Being another city's proxenos did not preclude taking part in war against that city, should it break out – since the proxenos' ultimate loyalty was to his own city. However, a proxenos would naturally try his best to prevent such a war from breaking out and to compose whatever differences were threatening to cause it. And once peace negotiations were on the way, a proxenos' contacts and goodwill in the enemy city could be profitably used by his city. The position of proxenos for a particular city was often hereditary in a particular family.
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In classical Greece, some of the functions of the modern consul were fulfilled by a proxenos. Unlike the modern position, this was a citizen of the host polity (in Greece, a city-state). The proxenos was usually a wealthy merchant who had socio-economic ties with another city and who helped its citizens when they were in trouble in his own city. The position of proxenos was often hereditary in a particular family.
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Casson, 93-94 In addition to cities, trade groups or other organizations might appoint a proxenos to ensure their clients were treated fairly during visits.Herman, 131-132 The office of proxenos was honorary, and came only with a title and the prestige associated with the appointment. Some scholarship suggests that although the proxenos was tasked with diplomacy, they also may have occasionally engaged in subterfuge or intelligence gathering in order to grant their native city the upper hand in conflicts.Gerolymatos There is little evidence of a formalized system of inns in Greek cities, although some have been found that served tourists during festivals.
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A very large class of inscriptions deals with the institution of proxenia. According to this a citizen of any State might be appointed proxenos of another State; his duties would then be to offer help and hospitality to any citizen of that other State who might be visiting his city, and to assist him in any dispute or in securing his legal rights. The office has been compared to the modern appointment of consuls, with the essential difference that the proxenos is always a citizen of the state in which he resides, not of that whose citizens and interests he assists. The decrees upon this matter frequently record the appointment of a proxenos, and the conferring on him of certain benefits and privileges in return for his services; they also contain resolutions of thanks from the city served by the proxenos, and record honours consequently conferred upon him.Cf.
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Machatas, son of Sabattaras from Europos, was a Macedonian proxenos of Delphians in late 4th century BC. As the inscription says: "the Delphians gave proxenia, euergesia (benefaction), promanteia (priority in consulting the oracle), proedria (privilege of reserved seats at the theatre), prodikia (the right to priority in a trial) to Machatas and his descendants, the same as it is given to every proxenos". The decree is issued by archon Hierondas and bouleutai (chancellors) Heraklidas, Eualkeus and Echyllos.
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Straton, King of Sidon, giving him the title of Proxenos: "Also Straton the king of Sidon shall be proxenos of the People of Athens, both himself and his descendants". Acropolis of Athens. This indicates that relations of Proxeny existed not only among Greek cities but also with non-Greeks (Phoenicians in this case). Proxeny or ' () in ancient Greece was an arrangement whereby a citizen (chosen by the city) hosted foreign ambassadors at his own expense, in return for honorary titles from the state.
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The citizen was called ' (; plural: or , "instead of a foreigner") or (). The proxeny decrees, which amount to letters patent and resolutions of appreciation were issued by one state to a citizen of another for service as proxenos, a kind of honorary consul looking after the interests of the other state's citizens. A cliché phrase is (benefactor) and (). A proxenos would use whatever influence he had in his own city to promote policies of friendship or alliance with the city he voluntarily represented.
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In a non-mythological context, xenia provided for the equitable treatment of foreign dignitaries, traders, and guests while visiting alien city-states through the office of the proxenos. A proxenos was a city-appointed official, either a native or a resident alien, who would look over the citizens of a specific foreign city when they visited the city he represented. That is, for example, a native citizen of Athens or a resident Corinthian would be appointed proxenos for visitors of Corinth in Athens, and was therefore responsible for both diplomacy between the two cities and the interests of Corinthian citizens in Athens. Looking after another city's citizens meant arranging for favors as mundane as obtaining theater tickets, to more complicated procedures, such as ensuring access to capital or an audience with city officials.
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Europos was the birthplace of Seleucus I Nikator, and two cities in Seleucid Empire were named Europos. There is also reported a Delphic proxenos Machatas from Europos in the late 4th century BCE. The site of Europos is near the modern Evropos.
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In recognition of this, the Athenians honored Archelaus and his children with the titles of proxenos and euergetes.In the shadow of Olympus by Eugene N. Borza, page 163 . Archelaus went on to institute many internal reforms. He issued an abundance of good quality coinage.
