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Article

Persian Wars  

John F. Lazenby

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Term usually applied to the two Persian attempts to conquer Greece in 490 and 480/79 bce. The origins of the conflict go back to mainland Greek involvement in the rebellion of the Asiatic Greeks against Persian rule, earlier in the 5th cent. (See ionian revolt), but although *Herodotus (1) dramatizes their desire for revenge, the Persians already ruled many European Greeks in *Thrace and *Macedonia, and their primary reason for seeking to conquer the rest may well have been that their rule over existing Greek subjects would never be secure while others remained independent.The first attack was by sea. After ravaging *Naxos (1) and subduing other islands, forcing Carystus (see euboea) to terms, and taking *Eretria by treachery, an invasion-force eventually reached *Marathon, where it was confronted by an army of Athenians and Plataeans (see plataea).

Article

Peucestas  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Peucestas, son of Alexander, Macedonian, came to prominence in 326/5 bce when he saved the life of *Alexander (3) the Great at the Malli town (in southern Punjab) and was promoted to the élite bodyguard. Appointed satrap of Persis (325/4 ) he won Alexander's commendation (and the army's reprobation) by adopting Persian mores and language. Subsequently confirmed in office at Babylon (323) and Triparadeisus (321), he led the coalition of satraps which resisted the ambitions of Peithon in Central Asia (319/18). Relinquishing authority grudgingly to *Eumenes (3), he played an important part (somewhat invidiously reported by Eumenes' encomiast, *Hieronymus (1)) in the great campaign in Iran. Finally he surrendered to *Antigonus (1) (early 316), who removed him from Persis but apparently retained him in his service. He was active in *Caria (c.

Article

Phaeax  

Howard Hayes Scullard and P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

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

Phaeax, Athenian politician. First mentioned in Ar. Eq.1377–80; in 422 bce he was sent to *Sicily in an attempt to reopen the opportunities for Athenian involvement which had been closed at the congress of *Gela (424), but had little success (Thuc. 5. 4–5). He is best known for the assertion by *Theophrastus that it was not *Nicias (1) but he who combined with Alcibiades to secure the *ostracism of *Hyperbolus (cf. Plut.Nic. 11, Alc. 13). The speech preserved as *Andocides 4, Against Alcibiades, was written in the character of Phaeax with reference to that ostracism: its authenticity continues to be disputed.

Article

Phaedrus (2), Athenian strategos, mid-late 3rd cent. BCE  

R. M. Errington

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Phaedrus (2), son of Thymochares, Athenian from the *deme of Sphettos (d. after c.258 bce). Member of a rich *mine-working family with a tradition of active political participation, Phaedrus' career is known only from an honorary decree, passed in his lifetime in the 250s (IG 22. 682). He was twice general for equipment under *Lachares (296/5 and 295/4), several times home-defence general (see stratēgoi), and twice mercenary general (dates unknown). During the revolution of 287 he was hoplite general and cooperated with his brother *Callias (6), who was in Ptolemaic service (see ptolemy(1)), and the Ptolemaic admiral Sostratus to supply the city, expel *Demetrius (4)'s garrison and negotiate the subsequent peace agreement, which he then recommended in the assembly. The next year he was the first hoplite general freely elected by the restored democracy. Subsequently he negotiated a subsidy of 50 talents from *Ptolemy (1) I, was agonothete (festival organizer) and fulfilled all liturgies (see liturgy (greek)).

Article

Phalaecus  

C. J. Tuplin

Article

Publication History:

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

Phocian *stratēgos (see phocis). Son or nephew of *Onomarchus, he succeeded *Phayllus (2) alongside another relative, Mnaseas (351), who was soon killed, leaving Phalaecus in control. Military success sometimes eluded him, Phocis became vulnerable to Boeotian invasion (see thebes(1))—but by 347 he had captured *Orchomenus (1), *Coronea, and Corsiae and helped Clitarchus in *Euboea. As with Onomarchus, success provoked self-seeking Macedonian intervention. Phocian opponents reacted by deposing him, but he quickly regained power and (distrusting his external allies) ended the Third *Sacred War by negotiating safe-passage out of Nicaea (346). Strategic control of eastern *Locris thus only protected leader and army, while Phocis endured Amphictionic and Macedonian revenge (see amphictiony; macedonia). The mercenaries found employment in Crete and Phalaecus accidentally burned to death in a siege-machine at Cydonia.

