FORGING LINKS BETwEEN REGIONS 79
Marek concluded that the bestowal of proxenia was not motivated by com-
mercial interests and that proxenoi performed few, if any, commercial functions.
Yet Marek did concede that grants of proxenia were occasionally conferred in
order to encourage or reward generosity by foreign grain traders.^54 Although
the evidence does not permit any certainty when determining the extent to
which proxenoi were actively involved in the brokering of trade agreements or
with securing shipments on behalf of Athens, their role did, nevertheless, help
facilitate interregional commerce. Even if proxenoi simply offered support and
legal assistance to visiting Athenian merchants, these services were invaluable.
Moreover, Athens also benefited from these relationships as the advantages
provided by a grant of proxenia encouraged the recipients to conduct business
in Athens. The title proxenos did not confer tangible benefits per se, but it did
increase the recipient’s honor and status and was thus highly desirable. While
not bestowing the rights of full citizenship, the title served as proof of the
reciprocal relationship between the recipient and Athens. As Engen observes,
this relationship was built on the implicit understanding that the honorand
would be treated as something more than the average foreigner to whom the
city had no obligation. This improvement in status reduced both the tangible
and intangible transaction costs incurred when trading abroad and was thus
a powerful incentive for proxenoi with a mercantile background to continue
dealing favorably with Athens. Moreover, as with the grants of asylia discussed
earlier in the chapter, the bestowal of proxenia was evidence of the recipient’s
honorable dealing and trustworthiness, which might have enabled them to
negotiate lower interest rates on maritime loans or to obtain more favorable
terms of trade.
Honors and Rewards: Ateleia, Enktesis, and Gold Crowns
In addition to asylia and proxenia, the Athenians bestowed a number of oth-
ers honors and rewards that reduced the transaction costs incurred by specific
merchants or groups of merchants. Three of the most revealing in terms of
Athenian economic and trade policy were ateleia, enktesis, and gold crowns.
The award of each is indicative of a desire to foster closer links with the mer-
cantile community and, by so doing, increase the volume of trade in Athenian
markets: they were not, as many have suggested, awarded in an effort to gen-
erate public revenue or simply to secure supplies of grain and timber. Of the
three, the awarding of ateleia was perhaps the most significant as it not only
encouraged a greater number of market transactions but also reduced the rev-
enue obtained from commercial taxes/duties.^55 Because of this, grants of ateleia
in recognition of commercial services were rare and only bestowed to those
who had performed exceptional services or had the potential to do so in the
future. Consequently, prior to 410 BCE, ateleia was only granted in recognition