Periodic Reporting for period 1 - TokAthe (Tokens and their Cultural Biography in Athens from the Classical Age to the End of Antiquity)
Reporting period: 2018-09-01 to 2020-08-31
The project ‘Tokens and their Cultural biography in Athens from the Classical Age to the End of Antiquity’
provides the first in depth analysis of Athenian tokens and the roles they played in the world’s first democracy.
Symbolon (σύμβολον), the Greek word for token derives from the verb symballein (συμβάλλειν),
which means ‘to bring closer’ and signifies an object that has to be brought closer to its counterpart in order to acquire its full significance.
Symbola are first mentioned in ancient Greek texts concerning narratives of hospitality and transaction, where they enabled procedures for concluding contracts, facilitated practices of authorization/admission and made possible procedures of identification.
In the fifth century BCE equality in the participation of the citizen body and therefore democracy was enabled by the means of symbola. In the allotment of offices tokens were the safe valve which made sure that participation was based on equality and safeguarded the proportional admittance to offices of the 'geographic population segments'. Ultimately, tokens are the tangible expression of the regulation of competition between 'few' and the 'many', 'mass' and 'elite', the 'privileged' and the 'less privileged', which is universally agreed as a key-element for understanding the phenomenon of Democracy in Athens.
Tokens played active role within the Athenian democracy and society enabling different forms of community and social relations. For our modern society the knowledge that the Athenian Democracy was made possible by the means of tokens proves particularly valuable. Through the mechanism of tokens, participation and relations were regulated and hierarchies negotiated and by analogy this knowledge can be transferred to the challenges with which the modern democracies are faced.
Overall objectives:
to publish a selection of the unpublished Athenian Tokens.
to reach a universally accepted typology for tokens.
to highlight how tokens, as material manifestations of particular institutions, contributed to the formation of civic and political identity in the city state of Athens.
to explore the roles played by tokens in ensuring legal and political equality.
to demonstrate how tokens represent a city-wide master network of expertise.
provides the first in depth analysis of Athenian tokens and the roles they played in the world’s first democracy.
Symbolon (σύμβολον), the Greek word for token derives from the verb symballein (συμβάλλειν),
which means ‘to bring closer’ and signifies an object that has to be brought closer to its counterpart in order to acquire its full significance.
Symbola are first mentioned in ancient Greek texts concerning narratives of hospitality and transaction, where they enabled procedures for concluding contracts, facilitated practices of authorization/admission and made possible procedures of identification.
In the fifth century BCE equality in the participation of the citizen body and therefore democracy was enabled by the means of symbola. In the allotment of offices tokens were the safe valve which made sure that participation was based on equality and safeguarded the proportional admittance to offices of the 'geographic population segments'. Ultimately, tokens are the tangible expression of the regulation of competition between 'few' and the 'many', 'mass' and 'elite', the 'privileged' and the 'less privileged', which is universally agreed as a key-element for understanding the phenomenon of Democracy in Athens.
Tokens played active role within the Athenian democracy and society enabling different forms of community and social relations. For our modern society the knowledge that the Athenian Democracy was made possible by the means of tokens proves particularly valuable. Through the mechanism of tokens, participation and relations were regulated and hierarchies negotiated and by analogy this knowledge can be transferred to the challenges with which the modern democracies are faced.
Overall objectives:
to publish a selection of the unpublished Athenian Tokens.
to reach a universally accepted typology for tokens.
to highlight how tokens, as material manifestations of particular institutions, contributed to the formation of civic and political identity in the city state of Athens.
to explore the roles played by tokens in ensuring legal and political equality.
to demonstrate how tokens represent a city-wide master network of expertise.
The funding has made possible the publication of the monograph 'Symbola: Athenian Tokens from Classical to Roman Times' and the edited volume 'Tokens in Classical Athens: Politics, Communities, Contexts' both by the Liverpool University Press. Additionally, three papers are dedicated to the analysis of Athenian tokens. The first one was published in 2020 in the volume 'Tokens, Value and Identity: Exploring Monetiform Objects from the Classical Age to the End of Antiquity', edited by Antonino Crisa. A paper discussing pieces of the Alexandros Meletopoulos Collection has been submitted for publication for the next issue of The Numismatic Chronicle.
Close work with museums and institutes hosting major token collections is on-going and in particular with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, The Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection in Athens, The British Museum, The Bibliotheque Nationale de France, The Münzkabinett in Berlin, The Munich State Coincollection, The Göttingen University Museum, The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The tokens in these collections, which remained largely unnoticed, have been photographed and will be made available to the broader public.
Major advance in the study of the Athenian Tokens was
the online exhibition hosted on the University of Warwick and in the 'Token Communities in the Ancient Mediterranean Project' website: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/research/dept_projects/tcam/tokathe(opens in new window) .
