THE TAMING OF THE ARISTOI

AN ANCIENT GREEK
CIVILIZING PROCESS?

jon ||oug jrgcnscn


Abstract
Te aim of this paper is to discuss how the increasing social control of violence and
aggression, which characterized the period from archaic to classical times in ancient
Greece, can be explained as an L||as|an c|r|||z|ng proccss. |art|cu|ar|y cruc|a| jor t||s
dcrc|opmcnt is the question of how the city states distinctive urban-political struc-
tures were the locus of this civilizing process. Accordingly, it is argued that Ilias' key
concepts not only are analytically relevant to the ancient Greek civilizing process, but
is to be reassessed in light of the ancient Greek city-state culture. By thus advancing
the argument that the civilizing process is not a unique Western phenomenon, which
occurred in Western Iurope from the Middle Ages to the end of the i,th century, the
analytical relevance of Ilias is re-evaluated and augmented.
Introduction
Within historical sociology there only exists few and tentative auempts to apply
Norbert Ilias' theory of the civilizing process on the ancient Greece. In light of this,
the aim of this contribution is to show and discuss how the increasing social control
of violence and aggression that characterized the period from archaic to classical
times, can be explained as a civilizing process. Tis is in turn achieved through an
analysis of a wide array of sources, from literary to archaeological and iconographic.
By arguing that the civilizing process is not a uniquely Western phenomenon that
occurred in Western Iurope from the Middle Ages to the end of the i,th century, the
analytical relevance of Ilias is challenged and extended, Which, in turn, also has the
potential to counter parts of Hans Peter Duerrs criticism Tat civilization is a social
constant in all cultures across time and space. Tus, it is by extending Ilias' theory to
antiquity that the theory has a wider analytical potential - an application that Ilias
had not even considered as being possible.
Since Ilias, and his successors, did not include antiquity in the development of
the theory of the civilizing process, it is argued that the theory's basic concepts must
be revised in light of the results of the newest research in ancient history. Particularly
. jon ||oug jrgcnscn

important for this is the question of how the city-states peculiar urban-political struc-
tures were the locus of this civilizing process, by being conducive to these processes.
Tus it is argued that Ilias' key concepts, the royal mechanism, chains of interde-
pendence, internalization of morality, etc. are not only analytically relevant to the an-
cient Greek civilizing process, but that these theoretical concepts also must be situat-
ed in and reformulated in relation to the ancient Greek city-state culture.
Bearing arms
According to Ilias, the monopoly of violence is a signihcant factor in the civilizing
process, since it entails a greater degree of self-control for the individuals who live in
pacihed spaces.
1
To argue for a civilizing process in ancient Greece it is therefore es-
sential to demonstrate that a similar monopolization of violence took place there.
Tat the Greeks societies experienced a gradual monopolization of violence was hrst
argued convincingly by the British/Dutch ancient historian Hans van Wees, in the
article 'Greeks Bearing Arms Te State, the Ieisure Class and the Display of Weap-
ons in Archaic Greece' (i,,s), where he documented how the Greek aristocracy
gradually went from being armed to completely cease to bear arms in public which, I
will argue, is an indication of the states monopolization of violence. In the following
chapter I will present these results and incorporate them into my other hndings so as
to support my claim that the Greeks went through an Iliasian civilizing process.
Literary sources
In the period from the early archaic to the classical period (ca. ;o-oo BC.) Greek
culture underwent signihcant changes. One of the most important of these regarding
a given civilizing process was the gradual decline in weapon possession, which can be
identihed in a variety of sources, including here the literary.
In works like the |||ad and the Odysscy, which renect the social conditions in the
Iarly Archaic period (ca. ;o-;oo BC.), the heroes for example, puts on their weap-
ons before they are dressed, and they wear them in war as in peacetime, both swords
and spears.
2
In stark contrast to this is the auitude of armament in classical times.
Here, for example a comedy writer as Aristophanes can parody how soldiers are car-
rying weapons around inside of Athens in a comedy as Lys|stratc, because it apparent-
ly seemed onensive, even though the Athenians at that time was involved in Te Pel-
oponnesian War
IYSISTRTI Iirst and foremost, if we only could stop them geuing to the square,
splintering mad and in full armour.
OID WOMAN Yes, by Aphrodite!

1 Elias (r,,) ,;,; C. Elias (r,,) aos-;;.
2 C. van Wees (r,,s) ,,-,o.
1c 1am|ng oj t|c Ar|sto| ,

IYSISTRTI Tey are presently walking around fully armoured among the pouery
workshops and herb stands in the square, as if they were Corybants!3
In the literary sources we not only see, that the Greeks in classical times considered it
unthinkable to carry weapons in public. Great thinkers such as Tucydides and Aris-
totle were aware that the Greeks must have had undergone a signihcant change from
being armed in archaic times to showing such disapproval towards wearing arms in
classical times. Tey even came with some interesting explanations of the causes of
this development. In the following passage Tucydides makes just such an observa-
tion of how the Greeks went from being armed to completely ceasing this practice,
and he explains it with the gradual increase in security and an appropriation of luxu-
rious manners from the east
Ior throughout Greece everyone was once carrying weapons as people's homes were
unprotected and their contact with each other insecure. To walk around with weap-
ons was a normal part of your lifestyle, and it remains so among the foreigners. Te
areas of Greece where people still live in the same way are a witness that all lived in a
similar manner at that time. Te Athenians were the hrst to lay down their arms and
adopt a more luxurious style by relaxing their lifestyles. It is also not long ago that the
older generation of aristocrats there stopped to wear linen coats and tying up their
hair into a knot by auaching it with gold grasshoppers, what the orientalizing lifestyle
had led to.
4

