The Politics of Association in Hellenistic Rhodes

A new perspective on political organisation in Hellenistic Rhodes and the ancient Greek city-state Christian Thomsen offers a study of political institutions on the island state of Rhodes - an important power in the eastern Mediterranean and the first city of the Hellenistic world. Using Aristotle's notion of the polis as an 'association of associations' as its point of departure, Thomsen provides an analysis of political institutions, taking a broader view of what constitutes an institution than traditional studies of the ancient Greek city-state. Among the institutions surveyed are the family, civic subdivisions such as tribes and demes as well as private associations. He argues that these organisations served as important junctions in the networks of political elites and shaped the political landscape of Hellenistic Rhodes. Christian A. Thomsen is Associate Professor of Ancient Greek History at The Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark.

Christian Thomsen is Assistant Professor of Ancient Greek History at The Saxo Institute, University of Copenhagen. His research focuses on social and political aspects of city-state life in the Classical and Hellenistic periods.