that enabled these kinds of transactions are still emerging from current
research.
Royal monopoliesWhat was certainly new about the organization of commodity exchange
under the monarchies was the introduction of a system of royal monop-
olies, reflecting a hierarchy of power, albeit one that had constantly to be
reaffirmed. The royal monopolies over timber suitable for shipbuilding,^33
and over gold and silver mines, at Dysoron in Macedonia from the early
to midfifth centurybconwards^34 and at Krenides-Philippoi from the
middle of the fourth century,^35 are simply the best known examples.
Viewed alongside these royal prerogatives, the mining rights of the
historian Thucydides, evidently located on the mainland opposite Tha-
sos, begin to look much more socially distinctive than historians of Athens
have generally allowed. These were not just perquisites of power.^36 The
peculiar social significance of leaders in the societies of the northern
Aegean at the time of the ancestral marriage between the Philaid
Miltiades the Younger and Hegesipyle, the daughter of a Thracian
landowner called Oloros (after whom Thucydides’ own father was
named) elevated to a new status the Philaidai, who had ruled the
Chersonese since the Elder Miltiades had established an enclave of
power among the Dolonkoi of the Chersonese in the 540sbc. The
historian tells us that he had inherited mining rights in gold mines
(4.105.1), which meant, according to his own account, that he had
considerable influence among people of standing there. For local soci-
eties, the value of gold lay in its timeless symbolic qualities. The leaders of
(^33) RO12; Hatzopoulos 1996, II, no.1 (alliance between Amyntas III and thekoinonof
the Chalkidians, early fourth centurybc); Borza 1987, 32–52; Millett 2010, 472–3.
(^34) Hdt. 5.17 (Alexander I of Macedon received one silver talent every day from the
Dysoron mines); located in the Philippoi Plain: Faraguna 1998, 375–8 (identifying Dysoron
with Mount Menoikion, on the basis ofSEG34. 664B, in line with the topographical
interpretation of L. Missitzis; Hatzopoulos 2008a, 14–35, for full bibliography and detailed
discussion of the topography of the lower Strymon; Kremydi 2011, 160–1; see also Ch. 6 for
other interpretations of this evidence.
(^35) Krenides (and Daton)—Isokr. 8.24; Theop.FGrH115 F43; Ps.-Skyl. 67; Str. 7. 331 frs
34, 41, 43—attracted the attention of Philip II of Macedon, who seized Krenides, which was
subsequently renamed Philippoi, and became the most significant centre associated with
the mining area (Str. 7.331 fr. 34). He famously drew 1,000 talents (presumablyper annum)
from these mines (Diod. 16.8.6).
(^36) Thucydides’mining rights: 4.105.1; Plut.Cim. 4.1;Mor. 205c; Markell.Vita Thuk. 14,
40; Miltiades the Younger and Hegesipyle: Hdt. 6.39.2;PAA653820; Miltiades the Elder:
PAA653685; Archibald 1998, 113–14, 117; see also Ch. 6.
208 Regionalism and regional economies