Contested Territories from Ancient Narratives and Modern Contexts

Land Claims Unveiled

Antonis Kourkoulakos, Vasileios Balaskas

• Publisher: Bloomsbury Academic
• Edition: 1
• Year: 2026
• Topic: Social Sciences
• Subtopic: Historical Geography
• eBook ISBN:
  9781350575455
• Index: Social Sciences

Looking at contested territories and land claims as multifaceted concepts that influence and shape identities, this volume offers a broad range of case studies from antiquity to the modern era.

The contributors examine how power relations and disputes over land can be used as a reference point to understand territory-related motivations and sociopolitical shifts throughout history. Drawing on archaeology, political geography and philology, this interdisciplinary approach reveals transformations in land claims in regional, national and international contexts.

The thematic organization of this volume mirrors the multifaceted nature of land claims, addressing theoretical, methodological and practical considerations. The three parts explore material culture and land appropriation through case studies, providing comprehensive overviews from the Bronze Age, Archaic and Classical periods, Roman Empire and modern times. The result is a study that expands the term 'land claims' beyond its politico-military scope to include diplomatic, religious, cultural and policy-related claims as an all-inclusive term that can be used in the examination of power dynamics and territory.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Halftitle page
• Series page
• Title page
• Copyright page
• Dedication
• CONTENTS
• ILLUSTRATIONS
• CONTRIBUTORS
• ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
• INTRODUCTION: LAND CLAIMS AND COLLECTIVE IDENTITIES IN ANCIENT AND MODERN CONTEXTS Antonis Kourkoulakos and Vasileios Balaskas
• PART I NEW GROUNDS: LAND AND THE MAKING OF SELFHOOD
• CHAPTER 1 ‘YOU ASK ME FOR ARCADIA? YOU ASK TOO MUCH’: THE SPARTANS AND THE BEAUTIFUL PLAIN OF TEGEA Giovanni Ingarao
• CHAPTER 2 EXILED POET TO LONELY KING? ‘CLAIMING’ THE LAND IN OV. PONT. 2.9 Laura Loporcaro
• CHAPTER 3 THE SANCTUARIES OF ATHENA AREIA AND DEMETER ELEUSINIA: THE PLATAEANS AND THE MEMORY OF THE PERSIAN WARS Alice Solazzo
• CHAPTER 4 CREATING HISTORIES IN PAST AND PRESENT: THE CASE OF ANCIENT IONIA Rik Vaessen
• PART II CONTESTED GROUNDS: APPROPRIATION AND THE STRUGGLE FOR LAND
• CHAPTER 5 COASTAL SANCTUARIES AND LBA EASTERN MEDITERRANEAN NETWORKS: A SEAFARER’S PERSPECTIVE Andreas Ladas and Dimitris Papageorgiou
• CHAPTER 6 BRIDGES AS SYMBOLS OF DOMINATION OVER NATURE IN ROMAN TIMES Anna Klara Falke
• CHAPTER 7 HOW TO CLAIM A LAND: USE, ABUSE AND CONTRAST OF CLASSICAL MODELS IN EARLY MODERN SPANISH HISTORIOGRAPHY Pamina Fernández Camacho
• CHAPTER 8 CROSS-TEMPORAL LAND CLAIMS AND THE PHYSICAL CONCEPT OF HISTORY: THE CASE OF ANCIENT ROME AND CONTEMPORARY ZIMBABWE Obert Bernard Mlambo
• PART III LAND AS AN INSTITUTION: POLITICS AND COLLECTIVE MEMORY
• CHAPTER 9 COLLECTIVE MEMORY AND ETHNIC IDENTITY FORMATION IN THE AMUQ VALLEY DURING EIA: A THEORY OF PRACTICE APPROACH Dimitris Papageorgiou
• CHAPTER 10 PLOUGHING FOR A NEW JERUSALEM: CLAIMING AND ABANDONING LANDS IN MONTANIST PHRYGIA Romeo Gessaga
• CHAPTER 11 A CLAIM TO THE LAND? RURAL SLAVES AND THE(IR) LAND IN ANCIENT GREECE Marios Anastasiadis and Jason Porter
• CHAPTER 12 CLAIMING THE HELLENICITY OF ASIA MINOR (1919–22): ARCHAEOLOGICAL ACTIVITIES IN THE CONTEXT OF MEGALI IDEA Vasileios Balaskas and Antonis Kourkoulakos
• INDEX