In this passage it is not only interesting to note that Tucydides explains why the
Greeks stopped carrying weapons Because their society was largely characterized by
a lack of protection and mutual uncertainty between people (the monopoly of vio-
lence), but that he adds a kind of sociological observation Tat the Athenians inter-
estingly enough, went from carrying weapons to have a more luxurious lifestyle. A
phenomenon which somehow corresponds to the process that took place in modern
Iuropean history where, according to Ilias, the aristocracys rehnements of manners
in the court society was a crucial element in the civilizing process. Iikewise, Tucydi-
des seems to connect a progressive civilization in the form of disarmament with a
similar transformation from a warrior aristocracy into a luxurious and Iastern orien-
tated.
Interestingly enough, we not only have Tucydides observation of the evolution
from archaic to classical times. Another great ancient thinker, Aristotle, was also
aware that the Greeks once had carried arms, but now had abolished it completely, as
they had done with similar antiquated customs
Te Greeks used for instance to carry arms and buy their wives from each other. On
the whole, all the remnants of old customs that still exist around are completely fool-
ish.
;


3 Aristophanes, Lysistrate -s. (1is and all subsequent translations are my own.)
4 1ucydides r.o.
S Aristotle, Politics, book a, raosb.
jon ||oug jrgcnscn

Ior Aristotle, writing in the second half of the fourth century BC., it was just as bar-
baric and uncivilized behaviour to bear arms, as it was to buy a wife. Tis dramatic
shin in auitude must therefore have been a product of a similar dramatic social devel-
opment, a development which we can best grasp through a variety of diverse sources,
from funeral goods to poetry.
Grave goods
One good sources to illuminate the evolution of the possession of weapons is grave
goods. Trough an analysis of excavated tombs in the period from ioo to ;oo BC,
Hans van Wees was able to demonstrate how the Greek aristocrats in the early archaic
period (geometric time) were buried with weapons for thereaner gradually over time
being buried completely without them. As you can see from the following table buri-
als with weapons peaked in the period ,oo-soo BC. but shortly hereaner, around ;,
BC, the use of this praxis dropped drastically.

Table : Graves and grave goods in Athens

|cr|od |uncra|s Wcapons Ot|cr ra|ua||cs

in all per year in all per grave per year in all per grave per year
PG
ioo-,oo
i, i.., io o.os o.ii s o.. o.,.
IG-MGI
,oo-soo
;; o.;; .. o.., o... ;o o.,, o.;o
MGII-IGI
soo-;,
os i.oo s o.i. o.i. . o.;o o.so
IGII
;,-;oo
ii .o, o o o , o.. i.oo
PG = Pregeometric, IG = Iarly geometric,
MG = Middle geometric, IG = Iate geometric
Tis tendency becomes more pronounced when one compares it with other types of
sources but it is in itself worth noting how clearly the changes in funeral practices here
demonstrates a marked shin in the perception of what it seemed appropriate to bury
men with. And from this material it appears that, where weapons were a natural status
symbol for men in early archaic/geometric times, it completely ceased to have this
function when we reach the ;th century BC.




1e table is rom van Wees (r,,s) ,,s.
1c 1am|ng oj t|c Ar|sto|

Legislation
What were the specihc reasons why the Greeks ceased to bear arms: In some city-
states it happened because of legislation, such as in Iokroi where Zaleukus is said to
have draned a law that banned weapons from the Council Chamber (|ou|cutcr|on).
Charondas of Katane, whose laws were used in city-states as Naxos, Ieontinoi, Zan-
kle, Rhegion and Kyme, prohibited the carrying of weapons in public assembly. In
Syracuse in i. BC a commiuee, led by the democrat Diocles, draned a code of law
who among other things forbade the people to bear arms in the agora under pain of
the death penalty, and this code was used in many other city-states in Sicily. Iinally,
there is an anecdote about the famous lawgiver Iycurgus, who aner being wounded
during a meeting forbade citizens to bring stans with them to the Peoples assembly.

