Workshop im DAI Istanbul, 31. Mai bis 2. Juni 2010

Kontakt: Dr. Anja Slawisch - slawisch@istanbul.dainst.org

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Unser athenozentrisches Bild von der griechischen Welt im 5. Jh. v. Chr. wurde sowohl durch antike als auch durch moderne Historiker geprägt. Die Dominanz Athens auf kulturellem Gebiet war in erster Linie eine Folge ihrer militärischen Siege und der daraus resultierenden wirtschaftlichen Stärke. Diese erlaubte es der Stadt die führende Rolle im delisch-attischen Seebund einzunehmen und aus dieser Position heraus bestimmte Athen maßgeblich die politischen Geschicke der griechischen Staatenwelt. Dinglich manifestierte sich diese Führungsrolle beispielsweise im immensen Münzausstoß der Stadt. Außerhalb Athens (auf den griechischen Inseln, der Peloponnes, Kreta oder auch in den Poleis an der kleinasiatischen Küste) ist das 5. Jh. durch einen deutlichen Rückgang, mancherorts auch das vollständige Fehlen archäologischer und epigraphischer Quellen gekennzeichnet. Dies steht in starkem Kontrast zur Denkmälerfülle des 6. und 4. Jh. v. Chr. und wurde als umfassender wirtschaftlicher, kultureller und politischer Niedergang beschrieben. Intensiv genutzte Handelskontakte brechen scheinbar ab, die ägäische Welt wird zum 'Spielball' persischer, athenischer und spartanischer Hegemonieansprüche.

Daneben zeigen die erhaltenen Quellen sehr gut, in welchem Maße Athen versuchte, lokale Autonomiebestrebungen insbesondere auf dem politischen, Handels- oder Finanzsektor, zu unterbinden bzw. zu reglementieren. Das hierfür am häufigsten angeführte Beispiel ist sicherlich das sog. Attische Münzdekret. Das Handels- und Finanzgebaren des 5. Jhs. v. Chr. in der Ägäis lässt sich jedoch in seiner Komplexität keineswegs allein mit der Dominanz Athens beschreiben bzw. erklären.

Ausgewählte numismatische, (wirtschafts)historische und archäologische Fallstudien und Kernfragen sollen deshalb während des Workshops miteinander in Beziehung gesetzt und fachübergreifend diskutiert werden.

•  Durch welche Faktoren (z. B. politische Stabilität/Instabilität, Einfluss von Financiers, Wegfall von Handelspartnern) werden ökonomische Pro- bzw. Regression ausgelöst, begünstigt, ent- bzw. beschleunigt?
•  Lassen sich Handelsbeziehungen zwischen verschiedenen regionalen Ökonomien des 6. Jhs. v. Chr. nachweisen, die zu Dominoeffekten oder Kausalzusammenhängen während des 5. Jhs. v. Chr. führen konnten?
•  Welchen Aussagewert haben die archäologischen und epigraphischen Quellen (lokale Münzemissionen, Handelsgüter, Dekrete) bezüglich der Formierung und Aufgabe von Handelsnetzwerken während des 5. Jh. v. Chr.?
•  In welchem Maße können moderne Wirtschaftstheorien und Interpretationsmodelle auf die antiken Ökonomien angewendet werden?

Ziel des Workshop ist es, eine Plattform für einen konzentrierten wissenschaftlichen Austausch zwischen Historikern, Archäologen und Numismatikern zu schaffen, um gemeinsam die Facetten der Finanz- und Wirtschaftsgeschichte innerhalb eines klar definierten geographischen und zeitlichen Rahmens - der Ägäischen Welt des 5. Jh. v. Chr. - zu diskutieren und die athenozentrische Sicht auf diese Epoche zu relativieren.

