CANCELLED - "(Re)Constructing the Past in Imperial Greece: The Cases of Corinth and Sparta"

The memory of certain topics, events or persons from the distant (and also more recent) past formed a prominent element of public life in the cities of Imperial Greece. In this talk, I address the question how the urban elites used the past of their communities as a resource in political debates, the process of establishing social hierarchies and the creation of a common identity. I will focus on the case studies of Sparta and Corinth in order to point out different strategies of (re)constructing the past as well as potential motives and intentions that informed the decisions about which elements of the past were deemed worthy of commemoration.