Megale Hellas

This paper attempts to reappraise the role of politics and utopian projects in Greek thought from early Greek philosophy to Plato. An analysis of the sources reveals utopian elements in Presocratic philosophy, especially in Magna Graecia, not connected to ideal projects concerning nonexistent worlds, but rather to ‘eu-topic’ programs intended for the new colonies made available by Greece’s, and particularly Athens’, expansion. The union of politico-colonial realism and utopia as a concretely achievable model of good government provides a new avenue for interpretation that relies on the perspective of an utopian ‘architecture.’ Such a mode of interpretation may also project Plato’s utopian projects onto an ‘architectural’ level, not only in the Republic, but also (and particularly) in the Critias, where, however, the boundaries between utopia and dystopia are weaker than at first appear.

Proceedings of the International Conference Ancient communities and their elites from Bronze Age to Late Antiquity (Central Europe – Mediterranean – Black Sea), Trnava, 6th – 8th October 2017. Anodos. Studies of the Ancient World 14/2014, 67 – 80. Trnava 2019. ISSN 1338-5410.
Current archaeological research has expanded the known repertoire of the Late Classical and Hellenistic tombstones, which represent unique building structures. These include square or rectangular tombs with a stepped base, traditionally referred to as epitymbia. They may represent a local variant of a tower-like tomb with pyramid roof that appeared in monumental form along the eastern Mediterranean shores and adjacent areas. In order to present a study on the “monumental” necropoleis of the Hellenistic age identified in the north-eastern cusp of Sicily, two cases of great importance for the particular characteristics of organization, structure and monumentality will be discussed: the Abakainon (Tripi) and the Zancle-Messana (Messina) necropoleis.

Monografia sulle monete incuse della colonia magnogreca di Sibari, le cui conclusioni si riallacciano all’idea che la zecca sibarita abbia iniziato la sua attività all’interno di un movimento, successivo al 530/529 a.C., che abbracciò tutte le città achee di Magna Grecia, non escludendo possibili influenze dell’ideologia pitagorica all’interno del loro governo.