Comp. by: Jaganathan Stage : Revises2 ChapterID: 0003457284 Date:2/7/18 Time:15:07:31 Filepath:D:/BgPr/OUP_CAP/IN/Process1/0003457284.3d Dictionary : OUP_UKdictionary 147 5 Letters and Decrees Diplomatic Protocols in the Hellenistic Period Paola Ceccarelli 1. INTRODUCTION The medium may not (always) be the message (pace McLuhan)—but it certainly is a significant part of it; and the choice of medium (which by definition implies a preference for one over potential others) constitutes a significant factor in communication. In the context of the present volume, my principal heuristic interest is in the (royal) letter as a format of interstate communication in the Hellenistic age and its ideological connotations—in comparison and contrast to other genres employed for diplomatic ends (in particular the city-decree) and both from the point of view of the sender and that of the receiving community. Both letters and decrees can be used in the context of official communications between two ‘authorities’ (poleis, kings, ethne, sanctuaries, or associations). They both can contain performative utter- ances: cities, kings, and other political entities grant privileges, take decisions, or utter directives, the illocutionary force of which depends on their power to give orders, while its satisfactory completion rests on their acceptance by the receiving community.¹ Moreover, both royal letters and city-decrees function as instruments of self-presentation: through specific linguistic choices, kings or cities project an image of their own choosing. That we are able to study these diverse ‘languages of power’ is due to the fact that many cities decided to generate an epigraphic record. It is important to ¹ For a recent study of directives in ancient Greek, see Denizot (2011). She points out that directives in epigraphical texts raise specific problems which are not found in literary texts; for instance, in inscriptions directives are mostly in the third person, while in literary texts they appear mostly in the second person (48); she bases her study on a literary corpus, to which she adds the Gortyn law and the Athenian decrees passed between 400 and 350 BCE. Ma (2000) offers a splendid analysis, based on speech-act theory, of the letters concerning the Maccabees. OUP UNCORRECTED PROOF – REVISES, 2/7/2018, SPi