Localism and the Ancient Greek City-State (Paperback) (ISBN-13: 9780226711485)

Much like our own time, the ancient Greek world was constantly expanding and becoming more connected to global networks. The landscape was shaped by an ecology of city-states, local formations that were stitched into the wider Mediterranean world. While the local is often seen as less significant than the global stage of politics, religion, and culture, localism, argues historian Hans Beck has had a pervasive influence on communal experience in a world of fast-paced change. Far from existing as outliers, citizens in these communities were deeply concerned with maintaining local identity, commercial freedom, distinct religious cults, and much more. Beyond these cultural identifiers, there lay a deeper concept of the local that guided polis societies in their contact with a rapidly expanding world.

Drawing on a staggering range of materials­­--including texts by both known and obscure writers, numismatics, pottery analysis, and archeological records--Beck develops fine-grained case studies that illustrate the significance of the local experience. Localism and the Ancient Greek City-State builds bridges across disciplines and ideas within the humanities and shows how looking back at the history of Greek localism is important not only in the archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean, but also in today's conversations about globalism, networks, and migration.


Author: Hans Beck
ISBN-10: 022671148X
ISBN-13: 9780226711485
Publisher: University of Chicago Press
Language: English
Published: 07/31/2020
Pages: 304
Format: Paperback
Weight: 0.84lbs
Size: 9.00h x 6.00w x 0.59d

Review Citation(s):
Choice 07/01/2021