League of the Islanders

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Map of the Cyclades

The League of the Islanders (

Antigonid control until c. 287 BC. It then passed under the aegis of the Ptolemaic Kingdom until Ptolemaic control over the central Aegean collapsed and the League was dissolved sometime in the mid-3rd century BC. The Cycladic islands reverted to independence, except for a few that passed under Macedonian control. The league was re-established ("Second Nesiotic League") under the leadership of Rhodes
in c. 200 BC, and survived until c. 167 BC.

History

The history of the League of the Islanders is relatively obscure, as no literary sources about it have survived. The only evidence comes from inscriptions.

Seleucus I.[5] As a result, the islands passed under the hegemony of the Ptolemaic Kingdom, and the games were renamed as Sotēria Ptolemaia (Σωτήρια Πτολεμαῖα) and Philadelphia (Φιλαδέλφεια) in honour of Ptolemy I Soter and his son Ptolemy II Philadelphus.[3][6]

The islands remained under Ptolemaic control until sometime in the middle of the 3rd century BC. The last documents pertaining to the League date approximately to the second quarter of the century; no nēsiarchos is attested after c. 260 BC, and the number of Ptolemaic offerings to Delos also drops off sharply at the same time. This indicates that the League collapsed, and the Ptolemies lost control of the Aegean, either during the

Keos and Kythnos, with some influence, probably temporary, in Amorgos and Paros in the direct aftermath of the Battle of Andros—and the panhellenic sanctuary at Delos. According to Reger, by and large the individual Cycladic islands appear to have remained free and autonomous for the rest of the century.[12]

In the meantime, Rhodes rose to become the chief naval power in the Aegean and even beyond. In order to protect their political and commercial interests, such as the grain trade, where Rhodes held a dominant position, the Rhodians were active against pirates such as Demetrius of Pharos or the Cretan cities and the Aetolian League; both of the latter secretly sponsored by King Philip V of Macedon. By c. 220 BC, according to Polybius (The Histories, IV.47.1), the Rhodians "were considered the supreme authority in maritime matters" and were called upon by merchants to intervene in cases such as the imposition of tolls by the Byzantines on passage of ships through the Bosporus.[13] In 201 BC, during the Cretan War, Philip V of Macedon subdued the Cyclades at the head of his fleet, but already in the next year, the Rhodians took over of most of the islands except for the Macedonian-garrisoned islands of Andros, Paros, and Kythnos.[14] Followed by further Macedonian setbacks in the Second Macedonian War (200–197 BC), the Cycladic islands, already bound individually to Rhodes by treaties of alliance, were soon after—an exact date cannot be ascertained—formed into a "Second Nesiotic League" under the hegemony of Rhodes.[15][16] The motivations for Rhodes' move are unclear, but the historian Kenneth Sheedy has suggested that they stemmed at least partly from a desire to preempt other powers, whether the Kingdom of Pergamon or the Roman Republic, from establishing control over the area.[17] Unlike the original League however, the Second League appears to have been a more voluntary association.[18] The Second Nesiotic League is commonly held to have lasted until the end of Rhodian independence at the conclusion of the Third Macedonian War in 167 BC,[3] but Sheedy suggests that it may have started to disintegrate earlier, as the Rhodians focused their attention on maintaining their grip over their Asian holdings and could no longer afford to maintain the costly hegemony over the Cyclades.[19]

Institutions

Bust of Ptolemy II Philadelphus

The League's institutions are well attested through a series of inscriptions for its Ptolemaic period, but it appears that the main characteristics were present already under Antigonus, and according to

Keos, and probably also Ios under Antigonus, while Naxos, Andros, Amorgos, and Paros are also attested under the Ptolemies. It is possible, but unlikely, that Samos and others of the Southern Sporades were also members during the Ptolemaic period.[3][20] The membership of the sacred island of Delos, which played a central role in the League, has been disputed by Walther Kolbe, who argued that Delos remained independent of the League;[21] most scholars however consider it to have been a full member of the League.[20][22]

The League was headed by the nēsiarchos (νησίαρχος, "ruler of the islands") and a council (συνέδριον,

isopolity in each other's communities" (Billows).[23][24][25]

The League's centre in Antigonid and Ptolemaic times was the sacred island of Delos, where the annual festivals were held, and where the synedrion assembled—a single, and probably exceptional, convocation by the Ptolemaic commander

stelae in the member states.[28] In another indication of the Leagues' federal character, the synedrion could not only require financial contributions from its members, but also punish them for non-compliance.[23] In practice, both the League as well as the member states often had to resort to taking loans from the Sanctuary of Apollo on Delos to cover expenses.[27] The synedrion also appears to have appointed the overseers (ἐπιμεληταὶ, epimelētai) for the festivals and the sacrifices to Ptolemy Soter and Ptolemy Philadelphos, as well as arbitrators for judicial disputes between member states.[26]

The nēsiarchos was appointed by the League's suzerain king, and, again in contrast to most other such leagues, was not an islander. He wielded executive power and was responsible for carrying out the synedrion's decisions, collect the member states' contributions, command the League military, and safeguard shipping in the Aegean.

epistatai). Elsewhere the traditional institutions of a Greek polis remained in force.[28]

References

  1. ^ a b Merker 1970, p. 141.
  2. ^ Billows 1990, p. 220.
  3. ^ a b c d e f Schwahn 1931, col. 1263.
  4. ^ Billows 1990, pp. 220–221.
  5. ^ Merker 1970, p. 142.
  6. ^ a b c Billows 1990, p. 221.
  7. ^ Merker 1970, pp. 159–160.
  8. ^ Reger 1994, p. 34.
  9. ^ Reger 1994, p. 33.
  10. ^ Reger 1994, pp. 34, 41–43.
  11. ^ Reger 1994, pp. 34, 39–40, 43–46.
  12. ^ Reger 1994, pp. 33–35, 46–65.
  13. ^ Sheedy 1996, pp. 430–431.
  14. ^ Sheedy 1996, p. 428.
  15. ^ Reger 1994, p. 35.
  16. ^ Sheedy 1996, pp. 423–425, 426–428.
  17. ^ Sheedy 1996, pp. 428–449.
  18. ^ Sheedy 1996, pp. 448–449.
  19. ^ Sheedy 1996, pp. 447–449.
  20. ^ a b Billows 1990, p. 222.
  21. ^ Kolbe 1930, pp. 20–29.
  22. ^ Merker 1970, pp. 158–159.
  23. ^ a b c Billows 1990, pp. 221–222.
  24. ^ a b Schwahn 1931, col. 1263–1264.
  25. ^ Merker 1970, pp. 156–157.
  26. ^ a b c Merker 1970, p. 157.
  27. ^ a b c d e Schwahn 1931, col. 1264.
  28. ^ a b Schwahn 1931, col. 1265.
  29. ^ Merker 1970, pp. 152–153.
  30. ^ Merker 1970, pp. 150–153.
  31. ^ Merker 1970, p. 153.
  32. ^ Schwahn 1931, col. 1264–1265.

Sources

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