Negotiating Identity in the Ancient Mediterranean
The Archaic and Classical Greek Multiethnic Emporia

Explores the creation of identities through cross-cultural interactions in multiethnic commercial settlements in the Archaic and Classical Mediterranean.

Denise Demetriou (Author)

9781107019447, Cambridge University Press

Hardback, published 22 November 2012

308 pages, 17 b/w illus. 3 maps
24.4 x 17 x 1.9 cm, 0.69 kg

'… this book will be a welcome addition for researchers interested in the Ancient Mediterranean and, in particular, in the role of trade and religion in the organization of multicultural spaces.' Meritxell Ferrer-Martín, Bryn Mawr Classical Review

The Mediterranean basin was a multicultural region with a great diversity of linguistic, religious, social and ethnic groups. This dynamic social and cultural landscape encouraged extensive contact and exchange among different communities. This book seeks to explain what happened when different ethnic, social, linguistic and religious groups, among others, came into contact with each other, especially in multiethnic commercial settlements located throughout the region. What means did they employ to mediate their interactions? How did each group construct distinct identities while interacting with others? What new identities came into existence because of these contacts? Professor Demetriou brings together several strands of scholarship that have emerged recently, especially ethnic, religious and Mediterranean studies. She reveals new aspects of identity construction in the region, examining the Mediterranean as a whole, and focuses not only on ethnic identity but also on other types of collective identities, such as civic, linguistic, religious and social.

Introduction
1. Emporion
2. Gravisca
3. Naukratis
4. Pistiros
5. Peiraieus
Conclusion.

Subject Areas: Cultural studies [JFC], Classical Greek & Roman archaeology [HDDK], Social & cultural history [HBTB], Ancient history: to c 500 CE [HBLA]