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Theocharous has published in literary magazines. Her first collection of poems, “Poetic Act and Political Co-Act” (1991) earned her the award of the First State Prize for Poetry. In 1995, she published her second collection of poems: “Proxenos Thanatos Angele Mou” (). The third collection of short stories was «Tempelokalokairo» () (Indian summer). Her fourth collection of poems «Ellinosyron Magon» ().
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Nymphodorus of Abdera (; c. 450– c. 400 BC) was a citizen of Abdera, Thrace whose sister married Sitalces, a king of Thrace. The Athenians, who had previously regarded Nymphodorus as their enemy, made him their Proxenos in 431 BC, and, through his mediation, obtained the alliance of Sitalces, for which they were anxious, and conferred the freedom of their city on Sadocus, Sitalces' son.
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Erdkamp, 272 Grain was brought into the city from all around empire: Egypt, Spain, Sardinia, and Sicily were all sources for the city. Trade was sophisticated enough in Rome that a system similar to that of the proxenos emerged, with offices backed by different governments representing the interests of their private citizens in cities throughout the Mediterranean. These offices, like way stations along the Roman roads, were known as stationes.
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Boukris or Boucris () was an Aetolian pirate in the 3rd century BC, who raided the Attic countryside and carried off slaves for sale to Crete. The incident is known from an inscription where the Athenians honoured Eumaridas, a Cretan from Kydonia, for releasing the captives. He may be the same person with Boukris son of Daitas from Naupactus, proxenos in Delos. Boukris was also a hieromnemon of the Aetolians in Delphi in the same century.
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Outside myth (see below on The Tomb of Ajax), Rhoeteion is rarely mentioned after the Classical period. In 335 BC, prior to Alexander the Great's victory at the nearby Granicus river, one of his commanders, Calas, was beaten back by the Persians and forced to take temporary refuge at Rhoiteion.Diodorus Siculus 17.7.10. In the 3rd century BC, a ('Moirias the son of Antiphanes, citizen of Rhoiteion') is honoured as a proxenos in an inscription from Delos.IG XI (4) 582.
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From an inscription dated from late 319 BC, reveals honors that Alcimachus received from the state. The inscription reveals he was granted similar honor to those held by his father. This honor that Alcimachus received may refer to granted property. According to another inscription found on the Greek island of Ios reveals that Alcimachus had a son called Lysippus. Lysippus was honored in this inscription as Proxenos of Ios and the inscription refers to Alcimachus’ eunoia toward the state.
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According to an Ancient Greek inscription found on the grave, the tomb was a monument built by the ancient Korkyreans in honour of their proxenos (ambassador) Menecrates, son of Tlasios, from Oeiantheia. Menecrates was the ambassador of ancient Korkyra to Oeiantheia, modern day Galaxidi or Ozolian Locris, and he was lost at sea. In the inscription it is also mentioned that the brother of Menecrates, Praximenes, had arrived from Oeiantheia to assist the people of Korkyra in building the monument to his brother.
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For example, Cimon was Sparta's proxenos at Athens and during his period of prominence in Athenian politics, previous to the outbreak of the First Peloponnesian War, he strongly advocated a policy of cooperation between the two states. Cimon was known to be so fond of Sparta that he named one of his sons Lacedaemonius (as Sparta was known as Lacedaemon in antiquity).The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Donald Lateiner, Richard Crawley, page 33. Who's Who in the Greek World by John Hazel, page 56.
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Menelaus (; , Menelaos) was a local ruler of Pelagonia, honoured as euergetes ("benefactor") of Athens in 363 BC, for helping Athenians in the war against Amphipolis and the Chalcidian League. In the decree it is stated that not only Menelaus himself but also his ancestors were benefactors of Athens. Soon after, he probably fled to Athens and received Athenian citizenship and is the "Menelaus, son of Arrhabaeus" honoured as Athenian proxenos in Troy (~ 359 BC) and the Menelaus, commander of the cavalry against Philip II of Macedon mentioned by Demosthenes.
