Department Colloquium: Marek Wecowski (University of Warsaw) "Greek Political Patronage in the Archaic and Early Classical Period"

Speaker: Marek Wecowski, Dr Habil., Faculty of History, University of Warsaw; currently, Bekker (NAWA) visiting fellow, University of Cincinnati, Department of Classics

Title:"Greek Political Patronage in the Archaic and Early Classical Period"

Abstract: As John K. Davies observed in 2005, ‘the informal networks of influence’ and ‘social control,’ in other words, Greek and especially Athenian "patronage” (broadly conceived), ‘only recently begun to attract the attention it deserves.’ To this date, "interpersonal relations between unequal parties” and, in particular, political "clientelism” in archaic and classical Greece seems a deeply understudied issue. The locus classicus in this respect is the much-discussed passage of Theopompus (FGrHist 115 F  89) about Cimon’s magnanimity towards Athenian citizens. In this paper, it will be argued that several strangely neglected episodes of the Persian Wars and its aftermath may serve as a good starting point for reassessing our scattered pieces of historical evidence regarding archaic and classical Greek history – on the basis of sources ranging from Hesiod to Athenaeus.