ARISTOTLE AND FOREIGN TRADE 65
the other hand, just as it is necessary to do so, his analysis assesses very well the stakes
that foreign trade could represent in the struggle between major powers. To return to
Megara, Legon shows that the Megarians themselves made a living from their role as
intermediaries for the Peloponnese and from the export of their produce, in particu-
lar, to the Athenian market. Legon’s analysis encounters difficulties with the fact that,
according to Thucydides, the decree affected persons, while the Megarians lived off the
export of their products. But one should note on the one hand that we do not have the
text of the decree itself and on the other above all that, as we saw from an earlier discus-
sion, the clauses about persons had implications for their products.
68 Cf. Isocrates On the Peace 8.117 and Legon 1981 : 231–32 and 279–81.
69 Cf. note 67 in this chapter.
70 Cf. de Ste. Croix 1972: 252–3.
71 On the view of de Ste. Croix, see Sealey 1975 : 89–109; Wick 1977 : 74–99; and above all the
remarks of Gauthier 1975 : 498–503 with the excellent argument that merchants who are
always ‘foreigners’ must also be citizens somewhere.
72 A r. Ach. 500ff.
73 See Bresson 2000 : 131–50.
74 Herrmann 1965: 71–90, n. 1 (Nouveau Choix no. 7) = P. Herrmann Milet VI.1 1039. The
translation from the Nouveau choix is to be modified in regard to one point. See the
following note.
75 The translation proposed in Nouveau choix: ‘ ... les productions exportées par le territoire de
Milet dans son royaume,’ is ambiguous. But the commentary on this passage (ibid. note 59),
which specifies that it concerns ‘les produits de Milet exportés dans le royaume séleucide,’ is
correct.
76 Milet I.3 (Delphinion), 147 lines 6–7 (τὰς τε κοινάς καὶ τὰς ἑκάστου προσόδους).
77 IG XII. Suppl. 347, II 8–12. The text has been reproduced, translated, and commented
on by Salviat 1986 : 147, 181 ff. The forbidden area was larger than the territory of
Thasos itself. The prohibited area went from the promontory of Athos to cape Pacheia. It
appears certain (on this point I do not agree with F. Salviat) that it was not just the area
on the mainland but also the territory on the island, which was off limits for a ship’s cap-
tain to import foreign wine, as the map of Salviat 1986 : 184 himself very clearly shows.
The reductive interpretation of J. Vélissaropoulos ( 1980 : 191–4: the law would reflect
just the desire to restrict Thasian ships to exports of Thasian wine) is less convincing
than that of F. Salviat.
78 Salviat 1986 : 183–4.
79 Compare a fragment of the comic poet Alexis fr. 276 (Edmonds) (Athenaeus 1.28e-f),
translated and briefly discussed by Salviat 1986 , 184–5, which is worth quoting in
extenso: ‘Bromios is kind. We ought to exempt the Lesbians from taxes when they import
wine here. But if anyone is caught exporting even a kyathos (small cup) to another city,
I put his property on the confiscation list of the gods’ (trans. adapted from Olson).
F. Salviat adds this comment on the passage, with which we find ourselves in full agree-
ment: ‘The passage is amusing only if such taxes were normal, and he takes the state’s
control as something natural.’
80 Such prohibitions, in particular for grain, are attested in several cities. For Athens, for
example, suffice it to refer to the fundamental study of Gauthier 1981 : 5–28. See Gauthier
1979 for how a general in the Chersonese (held by the Lagids) can grant or withhold
permission to export wheat that is under his control and gives several examples of similar
practices.
81 Pl. Leg. 8.847d.