Konferenzsprachen sind Deutsch, Englisch und Französisch.

gefördert durch / sponsored by

Workshop: "Trade and Finance in the 5th c. BC Aegean World”
Istanbul, 31st May to 2nd June 2010

Our traditional picture of the Aegean in the 5th century BC is one dominated by Athens and her historians, both ancient and modern. The apparent supremacy of the city in the cultural field, a result of its military and economical pre-eminence, allowed the city to define the political trajectory of the Greek world as leader of the Delian League. But outside of Athens (on the Aegean Islands, Crete, the Greek mainland or the poleis of the Asia Minor coast) the 5th century is characterised by a decline - indeed in some areas by a complete absence of archaeological and epigraphical material. This absence of evidence stands in a strong contrast to the substantial remains of ancient monuments from the 6th and 4th century BC in the same areas, and thus the period has been characterised as one of widespread economical, cultural and political crisis or collapse. Intensive trade contracts seem to fracture, and the Aegean World becomes an arena for competing Persian, Athenian and Spartan hegemonic cultural and imperial ambitions.

Our Atheno-centric sources hint at the ways in which Athens tried to suppress or regulate local attempts to gain autonomy in the political, trade or financial sector: the most cited being the Athenian Coin Decree. However, these sources only tell part of the story, and the 5th century Aegean world cannot be described or fully explained in terms of the political manoeuvres of Athens alone. Detailed comparative studies from different regions and different types of evidence can instead offer a more nuanced view of the processes at work in this poorly understood century.

This international workshop aims, therefore, to unite numismatic, economic-historical and archaeological case studies to address several key questions:

•  What factors (eg. political instability, local abundance or lack of resources, influence of finance and localised taxes, loss of trading partners) were responsible for this cultural and economic 'crisis', and how did they work?
•  Were there identifiable connections between different regional economies in the 6th century which might suggest domino or causal effects in the 5th?
•  How can we use the available evidence (eg. local coin emissions, traded goods, cultural changes) to analyse the formation and abandonment of trade networks through the 5th century?
•  Can modern economic or interpretative theories or models contribute to our explanations of the archaeological and epigraphic evidence for this period?

The workshop will create an interdisciplinary forum for scientific exchange between ancient historians, numismatics and archaeologists to discuss the different facets of the financial and economical history within this defined geographical and chronological frame - the Aegean World of the 5th century - and attempt displace our traditional reliance on the Athenian centre.

The language of the workshop will be English, German and French.

Teilnehmer/Participants

• Prof. Dr. Deborah N. Carlson, Nautical Archaeology Program, Texas A&M University
A View from the Sea: Athenian Imperialism and Maritime Trade in Classical Ionia

• Dr. Christy Constantakopoulou, Birkbeck College, London
Tribute, the Athenian empire and small states and communities in the Aegean

• Prof. Dr. John Davies, School of Archaeology, Classics and Egyptology, Liverpool
Land, commodities and money: The Athenian stranglehold on the Aegean

• Prof. Dr. Brice Erickson, University of California, Santa Barbara
Island Archaeologies and the Economy of the Athenian Empire

• Dr. Yaşar Ersoy, Senior Fellow of the RCAC, Istanbul
Causes and effects of the 5th century politics in Western Asia Minor: The Clazomenae Evidence

• Prof. Dr. Andreas Furtwängler, Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Ost und West: Zur Rezeption Phokäischer Kunst 525 - 460 v. Chr.

• Jakob Hanke M. A., Goethe-Universität, Frankfurt a. M.
Der Ionische Aufstand als Beispiel für die Monetarisierung politischer Krisen?

• Dr. Koray Konuk, CNRS Bordeaux
Coinage and Politics in Western Asia Minor in the 5th century BC

• Dr. Mark Lawall, University of Manitoba, Winnipeg
Transport amphoras, tribute and trade in the 5th century BC

• Dorothea Mauermann M. A., Junior Fellow of the RCAC, Istanbul
Persische Politik an der kleinasiatischen Küste

• Prof. Dr. Andreas Mehl, Martin Luther Universität Halle-Wittenberg
Zyperns Rolle im Überseehandel des 5. Jh.s v. Chr.

• Prof. Dr. Dres. h. c. Bertram Schefold, J. W. Goethe-Universität Frankfurt am Main
The applicability of modern economics to forms of capitalism in antiquity : Some theoretical considerations and textual evidence

• Dr. Anja Slawisch, Deutsches Archäologisches Institut, Istanbul
Absatzmarkt Ionien: Die archäologischen Zeugnisse

• Dr. Ceylan Tozeren, Boğazici University, Istanbul
Between Two Seas: An Economic View of the Ancient Propontis

Zusammenfassungen/Abstracts

A View from the Sea: Athenian Imperialism and Maritime Trade in Classical Ionia.

