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Article

Aleuadae  

Bruno Helly

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Aleuadae, aristocratic family of *Larissa in *Thessaly. The military and political organization of the federal Thessalian state goes back to Aleuas the Red (second half of the 6th cent. bce). The Aleuad Thorax and his brothers instigated Thessalian *Medism, but paid the price in lost influence after the *Persian Wars.

Article

Alexander (1) I, 'the Philhellene', king of Macedon, c. 498–454 BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Alexander (1) I, ‘the Philhellene’, king of Macedon c.498–454 bce. Subject to Persia from 492 and related by marriage to the Persian noble Bubares, he used his influence to extend his territory eastwards to the mines of Mt. Dysoron (Krousia), which provided the silver for his impressive coinage; and in 480/79 he was active in the campaigns of *Xerxes and *Mardonius. The tradition in Herodotus that he was responsible for the murder of Persian envoys (c.512) and maintained secret relations with the Hellenic leaders in 480 is certainly propaganda to preserve his position and to broadcast his overtly philhellene policies. Acknowledged even before 480 as *proxenos and benefactor of the Athenians, he was allegedly recognized (in 476?) at Olympia as Hellenic ruler of a barbarian people; and he fostered the myth that his ancestors were Temenids (see temenus) from *Argos (1) (and gave sanctuary to refugees from *Mycenae, c.

Article

Alexander (2) II, king of Macedon, 370–368 BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Alexander (2) II, eldest son of *Amyntas (1) III and Eurydice, and king of Macedon 370–368 bce. His short and turbulent reign was bedevilled by rivalry and open war with his brother-in-law, Ptolemy of Alorus. An intervention in Thessaly in support of the *Aleuadae of Larissa (369) ended ingloriously when his garrisons were ejected by *Pelopidas and he himself was forced into alliance with *Thebes (1).

Article

Alexander III(3), 'the Great', of Macedon, 356–323 BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
30 July 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Son of *Philip (1) II and *Olympias. As crown prince he was taught by *Aristotle (from 342); he was his father's deputy in Macedon (340) and fought with distinction at the battle of *Chaeronea (338). Philip's last marriage created a serious rift, but a formal reconciliation had been effected by the time of his death (autumn 336), and Alexander was proclaimed king against a background of dynastic intrigue, in which his rivals (notably Amyntas, son of Perdiccas, and the faction of Attalus) were eliminated. A show of force in southern Greece saw him acknowledged Philip's successor as hēgemōn of the League of *Corinth; and in 335, when the Thebans took advantage of his absence campaigning on the Danube and rebelled, he destroyed the city and enslaved the survivors. The exemplary punishment enabled him to leave the Greek world under the supervision of *Antipater (1) with little fear of revolt, while he turned to the war of revenge against Persia.

Article

Alexander (4) IV, 323–310? BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography

Alexander (4) IV (323–?310 bce), posthumous son of *Alexander (3) the Great and *Roxane. Already designated to the kingship at Babylon, he was elevated by *Perdiccas (3) (322) to join *Philip (2) Arrhidaeus as joint ruler of Alexander's empire. He was insignificant until 317, when his grandmother, *Olympias, used him in the power struggle for Macedon, and with Olympias he fell into *Cassander's hands in spring 316. Interned at Amphipolis, he was murdered after the pact of 311 and secretly buried (yet the spectacular Tomb III in the Great Tumulus at Vergina has been confidently claimed for him; see aegae). In Babylon and Egypt it was a convenient fiction to continue his regnal years to 306/5.

Article

Alexander (5), of Pherae, tyrant, 369–358 BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
He achieved power by the murder of his uncle, Polyphron, and throughout his reign he attempted to restore the dominant position in *Thessaly which *Jason (2) had won for *Pherae, struggling against the Thessalian League created to counter his ambitions. Theban intervention under *Pelopidas forced him into alliance with Athens (368); but the combination against him was too strong, and in 364 after two significant defeats he became a subject ally of Thebes (1). By 362 he reasserted himself, raiding the Cyclades and subsequently worsting an Athenian fleet at *Peparethos. Athens and the Thessalian League united against him (361/0), but he contrived to remain in power until 358, when he was eliminated by a court conspiracy.The ancient tradition (owing much to *Callisthenes' Hellenica) represents him as a monster of immoderation and cruelty, no doubt in part to create a foil for Pelopidas; but the picture recurs in the anti-Theban *Xenophon (1) and will have a nucleus of truth.

Article

Alexander (6) I, king of Molossia, 342–330/329 BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography

Alexander (6) I, king of Molossia in *Epirus (342–330/29 bce). Brother of *Olympias, he grew up at the court of *Philip (1) II and was placed on the Molossian throne by force in 342. Ties with Macedon were strengthened when he married Cleopatra, Philip's daughter (336). Late in 334 he answered an appeal from *Tarentum and intervened with a small expeditionary force in the war against the Lucanians (see lucania). After initial successes in south Italy (and an alleged treaty with Rome) he came to grief at *Pandosia (late 331). His death made Epirus a protectorate of Macedon.