As van Wees notes, many of these laws are only known from anecdotes and are
dimcult to date, but nevertheless, they provide a glimpse of a widespread phenome-
non in this period in Sicily, southern Italy and possibly in Sparta Tat weapons were
banned in the public spaces.
8
On the other hand, there is no certihed law from Athens
prohibiting the possession of weapons. Tis seems paradoxical since, one might ex-
pect, that the reason for disarmament was an adjustment made by the State, since it
would probably be in its interest, and the way it could do it, was simply to prohibit the
nobility to bear arms. Terefore, one must, in the case of Athens, suppose that the
laws are either not passed down to us, or the aristocracy put their weapons away for
other reasons and thus contributed to the promoting of state-formation. In this man-
ner, people got used to the situation where the state and its servants had the monopo-
ly on violence, and not some self-employed individuals arbitrarily exercising justice
with sword, spears or stans.
Iconography
A major source for the development of armament is the Greek vase painting. Here it
is possible to follow a gradual development from a state of total weapon possession to
a state where none are wearying them. Tis development follows an interesting ad-
vancement from men carrying swords, then spears, then stans and then eventually
nothing. During this process there is an interesting period in which Greek aristocrats
are depicted with parasols.
On the geometric vases one sees numerous men armed with swords in war scenes.
But apart from outright armed warriors one also hnds images of civilians who wear
swords when for example greeting warriors going on an expedition, and later, in ar-
chaic times, one hnds images of civilians carrying swords when auending or partici-

For Zaleukos: Hansen (r,,) r n. o; Kharondas: Diod. 8ic. ra.r,.a; Diokles: Diod. 8ic. r,.,,.a-,.
8 Van Wees (r,,s) ,,;-,s, nn. r-rs.
o jon ||oug jrgcnscn

pating in religious and secular events.
9
Tat it is not only men who are armed for
baule, can be seen from the fact that armed men are depicted naked until the begin-
ning of the ;th century, from which we have a few examples of vases, where men car-
rying a sword are depicted wearing a c||ton and a long cloak (c||a|na), which is clearly
a civil suit.
10

Irom the middle of the ;th century the depiction of men with swords ceases
completely. One reason for this could be that the aristocracy now placed more em-
phasis on highlighting its own position by displaying conspicuous leisure through a
new style of dress, the cloak (||mat|on), which signalled a relaxed and idle distance to
physical work, and who came to stand in the way of the more bellicose style, where it
was the activity and being armed, which was emphasized.
11

Besides these reasons, one might also add that a change in the nature of warfare
may have played a large role. Men probably ceased to carry swords and instead use
spears, due to the fact that Greek warfare at that time had developed completely into
hoplite warfare, whereby the more fence-oriented warfare had died out. Iven for the
Homeric heroes the spear were also their main weapon,
12
and unlike modern times
where the sword has been the preferred melee weapon and still have a place in the
omcial parade features for the militarys omcers, the spear completely took over this
role in Greek warfare.
Te depiction of civilian men armed with spears on Greek vases lasted from about
oo to oo BC.
13
Tere is a big dinerence in the amount of images from vase painter to
vase painter. Some painters, such as the so called Heidelberg Painter, the Amasis
Painter and the Anecter onen depicted civilian men carrying spears. But around the
end of the oth century vase painters depicts still fewer of these. Tere had thus been a
shin, from a time where men considered it appropriate to walk around armed with a
spear as part of their civil suit, the cloak (||mat|on), to either being fully armed warri-
ors, hoplites, when going abroad on military campaigns, or civilians with nothing but
their cloak and a stan when walking around the city and its surroundings.
Te stan can be seen as the last stage of bearing arms, for a stan is more than just a
means to support oneself. As Torstein Veblen showed, it both functions as a tool to
signal the user's dissociation from physical labour, that is, as a display of conspicuous
leisure, and at the same time it also has an association with sport and play a part in
typical hunting and sports clothing. Tus, it displays active and warlike qualities, ra-
ther than being a symbol of a weak mans need to support himself.
14

Te stan can therefore be seen as the hnal step towards full disarmament. It is in a
sense an amputation of the last violent feature of the outht of men. Irom having car-

9 Van Wees (r,,s) ,.
10 Van Wees (r,,s) ,o-;.
11 Van Wees (r,,s) ,a-oa.
12 Van Wees (r,,) r,,.
13 C. van Wees (r,,s) ;.
14 Veblen (rs,,) roa.
1c 1am|ng oj t|c Ar|sto| ;

ried swords and spears the nobility now becomes civilized to the extent that it had
sublimated its arms to a mere symbol. Te stan as a masculine and potent symbol
would be worn for a while yet into the classical period, and one still sees the stan in
many scenes depicting the aristocracys hobbies, such as discussions and courtship of
boys. In these scenes the persons onen have a stan to lean on. It makes their bodies
even more immobile for work, and when aristocrats simultaneously are depicted
watching sports, it conveys the impression of relaxation and superiority, achieved
through total leisure.
1;

Tyrants, aristocrats and citizens
In the few wriuen sources that speak of the aristocracys armament, we also hnd de-
scriptions of men armed with clubs as well, which adds to the picture of the develop-
ment of bearing arms. Around the year ooo BC, for example, we hear about incidents
in which some aristocrats in the city-state Mytilene on Iesbos went through the
streets armed with clubs (|oryna|), beating up innocent people.
1
A story that also hts
with what we know about the tyrant Peisistratus's hrst coup in the year oi BCI
Te Athenian people, who had thus been deceived, gave him [sc. Peisistratus ,oo
men, chosen from the city. Te men were not spear-bearers for Peisistratus, but club-
bearers, for they carried clubs of wood, whither they followed him.
1