For three summers between 1999 and 2001, the Institute of Nautical Archaeology (INA) at Texas A&M University carried out the underwater excavation of a small Greek merchant ship that sank between 440 and 425 B.C. or shortly thereafter off the Aegean coast of Turkey at Tektaş Burnu. The Tektaş Burnu ship was carrying a cargo of wine and pine tar contained in more than 200 transport amphoras, alongside smaller quantities of east Greek pottery.
Despite the historical importance of trade in the fifth century B.C., modern scholars know surprisingly little about the mechanics of that trade or the people behind it. As a result, the amphora - a two-handled, clay jar produced in virtually every major Greek polis and used for transporting oil, wine, fish sauce, fruit, nuts, meat, and even inedible commodities like pine tar - has gained vital importance as an indicator of agricultural and economic activity.
My study of the amphora cargo from Tektaş Burnu has shown that a previously unattributed type had been produced at Ionian Erythrai, which lies under the Turkish town of Ildırı not far from the shipwreck site. Amphora stamps from the shipwreck include an abbreviated Erythraian ethnic type as well as simple geometric and iconographic motifs; this corpus provides a unique context for the evaluation of early Greek stamping practices and gives us reason to posit the existence of industry - otherwise archaeologically invisible - at Ionian Erythrai in the decades following the rise of Athens as an economic superpower.
The evidence from Tektaş Burnu suggests that this was a modest merchant ship engaged primarily in small-scale, local trade along the coast of ancient Ionia. The voyage thus constitutes precious archaeological evidence for ship construction and naval technology in the fifth century B.C., the size and diversity of Classical cargoes, and the nature and structure of regional economies at the periphery of the Athenian maritime empire.
Only one other Classical shipwreck in the Aegean, off the Greek island of Alonnesos, has been explored to date. Early finds suggest that this enormous merchantman was carrying a cargo of Attic black glaze pottery and more than 4000 Northern Greek amphoras when it sank between 420 and 400 B.C. By contrast, pottery finds from Tektaş Burnu indicate that our more modest ship was engaged primarily in coastal cabotage along the Ionian coast, calling at the islands of Chios, Samos, and perhaps Lesbos, but not at Athens.
The evidence for amphora production at Erythrae is particularly exciting because archaeological evidence for the Classical city is virtually non-existent. Almost 50 years ago, John Cook (1961) interpreted the absence of monumental architecture in fifth-century B.C. Ionia to be an indication of cultural devastation and "economic paralysis” brought on by the high cost of Athenian imperialism in the decades following the Persian Wars. While ongoing terrestrial excavations at various sites around western Turkey are beginning to refine this picture, the archaeological record of Classical Ionia is still riddled with conspicuous holes.
At the time the Tektaş Burnu ship was wrecked in the third quarter of the fifth century B.C., Athens was the leading naval power in the Mediterranean, a position the Athenians achieved through the economic exploitation of allied city-states and heavy-handed control over maritime trade.
Deborah N. Carlson

Tribute, the Athenian empire and small states and communities in the Aegean

It is well known that the Athenian empire had a great impact on the economy, politics, and culture of the Aegean world during the fifth century. Narratives, however, of Greek history concentrate, perhaps inevitably, on the history of Athens. Using the Athenian tribute quota lists and the reassessment decrees as my starting point, I will be looking at communities and small poleis of the Athenian empire. I will propose that the process of becoming a member of the empire and the practicalities that such membership involved, most particularly the payment of tribute, had an impact on the political organisation of such communities and more importantly perhaps on their economic integration in the wider Aegean network of production, consumption and redistribution. Finally, a careful examination of the quota lists and assessment decrees reveals that there was such a thing as a 'hidden' empire, that is that the impact of the Athenian empire on the communities of the Aegean was perhaps greater than our sources reveal.
Christy Constantakopoulou

