Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Pages399-430
FROM FICTION IN THE
AIOLIAN MIGRATION
ABSTRACT
Iron Age settlements in the northeastAegean are usuallyattributed to
AioliancolonistswhojourneyedacrosstheAegeanfrommainlandGreece.
This articlereviewstheliteraryaccountsofthemigration and presents
the
relevant evidence,
archaeological witha focuson newmaterial from Troy.No
oneareaplayeda dominant roleincolonizingAiolis,noris sucha widespread
colonizationsupportedby the archaeologicalrecord.But the aggressive
promotionof migration accountsafterthePersianWarsprovedmutually
to bothsidesoftheAegeanandjustifiedthecomposition
beneficial ofthe
Delian League.
Scholarlyassessments in thenortheast
ofhabitation Aegeanduringthe
Iron are
Early Age remarkably most
consistent: settlements areattributed
toAioliancolonistswhohadjourneyed acrosstheAegeanfrom Thessaly,
Boiotia,Akhaia,ora combination Thereis nouniformity
ofallthree.1 in
theancientsourcesthatdealwiththemigration,although Orestesandhis
descendantsarenamedas theleadersin mostaccounts, andarecredited
withfounding coloniesovera broadgeographic area,including Lesbos,
Tenedos, thewestern and southerncoastsoftheTroad,andtheregion
between thebaysofAdramyttion and Smyrna (Fig. 1). In otherwords,
mainland Greecehasrepeatedlybeenviewedas theagentresponsible for
O
*d
.2
I
j
i
!
3
'u
I
I
S
I
s-
&
THE AIOLIAN MIGRATION 4OI
Mycenaeoverthecourseofsevengenerations: Pelopsallegedlyjourneyed
fromAsia Minorto thePeloponnese,havingbeenraisedbetweenPhrygia
and Lydia;20his grandsonsMenelaos and Agamemnonweretheleaders
in thewaragainstTroy;and thelatter'sson Oresteswas creditedwiththe
subsequentAiolianmigration,as werehis descendants,amongwhomIon
himselfwas occasionallycounted.21
MODERN INTERPRETATIONS
The Aiolian/Ionian migrations haverarely beendoubtedin contemporary
scholarship, althoughinterpretationsof theevidenceareas diverseas the
relevantancientsources,and at one timetheywereaddressedin tandem
withIndo-Europeanmigrations. Alreadyin the 18th century, linguists
had soughtan Indo-EuropeanoriginfortheGreekswhilesimultaneously
embracing theaccountin Genesis(10:2-5) whereinJapheth, sonofNoah,
repopulated the westin the courseof his travels.22
This was the approach
adoptedby Schliemannin his firstbook on Troy,in whichhe assumed
thatnorthwestern Asia Minor had been a way-station in the east-west
migrations, and a similarapproachwas followedbyErnstCurtiusin Die
IoniervorderIonischen Wanderung.23This historical however,
interpretation,
was stilllinkedto Greekand Romanliterary accountsof themigrations,
whichresultedin an historicalreconstruction wherebythe ancestorsof
theIonians traveledfromAnatoliato Greece,and thenreturnedseveral
centuries later,alongwiththeAiolians,to foundcolonieson thewestcoast
ofAsia Minor.24
Schliemannwas hard-pressed to findanyactualevidenceof an Aio-
lian colonization,and in theend he placedit betweenhis Lydian(Sixth)
Settlement, whichhe datedto theLate BronzeAge,andtheArchaicGreek
levels.25Dorpfelds historianAlfredBrucknerrecognizedthe problems
inherent in thisplacement,and madeAioliancolonizationcontemporary
withLydiancontrolof theTroad,and so of EarlyArchaicdate.26Since
therewas no clearevidenceforcontinuoushabitationbetweentheBronze
and IronAges,theissueof a temporalhiatusbeganto be linkedto colo-
nization.Carl Blegen,Dorpfelds successoratTroy,arguedthatthehiatus
extendedfornearly400 years(ca. 1100-700 B.C.),endingonlywiththe
arrivalof Greeksettlers.27
Later scholarsdividedthe migrationamong severalperiodsdue to
theincreasingly frequentdiscoveriesof Mycenaean,Protogeometric, and
44. Cline 1994,p. 69; Bryce2005, 2005,p. 19; Latacz2004,pp.238-247. 47. ForEteokles,see Niemeier
p. 58. Someofthesetabletsincludenames 1999,p. 152; Bryce2005,pp.290-293,
45.The dominance oftheMyce- thatprobably refertoAsia Minor: 395; forAtreus,see Niemeier2002b,
naeanroyalfamily in themigration mi-ra-ti-jo (Milesios);to-ro-wo(possi- p. 296;West2003.