Tis story seems to indicate that the tyrant's bodyguards before Peisistratus were
spearmen, and Aristotle also tells us, that the tyrant Periander of Corinth used spear-
men (doryp|oro|), which must mean as bodyguards, and Plato also considered
spearmen the instrument with which tyrants used to seize power. Of other tyrants
who had spearmen as guards, Aristotle mentions Teagenes of Megara and Dionysus
the Ilder.
18

Te development we are witnessing at Peisistratus' seizure of power can thus be
seen as part of the civilizing process as a shin from a more violent and direct exercise
of power to a more corrective and civilized. Ior when Peisistratus got a force of men
carrying clubs assigned this can be seen as an expression of an development towards a
more civilized form of justice. As McGlew writes about the club '|t |as |ts p|acc rat|cr
|n s|tuat|ons |crc t|c |ntcnt|on |s to corrcct and rcjorm, to |urt |t|out ncccssar||y |n|ct-
|ng pcrmancnt |arm.'
19
Hereby the guards got a new role as a kind of police force that
could punish and correct the citizens using their clubs.
Another interesting aspect of Peisistratus and other tyrants seize of power is the
fact that you can view the transition from an aristocratic rule to a tyranny, as a mo-

1S Van Wees (r,,s) ,-or.
1 Arist. Pol. r,rrbao-as.
1 Hdt. r.,; C. Arist. Ath. Pol. r.r; Plut. Solon ,o.
18 Aristotle r. ro, Rose.; Plato Rep. oob.
19 McGlew (r,,,) ;o.
s jon ||oug jrgcnscn

nopolization of power. One can thus see how the power of the city-state became more
centralized by their takeover. Te reason for this lay in the tyrants entrenched ani-
mosity against the former ruling class, the aristocrats. Te animosity arose from the
fact that it was from the aristocracy the main competition to the tyrant's power came,
and that it was from here the conspiracies against the tyrant's life was formed.
20
Ty-
rants therefore had to secure their power by making sure that they and only they were
able to exercise it. Ior instance, In Peisistratus' case, Herodotus explains, even the
sons of his political opponents were expelled.
21

When the ruler thus starts to monopolize the power, the process called the 'mo-
nopoly mechanism' starts, according to Ilias. A mechanism, which Ilias views as the
other major factor in the civilizing process, besides the 'royal mechanism'. Where the
royal mechanism relates to the power struggles between the aristocrats, the monopoly
mechanism relates to the overall concentration of power in the hands of one person
or group. According to Ilias the monopoly mechanism works in a major social unit,
where the competition for the resources with probability will result in still more being
excluded from the competition and becoming directly or indirectly dependent on an
ever-dwindling number of victors who control more and more opportunities. Tis
monopoly can again at a later stage be transferred to a larger social group.
Ior our purpose here, it is relevant that Ilias (in addition to tax collection) de-
scribes the monopoly mechanism's main enect as the monopolization of violence.
Te process begins, when a whole class controls unorganized opportunities and the
distribution is determined in open competition and by violent means. Next, the op-
tions are more and more centrally organized and gets out of reach for a single class.
Te benehts from said monopoly of opportunities will thus be equally distributed
with respect to the mutual interdependence between the classes, and will not be con-
trolled for the sole interests of a single individual or class. Tereby, there is no longer
len any place in society for a single classs or individuals violent struggle.
22

We have not yet reached the last steps in the civilizing process; however, as it re-
quires the people to increasingly have their share in power. But the transition from a
more loose monopoly which Ilias simply calls the 'monopoly potential' to an actual
monopolization of violence has a clear parallel in the archaic era of tyrants seizing
power. Tyrants came from the ranks of the aristocracy.
23
It is also clear that their take-
over was in herce competition with other aristocrats. An important enect of this mo-
nopolization of power was a monopoly of violence. Irom an initial state where all
aristocrats were free to compete for innuence and resources, their options were in-
creasingly curtailed, and where all the heads of the large families took part in the
struggles for power in the beginning, in a short span of years, in the case of Athens, a

