荷马时代巴赛列斯的经济活动

Economic Activities of the Homeric Basileus

早期希腊王权的软弱性首先表现在经济上。虽然荷马竭力使人们相信巴赛列斯是富甲一方的人物 ,但对史诗深入的分析表明 ,他们实际的经济地位并不高 ,因为他们没有固定的赋税来源 ,所有的收入 ,或来自礼物 ,或来自战利品 ,但两者都不可靠。由于工商业的水平十分低下 ,巴赛列斯不可能从那里得到很多收入。所以 ,巴赛列斯的主要财富是他们的土地。可是 ,大地产只是诗人的想象 ,实际地产并不大 ,只能维持基本生活和开支 ,无力供养随从或者收买公社成员 ,以加强自己的政治地位。在贵族的攻击面前 ,王权显得软弱无力 ,先后衰落。

The weakness of the early Greek kingship was clearly shown first and foremost in the economic field, for they had no regular tax. Their income comes from the gifts or spoils of war, but neither was reliable. As the commerce and handcrafts were still primitive, they could not get much there. Therefore, what they relied on was their temenos. The epics tried to make us believe that the temenos was in a large scale, but it is an illusion. The temenos was about the size of a medium\|sized land. The result was that the basileus could only live hand to mouth and had no surplus to maintain his retinues or to buy the support of the community members so that he had no chance to strengthen his position in the community. Under the attack of the aristocrats, the kingship had little power to resist and declined gradually in the Archaic Period.