Starting from the observation that an athletic victor from Aphrodisias is praised for the remarka... more Starting from the observation that an athletic victor from Aphrodisias is praised for the remarkable fact that he received his victor prize ‘from the hands of the emperor’, this chapter asks if, how and why athletic representation changed from the Hellenistic to the Roman imperial period and what part material culture (i.e. victor inscriptions) played in this process. It analyses how Roman emperors of roughly the first three centuries ad used athletic festivals as a means of establishing a channel of communication with the people of the Greek-speaking parts of the empire. It is also looks at the manners in which emperors were present at these festivals and investigates how they intervened in the agonistic circuit. The final section takes the athletes’ perspective and reveals four new trends in the self-presentation of athletes of the Roman imperial period: the expansion of the frame of reference (‘first of the inhabited earth’), an explicit reference to multiple citizenships and council memberships, an emphasis on the victor’s status as part of an empire-wide aristocracy (‘father of senators’), and a prominence of the motif of the athlete’s proximity to the emperor. No doubt, the way athletes of the imperial period wanted their victories to be understood clearly changed in comparison to their predecessors. Athletes were now part of an empire that was composed of almost the entire inhabited earth. Their self-presentation is indicative of this aspect.
Building on the general notion that localism is a relational
force, formulated and voiced in juxt... more Building on the general notion that localism is a relational force, formulated and voiced in juxtaposition to the local of others, this chapter floats the concept of competitive localism: the term signals not only the role of athletics as a feeder of local sentiments, but accentuates the local ways of doing sports as well as the traces the competition leaves in the political arena. The chapter first identifies the idiosyncratic fea- tures of Sparta’s agonistic culture, among them the discouragement of boxing and a certain fondness for female and team competitions. Local commemoration practices reverberated the different outlook of athletics. Scharff’s discussion of Spartan Hellenistic victor epigrams suggests a strong emphasis on polis ideologies, couched in a constella- tion that segued freely from politics to athletics and back; it appears, indeed, that athletic competitions were subject to the desire to boast about the local way of life first and foremost. Evidently, the force of Sparta’s athletic jingoism was so compelling that it transpired in neighbouring Messenia also. The study of evidence from there dem- onstrates that the theme of victory in athletic competition played a crucial role in the building of a Messenian identity of place. A curious episode from 226 BCE, which Scharff examines in conclusion to this chapter, vividly reminds readers of King Kleomenes’ deliberate and somewhat bizarre attempts to translate Spartan claims for military power into the language of locally enshrined athletics.
The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2020
The essay is about ancient Greek horse and chariot races. The architecture of Greek hippodromes w... more The essay is about ancient Greek horse and chariot races. The architecture of Greek hippodromes was very rudimentary, but—at least at Olympia—the organizers put much effort in constructing a starting mechanism which was meant to guarantee all starters equal chances for winning. Concerning the prizes, symbolic prizes were common as well as valuable prizes. In ancient Greece, it was the owner of the horses who counted as the participant. The jockeys’ and charioteers’ strength and skill obviously had a strong impact on the outcome of the race, but they are very rarely mentioned in the ancient texts. Equestrian victors had two means of representation at their disposal: the erection of agonistic victor monuments or the commission of epinikia. It is equally true for both forms of representation that the way the victor was showcased was not up to the artistic license of the poets, but was controlled by the victors. Victory poetry was poetry on commission for which the victors reached deeply into their pockets. The poems dealt with important political implications. This is why epinikia and victory monuments constitute amazing pieces of evidence for the ancient historian, since they allow him to reconstruct the protagonist’s view.
