Greek History and Historiography

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Article

Achaean Confederacy, Greek  

R. M. Errington

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Achaean Confederacy, federal organization developed by the twelve Achaean cities (see achaea) united in the cult of Zeus Hamarios. First mentioned in 453 bce as Athenian allies, Achaea's independence was guaranteed in 446 (*Thirty Years Peace). In the Peloponnesian War neutrality proved impossible and Achaea fell into Sparta's sphere of influence. Common citizenship existed by 389, when it had already been extended to non-Achaean Calydon. In the 4th cent. coins were issued. Polybius (2. 41. 4–6) claimed the ‘democratic’ constitution of his own time for the early confederacy, but since in 367 the ruling class was exiled and democracy installed (Xen. Hell. 7. 1. 43) this cannot be accurate, unless the two sources mean different things by ‘democracy’. The confederacy was dissolved sometime before its revival in 281/280. It then exploited the political vacuum in Greece after the collapse of the empire of *Demetrius (4) Poliorcetes, soon expanded beyond Achaea, and under the leadership of *Aratus (2) of Sicyon developed a locally expansionist anti-Macedonian policy in the 240s and 230s.

Article

Achaeus(3), d. 213 BCE  

Guy Thompson Griffith and Susan Mary Sherwin-White

Article

Publication History:

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

Achaeus (3) (d. 213 BCE), viceroy for *Antiochus (3) III of Seleucid Asia Minor and his kinsman (maternal uncle), probably the grandson of the Seleucid official Achaeus the Elder. In 223/2 he recovered Seleucid possessions in Anatolia from *Pergamum; exploiting Antiochus' involvement in the east (Molon's revolt and war against *Ptolemy (1) IV), he proclaimed himself king (220). His soldiers refused to fight Antiochus, but he maintained power until the king was free to quell his rebellion. After a two-year siege in Sardis, he was captured and duly executed as a traitor.

Article

Aegina  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

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

Aegina, island in Saronic Gulf, inhabited from late neolithic times and in contact with Minoan Crete and Mycenae. Early in the first millennium bce it was resettled by Greeks from Epidaurus (Hdt. 8. 46, 5. 43); protogeometric pottery indicates links with Attica and the Argolid. Aegina belonged to the Calaurian *amphictiony (Strabo 8. 6. 14; see calauria). It was not a great colonizing power, though Aeginetans participated at *Naucratis (Hdt. 2. 178), and are said to have colonized Kydonia (mod. Chania) on Crete, and Italian Umbria (Strabo 8. 6. 16; see atria; spina). Certainly Aeginetan connections with central Italy are attested c.500 bce by a dedication at Gravisca (Etruria) by the wealthy Sostratus of Aegina (Jeffery, LSAG 2 p. 439 + Hdt. 4. 152). The scale of Aegina's trade is indicated by its population of perhaps 40,000 (Figueira; reduced to 20,000 by Hansen) on territory which could support only 4,000 from its own agricultural resources. Aegina struck coins early.

Article

Aegospotami  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

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

‘Goat’s rivers’ in the *Hellespont, probably an open beach somewhere opposite *Lampacus, scene of the final and decisive sea-battle of the *Peloponnesian war, a victory over the Athenians by the Spartans under *Lysander (405). *Alcibiades, in exile in Thrace, had warned the Athenian generals (who included *Conon (1)) of the dangers of their exposed position, and may even have offered military help in the form of Thracians; but he was rebuffed. The accounts of how the battle started cannot be reconciled, but it is clear that, after several days of inactivity, the Athenians were caught with most of their ships unmanned.

