Listed 100 (total found 592) sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "PELOPONNISOS Region GREECE" .
CHILIOMODI (Village) TENEA
1925
1927
Politician.
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
Adeimantus (Adeimantos). The son of Ocytus, the Corinthian commander in the invasion
of Greece by Xerxes. Before the battle of Artemisium he threatened to sail away,
but was bribed by Themistocles to remain. He opposed Themistocles with great insolence
in the council which the commanders held before the battle of Salamis. According
to the Athenians he took to flight at the very commencement of the battle, but
this was denied by the Corinthians and the other Greeks. (Herod. viii. 5, 56,
61, 94; Plut. Them. 11)
Ariston, son of Pyrrhichus, a Corinthian, one of those apparently who made their way into Syracuse in the second year of the Sicilian expedition, 414 B. C., is named once by Thucydides, in his account of the sea-fight preceding the arrival of the second armament (413 B. C.), and styled the most skilful steersman on the side of the Syracusans. He suggested to them the stratagem of retiring early, giving the men their meal on the shore, and then renewing the combat unexpectedly, which in that battle gave them their first naval victory. (vii. 39; comp. Polyaen. v. 13.) Plutarch (Nicias, 20, 25) and Diodorus (xiii. 10) ascribe to him further the invention or introduction at Syracuse of the important alterations in the build of their galleys' bows, mentioned by Thucydides (vii. 34), and said by him to have been previously used by the Corinthians in the action off Erineus. Plutarch adds, that he fell when the victory was just won, in the last and decisive sea-fight.
But in this nick of time and crisis of their peril Gongylus came to them from Corinth with a single trireme. All flocking to meet him, as was natural, he told them that Gylippus would come speedily, and that other ships of war were sailing to their aid.
Gongylus. A Corinthian captain, who in the eighteenth year of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 414, took charge of a single ship of reinforcements for Syracuse. He left Leucas after Gylippus, but, sailing direct for Syracuse itself, arrived there first. It was a critical juncture: the besieged were on the point of holding an assembly for discussion of terms of surrender. His arrival, and his news of the approach of Gylippus, put a stop to all thought of this; the Syracusans took heart, and presently moved out to support the advance of their future deliverer. Thucydides seems to regard this as the moment of the turn of the tide. On the safe arrival of Gongylus at that especial crisis depended the issue of the Sicilian expedition, and with it the destiny of Syracuse, Athens, and all Greece. Gongylus fell, says Plutarch, in the first battle on Epipolae, after the arrival of Gylippus. (Thuc. vii. 2; Plut. Nicias, 19.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
Agesandridas, the son of Agesander (comp. Thuc. i. 139), the commander of the Lacedaemonian fleet sent to protect the revolt of Euboea in B. C. 411, was attacked by the Athenians near Eretria, and obtained a victory over them. (Thuc. viii. 91, 94, 95.)
Hegesandridas or Agesandridas, (Hegesandridas, Xen.; Agesandridas, Thuc.), son of an Hegesander or Agesander, perhaps the same who is mentioned (Thuc. i. 139) as a member of the last Spartan embassy sent to Athens before the Peloponnesian war, was himself, in its twenty-first year, B. C. 411, placed in command of a fleet of two and forty ships destined to further a revolt in Euboea. News of their being seen off Las of Laconia came to Athens at the time when the 400 were building their fort of Eetionia commanding Peiraeeus, and the coincidence was used by Theramenes in evidence of their treasonable intentions. Further intelligence that the same fleet had sailed over from Megara to Salamis coincided again with the riot in Peiraeeus, and was held to be certain proof of the allegation of Theramenes. Thucydides thinks it possible that the movement was really made in concert with the Athenian oligarchs, but far more probable that Hegesandridas was merely prompted by an indefinite hope of profiting by the existing dissensions. His ulterior design was soon seen to be Euboea; the fleet doubled Sunium, and finally came to harbour at Oropus. The greatest alarm was excited; a fleet was hastily manned, which, with the gallies already at the port, amounted to thirty-six. But the new crews had never rowed together ; a stratagem of the Eretrians kept the soldiers at a distance, at the very moment when, in obedience to a signal from the town, the Spartan admiral moved to attack. He obtained an easy