is archaeological evidence for an increase in the population of Olynthus at this date, it is highly unlikely that everyone moved to the new city at once. It is interesting to note that the walls of the expanded city were made of mudbrick and erected with haste, which suggests that the settlers were eagerto preempt Athenian aggression. Those who joined in the merger now identified themselves as a new political unit known as the Chalcidian League.
The Athenian Fleet as the Dêmos in Exile
A particularly interesting instance of polis-relocation is recorded in the case of the Athenian fleet. When the oligarchy known as the Four Hundred seized power in Athens in 411, it âslew a handful of men whom it considered useful to get rid of, imprisoned others, and exiled others stillâ (Thu. 8.70.2). Learning of its actions, the sailors in the Athenian fleet that was stationed at the island of Samos revolted against the Four Hundred, claimed that it and it alone represented the dêmos , and formed itself into a self-determining political entity. It did so on the grounds that âthe polis had revolted from themâ (8.76.3). The sailors in the fleet thus came to resemble other poleis in exile. They held meetings of the Assembly, in which they voted to replace all the generals and trierarchs whom they suspected of treason by others who were favorable to their cause; heard an appeal from Alcibiades that led to his election as general; and received ambassadors from the Four Hundred and from Argos (Thuc. 8.76.2, 77, 81.2â82.1, 86). It was largely as a result of the opposition of the fleet that a more moderate form of government, known as the Five Thousand, ousted the Four Hundred, after the latter had ruled Athens for about four months. The Five Thousand were in turn replaced by a full democracy when the fleet won a significant naval battle over the Spartans at Cyzicus, an event that signaled the dissolution of the fleetâs separatist status in exile.
Dionysius I of Syracuseâs Program of Mass Resettlement
Nowhere was the polis more portable than in Sicily. In the debate that took place in the Athenian Assembly in 416 about whether to dispatch an expedition to conquer Sicily, Alcibiades contemptuously observed.âIts cities are populated by mixed hordes of people and they have easy metabolai [transfers of people] and additions of citizens. No one feels he has his own homelandâ¦. Everyone thinks that either by specious words or by party strife he can get hold of someone elseâs land and settle there, if things donât turn out for the bestâ (Thuc. 6.17.2).
FIGURE 6 Bronze coin from Syracuse, time of the tyrant Agathocles, 319â289. The obverse depicts the head of Persephone. The reverse depicts a butting bull. In the exergue is the legend SURAKOSIÃN . Gelon, tyrant of Gela, transferred his capital to Syracuse in ca. 485 and by mass deportation caused it to double in size. By the middle of the fourth century, however, Syracuseâs population had declined appreciably. It was resettled in ca. 340 by Timoleon under an oligarchic constitution. Syracuse experienced nineteen instances of stasis âthe highest number of any polis .
Alcibiadesâ words must be taken with a grain of salt: he wanted to persuade the Athenians that the conquest of Sicily would not present them with a major challenge. Even so, his observation was not wide of the mark. Seven years previously the aristocracy of Leontini had deported the commoners and relocated them to Syracuse, where they were granted citizenship (Thuc. 5.4.2â3). And though the Greek cities of Sicily had been relatively stable over the past few decades, in the first half of the fifth century the Deinomenid tyrants had resettled the populations of Catania, Camarina, Euboea, Megara Hyblaea, and Naxos (see later, chapter 5 ). The earliest mass resettlement, though not in this case a deportation, had taken place in ca. 485 under Gelon,
The Athenian Fleet as the Dêmos in Exile
A particularly interesting instance of polis-relocation is recorded in the case of the Athenian fleet. When the oligarchy known as the Four Hundred seized power in Athens in 411, it âslew a handful of men whom it considered useful to get rid of, imprisoned others, and exiled others stillâ (Thu. 8.70.2). Learning of its actions, the sailors in the Athenian fleet that was stationed at the island of Samos revolted against the Four Hundred, claimed that it and it alone represented the dêmos , and formed itself into a self-determining political entity. It did so on the grounds that âthe polis had revolted from themâ (8.76.3). The sailors in the fleet thus came to resemble other poleis in exile. They held meetings of the Assembly, in which they voted to replace all the generals and trierarchs whom they suspected of treason by others who were favorable to their cause; heard an appeal from Alcibiades that led to his election as general; and received ambassadors from the Four Hundred and from Argos (Thuc. 8.76.2, 77, 81.2â82.1, 86). It was largely as a result of the opposition of the fleet that a more moderate form of government, known as the Five Thousand, ousted the Four Hundred, after the latter had ruled Athens for about four months. The Five Thousand were in turn replaced by a full democracy when the fleet won a significant naval battle over the Spartans at Cyzicus, an event that signaled the dissolution of the fleetâs separatist status in exile.
Dionysius I of Syracuseâs Program of Mass Resettlement
Nowhere was the polis more portable than in Sicily. In the debate that took place in the Athenian Assembly in 416 about whether to dispatch an expedition to conquer Sicily, Alcibiades contemptuously observed.âIts cities are populated by mixed hordes of people and they have easy metabolai [transfers of people] and additions of citizens. No one feels he has his own homelandâ¦. Everyone thinks that either by specious words or by party strife he can get hold of someone elseâs land and settle there, if things donât turn out for the bestâ (Thuc. 6.17.2).
FIGURE 6 Bronze coin from Syracuse, time of the tyrant Agathocles, 319â289. The obverse depicts the head of Persephone. The reverse depicts a butting bull. In the exergue is the legend SURAKOSIÃN . Gelon, tyrant of Gela, transferred his capital to Syracuse in ca. 485 and by mass deportation caused it to double in size. By the middle of the fourth century, however, Syracuseâs population had declined appreciably. It was resettled in ca. 340 by Timoleon under an oligarchic constitution. Syracuse experienced nineteen instances of stasis âthe highest number of any polis .
Alcibiadesâ words must be taken with a grain of salt: he wanted to persuade the Athenians that the conquest of Sicily would not present them with a major challenge. Even so, his observation was not wide of the mark. Seven years previously the aristocracy of Leontini had deported the commoners and relocated them to Syracuse, where they were granted citizenship (Thuc. 5.4.2â3). And though the Greek cities of Sicily had been relatively stable over the past few decades, in the first half of the fifth century the Deinomenid tyrants had resettled the populations of Catania, Camarina, Euboea, Megara Hyblaea, and Naxos (see later, chapter 5 ). The earliest mass resettlement, though not in this case a deportation, had taken place in ca. 485 under Gelon,
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