The collection of articles is devoted to the memory of recently dead Professor Elena Sergeevna Golubtsova - a prominent scholar in Classical Antiquity, President of the Association of the Russian Scholars in Classical Antiquity, Doctor of Historical Sciences, leading researcher of the Institute of Universal History of Russian Academy of Sciences. This book is the proceedings of the Conference "Laws and Customs of Hospitality in the Ancient World" - the last conference organised by E.S.Golubtsova.
The first article of the book is devoted to the memory of Elena Sergeevna Golubtsova (1921-1998) written by I.L.Mayak who escribes the life and the career of E.S.Golubtsova and estimates her scholarly contribution to the development of classical studies in Russia. The first part of the book is also devoted to the reminescences of E.S.Golubtsova's colleagues and disciples. L.L.Selivanova's article "Elena Sergeevna Golubtsova and the Association of Russian Scholars in Classical Antiquity" dwells upon the history of the Association's establishing and the part and contribution of E.Golubtsova into the process of its establishment. The author also describes in detail the active work of the Association during the period of E.S.Golubtsova's presidency and shows Elena Sergeevna as a person and a scholar.
E.S.Golubtsova's life and scientific work, her contribution to the development of the national classic science are described in the articles "Elena Sergeevna Golubtsova as a Scholar and Organizer of Science" by A.I.Pavlovskaya, "To the Memory of E.S.Golubtsova Being an Excellent Personality and a Talented Organizer" by Z.G.Samodurova and "The Lay of the Memory of My Colleague Elena Sergeevna Golubtsova" by Yu.K.Kolosovskaya. They all deal with E.E.Golubtsova's research work, her organisational talent and social activity, emphasizing fine human features of the outstanding scholar.
In the articles by O.A.Shalimov, N.A.Chaplygina and A.I.Nemirovsky Professor Golubtsova appears as a prominent scholar, an experienced pedagogue, a demanding supervisor and a kind, charming and responsive person, a real colleague and fried - a patriot of her country and the Institute where she had worked for a long period of time.
The second part of the book is based on the papers presented at the Conference "Laws and Customs of Hospitality in the Ancient World". The Conference was held in the Institute of Universal History of RAS on the 26th-27th of May, 1998. About 100 scholars from Russia and CIS participated in it.
The plenary session is opened by two papers to be the first in this part. Yu.K.Kolosovskaya gives the analysis of hospitality as one of the most ancient legal institution having titled her paper "Hospitality as the Law of Ancient Roman Peoples". The author notes that the "history of Ancient Rome is opened by the institution of hospitality". G.S.Knabe in his paper "Scipio as Syphax's Guest" uses "History of Rome" by Livy as a source. The author studies an episode of a chance meeting of the two enemies - Scipio the African and Hasdrubal - at the Nymidian king Syphax's feast. Besides that the role of hospitality and feast in Romans' public life is also described in this paper.
The three other papers elucidate the problem of hospitality in Ancient Greece. The article "Hospitable Marriage (alfesiboia) and the Establishment of Polis in Ancient Greece" by V.V.Gorovoy (Karaganda) touches upon a scarcely studied problem of the role of "marriage hospitality" in the process of forming the polis. The author scrutinises the problem in a "military" aspect disclosing the role of "hospitable marriage" in developing of clan and tribal irregulars into the Greek phalanx. In his paper "To the Status of Pilgrims and Guest-Friends in Archaic Greek World" P.V.Kovalev (Moscow) concludes that geographic area of hospitality ties was broader than inter-polis festivals and migration flows. I.E.Surikov's paper "Croesus's Hospitality and Athenians" shows that Herodotus gives the exceptional information about early xenic contacts among Athenian aristocratic clans beyond the Greek world.