victory : the Athenians lost two and twenty ships, and all Euboea, except Oreus, revolted. Extreme consternation seized the city; greater, says the sober historian, than had been caused by the very Sicilian disaster itself. Athens, he adds, had now once again to thank their enemy's tardiness. Had the victors attacked Peiraeeus, either the city would have fallen a victim to its distractions, or by the recal of the fleet from Asia, every thing except Attica been placed in their hands. (Thuc. viii. 91, 94-96.) Hegesandridas was content with his previous success; and had soon to weaken himself to reinforce the Hellespontine fleet under Mindarus, after the defeat of Cynos-sema. Fifty ships (partly Euboean) were despatched, and were, one and all, lost in a storm off Athos. So relates Ephorus in Diodorus (xii. 41). On the news of this disaster, Hegesandridas appears to have sailed with what ships he could gather to the Hellespont. Here, at any rate, we find him at the opening of Xenophon's Hellenics; and here he defeated a small squadron recently come from Athens under Thymochares, his opponent at Eretria. (Xen. Hell. i. 1.1.) He is mentioned once again (lb. i. 3.17) as commander on the Thracian coast, B. C. 408.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Anaxibius (Anaxibios), was the Spartan admiral stationed at Byzantium, to whom the Cyrean Greeks, on their arrival at Trapezus on the Euxine, sent Cheirisophus, one of their generals, at his own proposal, to obtain a sufficient number of ships to transport them to Europe (B. C. 400. Xen. Anab. v. 1.4). When however Cheirisophus met them again at Sinope, he brought back nothing from Anaxibius but civil words and a promise of employment and pay as soon as they came out of the Euxine (Anab. vi. 1.16). On their arrival at Chrysopolis, on the Asiatic shore of the Bosporus, Anaxibius, being bribed by Pharnabazus with great promises to withdraw them from his satrapy, again engaged to furnish them with pay, and brought them over to Byzantium. Here he attempted to get rid of them, and to send them forward on their march without fulfilling his agreement. A tumult ensued, in which Anaxibius was compelled to fly for refuge to the Acropolis, and which was quelled only by the remonstrances of Xenophon (Anab. vii. 1.1-32). Soon after this the Greeks left the town under the command of the adventurer Coeratades, and Anaxibius forthwith issued a proclamation, subsequently acted on by Aristarchus the Harmost, that all Cyrean soldiers found in Byzantium should be sold for slaves (Anab. vii. 1.36, 2.6). Being however soon after superseded in the command, and finding himself neglected by Pharnabazus, he attempted to revenge himself by persuading Xenophon to lead the army to invade the country of the satrap; but the enterprise was stopped by the prohibition and threats of Aristarchus (Anab. vii. 2.5-14). In the year 389, Anaxibius was sent out from Sparta to supersede Dercyllidas in the command at Abydus, and to check the rising fortunes of Athens in the Hellespont. Here he met at first with some successes, till at length Iphicrates, who had been sent against him by the Athenians, contrived to intercept him on his return from Antandrus, which had promised to revolt to him, and of which he had gone to take possession. Anaxibius, coming suddenly on the Athenian ambuscade, and foreseeing the certainty of his own defeat, desired his men to save themselves by flight. His own duty, he said, required him to die there; and, with a small body of comrades, he remained on the spot, fighting till he fell, B. C. 388 (Xen. Hell. iv. 8.32-39).
This text is from: A Dictionary of Greek and Roman Antiquities (1890) (eds. William Smith, LLD, William Wayte, G. E. Marindin). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Antisthenes, a Spartan admiral in the Peloponnesian war, was sent out in B. C.
412, in command of a squadron, to the coast of Asia Minor, and was to have succeeded
Astyochus, in case the Spartan commissioners thought it necessary to deprive that
officer of his command (Thuc. viii. 39). We hear of him again in B. C. 399, when,
with two other commissioners, he was sent out to inspect the state of affairs
in Asia, and announce to Dercvllidas that his command was to be prolonged for
another year (Xen. Hellen. iii. 2.6). There was also an Athenian general of this
name (Mem. iii. 4.1) .
Aracus (Arakos), Ephor, B. C. 409, (Hell. ii. 3.10) was appointed admiral of the Lacedaemonian
fleet in B. C. 405, with Lysander for vice-admiral (epistoleus), who was to have
the real power, but who had not the title of admiral (nauarchos), because the
laws of Sparta did not allow the same person to hold this office twice (Plut.