Article

phalanx  

John F. Lazenby

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
In Homer the word is usually in the plural and means ‘ranks’, but in the singular it came to mean the close-packed formation characteristic of Archaic and Classical hoplites. It usually formed eight deep, but as early as *Delion (424 bce) the Thebans (see thebes(1)) were twenty-five deep (Thuc. 4. 9 (?)), and at *Leuctra (371 bce) fifty deep (Xen.Hell. 6. 4. 12). Though inflexible and unwieldy and thus vulnerable if caught on rough ground or attacked in flank or rear, the phalanx was extremely formidable when driving forward, as the Persians found to their cost, and in the hands of the Spartans not even as cumbersome as it might seem. By articulating it down to units of 30–40 men, and by training, the Spartans were able to wheel wings forward at right angles to the main line of advance, or back behind the rest of the phalanx so as to double its depth, and even to countermarch it to face an attack from the rear; they also developed a technique for dealing with the threat of missile-armed troops—ordering the younger men in the front ranks to charge out and drive off the enemy (cf. e.g. Xen. Hell.

Article

Phalaris, of Acragas  

Brian M. Caven

Article

Publication History:

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

Phalaris, of *Acragas (Agrigento), the first important Sicilian tyrant (c.570–c.549). Of Rhodian descent (see rhodes), he exploited a building contract on the acropolis to acquire a body of adherents, seized the acropolis and disarmed the ruling aristocracy. Probably enlisting mercenaries, he attacked the native Sicans and created an empire that stretched to the north coast with the acquisition of *Himera (near Termini Imerese), threatened perhaps by its *Phoenician neighbours. He fortified Acragas and enlarged its territory, taking in and fortifying the Ecnomus (Licata) promontory. He ruled for 16 years, and was then overthrown (by the great-grandfather of *Theron). A by-word in antiquity for cruelty (he was said to have roasted his enemies alive in a brazen bull), he established the pattern of Sicilian *tyranny—militarist and imperialistic—for the future.

Article

Phanodemus  

Phillip Harding

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Phanodemus, son of Diyllus, Athenian atthidographer (see atthis) and father of the historian *Diyllus, was born before 374/3 bce, since he was a bouleutēs (see boulē) in 344/3 (IG 22. 223). He was crowned in 343/2 for his service to the *dēmos (people). His next post may have been governor of the island of Icos, of which he wrote a history (Ikiaka). Probably, therefore, he agreed with the confrontational policy of *Demosthenes (2) towards Macedon. His later association with *Lycurgus (3) (Jacoby calls him his ‘minister of public works and education’) and other leading politicians of Athens after the battle of *Chaeronea (IG 7. 4252–4) confirms this impression. But his interest was more in cult than politics. He was especially involved with the cult of *Amphiaraus at *Oropus, but was also hieropoios for the Pythais to *Delphi in 330 (that is, he had responsibility for the Athenian delegation to the festival at Delphi, see pythian games).

Article

Phayllus (1), Crotonian athlete, early 5th cent. BCE  

Frederick Adam Wright and Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

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

An athlete (see athletics) from *Croton who gained three victories in the Pythian Games and also fought at Salamis (480 bce; see salamis, battle of) in a ship which he fitted out at his own expense. He is presumed to be the athlete of this name who is said in an epigram (Anth. Pal., appendix 297) to have jumped 16.8 m. (55 ft.).

Article

Phayllus (2), Phocian strategos, d. 351 BCE  

C. J. Tuplin

Article

Publication History:

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

Phayllus (2), Phocian *stratēgos (see phocis). First attested as his brother *Onomarchus' lieutenant in 354. Defeated in *Thessaly by *Philip (1) II, he inherited the Phocian command after the battle of the Crocus Field (353). Philip's immediate interest was in Thessaly, not central Greece, which gave Phayllus time to organize his allies to defend *Thermopylae against the Macedonians' eventual advance (353/2) and—like Onomarchus after Neon—restore Phocian fortunes in the Third *Sacred War by assembling a new mercenary army (at double pay). Despite three serious defeats in *Boeotia (352) and an unsuccessful night-battle at Abae (351), he retained authority and established complete control of Epicnemidian *Locris (351), only to succumb to an unidentified illness.

