a very young and composite research unit, whose 

efforts are oriented to the research on the field; we cooperate very friendly with 

our colleagues of the research units of Napoli, La Calabria, Roma La Sapienza, 

and Parma – all represented in these Proceedings. 

This long since neglected Western Greece comes today to the fore thanks to 

a dynamic and innovative archaeological activity, whose protagonists have been 

introduced with great pleasure to the Venetian audience: the directors and collaborators 

of the Hellenic Ephorates of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities of 

the areas we deal with (the 8 th , Kerkyra, directed by Dr. G. Metallinou; the 

32 nd , Thesprotia, directed by Dr. E. Kanta-Kitsou, and reference Ephorate of 

Dr. K. Lazari; the 33 rd , Southern Epirus, Arta and Preveza, directed by Dr. G. 

Riginos; the 35 th , Kephalonia, Ithaka and Zakynthos, directed by Dr. A. Sotiriou; 

the 36 th , Aitolia, Akarnania and Leukas, directed by Dr. M. Stavropoulou- 

Gatsi). The first section of the Congress has been entirely devoted to their archaeological 

reports: the news are uncountable and have found an echo in the 

other sections of the Congress, which dealt with the theme of a possible interregional 

koine within the field of institutional and social history. The task of introducing 

and concluding the Congress has been committed to renowned foreign 

scholars, who are landmark personalities in the field as well as old friends: Peter 

Funke and Pierre Cabanes – the ‘dean’ of scholars interested in North- 

Western Greece. 

Interrelations in this area of Greece embrace not only the Ionian Islands and 

the facing regions, but concern the Greek continent, the Illyrian area, the Peloponnese, 

as well as Italy and Magna Graecia. This last theme – the relations 

with the West – has found its own place in the fourth section of the Congress, 

IX

X 


sort of introduction to the second meeting of the research group, Πλέοντα εἰς 

τὴν Σικελίαν: l’Epiro, Corcira e l’Occidente, held in Cosenza (May 5-6, 2010), 

while the interrelations within the ‘third’ Greece gravitating towards the Gulf 

of Corinth and the Ionian area will be the main theme of the final Congress, 

organized by Naples’ central unit in January 2011. As a proof of the strong 

cohesion, characteristic of the researches of the national research group, and to 

better highlight its common though multifaceted inspiration, it has been decided 

to publish the series of the Proceedings of the Venice, Cosenza and Naples Congresses 

under the same emblematic and auspicious title: ‘Diabaseis’. 

I am glad to thank the Hellenic Institute of Byzantine and Postbyzantine 

Studies of Venice, represented by Prof. Chrissa Maltezou, who granted hospitality 

to our Greek colleagues; her ready and generous collaboration has been a 

decisive help in realizing this Congress. 

Due thanks go to Prof. Giandomenico Romanelli, director of the Foundation 

of Civic Museums in Venice, for allowing to freely publish on the front cover the 

wonderful XVIII-century map, property of the Correr Museum (Mss P.D. c 842/3). 

A thankful thought goes to Damiana Baldassarra and Edoardo Cavalli, who 

have managed the whole organization of the Congress with care and devotion; 

and to the tutors of the Congress (senior students of Ancient History), who 

have generously put themselves at disposal: Giulia Barichello, Chiara Cavasin, 

Anna Perdibon, Elisabetta Rossi, Paolo Saccon, Elena Trolese, Rosa Maria 

Zumbo. I thank as well the Department of Sciences of Antiquity and Near-East 

for helping to finance this publication. 

Edoardo Cavalli is responsible for the editing of these Proceedings, a task he 

has undertaken with his usual precision and competence; Stefania De Vido has 

cooperated in reading and revising the articles of the youngest contributors at 

their editorial debut: may both of them find here the expression of my affectionate 

gratitude. 

Venice, July 10, 2010 Claudia Antonetti


Introduzione 

Indice 

Territori nella storia 

INDICE 

Peter Funke 

Nordwestgriechenland: Im Schatten der antiken griechischen 

Staatenwelt? Einige einführende Überlegungen 

Gariphalia Metallinou 

Kerkyra through the Excavations of the Last Years: 

Myths and Realities 

Kassiani Lazari, Ekaterini Kanta-Kitsou 

Thesprotia during the Late Classic and Hellenistic Periods. 

The Formation and Evolution of the Cities 

Georgios Riginos 

L’antica Cassopea e le regioni limitrofe durante il periodo 

classico ed ellenistico 

Maria Stavropoulou-Gatsi 

New Archaeological Researches in Aitolia, Akarnania, and 

Leukas 

Andreas Sotiriou 

Classical and Hellenistic Kephalonia: 

the Evolution of Four Major City-States 

V 

XI 

1 

3 

11 

35 

61 

79 

97

Storia politica e istituzioni 

XII 

Indice 

Pierre Cabanes 

Institutions politiques et développement urbain (IV e -III e s. 

avant J.-C.): réflexions historiques à partir de l’Épire 

Ugo Fantasia 

L’ethnos acarnano dal 454 al 424 a.C.: 

dinamiche locali e relazioni internazionali 


Il koinon etolico di età classica: 

dinamiche interne e rapporti panellenici 

Maria Intrieri 

Autarkeia. 

Osservazioni sull’economia corcirese fra V e IV sec. a.C. 

Francesca Crema 

Pritania e spazio civico 

Ivan Matijašić 

Magistrati militari in Grecia nord-occidentale? 

Riflessioni su alcune istituzioni cittadine 

Lazzaro Pietragnoli 

I probouloi nel pensiero politico e nella pratica istituzionale: 

un tentativo di sintesi 

Stefania De Vido 

Istituzioni, magistrature, politeiai: frammenti di 

documentazione e spunti di ricerca 

Silvia Palazzo 

Ethne e poleis lungo il primo tratto della via Egnatia: 

la prospettiva di una fonte 

Tomaso Lucchelli 

La monetazione della Grecia nord-occidentale tra integrazione 

e identità locali 

115 

117 

141 

163 

181 

201 

225 

245 

257 

273 

291

Istituzioni e società 

Indice 


I diversi aspetti di una koine socio-culturale nella Grecia 

nord-occidentale di epoca ellenistica 


La structure familiale dans le cadre social et économique de 

l’Épire antique 

Damiana Baldassarra 

Le liste cultuali della Grecia nord-occidentale: 

tipologie, protagonisti e fenomenologia rituale 

Damiana Baldassarra, Anna Ruggeri 

Intorno al sacrificio: aozos e hierophoros 

Daniela Summa 

Una nuova lista cultuale per Artemide 

Elisa Bugin 

Asylia sotto gli occhi di Artemide: 

considerazioni a partire da un decreto di Calidone 

Edoardo Cavalli 

Ὥς ἀγαθῶν οὐκ ἀπόλωλε ἀρετά. 

Storia e gloria nell’età dei Diadochi 

Elisa Criveller 

Epigrammi funerari di Etolia e Acarnania tra III e II sec. a.C. 

