The structure of the Lycian confederation is known not only from epigraphic and numismatic documentation, but also from a well-known passage in Strabo (14.3.3), who praises its good governance and ability to maintain freedom as a result of upholding local traditions. Strabo claims that he derives his information about Lycia from Artemidorus of Ephesus, the famous geographer, whose floruit is dated to around 100 BC. The confederation comprised 23 Lycian cities entitled to vote in the federal synedrion regarding common affairs, a number that likely changed over time, as did the distribution of votes among koinon members. When Artemidorus wrote, the largest cities had 3 votes, the medium-sized ones 2, while the smallest cities had only one vote. The entire system was based on the principle of proportional representation, probably borrowed from the Achaean league, as votes were allocated according to the importance or demographics of the cities constituting the koinon.
At the local level, each polis in the confederation had a council and a popular assembly which dealt with matters of municipal interest and ordinary administration. At the federal level, the most important institution was the common synedrion (the koinon synedrion mentioned by Strabo), which critics identify with an elective assembly (archairesiake ekklesia) attested in the inscriptions (e.g. TAM II 583). This body was entrusted with deliberating matters of peace, war, alliances, the election of magistrates and the administration of common affairs. A lyciarchos, the foremost office in the koinon and the only one mentioned by Strabo, was elected among the delegates who were to serve in the federal synedrion; a number of military magistrates (strategoi, hipparchoi; navarchs); a treasurer and a secretary. Epigraphic documentation also mentions the existence of a council assisting the work of the synedrion (a mid-1st century BC inscription from Pinara mentions bouletai and archostatai, TAM II 508, ll. 22-23), although this is more likely an innovation of the Augustan period. The principle of proportional representation applied to all federal institutions: besides the synedrion, it governed, for instance, the federal court, which addressed disputes of individual cities with the synedrion or its organs, or disputes between cities within the confederation.
The synedrion did not have a fixed meeting place, it convened in the city that was deemed most appropriate at different times. This variation of the seat of the synedrion seems to have been motivated by the aim of preventing the city selected as the permanent seat of the confederation’s meetings from eventually becoming the most important centre, even politically, thereby hegemonising the league, as had been the case with Thebes in Boeotia.
εἰσὶ δὲ τρεῖς καὶ εἴκοσι πόλεις αἱ τῆς ψήφου μετέχουσαι· συνέρχονται δὲ ἐξ ἑκάστης πόλεως εἰς κοινὸν συνέδριον, ἣν ἂν δοκιμάσωσι πόλιν ἑλόμενοι· τῶν δὲ πόλεων αἱ μέγισται μὲν τριῶν ψήφων ἐστὶν ἑκάστη κυρία, αἱ δὲ μέσαι δυεῖν, αἱ δ᾽ ἄλλαι μιᾶς· ἀνὰ λόγον δὲ καὶ τὰς εἰσφορὰς εἰσφέρουσι καὶ τὰς ἄλλας λειτουργίας. ἓξ δὲ τὰς μεγίστας ἔφη ὁ Ἀρτεμίδωρος, Ξάνθον Πάταρα Πίναρα Ὄλυμπον Μύρα Τλῶν κατὰ τὴν ὑπέρθεσιν τὴν εἰς Κιβύραν κειμένην. ἐν δὲ τῷ συνεδρίῳ πρῶτον μὲν Λυκιάρχης αἱρεῖται, εἶτ᾽ ἄλλαι ἀρχαὶ αἱ τοῦ συστήματος· δικαστήριά τε ἀποδείκνυται κοινῇ· καὶ περὶ πολέμου δὲ καὶ εἰρήνης καὶ συμμαχίας ἐβουλεύοντο πρότερον, νῦν δ᾽ οὐκ εἰκός, ἀλλ᾽ ἐπὶ τοῖς Ῥωμαίοις ταῦτ᾽ ἀνάγκη κεῖσθαι, πλὴν εἰ ἐκείνων ἐπιτρεψάντων, ἢ ὑπὲρ αὐτῶν εἴη χρήσιμον· ὁμοίως δὲ καὶ δικασταὶ καὶ ἄρχοντες ἀνὰ λόγον ταῖς ψήφοις ἐξ ἑκάστης προχειρίζονται πόλεως. οὕτω δ᾽ εὐνομουμένοις αὐτοῖς συνέβη παρὰ Ῥωμαίοις ἐλευθέροις διατελέσαι τὰ πάτρια νέμουσι.
There are 23 cities that share in the vote. They come together from each city those cities that were declared eligible to a common council. The largest cities control three votes each, the middle sized two, and the others one. In the same manner they make their contributions and other services. Artemidoros says that the six largest were Xanthos, Patara, Pinara, Olympos, Myra, and Tlos (located near the pass to Kibyra). At the council they first choose a Lykiarch and then other officers of the federation, and the common courts of justice are proclaimed. Formerly they deliberated about war, peace, and alliances, but today this is not reasonable since by necessity such matters are handled by the Romans, except when they are given permission or it is useful for them. Similarly, the judges and magistrates are proportionately chosen by vote from each city. Since they were under such a good government they remained free under the Romans, retaining their ancestral customs (translated by D.W. Roller).
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- R. Behrwald, The Lykian League, in H. Beck, P. Funke (eds.), Federalism in Greek Antiquity, Cambridge 2015, 403-418
- S. Jameson, The Lycian League: Some Problems in its Administration, in H. Temporini (ed.), Aufstieg und Niedergang der römischen Welt (ANRW) / Rise and Decline of the Roman World, Band 7/2. Halbband Politische Geschichte (Provinzen und Randvölker: griechischer Balkanraum; Kleinasien [Forts.]), Berlin 1979, 832-856
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