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Politics: Power and Institutions

This research area encompasses the study of political formations in antiquity – city-states, kingdoms, empires, colonies – focusing primarily on issues of political organization, institutions, and sources of political power, as well as on more specific matters such as internal and external policy, administration, diplomatic relations, mechanisms of power and ideological enforcement, along with long-term phenomena such as political transformations, cross-cultural interactions, and transitions.

Political structures in the ancient Greco-Roman world

The study of political organization in the ancient world and the interaction between supra-local political institutions and local communities throughout antiquity is multifaceted. It moves beyond the traditional historiographical focus on the isolated Classical city and seeks to interpret the exercise of power in its various expressions—both in the center and the peripheries of the Greek world—always beginning with the systematic study of primary sources.

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From the Hellenistic world to the Roman ‘oikoumene’

The transition from the earlier structures of the Greek world—city-states, kingdoms, federations—to the Roman oikoumene and their gradual integration into the Roman administrative system brought about transformations on multiple levels. Manifestations of these transformations have long been a central focus of research in the Section of Greek and Roman Antiquity, yet this rich field continues to generate new inquiries.

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