Freie Universität BERLIN, TOPOI, OCTOBER 11-12, 2018
Topoi Building Dahlem
Hittorfstr. 18
14195 ... more Freie Universität BERLIN, TOPOI, OCTOBER 11-12, 2018
Topoi Building Dahlem Hittorfstr. 18 14195 Berlin Organizers Francesco Mari (Berlin) Christian Wendt (Bochum) Kontakt francesco.mari@fu-berlin.de
hrsg. v. C. Antonetti - P. Funke - L. Kolonas in Zusammenarbeit m. D. Baldassarra, C. Biagetti, E... more hrsg. v. C. Antonetti - P. Funke - L. Kolonas in Zusammenarbeit m. D. Baldassarra, C. Biagetti, E. Cavalli, F. Crema, K. Freitag, M. Haake, K. Hallof, K. Knäpper, S. Scharff, D. Summa
hrsg. v. C. Antonetti - P. Funke in Zusmmenarbeit m. D. Baldassarra, E. Cavalli, F. Crema, K. Fre... more hrsg. v. C. Antonetti - P. Funke in Zusmmenarbeit m. D. Baldassarra, E. Cavalli, F. Crema, K. Freitag, M. Haake, K. Knäpper, S. Scharff
This is a study of Hellenistic athletics from the perspective of the victors. By analyzing agonis... more This is a study of Hellenistic athletics from the perspective of the victors. By analyzing agonistic epigrams as poetry on commission, it investigates how successful athletes and horse owners and their sponsors wanted their victories to be understood. Based on the identification of recurring motifs that exceed the conventions of the genre, a multiplicity of agonistic cultures is detected on three different levels-those of the polis, the region and the empire. Kings and queens used athletics in order to legitimate their rule, cities tried to compensate for military defeats by agonistic successes, and victorious aristocrats created virtual halls of fame to emphasize their common regional identity. Without a doubt, athletic victories represented far more than just leisure activities of Hellenistic noblemen. They clearly mattered in terms of politics and social status.
Starting from the observation that an athletic victor from Aphrodisias is praised for the remarka... more Starting from the observation that an athletic victor from Aphrodisias is praised for the remarkable fact that he received his victor prize ‘from the hands of the emperor’, this chapter asks if, how and why athletic representation changed from the Hellenistic to the Roman imperial period and what part material culture (i.e. victor inscriptions) played in this process. It analyses how Roman emperors of roughly the first three centuries ad used athletic festivals as a means of establishing a channel of communication with the people of the Greek-speaking parts of the empire. It is also looks at the manners in which emperors were present at these festivals and investigates how they intervened in the agonistic circuit. The final section takes the athletes’ perspective and reveals four new trends in the self-presentation of athletes of the Roman imperial period: the expansion of the frame of reference (‘first of the inhabited earth’), an explicit reference to multiple citizenships and council memberships, an emphasis on the victor’s status as part of an empire-wide aristocracy (‘father of senators’), and a prominence of the motif of the athlete’s proximity to the emperor. No doubt, the way athletes of the imperial period wanted their victories to be understood clearly changed in comparison to their predecessors. Athletes were now part of an empire that was composed of almost the entire inhabited earth. Their self-presentation is indicative of this aspect.
Building on the general notion that localism is a relational
force, formulated and voiced in juxt... more Building on the general notion that localism is a relational force, formulated and voiced in juxtaposition to the local of others, this chapter floats the concept of competitive localism: the term signals not only the role of athletics as a feeder of local sentiments, but accentuates the local ways of doing sports as well as the traces the competition leaves in the political arena. The chapter first identifies the idiosyncratic fea- tures of Sparta’s agonistic culture, among them the discouragement of boxing and a certain fondness for female and team competitions. Local commemoration practices reverberated the different outlook of athletics. Scharff’s discussion of Spartan Hellenistic victor epigrams suggests a strong emphasis on polis ideologies, couched in a constella- tion that segued freely from politics to athletics and back; it appears, indeed, that athletic competitions were subject to the desire to boast about the local way of life first and foremost. Evidently, the force of Sparta’s athletic jingoism was so compelling that it transpired in neighbouring Messenia also. The study of evidence from there dem- onstrates that the theme of victory in athletic competition played a crucial role in the building of a Messenian identity of place. A curious episode from 226 BCE, which Scharff examines in conclusion to this chapter, vividly reminds readers of King Kleomenes’ deliberate and somewhat bizarre attempts to translate Spartan claims for military power into the language of locally enshrined athletics.