It aims to inspire further thoughts and provide incentive to a fresh approach. Further to that, it was the Workshop on Athenian tokens 'Symbola: The Athenian Legacy to Modern World', which attracted the attention of specialists and enabled the first-time creation of an interdisciplinary network of scholars, which persists in time as it is evident by the Workshop proceedings under preparation and the inclusion of papers by scholars invited after the workshop. This increasing awareness is evidenced by the scholarly and 'non-scholarly' debate carried out via tweets on the project's twitter account @MairiGkikaki
Close work with museums and institutes hosting major token collections is on-going and in particular with the American School of Classical Studies at Athens, The Alpha Bank Numismatic Collection in Athens, The British Museum, The Bibliotheque Nationale de France, The Münzkabinett in Berlin, The Munich State Coincollection, The Göttingen University Museum, The Ashmolean Museum in Oxford. The tokens in these collections, which remained largely unnoticed, have been photographed and will be made available to the broader public.
Major advance in the study of the Athenian Tokens was
the online exhibition hosted on the University of Warwick and in the 'Token Communities in the Ancient Mediterranean Project' website: https://warwick.ac.uk/fac/arts/classics/research/dept_projects/tcam/tokathe(opens in new window) .
It aims to inspire further thoughts and provide incentive to a fresh approach. Further to that, it was the Workshop on Athenian tokens 'Symbola: The Athenian Legacy to Modern World', which attracted the attention of specialists and enabled the first-time creation of an interdisciplinary network of scholars, which persists in time as it is evident by the Workshop proceedings under preparation and the inclusion of papers by scholars invited after the workshop. This increasing awareness is evidenced by the scholarly and 'non-scholarly' debate carried out via tweets on the project's twitter account @MairiGkikaki
It has been made possible to define tokens in their extensive material variety and remarkable iconographic repertory. The project has re-shaped the Numismatics as a discipline by adding a new cateogory in Numismatics.
An interdisciplinary approach has been developed and there is an ongoing dialogue with researchers working on tokens in different periods and different materials via conferences, workshops and research networks.
Athenian tokens have a particular place in the nomisma.org international project, which is established as the standard for work in Numismatics. Nomisma/Numishare is a collaborative project, which provides digital stable representations of numismatic concepts according to the principles of Linked Open Data. Athenian tokens, which until before the 'Token Communities in the Ancient Mediterranean' ERC Starting Grant and the Marie Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowship have began, had remained in obscurity are well established in the database.
Athenian tokens are searchable under:
https://coins.warwick.ac.uk/token-specimens/(opens in new window)
https://coins.warwick.ac.uk/token-types/(opens in new window)
The data (individual specimens of Collection) gathered for this project is modeled against the Nomisma Ontology. All data is encoded in NUDS EAD format, as generated by the open source software Numishare (https://github.com/ewg118/numishare(opens in new window)). This is consistent with the existing ERC TCAM data. The data is licensed under ODC-ODbL and available as RDF, and can be searched via a SPARQL endpoint and APIs. The data is backed up long term on Warwick's servers. The data formats used will ensure maximum long-term re-use including into museum’s own data management systems, e.g. the British Museum.
On a personal level the project has considerably enhanced the fellow's profile as a researcher. The fellow has acquired skills and competence in identifying and applying for major research grants, which will assist her in securing further research funding and a permanent academic post.
The MSC Fellowship constitutes a milestone in the fellow's career by extending her existing research networks, by maintaining collaborations with the University of Warwick and by enhancing future career prospects.
An interdisciplinary approach has been developed and there is an ongoing dialogue with researchers working on tokens in different periods and different materials via conferences, workshops and research networks.
Athenian tokens have a particular place in the nomisma.org international project, which is established as the standard for work in Numismatics. Nomisma/Numishare is a collaborative project, which provides digital stable representations of numismatic concepts according to the principles of Linked Open Data. Athenian tokens, which until before the 'Token Communities in the Ancient Mediterranean' ERC Starting Grant and the Marie Sklodowska Curie Individual Fellowship have began, had remained in obscurity are well established in the database.
Athenian tokens are searchable under:
https://coins.warwick.ac.uk/token-specimens/(opens in new window)
https://coins.warwick.ac.uk/token-types/(opens in new window)
The data (individual specimens of Collection) gathered for this project is modeled against the Nomisma Ontology. All data is encoded in NUDS EAD format, as generated by the open source software Numishare (https://github.com/ewg118/numishare(opens in new window)). This is consistent with the existing ERC TCAM data. The data is licensed under ODC-ODbL and available as RDF, and can be searched via a SPARQL endpoint and APIs. The data is backed up long term on Warwick's servers. The data formats used will ensure maximum long-term re-use including into museum’s own data management systems, e.g. the British Museum.
On a personal level the project has considerably enhanced the fellow's profile as a researcher. The fellow has acquired skills and competence in identifying and applying for major research grants, which will assist her in securing further research funding and a permanent academic post.
The MSC Fellowship constitutes a milestone in the fellow's career by extending her existing research networks, by maintaining collaborations with the University of Warwick and by enhancing future career prospects.