River Nestos, beside which was thepolisof Pistyros (7.109.2). The
Thasians had organized their communities on the mainland to provide
billets for the Persian soldiers—a management feat in its own right. The
people of Akanthos tried hard to respond positively to the political and
economic demands, but many of them faced ruin. Antipater, son of
Orgeus, claimed that the cost of providing the Persian king Xerxes and
his troops with a meal cost 400T.^94 Herodotus cites the name of a
reputable local man to indicate that thisfigure is not a sum plucked
from the air. He does not tell us that money was raised, but rather that all
the communities of the region were obliged to provide the wherewithal
for the meal, and someone calculated the value in terms of the above
globalfigure. Many local towns had to organize collections of grain and
spent months milling barley and wheatflour, fattening cattle, poultry,
and water fowls, as well as making suitable tableware in precious metals
(7.118–119.2). The dinner for Xerxes is used to represent the kinds of
demands that local people were expected to accede to. They went on
paying the price of occupation for several years, until all the command
centres along the road had been superseded by new, Greek-sponsored
garrisons, who would require their upkeep from local inhabitants too. At
the same time, the great works created by the Persians were a feat and a
wonder. Even the workmen constructing the Athos canal had their own
market (agore) and meeting place (preterion), to which grain, ready-
ground, was directed from sources in Asia (7.23.4). All the inhabitants of
the region, irrespective of language and cultural affinities, were equally
affected. They were all made to provide supplies, to serve in the enemy
fleet or the army. The experience of occupation by the Persian forces was
something that united the inhabitants of the north Aegean area and the
east Balkan region as no other factor could. It remained a model and an
example of many different things that continued to shape regional
practices for many years to come. The coast road, which was maintained
by the local Thracians, was admired and honoured (Hdt. 7.115.3), terms
that encapsulate the mixed emotions triggered by the phenomenon of
Persian occupation.
The history of the twentieth century shows that wars create immense
personal trauma. Yet wars are also a source of dramatic technological
advances, as well as being the means by which territories come to be
radically redrawn. The narrative of economies in the northern Aegean
needs to accommodate the consequences of these different experiences of
(^94) Balcer 1972; contributors to Carradice 1987, and Picard 2000, 247–52 on the local
coinages of Chalkidike and the lower Strymon valley.
124 Societies and economies