Prospettive occidentali 

Lavinio Del Monaco 

Riflessioni in margine all’organizzazione civica di Locri Epizefirii 

Paola Grandinetti 

Cultualità, pitagorismo e prestigio sociale: 

il ruolo delle donne a Locri Epizefirii 

299 

301 

327 

341 

373 

385 

395 

409 

429 

459 

461 

477 

XIII

Conclusioni 


Conclusion générale 

Indici 

Abbreviazioni 

Bibliografia generale 

Abstracts 

XIV 

Indice 

493 

495 

499 

525 

529 

615

ABSTRACTS 


Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia 

THE AITOLIAN KOINON IN THE CLASSICAL ERA: 

INTERNAL DYNAMICS AND PANHELLENIC RELATIONS 

Classical sources on Aitolia are desperately few in number, yet some original 

remarks can be developed as to the formative phase of the koinon among 5 th and 4 th 

centuries BC and its Panhellenic recognition, which was achieved mainly through 

international relations involving Peloponnesian shrines and Athens. The historical 

period under study begins with a positive, traditional relationship with Korinth and 

Sparta during the years of the Archidamic War, and closes with the alliance with 

Athens at the end of the 4 th century BC. In between, the decisive widening of the 

Aitolian political horizon in relation to the events of ‘big’ history stands out patently: 

the koinon concluded far-sighted alliances with Thebes and Philip II, but also 

constantly pursued a policy of autonomy whose first signs are to be found in the socalled 

‘War of Elis’, in which the Aitolians fought against the Spartans. Independence 

from external powers is mirrored within Aitolia itself by a brand new sense of 

self-affirmation. Besides the Messenians in Naupaktos, the case is known of Aitolian 

Aiolis, namely the area of Kalydon and Pleuron and their surroundings, that in 

426 seems to enjoy a certain autonomy both from the koinon and the adjacent centres. 

On the religious level, recognizing the sacred Eleusinian truce and receiving 

the Epidaurian theoroi were crucial steps for Aitolia to enter the Hellenikon: both 

cults, that of the Great Goddesses and that of Asclepius, could actually have been 

borrowed from Athens, thanks to a wide-spread religious policy which should also 

include Thesprotia and Dodona. Such an outcome would not be possible without the 

intrinsic maturation of the koinon or its institutional dynamism (see e.g. the progressive 

extension of sympoliteia).

616 

Abstracts 



THE VARIOUS ASPECTS OF A SOCIO-CULTURAL KOINE 

IN NORTH-WESTERN GREECE DURING THE HELLENISTIC PERIOD 

This contribution aims to focus on the possible elements of a socio-cultural koine 

in North-Western Greece during the Hellenistic period beyond the common denominator 

of ‘marginality’, a key which is now inadequate to account all the historical 

realities developed during Hellenism in the area under study. From Alexander 

the Great to the arrival of the Romans these territories went through such different 

circumstances, that no chance is given to recognize political convergences, 

yet the antiquity of Roman presence in this area is historically significant – a phenomenon 

that justifies a comparison with the situation of Magna Graecia. 

At the institutional level, it is possible to observe the widespread functionality of 

some civic magistracy (the prytania and the proboulia in particular), which has its 

roots in the first real cultural koine of this area, that going back to the Korinthian 

colonization which is also responsible for setting some nomima such as the calendar: 

a koine purposely tending to gravitate towards the Ionian area as well as to 

exclude the Aitolian zone, and possibly revived by the passage of Timoleon. But the 

real element of regional koine is the federal context, where the communities of 

North-Western Greece express themselves at best. 

The key elements of socio-cultural history the ancient sources make clearly visible 

concern the sphere of the sacred in all its forms: from manumissions to the 

widespread worshipping of Asclepius – for whose diffusion into the Adriatic and 

the West (via canonical routes already set during Archaism) North-Western 

Greece was an important bridgehead – to the cults ministered on behalf and within 

the polis inasmuch as experienced in groups and associations. The pantheon of the 

poleis essentially remains the one we are used to, possibly renovated – as for local 

identity – by the re-use of traditional historical or heroic elements; the high number 

of brand new – as well as founded anew – civic celebrations during the Hellenistic 

period is astounding, as is their being often accompanied by games, clear evidence 

of this phenomenon. Many different cultic groups (from a linguistic point of view 

significantly connoted by the prefix syn- which expresses both sharing in the rituals 

and the emotional aspect of them) are well attested in these western regions; they 

are always related to civic life, which permits to understand them within the flow 

of Greek history: no cultural divide exists anymore in such a polycentric world, 

where mobility of individuals and groups is expected – including mercenaries and 

soldiers in the Aitolian territory as well as negotiatores in the Adriatic-Ionic 

area. If foreign and Oriental cults are underrepresented, except for Ambrakia, the 

multifaceted forms of Dionysian and Artemisian worship allow, better than other 

cults, to shed light on such diverse cultural phenomena and social realities, that

Abstracts 

were deep rooted in this Greece too: from epheby to hunting practices, form life in 

gymnasia to mysteric beliefs, to artistic performances and theatre. 

As for women, North-Western Greece proves to be highly attractive an area for 

the prevalence of female religious functions expressed in a participial form rather 

than with a noun, as well as for the rarity of some of them, such as the theokolia in 

Aitolia (office with sacred and civic skills). Furthermore, Aitolian and Kerkyraian 

inscriptions attest the active exercise of testimony by women in the 2 nd century BC: 

a clear sign of the fast-paced socio-economic transformation in which these communities 

of North-Western Greece are involved in this period. 

Damiana Baldassarra 

Università Ca’ Foscari Venezia, Laboratorio di Epigrafia greca 

CULTIC LISTS FROM NORTH-WESTERN GREECE: 

TYPES, PROTAGONISTS, AND RITUAL PHENOMENOLOGY 

From several poleis sited in North-Western Greece come some interesting epigraphical 

votive dedications committed by public magistrates or religious associations: 

this corpus collects 18 inscriptions – from the Akarnanian ancient poleis of 

Thyrreion, Astakos and Palairos, from Kerkyra and Ambrakia – in which the dedication 

to the deities is followed by quite similar catalogues of religious officials lied 

to the sacrificial operations. These epigraphical documents resemble each other, but 

they never have got the same structure: it seems to be difficult to find out an external 

archetypal and apparently there is no hierarchy in listing the officials. However, 

these inscriptions always are quite synthetic, but complete at the same time: this is 

possible thanks to the constant mention of few, but quite significant religious officials, 

who underline the key-moments of the sacrifice (processions, libations and the 

following banquets). 

In order to determine the main characteristics, the similarities and the differences 

of the epigraphical texts that composed this corpus, it will be offered an 

analysis of the main interesting documents, with particular attention to the duties 

of the most important and mentioned officials involved in the sacrifices and to the 

details that distinguish the catalogues of a polis away from the others: in this occasion 

will be also published two new inscriptions discovered in 1985 in the area of 

the so-called prytaneion of Ambrakia. 