Article

Pheidon  

Richard Allan Tomlinson

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Pheidon, king of *Argos (1), who ended up as a tyrant (Arist.Pol. 1310b). According to *Herodotus (1) (6. 127) he acted ‘with the most *hubris of all the Greeks’, and drove out the *Elian organizers of the *Olympian Games, presiding himself; he also established, perhaps standardized, Peloponnesian *weights and *measures. Beyond this, the tradition, mostly late, is diffuse and unhelpful. His reign is most probably dated to the early 7th cent. bce (? 680–660), to coincide plausibly with the height of Argive power, a defeat of Sparta at Hysiae (669/8). *Pausanias (3) dates his interference at *Olympia to 748 (6. 22. 2) but a plausible emendation would give 668. Herodotus' placing of a ‘son of Pheidon’ amongst Agariste's wooers, c.575 (see cleisthenes(1)), may merely represent the distortions of folk-tale (6. 127). It is now clear that the attribution to Pheidon of the first Greek *coinage in the later sources is anachronistic and need have no bearing on his dating (see Kraay, CAH 42.

Article

Pherecydes (2), of Athens, 'the geneaologist'  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

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

Pherecydes (2) of Athens, ‘the genealogist’ (later confused with (1)), wrote copious Histories mythical and genealogical, commended by Dion. Hal.Ant. Rom. 1. 13. 1. *Eusebius' date for him is 456 bce (Olympiad 81. 1).

Article

Philetaerus (2), founder of the Attalid dynasty, c. 343–263 BCE  

Guy Thompson Griffith and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

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

Son of Attalus (a Macedonian?) and a Paphlagonian mother, founder of the Attalid dynasty (see pergamum). First an officer of *Antigonus (1) (before 302), and next commander of Pergamum for *Lysimachus, who kept a large treasure there, he deserted opportunely to *Seleucus (1) (282), and henceforth was ruler of Pergamum under *Seleucid suzerainty. He enlarged his territories to include much of the Caïcus valley, was a benefactor of Greek cities (e.g. *Cyzicus: OGI748= Austin194 and *Cyme, SEG 50 (2000), 1195), and defended Pergamum from the Galatian invaders of Asia Minor (278–276). He adopted his nephews, one of whom (*Eumenes (1)) succeeded him. He was himself said to be a *eunuch.

Article

Philinus (2), of Acragas, pro-Carthaginian historian of the First Punic War  

Brian M. Caven

Article

Publication History:

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

(See Polybius 1. 14); used by *Polybius (1) and perhaps by *Diodorus (3). He is the authority for the so-called Treaty of Philinus of 306, between Rome and *Carthage, rejected by Polybius (3. 26. 3) and by some modern historians, but accepted as authentic by others.

Article

Philip (1) II, son of Amyntas, king of Macedon, c. 382–336 BCE  

Manuela Mari

Article

Publication History:

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

Under Philip II, son of Amyntas III, king of Macedon between 360/59 and 336 bce, one of the greatest transformations in ancient Greek history took place. What had so far been a peripheral area gained hegemony over most of the Greek world. The historical premises for the conquest of the Persian empire and the birth of the Hellenistic world were established, as Philip planned the Greek-Macedonian campaign against Persia, which was led, after his death, by his son Alexander III (“the Great”). Philip left his successors the permanent heritage of a revolutionary military reform, an effective ruling class, and a hegemonic system based on the combination of royal government and civic autonomy.

Ancient authors associated the age of Philip II and Alexander (3) “the Great” with one of the most impressive turning points in ancient history. In little more than thirty years a previously irrelevant region first gained the leadership of the entire Greek world, then conquered a veritable world empire. Such an impressive development was hard to imagine at the time when Philip took power.

