Scholarship on the region of Ionia, Nudell points out in the introduction to his new book, tends to focus either on the supposed glories of the Archaic period or the political complexities of the Hellenistic. Relatively little attention, he reminds us, has been paid to the century and a half that constitutes the Classical period in between. With this book, Nudell seeks to redress the balance, offering a comprehensive overview of historical developments in Ionia between the end of the Greco-Persian Wars in 480 and the refoundation of Ephesus by Lysimachus in 294 BCE.
For the most part, Nudell’s book takes the form of an historical narrative, recounting developments as they unfolded in more or less chronological order. After an introductory chapter outlining the aims of the book, the geographical framework, and touching on the preceding archaic period (Chapter 1), seven substantive chapters detail key events in Ionia. Chapters consider the period of the Delian League (Chapter 2); the heyday of Athenian hegemony (Chapter 3); the time of growing disenchantment with Athens (Chapter 4); the period of Spartan involvement following the Peloponnesian War (Chapter 5); the problematic period when no clear external authority imposed its will on the region after the decline of Spartan power (Chapter 6); the short interlude of “freedom” during the lifetime of Alexander of Macedon (Chapter 7); and the turbulent years as the key features of the Hellenistic period emerged (Chapter 8).
These chapters tell history from the point of view of Ionia looking outwards, rather than conventional narratives which tend to mention Ionia only in passing. Throughout, Nudell tries to grasp what larger historical events and processes meant for Ionian cities and populations, scouring the sources for often scant information. The result is a dense and rich account, based on a close engagement with the primary source material and a meticulous collection of the secondary literature. The primary source material in question comes predominantly from the literary sources, many of which date from periods long after those under discussion – a problem that Nudell readily acknowledges, and which he deals with by being appropriately aware of the limits of the evidence available. For example, on p. 31 Nudell highlights the ambiguity of the term ‘Ionian’ in Diodorus Siculus, which at some points seems to refer to the thirteen cities of the Ionian League and at others to the Greeks of Asia Minor more generally. Considering both this source material and the scholarly literature with a critical eye, Nudell often interrogates received wisdom and questions our common assumptions about how key passages should be interpreted.
Nudell’s particular interest lies in establishing Ionian agency, making the argument that Ionians were not passive onlookers in the inter-regional politics of the time, but instead active players on the political stage. However, the reliance on literary texts as the main source material necessarily means that an etic perspective is almost inevitable, and it is difficult to reconstruct the perspective of Ionians. One possible way that this could have been countered is through more discussion of the fragmentary histories written by Ionian authors, such as Duris of Samos, or by authors in neighbouring regions, such as the prolific Ephoros of Kyme; another is through more discussion of the epigraphic material from Ionia itself.
Indeed, some of the most interesting examples cited by Nudell for Ionian agency are primarily or even exclusively attested to by epigraphic evidence. One intriguing case is that of the stasis at Clazomenae in the mid-fourth century, referred to obliquely in an inscription regulating the relationship between Clazomenae and Athens (RO 18 = IG II2 28) and discussed by Nudell on p. 103 of his book. Mention is made in this inscription of a rival faction from the city installing itself at the village of Chyton, from whom the ruling faction had successfully captured hostages. Although the inscription offers no more comment (and Nudell himself does not speculate), this is a tantalising glimpse of local politics that is largely missing from the historiographical texts.
Archaeological evidence can also shed light on local and regional dynamics, as highlighted by Nudell in his final substantive chapter of the book dealing with temple-building (Chapter 9). Although he does not engage with the archaeological evidence itself, or the vast (and largely non-Anglophone) scholarship surrounding it, Nudell nonetheless considers the broader implications of general trends. Following Osborne, he challenges the assumption that material poverty caused by external imperial strictures can be used to explain the lack of temple-building activity in the fifth century, suggesting instead that issues closer to home (such as the rise of the Hekatomnid dynasty of Caria) also had an impact.
The book’s brief conclusion is then followed by three appendices, each offering a summary discussion of a different issue: the nature of the Ionian League, the interactions and often fuzzy dividing lines between Greeks and non-Greeks, and the question of Ionian weakness at arms in the face of external aggression.
In this book Nudell paints a rich picture of Classical and early Hellenistic Ionia, full of depth and detail, bringing the complex dynamics of Ionian political history into sharp focus. The emphasis is indeed on political rather than cultural or social history, and in particular on the interplay between individual poleis and the various larger powers that sought to exert control over them—Persia, Athens, Sparta, and the different Hellenistic successor states. To do this, he has scoured the mainstream literary sources for references to Ionia, and brought together scattered publications on specific elements and issues. In doing so, he offers us the first coherent overview of the period in Ionia, filling what was a conspicuous gap in the scholarly literature. Doubtless, in years to come there will be other publications that will seek to illuminate this phase of Ionian history. But for now, Nudell has given us a solid foundation on which to build.