Land, commodities and money: The Athenian stranglehold on the Aegean

I approach the theme of this workshop as a historian of Athens heavily engaged in preparing a second edition of APF. The evidence cited (literary and epigraphical) will therefore be largely Athens-based, but the vantage-point will be as non-Athenian as the evidence allows. I shall focus (a) on landholding by Athenians elsewhere in the Aegean in the C5, whether acquired by expropriation or purchase, (b) on the extent of Athenian control of production and/or trafficking in strategic primary products, and (c) on the effects of monetisation and money supply on public and private transactions. The evidence for (a) is well-known and will be presented in summary form. That for (b) is more diffuse and speculative, while that for (c) barely exists in any direct form. Indirectly, however, Andokides' acknowledgment in 391 of the post-403 drive to recover 'Chersonese, the colonies, the overseas possessions and the debts' (3.15, with 36) may suggest that (c), especially the control and quantity of the money supply, should be accorded some importance. I shall attempt to theorise both aspects, using comparative evidence and focusing especially on what forms such debts are likely to have taken.
John Davies

Island Archaeologies and the Economy of the Athenian Empire

Traditional approaches to the economic dimensions of the Athenian empire have relied on the ancient textural tradition, Thucydides above all, and inscriptions such as the Coinage Decree. These sources mostly provide an Athenian perspective on the empire. But field archaeology is capable of giving a different perspective on economic changes in the Aegean in the fifth century, a view from those under Athenian control and on the margins. The challenge is forming a coherent historical picture from the various excavation reports in different islands and regions. As Robin Osborne observed, there is as yet no true archaeology of the Athenian empire.
New evidence and recent studies, however, are beginning to point the way to such an archaeological approach to Athenian imperialism. This paper examines Athenian cultural and economic influence on two islands, Euboea, a place of vital concern to Athenian policy makers, and Crete, an island that conventional historical narratives have cast as peripheral to mainland Greek developments. These two islands reveal different historical trajectories. A recent study has suggested that Athenian military control over Euboea can be seen in changes in settlement patterns and the establishment of guard posts. On Crete, however, the repercussions of Athenian naval hegemony are less direct. The Athenians did not attempt to control this island, but changes in Aegean trade patterns precipitated by Athenian power created winners and losers on Crete. This study draws from the author's recent excavations at the Cretan port town of Priniatikos Pyrgos, where the fifth century witnessed changes in settlement patterns and a surprising boom and bust cycle of expanding and contracting overseas interactions. Preliminary conclusions can be drawn about the economic effects of Athenian imperialism in areas outside Athenian control.
Brice Erickson

Causes and effects of the 5th century politics in Western Asia Minor: The Clazomenae Evidence

It is a common fact that there are serious difficulties in understanding the archaeological evidence and reconstructing the history of Anatolia in the Achaemenid period. Diversity of ethnic groups in such a vast geography controlled by the Persians and widespread social and cultural disorientation experienced by people in the region rule out the possibility of finding common causes and answers to the old questions. The complexity of the issue is also valid for Ionia herself, where we have such a difficulty of finding relevant archaeological and epigraphical evidence for the concerning period. Unlike many other significant city-states located on the Eastern Aegean coast, Clazomenae is lucky enough to produce substantial evidence of human activity both in the domestic sphere as well as in the funerary grounds dating to the Archaic and the Classical periods. Lack of massive civic structures of the Hellenistic and Roman periods which had partly concealed or destroyed earlier levels, provide a unique opportunity to understand the complex socio-political dynamics that had an effect on the Clazomenians during the 6th through the mid-4th centuries BC. Comparatively little has been exposed of 5th century BC Clazomenae by excavation on the Karantina Island. Still, however, there is hardly any question that the city-center of the period was located on the off-shore islet and the mainland was essentially used for the agricultural purposes. In this talk, I will present the overall archaeological evidence related with the fifth century BC from the site and also attempt to contextualize it in the wider Aegean sphere by taking into consideration of various political factions that had an effect on the citizen body of Clazomenae. The issues to be discussed in this report include the material culture, especially the ceramic assemblage, burials from the site as well as domestic architecture of the concerning era.
Yaşar Ersoy

Der Ionische Aufstand als Beispiel für die Monetarisierung politischer Krisen?

