CARTHAGE AND SICILY

Review: Carthage and Sicily Author(s): Simon P. Ellis Reviewed work(s): Karthago und Sizilien. Die Entstehung und Gestaltung der Epikratie auf dem Hintergrund der Beziehungen der Karthager zu den Griechen und den nichtgriechischen Völkern Siziliens (VI-III Jahrhundert v. Chr.) by Linda-Marie Hans Source: The Classical Review, New Series, Vol. 38, No. 1 (1988), pp. 89-91 Published by: Cambridge University Press on behalf of The Classical Association Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3065934 Accessed: 14/01/2010 02:32 Your use of the JSTOR archive indicates your acceptance of JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use, available at http://www.jstor.org/page/info/about/policies/terms.jsp. JSTOR's Terms and Conditions of Use provides, in part, that unless you have obtained prior permission, you may not download an entire issue of a journal or multiple copies of articles, and you may use content in the JSTOR archive only for your personal, non-commercial use. 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The omission is, however, perverse, and a pity, because it would have made possible a direct comparison between G.'s findings and those of R. Osborne in Classical Landscape with Figures. the Greek City and its Countryside, 1987. Osborne compares and contrasts the organisation and the exploitation of the territories of Athens, Thasos and Elis (the last of which is treated by G.). There is in fact much in common between the approaches of Osborne and G., both of whom are prepared to look at places other than the 'superpowers', and to look at them for their own sakes; and both of whom are interested in the exploited territory and not just in the cities which did the exploiting. In the end, the conclusions reached by both books are slightly disappointing, and for the same reason: both authors can in the end merely point to the enormous variety of 'strategies' (another very modish word) adopted by the different states examined. We have after all been offered not the key to Greek history we had been hoping for, but a huge bunch of keys, one for each door. No real generalisations emerge. The most that G. can hold out, and it is a real hope, is that each of what is, even after his efforts, a large number of rather crudely-cut keys, may open several doors. G. in his third and final main section comes close (p. 177) to delivering an old-fashioned sermon, of the kind deplored by Moses Finley in ch. 7 of Use and Abuse of History, on Greek 'failure to achieve unity'. The value of G.'s pioneering book does not, however, lie in these concluding remarks of his, but in his efforts to make us think about what different and geographically-separated places may have had in common; and to think about the question of typicality. Greek states could be sorted in many other and perhaps better ways; the important thing is that a start has been made. Oriel College, Oxford SIMON HORNBLOWER CARTHAGE AND SICILY LINDA-MARIE HANS: Karthago und Sizilien. Die Entstehung und Gestaltung der Epikratie auf dem Hintergrund der Beziehungen der Karthager zu den Griechen und den nichtgriechischen Volkern Siziliens (VI-III Jahrhundert v. Chr.). (Historische Texte und Studien, 7.) Pp. x+274; 3 plates. Hildesheim, Zurich and New York: Olms, 1983. Paper, DM 37.80. What little we know about the history of Carthage was written by its enemies, so it is doubly difficult to present a reliable general history of the state. More recently this has been supplemented by numismatic study by Jenkins, and other archaeological data. Hans is aiming at a bold general synthesis of Carthage's place in Sicily from the sixth to the third century B.C. The book is organised in broad chronological sections, within which the author examines Carthaginian relations with each Sicilian polis in turn. This allows full appreciation of the part played by lesser cities such as Agrigento. The book ends with a general appreciation of the nature of Carthaginian control, and policy in Sicily. H. is usually appreciative of the difficulties of the sources, though sometimes she can be too accepting, for instance when using the reported troop figures to assess the size and composition of Punic armies (pp. 136-7). She accepts the historical accuracy of 'Malchus' the first Carthaginian commander to interfere in Sicily in the mid-sixth 0009-840X/88 $3.00 ? Oxford University Press 1988 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW 89 categorise in G.'s terms (either a 6a or a 3?). The omission is, however, perverse, and a pity, because it would have made possible a direct comparison between G.'s findings and those of R. Osborne in Classical Landscape with Figures. the Greek