Lyc. 7; Xen. Hell. ii. 1.7; Diod. xiii. 100; Paus. x. 9.4). In 398 he was sent
into Asia as one of the commissioners to inspect the state of things there, and
to prolong the command of Dercyllidas (iii. 2.6); and in 369 he was one of the
ambassadors sent to Athens (vi. 5.33, where Arakos should be read instead of Aratos).
Astyochus (Astuochos), succeeded Melancridas as Lacedaemonian high admiral, in the summer of 412, B. C., the year after the Syracusan defeat, and arrived with four ships at Chios, late in the summer (Thuc. viii. 20, 23). Lesbos was now the seat of the contest: and his arrival was followed by the recovery to the Athenians of the whole island. Astyochus was eager for a second attempt; but compelled, by the refusal of the Chians and their Spartan captain, Pedaritus, to forego it, he proceeded, with many threats of revenge, to take the general command at Miletus (31-33). Here he renewed the Persian treaty, and remained, notwithstanding the entreaties of Chios, then hard pressed by the Athenians, wholly inactive. He was at last starting to relieve it, when he was called off, about mid-winter, to join a fleet from home, bringing, in consequence of complaints from Pedaritus, commissioners to examine his proceedings. Before this (eti onta tote peri Mileton, cc. 36-42), Astyochus it appears had sold himself to the Persian interest. He had received, perhaps on first coming to Miletus, orders from home to put Alcibiades to death; but finding him in refuge with the satrap Tissaphernes, he not only gave up all thought of the attempt, but on receiving private intelligence of his Athenian negotiations, went up to Magnesia, betrayed Phrynichus his informant to Alcibiades, and there, it would seem, pledged himself to the satrap (cc. 45 and 50). Henceforward, in pursuance of his patron's policy, his efforts were employed in keeping his large forces inactive, and inducing submission to the reduction in their Persian pay. The acquisition of Rhodes, after his junction with the new fleet, he had probably little to do with; while to him, must, no doubt, be ascribed the neglect of the opportunities afforded by the Athenian dissensions, after his return to Miletus (cc. 60 and 63), 411 B. C. The discontent of the troops, especially of the Syracusans, was great, and broke out at last in a riot, where his life was endangered; shortly after which his successor Mindarus arrived, and Astyochus sailed home (cc. 84, 85), after a command of about eight months. Upon his return to Sparta he bore testimony to the truth of the charges which Hermocrates, the Syracusan, brought against Tissaphernes (Xen. Hell. i. 1.31).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Callicratidas, (Kallikratidas) was sent out in B. C. 406 to succeed Lysander as admiral of the Lacedaemonian fleet, and soon found that the jealousy of his predecessor, as well as the strong contrast of their characters, had left for him a harvest of difficulties. Yet he was not unsuccessful in surmounting these, and shewed that plain, straight-forward honesty may sometimes be no bad substitute for the arts of the supple diplomatist. The cabals of Lysander's partizans against him he quelled by asking them, whether he should remain where he was, or sail home to report how matters stood; and even those who looked back with most regret to the winning and agreeable manners of his courtly predecessor, admired his virtue, says Plutarch, even as the beauty of a heroic statue. His great difficulty, however, was the want of funds, and for these he reluctantly went and applied to Cyrus, to whom it is said that Lysander, in order to thwart his successor, had returned the sums he held; but the proud Spartan spirit of Callicratidas could not brook to dance attendance at the prince's doors, and he withdrew from Sardis in disgust, declaring that the Greeks were most wretched in truckling to barbarians for money, and that, if he returned home in safety, he would do his best to reconcile Lacedaemon to Athens. He succeeded, however, in obtaining a supply from the Milesians, and he then commenced against the enemy a series of successful operations. The capture of the fortress of Delphinium in Chios and the plunder of Teos were closely followed by the conquest of Methymna. This last place Conon attempted to save, in spite of his inferiority in numbers, but, arriving too late, anchored for the night at Hekatonnesoi. The next morning he was chased by Callicratidas, who declared that he would put a stop to his adultery with the sea, and was obliged to take refuge in Mytilene, where his opponent blockaded him by sea and land. Conon, however, contrived to send news to the Athenians of the strait in which he was, and a fleet of more than 150 sail was despatched to relieve him. Callicratidas then, leaving Eteonicus with 50 ships to conduct the blockade, proceeded with 120 to meet the enemy. A battle ensued at Arginusae, remarkable for the unprecedented number of vessels engaged, and in this Callicratidas was slain, and the Athenians were victorious. According to Xenophon, his steersman, Hermon. endeavoured to dissuade him from engaging with such superior numbers: as Diodorus and Plutarch tell it, the soothsayer foretold the admiral's death. His answer at any rate, me par hena einai tan Spartan, became famous, but is mentioned with censure by Plutarch and Cicero. On the whole, Callicratidas is a somewhat refreshing specimen of a plain, blunt Spartan of the old school, with all the guilelessness and simple honesty, but (it may be added) not without the bigotry of that character. Witness his answer, when asked what sort of men the Ionians were: "Bad freemen, but excellent slaves " (Xen. Hell. i. 6. 