The problem of hospitality in Classical Greece is reflected in the papers of M.F.Vysoky and V.Dorofeeva. In his paper "Relations Among Heads of States" M.F.Vysoky (Moscow) turns to Herodotus's information about the conflict between the Greeks and the Carthagenians on Sicily in 480 B.C. In the context of interstate relations between Hymera and Carthago he defines tyrant's proxenia for Hymera and Hamilcar as a private-legal institution of political unity of the two states. V.Dorofeeva (Moscow) in her paper "Unities of Private Hospitality Among Representatives of Aristocracy (on "Anabasis" by Xenophon)" comes to the conclusion that the relations of private hospitality were strengthened in the period of polis decline. L.P.Marinovich and G.A.Koshelenko having devoted their article "Where and What For Did Demeas Sail?" to E.S.Golubtsova's memory took the subject which was in the sphere of Professor Golubtsova's interests -interrelation between the Ancient Mediterranean World and the Northern Pontic area. Studying the problem of relations between Athens and Bosporus, the authors investigated the source which has never been analysed before from this particular point of view. The question under discussion is the comedy "A Woman from Samos" by Menander. The authors come to the
conclusion that the Athenian public was accustomed to the situation when a rich citizen was engaged in trade and sailed to Bosporus. V.I.Kuzischin in his article "Ischomahus's Country-Estate and Cato's Land Possessions as Two Models of Ideal Ancient Household" compares the types of management of Greek Ischomahus (the 4th century B.C.) and Roman Cato the Elder (the 2nd century B.C.) They have a lot of similar features: both households were medium-sized, their production was centralized and multi-profiled, they were aimed at maximum self-providing with some features of marketability and were served by 15 to 20 slaves. But at the same time Cato's rural estate-villa opened more favourable potention towards racionalisation of household apart from that of Ischomahus's one which was fully orientated to urban life and fine leisure. Finally these differences preconditioned various examples of economy, and first of all the agrarian development of Roman civitas and Greek polis.
The two papers dealing with the problem of hospitality are based on mythological material. In their paper "Peisistratids as Descendants of Those Who Refused Hospitality (Actualisation of Dynastic Myth)" A.A.Molchanov and I.E.Surikov (Moscow), having studied sacral-genealogical legends, showed that Peisistratids' deprivation of power by their contemporaries was the retribution for their ancestors Neleids who had refused hospitality to Heracles. The paper "Insult is an Uninvated Guest" by L.L.Selivanova touched upon the same motive. She puts questions why all insults, wars and quarrels are happening when hospitality is not rendered to goddess of discord Eris and why everything turns out happily when she is invited. The author comes to the conclusion that refusal of hospitality means a violation of divine commandments, insult of Zeus Xenios which inevitably brings about punishment.
Four papers are devoted to law and custom of hospitality in Roman times. In the paper "Laws" in Greek Literary Papyri" V.N.Ilyushechkin comes to the conclusion that the mixture of common law and legal system took place in the Roman Eastern provinces due to the mixture of different ethnic elements of population. Another region is the Roman Spain which is traced by A.V.Korolenkov in the paper "Vibius Pactianus as Crassus's Guest-Friend". Viewing biography of Vibius, a Crassus's client, he touches upon the role of private hospitality in provincial's promotion in Rome. The subject of hospitality in the context of international relations is reflected in the paper "Coan's Hospitality" by K.L.Gulenkov (Moscow) who demonstrates that the Island of Cos, being in the centre of Mithridatic Wars, did not suffer from it and even got all profits as the conqueror's ally, because it had followed a contemplated policy of hospitality. It rendered hospitality to everybody including Romans, Mithridates VI, Egyptian princes and
Hebrew merchants, but in case of danger it "washed its hands". The paper "To the Discussion of Chersonesus Decree in Honour of T.Aurelius Calpumianus Apollonides" by V.P.Yailenko is based on epigraphic material from the Northern Pontic area. He investigates in detail the inscription about the proxenic rights given to Apollonides by the citizens of Tauric Chersonesus in 174 A.D. He stresses out the importance of this document from the following points of view: on the turn of the two eras the institution of proxenia got rid of and only Chersonesus and some other centres went on to endow their benefactors with proxenia privilege.
The paper "Hospitality to Pilgrims" in Early Christian Communities and Ancient Custom of Hospitality" by O.B.Myazina (Tver) deals with the problem of the Christian idea of hospitality and differences between ancient hospitality and Christian "hospitality to pilgrims". M.V.Blinov (Zhukovsky) examines ritual aspects of hospitality in his paper "Ritual of Adoption to Christian Communities in the 2nd Century A.D.".
In conclusion Professor E.S.Golubtsova, President of the Russian Association of Scholars in Classical Antiquity, expressed her content with fruitful and profound elaboration of the problems connected with the subject of hospitality in antiquity, having thanked all participants of the Conference.