Location: Old Library
The fourth lecture focuses on the role of individual leaders as vectors of socio-political development in the early Greek world. The social profile of Iron Age leaders is rooted in that of Late Bronze Age independent agents, some of whom held the same title of qa-si-re-u ≈ basileus as the Homeric and Hesiodic leaders. Despite occasionally serving the interests of the Mycenaean palaces, these figures engaged in military and economic activities independently of them and were thus able to overcome their collapse. Claims to leadership rested on military prowess as well as the capability of establishing overseas networks and of controlling the circulation of metals and trade. Political power was wielded informally, and social cohesion rested on the leaders’ ability to meet the community’s expectations of justice and well-being. The basileis of early Greece were among the main protagonists of the creation of new institutions, a process that had different outcomes, ranging from monarchy (in Cyprus), to diarchy (in Sparta), to systems of power sharing.
