Dalla polis alla città murata. L'immagine delle fortificazioni nella società ellenistica
In: Archeologia Classica: 63, 2012
Permalink: http://digital.casalini.it/2634755
Wall building activity preoccupied the entire organisation of the polis - its economic, social, political and cultural resources. As early as the classical age the new architectural work had become the most eye-catching city monument and a sign of civic identity. In the Hellenistic age the symbolic significance of the urban fortifications extended to become the center of important events of the polis public life, starting with the destruction of the Long Walls, which took on implications in terms of propaganda and become emblematic of political behaviour. During this period, the Greek polis seems to have had some difficulties in maintaining its defensive apparatus against the royal armies, but, at the same time, the city walls become an essential requisite of the new urban model, completely changing the architectural image of the Greek polis. However, little is known about the processes behind this transformation, which not only depended on the single choices of the poleis, but also on the common cultural and political horizon determined through comparison with the behaviour of the Hellenistic monarchies. At the end of this process the poleis is were completely identfied with their urban defences and, more generically, with their architectural structures, which become visible expression of the city's political realities.