Homepage Syllabus Schedule Instructor Resources

Greek and Roman Religions, Fall 1999

SEPTEMBER 16, 1999


WEEKLY ASSIGNMENT DUE TODAY: Skim  Burkert, Part II, Ritual and Sanctuary:  pp. 55 - 102 
The idea is to get a good, working idea of the general principles and elements of ritual in the ancient world. 

Read Burkert, Part V, Polis and Polytheism:  pp. 216-219, 222-246, 268-276 

 
SESSION LEADER:  Don't try to summarize everything.  Pick out one issue from the reading that interests you, and come prepared to talk about it.  If you like, follow some of Burkert's footnotes and look at a couple of the books (primary or secondary) that he read on the topic you have selected.  (If you look at a primary source,  you should copy it for the other members of the class if you want to talk about it --- that way we can follow what you say more easily.)

 
 
 
LECTURE NOTES:  

Cultic Religion, Political and Social Organizations


A)  Polis Organization of Greece

Bronze Age:  different world from classical age; strong discontinuities in most areas between LBA and archaic period 

social organization apparently on model of W. Asia, whence many structures of civilzation came to Greece

Growth of city-states across Greece from c. 900; growth of pan-Hellenic spirit c. eighth century; strong increases in commerce and civic building c. seventh century 

Actually, commerce (intellectual and tangible goods) increased in one way or another since shortly after Bronze Age collapse, but it took on different contours in different centuries. 
Examples:  Western Asian themes in literature, c. time of Hesiod; 'orientalizing' art c. seventh century; Greek craftsmen in Persian world c. sixth century. 
For seventh century I have in mind construction on Acropolis in Athens and foundation of Naucratis (Egypt).
(Old story, now viewed as overly schematic:  Bronze Age, collapse around Mediterranean at hands of 'Sea Peoples'; several centuries of Dark Ages; creation of new Greek spirit (archaic period); orientalizing period of increased interaction with W. Asia and Egypt; rise of classical Greece.)

History of writing and history of texts 

General rule:  all innovations need a while to take off, so important to distinguish 3 periods:  origin of innovation; time innovation becomes widespread; first time extant instances are plentiful. 
Different questions we might ask require us to look at one or more of these periods. 
We will return to this issue later.

B)  Growth of Athenian Democracy and Political Organization

Chronology of basic reforms: 

594 
546 - 527 
527 - 510 
508		 Solon 
Peisistratus 
Peisistratids  (sons of Peisistratus) 
Cleisthenes
Solon:  viewed as first historical lawmaker of Greece; how much innovations attributed to him were the result of a few years is open to question 

Peisistratus:  classic example of Greek tyrant (technical term, not in sense of someone with excessive power, but in contrast to democracy); overthrow of Peisistratids was seen as landmark from later democratic historiography 

Cleisthenes:  established new political order (see below). 

Other signposts in early Athenian history: 

630 
621 
490, 480--479		 Cylon 
Draco 
Persian Wars
Herodotus (5.71) tells the story of Cylon, an Olympic victor who tried to take over the Acropolis of Athens (and thus political power) (also Thuc. 1.126).   This story can at least be taken as indicating tensions in Athens before Draco and Solon. 

Draco was recognized as the first lawgiver of the Athenians, and a harsh one at that, mandating capial punishment for a wide variety of offenses (hence ModE 'drakonian').  Modern scholars are highly sceptical of his historicity. 

The Persian Wars mark a turning point (for modern historiography) in the evolution of political and social thought in Greece.

Motivations for political innovations: 

1)  personal gain 
2)  political intrigue 
3)  increasing / emphasizing social differentiation 
4)  decreasing / deemphasizing  social differentiation 
5)  land reforms 
6)  military reforms
Different scholars attribute different motives to different figures. 

State of the evidence 
 

Public Inscriptions:  until 460, about 10 public documents now extant; from 460-400, about 300 are extant 

Main literary sources:  poetry of Solon; Herodotus, Histories; Pseudo-Aristotle, Constitution of the Athenians; Aristotle, Politics; Thucydides, History

Conclusion:  Sources are generally late relative to events, and therefore increasingly untrustworthy as we go back in time;  pre-Solonian period was in the realm of 'archaeology' even for Greeks of fifth century

Structure of Government under the Democracy
 

Assembly:  in Greek democracy, defined as all the people (who count) 

Council of 500:  evenly represented all 10 tribes; chosen from by lot from list submitted by tribes 

Juries:  chosen by lot for each case from citizen body 

9 archons:  chosen by lot 

City Architect:  elected for ability 

10 Generals:  elected for ability 

Priests and Sacred Treasurers:   we will discuss these more throughout term; variously hereditary, elected, or chosen by lot

Organization of Citizen Body after Reforms of Cleisthenes
 

Phyllai (Tribes): 10 total; basic constituent of, e.g., composition of Council 

Tryttes (Thirds): 30 total; three per phyllai; of three types (City, Coastal, Inland) 

Demes (Parishes?): c. 130 by fourth century; elements of tryttes; local areas but not necessarily site of individual residental; deme membership inheritable; deme membership coterminous with citizenship 
 

thus, common method of naming became:  given name, optional patronymic, demotic (comparable to our first, middle, and last names)

Phratries (Brotherhoods?): hereditary groups; allegedly Ionian in origin; subdivided in a variety of ways 

All native-born citizens had cross-cutting deme and phratry membership. 
 