City and its Countryside, 1987. Osborne compares and contrasts the organisation and the exploitation of the territories of Athens, Thasos and Elis (the last of which is treated by G.). There is in fact much in common between the approaches of Osborne and G., both of whom are prepared to look at places other than the 'superpowers', and to look at them for their own sakes; and both of whom are interested in the exploited territory and not just in the cities which did the exploiting. In the end, the conclusions reached by both books are slightly disappointing, and for the same reason: both authors can in the end merely point to the enormous variety of 'strategies' (another very modish word) adopted by the different states examined. We have after all been offered not the key to Greek history we had been hoping for, but a huge bunch of keys, one for each door. No real generalisations emerge. The most that G. can hold out, and it is a real hope, is that each of what is, even after his efforts, a large number of rather crudely-cut keys, may open several doors. G. in his third and final main section comes close (p. 177) to delivering an old-fashioned sermon, of the kind deplored by Moses Finley in ch. 7 of Use and Abuse of History, on Greek 'failure to achieve unity'. The value of G.'s pioneering book does not, however, lie in these concluding remarks of his, but in his efforts to make us think about what different and geographically-separated places may have had in common; and to think about the question of typicality. Greek states could be sorted in many other and perhaps better ways; the important thing is that a start has been made. Oriel College, Oxford SIMON HORNBLOWER CARTHAGE AND SICILY LINDA-MARIE HANS: Karthago und Sizilien. Die Entstehung und Gestaltung der Epikratie auf dem Hintergrund der Beziehungen der Karthager zu den Griechen und den nichtgriechischen Volkern Siziliens (VI-III Jahrhundert v. Chr.). (Historische Texte und Studien, 7.) Pp. x+274; 3 plates. Hildesheim, Zurich and New York: Olms, 1983. Paper, DM 37.80. What little we know about the history of Carthage was written by its enemies, so it is doubly difficult to present a reliable general history of the state. More recently this has been supplemented by numismatic study by Jenkins, and other archaeological data. Hans is aiming at a bold general synthesis of Carthage's place in Sicily from the sixth to the third century B.C. The book is organised in broad chronological sections, within which the author examines Carthaginian relations with each Sicilian polis in turn. This allows full appreciation of the part played by lesser cities such as Agrigento. The book ends with a general appreciation of the nature of Carthaginian control, and policy in Sicily. H. is usually appreciative of the difficulties of the sources, though sometimes she can be too accepting, for instance when using the reported troop figures to assess the size and composition of Punic armies (pp. 136-7). She accepts the historical accuracy of 'Malchus' the first Carthaginian commander to interfere in Sicily in the mid-sixth 0009-840X/88 $3.00 ? Oxford University Press 1988 century, without really examining the legendary associations of his name (p. 7). On the other hand she is careful to note that there is no mention of Malchus attacking Greeks, and suggests that he could have been sent to compel the Elims, or even the other Phoenician colonies, into alignment with Carthage. H. sees the events of the sixth and fifth centuries as a series of Carthaginian responses to appeals from Sicily. Dorieus' attempt to found a colony at Eryx in 522 B.C. results in an 'Allianz spontan' (p. 9) between Motya and the Elims. During this stage Carthage is just another polis with interests in Sicily, which can be called in on any side in the perpetual squabbles of the Greek cities. The Carthaginian intervention at Himera in 480 B.C. to restore the tyrant Terillos, is to be seen in this light (pp. 36-7). Though Himera was a defeat for Carthage, it showed that Phoenician Sicily was a force to be reckoned with and ensured peace for the rest of the century. Another aspect of events at Himera that was to have great significance in the fourth and third centuries B.C., was the personal relations of the commander Hamilcar with Terillos. In the centuries after Himera we seem to be in an age of Syracusan tyrants and Carthaginian commanders, who dictate the course of events more by their personal contacts, than by the policies of their governments (p. 72). Hamilcar's mother was from Syracuse, whilst after the disgrace of Himera his son Gisko took refuge in exile at Selinus. For H. the turning point in Punic-Greek relations comes in 410-406 B.C. with