Forests of Empire: Timber Production and the Athenian Conquest of Eion

Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies is a part of SFU: The Canadian university that is Engaging the World

SFU Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies

Join us on Friday, February 13h at 2:30pm for a talk by our Hellenisms Past &amp; Present, Local &amp; Global, Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. John Daukas!

Room 7200, WAC Bennett Library

The Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies at Simon Fraser University is pleased to present the 2025/26 Hellenisms Past &amp; Present, Local &amp; Global, Postdoctoral Fellow, <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies/humans/people/j-daukas.html" title="https://www.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies/humans/people/j-daukas.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Dr.John Daukas</a>! Join us February 13th at 2:30pm in person at the Bennett Library, SFU Burnaby, Room 7200, or online (<a href="https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87960016612" title="https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87960016612" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">https://us06web.zoom.us/j/87960016612</a>), for his talk “ Forests of Empire: Timber Production and the Athenian Conquest of Eion”. This talk will be moderated by <a href="https://www.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies/humans/people/s-higgins.html" title="https://www.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies/humans/people/s-higgins.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Dr. Sabrina Higgins</a>, Director of the SNF Centre at SFU. Attendance is free. The event is open to the public and will be recorded. This programming is made possible thanks to the generous support of the <a href="https://trk2.cp20.com/click/ds9u-302b6z-1dwx3x-cocw1z87/" title="https://trk2.cp20.com/click/ds9u-302b6z-1dwx3x-cocw1z87/" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">Stavros Niarchos Foundation</a> (SNF).

ABSTRACTJust a few years after the Battle of Salamis in 480 BCE, Athenians attacked and seized Eion. A small Greek city-state in the Northern Aegean, its connections to Persia were peripheral, and its conquest has sparked scholarly debate as a result. This talk offers one perspective on Eion's conquest, contextualizing it in the Mediterranean timber trade by elucidating its perceived role in Athens' political economy. Seizing and colonizing Eion gave Athenians access to timber resources which allowed them to cheaply satisfy critical military and domestic needs, paving the way for Athens' rise as an imperial power. I will first discuss the importance of timber suitable for building and maintaining Athens' state-of-the-art navy, a topic long noted by scholars. I will then contribute to scholarship by discussing timber's role in construction more broadly as well as timber's role as a source of energy at Athens. Finally, I will touch on the important role that specialized labor played in Eion's capture. By connecting these aspects together, I hope to better contextualize Eion's seizure in what I am calling the "Arboreal Economy.

BIOGRAPHY<a href="https://www.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies/humans/people/j-daukas.html" title="https://www.sfu.ca/hellenic-studies/humans/people/j-daukas.html" target="_blank" data-msys-clicktrack="0" rel="nofollow noopener noreferrer">John Daukas</a> is an ancient historian whose work broadly centers on imperialism, the ancient economy, and questions of identity in the ancient Mediterranean. His current research focuses on ancient Greek imperialism through the lenses of the ancient economy, especially trade, wealth distribution, and access to resources, and the construction and maintenance of ethnic, political, and interstate communities. His book project, Plotting Empire: The Klerouchy and the Development of Imperialism in the Greek World, traces the development of the klerouchy, an Athenian colonial institution by which the state parceled out plots of new territory to its citizens, and the klerouchy’s role in the development of the notion of imperialism in the Greek world from the Archaic period (early 6th century BCE) into the Hellenistic period (ca. 3rd century BCE). Building on his interests in Numismatics, the study of money and currency, his second project will examine the long history of the war indemnity, or the act of imposing war-related debt on defeated states, in the development of imperialism and its place within the larger histories of finance, debt, and diplomatic relations between Mediterranean states.

Our {communityGuidelinesLink} describe the sort of content we prohibit on Eventbrite. If you suspect an event may be in violation, you can report it to us so we can investigate.

To report other categories of prohibited or illegal content, submit {link}

Forests of Empire: Timber Production and the Athenian Conquest of Eion

More events from SFU Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies

Discover more events from SFU Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies, from Community to other experiences you might love.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Burnaby and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.

Forests of Empire: Timber Production and the Athenian Conquest of Eion

More events from SFU Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies

Discover more events from SFU Stavros Niarchos Foundation Centre for Hellenic Studies, from Community to other experiences you might love.

More Community events

Browse more Community events with different dates, prices, and formats to find your next great experience.

Still looking for the right event?

Explore all events in Burnaby and filter by date, category, and more to find the perfect fit.