Beyond Defeat and Victory. The Commemoration of Military Conflicts by Greek Poleis in Archaic and Classical Times

• Applicant: Dr. Birgit Bergmann
• Subject Area: Classical, Roman, Christian and Islamic Archaeology
• Term: from 2016 to 2018
• Project identifier: Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) - Project number 317471751

War (and thus naturally also success and defeat in war) was a vital aspect of Greek polis life. Thus a study of how, when, where and why Greek poleis commemorated their military victories (or defeats for that matter) promises to contribute vital information to the understanding of Greek polis history and culture. It is therefore somewhat surprising that hitherto no attempt has been made to explore this subject in its entirety even though a series of specialized studies on single aspects such as the tropaia or the weapon dedications have been published in recent years. The research project Beyond Defeat and Victory, that is also a habilitation-project, aims at filling this academic void. Drawing on all available sources, literary, epigraphical and archaeological, it takes the whole range of activities commemorating a military victory into account: from the erection of tropaia, the burial of the fallen and the reward of bravery to festivals, dedications and monuments. The study thus focuses on one aspect of the memorialisation undertaken by communities that is still relevant today, especially considering the 70th anniversary of the end of the Second World War and the approaching centennial of the end of the First: How do victors commemorate their military success and what about the defeated? For how long are the victories kept alive by the different methods of commemoration? And how does this influence the continued coexistence of the (erstwhile) victors and the (erstwhile) defeated? A consideration of the Greek culture in archaic and classical times promises to be especially interesting in this respect for it is accorded a special status following Jacob Burckhardt`s thesis of an all-prevailing agonistic principle at the end of the 19th century. This naturally also applies to war, whose agonistic character and high degree of ritualization in archaic and early classical times have frequently been stressed; in this Greek culture distinguishes itself significantly from other times and other cultures. Recently this concept of agonistic warfare has been increasingly challenged, though, and there is a growing consensus that it might not be antique reality but rather modern theory. Against this background an extensive study of the way Greek poleis in archaic and classical times commemorated military conflicts and what attitudes to war and victory they thus reveal, is therefore positively overdue.

• DFG Programme: Research Grants