Against Territories and Borders: Some Observations from a Study of Ancient Thessaly

Ancient Thessaly contrasted sharply with many regions of Greece in that it was hallmarked by vast plains, ever changing river systems, and an overall remoteness from the sea. The Thessalians formed political unions on local and regional level already in the Archaic period, and federal magistrates and offices are known until the so-called Crisis of the Third Century. Yet, despite the evidence for  advanced military and defensive collaboration, Thessaly is rich in land dispute inscriptions between its many communities. This talk will contextualise some of these inscriptions and try to approach a materiality-based if not somatic interpretation of Thessalian political space in the Hellenistic period.