This corpus constitutes an important case, first of all because it attests the particular 

epigraphical exercise of the poleis of North-Western Greece: as a matter of 

fact they came more slowly than other Greek regions to the full experimentation of 

the polis-system and consequently they started later to use epigraphy to issue 

documents as attestation of their community life – still in the Hellenistic period 

these poleis used to employ epigraphy more assiduously and emphatically than oth- 

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er Greek areas. The significant number of these somewhat standardized dedications/catalogues 

is probably due to the pressing demand felt by North-Western 

Greek communities to emphasize the religious activities as key-moments of their 

civic life. The need of highlighting every religious official involved in the sacrificial 

iter is ascribable to the high-profile role played by them: they could carry out several 

duties and thanks to their versatility they used to appear both in public and 

private sacrifices. 

Damiana Baldassarra, Anna Ruggeri 


ABOUT SACRIFICE: AOZOS AND HIEROPHOROS 

In several poleis sited in North-Western Greece have been found some epigraphical 

votive dedications committed by public magistrates or religious associations: 

they delineate a corpus of coherent inscriptions that evidence both interesting 

aspects of the religious praxis and the importance of the sacrificial rite with the 

communities of this Greek area. In this article we are going to analyse the epigraphical 

and literary evidences concerning two few attested and almost unknown 

religious officials mentioned by some inscriptions of this corpus: the aozos and 

hierophoros. 

Next to the mageiros, who beats the main outstanding times of the sacrificial 

rite thanks to his triple function of sacrificer, butcher and cook, stand out at middle 

distance some officials conventionally meant as assistants of the mageiros. The 

Greek words used to define these assistants change according to the polis: at 

Kerkyra there are the hyperetes and aozos; at Ambrakia are attested the aozos and 

a koinon of diakonoi; at Thyrreion and Palairos there is the diakonos; at Astakos 

there are the paides. It is not clear what exactly did these religious officials: the 

etymology of their names is useless – unlike the names of other officials etymologically 

understandable, like σπονδοφόρος or κανηφόρος, attested in inscriptions found 

in other Greek regions - and it is impossible to find exactly out in which way they 

helped the mageiros. Among these religious assistants only the aozos seems to be 

attested only in North-Western Greece: differently, the others are documented by 

several Greek inscriptions of the Classical and Hellenistic ages. Aozos is a rare 

name: its most ancient literary citation dates back to the V century BC (Aeschylus, 

Agamemnon) and relates this word to the sacrificial contest; the only epigraphical 

attestations of aozos - always lied to a religious contest - are circumscribable to the 

North-Western Greece. 

Four epigraphical dedications found at Thyrreion mention the hierophoros, who 

used to bring the hiera – both worship’s objects and the image of the divinity: although 

this priest is already quoted by the inscriptions of other Greek countries,

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these four documents are important because they represent the most ancient evidence 

of this official known until now. 

Elisa Bugin 


ASYLIA UNDER ARTEMIS’S EYES: 

THOUGHTS FROM A KALYDONIAN DECREE 

The inscription IG IX 1 2 1, 135, found carved on a mutilated stele in the stoa of 

the Kalydonian Laphrion, consists of a decree of asylia the Aitolians granted to the 

citizens of Lousoi. Repeatedly published during the 20 th century, it needs a careful 

commentary nonetheless; only a few lines have been written about it, in order to 

discuss the identity of the receivers of the asylia. Two are the theories thereupon: 

the first, the privilege was granted to the temple of Artemis Hemera; the second, 

which is the more credible, the privilege was granted to the Lousiatai. The ambiguous 

meaning of asylia contributed to the generation of such an interpretative 

dichotomy. Decrees of asylia granted to private citizens, to communities, and to 

shrines are uncountable; if we look at the cult of Artemis, however, we rarely know 

of grants of asylia to sanctuaries dedicated to this goddess. Artemis was the most 

important divinity in Aitolia and Arkadia and some of her epithets (e.g. Laphria, 

Limnatis) are recurrent only in these regions – anyway the most famous decrees of 

asylia concerning Artemisia were granted in Asia: Magnesia on the Meander, 

Ephesos, Perge. The inscriptions found at Ephesos and Perge show the words asylia 

or asylos in close connection with the goddess’ name (e.g. Ἀρτέμιδι τὴν ἀσυλίαν, 

Ἀρτέμιδι Περγαίᾳ ἁσύλῳ); the inscriptions found at Magnesia have the ordinary 

formula τὴν πόλιν αὐτῶν καὶ τὴν χώραν ἱερὰν καὶ ἄσυλον εἶναι and mention the 

sanctuary, terms that don’t appear in IG IX 1 2 1, 135, where only the ethnic name 

of the Lousiatai is legible instead: Λουσιά[ταις - - -] (the dative-integration unanimous). 

Most remarkably, evidences about a deal and relations between Aitolians 

and Lousiatai provided by Polybius (Polyb. 4, 18, 7-12; 4, 19, 2-4) date back to 

220 BC, year consistent with the dating of the decree suggested by palaeography. 

Polybius’ words, on several occasions, heavily corroborate the thesis regarding the 

asylia granted to the Lousiatai: their temple was declared asylos before the 240s 

BC (Polyb. 9, 34, 9), and the Aitolians ignored its inviolability and plundered it 

twice – in the 240s BC and in 220 BC – (Polyb. 9, 34, 9; 4, 19, 2-4): a grant of 

asylia to the shrine in 220 BC would therefore have been contradictory and useless 

for the Aitolians (attracted by its treasures). Besides, they apparently did not mistreat 

or rob the Lousiatai: on the contrary, they mistreated other peoples (cf. 

Polyb. 4, 18, 7-8: the Aitolians tortured the inhabitants of Kynaitha to make them 

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reveal where they were keeping their substance; Polyb. 4, 19, 2-4: the Aitolians 

attacked Kleitor). 


Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense 

POLITICAL INSTITUTIONS AND URBAN DEVELOPMENT 

(4 th -3 rd CENT. BC): SOME HISTORICAL REFLECTIONS ON EPIRUS 

Between the 5 th and 3 rd centuries BC the institutions of Epirus underwent 

important changes. In 429 Thucydides described this region of North-Western 

Greece as populated by barbarians, whose way of life was very different than 

that of the inhabitants of Central and Southern Greece. Epirus’ population lived 

in villages without fortifications. These villages consisted of larger communities 

called ethne or koina. The polis did not really exist, with the exception of colonial 

foundations. In the 4 th century the political map of Epirus was reorganized, 

as indicated by the list of theorodokoi in Epidaurus (360 ca.) and Argos (around 

330). The seven states became but two, as the Molossians progressively incorporated 

the neighbouring populations to the West and South. These new members 

of the koinon of the Molossians received the same political rights as the 

older members. Before 296 the unification of Epirus reached a final stage, when 

Chaonia and the Molossian wider community joined together. The middle of the 

4 th century saw also the beginning of urban growth in the region. Besides the 

king from the Aeacid family, state institutions, called the koinon of Molossian, 

included a group of representatives from the ethne, some magistrates (prostates 

of Molossians, along with a secretary), a people’s assembly and perhaps even a 

council. Smaller communities had also their own magistrates in the Molossian 

part, as well as in the Chaonian component of the new state. 


