La ricostruzione ellenistica delle Lunghe Mura ad Atene. Fra esigenze difensive e mito imperiale

In 307 BCE the Athenians, with the help of Antigonus and Demetrius Poliorcetes, drove out the Macedonian garrison, which had controlled the polis for the last ten years and had imposed an oligarchic government. One of the first acts of the new democratic regime was the partial reconstruction of the city walls and the Long Walls, which connected Athens to Piraeus. The primary objective of this work was to defend the city against Cassander’s Macedonians. As well as being rebuilt, the defensive apparatus was modernised to deal with the innovations in siege techniques of the period. The Long Walls, moreover, constituted the pivot of a strategy that aimed at the recovery of Athenian influence in Greece, which the support and alliance with Antigonus and Demetrius gave hope for. Finally, the decree establishing the reconstruction of the walls is characterised by a democratic ideology and language, which shows the strong revival of the forms and symbolism of classical democracy in Athens at that time.