Интеграционные и дезинтеграционные процессы в Беотии: становление Фиванского полиса
Processes of Integration and Disintegration in Boeotia: Development of the Theban Polis

Summary/Abstract: The article deals with the integration and disintegration processes during the development of the Theban polis and the Boeotian League. It analyzes the natural factors for the development of Thebes into the largest centre of Boeotia, which include presence of fertile land, sufficient water, as well as a convenient geographical location at the crossroads of the main roads of Boeotia. These factors influenced the formation of the Theban settlement. The long-term development of the Boeotian communities was not exclusively increasing. Around 1200 BC, a complex of factors led to the collapse of palace-centric states and to regional disintegration. However, after some time, the presence of large water resources and the favourable location of Thebes as natural growth factors caused a new leap of development in the Late Geometric period (8th century BC) when Thebes again became an organized settlement and set on the path of polis development. These same growth factors led to the fact that Thebes turned into the largest policy of Boeotia. In the process of urban growth of Thebes, the religious and self-identifying components were of great importance. The first urban religious cluster to expand beyond the Acropolis of Thebes was the southeastern sector, which, in our opinion, was already walled in Late Antiquity. It was here that the most important city sanctuaries of Herakles and Apollo Ismenios were located. As soon as Thebes turned into the largest regional centre in the 6th century BC, the process of integrating the settlements of Boeotia into a federation under Theban hegemony began. This process was interrupted several times due to political factors, which resulted in the defeat of Thebes by the Persians in 479 BC, or, for example, in the disintegration of the Boeotian League as a result of the Peace of Antalcidas in 387/6 BC, and then the capture of Thebes by the Spartans in 382 BC. In the periods we are considering, the final phases of the Boeotian League’s disintegration under the Theban hegemony were the events of 338 and 335 BC. The final part of the article proposes an explanation of these processes through an Annalist perspective.

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