Die auswärtigen Beziehungen pontischer Staaten auf Grundlage der Proxenieurkunden

The author began the systematic investigation of the proxy decrees from the Pontic-Greek communities in 2007 as a Humboldt fellow at the University of Trier. The investigations that have continued since then have led to a monographic compilation of 174 proxies with detailed comments and comprehensive evaluations (Cojocaru 2016a). Among the many aspects to be taken into account here, in the modest framework of this contribution one tries to summarize only three questions that can contribute to a better understanding of the external relations of the Greek cities in antiquity. What is meant are the geographical distribution according to ethnika of the proxenoi in the Black Sea region, the people from the Black Sea region as proxenoi in other regions of the oikoumene, and the recipients of the proxenoi as mediators of external contacts in Pontic cities.