20 C. Aristotle, Politics. r,rrar-ar.
21 Hdt. r.o.
22 Elias (r,,) aos-;;.
23 Arist. Pol. r,rob; c. Murray (r,,,) r,s-,,.
1c 1am|ng oj t|c Ar|sto| ,

single aristocrat, Peisistratus, eventually possessed the monopoly of violence, and
thus enectively limited the other aristocrats exercise of power.
But even when Peisistratus assumed power, it was assisted by means of clubs and
not by the more deadly spears. Society must therefore already have developed a major
restraint in relation to the performance of violence, a restraint, which was largely due
to the royal mechanism that changed aristocrats' behaviour towards each other from a
more violent, competing form to a more courtly. Tis trend was further reinforced by
the monopoly mechanism, which cut more and more aristocrats of from the oppor-
tunity to gain power and resources aner hrst being dependent on a group of ever few-
er and ever more powerful leaders.
Although there are on the one hand many dinerences between the period and
geographical area, Ilias describes, namely Iurope from the Middle Ages to the i,th
century, and Archaic Greece on the other, it still seems plausible that the royal mech-
anism and monopoly mechanism can be transferred to ancient Greece. Te model
seems to explain why the aristocracy in ever lesser degrees carried weapons while they
pursued a more luxurious lifestyle. Tis lifestyle Ilias associates with the court socie-
ty, but regarding the Greeks we hnd the same dynamics in their symposium culture.
Where Ilias court society is the space, where the aristocracy restructured its habits
from warlike to civilized, the symposium, I will argue, represents the same space in
the case of ancient Greece.
On the whole it seems as if the tyrants limitation of the aristocracys violent life-
style went quite well with the common people, when we for instance consider the
behaviour of the aristocratic Penthelidai, and how they had the habit of walking
around in the streets of Mytilene beating up common people with clubs (|oryna|).
24

It does not seem surprising then that Piuakos' of Mytilenes law, that stipulated that
crimes commiued in drunkenness should be punished twofold, was directed against
this violent and drunken behaviour by these aristocrats. A measure, which according-
ly, was greatly appreciated by the common people.
2;

Te aristocracys more physical activity was no longer possible in a complex so-
ciety, where it only was one man who held power. Te tyrant's power was only as-
sured as long as he could out-manoeuvre the aristocrats by gaining the people's fa-
vour, and it was especially at the expense of the people, that the aristocracies in the
past had wielded power. Te limitation of the aristocracys freedom evolved, then, as
an interaction between the disarmed aristocracy and the reigning tyrant. Te more
their innuence in the city was limited, the more dependent on the tyrant they became
and the greater impact his demands had. According to Ilias, Tis process also causes
the enect that the external monopolizing of the violence gets internalized so that peo-
ple's self-control develops
Te monopolization of physical violence, the concentration of arms and armed

24 Arist. Ath. Pol. r,rrbao-s.
2S Regarding Piuakos' law: Arist. Pol. ra;brs-a,; c. McGlew (r,,,) , n. ro.
io jon ||oug jrgcnscn

troops under one authority, makes the use of violence more or less calculable, and
forces unarmed people in the pacihed social spaces to restrain their own violence
through foresight or renection; in other words it imposes on people a greater or lesser
degree of self-control.
2

"Know yself"
In this context it is interesting that the famous inscriptions at the temple at Delphi,
'Know thyself '(gnot|| scauton) and 'Nothing to excess' (mcdcn agan), perhaps were
set up at this time and maybe even by one of the tyrants among the Seven Wise, if we
dare trust Diogenes Iaertios.
2
Tese famous maxims can thus be seen in the light of
the civilizing process. Te self-control which they commanded the visitors to exercise
appears to be an innovation in the archaic period. By comparison, in the |||ad by
Homer we hear, for instance, how Achilles needs an external force in the form of
Athena to hold him back from auacking Agamemnon. Te external control of the
impulses were at this period, the archaic period, replaced gradually by an internalized
brake in the form of self-control (soosync) and this type of self-control seems pre-
cisely to have emerged because of an increased monopolization of violence in the
city-states. Besides self-control, the phrase 'Nothing in excess' (mcdcn agan) also
shows that people had begun to become more aware of civility itself. Te message
that these maxims convey seems all in all to respond quite closely seems to what Ilias
describes as civility.
28

Tis move to a more civilized self-understanding within the aristocracy can per-
haps also be discerned in the changes that occur from the heroes being called 'beauti-
ful and strong' (|a|os tc mcgas)
29
in the |||ad and Odysscy to aristocrats calling them-
selves 'beautiful and good' (|a|os |agat|os) in the archaic and classical period.
30

Tese telling signs are only some of many from this period showing how culture
and education began to play an increasingly important role for the aristocracys self-
consciousness, and how conduct and correct behaviour had an increasingly important
role in the aristocracys self-understanding.
Poetry
Another interesting source for a Greek civilizing process is the change in auitude one
might trace in poets' views on issues such as war and sex. Ior instance, when compar-
ing Archilochus' descriptions of his own war experiences from the middle of the ;th
century and Tyrtaeus' war admonitions with Anacreon's poems about wine and the
symposium's joys, one hnds a sharp contrast. We can also include Alcaeus here, who

