FORGING LINKS BETwEEN REGIONS 73
purchase a return cargo before heading home; if Xenophon’s assessment is
correct, and there is little reason to doubt it, the merchants responsible for
importing commodities also exported Athenian surplus, making them dou-
bly important.^24 Thus, it was the desire to facilitate both imports and exports
that prompted the Athenians to foster closer relationships with the mercantile
community and to introduce institutions that both encouraged and regulated
commercial activities.
The Creation of Long-Term Relationships
The bestowal of honors and privileges in recognition of commercial services is
another indication that the Athenians were mindful of the relationship between
market activity and economic growth. Even if, as Lambert and Engen argue,
these honors were bestowed solely at times of economic crisis – a conclusion
that is far from certain – the Athenian honorific tradition sought to create
relationships that would last beyond the immediate predicament. Instead, these
honors reveal a desire to create a more long-lasting relationship between state
and commercial agent. For instance, Low concludes that the Athenian dec-
laration of power in these decrees formed a central part of the benefits that
the Athenians are able to offer – that the honorand would receive certain tax
breaks, or, more usually, protection from harm and would be entitled to these
not just in Athens but in a whole range of cities.^25 By specifying their power in
this way the Athenians emphasized the extent of their influence. Furthermore,
through the assertion that their power extended beyond the boundaries of
their own territory, the Athenians were able to promise benefits that very few
other poleis could match. These benefits reduced mercantile transaction costs,
thus giving the Athenians an unrivalled advantage when it came to attracting
merchants to their markets. Low interprets these inscriptions as a demon-
stration of the Athenians’ ability to outbid their rivals in a ‘battle of com-
petitive generosity’. This is an important conclusion, and Low is correct to
emphasize that the Athenians did not merely grant honors and privileges to
those who, with no prompting, had conducted favorable business with Athens.
Rather, the Athenians granted honors and privileges to their benefactors to
encourage them (and others) to perform valuable services on the state’s behalf.
Merchants who received honors from Athens found that their social stand-
ing within Attica greatly improved, thus further increasing the attractiveness
of Athenian markets as places in which to conduct business. The Athenian
honorific tradition therefore encouraged the creation of long-lasting relation-
ships that helped foster market activity, a fact recognized by Demosthenes
(20.29–41). Perhaps the strongest evidence that the honorific tradition was
intended to create enduring relationships is the granting of honors and privi-
leges to the sons and descendants of the original recipient. In eight of the