Summary:
The object of the dissertation is the investigation of the institutional development and the various functional aspects of the federal phenomenon in Greek Antiquity, in the specific light of the case of the League of the Aetolians, during the 3rd century B.C., i.e., the period of its institutional and political apogee. The delimitation of the object is achieved through the conceptual approach and the terminological correlation, from a legal point of view, of the related legal terms, which are found in the sources (ἔθνος, Κοινὸν, πολιτεία, συμπολιτεία), as well as through the clarification of the specificity of the federal phenomenon, in relation to the modern forms of federal states. The common features of both ancient and modern federal states are the permanence of the federal union, the existence of a central executive power, the "dual" citizenship of the citizens, the autonomy of the member states in internal affairs, the representation of the latter in the federal institutions. Tools of analysis are both the existing literature on the subject, from the 19th century to the present day, and - in particular - the ancient sources [literary texts (especially the works of the historians Thucydides, Polybius and Titus Livy) and inscriptions]. Through them, first and foremost, the political environment is highlighted, of which the Common of the Aetolians was an integral component and which created the conditions for the evolution of the Aetolian Common from a loose racial union of the classical era to the pure federal structure of the 'sympoliteia', i.e. the establishment of a new, novel for the time, legal order, different from other contemporary constitutional forms, such as the Hellenistic monarchy and the polis. The first part of the dissertation examines the federal phenomenon in Aetolia, in the 3rd century B.C., its historical origins and its evolution. The tribal structure of the Aetolian society is presented, from an anthropological point of view, and the ancient Greek ethnos is studied as a "tribal state", with a rudimentary institutional structure. At the same time, those elements that enabled the Aetolian Koinon to be gradually constituted into a state entity sufficiently coherent to present the key features of a "federation", i.e. a central government with sovereign authority/exclusive competence in the fields of foreign policy and war, a “dual” citizenship of free citizens permanently residing in its territory, as well as a single, unified economic space, are highlighted. Τhen, the dissertation focuses on the political environment, from which the Aetolian League and, in general, the sympolitical form of state emerged, in an era dominated by the Hellenistic monarchy of the Macedonian/Oriental type and the city-state (the polis), as well as the various "alliances", which were the only unifying proposal of the Greek polis, before its historical dynamics were exhausted. The dissertation deals extensively with the question of the temporal transition of the Aetolian Commonwealth from the confederal to the federal model, which took place during the period between the mid 420s B.C. and, approximately, the year 370 B.C. In the context of the latter, the relationship between the ethnos and the Koinon is examined and the tribal organization of the Aetolians is presented in detail, with special reference to the incorporation into the Union, as members of equal legal status, of both city-states, that did not belong to the traditional nucleus of the Aetolian ethnos, and other political entities/communities that originated from other Greek ethnē. A key element to the unifying effort is the evolution from the, initially, triple tribal “identity” of the Aetolians of the 5th century B.C. to the dual "citizenship" of the 3rd century B.C. as a fundamental feature of the sympolitical organization: each individual has a local political identity as a member of one of the components of the Koinon, and at the same time has the citizenship of the wider Union. These institutional developments are examined in relation to the surrounding political and military situation during the 3rd century B.C. In the same context, the policies of the Aetolian unification are revisited and thoroughly analyzed. The League had opted for a policy of gradual, but also direct, annexations of neighboring regions (in Western and Central Greece) and indirect interconnection with the most remote ones (the Aegean islands, the poleis of Asia Minor). Coercion or voluntary accession was always accompanied by a generous concession of rights and followed by genuine integration. Particular emphasis is given to the presentation of the Aetolian method for the gradual acquisition of full control over the Delphic Sanctuary and, through it, the creation of an Aetolian "sphere of influence" (c. 300-240 BC) in Central and Western Greece, simultaneously with the parallel deepening of the federal organisation. In the Second Part, the details of the sympolitical constitution of the Aetolians are examined in depth and, especially, from a legal point of view, mainly through a presentation of the collective political bodies of the League, as well as its principal magistrates, their legal status and powers, their hierarchical ranking, their interconnection and their political and other functions. The analysis focuses initially on the Συνέλευσις (the Assembly), the supreme and sovereign body of the Federation, in which all adult citizens had the right to participate and which had exclusive competence in matters of foreign policy, defense and also elected the federal officials and magistrates. The debate on its official name, the place and time of its convening are also discussed and its key feature of direct and universal participation in its workings is highlighted. Next, the second most important collective body is presented, the Bουλὴ or Συνέδριον (the Council). Questions concerning its composition and its powers are addressed and the major issue of the proportional representation of the member states (constituent parts) in it is analyzed, as evidenced by epigraphic testimonies (IG IX I2 1. 