I.—POLITICAL INSCRIPTIONS AND SLAVERY.
(Table-Case K.)
A section of Table-Case K contains a series of inscriptions which illustrate various sides of Greek and Roman political life.
It must be borne in mind that the Greek state was generally of very small dimensions. As a rule all life was centred within a city, which had but a moderate extent of outlying country. Aristotle describes the perfect city or state (the words are interchangeable) as the union of several villages, supplying all that is necessary for independent life.[1] Greece, though small in area, was thus divided up into a large number of states, whose interests were constantly in conflict. It thus came about that it was provided with systems of treaties, arbitrations, and consular representation such as marked a fully developed international system.
Treaties.—The bronze tablet No. 1 dates probably from the second half of the sixth century B.C., at a time when the Eleians and Heraeans of Arcadia were still dwelling in villages, and were not yet united each into a single city. It is written in the Aeolic dialect of Elis, and records a treaty between the two peoples named. There was to be a close alliance between them in respect of all matters of common interest, whether of peace or war. Any breach of the treaty, or any damage to the inscription recording the treaty, would involve a fine of a talent of silver to be paid by the offender to Olympian Zeus, the supreme Greek deity. The tablet was brought from Olympia by Sir William Gell in 1813.
No. 2 is a cast of a similar treaty between the communities of the Anaiti and Matapii, for a fifty years' friendship. In case of a breach of the treaty the priests at Olympia have arbitrators' powers.
Fig. 1.—Treaty of Chaleion and Oeantheia. (No. 3.)
No. 3 (fig. 1) is a bronze tablet, with a ring at one end for suspension, recording a treaty made between the cities of Chaleion and Oeantheia on the Gulf of Corinth. It is in the Lokrian dialect, and can be dated to about 440 B.C. The main object of the treaty was to regulate the practice of reprisals between the citizens of the respective towns, and, in particular, to prevent injury to foreign merchants visiting either port. There are also provisions for ensuring a fair trial to aliens. The tablet was found at Oeantheia (Galaxidi), and was formerly in the Woodhouse collection.
Colonization.—This was a feature of peculiar importance in Greek life. In the course of the eighth and seventh centuries B.C. numerous colonists had left their homes on the mainland of Greece or on the coast of Asia Minor, and had settled principally in Southern Italy and Sicily, or round the shores of the Black Sea. The reasons for such emigration were sometimes political, but more often commercial. Between the mother-city and the colony relations of an intimate character were almost invariably maintained. Representatives from either city attended the more important festivals held in the other town, and the daughter-city not infrequently sought the advice of the mother-city in times of difficulty and danger. The inscription on the bronze tablet No. 4 illustrates the way in which colonists left one Greek state to settle in another comparatively near at hand, and also shows the relations existing between the colonists and the mother-state. At a date probably previous to 455 B.C. colonists from the Opuntian or Eastern Lokrians (inhabiting a district lying opposite to the island of Euboea) left their homes to settle in Naupaktos, a town situated on the narrowest part of the Gulf of Corinth, in the territory of the Western Lokrians. The question arose as to how far the colonists were to remain in connection with the mother-country. The tablet shows that the settlers had the privilege of enjoying full social and religious rights on revisiting their native city, although during their absence they were exempt from paying taxes to it. Under certain conditions they might resume their residence in the mother-state without fee, and they also had a right to inherit property left by a near relative in that state. Other provisions deal with judicial arrangements affecting the new settlers.
Proxenia.—Just as modern states appoint consuls in foreign countries in order that the interests of their citizens abroad may be protected, so the various Greek cities appointed their representatives in different foreign states. These representatives were chosen from the citizens of the town in which they acted, and their appointment was regarded as a special honour, carrying with it substantial privileges. The main functions of the proxeni were those of dispensing hospitality to travellers and assisting them in cases of difficulty, and of receiving ambassadors arriving from the state which they represented. They were also expected generally to further that state's commercial interests.