The main rules of tribute payment in mid 5th century Athenian arche according to Cleinias decree

Vol.20,No.1(2015)

Lukáš Kubala

Stable URL (handle):
http://hdl.handle.net/11222.digilib/133966

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Abstract
The main priority of my paper is to point out, through epigraphic sources and evidence from the 5th century Athens, one of the most characteristic features and objectives of Athenian "imperialism" during the last two decades of the period called Pentekontaetia (the period of fifty years – 479–431 B.C.). I will especially focus my attention on one of the most important epigraphic sources from this period – Cleinias decree (448/7, 425/4(?) B.C.). The importance of this decree is significant, because it puts an exact view on the process of collection of the tribute (foros) in the mid-5th century Athenian arche. The financial regulations pre¬scribed in the decree were valid for all members of the Athenian arche, and had a great im¬pact on restriction of their autonomy at the expense of growth of Athenian dominance in the symmachy. The main objective I want to achieve in this paper, the importance of epigraphic material and evidence as one of the most important (and in some cases irreplaceable) sources of information about the image of Athenian "imperialism" and Athenian relationship towards their subject-allies in the 5th century B.C. The reason why I choose particularly this decree as a representative type of epigraphic evidence, is to show how important the annual collection of the tribute was for the Athenians, and how the Athenians used the collection of the foros, as Isocrates mentions to "publicly humiliate" the allies and how they strengthened their hegemonic position in Delian symmachy transforming it into their own thalassocratic "empire" and allies into their "subjects". At the end, besides the political motives and economical profits of Athenian "imperial" foreign policy, I will mention another very strong element, which also had a significant impact in terms of Athenian attempts to achieve not only political, but also cultural dominance over its allies by linking and implicating some of the most important control mechanisms of imperialism with various religion aspects.

Keywords:
Cleinias decree; Athenian arche; foros; subject-allies; imperialism; empire

Pages:
59–75
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