Les cités d'Asie mineure occidentale au IIe siècle a.C

The Greek and Hellenized cities of western Asia Minor, from the Hellespont round to Rhodes and Lycia, were highly successful. It was their fate to play the role of an intermediary between a rich hinterland and the wider Mediterranean. The second century BC was one of their most splendid periods.

After the decline of the Hellenistic monarchies which succeeded Alexander of Macedon, and particularly after the defeat of the Seleucid kingdom by the Romans at the Battle of Magnesia in 189, most of these cities experienced a real golden age. The purpose of this seminar was to explain this period, its crucial events, its “rhythms”, and its historical paradoxes. The freedom of the cities protected by the “Pergamene shield”, together with the flourishing of trade and the growing pressure of Rome, are the central themes of the study. It is enriched and illustrated by the publication of several new inscriptions.