Recent Arthur Eckstein s books

[eugene]

What do the participants of the forum think about recent Arthur Eckstein s books «Mediterranean Anarchy» and
«Rome eneters the Greek East»? Were the interstate relations in Greece before Roman invasion so chaotic
and anarchic?

[Archelaos]

I had not read the books yet, but having checked first one, I'm inclined to say that it is a problem with the definition of "anarchy", as the author's description fit as well early XXth century Europe as it does Ancient Greece. In the light of this definition, anarchy is avoided only if there is one authority (ruler, organisation like EU) that control the members, or at least there is "policeman" (like US or UN) that is strong enough to to force others to avoid war.
In this perspective, yes, Rome stabilised things. With Rome ruling everybody no chaos and anarchy was possible. At least as long as Rome was strong enough.