Université Paris Ouest Nanterre La Défense 

FAMILY STRUCTURE IN THE CONTEXT OF ECONOMIC 

AND SOCIAL LIFE IN ANCIENT EPIRUS 

In ancient Epirus, family structure and roles differed from those in Central 

and Southern Greece. The first original characteristic was family collective 

property, as one can discover in inscriptions found in Bouthrotos relating to

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manumission. The entire family (father, mother, sons, and daughters) emancipated 

slaves, as if the attribution of each member of the family was required to 

make possible the complete freedom of a slave. The second noteworthy characteristic 

was the status of women in Epirus. Unlike Athenian women, who remained 

minors under the authority of their kyrios (father, husband, or eldest 

son), women from Epirus could emancipate their slaves on their own. After her 

father’s death, the Epirote woman was the first named in the list of owners 

granting manumission, at least until her elder son came of age. Genealogical 

trees reveal the wealth of some of the families of Epirus, whose members administered 

the offices of magistrates and priests and were united through marriage. 

Some family lineages can be traced back six generations, from the end of 

the koinon of Epirus (before 170) to the foundation of the Roman colony of 

Buthrotum in 44 BC. 

Edoardo Cavalli 


ΩΣ AΓΑΘΩΝ ΟΥΚ ΑΠΟΛΩΛΕ ΑΡΕΤΑ. 

(HI)STORY AND GLORY IN THE AGE OF THE DIADOCHOI 

With some minor – and controversial for the most – exceptions, the only Aitolian 

verse-inscription come down to us is the epigram IG IX 1 2 1, 51, inscribed 

on a statue-base found in Thermos: this short elegy recalls Skorpion the 

Aitolian – ambushed whilst flanking with other riders the Phokian forces under 

attack – as well as the statue erected by Skorpion’s father Drakon in memory 

of his son’s value. The inscription, dated to the first half of the 3 rd cent. BC according 

to palaeography, provides the occasion for reflections across the board: 

the text refers to an episode of local history ignored by surviving ancient historians, 

and the inter-comparison with other epigrams found in Delphi as well as 

historiographical sources suggest a more precise chronology for it, also in relation 

to the Aitolian-Boiotian treaty StV 463; epigraphic data call to reconsider 

the more general issue of the visibility and legibility of the epigramma; a crossstudy 

within the inscriptional corpus of Central and Western Greece leads to 

the recognition, in the first age of the Diadochoi, of an elegiac epigraphical production 

on historical subjects related to local elites, whose tones and contents 

are different from those of contemporary Alexandrian literature yet close to 

part of Posidippus’ poetic production – along with his fellows ‘wandering poets’ 

he probably played a major role in the creation and dissemination of this epigrammatic 

‘type’; still, between the late 3 rd and 2 nd century BC. the historical- 

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laudatory epigrammatic ‘type’ seems to give way to somewhat more literary 

and conventional themes. 

Francesca Crema 


PRYTANY AND CIVIC SPACE 

The fragmentary condition of our sources on the civic institutions of the poleis 

of North-Western Greece and of the Ionian Islands – scattered as they are 

in a wide area and throughout a long chronological period – gives us little 

chance to reconstruct the constitution of each polis, both in its global aspects 

and internal developments. Nevertheless, if we come to consider the eponymous 

civic officials attested in the whole area, we are to find in the eponymous prytanis 

an element of comparison which leads us first to follow backwards the 

spread of a certain political model and secondly to an historical insight on the 

meaning of this political institution in the building of self-identity. 

The spread of the eponymous prytany – attested in Kerkyra, Thyrreion, 

Ambrakia (?), Apollonia, Epidamnos – finds its roots in the Korinthian-Kerkyraian 

colonial movement and thereafter reaches out to those newly structured 

political autonomous entities of Hellenistic Epirus and Southern Illyria, which 

modelled their institutions after the powerful colonial coastal poleis: the prytanis 

is the eponymous magistrate of the koinon of the Bylliones and of that of 

the Balaieitai and is attested at Amantia, Dimale and Kassope as well. In terms 

of civic institutions, prytany is thus the most evident element of koine in those 

regions and could go back to a Korinthian model, however elusive in its details; 

off this very model go those contexts where civic institutions are modelled after 

federal structures, and – in the Ionian Islands – Same and Ithaka, whose board 

of three eponymous damiourgoi could possibly refer to an Achaian background. 

Our scanty knowledge on the Korinthian constitution together with the 

rather poor epigraphic documentation offers little information on the political 

role of the prytanis and on the development of the institution as it concerns the 

polis administration; yet it is clear that the prytanis plays a central role inside 

the civic space, by gathering together a symbolic and institutional centrality – 

whose very expression lays in the religious field – and the physical centrality 

granted by the prytaneion and the hestia. Inscriptions and dedications address 

our attention to the civic cults attested in the poleis of this area and to the role 

of the prytanis as vital junction knot in this dialogue between real and ideal 

civic space, which together outline polis identity.

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Elisa Criveller 


AITOLIAN AND ACARNANIAN FUNERAL EPIGRAMS 

(3 RD -2 ND CENT. BC) 

Scarce evidence remains of the funerary epigrams from Aitolia and Acarnania; 

in this production do emerge seven epigrams, dating back to a period that 

goes from the end of the 3 rd to the end of the 2 nd century BC: they stand out for 

extension (four couplets generally speaking) and legibility. This article focuses 

on these epigrams. Although they are all edited, it is worth reconsidering this 

production in order to give a unitary and updated vision. Among the six more 

complete epigrams, five come from Thyrreion (IG IX 1 2 2, 298 = T1; IG IX 1 2 

2, 312a = T3; IG IX 1 2 2, 313 = T4; IG IX 1 2 2, 314+321 = T5; IG IX 1 2 

2, 340 = T6), one from Stratos (IG IX 1 2 2, 408 = T7); finally, an extremely 

fragmentary epigram from Agrinion (Klaffenbach 1936, 359 = T2). The 

commentary on each text highlights the richness of these epigrams in four main 

fields. With regard to onomastics, T5 offers another attestation of a typical 

name of West Greece, Ἐμιναύτα; T2 and T6 confirm the importance and frequency 

of the name Πανταλέων in Aitolia and Acarnania. As far as the vision of 

death is concerned, it is remarkable that T4 testifies the belief in afterlife: it offers 

the unique attestation of the term μύστης in funerary epigrams of North- 

Western Greece. Furthermore these epigrams reflect a change of the kind of 

values which have to be stressed in order to glorify the dead: the expression 

σωφροσύνης κανόνα (T5, 6) conveys the importance of education in the Hellenistic 

period. Finally, it has been assumed that two of the seven epigrams, T1 

and T4, are to be ascribed to the epigrammatist Damagetus: they indeed stand 

out among the others but maybe it is better to think about an influence of Damagetus 

on the anonymous poets who composed these epigrams. 