The International Journal of the History of Sport, 2020
The essay is about ancient Greek horse and chariot races. The architecture of Greek hippodromes w... more The essay is about ancient Greek horse and chariot races. The architecture of Greek hippodromes was very rudimentary, but—at least at Olympia—the organizers put much effort in constructing a starting mechanism which was meant to guarantee all starters equal chances for winning. Concerning the prizes, symbolic prizes were common as well as valuable prizes. In ancient Greece, it was the owner of the horses who counted as the participant. The jockeys’ and charioteers’ strength and skill obviously had a strong impact on the outcome of the race, but they are very rarely mentioned in the ancient texts. Equestrian victors had two means of representation at their disposal: the erection of agonistic victor monuments or the commission of epinikia. It is equally true for both forms of representation that the way the victor was showcased was not up to the artistic license of the poets, but was controlled by the victors. Victory poetry was poetry on commission for which the victors reached deeply into their pockets. The poems dealt with important political implications. This is why epinikia and victory monuments constitute amazing pieces of evidence for the ancient historian, since they allow him to reconstruct the protagonist’s view.
Freie Universität BERLIN, TOPOI, OCTOBER 11-12, 2018
Topoi Building Dahlem
Hittorfstr. 18
14195 ... more Freie Universität BERLIN, TOPOI, OCTOBER 11-12, 2018
Topoi Building Dahlem Hittorfstr. 18 14195 Berlin Organizers Francesco Mari (Berlin) Christian Wendt (Bochum) Kontakt francesco.mari@fu-berlin.de
hrsg. v. C. Antonetti - P. Funke - L. Kolonas in Zusammenarbeit m. D. Baldassarra, C. Biagetti, E... more hrsg. v. C. Antonetti - P. Funke - L. Kolonas in Zusammenarbeit m. D. Baldassarra, C. Biagetti, E. Cavalli, F. Crema, K. Freitag, M. Haake, K. Hallof, K. Knäpper, S. Scharff, D. Summa
hrsg. v. C. Antonetti - P. Funke in Zusmmenarbeit m. D. Baldassarra, E. Cavalli, F. Crema, K. Fre... more hrsg. v. C. Antonetti - P. Funke in Zusmmenarbeit m. D. Baldassarra, E. Cavalli, F. Crema, K. Freitag, M. Haake, K. Knäpper, S. Scharff
This is a study of Hellenistic athletics from the perspective of the victors. By analyzing agonis... more This is a study of Hellenistic athletics from the perspective of the victors. By analyzing agonistic epigrams as poetry on commission, it investigates how successful athletes and horse owners and their sponsors wanted their victories to be understood. Based on the identification of recurring motifs that exceed the conventions of the genre, a multiplicity of agonistic cultures is detected on three different levels-those of the polis, the region and the empire. Kings and queens used athletics in order to legitimate their rule, cities tried to compensate for military defeats by agonistic successes, and victorious aristocrats created virtual halls of fame to emphasize their common regional identity. Without a doubt, athletic victories represented far more than just leisure activities of Hellenistic noblemen. They clearly mattered in terms of politics and social status.
By analyzing agonistic epigrams as poetry on commission, it investigates how successful athletes ... more By analyzing agonistic epigrams as poetry on commission, it investigates how successful athletes and horse owners and their sponsors wanted their victories to be understood. Based on the identification of recurring motifs that exceed the conventions of the genre, a multiplicity of agonistic cultures is detected on three different levels-those of the polis, the region, and the empire. Kings and queens used athletics in order to legitimate their rule; cities tried to compensate for military defeats by agonistic successes; and victorious aristocrats created virtual halls of fame to emphasize their common regional identity. Without a doubt, athletic victories represented far more than just leisure activities of Hellenistic noblemen. They clearly mattered in terms of politics and social status.
Sebastian Scharff holds a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Humanities at the University of Trento. He has published extensively on ancient athletics, including a coedited volume on Athletics in the Hellenistic World (2016).
