Within two years after the foundation of the League of Nations in 1919, historians such as Arthur E.R. Boak wondered whether there were ancient predecessors of this interstate institution. The League of Nations was regarded as “a voluntary association of self-governing states for the purpose of promoting international peace and security” (“Greek Interstate Associations and the League of Nations”. American Journal of International Law 15, 375–83: 382, my italics). Boak examined both the federal states of antiquity and supra-state “federal” forms in the broad sense (such as hegemonic symmachies, Hellenic Leagues, amphiktyonies). Were these forms of federation forerunners to the League of Nations? Compared to the ambivalent history of Greek antiquity – characterised by peaceful conflict-resolution strategies as well as secular wars – for Boak the answer “no” was inevitable. The League of Nations had no precedent, and thus a certain optimism in it was permitted.

In a different, yet equally vibrant context, Jakob A.O. Larsen (“Federation for Peace in Ancient Greece”. Classical Philology 39, 145-62) started from the same question and analysed more or less the same ancient Greek cases. Larsen was writing in 1944, as the world was being ravaged by war and searching for a way out. Could federal bodies promote peace? Like Boak, Larsen also looked to the ancient Greeks with hope, but unlike Boak, he allowed himself a degree of optimism even with regard to the ancients.

The “federation for peace” dilemma has dominated studies on federalism in general (not just ancient federalism) and has run through post-World War II Europe, the Cold War, and the nascent European Union. Moreover, federation for peace has been the hope to which many have clung in the face of crumbling nations, the dramas of ethnic conflicts and the challenge of religious conflicts. Something had to exist to keep nations united in peace. That something seemed to be federalism.

Investigations into Greek Federal States have also been guided by this question. Articulate and nuanced answers have been developed, although these have scarcely been conclusive. The evidence does not seem to allow for clear-cut conclusions, but that is not the decisive point. The important aspect is that we are still looking for answers to the same question, namely Boak’s question: did federalism promote peace?

FeBo does not seek an answer to that question because it starts from the assumption that with regard to Ancient Greece the question we should be asking is a different one, and it focuses on borders: how did the Greek federal states deal with the problem of internal (intra-federal) and external borders? Did border management policies aim at peaceful coexistence per se or rather at a balance of power and stability? Did they take into account economic, ethnic, cultural, athletic and religious cross-border networks?

The first results of our investigations show that in some case ancient Greek federal states developed specific border cultures and applied multifaceted strategies of boundary management that responded to the different challenges posed by the leagues’ internal and external borders. In doing so, they were able to draw on existing forms of cross-border interaction including economic, ethnic, cultural and religious networks.

This workshop focuses on these very people, goods, gods and animals that crossed and animated borders on a regular basis. It zooms in on federal border areas and borderland worlds, explores the way those borders were demarcated by natural features and boundary markers and gives room for the presentation and discussion of new evidence. The approach is not restricted to the study of federal states alone, but comprises similar forms of political federations including hegemonic alliances such as the Delian and Peloponnesian Leagues.
FeBo invites approaches that explore the role of cross-border commuters, study exiles and proxenies in a federal context and aim at uncovering different border-management cultures. It delves into contested spaces, newly acquired territories and changing federal border areas, investigates conflict resolution within and by the leagues and asks for the role of myths and rituals in all of this.

Program

March 11

Opening Session (9:15-10:15)

Opening Address and Introduction
F. Demichelis, Vice-Rector for Research, University of Trento
M. Bampi, Director of the Department of Humanities, University of Trento
E. Franchi, Principal Investigator of the ERC Project FeBo: Federalism and Border Management in Greek Antiquity, University of Trento

Chair: E. Franchi (Università di Trento)

Borderisation Processes and Border Cultures

J. McInerney (University of Pennsylvania), Border as Place, Border as Process (10:15-10:45)
S. Scharff (Università di Trento), Federal Border-Management Cultures in Hellenistic Greece (10:45-11:15)

Coffee Break (11:15-11:45)

Ethnicity at the Border (1)

A. Domínguez Monedero (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), The Unstable External and Internal Borders in the Epirote State (11:45-12:15)
D. Graninger (University of California, Riverside/ American School of Classic Studies at Athens), Perioikoi and Borderlands in Hellenistic Thessaly (12:15-12:45)

Lunch Break (12:45-15:30)

Chair: C. Biagetti (Università di Trento)

Ethnicity at the Border (2)

J. Pascual Gonzáles (Universidad Autónoma de Madrid), Borders and Identities in Eastern Lokris (15:30-16:00)
C. Antonetti (Università “Ca’ Foscari” di Venezia), I confini del koinon etolico dalla prospettiva delle invasioni esterne (16:00-16:30)

Coffee Break (16:30-17:00)

J. Roy (University of Nottingham), The Policy of the Arkadian Confederacy on its Southern Border with Sparta (17.00-17:30)

Round Table (17:30-18:30) 

Borders and Borderlands across Time and Space
Opening Address: F. Ferrari (Università di Trento)
A. Casaglia, E. Dai Prà, N. Gabellieri, E. Migliario, I. Santos Salazar, K. Von Winckler, C. Weber-Pallez

March 12

Chair: S. Scharff (Università di Trento)

Natural Borderscapes

P. Funke (Universität Münster), The Acheloos. The Fluid Border between Aitolia and Akarnania (9:00-9:30)
K. Buraselis (National and Kapodistrian University of Athens), Ὕστατοι τῶν Ἠπειρωτῶν εἰς ἀξίωμα προαχθέντες." The Hellenic Microcosm of the Athamanian Kingdom (9:30-10:00)