the appearance of a massive Carthaginian expedition, the destruction of Himera and Selinus, with attacks on Gela, Agrigento, and Syracuse. The Syracusan aristocrat Hermocrates took advantage of the shock to galvanise pan-Greek support in his attempt to become tyrant. He failed, but the feelings he had aroused were later used successfully by Dionysius I. H. shows how the origin of the attack was a natural continuation of Carthage's earlier policy of helping her allies (Segesta), and was preceded by nervous diplomacy in Syracuse where both sides tried to avoid a confrontation. However, she still fails to account for the ferocity and extent of Carthaginian aggression. Whilst she does examine the sources closely, one sometimes has the feeling that she blames the Greeks all the time for provoking crises. It is in 410 that H. would place the formation of an organised Carthaginian territory, the ErTtKpaTEta in her terms. This is a particular theme of the book. She does not justify her choice of term, but it may be accepted as less nuanced than other possibilities such as 'province'. The clearest evidence for the Epikrateia seems to be numismatic. Following Jenkins, H. identifies a 'military' issue of coinage that runs from 410 to the Roman conquest (p. 128), and notes that the last independent coin of Segesta should probably be dated to 405 (p. 22). Her conception of the Epikrateia remains very vague due to the complete absence of evidence for Carthaginian officials in Sicily. She would like to see the Carthaginian commander as a form of 'supremo' or provincial governor (p. 146), but his influence is really a part of personal aristocratic relations. H. does support the idea that the cities in the Punic 'zone' retained their independence throughout the period. It is clear that there was an increasing hardening of attitudes between Greeks and Phoenicians from the fourth century with firm division of the island into areas of Syracusan and Carthaginian control. This movement is also reflected in Carthage's claims to Sicily in her treaties with Rome. H.'s consideration of the smaller states pays off here in considering Agrigento's brief attempt to overturn Syracusan control by Agathocles (p. 96), and the Carthage/Syracuse alliance against the Mamertines in the third century (p. 102). These show that the Sicilians were not unaware as to how the larger powers dominated them. 90 THE CLASSICAL REVIEW H. does see the Phoenician settlements in Sicily as having a major commercial role, but this was later modified by major political and strategic considerations, to protect Africa and the W. Mediterranean (p. 118). It is a pity that the book does not consider archaeological information in any systematic fashion. Arguments of strong personal contacts between Greeks and Phoenicians could have been strengthened by the evidence for wide Greek cultural influence in Carthage from the fifth century. Most surprisingly the book contains no map of Sicily. Overall, however, the book is a very refreshing reworking of recent research avoiding many easy assumptions for more secure detailed analysis. It will certainly become a starting point for new research in the subject. Downing College, Cambridge SIMON P. ELLIS GREEKS IN EGYPT ALAN E. SAMUEL: From Athens to Alexandria: Hellenism and Social Goals in Ptolemaic Egypt. (Studia Hellenistica, 26.) Pp. xi+ 130. Louvain: Studia Hellenistica, 1983. Paper, B. frs. 600. This work, as the author tells us, represents an expansion of two lectures delivered in 1974. No doubt for this reason it falls into two distinct halves, one concerned with the economics of Ptolemaic Egypt and the other with Greek culture in Egypt. The link between these two themes may seem somewhat tenuous, but for Samuel it is justified by the fact that 'fundamental attitudes affect all aspects of society, not only the economic, and so basic assumptions about the merit of stability should have their affects [sic] in literature, religion and art as well' (p. 38). There can be no doubt what these fundamental attitudes were for S., since his conclusions emerge again and again and are always the same: the goal of ancient Greek society, in Egypt as elsewhere, was stability; the Greeks were conservative in everything and resistant to change. To the first section of the book, entitled 'Economics and technology in Ptolemaic Egypt', is prefaced a short examination of the classical Greek background, in which S. argues that modern assumptions that a society should aim at growth and change would have been alien to the Greeks. For them the aim was stability and change meant degeneration. There was, S. claims, genuine analysis of economic affairs in classical Greece, notably by Aristotle, but