Article

Alexander (7) II, king of Molossia, 272–c. 240 BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Alexander (7) II, son of *Pyrrhus and king of Molossia 272–c.240 bce. During the Chremonidean War (see chremonides) he invaded Macedonia (c.262/1) but was routed and deposed by *Antigonus (2) Gonatas. Restored (c.260) with Aetolian help, he later (?243) divided *Acarnania with the Aetolians.

Article

Alexander (9), viceroy of Corinth and Euboea, c. 290–c. 245 BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Alexander (9) (c. 290–c. 245 bce), son of *Craterus (2) and his successor as viceroy of *Corinth and *Euboea, declared himself independent in 249 (rather than 252) and allied himself with the *Achaean Confederacy. A short war with *Argos (1) and Macedonian forces from Athens ended with *Antigonus (2) Gonatas' recognition of his usurpation.

Article

Alexander the Great, reception of  

Diana Spencer

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 November 2019
Subjects:
  1. Christianity
  2. Greek History and Historiography
  3. Late Antiquity
  4. Near East
  5. Reception
  6. Roman History and Historiography
What makes Alexander Great? His story has captured the imagination of authors, artists, philosophers, and politicians across more than two millennia. He has provided a point of convergence for religious and spiritual thinkers, he has been co-opted as a champion for gender and sexual openness, he represents a paradigm for would-be charismatic dictators (and their opponents), he gives us scientific imperialism and justification for conquistadorial dreaming, and he exemplifies the risks of cultural appropriation. To understand why Alexander resonates so widely across so many different fields of study, interest groups, and media, is an exercise in reception. This Alexander who has captured the imagination is triumphantly equivocal and it is in the plurality of traditions through which this complexity is expressed that his enduring “greatness” lies. The imaginary quality of Alexander is unsurprising because more profoundly than for any comparable individual from classical antiquity, his history is a product of reception from the start: every encounter with Alexander the Great is part of a conversation that depends substantially on accounts and narrative evidence from long after his death, and at the least at one remove from the historians who first and contemporaneously chronicled his life and achievements.

Article

Alexander Jannaeus  

Katell Berthelot

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 November 2022
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
  2. Jewish Studies
Alexander Jannaeus was a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, a priestly family that ruled Judea from 152 to 63 bce. He became high priest and king in 104/3 bce and waged numerous wars that were both defensive and meant to enlarge Judea’s borders. It was under his rule that Judea’s territory reached its maximum extension. Yet both Josephus’s works and rabbinic writings convey a rather negative record of his rule, mainly because of the violent suppression of his Judean opponents. He ruled for roughly twenty-eight years (from 104 to 76 bce) and left his kingdom to his wife, Salome Alexandra, who became the first Judean queen.Alexander Jannaeus was a member of the Hasmonean dynasty, a priestly family that ruled Judea from 152 to 63bce—from 63 to 37bce they remained in charge to some extent, but under Roman supervision.1 Jannaeus was the son of John Hyrcanus.

Article

alliance, Greek  

P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Fundamentally, an agreement between states to fight together (symmachein) against a common enemy, so that the standard term is symmachia. Such alliances might be made either for a limited period or for all time. *Thucydides (2), 1. 44. 1, 5. 48. 2, distinguishes between a symmachia, as a full offensive and defensive alliance, and an epimachia, as a purely defensive alliance; but that use of the two terms is not widespread, and, for instance, the prospectus of the *Second Athenian Confederacy, which was a defensive alliance, consistently uses symmachein and cognate words (IG 22. 43 = RO no. 22). In a full offensive and defensive alliance it was commonly stated that the participating states were to ‘have the same friends and enemies’: that formulation might be used when the alliance was on an equal basis, but it could be adapted to circumstances in which one participant was inferior to the other, as in 404 bce when *Athens undertook both to have the same friends and enemies as *Sparta and to follow Sparta's lead.

Article

Alyattes  

Rosalind Thomas

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography

Alyattes, fourth *Lydian king (c.610–560 bce), of the house of *Gyges and father of *Croesus, finally drove back the *Cimmerians, extended Lydian control to the *Halys, and made war on Cyaxares the Mede (585), during which occurred a solar eclipse (supposedly foretold by *Thales). Peace was concluded with the marriage of Alyattes' daughter to Astyages. He continued Lydian campaigns against *Ionia, captured *Smyrna, but failed against *Clazomenae and *Miletus. Lydia prospered, electrum coinage was used for the first time (see coinage, greek), and there was increasing interaction with the Greeks. Alyattes built two temples to Athena near *Miletus and sent offerings to *Delphi; he has been seen as the founder of the Lydian empire. His vast burial mound, the largest at Bin Tepe, was praised by Herodotus (1. 93) and Strabo (13. 627), and is now excavated.

