This chapter looks at the distribution of epichoric alphabets across the whole Aegean Basin, to the different styles of letter shapes used for writing the Greek language according to city of origin. The whole distribution is considered, and in comparing this to models used in previous generations the case is made that the situation is so complex that it cannot so easily be sketched out on a simple map. In focusing on case studies from sanctuaries and harbours, the long-held view is confirmed that these were places of hyper-connectivity, with communities and individuals competing for status – but that network analysis marks these patterns even more acutely. A wider point about data modelling is also made in this chapter. Depending on how representative one considers the data to be, very different patterns can be drawn (and very different conclusions can be reached).

The last chapter takes an in-depth look at body politics and sexuality and aims to do two things: first, to unpack the often sidelined aspect of the fighters’ desexualisation. How is this part of the subjectivity produced, believed, maintained and policed? What are the tensions that emerge from creating a desexualised guerrilla army that comes down from the mountains to liberate society? Second, this chapter discusses what I call ‘party bargains’. I argue that women break out of their particular societal constellations by joining the party and enter a new bargain, this time with the party. It discusses three sites of party bargains: the fighter, the civil activist or politician, and the mother, whereas the three categories are overlapping. I demonstrate that in each case these party bargains hold great emancipatory power and that chosen abstinence (for the guerrillas) can be seen as one of the main tools of female resistance that strengthens the female ranks. However, this process goes hand in hand with a strict process of discipline and coercion, and I ask whether the sex ban is in fact at the heart of the new gender norms and relations in the making and key to the party’s ability to control its revolutionaries.

How can we tell that people are adding value? How do they add value to themselves? How do they help others? How do they achieve greatness in domains as varied as chess, music, sport, politics, business, physics, and literature? Excelling at friendship or parenting is part of interpersonal wellness. You want to be the best partner, friend, or parent that you can be. Shining in athletics is part of physical, occupational, and even psychological well-being. Leading social change is part of community wellness; your calling is to improve the social condition. Regardless of your particular focus, there are six investments you have to make. People who get better at anything invest in six things. We call them the six Ts: Transcendence: Going beyond the norm to pursue a passion and a purpose; Time: Dedicating thousands of hours; Thought: Concentrating and creating mental representations of the subject matter; Training: Practicing to reach stretch goals and acquire skills with a coach; Tenacity: Persevering and following through; and Trust: Believing in yourself, your mentors, and the process.

The Conclusion and Epilogue gesture toward the listed dynamics of counting and materialization in later texts through the brief examples of the Parian Marble and Lindian Chronicle. These monumental inscribed text-objects can be understood as literal transformations of cultural value into list form, extreme inventories untethered from their contents.

Chapter 4 treats the genre of the epigraphic inventory within the context of earlier Greek literature. It argues through detailed re-examination of these enigmatic texts that they are calculated in their layout and design to “display” and “replace” the dedications in their store for the viewers of the text. Moreover, whether or not they serve as ongoing useful records for the officials involved, they allow both the polis administration and the public to grapple with multiple forms of deterioration and loss.