A Greek historian investigates the importance of local identity in the Mediterranean world in a "rare, genuinely original book... Highly recommended" (Choice). Much as our modern world is interconnected through global networks, the ancient Greek city-states were a dynamic part of the wider Mediterranean landscape. In Localism and the Ancient Greek World, historian Hans Beck argues that local shifts in politics, religion and culture had a pervasive influence in a world of fast-paced change. Citizens in these communities were deeply concerned with maintaining local identity, commercial freedom, distinct religious cults, and much more. Beyond these cultural identifiers, there lay a deeper concept of the local that guided polis societies in their contact with a rapidly expanding world. Drawing on a staggering range of materials-including texts by both known and obscure writers, numismatics, pottery analysis, and archeological records-Beck develops fine-grained case studies that illustrate the significance of the local experience. Localism and the Ancient Greek City-State builds bridges across disciplines and ideas within the humanities. It highlights the importance of localism not only in the archaeology of the ancient Mediterranean, but also in today's conversations about globalism, networks, and migration.

Hans Beck is professor and chair of Greek history at the University of Münster, adjunct professor in the faculty of arts at McGill University in Montreal, and a fellow of the Royal Society of Canada. He is the author, editor, or coeditor of many books, including A Companion to Ancient Greek Government; with Peter Funke, Federalism in Greek Antiquity; and, with Kostas Buraselis and Alex McAuley, Ethnos and Koinon: Studies in Ancient Greek Ethnicity and Federalism.