Coffee Break (10:00-10:30)

C. Weber-Pallez (Université de Toulouse – Jean Jaurès), Geographical Representations of Border Areas in the Hellenistic Achaian Koinon: the Case of the Peloponnesian Mountains (10:30-11:00)

Encroaching on Religion: Sanctuaries and Border Management

A. Ganter (Universität Regensburg), Border Management in a Sanctuary: the Amphiareion of Oropos (11:00-11:30)
C. Lasagni (Università di Torino), The Aitolians in (and around) Delphi: 220s-170s BCE (11:30-12:00)

Lunch Break and Guided Tour through Roman Tridentum by Davide Trivellato (12:00-15:30) 

Chair: G. Proietti (Università di Trento)

Borders and Resources, Borders as Resources

J. Rzepka (University of Warsaw), Manumission Pilgrimage in the Aitolian League and Delphi (15:30-16:00)
R. van Wijk (Università di Trento), Stuck in the Middle? Melitaia and its History of Arbitration (16:00-16:30)
“Unstable Boundaries” (Excellence Project 2023-2027, University of Trento) and its Dissemination Activities: A Workshop on Border Objects (S. Luzzi-D. Viva, Università di Trento)

Coffee Break (16:30-17:00)

C. Grandjean (Université de Tours), Coinages, Monetization and Borders in the Peloponnese (4^th-1^st centuries BCE) (17:00-17:30)

March 13

Chair: M. Giangiulio (Università di Trento)

(Re)defining Borders

K. Freitag (RWTH Aachen), On the Perception and “Definition” of External Borders of Greek Federal States (9:00-9:30)
C. Müller (Université de Paris Nanterre), How to Destroy a Federal Border: Haliartos, the Romans, and the Athenians after 171 BCE (9:30-10:00)

Coffee Break (10:00-10:30)

Beyond Federalism: Amphictyonies, Military Unions and Borders
C. Bearzot (Università Cattolica del Sacro Cuore), Leghe militari, stati federali, alleanze estemporanee: tra rappresentatività e illusione paritaria (10:30-11:00)
E. Aston (University of Reading), The Sanctuary of Demeter at Anthela: Boundaries and Encounters in Central Greece (11:00-11:30)
C. Bonnet - G. Marano (Scuola Normale Superiore), Il Letoon di Xanthos fra unità e pluralità: tre divinità, tre lingue, un koinon (11:30-12:00)

Round Table (12:00-13:00)

Federalism 3.0: Beyond the Unity-Diversity Dualism?
E. Alber, K. Buraselis, P. Funke, M. Giangiulio, C. Müller, F. Palermo, J. Woelk

Lunch Break and Guided Tour through Renaissance Trento by Gertraud Wisthaler (13:00-16:00) 

Chair: E. Migliario (Università di Trento)

Borders and Supra-polis Organisations in Magna Graecia

A. Pollini (Université de Tours), Beyond the Borders of the Civic Territory: Contexts from Magna Graecia (16:00-16:30)

Coffee Break (16:30-16:45)

M. Giangiulio (Università di Trento), South-Italian Alliances from Sybaris to the Italiote League (16:45-17:15)
M. Lombardo (Università del Salento), Eracle, i peripoloi e la ‘frontiera’ in Magna Grecia (17:15-17:45)

March 14

Chair: G. Vettori (Università di Trento)

Federal States and Border Cities

C. Chandezon (Université Paul Valéry – Montpellier), Chaironeia as a Boiotian Border City with Phokis (9:00-9:30)
A. Robu (Université de Paris 8 – Vincennes - St. Denis), The Cities of the Megarid and the Achaian League during the 3^rd and 2^nd Centuries BCE (9:30-10:00)
C. Biagetti (Università di Trento), Shifting Borders in Hellenistic Lykia: Disputed Border Cities between Ethnos and Koinon (10:00-10:30)

Coffee Break (10:30-11:00)

Border Disputes in the Roman Empire

L. Cecchet (Università degli Studi di Milano), Competition, Cooperation and Borders. The Case of Bithynian Poleis (1^st-2^nd Century CE) (11:00-11:30)
M. Valandro (Radboud Universiteit), Urban Communities on the Borders of Colonial Territories: pagi (and ciuitates) in Roman North Africa (11:30-12:00)
G. Deborde (Sorbonne Université), Settlement of Border Disputes between Cities ex conuentione (Western Part of the Roman Empire, 1^st-3^rd Centuries CE) (12:00-12:30)

Conclusions and Final Discussion (12:30-13:00)

Lunch

Poster Session
A. Bianchini (Università di Verona), Between Boundaries and Frontiers. Unveiling Herodotus’ Understanding of Borders through Terminology
C. Ferrarese (Università di Trento), Borders in Books 7 and 8 of Pausanias’ Ἑλλάδος Περιήγησις
R. Massinelli (Università di Trento), Megara’s Role in the Arbitration between Epidauros and Corinth (IG IV 1² 71)
A. Rieti (Università di Trento), When Words Map Territory: Pausanias’ Border Vocabulary in Periegesis’ Books 5 and 6 (Elis and Olympia)
A. Solazzo (Università di Palermo / Universität Münster), Claiming New Boundaries: the Thebans and the Sanctuary of Poseidon at Onchestos 
L. Valle Salazar (Università di Trento), The Language of Borders in Euripides: Preliminary Remarks