proxeny

thumb|Inscription in honor of Abdashtart I|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).]] thumb|Bronze plaque with inscription appointing an Athenian citizen to Proxenos, from Palaeopolis in ancient Corcyra, Greece, 4th Century BC, British Museum 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. 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 common 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. 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).