2 Elias (r,,) ,;,.
2 Pausanias ro.a.r; Diog. Laer. r.,,-r.
28 Elias (r,,) ;-a.
29 Hom. Il. ar.ros; Od. ,.r,.
30 E.g. Hdt. r.,o.
1c 1am|ng oj t|c Ar|sto| ii

occupies a middle position, since he is both able to praise the joys of the symposium
while at same time being able to show great malice regarding the tyrant Myrsilos'
death and displaying great pleasure over a home hlled with weapons.
31
Precisely this
phenomenon is important, since there is a clear development from Alcaeus describ-
ing a home hlled with weapons, that seem to be have been used to mobilize a group of
supporters,
32
to a poet such as Anacreon, who just two generations later insists on
only hearing about wine and love. It can be argued that already Archilochus sings
about wine in the poem about how his spear earn him his wine, which he in turn
drinks while he is leaning on it.
33
But it is not just the subject of wine, which indicates
the degree of civility, rather the poem reinforces the point because he 'win his wine
by his spear'.
Tis martial style in turn completely disappeared when we reach Anacreon, who
writes
I am not a friend of him who speaks of tearful strife and war, while reclining and
drinking by the full mixing vessel. But I am friend of him that while he mixes the
Muses glorious gins with Aphrodites is aware of the wonderful celebration.
34

Stimulus om the East
Te stan is not even the height of leisure for in a period of approximately ,o years
from o to ;o BC we see men bearing parasols. A parasol bears no resemblance to a
weapon and can only signal a complete degree of preoccupation with anything else
than physical activity, a lifestyle of luxury that was linked with the rest of the wearer's
lifestyle.
3;
Te parasol was a part of the aristocracys garment at a time when you see
them in their most eye-catching outht, an outht that was inspired by the Persian and
Iydian nobilitys way of dressing. Tis distinctive style was in overall characterized by
nuuering robes, long and decorated hair, gold, jewellery, perfume, wine, song and a
general emphasis on everything sensual.
3

Te reasons for this apparent imitation of the splendour (|a|rosync) of the Iydi-
ans are explained by the art historian Richard Neer as a form of political manifesta-
tion through fashion By imitating the oriental fashion, the nobility could showcase
themselves as a second Croesus. Tis fashion was especially suited to the symposium,
where the roles already were being negotiated, and where the concept of the multi-
coloured character (po||||on ct|os) was central, according to Neer. It should be under-
stood in the sense that the symposium was a form of theatre where you could shape

31 Regarding Myrsilos, LP r. ,,a; om vben: LP r. ,;.
32 C. van Wees (r,,s) ,o,-o.
33 Archil. r. a (West).
34 Anac. r. a (West).
3S Van Wees (r,,s) or-oa.
3 Kurke (r,,a) ,o; see Neer (aooa) r,
i. jon ||oug jrgcnscn

your character and behaviour by adapting it to the other participants and the circum-
stances.
3

Tis provides an interesting perspective on the question of bearing arms, since the
Greek aristocracy took up this oriental way of lifestyle at the same period and to the
same extent as they lost their own autonomous power. And, as Ilias points out, it is a
clear example of the so-called royal mechanism when the nobility because of their
mutual contact with each other must give up their more explicit and martial behav-
iour in favour of a more rehned, urbane and civilized behaviour - especially when, as
here, it is inspired by a court society. Although the Greek aristocracy did not frequent
Croesus' court, it seems, however, that they took over much of what one immediately
associates with the splendour of the eastern courts. Neer also suggests that it is strik-
ing that most of the so-called Anacreontic vases with all their Iydian extravagance
were produced in the period during the Peisistratids and Cleisthenes' introduction of
democracy in Athens at a time when the aristocracy was weak politically. Tis sug-
gests that the vase paintings in some way were designed to compensate for the loss of
political innuence.
38

All this leads to the conclusion that the Greek aristocracy under the impact of
changes in society - power consolidation among fewer and fewer and the monopoly
of violence - rehned their ways and auained a less belligerent style. Tis style was
largely inspired by the Iydian/Persian culture as a way to take over their esteemed
position.
e people's imitation of the Aristocracy
Te new aristocratic lifestyle that Alcaeus represented spread over time further out in
the community. We hnd a good example of this in comedy-writer Aristophanes work
Wasps, where there is a scene with a culture clash between the peasant Philocleon and
his young, clever son Bdelycleon as they are heading to a symposium. Iirst, there is a
description of how to dress and behave at a symposium Bdelycleon focuses hrst on
the clothes, and he gets his old father to take a cloth-like cape, some kind of thick Per-
sian cloak, and Spartan slippers on. Ten he tells him he must learn to walk with the
air of a millionaire and snobbish manner (v. ii,.-,;). Aner the dressing, Bdelycleon
explains how one should speak at a symposium. Philocleon suggests telling dirty
jokes while Bdelycleon tells him to talk about things that have to do with the man-
agement of the household (v. ii;,-so) or prestigious political positions (vv. iis;-s).
Iventually Bdelycleon suggests that Philocleon should talk about sports in a know-
ingly way (v. ii,o-,,). Bdelycleon tries to get Philocleon to tell about all the manly
pursuits he followed in his youth but without much luck (v. ii,;-i.o;). At last
Bdelycleon comes to a longer description of how you should act and behave during
the symposium. He must learn to behave elegantly, urbane and socially (v. i.i.-i;).