Der Ionische Aufstand zwischen 500 und 494 v. Chr. gilt als ein Ereignis von weitreichender politischer und historischer Bedeutung. In einem komplexen Prozess hatten sich zahlreiche Städte an der Kleinasiatischen Westküste und auf Zypern zusammengeschlossen, um sich gegen die persische Oberhoheit in Kleinasien zu erheben. Obwohl im Rahmen dieses Aufstandes zahlreiche wirtschaftliche oder finanzielle Entwicklungen stattgefunden haben müssen, besitzen wir diesbezüglich nur wenige aussagekräftige Quellen. Daher erregte es auch besondere Aufmerksamkeit, als die Forschungsgeschichte im frühen 20. Jahrhundert eine Serie hochwertiger Elektronmünzen als offizielle Münzprägung des Ionischen Aufstandes benannte. Die weitreichenden Folgen einer derartigen Interpretation führten zu umfangreichen Diskussionen, die sich im Laufe der Zeit immer kontroverser entwickelten. Ausgehend von einer Präsentation des aktuellen Forschungsstandes werden die einzelnen Typen der Münzserie und deren wichtigsten Interpretationsansätze vorgestellt und kommentiert. Im Fokus steht dabei die Frage, in welchem Umfang man tatsächlich von einer gemeinsamen Münzemission des Ionischen Aufstandes sprechen kann und welche Auswirkung die entsprechenden Beobachtungen auf ökonomische bzw. finanzpolitische Fragestellungen haben. Dabei soll auch besprochen werden, ob sich im Fall des Ionischen Aufstandes Quellen erschließen lassen, die Rückschlüsse auf die Bedeutung monetärer Systeme für wirtschaftliche und politische Entwicklung am Beginn des 5. Jahrhunderts zulassen. Abschließend gilt es Ansätze zu besprechen, deren Bearbeitung neue Erkenntnisse oder wissenschaftliche Potentiale liefern könnte. Könnte die Münzprägung des Ionischen Aufstandes geeignet sein, um moderne Theorien, wie jene des Monetarismus auszuleuchten? Welche Bedeutung hat Geld für den Ablauf politischer und militärischer Auseinandersetzungen? Kann man am Beginn des 5. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. schon von einer monetarisierten Gesellschaft sprechen?
Jakob Hanke

Coinage and Politics in Western Asia Minor in the 5th century BC

This paper attempts to assess the numismatic evidence for Asia Minor in the 5th century BC. Much, perhaps too much, emphasis has been placed on the influence of Athens over the minting activities of her allies. How much were these minting cities curtailed in their usual practices? Admittedly the available evidence is not always very conclusive and the impact of a decision such as the famous coinage decree cannot be fully appreciated when hard data (precise internal and external chronology or die counts) concerning mints is still mostly lacking. Hoard evidence can help to better understand the large picture through coin circulation. Did Athenian owls really arrive en masse throughout the whole of western Asia Minor from the mid-century onwards? It seems that we ought to distinguish movements of large sums of money and coins used for local transactions, which were struck by a very large number of mints of coastal Asia Minor. These were of course not minting, safe for a few exceptions, on a regular basis. Coins were issued sporadically in order to meet specific needs which were various and occurred every now and then. On the other hand, mints of Lycia produced large amounts of chunky silver coins whose significance is perhaps to be linked with Persian influence. Last but not least, sigloi and darics issued at Sardis and perhaps at another mint (Daskyleion?) were also an important part of the circulation pattern and their relative importance will be discussed.
Koray Konuk

