Research on International Relationships between Elites in the Eastern Mediterranean World

本研究旨在调查国际友谊的意义，特别是公元前5世纪至公元前3世纪在地中海东部世界的xenia和proxenia。我曾指出，首先，在民主的雅典，个人的国际友谊是有价值的，而且是世袭的，是一种政治资本，在希腊世界的其他地方也是如此。其次，虽然与外国国家和领导人的个人关系在理论上是世袭的，但在实践中，这些关系并不局限于有限数量的老牌政治家族，而是向新来者开放。民主制度下的雅典在这方面也有高度的社会流动性。

This research aims to investigate the significance of international friendships, especially xenia and proxenia, in the eastern Mediterranean World from the 5th to 3rd century BC. I have pointed out, first of all, that personal international friendships were valuable and hereditary as a form of political capital within democratic Athens, as elsewhere in the Greek world and beyond. Secondly, while personal connections with foreign states and leaders were theoretically hereditary, they were in practice not exclusive to a limited number of established political families but open to newcomers. Athens under democracy had a high degree of social mobility also in this sphere.