Article

Amadocus  

C. J. Tuplin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography

Amadocus, name of two Thracian kings (see thrace). (1), Odrysian Thracian king who offered Athens military support against Sparta (405 bce)—fruitlessly since Athenian generals refused co-operation with his intermediary, *Alcibiades. Associated with him was Seuthes, a protégé who, still loyal in 400 (when he employed *Xenophon (1)), became over-ambitious, but was reconciled when *Thrasybulus made both him and Amadocus Athenian allies (390/89 ).

Amadocus (2) fought with *Cersobleptes and Berisades for control of the Odrysian kingdom after Cotys' death, apparently established himself immediately east of the Nestos, and was finally eliminated by *Philip (1) II after 354 bce.

Article

Amphilochi  

Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Amphilochi, a tribe of NW Greece, occupying the wooded hill-country east of the gulf of Ambracia and controlling the narrow passage above the coast from *Acarnania and *Aetolia to *Ambracia. The only town, Amphilochian *Argos (2), claimed as its founders *Amphilochus, *Alcmaeon (1), or *Diomedes (1).

Article

Amynander  

Peter Sidney Derow

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Amynander, king of the *Athamanes, perhaps already from 220 bce (if he is the Amynas of Polyb. 4. 16. 9), and for many years junior partner in the kingship with Theodorus. An able diplomat, his policy was aimed at maintaining unity within his kingdom and independence from Macedon. In 209 he negotiated on behalf of the Aetolians with *Philip (3) V and in 205 was instrumental in arranging the Peace of Phoenice between Rome and Philip. In 200/199 he joined the Romans against Philip, helped to bring the *Aetolian Confederacy back into alliance with Rome, joined in T. *Quinctius Flamininus' diplomacy after the conference at Nicaea (1) (198/7), and fought at *Cynoscephalae (197). Feeling threatened, like many, by Rome's subsequent rapprochement with Philip, Amynander joined *Antiochus (3) III and the Aetolians against Rome (192/1). Driven from his kingdom by Philip (191), he fled to *Ambracia, persuaded the Ambraciotes to surrender to Rome, and regained his kingdom and peace with Rome (189).

Article

Amyntas (1), dynastic line of Macedonian kings  

Nicholas Geoffrey Lemprière Hammond

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography

Amyntas (1), dynastic name in the royal house of the Macedonians. The most famous bearer of the name, Amyntas III, king of Macedon c.393–370 bce, increased the power of his kingdom by withstanding the pressure of the Illyrians and the Dardanian king, *Bardylis I, and by astute diplomacy. He managed to ally himself with whatever Greek state became his most powerful neighbour: the Chalcidic Confederacy (RO no. 12; see chalcidice), the Spartans who destroyed the Chalcidic Confederacy, the Athenians when they replaced Sparta (Tod no. 129) and then *Jason (2) of Pherae. His consolidation of Macedonia and his example in diplomacy were important factors in the success of his son *Philip (1) II. see macedonia.

Article

Anacharsis  

Michael Gagarin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Anacharsis, a largely legendary *Scythian prince who came to exemplify the wise barbarian. Sometimes presented as an admirer of Greek ways (esp. those of *Sparta), he later typifies *barbarian criticism of Greek customs. (For Sparta see *Lucian's Anach.) He is said to have travelled extensively in Greece and elsewhere in the 6th cent. bce and gained a high reputation for wisdom. On his return to Scythia he was put to death for attempting to introduce the cult of Magna Mater (see cybele) to the Scythians. So much we are told by our earliest source, *Herodotus (1) (4. 76 f.), but even at this early date it is impossible to distinguish what, if anything, is historical in this legendary material. Later he was given a Greek mother and made a friend of *Solon (Diog. Laert. 1. 101–5), and was sometimes included among the *Seven Sages.

Article

Anaxilas (1), tyrant of Rhegium, 494–476 BCE  

Brian M. Caven

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography

Tyrant of *Rhegium (mod. Reggio), 494–476 bce. Of Messenian descent (see messenia); seized and recolonized Zancle on the death of *Hippocrates (1), renaming it *Messana (Messina). Leagued with Terillus of Himera and (c.483) Carthage against the growing power of *Gelon and *Theron, he was reconciled with Gelon after the defeat of *Hamilcar (1), his daughter marrying *Hieron (1). He was restrained from attacking *Locri Epizephyrii (477) by Hieron. A just and moderate ruler.

Article

Andriscus, of Adramyttion, d. c. 148 BCE  

R. M. Errington

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Andriscus of Adramyttio (d. c. 148 BCE), pretender to the Macedonian throne, claimed to be Philip, son of *Perseus (2), hence called ‘Pseudophilip’. *Demetrius (10) I of Syria, whom he asked for assistance, sent him to Rome, but he escaped to Asia Minor and received some encouragement from the Macedonian wife of the Pergamene prince Athenaeus. In Thrace he raised some troops from the chieftains Teres and Barsabas, with which he invaded Macedonia and quickly took control (149).