3 Neer (aooa) r-a;.
38 Neer (aooa) aa.
1c 1am|ng oj t|c Ar|sto| i,

Tis description of the required behaviour at a symposium is quite interesting in
relation to the overall theory of the civilizing process. Ior in Bdelycleons description
of how one should behave at a symposium one clearly sees how the aristocracy com-
pletely had changed their lifestyle from a bellicose and externalized style to a rehned
and civilized. Te most noticeable feature of this prescribed behaviour is the consid-
eration to other persons feelings Bdelycleon constantly try to get his old peasant
father to behave decently, so he will not cause onense. Here, dirty jokes are not ap-
propriate. In sharp contrast, Philocleon shows a clear understanding of which man-
ners and subject mauers for discussion will be the most appropriate and civil in the
company with the other guests.
In all, this passage also reveals another interesting fact, namely that the knowledge
of upper-class habits must had been quite widespread in Aristophanes time, and that
the aristocracys habits had dinused out to a larger proportion of the population in
democratic Athens.
A good parallel to this description of the increasing demands to etiqueue is Ilias'
description of the various manuals for polite manners, which developed from the Re-
naissance onwards, in which very specihc rules are set out in regard to how one
should eat, drink and especially what not to do such as picking the nose or eat with
the knife. Tese handbooks of manners was for Ilias the best source for his study of
the civilizing process, and I will argue that there is a clear parallel here between the
development of increasingly more rehned manners at the court society from the Re-
naissance onwards and the Greek aristocrats' development of a corresponding eti-
queue for good behaviour at the symposiums.
Aristocrats, citizens and the city-state
During the hnh century, two things happen with the eastern rehnement (|a|rotcs)
that the aristocracy had borrowed from the Iydians. Iirstly, the aristocracy was no
longer the only group in the city-states practicing a luxurious lifestyle, the people was
also increasingly imitating them. Secondly, from the time of the Persian wars (so
BC.) and onwards there was a development where the more explicit aspects of the
Iydian and Persian culture were more and more shunned. Again, it is well elucidated
by Tucydides (i.o) who writes
Te hrst who started to wear the simpler style of clothes, which are still in use today,
was the Spartans. Tere, the rich also changed their lifestyle in other respects, so that
they thereby were equal to the people in the highest degree.
Te ancient historian A.G. Geddes has in an interesting study (i,s;) worked with the
development the Greeks underwent from a more luxurious Ionic-Iydian style of
dress to a more 'Spartan' in the form of a short c||ton with a large cloak (||mat|on).
Here he hnds the reason in the fact that the Athenians by the th century now was
proud to be [L]c|surcd, jt jg|t|ng jt onc m|g|t say cqua| and |||c-m|ndcd, and t|at
i jon ||oug jrgcnscn

|s t|c mcssagc t|at t|c c|ot|cs arc mcant to commun|catc."
39
Tese conditions were
brought about by internal changes in society and a general contempt for the Persians,
Iydians and Ionians aner the Persian Wars.
40
We can thereby imagine a process where
the Athenians under the impression of the new democracy was about to change their
external habits, which pushed the upper class to change their clothes from a more
extravagant Iydian oriented style to a more egalitarian. Tis process was further rein-
forced aner the victory over the once-dreaded Persians in the Persian Wars, because
now, the ordinary Athenian looked with suspicion and contempt on everything that
the aristocracy had adopted from the Iast because the Iast now was associated with
decadence and weakness; In short, all that the Greeks understood by the Other
(barbarians, women, slaves and all other opposites, they could dehne themselves in
opposition to).
41

One would thus be able to interpret the development as hnished. Te aristocracys
monopoly of opportunities was now transferred to the entire citizen population, and
the entire civil population had thus taken over large parts of the aristocratic ideology
and its characteristic claim to their civilized status to be '|a|o| |agat|o|.'
42
Te aris-
tocracy preserved, however, an important role in the democracy, since its members
served as r|ctorcs and stratcgo| ('speakers and generals'), roles and omces, which gave
considerable innuence on the policy that was passed.
43
Tus, it can be seen how the
aristocracy itself adapted to the new political system. Tey should act as good demo-
crats and could no longer anord the conspicuous display of previous generations.
Te monopoly of violence was thus transferred entirely to the civil population. It
was in turn expected of the hoplites that they had an entire set of equipment at home,
and in case of an internal uprising in the city (stas|s) they could pick up their weapons
and defend the democracy and thereby their monopoly of violence.
44
Te monopoly
only furthered the citizens' auitudes towards weapons. It was now seen as an absurdi-
ty even for soldiers under a situation of crisis to walk around with weapons within the
city walls, and it became a hallmark of the civilized Greek citizen that he could walk
unarmed in his town in reliance on the states laws, in contrast to the uncivilized bar-
barians. Tis process continued and was further strengthened with time so that Aris-
totle, writing in the th century, could write with contempt about a time so barbaric
that the Greeks was bearing arms.
4;