Transport amphoras, tribute and trade in the 5th century BC

Transport amphoras, despite their ubiquitous presence at sites throughout the Aegean and despite their direct connection to economic behavior, have rarely been brought into discussions of the economic history of the 5th century Aegean. Exceptionally, Harold Mattingly and others considered the Athenian Standards Decree in terms of amphora capacities, but the production and distribution of the jars themselves have received little attention from historians of the period.
Shortly before 500 BC, Aegean amphora production and distribution can be characterized as focusing on relatively narrow regions with the eastern and southeastern Aegean centers seemingly dominating any longer distance shipping. During and after the early decades of the 5th century, the production of that region declines sharply; there is no indication of similar decline in the north Aegean. By the mid to late 5th century, southeastern Aegean production expands again; however, in this period, centers in the northern Aegean dominate long distance exports. At the same time producers in the north, and some in the south, adopt new amphora-marking practices that imply a developing administration of amphora use and likely commerce more generally.
By way of opening discussion of the interpretation of these patterns in the amphora record, two points are worth noting: 1) correlations between military or political events and aspects of the amphora record are difficult to find, but 2) the political framework of the period from both a Greek and a Persian perspective cannot be ignored. One element of the political framework that might bear heavily on the amphora-record is the imposition of tribute and other practices requiring money on hand. In other settings, historians have discussed a 'taxes and trade' model. The need to convert goods to cash might have stimulated the development of methods of packaging and distribution - and the potential for further revenues from those processes. Various modes of amphora distribution (e.g., long-haul as opposed short-haul shipping) brought different requirements in terms of social and financial institutions, and these requirements will have shaped the structure of the taxes and trade model for understanding amphora shipping in the 5th century BC.
Mark Lawall

Persische Politik an der kleinasiatischen Küste

Nach der Schlacht an der Mykale und der Errichtung des delische - attischen Seebundes gelangten die kleinasiatischen Städte wieder unter griechische Oberhoheit.
Seit 454/3 erscheinen die Städte auf den attischen Tributlisten, so dass spätestens für diesen Zeitpunkt mit einem Verlust der Tributeinannahmen für die Perser zu rechnen ist. Mit dem Kallias- Frieden, dessen Historizität noch immer umstritten ist, wird den Persern der Zutritt zur Drei- Tagesreisen - Zone und somit auch zur Küste verwehrt. Demgegenüber erscheinen immer wieder Notizen darüber, dass griechische Flüchtlinge, Themistokles, Demaratos und Gongylos, vom GK mit kleinasiatischen Städten belehnt werden. Diese Städte bleiben z.T. bis weit nach dem peloponnesischen Krieg im Privatbesitz der Nachkommen solcher Flüchtlinge.
Die Untersuchung will noch einmal die Quellen nebeneinander stellen und den Versuch unternehmen, die persische Politik im 5. Jh. v. Chr. im fraglichen Gebiet zu beleuchten.
Dorothea Mauermann

Zyperns Rolle im Überseehandel des 5. Jh.s v. Chr.

Die erste Hälfte des 5. Jh.s war gekennzeichnet zuerst von persischer, sodann griechischer - zunächst festlandsgriechischer, bald athenischer - Politik und Kriegsführung gegen die jeweils andere Seite. In allen damit verbundenen Aktionen wiesen die Hauptakteure Zypern eine besondere Rolle zu. Das letzte Drittel desselben Jahrhunderts ist hinwiederum erfüllt von der großen innergriechischen Auseinandersetzung des 'Peloponnesischen Krieges'.
Längst ist nachgewiesen, dass die Kriegführung zwischen Griechenland bzw. Athen und dem Achaimenidenreich nicht die Unterbindung von Warenaustausch bedeutete. Davon ausgehend wird der erste Hauptteil des Vortrages nachzeichnen, wie sich die in das Achaimenidenreich eher locker qua Oberherrschaft eingebundene Insel Zypern am Handel einerseits mit eigenen Produkten wie Kupfer und andererseits am Zwischenhandel mit Produkten aus anderen Territorien des Achaimenidenreiches genauso wie mit solchen aus dem griechischen Ägäisraum beteiligt hat. Der 'Peloponnesische Krieg' hinwiederum hatte nach gängiger Interpretation erhebliche Auswirkungen auf die Handelsströme in der Ägäis und als Konsequenz davon auch außerhalb dieser. Wieweit sich diese Veränderungen auf Zyperns Überseehandel ausgewirkt haben, wird den zweiten Hauptteil des Vortrages ausmachen.
Andreas Mehl

The applicability of modern economics to forms of capitalism in antiquity: Some theoretical considerations and textual evidence