1-33; Diod. xiii. 76-79, 97-99; Plut. Lysand. 5-7, Pelop. 2, Apophthegm. Lacon; Cic. de Off. i. 24, 30). Aelian tells us (V. H. xii. 43), that he rose to the privileges of citizenship from the condition of a slave (mothon).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Cratesippidas (Kratesippidas), a Lacedaemonian, was sent out as admiral after the death of Mindarus, B. C. 410, and took the command at Chios of the fleet which had been collected by Pasippidas from the allies. He effected, however, little or nothing during his term of office beyond the seizure of the acropolis at Chios, and the restoration of the Chian exiles, and was succeeded by Lysander. (Xen. Hell. i. 1.32, 5.1 ; Diod. xiii. 65, 70)
Gylippus, (Gulippos), son of Cleandridas, was left, it would seem, when his father
went into exile (B. C. 445) to be brought up at Sparta. In the I8th year of the
Peloponnesian war, when the Lacedaemonian government resolved to follow the advice
of Alcibiades, and send a Spartan commander to Syracuse, Gylippus was selected
for the duty. Manning two Laconian galleys at Asine, and receiving two from Corinth,
under the command of Pythen, he sailed for Leucas. Here a variety of rumours combined
to give assurance that the circumvallation of Syracuse was already complete. With
no hope for their original object, but wishing, at any rate, to save the Italian
allies, he and Pythen resolved, without waiting for the further reinforcements,
to cross at once. They ran over to Tarentum, and presently touched at Thurii,
where Gylippus resumed the citizenship which his father had there acquired in
exile, and used some vain endeavours to obtain assistance. Shortly after the ships
were driven back by a violent gale to Tarentum, and obliged to refit. Nicias meanwhile,
though aware of their appearance on the Italian coast, held it, as had the Thurians,
to be only an insignificant privateering expedition. After their second departure
from Tarentum, they received information at Locri, that the investment was still
incomplete, and now took counsel whether they should sail at once for their object,
or pass the straits and land at Himera. Their wisdom or fortune decided for the
latter; four ships, which Nicias, on hearing of their arrival at Locri, thought
it well to send, and which perhaps would have in the other case intercepted them,
arrived too late to oppose their passage through the straits. The four Peloponnesian
galleys were shortly drawn up on the shore of Himera; the sailors converted into
men-at-arms; the Himeraeans induced to join the enterprise; orders dispatched
to Selinus and Gela to send auxiliaries to a rendezvous; Gongylus, a Corinthian
captain, had already conveyed the good news of their approach to the now-despairing
Syracusans. A small space on the side of Epipolae nearest to the sea still remained
where the Athenian wall of blockade had not vet been carried up; the line was
marked out, and stones were lying along it ready for the builders, and in parts
the wall itself rose, half-completed, above the ground. (Thuc. vi. 93, 104, vii.
1-2.)
Gylippus passed through the island collecting reinforcements on his
way, and giving the Syracusans warning of his approach, was met by their whole
force at the rear of the city, where the broad back of Epipolae slopes upward
from its walls to the point of Labdalum. Mounting this at Euryelus, he came unexpectedly
on the Athenian works with his forces formed in order of battle. The Athenians
were somewhat confounded; but they also drew up for the engagement. Gylippus commenced
his communications with them by sending a herald with an offer to allow them to
leave Sicily as they had come within five days' time, a message which was of course
scornfully dismissed. But in spite of this assumption, probably politic, of a
lofty tone, lie found his Syracusan forces so deficient in discipline, and so
unfit for action, that he moved off into a more open position; and finding himself
unmolested, withdrew altogether, and passed the night in the suburb Temenites.
On the morrow he reappeared in full force before the enemy's works, and under
this feint detached a force, which succeeded in capturing the fort of Labdalum,
and put the whole garrison to the sword. (Thuc. vii. 2, 3.)