Die integrative Kraft von Eiden als einem Fundament der inneren Ordnung griechischer Gemeinwesen ... more Die integrative Kraft von Eiden als einem Fundament der inneren Ordnung griechischer Gemeinwesen wird von den antiken Quellen viel beschworen und von der modernen Forschung häufig konstatiert. Was passierte jedoch, wenn der Eid die Grenzen einer Polis überschritt? Wie konnte der Eid in einem Kontext funktionieren, in dem das Recht des Stärkeren ganz offen zur Handlungsmaxime erklärt werden konnte? Sebastian Scharff untersucht mit den Schwurgötterlisten griechischer Staatsverträge, dem Eidritual und der Praxis der Aufstellung von Verträgen in Heiligtümern genau die Elemente griechischer Religiosität, derer man sich bediente, um die zwischenstaatlichen Beziehungen abzusichern, die sich im antiken Griechenland vielerorts in einem dauerhaft prekären Zustand befanden. Über die Absicherung konkreter Verträge hinaus kam dem Eid damit eine immens wichtige Rolle in der Kommunikation zwischen Staaten zu. Der Autor analysiert detailliert, wie, wann und warum man im zwischenstaatlichen Verkehr des antiken Griechenlands mit Eiden argumentierte. Quellengrundlage sind erstmals alle epigraphisch und historiographisch überlieferten griechischen Vertragseide von der archaischen Zeit bis zum Tag von Eleusis (168 v. Chr.).
This is the first book on athletics in the Hellenistic era, with 16 contributions covering a rang... more This is the first book on athletics in the Hellenistic era, with 16 contributions covering a range of historical, archaeological and philological perspectives. Topics discussed in this volume include how agonistic victories were exploited in legitimating (some) Hellenistic kings, the value placed on athletic prowess in the lively urban culture of this time, the role of sport in defining Greek identity, and the changing modes of representation of athletic action in literature and the arts.
Oriens et Occidens, band 37. Stuttgart: Franz Steiner Verlag, 2022
The instauration of a bond of good faith between the parties played a crucial role in ancient dip... more The instauration of a bond of good faith between the parties played a crucial role in ancient diplomatic agreements. On the one hand, ancient authors often highlight the multi-faceted character of good faith and the ambiguities that marked many of the ritual practices used to create it. Yet it is precisely this complexity of good faith that paves the road for modern historians to enquire on aspects such as its legal implementation, its effectiveness in creating lasting bonds or its moral implications. Forms of ancient diplomacy were often meaningful, and so were breaches of the diplomatic etiquette. The code of diplomatic communication was an extremely important channel for shaping policy (and good faith) and is therefore a fruitful heuristic tool for analysing interstate encounters in antiquity.
The contributions collected in this volume offer a multifaceted, if preliminary, illustration of ancient diplomatic good faith, focusing primarily on Greek, Persian-Achaemenid, and Roman cultures, but also on the Hellenistic kingdoms and the Parthian Empire.
Within two years after the foundation of the League of Nations in 1919, historians such as Arthur... more Within two years after the foundation of the League of Nations in 1919, historians such as Arthur E.R. Boak wondered whether there were ancient predecessors of this interstate institution. The League of Nations was regarded as “a voluntary association of self-governing states for the purpose of promoting international peace and security” (“Greek Interstate Associations and the League of Nations”. American Journal of International Law 15, 375–83: 382, my italics). Boak examined both the federal states of antiquity and supra-state “federal” forms in the broad sense (such as hegemonic symmachies, Hellenic Leagues, amphiktyonies). Were these forms of federation forerunners to the League of Nations? Compared to the ambivalent history of Greek antiquity – characterised by peaceful conflict-resolution strategies as well as secular wars – for Boak the answer “no” was inevitable. The League of Nations had no precedent, and thus a certain optimism in it was permitted. In a different, yet equally vibrant context, Jakob A.O. Larsen (“Federation for Peace in Ancient Greece”. Classical Philology 39, 145-62) started from the same question and analysed more or less the same ancient Greek cases. Larsen was writing in 1944, as the world was being ravaged by war and searching for a way out. Could federal bodies promote peace? Like Boak, Larsen also looked to the ancient Greeks with hope, but unlike Boak, he allowed himself a degree of optimism even with regard to the ancients. The “federation for peace” dilemma has dominated studies on federalism in general (not just ancient federalism) and has run through post-World War II Europe, the Cold War, and the nascent European Union. Moreover, federation for peace has been the hope to which many have clung in the face of crumbling nations, the dramas of ethnic conflicts and the challenge of religious conflicts. Something had to exist to keep nations united in peace. That something seemed to be federalism. Investigations into Greek Federal States have also been guided by this question. Articulate and nuanced answers have been developed, although these have scarcely been conclusive. The evidence does not seem to allow for clear-cut conclusions, but that is not the decisive point. The important aspect is that we are still looking for answers to the same question, namely Boak’s question: did federalism promote peace? FeBo does not seek an answer to that question because it starts from the assumption that with regard to Ancient Greece the question we should be asking is a different one, and it focuses on borders: how did the Greek federal states deal with the problem of internal (intra-federal) and external borders? Did border management policies aim at peaceful coexistence per se or rather at a balance of power and stability? Did they take into account economic, ethnic, cultural, athletic and religious cross-border networks?