Stefania De Vido 


INSTITUTIONS, MAGISTRATES, POLITEIAI: 

FRAGMENTS OF DOCUMENTATION AND RESEARCH IDEAS 

Evidence from Aristotle's school is scanty and epigraphic documentation 

from North-Western Greece very fragmentary, yet we may suggest for this 

area the existence of institutional ‘isoglosses’, fitting the Hellenistic political 

koine very well. First of all we proceed to census the actors in decision-making 

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procedures (halia, ekklesia, damos; boula/boule and related cults); to consider 

civic partitions, if only partially known; and to analyze names and functions of 

attested archai. Then we focus on two main targets: the institutional structure 

of the ancient polis of Kerkyra, which allows significant considerations if compared 

with its mother-city Korinth and the West; and the role of the prostates, 

which probably had functions of guarantee, protection, and representation within 

the delicate poleis-koina relationship, in particular in Epirus and Southern Illyria. 

As well as in the rest of the Greek world, the polis stands out as one of 

the essential very models of political organization in North-Western Greece. 

Lavinio Del Monaco 

Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza 

REMARKS ON CIVIC ORGANIZATION IN LOKROI EPIZEPHYRIOI 

The Tablets of Lokroi, a corpus of 37 bronze inscriptions dating from the 4 th 

to the 3 rd century BC, attest the criteria for the registration of the civic body in 

force under the democratic regime created after the expulsion of Dionysius II in 

346 BC. A symbol composed of three letters, which points out the unit to which 

each citizen belonged, appears before the name of each magistrate. The total 

number of abbreviations could be 33 or 36: however, this second option seems 

preferable, because in this case there would be a perfect identity between the 

number of the symbols of each tribe, i.e. 12, and the number of the phratries, or 

rather of the phatarchoi, attested in these inscriptions. But what are the possible 

models of the organization of the Lokrian civic body? While some elements 

recall the reality of Opuntian Lokris, such as the presence of the Hekaton Oikiai 

and of the Chilioi mentioned by Polybius, further aspects recall Ozolian Lokris, 

e.g. the presence of a theukolos, which seems otherwise confined to Western 

and Central Greece. However, new developments in the research have been 

opened by some inscriptions discovered in recent years, such as the documents 

found in Argos and still under investigation by Ch. Kritzas, and other inscriptions 

found in Sicily, mostly attributable to Kamarina. The evidence of 12 phratries 

for each of the 4 tribes in Argos in the 5 th century BC and the presence of 

a board of Duodeka suggest that even in Lokroi Epizephyrioi between the 4 th 

and 3 rd century BC the civic body was not divided in demoi but rather in phratriai, 

exactly 36, i.e. 12 for each tribe: the transition from the decimal system, 

as reflected by the Hekaton Oikiai and by the assembly of the Chilioi, to the 

duodecimal system could have coincided with the enlargement of the citizenship 

by 20%, as it exactly happened in Argos, where a new tribe was created in addition 

to the three traditional ones. As for the Sicilian inscriptions, edited by G.

Abstracts 

Manganaro and studied by F. Cordano, they shed a new light on the reform of 

the civic body made in Sicily by Timoleon as part of his broader political vision: 

also in these inscriptions people appear to be divided into civic groups, indicated 

with numerals. It could be that the reorganization of the citizenship in Lokroi 

Epizephyrioi belongs to the same reform plan – Korinthian in the method and 

maybe Argive in the essence – created by Timoleon in respect of local autonomies 

as well as of the institutional history of each polis. 

Ugo Fantasia 

Università degli Studi di Parma 

THE AKARNANIAN ETHNOS 454-424 BC: 

LOCAL DYNAMICS AND INTERNATIONAL RELATIONS 

As far as we know, the earliest contacts between Akarnania and the world of 

the Greek poleis are an unsuccessful attempt at conquering Oiniadai made by an 

Athenian expedition led by Perikles in 454, as part of a strategy aiming at ‘encircling’ 

Korinth in the first Peloponnesian war, and another, undated one by 

the Messenians from Naupaktos. 

After a gap in our evidence, the alliance concluded in or about 435 between 

Athens and that part of the Akarnanian ethnos centred on Stratos, the biggest 

and most important among the inland Akarnanian cities, was a response to the 

aggressive policy of the Korinthian colony of Ambrakia. Before and during the 

Archidamian War till 424, when the crushing defeat suffered by Ambrakia in 

426/5 stopped warfare in this region, the Akarnanian ethnos allied with Athens 

– a few poleis and some small ethnic subgroups, with an army made up of local 

contingents led by a board of generals, that acted as a unitary entity on the military 

and diplomatic planes – behaving loyally to Athens, at the same time going 

on pursuing its own interests. 

The Thucydidean evidence, though focused on military events rather than on 

institutional aspects, allows us to go beyond the widespread representation of 

the Akarnanians as a mere symmachia strengthened by the ethnic solidarity, 

and to grasp some real ‘federal’ hints in its political organization. This is 

shown, for example, by the different ways the ethnos gradually came to annex, 

apparently through a purposeful plan, all the Akarnanian communities that still 

in 431 were under Korinthian control or shared a pro-Korinthian stance (Astakos, 

Sollion, Anaktorion, Oiniadai). Moreover, a closer reading of Thuc. 3, 105, 

1 shows that the koinon dikasterion at Olpai in Amphilochia here mentioned 

was likely to be a ‘common court’ of the Akarnanians (not of the Akarnanians 

and the Amphilochians), an institution that anticipates a similar one reported in 

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a decree of the Akarnanian League of 263. At the same time, Thucydides himself 

in his narrative partly disproves the oversimplified picture given in the 

archaiologia of the Akarnanian (as well as Lokrian and Aitolian) primitive way 

of life as a consequence of lack of security in human settlements and relations. 

On the whole, the subject here investigated is an interesting test-case of the 

interplay between the international relations, which brought about a deeper implication 

of North-Western Greece in the expansionist policy of Greek superpowers, 

and the development of a Greek ethnos towards more complex political 

and institutional forms peculiar to federal States. 

Peter Funke 

Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität Münster 

NORTH‐WESTERN GREECE: 

IN THE SHADOW OF THE GREEK WORLD? 

The Northwest of Greece is still one of the least-accessible regions of the 

country. Until recently, many inland areas were to be reached only from the 

coast: for this reason in ancient times this part of Greece opened up to the 

stranger primarily from the sea and the offshore islands, and it has always been 

characterized by a strong orientation to the Ionian Sea. 

These specific geographical conditions influenced the historical development 

of North-Western Greece in a decisive manner, as well as its perception from 

the outside: this applies to the medieval and modern travel books, but much 

more so to the historiographical and literary representations produced in antiquity. 

The image of this region, which is reflected in the ancient sources, accordingly 

runs ambivalent: while on the one hand Dodona and its oracular sanctuary 

was seen as an integral part of Greek oikoumene, on the other hand the inhabitants 

of North-Western Greece were perceived by the "citizens of classical poleis" 

as semi-barbarians (meixobarbaroi), being hence granted just a limited 

membership to the Panhellenic community. The image is ambivalent in another 

respect too: ancient sources are clearly interested in the coastal regions and the 

islands, but not in the inner land, proving themselves largely ignorant of local 

conditions. Accordingly, the historical information we can obtain from literary 

and historiographical texts are unbalanced. 

