Research Article

Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor

Volume: 25 May 16, 2023
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Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor

Abstract

The koina of pre-Roman Asia Minor, comprising several major organisations along its western and southern coasts like the koina of Athena Ilias, the Lesbians, the Ionians, the Chrysaorians, and the Lykians, present a collection of federal states less well understood than better documented koina in mainland Greece. This paper highlights the regional characteristics of these Anatolian koina by examining their monetary and political economies. It first suggests that federalising behaviour in Hellenistic western Asia Minor tended to be centred on regional sanctuaries and festivals, and less involved in the formation of cohesive political institutions through federal law-making or military mobilisation. This also had the effect that they present the impression of being monetarily ‘light’, as is explained in the second section, because they were not by and large fiscally cohesive, or had close oversight of monetary supply, with the notable exception of the Lykian league – taxation was not hugely intrusive or extensive, and little federal coinage was produced. The last two sections consider this ‘lightness’ as a function of the regional specificities of political and economic power in the region, suggesting that koina functioned parasitically as organisations ensconced between imperial states and civic communities, both reflecting and shaping the dominant role in the region of these two types of polity in the Hellenistic period.

Keywords

References

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Details

Primary Language

English

Subjects

-

Journal Section

Research Article

Authors

Marcus Chin
United Kingdom

Publication Date

May 16, 2023

Submission Date

March 14, 2023

Acceptance Date

May 11, 2023

Published in Issue

Year 2023 Volume: 25

APA
Chin, M. (2023). Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor. Gephyra, 25, 189-221. https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.1264663
AMA
1.Chin M. Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor. GEPHYRA. 2023;25:189-221. doi:10.37095/gephyra.1264663
Chicago
Chin, Marcus. 2023. “Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor”. Gephyra 25 (May): 189-221. https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.1264663.
EndNote
Chin M (May 1, 2023) Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor. Gephyra 25 189–221.
IEEE
[1]M. Chin, “Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor”, GEPHYRA, vol. 25, pp. 189–221, May 2023, doi: 10.37095/gephyra.1264663.
ISNAD
Chin, Marcus. “Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor”. Gephyra 25 (May 1, 2023): 189-221. https://doi.org/10.37095/gephyra.1264663.
JAMA
1.Chin M. Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor. GEPHYRA. 2023;25:189–221.
MLA
Chin, Marcus. “Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor”. Gephyra, vol. 25, May 2023, pp. 189-21, doi:10.37095/gephyra.1264663.
Vancouver
1.Marcus Chin. Some Observations on Koina and Monetary Economy in Hellenistic Asia Minor. GEPHYRA. 2023 May 1;25:189-221. doi:10.37095/gephyra.1264663