accountsis one ofthereasonswhyMy- blyTroos);andsi-mi-te-u (Smintheus, 48. Cline 1996,pp. 145-146;
cenaehasbeenregarded as thecapital theepithetofApolloin hissanctuary at Hawkins1998,pp.2, 30; Mountjoy
ofAhhiyawaandtheseatoftheGreat Chryse,in thesouthern Troad):Benzi 1998,pp.47-51; Hope Simpson
King:Niemeier1998,p. 44; 1999, 2002,pp.365-366.Fora moreskepti- 2003.
pp. 143-144;2002b;Hope Simpson cal analysis,see Hall 2002,pp.50-52. 49. Hiller1975;Chadwick1988,
2003,pp.233-235.Thebeshas also ForRhodes,see Cassola 1957,pp.334- pp.90-93; Efkleidou 2002-2003.For
beenconsidered a viablecandidate, 337; Benzi2002,pp.368-381;see also Hittiteresettlement inMycenaean
sincea cacheofLinearB tabletsdis- Mountjoy1998,pp.50-51 (Rhodes areas,see,in general,Bryce2002,
coveredthererefer to siteson Euboia, together withMiletos). pp.261-262.
thereby suggesting(to some)thatthe 46. Latacz2004,p. 244. Katz (2005, 50. Singer1983,pp.209-213;
latterwassubjectto theformer: Mount- p. 424) hasshown,however, thattheres- Hawkins1998,pp.25-26.
joy 1998,p. 50; Niemeier2002b,p. 295; toration of"Kadmos"cannotbe correct.
THE AIOLIAN MIGRATION 409
73. Lenz et al. 1998,p. 210,n. 46; gestedbyCatling(1998,p. 164). For shape,anddecoration
fabric, from
Mountjoy1999b,pp.333-334;Asian OpountianLokrisduringtheProto- thoseatTroy.
2002,pp. 83-84. geometric period,see Fossey1990, 77. LefkandiII.l, pp.39,55-56,
74. Bayne2000,pp.226-228, pp. 106-107. 73-74,pl.5:j; Catling1998,p. 178.
312-313;Asian2002,pp.83-84. 76. Catling1998;see alsoMomm- 78. See above,nn.28 and31.
75. Catling1998,pp. 153-166; sen,Hertel,andMountjoy2001, 79. Fora similarapproachwith
Asian2002,pp. 83-84,90-92.These pp. 194,196,203; Lemos2002, referenceto Greeksin theLevant,see
amphoras suggesttheexistence ofa pp.211-212.Papadopoulos(2005, Waldbaum1997.
commercial linkbetween Troy the
and p. 585) hascastsomedoubton Cat- 80. Asian2002,pp.84-85.In gen-
generalareaofLokrisas farbackas the lingsproposedlinksbetweenMacedo- eral,themostvaluableassessments of
10thcentury B.C.,andtherootsofthe nia andTroyduringtheProtogeomet- settlement atTroyduringtheIron
customoftheLokrianmaidensmay ricperiod,pointing outthattheneck- Age arethoseofCatling1998 and
lie in thatearlytradenetwork, as sug- handledamphoras atToronedifferin Asian2002. See also Korfmann 2002;
THE AIOLIAN MIGRATION 413
Ehr-
107.Milesiancolonization: ofthetribute,butdisagreeon thedate customoftheLokrianmaidens, see
hardt1983;Gorman2001,pp.47- whenitoriginated, withsomeplacing Wilhelm1911;Leaf 1923,pp. 191-
85. itshortlyaftertheTrojanWar,and 193;Walbank1967,pp.335-336;
108.Cook 1953a,1953b;Cold- othersto theperiodofPersiandom- Graf1978;Hughes1991,pp. 166-184;
stream1976;Whitley1988;Malkin ination.According to Polybius(12.5.7), Redfield2003,pp.85-150.