it was quite different from any analysis we should recognise as such; occasional glimpses of its working in practice can be found in the Attic orators. Where he is certainly right is in pointing out that classical Greece has much theory but little data, whereas Ptolemaic Egypt has no theory but an abundance of data; hence the purpose of this book, which S. describes in the preface as an examination of what the Greeks did in Egypt with reference to their classical Greek inheritance. When we come to analyse these data as they affect economics and technology we naturally think first of agriculture. S. argues that the Greeks in Egypt were content with the efficient working of what already existed; they were not concerned to develop new technology or to increase productivity (here one is surprised to find no reference to the work of Dorothy Crawford Thompson, and one badly misses a reference to Jean Bingen's fundamental study Le Papyrus Revenue Laws - Tradition grecque et Adaptation hellenistique (1978); it is also a surprise, though a more welcome one, to find that the word 'slavery' nowhere occurs). The same is true, we are told, when we 0009-840X/88 $3.00 ? Oxford University Press 1988 H. does see the Phoenician settlements in Sicily as having a major commercial role, but this was later modified by major political and strategic considerations, to protect Africa and the W. Mediterranean (p. 118). It is a pity that the book does not consider archaeological information in any systematic fashion. Arguments of strong personal contacts between Greeks and Phoenicians could have been strengthened by the evidence for wide Greek cultural influence in Carthage from the fifth century. Most surprisingly the book contains no map of Sicily. Overall, however, the book is a very refreshing reworking of recent research avoiding many easy assumptions for more secure detailed analysis. It will certainly become a starting point for new research in the subject. Downing College, Cambridge SIMON P. ELLIS GREEKS IN EGYPT ALAN E. SAMUEL: From Athens to Alexandria: Hellenism and Social Goals in Ptolemaic Egypt. (Studia Hellenistica, 26.) Pp. xi+ 130. Louvain: Studia Hellenistica, 1983. Paper, B. frs. 600. This work, as the author tells us, represents an expansion of two lectures delivered in 1974. No doubt for this reason it falls into two distinct halves, one concerned with the economics of Ptolemaic Egypt and the other with Greek culture in Egypt. The link between these two themes may seem somewhat tenuous, but for Samuel it is justified by the fact that 'fundamental attitudes affect all aspects of society, not only the economic, and so basic assumptions about the merit of stability should have their affects [sic] in literature, religion and art as well' (p. 38). There can be no doubt what these fundamental attitudes were for S., since his conclusions emerge again and again and are always the same: the goal of ancient Greek society, in Egypt as elsewhere, was stability; the Greeks were conservative in everything and resistant to change. To the first section of the book, entitled 'Economics and technology in Ptolemaic Egypt', is prefaced a short examination of the classical Greek background, in which S. argues that modern assumptions that a society should aim at growth and change would have been alien to the Greeks. For them the aim was stability and change meant degeneration. There was, S. claims, genuine analysis of economic affairs in classical Greece, notably by Aristotle, but it was quite different from any analysis we should recognise as such; occasional glimpses of its working in practice can be found in the Attic orators. Where he is certainly right is in pointing out that classical Greece has much theory but little data, whereas Ptolemaic Egypt has no theory but an abundance of data; hence the purpose of this book, which S. describes in the preface as an examination of what the Greeks did in Egypt with reference to their classical Greek inheritance. When we come to analyse these data as they affect economics and technology we naturally think first of agriculture. S. argues that the Greeks in Egypt were content with the efficient working of what already existed; they were not concerned to develop new technology or to increase productivity (here one is surprised to find no reference to the work of Dorothy Crawford Thompson, and one badly misses a reference to Jean Bingen's fundamental study Le Papyrus Revenue Laws - Tradition grecque et Adaptation hellenistique (1978); it is also a surprise, though a more welcome one, to find that the word 'slavery' nowhere occurs). The same is true, we are told, when we 0009-840X/88 $3.00 ? Oxford University Press 1988 91 91 THE