Phoenician Trade Associations

Abstract

AbstractThrough an examination of a series of inscriptions and material remains, this chapter reveals that Phoenician immigrants in fourth-century bce Athens and second-century bce Delos established trade associations as an adaptive strategy. Such professional associations were structured around their members’ state of origin and developed as quasi-state, semiautonomous associations. By organizing into collectives, groups of immigrants were able to pool their resources and lobby their host states for awards or petition them for special grants. Such grants bypassed restrictions normally placed on immigrants, such as the right to own land, allowing immigrants to establish sanctuaries dedicated to deities of their homeland and thereby to maintain the religious and cultural ties to their home state. Trade associations both influenced their host state’s policies and facilitated the integration of immigrants as essential members of their host societies, helping them maintain a sense of their civic identity and retain their cultural traditions. As the chapter shows, over time, these Phoenician innovations of the fourth century bce changed the fortunes of their members and transformed their host states, which incorporated these foreign associations in their political apparatus.