This desolate situation of the sources does condition the analysis of the political 

and social changes occurred in North-Western Greece during the Classical 

and Hellenistic times heavily. Coastal areas and offshore islands have always 

been an important bridgehead and a central link between the Greek 

mainland and the landscapes beyond the Ionian and the Adriatic Seas. At the

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same time they acted also as a cultural contact-area for the North-Western inland 

and thus a zone of exchange and acculturation. This in turn created conditions 

and prerequisites for the genesis of entirely new forms of political and social 

existence, bound to shape the rest of the Greek world. 

The available literary and historiographical source material has so far allowed 

just a very limited view of that development: even more significant, 

therefore, comes the archaeological research, whose results constitute an important 

addition to our present knowledge, and can help get the history of North- 

Western Greece out from the shadows of History, thus contributing to a better 

understanding of historical processes. 

Paola Grandinetti 

Università degli Studi di Roma La Sapienza 

CULT, PITHAGORISM, AND SOCIAL PRESTIGE: 

THE ROLE OF WOMEN AT LOKROI EPIZEPHYRIOI 

The thesis takes as a starting point the existence of a clear pre-eminence of 

female cults within the polis of Lokroi Epizephyrioi, if compared with other cities 

in Magna Graecia. The Persephoneion on Mannella Hill and the Aphrodite 

sanctuaries in northern and southern Marasà have raised two fundamental 

questions: Why does the feminine goddesses predominate in Lokroi? And is 

there a connection between feminine goddesses and women’s life? This theory 

has allowed to trace social and institutional analogies, as well as political, military, 

and religious ones, between Lokroi and the Doric world, in particular with 

Lakonian and Spartan sites in ancient Greece. It has been possible, in this way, 

to reread some Lokrian archaeological evidences, such as the presence of strigils 

within female tombs or some iconographies with women holding strigils in 

their hands. This has followed the hypothesis that in Lokroi as well as in 

Sparta, poleis both aristocratic and war-like, women had a particular kind of 

life that assured them a certain freedom and the access to typically male-related 

activities and places, such as the gymnasium. Briefly, by overcoming the indemonstrable 

matriarchy theory, this study tries to explain the social hierarchy, 

assuming the existence of more plausible gender-dynamics in Lokroi, where 

women lived supplementary relationships with men’s world. 

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Maria Intrieri 

Università della Calabria 

AUTARKEIA. 

REMARKS ON KERKYRA’S ECONOMY (5 TH -4 TH CENT. BC) 

In the speech held in 433 BC before the Athenian assembly gathered to decide 

whether to grant Kerkyra’s request for alliance, Korinthians accused 

Kerkyraians to “be themselves judges of the damage they do to others rather 

than submit to agreed terms” inasmuch they were in a position of ‘autarkeia’, 

because, “while they have little need to seek the assistance of others, it is the 

others who mostly fall into their hands necessarily”(Thuc. 1, 37, 3). This complain 

tended to unmask – from the Korinthian point of view – the false justifications 

the Kerkyraians had brought with regard to their previous policy of independence 

from the factions then emerging in the Greek world; from our point 

of view, it contains an explicit reference to the peculiarities of Kerkyra’s economy. 

In a recent interpretation of the passage, A. Bresson has proposed to identify 

in a ‘smart’ use of foreign traders as vectors of both imports and exports 

the foundation of Kerkyra’s autarkeia and thus of its golden isolation. 

In order to better define this autarkeia, it is our intention to put to the test – 

more comprehensively, and analytically – all the fragmentary news offered by 

the literary and epigraphical sources, as well as the data retrievable from the 

archaeological evidence, to build up – as far as possible – a picture of Kerkyra’s 

economy (agricultural production, port operations, commercial assets and relationships, 

directions) and its incidence on the events that mark the island’s internal 

and international life between the 5 th and the 4 th cent. BC. 

Ekaterini Kanta‐Kitsou, Kassiani Lazari 

32 nd Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities 

THESPROTIA DURING LATE CLASSIC AND HELLENISTIC PERIODS. 

THE FORMATION AND EVOLUTION OF THE CITIES 

In this paper we discuss the residential development and, in general, topography 

of Thesprotia during late Classic and Hellenistic periods (4 th -2 nd cent. 

BC), when the area evolves rapidly and the first fortified settlements and cities 

are established, following the example of the south Greek colonies, which have 

been set up on the coast of Epirus. 

In the mid‐4 th cent. BC the population of the small unfortified villages of 

Thesprotia is organized in new larger fortified settlements, which take control

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of greater areas that correspond generally to the most important Thesprotian 

tribes: Elea, the centre of the Eleates tribe; Phanote in the middle course of 

Kalamas River, the centre of Phanoteis; Elina (today’s Dymokastro), centre of 

Elinoi; as well as smaller settlements such as those in today’s villages Raveni 

and Polyneri. A little later, by the end of the 4 th cent. BC, Thesprotians expanded 

to the north, in the area of Kestrini, and established their political and 

commercial capital, Gitana, by the shore of Kalamas River. Each of the aforementioned 

settlements develops specific characteristics which are directly related 

to their geographical position and the contacts evolved along the existing 

trade routes. 

We focus on historical and geographical circumstances which lead to this 

evolution, the influence from the other Epirote tribes, especially the Molossians, 

and finally the complete change in the region and the life of its inhabitants during 

this period. 

Tomaso Lucchelli 


COINAGE IN NORTH-WESTERN GREECE: 

INTEGRATION AND LOCAL IDENTITIES 

North-Western Greece was an area where coinage spread and developed 

very slowly, except for some Korinthian colonies, such as Kerkyra, Leukas, and 

Ambrakia, which possessed a mint before ca. 480 BC. Besides, it is worth noting 

too that finds of Archaic and Classical Greek coins are quite rare in the region. 

This situation is quite remarkable, on the one hand because this area is located 

on the maritime route to South Italy and Sicily, where coinage was widely 

used since the end of the 6 th century; on the other because comparable ‘peripheral’ 

parts of the Greek world (e.g. Macedon and Thrace) seem in general to be 

much more receptive to adoption of coinage. Furthermore, the coinages of the 

Korinthian colonies (with the exclusion of Kerkyra) are modelled on that of the 

Mother City in every detail, except the letter of the mint signature; and Korinth 

exerted a decisive influence not only on the design of coins but also on the monetary 

matters of her colonies, which did not developed a truly autonomous coinage 

before the Hellenistic period. 

In many centres of North-Western Greece, and in particular in inland areas 

of Epirus and Akarnania, coinage makes only occasional appearances before the 

second half of the 4 th century, when two events caused a change in the nature of 

the locally available coinage: Macedonian expansionism and Timoleon’s expedition 

to Sicily. These two external factors created the conditions for a greater 

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production of coins in many mints of the area (especially Korinthian colonies 

which coined silver pegasi), but the whole region remained scarcely monetized 

until the 3 rd century, in spite of the emergence of more powerful and stable political 

entities such as the Akarnanian Confederacy and the kingdom of Epirus. 

Ivan Matijašić 


MILITARY MAGISTRATES IN NORTH-WESTERN GREECE? 

