Page:Travels & discoveries in the Levant (1865) Vol. 1.djvu/363

Rh of these originally belonged to the Temple of Apollo. After spending much time in deciphering these inscriptions, I find that there were in all sixty-four decrees made by the senate and people of Calymnos.

Of these decrees, nineteen grant the politela, or citizenship, to foreigners, for services rendered to the people of Calymnos; eleven grant the proxenia to foreigners for similar reasons; thirteen relate either to politeia or poxenia, but from their mutilated condition then import cannot be precisely ascertained; two relate to judicial proceedings; two confer crowns; two bestow honours on physicians; two honours for services in war; and one an honorary grant of land. Eleven are mere fragments, of which the subjects cannot be ascertained.

All these inscriptions probably belong to the period between B.C. 350 and B.C. 250. In one of them occurs the mention of a king Antigonos, who is most probably Antigonos, the father of Demetrios Poliorketes.

It is interesting to observe, that in this list the grants of politeia, or full citizenship, are far more numerous than those of proxenia. The right of full citizenship was bestowed very liberally by the Asiatic cities; and it is probable that the small and rocky island of Calymnos was very glad to increase its population through such means. Judging from inscriptions, it would seem that such grants of politeia were very rarely made by the cities of Greece Proper, though the more restricted rights of proxenia were very generally given. Among