James Hua, University of Oxford
The systematic expulsion of an entire population from its polis in the Classical Greek world was a remarkably frequent, yet understudied, reality. One common form of these uprootings was the mass enslavement of the population. From my compilation of all cases in the Classical Greek world, this amounts to over thirty instances of civic andrapodismos, committed by hegemonies, tyrants, and empires from Persia to Philip II.
This talk will examine the practical dynamics, lived experiences, and social consequences of the forced movement of these mass enslaved populations. After presenting my holistic, typologised results, I will focus on the two regions with the richest evidence, Sicily and Boiotia. In Sicily, I shall outline the seven forms of mass andrapodismos inflicted on the twelve affected settlements, and map them onto the citizens’ lived experiences. Following this contextualisation, a few case studies shall be explored wherein we can dig deeper into the fates of these populations from the evidence. Although a picture of mass suffering, loss of identity, and social fragmentation dominates, various instances of humanitarian aid and aided repatriation also emerge, particularly with the Naxians and Motyans. These (perhaps surprising) instances of more fortunate outcomes and inter-communal solidarity are replicated in the Boiotian cases in a different way. The Thebans certainly expelled and enslaved many of their Boiotian neighbours in violent cases of mass andrapodismos; the Thebans too were later exposed to enslavement by Alexander. However, a study of these expelled Thebans’ epigraphy and social ties when abroad, especially in Athens, reveals not only that various enslaved Thebans were being offered refuge and forming ties with other communities abroad, but were also receiving aid to return to Thebes in 315. The restored Boiotian confederacy in the early Hellenistic age attests to a new regional identity revolving around this shared experience of andrapodised expulsion.
This paper thus raises questions about the dynamics of enslaving an entire population and its efficacity, the coherence and transferral of enslaved people’s statuses across polis boundaries, and the political usage but also solidarity shown by other cities towards these enslaved poleis. It opens a new discourse in Classical Greek political and social culture that has been largely overlooked.