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Cimon was Sparta's Proxenos at Athens, he strongly advocated a policy of cooperation between the two states. He was known to be so fond of Sparta that he named one of his sons Lacedaemonius.The History of the Peloponnesian War by Thucydides, Donald Lateiner, Richard Crawley page 33 Who's who in the Greek world By John Hazel Page 56 In 462 BC, Cimon sought the support of Athens' citizens to provide help to Sparta. Although Ephialtes maintained that Sparta was Athens' rival for power and should be left to fend for itself, Cimon's view prevailed.
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Aristocreon was a son of the sister of Chrysippus, and became his pupil.; Plutarch, De Stoicorum repugnantiis 1033e Chrysippus dedicated several of his works to him. Of the few facts known about Aristocreon's life, it is known that between 229 and 190 BC, he was in Athens, where he obtained the official position of a Proxenos (a consular agent acting for another city). He was still alive in Athens in 184 BC. Plutarch records that Aristocreon erected a bronze statue of his uncle on a pillar and engraved a verse to him: It is not known whether this Aristocreon is the same as the author of a description of Egypt.
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However, some of the functions given to modern diplomatic representatives were fulfilled by a proxenos, a citizen of the host city who had friendly relations with another city, often through familial ties. In times of peace, diplomacy was even conducted with non-Hellenistic rivals such as the Achaemenid Empire of Persia, through it was ultimately conquered by Alexander the Great of Macedon. Alexander was also adept at diplomacy, realizing that the conquest of foreign cultures were be better achieved by having his Macedonian and Greek subjects intermingle and intermarry with native populations. For instance, Alexander took as his wife a Sogdian woman of Bactria, Roxana, after the siege of the Sogdian Rock, in order to placate the rebelling populace.
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During the reign of Amyntas III or Philip II, the Tripolis was annexed to Macedon. According to Theagenes the inhabitants of Balla were relocated to Pythion. So we find in 3rd century BC an epigram regarding Philarchos son of Hellanion, Macedonian Elimiote from Pythion, proxenos in Delphi.FD III 4:417City and sanctuary in ancient Greece: the Theorodokia in the Peloponnese By Paula Jean Perlman Page 127 During the Roman–Seleucid War, the Tripolis was ravaged by an army of Aetolians in the year 191 BCE During the Third Macedonian War the three towns surrendered to the army of Perseus of Macedon in the year 171 BCE, but that same year the Romans reconquered the three.
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For other persons with the same name, see Xenias Xenias () was an Elean, of great wealth, who was a proxenos of Sparta, and was also connected by private ties of hospitality with king Agis II. In 400 BC, during the war between Sparta and Elis, Xenias and his oligarchical partizans made an attempt to bear down their adversaries by force, and to subject their country to the Spartans -Sallying out into the streets, they murdered several of their opponents, and among them a man whom they mistook for Thrasydaeus, the leader of the democratic party. Thrasydaeus of Elis, however, who had fallen asleep under the influence of wine, soon rallied his friends, defeated the oligarchs in a battle, and drove Xenias into exile.
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This private connection developed into a custom according to which a state appointed one of the citizens of a foreign state as its representative Proxenos (πρόξενος) to protect any of its citizens travelling or resident in his country. Sometimes an individual came forward voluntarily to perform these duties on behalf of another state etheloproxenos (ἐθελοπρόξενος). The proxenus is generally compared to the modern consul or minister resident. His duties were to afford hospitality to strangers from the state whose proxenus he was, to introduce its ambassadors, to procure them admission to the assembly and seats in the theatre, and in general to look after the commercial and political interests of the state by which he had been appointed to his office.
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As such, in order to increase their prestige, the ruling dynasty of the Molossians in classical antiquity constructed a prestigious genealogy going back to the Trojan War and then these names from the Trojan cycle were used for contemporary rulers of the dynasty like Neoptolemos and Pyrrhus of Epirus. In the case of the Molossian ruling class, the philosopher who has been credited with much of the mythological construction of their origins is Proxenus of Atarneus (early 4th century BC). This use of names from Iliad was contrary to ancient Greek name giving customs of classical antiquity in which names from the Iliad were not given to living people. "Nilsson argues persuasively that the bold mythological inventions were due to Proxenos, who flattered the royal house with an unsurpassed and excessive abuse of mythology, and that apart from the native names of Tharyps and Arrybas "all other male members of the house have names take from the Trojan myth (...) This plundering of mythical names is contrary to the principles of Greek nomenclature in the classical age in which the heroic names were not given to living men.
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