188). Finally, the council of the Ἀπόκλητοι, an "aristocratic" element of the Aetolian constitution is also examined. A systematic presentation of the principal magistrates of the League follows, with the study focusing on details concerning the election, the political responsibilities, legal powers and guarantees, relating to the position of the Strategos (General), as head of the Executive and supreme magistrate of the League, as well as the Hipparch and the Grammateus (Secretary) [two Secretaries, at a later stage] of the League, that served as institutional “counterweights” to the influence of the Strategos in the military and the political sphere, respectively. Ultimately other dignitaries, with important financial/fiscal, administrative and executive responsibilities, are also presented, always from a legal perspective. Their respective offices (Ταμίας, Ἐπιλέκταρχος, Βούλαρχος, Νομογράφος- Treasurer, Epilectarch, Boularch, Nomographer) were held by more than one individual in each term. Then follows a systematic presentation of the institutional foundations and some crucial functional aspects of the internal organization of the League of Aetolians, with the thesis focusing mainly on the process of federal decision- making, which emerges as an institutional peculiarity, characterized by the cooperation of the collective bodies and based on the smooth operation of the legal apparatus through a system of control mechanisms and institutional “checks and balances”. The function of long established pan-hellenic institutions of both public and private law (ἀσυλία, ἀσφάλεια, ἀτέλεια, ἰσοπολιτεία, προξενία, ἐπιγαμία, γῆς ἔγκτησις) in the Aetolian legal order and their respective “versions” and uses within the Aetolian legal and political framework are also examined, followed by a systematic analysis of the role and policies of the federal government in order to further enhance the integration process, as well as the pursuit of foreign policy itself as its exclusive field of action, in the light of the international contractual relations of the League and its activities for the promotion of the federal idea in the regions of the Aegean Sea, Asia Minor and the West. In order to detect the federal character of the League, the dissertation crucially deals with the topic of common currency and the monetary policy of the Aetolian Koinon in the 3rd century B.C. It also examines critically fundamental institutional aspects of the Aetolian federalism, such as the delegation of powers (ordo competentium) between the central (federal) government and the constituent parts (member states), which reveals at least one, informal, Aetolian "federal clause" and the "shadowy" intermediate level of the administrative subdivision, known as the τέλη, while attempting an original analysis on the relation between Law and Public Economy, by focusing on the economic dimension of the use of legal mechanisms, the taxation and fiscal policy, as well as the parameter of the Aetolian mercenary activities. The issue of the common (federal) cults is then approached, which were promoted, at first, in order to help forge an “ethnical” identity, but gradually become the focus of federal policies for the promotion of a common “federal” identity. Furthermore, the role of women in the Aetolian legal order, which has so far been unterstudied, is also being studied. Finally, the dissertation proceeds to an institutional comparison of the Aetolian federal experience with other homologous political entities of the Greek world (namely, the League of the Achaeans, a typical Greek federal state, consisting solely of independent city-states, the League of the Boeotians, under the hegemony of a polis (Thebes), and the neighboring League of the Acarnanians), as well as with the modern experiment of the European integration, emphasizing on structural and organizational details. The institutional comparison of the Aetolian with the European Community/Union, which, after all, along with the systematic references to the American constitutional experience, runs through the dissertation, leads to the detection of several legal proportions and institutional solutions, dictated by reality itself, and not necessarily to similarities, always from the perspective of the so-called "Community" method. In conclusion, the dissertation asserts that the League of the Aetolians, although initially founded as a loose confederacy of the local tribes of the Trichonis basin, being just one of the many Greek ethnē of the Classical period, succeeded, eventually, in playing a decisive part in the political history of the Hellenistic period, mainly due to its institutional evolution. Its federal political structure, which combined a strong central government with effective institutions of regional self-government, constituted an alternative political proposal, from mainland Greece, as opposed, on the one hand, to the monarchical regime of the Macedonian/Oriental type, and, on the other, the polis organisation. Overcoming the institutional weaknesses of the old, tribal Koina and going beyond the traditional system of Alliances, the Aetolian League emerged as one of the first genuinely federal states in history. This dissertation emphasizes the importance of the legal approach to its history of public law and institutions, as, on the one hand, the Aetolian Federation was firmy based on democratic principles of government, and, on the other, it sought and, to a large extent, succeeded in using Law, above all else, as a means of achieving political and economic integration of both individuals and entire communities, from different ethnic or political backgrounds, on a common federal basis, with commonly accepted rules (Intergratio sub Lege).
