| Proxenia(????????)is unique in ancient Greek states.There was no counterpart institution in other civilizations.The early evidence shows that the institution proxenia is derived from the status proxenos,or at least comes after proxenos.Because in the earliest inscriptions,i.e.,epitaph,dedication and treaties,only“????????” and “????????” are found.Notably,in Minon,IED 12(5th century BC),there appears “???????????”,which probably indicates at least at that time,the concept of proxenos was already a well-known status.As there was only a very only gradually developing institution of state diplomacy in ancient Greece,inter-polis relationship was established and maintained via individuals.Proxenia served the inter-polis or inter-community relations from the late 6th or 5th BC to the 2nd century AD.Almost all the Greek states honored their proxenoi by means of publishing proxenia decrees,and over 3,000 proxenia honorific decrees survive.This study is based on the extant decrees from Athens,Delphi,Delos,and the Peloponnese.Chapter 1 deals with the proxenia decrees of Athens.The decrees issued by Athens are usually elaborate,with more or less certain dating and various elements.It is believed that all the Athenian proxenia decrees are probouleuma decrees,established through legal-political procedures,which also reflects the development of Athenian democracy.Athenians were careful when choosing a proxenos from a new family,for proxenos was not only an individual but a hereditary title that once granted,it would be inherited in his family even for many generations.The theme of proxenia was political and military motivation and function in the 5th century Athens,while in the 4th century BC,many honors were due to their economic contribution,especially the services in selling or shipping grains.The number of proxenoi who were honored for providing grains increased significantly,reflecting the need for grains in Athens at that time.Some of the proxenoi in Athens in the 3rd century BC were honored because they had protected the Athenians overseas,reflecting the chaos in Athens under the influence of Macedonians.In any case,practical issues and intentions were always the major concern of Athenians when granting proxenia.Chapter 2 deals with the proxenia decrees of Delphi.The amount of extant proxenia decrees issued by Delphi is the largest,accounting for a quarter of that by all the Greek states,while the proxenoi from Delphi were 12 only.Compared the 192 proxenoi of Athens and 236 from Athens,the proxenia in Delphi was not the expression of the friendship between poleis.Most of the Delphic decrees are so short that they are often defined as “abbreviated decrees”.Usually a series of other honors were also granted to the proxenoi of Delphi,namely euergesia,thearodokia,promanteia,proedria,prodikia,etc.Before the 1st century AD,proxenia was always in the first place prior to any other honors.In later decrees,it often came after promanteia,even after proedria.It shows that in Delphi,proxenia was one of the honors more than a status.The ceremonial function in Delphi was notable,and the motivation was to award good behaviors.At least some of the proxenoi of Delphi were honored because of their performance in the competitions and festivals held by Delphi.Delphi often granted an honorand after he provided services for the temple or the polis,without any future expectation from him.Also,Delphi granted proxenia to at least 8 women.As women had no political right in ancient Greece,probably they were not expected to serve Delphi in future.Chapter 3 deals with the proxenia decrees from Delos.In the small island of Delos,there are more than 500 proxenia decrees that survive.One feature in the formula of the decrees issued by Delos is that “decided him to be the proxenos of the sanctuary and the Delians”,which indicates its close connection with sacred business.Another feature is that Delians often issued another decree later to crown their proxenoi if they were believed to be qualified.Of the extant decrees,we can find at least 9 pairs of such “double awards”.It is noteworthy that the prominent honor granted to proxenoi was prosodos,the access to the council and assembly.In the whole Greek world,by the 3rd century BC,the ceremonial function of proxenia had become prominent,and the island of Delos was no exception.Through the rituals of granting proxenia,the Delians maintained their relationship with Athens,the Aegean islands and the Hellenistic royal courts.In a rather long historical period,Delos was under the control of Athens,but there are only three honorific decrees granting Athenians as proxenoi.It may indicate that Athenians treated Delos as an Athenian sanctuary,thus no foundation of proxenia existed: relating to foreigners only.Many Delian decrees were indeed issued by the will of Athens.Chapter 4 deals with the proxenia decrees of Peloponnese.Most of our earliest evidence comes are from Olympia on the Peloponnese.It may be due to the fact that sometimes the honorands dedicated to the gods after being honored.While Epidauros usually published the decrees in the form of lists of abbreviated decrees that contain a large number of proxenoi.The Peloponnesian communities established friendly network mainly by means of religious festivals and alliances or leagues,and in both,proxenia was the medium.The appendix lists some of the proxenia decrees of Athens,Delphi and Delos.The selected Athenian decrees focus on the comparison of different formula in different periods,and the decrees to those proxenoi honored for conveying grains.Those of Delphi show the formula of abbreviated decrees and the awards to female honorands.In Delian decrees,those the same person was honored twice(granted to become proxenos first,then honored a crown)are displayed. |
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