The Study Day “Instruments of Power in the Hellenistic World” addresses the management of power and authority in the Graeco-Roman world. It focuses on the means used by Hellenistic political actors (cities, leagues, kings, commanders, etc.) to impose their will on other political units and/or to co-opt them to their agenda.

The papers engage with military affairs as well as diplomatic, legal, informational, economic, ideological and cultural initiatives that had the aim of exercising authority in order to impose the will of a political unit on others. By looking beyond the impression of power not just as an absolute entity, but as a relationship, the Study Day aims to foster scholarly debate on the dynamics of power among the political actors of the Graeco-Roman world.