The Great Problem: 
 

version (1):  data tantalizing, but insufficient to reconstruct details of Cleisthenic system or outlines of pre-Cleisthenic system (although plenty of people have tried).  Tracing details of relations between political, social, and cultic organization depends on reconstruction of periods poorly documented, so these relations are necessarily poorly understood.  But for the historian of religion such relations are of vital importance.

version (2a):  to what extent did local units replicate larger units, and to what extent were they integral elements of larger units?  (2b):  to what extent are these units primarily political, or military, or religious, or . . . . 

C)  Organization of Greek Cultic Activity

Personal Cults:    will be discussed later in the term.

Civic Cults:  will be discussed later in the term.

 Penhellenic Cults: 

Reasons for treating panhellenic religion as 'Greek religion' (Parker, Athenian Religion, p. 3):
1)  Some shrines and festivals were open to all Greeks; in fact, this access is a defining feature of being-Greek.
2)  All Greek cities shared names of gods, basic ritual procedures, and myths.
3)  Pressure towards homogeneity, induced in part by sense of cultural unity among city-states.
But, Parker argues, "it is precisely as constraints upon the active and organizing principle, the cities, that [these factors] should be viewed." 

This introduces a methodological problem:  what is the basic unit of analysis in the study of Greek religion?  Should we agree with Parker?   Compare Burkert on this problem, p. 216.
 

 

 
 
 
 
D)  Growth of the Roman State 

Rome began as a city (or perhaps 'hamlet' is better) well before the traditional foundation date of 753.  By the start of the common era, it had grown to an empire surrounding the Mediterranean.  The political history of Rome therefore is the history of a small-scale community overextending itself and trying desperately to develop new institutions that could hold the empire together.  In their management of empire, the Romans had a long tradition to draw on, leading back through the Persians to the Neo-Assyrian state. 
 

'Empire' has two senses:  a period in Roman history (when there was an emperor), and the kind of political organization in which one region controls another but does not offer basic rights to the latter that it does to itself.

The principles underlying Roman political organization are similar to those found in Athens:  there was a fear of individuals accumulating power and circumventing the system.  Therefore, a variety of checks and balances were instituted over the years.  By the first century BC, these checks failed to keep power from accumulating in the hands of a handful of men, and in the latter half of the century we find a republic refashioning itself under what amounted almost to another kingdom. 

We do not, however, find the same sort of tribal system in Rome as in Greece.  The biggest changes in the social order occurred in Rome around the time of our first major written sources, and before the extant literature.  So reconstruction of social organization at the period when the political structures we know were still forming is deeply problematic. 

Phases of Republican history were defined in terms of political relations / wars with other states and in terms of power struggles between social classes within the Roman state (the latter on several levels).  Some important dates: 
 

Social Events Political Events
509  End of monarchy
494  Secession of plebs
440  Patricians may marry plebians
390  Gauls sack Rome
348  First (?) treaty with Carthage
265  Rome  controls Italian peninsula
264 - 261  First Punic War
227  Creation of first provinces
146  End of Third Punic War and Destruction of Corinth
134  T. Gracchus tribune
124  G. Gracchus tribune
107  Marius' first consulship
91 - 88  Social War
88  Sulla's first consulship
44 Caesar assassinated
23 BC- AD 14  Augustus first Emperor

 

E)  Roman Political Organization

Caretakers of Roman government were the senate; during the Republic, the most important  political offices were the magistracies, elective offices of (except for censorship and prorogated offices) one year duration.  Holders of the higher magistracies became senators after their term of office (consistently by the late Republic). 
 
 

F)  Organization of Roman Cultic Activity

Priesthoods were offices to be sought by the upper classes, and it was possible (and frequent) for holders of political offices to also hold sacred offices at the same time.  The two systems were essentially distinct.  At the same time, many political offices required the practice of certain rites related to their political duties, so it is not fair to say that political and religious realms were distinct at Rome.  Rather, sacred duties were held by people throughout Roman society; sometimes it was appropriate to pair them with political duties, and at other times not.