"The Grant of Citizenship in Western Greece. A Case Study for Greek Politeia between Honorific Rhetoric and Practical Realities."

This paper examines a selection of particularly significant or problematic epigraphic testimonies concerning the granting of citizenship within the ethne of Western Greece, with the aim of highlighting key features in the perception and practice of civic status in what John Davies has called a “non-Aristotelian universe.” In the Greek world, citizenship decrees can be understood above all as honorific measures—exceptional acts intended to cement profitable relationships between a political community and its friends or benefactors. However, this general interpretation must be reassessed in light of specific contexts, just as no single model of politeia can be applied across the entire Greek world. Each case raises the question of whether the granting of politeia should be seen primarily as a mark of honour or as a measure implying genuine integration—though not necessarily full political participation. In other words, we must ask whether such grants reflect primarily a rhetoric of honour, or whether they point to more practical considerations, depending on the main benefits or values associated with citizenship in different settings. Particularly instructive in this regard are decrees conferring citizenship upon women, which compel us to approach the question of politeia from a perspective detached from the Aristotelian model of participation in offices and courts. The article focuses first on the so-called “decree of the damiorgoi,” issued by the koinon of the Molossians under Neoptolemos I, granting citizenship to two women. A reconsideration of the inscription’s character and of the role of the damiorgoi leads to a different interpretation from the prevailing ones, which tend to emphasise either the honorific or religious dimensions of the grant. Instead, it suggests a process of aitesis aimed at acquiring the practical rights attached to the status of politis. This emphasis on the practical implications of citizenship also underpins the subsequent analysis of decrees from Aetolia and adjacent territories, which reinforce and enrich the picture emerging from the Epirote context, demonstrating the heuristic potential of a multidimensional approach to citizenship in the Greek world.