The applicability of modern economic conception to forms of capitalism in antiquity has been controversial at least since the debate between primitivists and modernists (the Bücher-Meyer-Controversy, revived by Finley, among others). The Debate and its present extensions are of interest to ancient historians, archaeologists, economic historians, sociologists and economists. I shall try to contribute by means of a critical assessment of Max Weber's texts on capitalism (not modern capitalism!) in antiquity and by using some textual evidence, primarily taken from Plato's Nomoi and Xenophon, in order to identify fundamental reasons why the core of modern neoclassical theory is at best of limited applicability. The great variety of model building in modern economics blurs the result, since one often can construct some variant of a model which seems fit to represent some aspect of a pre-modern formation. I shall argue, by contrast, that there are still good reasons to regard the economic rationality of the ancients as sufficiently different from ours to expect differences between mainstream economics and analytical or verbal approximations to the economics of antiquity in the description of economic processes.
Bertram Schefold

Absatzmarkt Ionien: Die archäologischen Zeugnisse

Das 5. Jh. v. Chr. ist geprägt von politischer und ökonomischer Instabilität, resultierend aus wechselnden Machtverhältnissen, innerhalb derer die kleinasiatischen Poleis zum Spielball persischer, athenischer und spartanischer Hegemonieansprüche werden.
Sowohl Spektrum als auch Menge der archäologischer Zeugnisse unterscheiden sich deutlich von denen des 6. bzw. des nachfolgenden 4. Jahrhunderts v. Chr. Mit Hilfe von Fallbeispielen soll deshalb der Frage nachgegangen werden, inwieweit sich Zusammenhänge feststellen lassen zwischen konkreten politischen Ereignissen wie etwa Kriegshandlungen und dem Warenspektrum bzw. dessen Quantität.
Dabei wird u. a. zu klären sein, ob der Rückgang des Keramikimportes aus Athen im 5. Jh. v. Chr. ein auf die Landschaft Ionien begrenztes Phänomen ist und ob sich konkrete Ursachen dafür aufzeigen lassen. Berücksichtigt werden soll in diesem Kontext auch die Veränderung des Fundmaterials in den großen, überregional bekannten und frequentierten Heiligtümern, die, so scheint es, an Bedeutung verlieren. Gleichzeitig mit dem deutlichen Rückgang fremder Waren in Ionien endet offenbar auch die Herstellung und der Export ionischer Feinkeramik. Durch entsprechende Amphorenfunde ist dagegen der küstennahe, lokale Handel mit landwirtschaftlichen Produkten nachweisbar.
Eine signifikante Erholung bzw. eine Belebung des Marktes wird nach dem derzeitigen Stand der Forschung erst wieder im ausgehenden 5. und beginnenden 4. Jahrhunderts greifbar.
Anja Slawisch

Between Two Seas: An Economic View of the Ancient Propontis

Trade between the Black Sea and the Aegean in the fifth century has been a significant topic of study for scholars, both in its effects on the political developments of the period, and as evidence for arguments on the role of mercantilism in the ancient economy. Heretofore, the majority of scholarship has focussed on the implications of long-distance trade, especially of grain, on Athenian imperial interests, with additional attention paid to the formation of powerful states in the Black Sea as a response to growing demand from the Aegean world. Somewhat neglected until recently has been the transitional region of the Propontis, including the tributary cities of the Hellespontine district under Athens. My paper studies the role this region's important harbor-poleis played as necessary ports of call in the trade between the two seas. Among the most obvious indications of the economic strength of this region is the status of Kyzikene electrum as the standard currency for Black Sea trade, as well as the harbor and market tolls cities such as Byzantion, Kyzikos, Sestos, and others collected from long-distance traders. My research also elucidates the complexity of the internal economy of the region. The Propontine region was a producer of grain, and garon, as well as salt fish and tuna prized among the wealthy elite of the Aegean world. In view of the ancient economy as a whole, it stands out as a micro-region which was able to derive much of its wealth from trade, and much of its sustenance from fish. The expediency of wealth gained from tolls for the inner city emporia, as well as the ready availability of fish for local consumption in comparison sheds light on the fiscal instabilities of the Propontine cities recorded in the Oeconomica.
Ceylan Tozeren

Eventperiod

2010-05-30 - 2010-06-01

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