Article

Philip (2) Arrhidaeus, c. 357–317 BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Son of *Philip (1) II and Philinna of Larissa. Mentally impaired, he left no trace in the tradition of Philip (1) II's and Alexander (3) the Great's reigns and came unexpectedly to prominence in June 323 when the Macedonian phalanx troops found him at Babylon and proclaimed him Alexander's successor. Joint ruler with the infant *Alexander (4) IV, he assumed the regnal name Philip (III) and became a cipher in the hands successively of *Perdiccas (3), who had him marry his cousin Adea (*Eurydice, 2), *Antipater (1) and *Polyperchon. He came to grief in 317, when his wife usurped his authority against the regent Polyperchon and was defeated and captured. *Olympias had him murdered (October 317); but his memory was honoured by *Cassander, who reinterred his and his wife's remains. Some have identified their burial place as the controversial Tomb II at Vergina (see aegae).

Article

Philip (3) V, 238–179 BCE  

Peter Sidney Derow

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
King of Macedon, son of *Demetrius (6) II and Phthia (Chryseis) and adopted by *Antigonus (3) Doson, whom he succeeded in summer 221. He quickly showed that his youth did not betoken weakness in Macedon, initially against the *Dardani and others in the north. The *Social War (2) (220–217), in which he led the Hellenic League against *Aetolia, *Sparta, and *Elis, saw him establish his own authority in the face of intrigues amongst his ministers and brought him considerable renown at home and abroad. After the Peace of Naupactus (217), he sought to take advantage of Rome's discomfiture in Italy and to replace Roman with Macedonian influence along the eastern shore of the *Adriatic: first by sea with limited success (after an aborted expedition in 216 he lost his fleet in 214) and later by land with considerably more (he captured Lissus on the Adriatic in 213).

Article

Philistus, of Syracuse, c. 430–356 BCE  

Klaus Meister

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Friend, adviser, officer, and historian of *Dionysius (1) I and *(2) II. He successfully supported Dionysius I in his bid for power in 406/5 (T3) and served for a long time as commander of the tyrants' stronghold in Ortygia (T 5c). He was exiled for personal reasons in c.386 and on his return put in charge of the organization of colonies along the Adriatic coast (T 5a). He served as Dionysius II's political adviser and nauarchos (‘admiral’, T 9b). A staunch opponent of *Plato (1)'s and *Dion's reforms (T 5c and 7), he died in 356 in the fight against the insurgent Syracusans, maybe through suicide (T 9c).The History of Sicily (Sicelica) contained two syntaxeis (parts), covering the time from the mythical beginnings until 363/2. The seven books of the first part brought the narrative down to the capture of .

Article

Philochorus, c. 340–260 BCE  

Phillip Harding

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Philochorus (c. 340–260 bce), son of Cycnus, was a truly Hellenistic man. The mini-biography of him in the *Suda reveals a man of religion (he was official prophet and diviner in 306), a patriot, who was arrested and put to death by *Antigonus (2) Gonatas for supporting *Ptolemy (1) II Philadelphus at the time of the Chremonidean War (see chremonides), and a scholar-historian, who wrote at least twenty-seven works, of which the most famous was his *Atthis. His scholarly interests ranged from local history (of *Attica, *Delos and *Salamis (1)) to chronography (Olympiads), cult (monographs on Prophecy, Sacrifices, Festivals, and the Mysteries at Athens) and literature (studies on *Euripides and *Alcman). He was the last atthidographer (see atthis) and the most respected, to judge from the number of times his work was cited. Jacoby considered him ‘the first scholar’ to write an Atthis, though this may be unfair to his predecessors.

Article

Philocrates  

C. J. Tuplin

Article

Publication History:

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

Philocrates, Athenian politician, already active in the 350s bce, but principally connected with the Atheno-Macedonian peace of 346. An attempt at negotiations in 348 was thwarted by a *graphē paranomōn, though *Demosthenes (2) secured Philocrates' acquittal. In 346 he proposed crucial decrees authorizing despatch of the first embassy, acceptance of peace and alliance by Athens and her allies, and extension of the treaty to *Philip (1) II's descendants and political abandonment of Phocis, and served on associated embassies. Athenian dissatisfaction with the outcome exposed him to prosecution by *Hyperides for *bribery—alleged evidence included commercial ventures involving wheat and *timber (a major Macedonian commodity), house-building, income from land provided by Philip, and ostentatious sexual and gastronomic self-indulgence—and he fled into exile (343).