Since intra-federal and external borders must necessarily be approached from different research perspectives and with divergent questions, FeBo organises two series of FeBinars, each with another focus, one on internal (The Management of Internal Borders by Federal States), the other on external borders (Crossing Federal Borders: Ancient and Modern).
The inaugural lecture delivered by Hans Beck, “Interpolis cooperation and competition: the case of Southern Boiotia” - 7 March 2023, initiates both series since it focuses on a case study involving both intra-federal and extra-federal borders. Here is the abstract:
Ancient Greek ethnos states were notoriously unstable creatures. The ties of regional belonging were open to dynamic change, political allegiances often volatile. The lands south of Thebes, across the Asopos river and into the folds of Mt Kithairon provide the curious case of a terrain where the vectors of local and regional interaction converged; ongoing rivalries between Thebes and Plataia are but one example. Hans Beck’s talk delves deep into the lived environment of the Asopos valley, a region that exercised a mythopoetic pull over the ethnos of the Boiotians but that also fueled concupiscence. From there it was only a few kilometers to the borderlands with Attica, which wielded their own impact upon the perfusing force of interpolis cooperation and competition in this core region of mainland Greece.
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force, formulated and voiced in juxtaposition to the local of others, this chapter floats the concept of competitive localism: the term signals not only the role of athletics as a feeder of local sentiments, but accentuates the local ways of doing sports as well as the traces the competition leaves
in the political arena. The chapter first identifies the idiosyncratic fea-
tures of Sparta’s agonistic culture, among them the discouragement
of boxing and a certain fondness for female and team competitions.
Local commemoration practices reverberated the different outlook of
athletics. Scharff’s discussion of Spartan Hellenistic victor epigrams
suggests a strong emphasis on polis ideologies, couched in a constella-
tion that segued freely from politics to athletics and back; it appears,
indeed, that athletic competitions were subject to the desire to boast
about the local way of life first and foremost. Evidently, the force
of Sparta’s athletic jingoism was so compelling that it transpired in
neighbouring Messenia also. The study of evidence from there dem-
onstrates that the theme of victory in athletic competition played a
crucial role in the building of a Messenian identity of place. A curious
episode from 226 BCE, which Scharff examines in conclusion to this
chapter, vividly reminds readers of King Kleomenes’ deliberate and
somewhat bizarre attempts to translate Spartan claims for military
power into the language of locally enshrined athletics.
Conference Presentations
Topoi Building Dahlem
Hittorfstr. 18
14195 Berlin
Organizers
Francesco Mari (Berlin)
Christian Wendt (Bochum)
Kontakt
francesco.mari@fu-berlin.de
Editions
Books
force, formulated and voiced in juxtaposition to the local of others, this chapter floats the concept of competitive localism: the term signals not only the role of athletics as a feeder of local sentiments, but accentuates the local ways of doing sports as well as the traces the competition leaves
in the political arena. The chapter first identifies the idiosyncratic fea-
tures of Sparta’s agonistic culture, among them the discouragement
of boxing and a certain fondness for female and team competitions.
Local commemoration practices reverberated the different outlook of
athletics. Scharff’s discussion of Spartan Hellenistic victor epigrams
suggests a strong emphasis on polis ideologies, couched in a constella-
tion that segued freely from politics to athletics and back; it appears,
indeed, that athletic competitions were subject to the desire to boast
about the local way of life first and foremost. Evidently, the force
of Sparta’s athletic jingoism was so compelling that it transpired in
neighbouring Messenia also. The study of evidence from there dem-
onstrates that the theme of victory in athletic competition played a
crucial role in the building of a Messenian identity of place. A curious
episode from 226 BCE, which Scharff examines in conclusion to this
chapter, vividly reminds readers of King Kleomenes’ deliberate and
somewhat bizarre attempts to translate Spartan claims for military
power into the language of locally enshrined athletics.
