Did the Delphic Amphiktiony Play a Political Role in the Classical Period?

This paper seeks, against recent work, to re-assert the occasional political importance of the Delphic amphiktiony in the fifth and fourth centuries BC, without denying the primarily religious function of that organization. The paper deals with the centuries in reverse chronological order, because the fourth is better documented. In particular, it is argued that there is solid epigraphic evidence, from Athens as well as Delphi, for Theban use of the amphiktiony for transparently political purposes in the 360s and 350s. In the fifth century, the Spartans founded Herakleia Trachinia for motives which included desire for Delphic prestige, not necessarily of a crude political sort.

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