Autochthony in Ancient Greece 251The inscription identifies the autochthonous ancestors as, respectively, Tlos and his son
Sidymos. At Stratonikeia, autochthony would go back to the original Karian inhabitants,
and at Tlos and Sidyma to Lycians: in both cases, besides obvious demonstrations of
Hellenism, local mythology was used to claim autochthony. A similar claim was made
at Sardis, famously the capital of the Lydian kingdom until the mid-sixth century. On
a decree of Dionysiac technitai, probably of the time of Hadrian (Inschriften von Sardis
13), it was described as “autochthonous and very ancient.” The titulature used on its
own decrees then developed, apparently from the time of Septimius Severus, to the
point that it could describe itself as “autochthonous [or protochthonous] and sacred
to the gods, first of Hellas and metropolis of Asia and all Lydia, twice neokoros of the
Augusti according to the decrees of the sacred Senate, friend and ally of the Romans,
close to our Lord Emperor, thepolisof Sardis” (Inschriften von Sardis63: the read-
ing “autochthonous” is uncertain, but similar titulature is preserved in the fragments
Inschriften von Sardis64–70, and “autochthonous” is clearly legible on no. 66). This
remarkable self-description links Sardis to Lydia (where it had its autochthonous ori-
gin), Asia Minor, Hellas, and Rome. Heller (2006: 103) draws attention also to a speech
of Aelius Aristides, seeking to reconcile Ephesos, Smyrna, and Pergamon. The orator
(23.15 and 26) describes Pergamon as colonized by Arkadians under Telephos and also
descended from a line of autochthonous men and heroes, while Ephesos and Smyrna
were colonies of Athens. Heller sees here a desire to present Pergamon as compara-
ble to Athens in its autochthony, and suggests that this may partly explain claims of
autochthony by leading cities in Asia Minor. It is at any rate clear that the autochthony
of cities such as Sardis and Pergamon was part of an elaborate and complex cultural
self-definition.
Conclusion
We do not know when Greek belief in autochthony began, nor where. It need not
have been in Athens. Elements that were later incorporated in myths of autochthony,
such as earth-born ancestors, were certainly well known already in the archaic period,
but widespread interest in autochthony seems to have developed in the fifth century,
when the word itself appears in surviving literature. Interest took two forms: historical
or ethnographic enquiry, and claims by particular communities to be autochthonous.
The two forms will have fed off each other. Where autochthony was claimed, it was an
element of the community’s collective identity, and an individual was autochthonous
only as a member of an autochthonous community (save for primordial ancestors).
Audiences in the Athenian theatre saw autochthony examined in drama, which suggests
that belief in it was widespread among the population. That was no doubt true also
elsewhere—in Arkadia, for instance, where it was part of the political rhetoric of
Lykomedes in the 360s and figured prominently on the monument set up by the
Arkadian confederacy at Delphi. (The extent of popular belief in autochthony has not
received much attention in recent scholarship: on popular belief in ethnic genealogy
in general, see D’Ercole [2011] and Patterson [2010].) Where autochthony was
claimed, it was presented as a very positive value, though obviously non-autochthonous
states found other comparable values to suit their purposes. It was exclusive, marking