contributing 40 cavalrymen and 80 infantrymen. This may well be a
scheme introduced in the period after the Persian Wars, rather than at
some time in the sixth centurybc, as the fragments imply, but there are
nevertheless sound reasons for thinking that a collective response mech-
anism, which allowed for a call-up of armed cavalrymen and infantry
troops on a mutually agreed recruitment principle within the four
tetrads, was operating in the sixth centurybc.^8 At this time, certain
leading families in the region, particularly the Aleuadai of Larissa, who
are singled out by Herodotus and later authors as among the most
proactive social groups, seem to have formed a focus for collective
organization. Aleuas‘the Red’is the man named by Aristotle as having
initiated the military‘reforms’that introduced the system that continued
into his day (F498 Rose).^9 It seems most likely that the widespread
consolidation of hoplite-type infantry warfare in Greece during the
sixth centurybccontributed to the form of collective action agreed
upon in Thessaly. This may have started as a provisional scheme for
mutual defence purposes, but it turned out to have other benefits in
terms of social organization. Each of the Thessalian cities remained
independent, having its own magistrates and decision-making bodies.
What makes the region unusual is the mechanism for concerted action,
which was embodied in the responsibilities of thetagos, the officer who
acted as military coordinator. The fact that this post did not accumulate
the kinds of sacred and secular duties of a monarch highlights one of the
important ways in which Thessaly differed from Macedonia and Thrace.
There were evidently years when the post was notfilled (Syll.^3 55). This
suggests that the communities contributing to collective initiatives were
not keen on centralizing tendencies of any kind in civil matters. On the
other hand, the combination of powerful landed families, with resources
in horsepower as well asfixed property, and nucleated centres with their
own self-governing apparatus, provides a useful comparative model with
Thrace and Macedon.
(^8) McInerney 1999, 155–85, 173–8; Stamatopoulou 2007, 315–19 with a synthesis of
recent evidence and extensive bibliography.
(^9) Arist. F497–498 (Rose) [Constitution of the Thessalians]; Helly 1995, 95–6, 175– 99
(with arguments in favour of the early emergence of the scheme described by Aristotle);
Sprawski 2009, 117–51 for arguments against an early date, including close study of
artefacts illustrating weapons andfighting tactics; for further discussion of Thessaly and
comparative material evidence, see also: Archibald 2000, 216–17, 226–31; Morgan 2003,
16 – 24, 79–105, 124–42; Stamatopoulou 2007, 313–37; Decourt et al. 2004, esp. 676–7, 691–
- The modern area calculations discussed above are drawn from http://www.Wolfra-
mAlpha.com.
Herdsmen with golden leaves—narratives and spaces 43