Hospitium

Scallop shell offering hospitality to pilgrims on the Way of St James

Hospitium ([hɔs̠ˈpɪt̪iʊ̃]; Greek: ξενία, xenia, προξενία) is the ancient Greco-Roman concept of hospitality as a divine right of the guest and a divine duty of the host. Similar or broadly equivalent customs were and are also known in other cultures, though not always by that name. Among the Greeks and Romans, hospitium was of a twofold character: private and public.[1]

  1. ^  One or more of the preceding sentences incorporates text from a publication now in the public domainChisholm, Hugh, ed. (1911). "Hospitium". Encyclopædia Britannica. Vol. 13 (11th ed.). Cambridge University Press. p. 801.