1994;Antonaccio1995. whoseaccountis usuallyregarded as 112.According to Philostratos
109.Rose2003. themostauthoritative, thecustomhad {Her.53.8-21),theThessalianstraveled
110.The customprobably lastedfor begunbefore673,whenthecolonyof annuallytoTroyto makesacrifices at
witha breakonlyin
nearly600 years, LokriEpizephyroi in southernItaly thetombofAchilles.This shouldprob-
Hellenistic
theLate Classical/Early was founded(see alsoLycoph.Alex. de-
ablybe viewedas a status-building
period.The largenumberofancient 1141-1173;Aen.Tact.31.24; Strabo vicein thesamespiritas thecustomof
whocomment
historians on thiscus- 13.1.40). theLokrianmaidens.
tomagreeingeneralon thebasicform 111.Formodernassessments ofthe
418 C. BRIAN ROSE
CONCLUSIONS
Two different but interrelated setsof conclusionsarisefromthisanalysis
oftheAiolianmigration - one and one relatedto intellec-
archaeological,
tualhistory.An examination ofbothsidesoftheAegean duringtheLate
BronzeAge demonstrates thecommercialand politicallinksbetweenthe
twoareas,withMiletosperhapsfunctioning as a Mycenaeancolonyin the
13thcentury. Whetheror notwe associatetheAhhiyawansin theHittite
textswiththeMycenaeanGreeks,it is clearthatAiolis/Ioniafunctioned
as a peripheral
regioncontestedbyforcesassociatedwithboththeHittites
and theAegean.
The 12th-century depositsat bothTroyand Gordionindicatesub-
stantialinteractionwithThrace,althoughwhetherthiswas theresultof
increasedcommerceortheinfluxofa newpopulationgroupis notcertain. 124.FortheTroadtemples, see
A tradingnetwork involving TroyandThessaly/Lokris was in placebythe Rose2003,p. 76,n. 182.The notable
10thcentury, and thecustomof theLokrianmaidensmayhaveemerged exceptionis theIonicSmintheion. In
as a by-product ofthisrelationship once thesiteofIlion had been linked Aiolisperse,theonlyHellenistic tem-
plesthatsurvive arethoseinAigaiand
to the Homerictradition.By the 7th century, Lesbos had establisheda
Pergamon, both ofwhichareDoric.
claim to partof theTroad,as had Lydia,althoughthe vast majorityof ForPergamon, see Koenigs1991,
coloniesin Aiolis were Milesian,none of which dates earlierthan the pp.61-64,69-71; forAigai,see Bohn
mid-7thcentury. 1889,pp.36,38,40; Koenigs1991,
At no timeduringtheearly1stmillennium do we haveevidencefor pp.85-86.
125. Rose2003,pp.48-55,60-63.
attacks,forthe arrivalof a new populationgroup,or foranysubstantive
126.ForthePanathenaia at Perga-
changeinceramicproduction.127 WiththeexceptionoftheProtogeometric
mon,see Hansen1971,pp.71,448; for
amphoras, produced in central Greece (10th/9th century)and Macedonia theAthenaParthenos: Weber1993.
the
(8thcentury), ceramicassemblagesat thesesitesremainedremarkably ForthePanathenaia at Sardisand
consistent,withveryfewimportsuntilthe6thcenturyB.C.,whenGreek Priene,see Paus.1.4.6;Welles1934,
also beginsto appearin inscriptions. pp. 110-114,no.23 (EumenesII);
Hansen1971,pp.7, 124,448,458.
ThroughouttheIronAge andArchaicperiod,therewouldhavebeen 127.Cf.MountjoyandHankey
centuriesof interaction betweenGreek-speakingcommunitiesand the to the
1988,pp.30-32,withreference
settlements of westernAsia Minor,in which trade,intermarriage, and "DorianInvasion."
territorial
conflict a
played part;128 but the culturein most,perhaps of
all, 128. See Hdt. 1.146.2-3.
