Stasis und Exklusion

Bürgerrecht und interne Konflikte in griechischen Poleis

Abstract

Numerous internal conflicts (staseis) in the Greek cities are recorded for the Hellenistic period, some of which escalated into full-blown civil wars. The rich epigraphic tradition makes it possible to understand better than in Classical times how those directly affected conceptualized these problems, and it is striking that citizenship often played an important role – an indication that the question of who was allowed to participate in political decision-making processes continued to be of great importance even after the establishment of Macedonian hegemony over the Greeks. Thus, the deprivation of citizenship and the banishment of political enemies remained an important instrument of internal conflict until the establishment of Roman monocracy led to the pacification and aristocratization of the poleis.