The Controversy between Megalopolis and Messene in a New Inscription from Messene

Abstract

P. Themelis published in 2008 a decree of the polis of Messene that narrates a territorial controversy between Messene and Megalopolis from the years immediately after the war between Messene and the Achaian League and the death of Philopoimen. The land under dispute included four areas that tend to be mentioned in pairs, one of which was the territory of Andania. The present contribution offers a revised text with translation of the decree and discusses its historical background and the course of the dispute, which involved multiple arbitrations. The text sheds new light on the role of the organs of the League, especially the damiorgoi, in the resolution of disputes among member states, and on the common laws of the Achaian League.