proxeny (proxenos)
- William Mack
Summary
Proxeny (proxenia) was an official honorific status granted by Greek states to members of external political communities and was closely related to the private institution of ritualized friendship (xenia). Recipients, who became proxenoi as a result, constituted a formal network of local friends for the granting state, capable of facilitating interactions for both official delegates and their citizens visiting on private business. Proxeny was consequently a central element of the Greek system of interstate institutions. It enabled state actors to establish connections with individuals at a wide range of other political communities within the densely fragmented city-state culture of the ancient Mediterranean.
