Arcadian ethnos and koinon: Experience and meaning
The purpose of the article is to analyze the ethnic, religious, economic and political factors in the development of the Arcadians, at the point where the Arcadian league was formed. This study examines the formation of the Arcadian Union as a natural development of the Arcadian ethnos. At the same time, the Arcadians were constantly on the verge of integration and disintegration, stimulated by both internal and external reasons. The old enmity between Mantinea and Tegea, which divided Arcadia into two warring symmachies, was actively used by both Sparta and Argos, who fought for dominance in the Peloponnese. The Arcadians opposed external destructive forces with religious rallying around the cult of Zeus of Lycia and the minting of a common coin with his image, i.e. religious and economic integration. The article pays special attention to the reasons for the dioicism of Mantinea. The decree on the sympathy of Mantinea and Gellison is subject to consideration, the details of which help to understand the seriousness of the threat that forced Sparta to destroy the policy. The Battle of Leuctras destroyed external obstacles to the political integration of Arcadia, while internal ones were leveled by the allied decision to found Megalopolis and the willingness of Tegea and Mantinea to forget about their differences for the common good. In this case, Lycomedes of Mantinean, who was the ideological inspirer of the Arcadian league, as well as Epaminondas of the Boeotian league, played an important role. This paper examines the role of Arcadian subethnos in the process of koinon formation. These formations were “alliances in miniature”, which greatly facilitated the all-Union control over the territory of the koinon. In addition to the Arcadian subethnos, the subethnos of the Triphylls, which once belonged to Elis, is of interest. It is curious that in the struggle for independence, the triphylls readily changed their ethnicity. This episode raises the question of the degree of correlation between the political and ethnic components of the Greek ethnic groups. Despite the fact that the Arcadian Union did not last even ten years, nevertheless, the integration processes in Arcadia did not stop. The experience that the Arcadian koinon demonstrated to the Greeks of the Peloponnese will form the basis of the Achaean Union. It is no coincidence that the leading political figures of the Achaean Union (Lydias, Philopemenos and Polybius) were natives of Megalopolis and made a significant contribution to its political, military and ideological development.