Article

Aeneas Tacticus  

David Whitehead

Article

Publication History:

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

Aeneas (Aineias) Tacticus, probably the Stymphalian general of the Arcadian koinon (see arcadian league) in 367 bce (Xen. Hell. 7. 3. 1); anyway the earlies (-surviving) and most historically interesting of the ancient military writers (tactici). Of several treatises only his Siegecraft (Poliorcetica) is extant, internally datable to the mid-4th cent. via the clustering of contemporary illustrations of its precepts (and linguistically important for its embryo form of the koinē). Concerned more with defence against than prosecution of siege-warfare, it offers unique insights into the stresses of life in small communities with warfare and revolution constantly threatening. See siegecraft, greek.

Article

Aeschines (2) Socraticus  

Michael Gagarin

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
  2. Greek Literature
  3. Philosophy

(4th cent. bce), of the *deme of Sphettus in Attica, a devoted follower of *Socrates, was present at his trial and death. He wrote speeches for the lawcourts and taught oratory, but fell into poverty and took refuge at the court in *Syracuse, returning to Athens after the expulsion of *Dionysius (2) II in 356. Best known as the author of Socratic dialogues which resemble *Xenophon (1)'s more than *Plato (1)'s, Aeschines was apparently not an original thinker, and his Socrates expounds common ethical views. Although only fragments survive today, seven dialogues were considered genuine in antiquity: Alcibiades, Axiochus, Aspasia, Callias, Miltiades, Rhinon, Telauges. The first of these was partly intended to defend Socrates against charges of corrupting the young *Alcibiades. The dialogues of Aeschines were highly esteemed for their style and their faithfulness to Socrates' character and conversational manner.

Article

Aetolian Confederacy  

Peter Sidney Derow

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
The looser tribal organization of the Aetolians of NW Greece gave way during the 4th cent. bce to a *federal state, or league, which soon acquired considerable power. This increased dramatically in the first part of the 3rd cent. bce, owing to the Aetolians' role in the victory over the invading Gauls (280/79) and their control of the Delphic *amphictiony which soon followed (from 277). Normally hostile to Macedon, they became allies of Rome against *Philip (3) V of Macedon in 212 or 211 bce, Rome's first allies in mainland Greece. After a period of estrangement they allied themselves with Rome against Philip once again (199 bce), but such was their feeling of ill-treatment at the hands of the Romans in the aftermath of Philip's defeat at *Cynoscephalae (197 bce) that they went on to make common cause with the Seleucid king *Antiochus (3) III.

Article

Agatharchides, of Cnidus, Greek historian, geographer, and Peripatetic philosopher, c. 215–after 145 BCE  

Kenneth S. Sacks

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Ancient Geography
  2. Greek History and Historiography
  3. Philosophy

Who lived most of his adult life in *Alexandria (1), eventually leaving, perhaps in flight to Athens after 145. He was not, as previously believed, regent to *Ptolemy (1) IX but was in the service of *Heraclides (3) Lembus. His major works, for which there are fragmentary remains, include: Asian Affairs (Τὰ κατὰ τὴν Ἀσίαν), probably a universal history that extended to the *Diadochi; European Affairs (Τὰ κατὰ τὴν Εὐρώπην), perhaps to his own time; and On the Red Sea (Περὶ τῆς Ἐρυθρᾶς θαλάσσης) in five books (some preserved by Diodorus, bk. 3, and Photius). These large-scale histories, interlaced with *anthropology and *geography, provided a model for *Posidonius (2). He attacked the Asianic prose style, and *Photius calls him a worthy disciple of *Thucydides (2) in expression. He may have voiced hostility toward the Ptolemies, from whom he may have fled.

Article

Agathocles (1), tyrant  

Klaus Meister

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Agathocles (1) tyrant, later king of *Syracuse, born 361/0 bce in Thermae, Sicily. His father Carcinus, an exile from *Rhegium, received Syracusan citizenship under *Timoleon343/2 and owned a large pottery manufactory. The young Agathocles took part in various military enterprises and early on nurtured political ambitions. The oligarchy of six hundred that ruled Syracuse after Timoleon's death distrusted the active young man with popular tendencies and he was banished c.330. During his exile he attempted to obtain a power base in southern Italy, operating as a condottiere in *Croton or *Tarentum. He successfully relieved Rhegium when it was besieged by the six hundred, thereby toppling the oligarchy. Recalled by the people in Syracuse he was exiled again after the oligarchs had been reinstated. Subsequently he threatened the oligarchs and their Carthaginian allies (see carthage) with a private army of mercenaries from the Sicilian inland. Hamilcar changed sides and through his mediation Agathocles was able to return to Syracuse and in 319/8 was made ‘stratēgos with absolute power in the cities of Sicily’ (FGrH239 B 12).

