Panhellenism without Imperialism? Athens and the Greeks before and after Chaeronea

Abstract

This article explores the shifting definition(s) of Panhellenism in fourth century Athenian political discourse, and argues that the flexibility of the concept can help to explain how the Athenians are able to continue to utilise this idea in their political arguments, even in the rapidly changing interstate environment of the late Classical and early Hellenistic period. Close analysis of the deployment of Panhellenic arguments before and after Chaeronea, and in the final decade of the century, throws further light on the ways in which Athens' use of this ideology both responds to and shapes their position in Greek interstate society.