Topoi Building Dahlem
Hittorfstr. 18
14195 Berlin
Organizers
Francesco Mari (Berlin)
Christian Wendt (Bochum)
Kontakt
francesco.mari@fu-berlin.de
Sebastian Scharff holds a postdoctoral research fellowship in the Department of Humanities at the University of Trento. He has published extensively on ancient athletics, including a coedited volume on Athletics in the Hellenistic World (2016).
Sebastian Scharff untersucht mit den Schwurgötterlisten griechischer Staatsverträge, dem Eidritual und der Praxis der Aufstellung von Verträgen in Heiligtümern genau die Elemente griechischer Religiosität, derer man sich bediente, um die zwischenstaatlichen Beziehungen abzusichern, die sich im antiken Griechenland vielerorts in einem dauerhaft prekären Zustand befanden. Über die Absicherung konkreter Verträge hinaus kam dem Eid damit eine immens wichtige Rolle in der Kommunikation zwischen Staaten zu. Der Autor analysiert detailliert, wie, wann und warum man im zwischenstaatlichen Verkehr des antiken Griechenlands mit Eiden argumentierte. Quellengrundlage sind erstmals alle epigraphisch und historiographisch überlieferten griechischen Vertragseide von der archaischen Zeit bis zum Tag von Eleusis (168 v. Chr.).
The contributions collected in this volume offer a multifaceted, if preliminary, illustration of ancient diplomatic good faith, focusing primarily on Greek, Persian-Achaemenid, and Roman cultures, but also on the Hellenistic kingdoms and the Parthian Empire.
In a different, yet equally vibrant context, Jakob A.O. Larsen (“Federation for Peace in Ancient Greece”. Classical Philology 39, 145-62) started from the same question and analysed more or less the same ancient Greek cases. Larsen was writing in 1944, as the world was being ravaged by war and searching for a way out. Could federal bodies promote peace? Like Boak, Larsen also looked to the ancient Greeks with hope, but unlike Boak, he allowed himself a degree of optimism even with regard to the ancients.
The “federation for peace” dilemma has dominated studies on federalism in general (not just ancient federalism) and has run through post-World War II Europe, the Cold War, and the nascent European Union. Moreover, federation for peace has been the hope to which many have clung in the face of crumbling nations, the dramas of ethnic conflicts and the challenge of religious conflicts. Something had to exist to keep nations united in peace. That something seemed to be federalism.
Investigations into Greek Federal States have also been guided by this question. Articulate and nuanced answers have been developed, although these have scarcely been conclusive. The evidence does not seem to allow for clear-cut conclusions, but that is not the decisive point. The important aspect is that we are still looking for answers to the same question, namely Boak’s question: did federalism promote peace?
FeBo does not seek an answer to that question because it starts from the assumption that with regard to Ancient Greece the question we should be asking is a different one, and it focuses on borders: how did the Greek federal states deal with the problem of internal (intra-federal) and external borders? Did border management policies aim at peaceful coexistence per se or rather at a balance of power and stability? Did they take into account economic, ethnic, cultural, athletic and religious cross-border networks?
Since intra-federal and external borders must necessarily be approached from different research perspectives and with divergent questions, FeBo organises two series of FeBinars, each with another focus, one on internal (The Management of Internal Borders by Federal States), the other on external borders (Crossing Federal Borders: Ancient and Modern).
The inaugural lecture delivered by Hans Beck, “Interpolis cooperation and competition: the case of Southern Boiotia” - 7 March 2023, initiates both series since it focuses on a case study involving both intra-federal and extra-federal borders. Here is the abstract:
Ancient Greek ethnos states were notoriously unstable creatures. The ties of regional belonging were open to dynamic change, political allegiances often volatile. The lands south of Thebes, across the Asopos river and into the folds of Mt Kithairon provide the curious case of a terrain where the vectors of local and regional interaction converged; ongoing rivalries between Thebes and Plataia are but one example. Hans Beck’s talk delves deep into the lived environment of the Asopos valley, a region that exercised a mythopoetic pull over the ethnos of the Boiotians but that also fueled concupiscence. From there it was only a few kilometers to the borderlands with Attica, which wielded their own impact upon the perfusing force of interpolis cooperation and competition in this core region of mainland Greece.