CONSIDERATIONS ON CIVIC INSTITUTIONS 

This paper analyzes the epigraphical documents attesting municipal magistrates 

in North-Western Greece, whose names refer to a military context – the 

strategos, the polemarchos, and the toxarchos, mainly attested in inscriptions 

from the Hellenistic period (in particular 3 rd -1 st cent. BC). 

The toxarchos, known only from two dedications from Apollonia of Illyria, 

had a role in the defence of the city and was probably bond to the cultic aspects 

of civic institutions. 

The magistrates known as strategoi and polemarchoi had various duties in 

Greek Hellenistic poleis. As Aristotle asserts, these city-magistrates were supposed 

to inspect the defences and organize the citizens both in times of war and 

peace. They were fundamental members of the citizenship and had not only 

military, but principally civic functions. This is the case of a strategos and a polemarchos 

attested in a Leukadian decree from the 2 nd century BC. 

The most frequent mention of strategoi in a local context in North-Western 

Greece is connected to Aphrodite. Several dedications attest a particular bond 

between poleic institutions and the goddess, as well as the existence of an Aphrodite 

Stratagis in Thyrreion. Some ancient authors, above all Plutarch, give 

the most suitable evidence to understand the political function of Aphrodite related 

to civic magistrates in Hellenistic and later Greek poleis. 

These considerations mark the similarity of the institutional models adopted 

by the communities of North-Western Greece with those of better-known areas 

of the Greek Hellenistic world.

Abstracts 

Garifalia Metallinou 

8 th Ephorate of Prehistoric and Classical Antiquities 

KERKYRA THROUGH THE EXCAVATIONS OF THE LAST YEARS. 

MYTHS AND REALITIES 

The gulf known as “Ionian Adrian Gulf” extended from Adria in the north to 

the island of Kerkyra further south. The name derives from the Ionian voyagers 

who got lost in this area trying to open the first trade sea‐routes. The early 

Ionian presence at this area that coincides with the first Euboean seafarers 

there foretells the significant role of Kerkyra regarding this region and the high 

level of its future development as well. 

Despite the fact that the city of Kerkyra is well known as a Korinthian colony 

– the identity of the first mother‐city, whether being Euboea or Korinth, is 

thoroughly discussed – Kerkyra’s role is more important as that of an independent 

city‐state. Kerkyra is indeed the sole city‐state in the north-western 

part of Greece and its history follows the same paths as the city‐states of 

mainland Greece. 

Kerkyra is situated in the sea‐route towards the West, opposite of the 

Thesprotian tribes and the Chaonians further east. It is this position that constitutes 

Kerkyra a critical factor of the area and moreover, a cosmopolitan centre. 

Beyond the ancient literal sources that directly or indirectly refer to this 

role of the island, the archaeological finds are equally essential. 

Ancient Kerkyra since the late 8 th century BC spreads throughout the Kanoni 

peninsula. The agora on the northern part of this peninsula was the centre 

of the city‐state, while the extra‐mural cemeteries were developed northern and 

western as well. Two ports that have been deduced so far provided all the support 

for the commercial and naval activities. The sanctuaries, at the edge of the 

peninsula and close to the harbours, constitute an amalgam of different ideas 

with cosmopolitan features. 

Manufacture installations archaeologically deduced around the ports as well 

as incorporated in the settlement produced all the necessary for local communities, 

but also for exportation. Literal evidence attest the Kerkyraian wine that, 

as it seems, was an export to the West and the Greek markets transferred within 

the Kerkyraian trade amphora. However, it is quite possible that goods were 

imported to Kerkyra from its Epirotan and Illyrian conquests. 

Kerkyraian markets were supplied with locally produced Korinthian pottery 

since the end of the 7 th century BC. By the second half of the 6 th century BC 

Kerkyra regained its role in the Adriatic routes. 

A distinctive trait of the island’s cosmopolitan role is the numismatic type 

that was established here. The Kerkyraean stater that was firstly coined in the 

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late 6 th century BC and the denominations that followed served the international 

trade as they favoured the exchange from the Korinthian numismatic 

standard to that of the Chalcidian colonies at Sicily. 

Fifth century BC is marked by the Athenian presence in the West and the 

civil strife between aristocrats and democrats. The evolvement of Kerkyra into 

the dispute between Sparta and Athens and its support to the latter give the 

features of the 4 th century BC, just before the city‐state loses its autonomy and 

becomes a conquest itself by the new powerful authorities of the region. 

Silvia Palazzo 


ETHNE AND POLEIS ALONG THE FIRST STRETCH 

OF THE VIA EGNATIA: 

THE PERSPECTIVE OF A SOURCE 

The area extending from the Adriatic coast to the western borders of Macedonia 

was already of great interest to Macedonian rulers and then to the Romans 

since their first contact with the Hellenistic kingdoms, yet it does not 

mean – for us, anyway – a detailed knowledge of this land of ethne. In order to 

recover the sources’ perspective however cursory, and to focus the many problems 

facing those who attempt to reconstruct and understand these realities, we 

tried to isolate the Polybian voice, seeking the perceivable aspect of this section 

of 2 nd -century Illyris at the “coming of Rome”. 

Starting from a passage of Polybius (5, 108) that actually mentions some 

realities (mostly poleis) in the area rather in detail, we observe how the ancient 

tradition has incorporated such information, with particular attention to placenames 

and their reception (and processing) in Livy, who largely depends on 

Polybius for the period we are dealing with. The Livian trend to ‘translate’ 

names of regions into ethnics seems to have caused some major misunderstanding: 

see e.g. Parthos in Polyb. 18, 47, 12 and Parthini in Liv. 33, 34. The picture 

of Illyricum at the time of Roman political rearrangement in 167 BC (Liv. 

45, 26), read in the mirror of what survives of Polybius’ Histories, makes clear 

also the ambiguous position and the unsolved extension of some ethne (Taulantoi, 

Dassaretai). 

To conclude we examine a tradition about the city of Harpyia (Steph. Byz., 

s.v. = Polyb. fr. 21): could it really be included in the area under consideration, 

the fact that it recognized Baton (Amphiaraus’ char-iotteer) as its own founder 

could be an example of the link between the Theban and the Illyrian areas,

Abstracts 

which is otherwise clearly detectable in the mythical complex around Cadmus 

and Harmony, and some of their descendants. 

Lazzaro Pietragnoli 


PROBOULOI 

IN POLITICAL THOUGHT AND INSTITUTIONAL PRAXIS: 

AN ATTEMPT AT SYNTHESIS 

Aristotle considers the probouloi as one of the distinguishing features of the 

oligarchies, giving them the deliberative functions of democratic boule: the only 

difference between the two magistracies would be their numerical size. In one 

passage Aristotle focuses on the authority they had to execute taken decisions. 

This importance, however, has no immediate feedback in historiography and 

epigraphical documentation – anyway, the best data about the probouloi comes 

from the Ionian Sea area and North-Western Greece, which allows us to better 

contextualize the role of these magistrates and to assess the tasks assigned to 

them. 

Particularly significant are the documents found in Kerkyra (a group of proxeny 

decrees), from which we can deduce that the probouloi performed executive 

functions – to be also exerted in discretional form on behalf of the Assembly 

– and would be elected for a fixed period (they did not rotate, as in other 

contexts). The presence of probouloi in Eretria (first motherland of Kerkyra, 

according to tradition) and in the mother-city Korinth (probably under the Bakchiads 

already) gives us some indication for the continuity of this arche and its 

origin on the island. 