Article

age classes  

Robert Sallares

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
A method of social and political organization in *Sparta and Crete in the Classical period. Traces of analogous institutions in other Greek states permit the hypothesis that age-class systems played an important role in the development of the *polis throughout the Greek world in earlier periods. In the Spartan *agōgē (educational system) boys were removed from their parents at the age of 7 and allocated in annual age classes (bouai, ‘herds’) to tutors who were responsible for their upbringing. At 12 the boys entered pederastic relationships with young adults (e.g. *Agesilaus and *Lysander). The *krypteia, a head-hunting ritual with a police function, occurred at initiation into adulthood, after which all members of each age class married simultaneously. Age-class control of marriage, along with segregation of the sexes until the age of 30, probably had important demographic consequences linked to Sparta's manpower problems. Completion of the various stages of the system, which also provided the basis for military organization, conferred political rights and duties. In old age some individuals obtained considerable political power through membership of the *gerousia (council of elders).

Article

Agesilaus II, Spartan king of the Eurypontid house, c. 445–359 BCE  

Paul Cartledge

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
30 July 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Agesilaus II (c. 445–359 bce), Spartan king of the junior, *Eurypontid line. Son of *Archidamus II by his second wife, he was not expected to succeed his older half-brother *Agis II and so went through the prescribed educational curriculum (*agōgē) like any other Spartan boy. In 400 he unexpectedly secured the succession, with the aid of his former lover *Lysander, ahead of Agis' son Leotychidas, whose parentage was suspect (rumour had it that his true father was the exiled *Alcibiades).The first king to be sent on campaign in Asia, where his proclaimed aim was to liberate the Greeks from Persian suzerainty, Agesilaus achieved some success against the Persian viceroys *Pharnabazus and *Tissaphernes in 396–5 before his enforced recall to face a coalition of Sparta's Greek enemies in central and southern Greece. The battle of *Coronea (394) was a Pyrrhic victory, and, despite some minor successes of his around *Corinth and in *Acarnania (391–388), the coalition was defeated not on land by Agesilaus but at sea by the Spartan *nauarchos*Antalcidas with a Persian-financed fleet.

Article

Agis II, Spartan king of the Eurypontid house, c. 427–400 BCE  

Paul Cartledge

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
(the first to be given a name belonging naturally to the *Agiads) from c.427 to 400 bce; he was son of *Archidamus II by his first wife. He achieved widespread prominence in 418, as nominal victor of the Battle of *Mantinea, a success that both stilled powerful domestic criticism of his leadership and restored Sparta's authority in the Peloponnese and outside. In 413, perhaps glad to escape scandal on his own doorstep, he was appointed general commanding the Peloponnesian forces in central Greece, and permanently occupied a fortified base actually within Athens' borders at *Decelea. The centre of the *Peloponnesian War, however, shifted to Asia, and Agis' role in the eventual reduction of Athens by siege in 404 was subsidiary to that of *Lysander. In the aftermath of victory Agis voted for the condemnation of his Agiad fellow king *Pausanias (2) on a charge of high treason.

