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Interstate Relations in Classical Greece In this book Dr Low explores the assumptions and principles which determined the conduct and representation of interstate politics in Greece during the fifth and fourth centuries bc. She employs a wide range of ancient evidence, both epigraphic and literary, as well as some contemporary theoretical approaches from the field of International Relations. Taking a thematic rather than a chronological approach, she addresses topics such as the nature of interstate society in the Greek world; the sources, scope and enforcement of ‘international law’; the nature of interstate ethics and morality; interventionism and imperialism; and the question of change and stability. She argues that Classical Greece’s reputation for unrestrained and unsophisticated diplomacy is undeserved, and shows that relations between Greek city-states were shaped by and judged according to a complex network of customs, beliefs and expectations which pervaded all areas of interstate behaviour. p o l ly l ow is Lecturer in Ancient History at the University of Manchester.

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cambridge classical studies General editors

r. l. hunter, r. g. osborne, m. d. reeve, p. d . a . g a r n s e y, m . m i l l e t t, d . n. s e d l e y, g. c. horrocks

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I N T E R S TAT E R E L AT I O N S I N C L A S S I C A L G R E E C E Morality and Power

P O L LY L OW University of Manchester

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cambridge university press Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, S˜ao Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge cb2 8ru, UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridge.org/9780521872065
C Faculty of Classics, University of Cambridge 2007

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CONTENTS

Preface Abbreviations

page vii ix

Introduction

1

1 International Relations and Ancient History 1.1 A case study: Professor Sir Alfred Zimmern 1.2 Traditions of International Relations: the history of the discipline 1.3 International Relations and Ancient History 1.4 Idealism, Realism and the problem of norms 1.5 Conclusion: the Ecclesia and the League of Nations 2 Structuring interstate relations 2.1 Introduction: society, system and anarchy 2.2 No such thing as society? A system of reciprocal relationships 2.3 Reciprocity as the basis for a society 2.4 Multilateral societies and panhellenic communities 2.5 Conclusion: some examples 3 An anarchic society? International law and international custom 3.1 Introduction: law and society 3.2 Greek law, international law and Greek international law 3.3 The sources and scope of Greek international law

7 7 8 16 22 30 33 33 36 43 54 68

77 77 78 83 v

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contents

3.4 Application, enforcement and the problem of sanctions 3.5 Conclusions

102 126

4 Domestic morality, interstate morality 4.1 Introduction: a domestic analogy? 4.2 Moral language: individuals and groups, selves and others 4.3 Assumptions of and arguments for similarity 4.4 Arguments for difference? Power, self-interest and justice 4.5 Conclusions

129 129

5 Norms and politics: the problem of intervention 5.1 Introduction: the importance of intervention 5.2 Helping the wronged: intervention as an ideal 5.3 Intervention, autonomy and autonomia 5.4 Intervention, imperialism and ideology 5.5 Conclusions

175 175 177 187 199 210

6 Stability and change 6.1 Introduction: an evaded dimension 6.2 A stable system 6.3 The problem of Thucydides 6.4 The Athenian Empire: structures, institutions and ethics 6.5 Conclusion

212 212 213 222

Conclusion Bibliography Index Index locorum

132 151 160 173

233 248 252 258 299 308

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P R E FAC E

This book is a study of the interstate politics of the classical Greek world. In it, I do not attempt to provide a diachronic narrative of the interstate relations of the period, nor do I offer detailed accounts of every significant event or action in interstate politics at this time. What I seek to do, instead, is to explain why these events and actions take the form that they do – that is, to explore the assumptions and principles which determine the conduct, and representation, of classical Greek interstate politics. In doing so, I make use of a wide range of ancient material, both epigraphic and literary, and of some contemporary theoretical approaches to international politics (which are discussed in Chapter 1). I tackle the subject thematically rather than chronologically, starting from (in Chapter 2) the most basic question of the structure and scope of the Greek interstate system (or society). Chapter 3 investigates the ways in which interactions between states in that system were regulated: that is, broadly, the question of ‘international law’. A theme which emerges here is the degree of overlap between domestic and interstate activity, and this is the focus of the fourth chapter: to what extent are the ethics of interstate behaviour characterised in ancient writing as being distinct from those which apply within states? The fifth chapter looks at the practical combination of the various aspects which have been explored in the earlier chapters, focusing on approaches to intervention in Greek interstate relations, while the final chapter addresses the question of change (and the lack of it). This book is a revised and expanded version of my 2002 Cambridge PhD thesis, ‘Normative politics in Greek interstate relations’. Neither the thesis nor the book could have been written without the financial, academic and moral support of many institutions and people, all of whom I would like to thank here. vii © Cambridge University Press

