Social histories of power in the Helleni

What is power, in general and in the Hellenistic period (350-100 BCE)? Much will depend on how we define power— as institutional, economic, cultural? The answer to the question entails different theoretical tools; the study of statecraft and governmentality, for instance, or the exploration of gender relations in the Hellenistic period, might require different stances and starting points. Just as much depends on how we define, and view, the Hellenistic world. Created by a historical accident (the destruction of the Achaimenid empire by an extraordinary expedition of conquest led by Alexander III, followed by the reemergence of large regional states), it might equally be described as the result of deep structural features (the convergence of polis forms, the rise of a connected economy, the spread of Greek cultural forms). The interpretation of this extraordinary period has been influenced by a number of factors, some intrinsic to the field (the availability of rich documentary evidence), some extrinsic (the rise and fall of European colonisalism); it also has been characterised by paradigm shifts (from decline to vitality to diversities).

The question of power (and cognate questions: agency, weakness and fragility) might help federate various subfields within the study of Hellenistic history (some of which have produced exciting new work), or renew their study. Part of the aim of the seminar is historiographical and reflexive; another aim is to read widely in recent secondary literature; yet a third is to read evidence, especially documentary, closely. There is too much material, too much discussion; the seminar will try to palliate the lack of time by attacking the topic from a diversity of angles.