Article

Agis III, Spartan king, 338–330? BCE  

Albert Brian Bosworth

Article

Publication History:

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

Agis III, king of Sparta (338–?330 bce), *Eurypontid. Ascending the throne at a time of humiliation, when Sparta had lost her borderlands to *Philip (1) II of Macedon, he devoted himself to reviving his city's fortunes. Inconclusive intrigues with the Persian commanders in the Aegean (333) led to intervention in *Crete, where he attracted 8,000 Greek mercenaries, refugees from *Issus. With their support he declared open war in the Peloponnese during (it seems) summer 331. *Elis, *Tegea, and the *Achaean Confederacy joined his cause, but the Athenians fatally stood aloof. *Antipater (1) was able to raise a coalition army 40,000 strong, profiting from the common detestation of Spartan expansionism, and relieved the siege of *Megalopolis. Agis suffered a crushing defeat. He died heroically, but left Sparta enfeebled beyond redemption.

Article

Agis IV, c. 262–241 BCE  

Paul Cartledge

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Agis IV (c. 262–241 bce), son of Eudamidas, ascended the *Eurypontid throne in c. 244, at a time of domestic crisis. Concentration of estates in a few hands, heavy indebtedness of the majority, depletion of citizen numbers, and desuetude of the ancient civic regimen were ills he proposed to remedy by an alleged return to the aboriginal ‘Lycurgan’ order (see lycurgus (2)). But the cure proved as dangerous as the diseases. Opposition was overcome by impeaching and forcing into exile his fellow king Leonidas, driving an uncle into exile, and unprecedentedly deposing a board of *ephors. The reforms were apparently passed but could not be implemented before Leonidas staged a counter-coup while Agis was abroad assisting his allies of the *Achaean Confederacy against Aetolia (see aetolian confederacy) and had him executed by the ephors on his return. High-minded but impractical, he fell before more astute political operators. His death became the legend around which a new generation rallied (see cleomenes (2) iii).

Article

agōgē  

Stephen Hodkinson and Antony Spawforth

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Gender Studies
  2. Greek History and Historiography
The Spartan public upbringing (never in fact so-called in surviving writers of the 5th and 4th cents. bce). Its reconstruction is bedevilled by poor and conflicting sources and modern debate over how far the reconstituted ‘customs (ethē) of *Lycurgus (2)’ of Roman Sparta reflect continuity with the Classical past. The Classical upbringing seems to have been a public system running parallel (Ducat, below) to any private arrangements for the more conventional education of young Spartans and incorporating archaic elements, especially ones based on *initiation. It was supervised by the paidonomos (‘boy-herdsman’), and embraced males aged 7–29. Only the immediate heirs to the kingships (see agiads; eurypontids) were exempt. There were three general stages, the paides (boys), paidiskoi (bigger boys), and hēbōntes (young men), probably representing ages 7–13, 14–19, and 20–29; among the paidiskoi (for sure), individual year-classes were separately named. The paides were trained in austerity, obedience, and mock battles by older youths within subdivisions of age-mates called variously in the sources ilai or agelai, sometimes with their own internal leadership, sometimes led by older youths.

Article

Agyrrhius, Athenian politician, fl. c. 405–373 BCE  

P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Agyrrhius (fl. c. 405–373 BCE). Athenian politician, introduced payment of one obol for attending the assembly (see ekklesia), and later increased it from two obols to three; sometimes, but probably wrongly, thought to have introduced the *theōrika. He spent some years in prison as a debtor to the state, but must have resumed political activity afterwards, since a corn law proposed by him in 374/3 has recently been discovered (RO no.

