Antiquitas XXVIII, Elite in Greek and Roman Antiquity, edited by Andrzej Los and Krzysztof Nawotka, Wroclaw 2005
Andrzcj Los, Krzysztof Nawotka, Introduction ..................
Krzysztof Nawotka, Alexander the Great and Greek elite: the case of Phocion ........
Zofia Halina Archibald, Officers and gentlemen (or gentlewomen): exploring Macedonian
elites in the Classical and Early Hellenistic periods .................
Miron Wolny, Hannibal's oath before expedition to Gades (237 BC) - functions and way of reception ......
Maurice Sartre, Les elites juives de Judee d'une revolte a 1'autre (v. 175 av. J.-C.-135 ap. J.-C.) ...................
John Curran, Jewish leadership and the war with Rome, 66-70 CE ......
Wieslaw Suder, Propaganda e legislazione matrimoniale di Augusto ..
Andrzej Los, Les affaires commerciales des notables municipaux. Rcmarques sur les mercalores notes dans les inscriptions amphoriques du Icr siecle apres J.-C. ....
Leszek Mrozewicz, Veteranen - eine Elite?
Annie Sartre-Fauriat, Les soldats: une elite sociale en Syrie a I'epoque romaine? ........
Krzysztof Krolczyk, Die romische Stadt Brigetio (Pannonien) und ihrc Munizipalaristokratie in den epigraphischcn Quellcn ................
Ligia Ruscu, Die Strukrur der Elitcn der westpontischen Griechenstadte wahrend des Prinzipats im Rahmen ihres rechtlichen Status ..........
Ludovico Fulci, Lo scetticismo della Roma impcriale quale atteggiamento spirituale di un'e/;'tein crisi .................
Rafiaella Biundo, Origine e status degli affitruari dei fondi imperiali in provincia ..........
Macicj Johca, Criminal liability of honestiores in the 2nd and 3rd centuries AD, according to selected legal acts ..............
Jean Andreau, Remarques de conclusion: unite et pluralite des elites ..
Bibliography ..........................................
The word "elite" is among expressions commonly used in social sciences. Sometimes it is applied in broad descriptive sense in reference to categories and social groups which appear to occupy the position at the top of a power structure or of a structure controlling resources. This word is often considered equivalent to expressions "leaders", "people of influence", "the privileged". By itself it ap?plies to a broad spectrum of society encompassing politicians, higher echelons of civil service, company managers, high ranking army and police officers, religious leaders, prominent lawyers, intellectuals, professors, leading journalists, trade union leaders. It can be used notwithstanding a preconceived methodological principle, although in the past it was a word of choice among anti-Marxist thinkers for whom it appeared more acceptable than the Marxist "ruling class". The pronounced lack of precision in defining "elite" has often lead scholars to question the very feasibility of identifying elite within the society or even to deny value of studying these social groups.3 In fact, "elite" can be best referred to in somewhat ironic words of Sir Moses Finley as being an admirably vague word4 For all methodological difficulty, both historians, including those studying antiquity, and sociologists continue in their attempts to define elite.5 In fact, definition and methodology have been an important part of scholarly discussion of elites of ancient and modern society of recent years. This can be seen also in texts read in 2003 Wroclaw colloquium and published in this volume, although methodological aspects of study of elite do not dominate in most papers of this volume.
One of the principal criteria of being a member of social elite is the indi?vidual's economic position. The economic foundation of ancient elites has been discussed for years. It was the topic of heated debates in the 1970s and the 1980s. A climax of sharp polemic was reached during the 1991 colloquium on Italian elites in Clermont-Ferrand. Since then the discussion has toned down, even if the scholarly interest in economic issues of ancient elites has not diminished. The Wroclaw colloquium bears a testimony to this trend. Functioning of ancient elite has been studied in the context of political system of the day. An issue, frequently discussed, also during the Wroclaw colloquium, is the relationship between social elite and monarchy. This problem features prominently in a number of papers, devoted to Jewish, Greek and Roman history. Even if it does not dominate this volume, it certainly provides a leading principle of current study of elite in classsical antiquity?
Spelling mistakes may occur (especially in multilanguage book contents) in the above fragment of text due to OCR program
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