A politeia of the Iberians in Ephorus?

Abstract

The 4th century historian Ephorus of Cyme maintains many similarities with the Peripatetic school, both in his geographical and philosophical conceptions. Different fragments relate his descriptions of peoples with the so-called Nómina Barbariká of Aristotle´s School, in which, in parallel to the politeiai or “constitutions” of Greek poleis, they were described the customs of foreign peoples, generally with an idealizing and moralizing intention. Taken into account these considerations, this article analyzes certain testimonies that make us formulate the existence of a politeia for the Iberians in Ephorus.