Ὅρος τῆς βασιλικῆς χώρας

Abstract

The discovery of a well-preserved boundary stone of royal land in a field near (ancient and modern) Europos, dating from the Hellenistic period, raises again the much-discussed question of royal land in Macedonia and, more generally, in the Hellenistic kingdoms. The authors of the present paper seize the opportunity of this unique discovery in order to review the use of boundary stones (ὅροι) in Macedonia and to discuss the meaning of 'royal' (βασιλικός) as opposed to 'civic' or 'sacred', and of the term 'land' (χώρα), which can apply to royal possessions as well as to land belonging to the Macedonian ethnos (normally subdivided in civic units). In fact, boundary stones of royal land are destined to preserve public property not for the sake of a king as an individual, but of the common weal which he represents.