39 Geddes (r,s;) ,,r, see ,a,-,r.
40 C. Hdt. r.;r.r,-ao.
41 Cr. Hall (r,,r) o-oa.
42 C. Ober (r,,r) a,-oo.
43 C. Ober (r,,r) ro-ar; Hansen (r,,r) a;a-;,; c. ,,.
44 Herman (aooo) aro-s.
4S C. p. ,.
1c 1am|ng oj t|c Ar|sto| i

Elias
Cononting Eliass reservations
Irom these diverse examples it is argued in the following that Ilias' theory of the civi-
lizing process can be applied to ancient Greece and explain why the Greeks went
from bearing arms and show other expressions of external violence to become un-
armed, more civilized and aware of themselves as moral subjects.
It is worth noting here that Ilias not originally believed that the civilizing process
could be applied on the ancient world because it was too dinerent in its social and
economic structures compared to later periods and that the civilizing process only
really started to take enect at the end of the middle Ages.
4
Iliass reservations
stemmed hrst and foremost from his view that, in contrast to the Middle Ages, the
ancient economy was entirely built upon the use of slaves, which again made it im-
possible for the citizens to acquire the same economic and social position as that of
the later medieval |urg|cr, which Ilias saw as so important for the civilizing process in
the Iuropean towns. In antiquity the majority of the citizens had, according to Ilias,
not the sumcient importance or position to be signihcant enough in the eyes of the
nobility, wherefore the lauer did not had to mind the people and restructure their
habits accordingly. Against this reservation, there are several things to object to. Iirst-
ly, Ilias built his analysis of the ancient economy mainly on the Roman Impire,
which coloured his general analysis of antiquity.
4
Additionally he subscribed to a
particular school within the study of ancient economies, the so-called 'primitivists',
who also counted Max Weber. According to these the basic features of the ancient
economy were that the majority of the population were peasants who only strove for
subsistence and self-sumciency. Tis picture of the ancient economy has since been
developed considerably, and today many ancient historians belong to the modernist
school, which sees the economy as more advanced and not so dinerent from later
periods.
48

Te main argument for transferring the civilizing process to the ancient world,
however, is that even if the ancient citizens were not an equally signihcant counter-
weight to the aristocracy by virtue of their economic position, so it seems that they
had power by virtue of their great political innuence instead, which gave them a very
strong position in the city-states in regard to the aristocracy.
49
A position that they
already began to assert in the archaic period, especially in democratic city-states like
Athens, where the greatly challenged aristocracy increasingly had to develop their
social auitudes and manners in response to the more and more politically strong citi-
zens.

4 Elias (r,,) aa-,o.
4 Elias (r,,) aao-as.
48 C. Wees (aoo,) , n. r.
49 C. Ober (r,,r).
io jon ||oug jrgcnscn

Revaluating Eliass concepts in light of these ndings.
A persistent criticism raised by the German ethnographer Hans Peter Duerr, has been
that Ilias's theory of the civilizing process is not consistent with the ethnological
studies, which Duerr and others have made of various peoples through time and
across cultures. According to Duerr, civilization is a social constant in all cultures
across time and space, and he therefore dismisses the civilizing process as a myth.
In relation to this criticism, I think, that by extending and transferring the civiliz-
ing process to ancient Greece we can address parts of this criticism, since on the one
hand, the Greeks clearly showed a clear progression from a less to a more civilized
state (contra Duerr). On the other hand this also shows that the civilizing process is
not a uniquely Iuropean phenomenon (contra Ilias). Given this, it would be natural
to look closer at some of the peoples and nations which Duerr used for his arguments
and see if some of them actually havent experienced civilizing processes throughout
periods of their history by using a more extended version of Iliass theory which not
only works out from the premise that the only situation where a civilizing process can
take place is as a result of a dynamic competition between a mercantile citizenship
and an aristocracy centralized around a monarch.
e Perspectives
By thus opening up for the possibility that factors other than those developed by Ilias
can be instrumental in a civilizing process, it seems promising to try to apply a more
extended version of the theory of the civilizing process on other cultures. Tis can
partly counter the criticisms of Ilias' theory that it is ethnocentric but most im-
portant it could perhaps explain yet unknown relationships between historical pro-
cesses and the development of the individuals' psyche in other cultures, a work al-
ready begun upon by Iiko Ikegami (i,,;) for instance. Te theory could hereby show
its unique strength in connecting dinerent heterogeneous source types together from
other nations over long periods of time and thus furthering the understanding of the-
se nations. Nations which have yet to be studied in a broader, longer and truly Ili-
asian perspective.









1c 1am|ng oj t|c Ar|sto| i;

References

Abbreviations
8MCk 8ryn Mar C|ass|ca| kcr|c
C ||||. C|ass|ca| ||||o|ogy
C|. Ant. C|ass|ca| Ant|qu|ty
CQ 1c C|ass|ca| Quartcr|y
Ck 1c C|ass|ca| kcr|c
Gok Grcccc o komc
jHS 1c journa| oj Hc||cn|c Stud|cs
OCL
,
1c Oxjord C|ass|ca| L|ct|onary

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