THE AIOLIAN MIGRATION 421
certain,however, thatsuchstoriesacquiredconsiderablemomentumfol-
lowing the PersianWars,whenthepromotionof theseaccountsjustified
thecompositionof theDelian League and provedmutuallybeneficialto
bothsidesoftheAegean.
With sucha clearcorpusof evidencearguingagainstan Aiolian mi-
gration,it strikesone as somewhatsurprising thatit has been so readily
in
embraced scholarship, butheretoo one needsto examinethepolitical
context.Archaeologists beganto workin northwestern Turkeyduringthe
secondhalfof the 19thcentury, and the colonialistoutlookof the time,
coupledwiththewaningof the Ottomanempire,createdan intellectual
climatewhereinstoriesofthewestcolonizingtheeastwereeasyto accept
at facevalue,as was theassumptionthatculturaladvanceson theeastern
side of theAegean,aftertheBronzeAge, musthavebeen dependenton
someagencyfromthewest.134 One can finda similarbias in earlysurveys
of the IronAge and Archaicperiod,where"Orientalizing" influenceon
Greecewas eitherdenied,disputed,or undervalued.135
Our attemptsto analyzetheseand othermigrations will undoubt-
be
edlyalways shapedby the largerpoliticalenvironment in whichwe
live,and this was certainly trueforthe secondhalfof the 20th century:
Sakellarious presentation of the Ionian migrationas post-PersianWar
Athenianpropagandawas no doubtpartiallya responseto theEuropean
fascistmovements ofWorldWarII, notunlikethescholarship ofhisItalian
contemporary, R. BianchiBandinelli.136 More recentmonographson the
construction ofethnicity havesimilarly been stimulated bythecollapseof
the SovietUnion,whichpromptedthe rearrangement of a multitudeof
geographicalboundariesand nationalidentities, manyof whichare still
in formation.137
We mayneverhaveenoughevidencetojudge theexistenceor extent
ofculturalconvergence in theTroadduringtheIronAge,butmoreprog-
134.Gosden2001; LyonsandPapa-
resscan be madeifarchaeologists workingin GreeceandTurkeyincrease dopoulos2002; Hall 2004,pp.41-42.
theirlevelofcollaboration. Analysesof ancientsettlements on bothsides 135.Boardman1990,pp. 185-186;
of theAegean are surprisingly rare,and theyhave becomeeven rarerin Burkert1992,pp. 1-8.This attitude
has
thewakeofthe1974 separationofCyprusintoGreekandTurkishzones. beentracedbackto theHomericperiod
withreference
to thePhoenicians:
Dismantlingthesepoliticalbarriersto intellectualdiscourseis essential Winter1995.
to achievinga morebalanceddiagramof culturalinteraction in theearly 136.Barbanera 2003.
Aegean,as is the acknowledgment thatculturalchangerarelyproceeds 137.Cf.Hall 1997,p. 1; Mclnerney
alonga one-waystreet. 2001,pp.51-52.
THE AIOLIAN MIGRATION 423
REFERENCES
H. 1978."Sigeionunddie Pei-
Aigner, Barletta,B. 2001. The Originsofthe
sistratidische
Homerforderung," GreekArchitecturalOrders,Cam-
RhM 121,pp.204-209. bridge.
Anthony,D. W. 1990."Migrationin Barron,J.P. 1964. "Religious Propa-
The
Archaeology: Baby and the ganda of the Delian League,"///5
Bathwater,"AmericanAnthropologist 84, pp. 35-48.
92, pp. 895-914. Basaran, S. 2000. "Aeolische Kapitelle
. 1997. "PrehistoricMigration aus Ainos (Enez)," IstMitt50,
as Social Process,"in Migrationsand pp. 157-170.