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p r e fac e

This project could not have been undertaken at all without the support of the Arts and Humanities Research Board (who funded my PhD) and of Christ’s College, Cambridge (where I was a Junior Research Fellow from 2001 to 2003). Grants from the British Academy, the Faculty of Classics, Cambridge, the Kurt Hahn Trust, the Isaac Newton Trust and the University of Manchester enabled me to pursue parts of my research in Greece and Germany, and at various conferences in the UK and abroad. I am grateful, also, for the hospitality of the staff and members of the British School at Athens, an institution which provided inspiration in the middle stages of the project and a calm haven in which to complete it. The thesis on which this book is based was supervised by Paul Cartledge, who has been a constant and sustaining source of information, advice, encouragement and good humour. I am also deeply indebted to my examiners, Robin Osborne and P. J. Rhodes, for their detailed comments on the original thesis and for their perceptive advice on how to develop it. Many other people have offered invaluable help, by reading some or all of the work as it has progressed through its various versions; by discussing and helping me to solve particular problems; or by allowing me access to their own unpublished material: Charles Crowther, Geoffrey Hawthorn, Peter Hunt, Liz Irwin, Alice K¨onig, J. E. Lendon, Peter Liddel, Paul Millett and Barry Strauss; students and colleagues at Manchester (who have borne their excessive exposure to the ideas in this book with unwarranted tolerance); and the editors of Cambridge Classical Studies. I hope that my family and friends already know that none of this would have been possible without the unfailing support which they have provided. I suspect, though, that I may have forgotten – until now – to thank them for it.

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A B B R E V I AT I O N S

Abbreviations of classical periodicals follow those of L’Ann´ee Philologique; of authors and texts, those of LSJ9 and the Oxford Latin Dictionary; and of corpora of inscriptions, those of SEG. Exceptions from and additions to that rule are: FGH HCP HCT LSJ9

ML

RE

RO SV ii

F. Jacoby, Die Fragmente der griechischen Historiker, 3 vols., Berlin and Leiden 1923–58 F. Walbank, A Historical Commentary on Polybius, 3 vols., Oxford 1957–79 A. W. Gomme, A. Andrewes & K. J. Dover, A Historical Commentary on Thucydides, 5 vols., Oxford 1945–81 H. G. Liddell & R. Scott, A Greek–English Lexicon, rev. H. S. Jones & R. McKenzie, 9th edn with supplement, ed. E. A. Barber, Oxford 1968; revised supplement, ed. P. G. W. Glare, Oxford and New York 1996 R. Meiggs & D. M. Lewis, A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions. To the end of the fifth century bc, 2nd edn, Oxford 1988 G. Wissowa, W. Kroll, K. Mittelhaus & K. Ziegler edd., Paulys Real-Encyclop¨adie der Classischen Altertumswissenschaft, 83 vols., Munich and Stuttgart 1893–1978 P. J. Rhodes & R. G. Osborne, Greek Historical Inscriptions 403–323 bc, Oxford 2003 H. Bengtson, Die Staatsvertr¨age des Altertums, vol. II: die Vertr¨age der griechisch-r¨omischen Welt von 700 bis 338 v. Chr., 2nd edn, Munich 1975

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a b b r e v i at i o n s

SV iii

Tod

H. H. Schmitt, Die Staatsvertr¨age des Altertums, vol. III: die Vertr¨age der griechisch-r¨omischen Welt von 338 bis 200 v. Chr., Munich 1969 M. N. Tod, A Selection of Greek Historical Inscriptions, vol. ii: from 403 to 323 bc, Oxford 1948

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