On the Border in Arizona and Greece: Border Studies and the Boundaries of the Greek Polis

Abstract

Border studies is a growing and dynamic field, founded in part on study of the Mexico-United States border. Its results, however, have not yet been applied much to the study of the ancient Greek world, where the existence of hundreds of independent cities (poleis) in the Archaic, Classical, and Hellenistic periods created multiple borders. Some ancient commentators, notably Aristotle in his Politics, did notice the impact of borders and border culture. This paper offers a preliminary effort to bring together some of the results of present-day border studies with scholarship on the borderlands of Greek poleis, in the hope of contributing to both areas of research and showing where each field can learn from the other.No matter how clearly borders are drawn on official maps, how many customs officials are appointed, or how many watchtowers are built, people will ignore borders whenever it suits them. 1