InvasionsinArchaeological Explana- Basedow, M. 2006. "What the Blind
tion(BAR-IS 664), ed. J.Chapman Man Saw: New Informationfrom
and H. Hamerow, Oxford,pp. 21- the Iron Age at Troy,"in Common
32. Ground:Archaeology, Art,Science,and
Antonaccio,C. M. 1994. "Placing the Humanities.Proceedings oftheXVIth
Past: The Bronze Age in the Cultic InternationalCongressofClassical
Topographyof Early Greece,"in Archaeology,Boston,August23-26,
PlacingtheGods:Sanctuariesand Sa- A. A.
2003,ed. C. C. Mattusch,
credSpace inAncientGreece,ed. S. E. Donohue,andA. Brauer, Oxford,
Alcockand R. Osborne,Oxford, pp. 88-92.
pp. 79-104. Bayne,N. 2000. The GreyWaresof
ofAnces-
. 1995. An Archaeology North-West Anatolia in theMiddle
tors:TombCult and Hero Cult in and Late BronzeAge and theEarly
Early Greece,Lanham, Md. IronAge and TheirRelationto the
andColoni-
. 2001."Ethnicity Early GreekSettlements (Asia Minor
zation,"in Malkin2001,pp. 113- Studien 37), Bonn.
157. Becks, R. 2003. "Troia VII: The Transi-
Arslan,N. 2003."GoldblecheausTene- tion fromthe Late Bronze Age to
dos,"IstMitt53,pp.251-263. the Early Iron Age," in Fischer et al.
Arslan,N., and N. Sevinc. 2003. "Die 2003, pp. 41-53.
eisenzeitlichenGraber von Tene- Becks, R., W. Rigter,and P. Hnila.
dos," IstMitt53, pp. 223-250. 2006. "Das Terrassenhausim westli-
Asian, C. C. 2002. "Ilion beforeAlex- chen Unterstadtsviertel von Troia,"
ander:Protogeometric,Geometric, Studia Troica16, pp. 27-88.
and Archaic PotteryfromD 9," Benzi, M. 2002. "Anatoliaand the
Studia Troica12, pp. 81-129. Eastern Aegean at theTime of
Asian, R., G. Bieg, P. Jablonka,and the Trojan War,"in Omero,tremila
P. Kronneck.2003. "Die Mittel- anni dopo,ed. F. Montanari, Rome,
bis SpatbronzezeitlicheBesiedlung pp. 343-406.
(Troia VI und Troia VIIA) der Berard,J. 1959. "La migrationeoli-
Troas und der Gelibolu-Halbinsel: tnnt" RA 1959, pp. 1-28.
Ein Uberblick,"Studia Troica13, Betancourt,P. P. 1977. TheAeolicStyle
pp. 165-214. inArchitecture:A SurveyofIts Devel-
Aura Jorro,F. 1985. Diccionariomicenico opmentin Palestine,theHalikarnassos
1, Madrid. Peninsula,and Greece,1000-500 B.C.,
Bakir-Akbasoglu,T. 1997. "Phrygerin Princeton.
Daskyleion,"in Frigi efrigio.Atti Bieg, G., and R. Asian. 2006. "Eine
del 1° simposiointernazionale,Roma, Quellhohle in Spratts Plateau (Sub-
16-17 ottobre 1995, ed. R. Gusmani, asi Tepe) - Wo lag Sigeion," Studia
M. Salvini,and P. Vannicelli,Rome, Troica16, pp. 133-145.
pp. 229-238. Blackman,D. J. 1973. "Comment,"in
M. 2003.Ranuccio
Barbanera, Bianchi BronzeAge Migrationsin theAegean:
Bandinelli:Biografiaed epistolario Archaeological and LinguisticProb-
di ungrandearcheologo (Biblioteca lemsin GreekPrehistory, ed. R. A.
d'arte Skira 8), Milan. Crossland and A. Birchall,London,
Barford,P. M. 2001. TheEarly Slavs: p. 315.
Cultureand Societyin Early Medieval Bloedow, E. F. 1985. "Handmade Bur-
EasternEurope,Ithaca. nishedWare or BarbarianPottery
424 C. BRIAN ROSE
C. Brian Rose
University of Pennsylvania
university museum of archaeology and anthropology
3260 south street
philadelphia, pennsylvania i9io4
roseb@sas.upenn.edu