For some days thenceforward he occupied his men in raising a cross-wall,
intended to interfere with the line of circumvallation. This the Athenians had
now brought still nearer to completion: a night enterprise, made with a view of
surprising a weak part of it, had been detected and baffled; but Nicias, in despair,
it would seem, of doing any good on the land side, was now employing a great part
of his force in the fortification of Plemyrium, a point which commanded the entrance
of the port. At length Gylippus, conceiving his men to be sufficiently trained,
ventured an attack; but his cavalry, entangled amongst stones and masonry, were
kept out of action; the enemy maintained the superiority of its infantry, and
raised a trophy. Gylippus, however, by openly professing the fault to have been
his own selection of unsuitable ground, inspired them with courage for a fresh
attempt. By a wiser choice, and by posting his horse and his dartmen on the enemy's
flank, he now won the Syracusans their first victory. The counterwork was quickly
completed; the circumvallation effectually destroyed; Epipolae cleared of the
enemy; the city on one side delivered from siege. Gylippus, having achieved so
much, ventured to leave his post, and go about the island in search of auxiliaries.
(Thuc. vii. 4-7.)
His return in the spring of B. C. 413 was followed by a naval engagement,
with the confidence required for which he and Hermocrates combined their efforts
to inspire the people. On the night preceding the day appointed, he himself led
out the whole land force, and with early dawn assaulted and carried successively
the three forts of Plemyrium, most important as the depot of the Athenian stores
and treasure, a success, therefore, more than atoning for the doubtful victory
obtained by the enemy's fleet (Thuc. vii. 22, 23). The second naval fight, and
first naval victory, of the Syracusans, the arrival and defeat on Epipolae of
the second Athenian armament, offer, in our accounts of them, no individual features
for the biography of Gylippus. Nor yet does much appear in his subsequent successful
mission through the island in quest of reinforcements, nor in the first great
naval victory over the new armament,-- a glory scarcely tarnished by the slight
repulse which he in person experienced from the enemy's Tyrsenian auxiliaries
(Thuc. vii. 46, 50, 53). Before the last and decisive sea-fight, Thucydides gives
us an address from his mouth which urges the obvious topics. The command of the
ships was taken by other officers. In the operations succeeding the victory he
doubtless took part. He commanded in the pre-occupation of the Athenian route;
when they in their despair left this their first course, and made a night march
to the south, the clamours of the multitude accused him of a wish to allow their
escape: he joined in the proclamation which called on the islanders serving in
the Athenian host to come over; with him Demosthenes arranged his terms of surrender;
to him Nicias, on hearing of his colleague's capitulation, made overtures for
permission to carry his own division safe to Athens; and to him, on the banks
of the Asinarus, Nicias gave himself up at discretion; to the captive general's
entreaty that, whatever should be his own fate, the present butchery might be
ended, Gylippus acceded by ordering quarter to be given. Against his wishes, the
people, whom he had rescued, put to death the captive generals,--wishes, indeed,
which it is likely were prompted in the main by the desire named by Thucydides,
of the glory of conveying to Sparta such a trophy of his deeds; yet into whose
composition may also have entered some feelings of a generous commiseration for
calamities so wholly unprecedented. (Thuc. vii. 65-69, 70, 74, 79, 81-86.)
Gylippus brought over his troops in the following summer. Sixteen
ships had remained to the end; of these one was lost in an engagement with twentyseven
Athenian galleys, which were lying in wait for them near Leucas; the rest, in
a shattered condition, made their way to Corinth. (Thuc. viii. 13.)
To this, the plain story of the great contemporary historian, inferior
authorities add but little. Timaeus, in Plutarch (Nic. 19), informs us that the
Syracusans made no account of Gylippus ; thinking him, when they had come to know
his character, to be mean and covetous; and at the first deriding him for the
long hair and small upper garment of the Spartan fashion. Yet, says Plutarch,
the same author states elsewhere that so soon as Gylippus was seen, as though
at the sight of an owl, birds enough flocked up for the war. (The sight of an
owl is said to have the effect of drawing birds together, and the fact appears
to have passed into a proverb.) And this, he adds, is the truer account of the
two; the whole achievement is ascribed to Gylippus, not by Thucydides only, but
also by Philistus, a native of Syracuse, and eyewitness of the whole. Plutarch
also speaks of the party at Syracuse, who were inclined to surrender, as especially
offended by his overbearing Spartan ways; and to such a feeling, he says, when
success was secure, the whole people began to give way, openly insulting him when
he made his petition to be allowed to take Nicias and Demosthenes alive to Sparta.