Interesting documentation comes from Lokroi Epizephyrioi, where, despite 

the uncertainties on the overall picture, the probouloi seem to be one of the 

main government magistrates with functions of approval, promulgation and implementation 

of civic decrees. 

Kerkyraian and Lokrian examples allow us not only to integrate Aristotle’s 

analysis by considering the probouloi as judges with extensive executive powers, 

but also to assume an institutional continuity between the Ionian Islands 

and Southern Italy, perhaps in the sign of Korinth. 

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Georgios Riginos 


ANCIENT KASSOPEIA AND ADJACENT AREAS 

DURING THE CLASSIC AND HELLENISTIC PERIODS 

Human presence in Southern Epirus dates back to the middle Palaeolithic; 

the earliest settlements of Greek-speaking Thesprotian tribes – Kassopaians 

(Preveza) and Dryopes (Arta) – are to be dated in the 2 nd millennium BC. 

The tholos tomb at Kiperi (Parga) and the acropolis of Ephyra, near the Nekromanteion, 

are associated with the Mycenaean expansion to the West. 8 th to 

7 th cent. BC Elaian colonies were founded in key positions on the coastline and 

in the adjacent inner land: Bouchetion, Baties, Elatreia, and Pandosia. 

In 625 BC the Korinthians established their colony, Ambrakia, which soon 

became an important urban, political, and economic centre. In the 4 th cent. BC 

the Epirote tribes abandoned their nomadic lifestyle and gathered in fortified 

settlements, some of which evolved into proper poleis, such as Kassope in Kassopaia 

and Gitane in Thesprotia. 

When Pyrros made Ambrakia the new capital of the Molossian kingdom in 

295 BC, the former Korinthian colony became the bridgehead of the raids of the 

king of Epirus into Greece and Italy: the city knew at this point a second period 

of splendour, as shown by the temples and public buildings (such as the theatre) 

built by Pyrros. More generally, the end of the Classical and especially the Hellenistic 

period were times of prosperity of the Epirote cities, which – if built in 

environmentally defensible positions – were fortified by means of isodomic and 

especially polygonal walls, with towers and angled structures that follow the 

natural topography. 

The organization of settlements and poleis of Epirus, though following the 

Hippodamaean model of Ambrakia, adapts to the topography of the area, with 

parallel roads that intersect with wider streets (leophoroi) to form housing insulae, 

which have a highly developed drainage system. A special area is devoted 

to public life – religious, political, administrative, and economic. 

In the housing insulae there developed – on one (Orraon) or two (Ambrakia 

and Kassope) orders – houses of the same size, 15 × 15 m approximately, facing 

South, with the main entrance onto the street, stone foundations and walls 

in mud bricks – except at Orraon, where houses are built entirely of stone. In 

Hellenistic times houses were equipped with internal courtyards and patios, 

monumental entrances and rooms with mosaic floors. 

The water supply of settlements and poleis was secured by springs (Kassope, 

Elatreia, etc.), cisterns to collect rainwater (Kassope, Orraon, Baties, Elatreia, 

Pandosia), and wells (Ambrakia).

Abstracts 

Andreas Sotiriou 


CLASSICAL AND HELLENISTIC KEPHALONIA. 

THE EVOLUTION OF FOUR MAJOR CITY‐STATES 

The island of Kephalonia, in the light of present day research, stands out as 

a powerful political and military centre, which played its part in the shaping of 

the Greek world. There were outstanding moments in its history and times, 

when it played a decisive role in the outcome of political events. 

Among the monuments of Kephalonia, the remains of four organized cities 

stand out, claiming their share in the history of the island. Their significance, 

power and role became apparent soon after the Roman Conquest. Titus Livius, 

the historian who describes their surrender, mentions that the fall of Krane, 

Pale and Pronnoi was an unexpected event, welcomed by Rome in the same 

way as an unexpected peace: “insperata pax Cephalleniae affulserat”. 

Maria Stavropoulou‐Gatsi 


NEW ARCHAEOLOGICAL RESEARCHES 

IN AITOLIA, AKARNANIA, AND LEUKAS 

A great number of archaeological investigations – systematic and rescue excavations 

as well as interdisciplinary survey projects – have been undertaken 

during the last twenty years in many areas at Aitolia, Akarnania and Leukas, 

resulting in a better consideration of their archaeological material and historical 

evolution. This paper focuses on the recent researches carried out on three of 

the most important ancient towns of these regions and their territories, which 

are Kalydon in Aitolia, Stratos in Akarnania and the Korinthian colony of Leukas 

on the homonymous island. 

In Kalydon the recent Greek‐Danish field project inside and outside its fortification 

walls has brought to light parts of the lower town, a large public building 

with attested cult activities and the theatre. In addition, several structures on 

the east slopes towards Evinos River and near the harbour provide more data 

about the evolution of the city. In Stratos, the centre of the Akarnanian League 

until the middle of the 3 rd century, when the city was integrated into the Aitolian 

League, the Greek‐German field survey project combined with the excavations 

at the agora and the theatre offered important information about the development 

of the town and its territory from the prehistoric until the Roman pe- 

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riod. Recent rescue excavations enrich our knowledge on its necropolises. Finally, 

the archaeological data coming from the recent research in the urban and 

suburban area of Leukas, as well as in its cemeteries, reveal the social and economical 

structure of the city in the Classical, Hellenistic, and Roman period. 

Daniela Summa 

Berlin-Brandenburgische Akademie der Wissenschaften, Inscriptiones Graecae 

A NEW LIST FOR ARTEMIS 

Whilst collecting Akarnanian inscriptions in order to compose an Addendum 

to IG IX 1² 2, I focussed on a somewhat unclear document (IG IX 1² 2, 451) 

from the ancient city of Palairos in Akarnania, dating from the 2 nd century BC. 

This is a list – quite complete except for gaps at ll. 3-4 and 9-10 – containing 

the names of the members of a religious association and those of the man directly 

responsible for the sacrificial banquet. Very unusually, in the text no office 

does characterize any of the names. The name of the god does not appear 

either, to whom those people offered the dedication: this is not so unusual or 

surprising, yet so far this circumstance has not allowed to link the dedication to 

any specific cult. We present here a new reading of ll. 3-4 of the inscription, 

which leads to a full restoration of a hiereus (ll. 1-2), eight syn(e)iereis (ll. 3- 

20), as well as the name of the worshipped god (l. 4), Artemis. In the same 

area other epigraphical and archaeological finds were excavated, yet our list 

cannot be attributed to the same nearby sanctuary of Artemis as they are. 

Anyway, these finds from the sanctuary of Artemis and its surroundings consist 

of votive statuettes of Artemis and dedications attesting the names of 

eponymous priestesses. From all of which an unexpected picture emerges of the 

personnel of cult of Artemis’ sanctuary in Palairos.

Lo spazio ionico e le comunità della Grecia nord-occidentale

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