Article

Alcibiades, 451/450–404/403 BCE  

Henry Dickinson Westlake and P. J. Rhodes

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
07 March 2016
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Alcibiades (451/0–404/3 BCE), son of Cleinias, Athenian general and politician. Brought up in the household of his guardian *Pericles (1), he became the pupil and intimate friend of *Socrates. A flamboyant aristocrat, he competed in politics with the new-style *demagogues, and his ambitious imperialism drew Athens into a coalition with *Argos (1) and other enemies of *Sparta. This policy, half-heartedly supported by the Athenians, was largely discredited by the Spartan victory at *Mantinea (418). Though Alcibiades temporarily allied with *Nicias (1) to avoid *ostracism, the two were normally adversaries and rivals, and when Alcibiades sponsored the plan for a major Sicilian expedition, Nicias unsuccessfully opposed it. Both were appointed, together with *Lamachus, to command this expedition (415). After the mutilation of the *herms, Alcibiades had been accused of involvement in other religious scandals, and soon after the fleet reached Sicily he was recalled for trial. He escaped, however, to Sparta, where he encouraged the Spartans to send a general to Syracuse, and to establish a permanent Spartan post at *Decelea in Attica (which was eventually done in 413).

Article

Alcidas  

Simon Hornblower

Article

Publication History:

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

Alcidas, Spartan commander in the early part of the *Peloponnesian War, failed to help *Mytilene in its revolt from Athens 428–7 and treated prisoners brutally (Thuc. 3. 17, 29–33) so creating doubts about Sparta's role as ‘liberator’ (the role: Thuc. 2. 8). He reappears as commander at *Corcyra, though with *Brasidas as ‘adviser’ (3. 69–80); and finally as a *founder of *Heraclea (4) in Trachis, perhaps chosen because of his religiously appropriate name (Alcides = *Heracles), though *Thucydides (2) characteristically does not say so. But the colony failed, not least because of Spartan harshness—another hit at Alcidas (Thuc. 3. 92–3, echoing 3. 32. 2, cf. 5. 52; Thucydides' repeated language makes the point that behaviour like Alcidas' damaged Sparta's image).

Article

Alcmaeonidae  

Rosalind Thomas

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
Alcmaeonidae, a noble Athenian family prominent in politics. Its first eminent member was Megacles, who as archon (see archontes), perhaps in 632/1 bce, involved it in a hereditary *curse (see cylon). This led to an immediate, first expulsion of both the family and its ancestral bones (Thuc. 1. 126). The family fortunes were haunted by this curse, so later traditions are tendentious, but its importance should not be underplayed. Lacking a family cult (Davies), they were particularly vulnerable and apparently counteracted the damage ingeniously by other means, including later claims to be ‘tyrant-haters’. They are already back with Alcmaeon, Megacles' son and their eponymous ancestor, who commanded the Athenian contingent in the First *Sacred War. Herodotus relates (perhaps with mischievous irony: Strasburger) how Alcmaeon was rewarded handsomely by *Croesus for assisting him at *Delphi (6. 125) and was thus able to win a chariot victory at *Olympia (592?); *Megacles, his son, further enhanced family renown by marrying the daughter of *Cleisthenes (1), tyrant of Sicyon, but his attempt to marry his own daughter to *Pisistratus backfired, partly because of the curse (Hdt.

Article

alcoholism, Greek  

John Maxwell O'Brien and Barney Rickenbacker

Article

Publication History:

Published online:
22 December 2015
Subjects:
  1. Greek History and Historiography
  2. Greek Literature
  3. Greek Material Culture
The ancient Greeks were unfamiliar with modern concepts of alcoholism, but they were well aware of self-destructive drinking and the effects of habitual drunkenness. In the Odyssey, *Homer makes a speaker note that wine is a bane to those who drink it excessively, and identify overindulgence as the cause of the *Centaur Eurytion's vile behaviour (21. 293–8). In *Hades, Homer's Elpenor admits that heavy drinking was a key factor in his fatal plunge from *Circe's roof (Od. 11. 61). *Pythagoras (1) is credited with the dictum that drinking to achieve drunkenness is a training-ground for madness, and he advises drunkards to take an unflinching look at their inebriate behaviour if they wish to alter it (Stob. Flor. 3. 18. 23, 33). In the Republic, *Plato (1) writes about men who welcome any excuse to drink whatever wine is available (475a). *Aristotle's treatise On Drunkenness has been lost, but his extant works confirm an abiding interest in wine's pernicious effects.