Greek History and Historiography

Bucephalas, *Alexander (3) the Great's favourite Thessalian horse, bought for thirteen talents and broken in by Alexander himself; named after his ox-head brandmark. Alexander gave the name Bucephala to a city founded on the *Hydaspes (Jhelum) where Bucephalas died (326 bce). See horses.

Athenian nobleman, grandson of Callias (1), notorious for his wealth and extravagance. He was *Dadouchos of the Eleusinian mysteries (see callias (1)). He was ridiculed by comic poets, and attacked by *Andocides, whom he accused of sacrilege. More sympathetic pictures of his house and life are given by *Xenophon (Symp.) and *Plato (1) (Prt.). He was general 391/0 in the *Corinthian War, and took part in a famous victory of *Iphicrates over Spartan *hoplites (Xen.Hell. 4. 5. 13). As an old man, he was a member of a three-man embassy sent to Sparta, whose *proxenos Xenophon says he was, in 371/0 (Xen. Hell. 6. 3. 3 ff.); the embassy successfully negotiated peace.

Callias (5), of *Syracuse, lived at the court of *Agathocles (1), tyrant of Syracuse (316–289 bce), and wrote a history of his reign in 22 books. It so favoured Agathocles that Callias was suspected of accepting bribes; so Diod. Sic. (21. 17. 4), who however probably knew Callias only through the medium of Agathocles’ enemy *Timaeus (2). Callias’ history had little influence on the tradition (which remained unfavourable to Agathocles), although, apart from the account written by Agathocles’ brother Antandrus, it was the first important work on this subject. The fragments do not provide sufficient material to determine the contents of the work in detail.

The Peace of Callias was a mid-5th-century peace treaty, presented by most sources as fully advantageous to Athens, that ended the wars between Athens and Persia. Its historicity is disputed, chiefly because Thucydides (2) does not mention it explicitly. The date of the peace is also controversial, because some evidence points to c.449 BCE while other sources suggest the 460s; this may mean that the c.449 BCE agreement was a renewal of an older peace, but the former date seems to be the likelier one for the conclusion of a single peace.

Callias (1) son of Hipponicus, brother-in-law of Cimon, is reported by Herodotus (7.151) to have led an Athenian embassy, whose purpose is not specified, to the Persian king Artaxerxes (1) I, probably shortly after his accession to the throne in 465 BCE. Demosthenes (2) in 343 BCE provides the earliest evidence (19 [De falsa leg.

Callicrates (2), son of Theoxenos of Leontion, (died 149/8 bce), Achaean politician, opponent of *Lycortas and *Polybius (1). As envoy to Rome in 180/79 he urged the senate to support its friends in the Greek states who put Roman interests first, by expressing its wishes unambiguously. The senate's praise boosted Callicrates’ position at home, so that as stratēgos (chief magistrate) for 179/8 he restored the exiles to *Sparta and *Messene—the major issue on which Achaean politicians and Rome disagreed. Polybius (24. 10. 8–10) views Callicrates’ speech as a turning-point for the worse in Roman relations with Achaea, though his own opposition and later experience coloured his view. Callicrates remained influential: in 168 he prevented Achaea from sending troops to Egypt, after *Pydna he provided the Romans with a list of 1,000 Achaeans to be interned (including Polybius), which made him widely unpopular, not just with Polybius. He died during a diplomatic mission to Rome.

Spartan admiral who succeeded and quarrelled with *Lysander in 406 bce. After cowing *Lysander's partisans and refusing to wait for Persian money, he assembled a large fleet (140–170 ships) from Greek resources, defeating and blockading an Athenian fleet under *Conon (1) at Mytilene. He drowned in his subsequent defeat by the Athenian relief fleet off the *Arginusae islands. Later sources applaud his forthright manner and ‘*panhellenism’, contrasting him favourably with Lysander; *Xenophon (1) depicts him as blustering and militarily impetuous, underrating his contribution in stretching Athens’ resources to the limit.

Nephew of *Aristotle, he collaborated with the philosopher in compiling the official list of Pythian victors (see pythian games), and by 336 he had produced a monograph on the Third *Sacred War and a ten-book Hellenica, which covered the period 386–356. His Deeds of Alexander, written in the entourage of *Alexander (3) the Great, covered events at least to 330 and had a strong eulogistic trait, glorifying the military achievements and propagating the king's claim to divine paternity. In early 327 he alienated Alexander by his opposition to proskynesis (see alexander (3) the Great § 10), was falsely implicated in the Pages’ Conspiracy, and summarily executed. *Theophrastus lamented his death, but there is no evidence that it created a *Peripatetic tradition of hostility to Alexander. See pseudo-callisthenes for the Alexander-Romance.

Constantinus Cephalas (‘Big-head’) held an official post in the palace at Constantinople in 917 ce. Some time before this he compiled an anthology of Greek epigrams, on which the Greek *anthology was later based. Apparently he died or abandoned the task before completing it, since his collection is imperfectly edited and appears not to have been published in the normal way; but the material is invaluable.