ABSTRACT

Anyone who has read Homer’s Iliad will have noticed the hierarchical character of Greek society in the Bronze Age. The heroes of the story are kings, the foot soldiers are largely ignored, and the common Hellenes and Trojans can only hope for the benevolence of the gods. The society of the day was largely constructed in this manner because bronze was a precious resource. Kings and chieftains alone could afford proper equipment for war, meaning that they had a solid grip on the monopoly on violence. The advent of iron technology turned this society upsidedown. Iron was cheaper to produce than bronze, and, with these new weapons in hand, tradesmen, peasants, and shepherds alike could suddenly join the fray. The monopoly on violence previously enjoyed by the elite was simply broken, and the democratic city-states, poleis, replaced the kingdoms, at least in many parts of ancient Hellas (cf. Hintze 1975[1906], 183-184; McNeill 1982, 5-20; see also Finer 1996, 281-282, 453).