Multilingualism and the Linguistic Representation of Identity in the Historical Contexts of Achaemenid Hellespontine Phrygia

The Achaemenid conquest of Sardis by Cyrus the Great in 546 BCE marked the annexation of Asia Minor to the Persian ecumene and with it the Greek cities of the Anatolian coast. It created forms of integration and interaction among the people, or rather, the local elites, which varied according to the settlement areas of the different ethnic and political groups with their respective historical, cultural and linguistic traditions. This paper focuses on the linguistic interaction and multilingual representations of identity of the ‘epigraphic community’ (Leiwo 2002) in Achaemenid Hellespontine Phrygia, which, given its geographical position, played a crucial role as a cultural and political frontier of the empire. It was also a key point of contact with the Greek world.