(Nic. 21, 28.) Diodorus (xii. 28), no doubt in perfect independence of all authorities,
puts in his mouth a long strain of rhetoric, urging the people to a vindictive,
unrelenting course, in opposition to that advised by Hermocrates, and a speaker
of the name of Nicolaus. Finally, Polyaenus (i. 42) relates a doubtful tale of
a device by which he persuaded the Syracusans to entrust him with the sole command.
He induced them to adopt the resolution of attacking a particular position, secretly
sent word to the enemy, who, in consequence, strengthened their force there, and
then availed himself of the indignation at the betrayal of their counsels to prevail
upon the people to leave the sole control of them to him.
For all that we know of the rest of the life of Gylippus we are indebted
to Plutarch (Nic. 28 ; Lysand. 16, 17) and Diodorus (xiii. 106). He was commissioned,
it appears, by Lysander, after the capture of Athens, to carry home the treasure.
By opening the seams of the sacks underneath, he abstracted a considerable portion,
30 talents, according to Plutarch's text; according to Diodorus, who makes the
sum total of the talents of silver to be 1500, exclusive of other valuables, as
much as 300. He was detected by the inventories which were contained in each package,
and which he had overlooked. A hint from one of his slaves indicated to the Ephors
the place where the missing treasure lay concealed, the space under the tiling
of the house. Gylippus appears to have at once gone into exile, and to have been
condemned to death in his absence. Athenaeus (vi.) says that he died of starvation,
after being convicted by the Ephors of stealing part of Lysander's treasure; but
whether he means that he so died by the sentence of the Ephors or in exile, does
not appear.
None can deny that Gylippus did the duty assigned to him in the Svracusan
war with skill and energy. The favour of fortune was indeed most remarkably accorded
to him; yet his energy in the early proceedings was of a degree unusual with his
countrymen. His military skill, perhaps, was not much above the average of the
ordinary Spartan officer of the better kind. Of the nobler virtues of his country
we cannot discern much: with its too common vice of cupidity he lamentably sullied
his glory. Aelian (V. H. xii. 42; comp. Athen. vi.) says that he and Lysander,
and Callicratidas, were all of the class called Mothaces, Helots, that is, by
birth, who, in the company of the boys of the family to which they belonged, were
brought up in the Spartan discipline, and afterwards obtained freedom. This can
hardly have been the case with Gylippus himself, as we find his father, Cleandridas,
in an important situation at the side of king Pleistoanax: but the family may
have been derived, at one point or another, from a Mothax. (Comp. Muller, Dor.
iii. 3.5.) The syllable Gul- in the name is probably identical with the Latin
Gilvus.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Cnemus (Knemos), the Spartan high admiral (nauarchos) in the second year of the Peloponnesian war, B. C. 430, made a descent upon Zacynthus with 1000 Lacedaemonian hoplites; but, after ravaging the island, was obliged to retire without reducing it to submission. Cnemus was continued in his office of admiral next year, though the regular term, at least a few years subsequently, was only one year. In the second year of his command (B. C. 429), he was sent with 1000 hoplites again to co-operate with the Ambracians, who wished to subdue Acarnania and to revolt from Athens. He put himself at the head of the Ambracians and their barbarian allies, invaded Acarnania, and penetrated to Stratus, the chief town of the country. But here his barbarian allies were defeated by the Ambracians, and he was obliged to abandon the expedition altogether. Meantime the Peloponnesian fleet, which was intended to co-operate with the land forces, had been defeated by Phormio with a far smaller number of ships. Enraged at this disaster, and suspecting the incompetency of the commanders, the Lacedaemonians sent out Timocrates, Brasidas, and Lycophron to assist Cnemus as a council, and with instructions to prepare for fighting a second battle. After refitting their disabled vessels and obtaining reinforcements from their allies, by which their number was increased to seventy-five, while Phormio had only twenty, the Lacedaemonian commanders attacked the Athenians off Naupactus, and though the latter at first lost several ships, and were nearly defeated, they eventually gained the day, and recovered, with one exception, all the ships which had been previously captured by the enemy. After this, Cnemus, Brasidas, and the other Peloponnesian commanders formed the design of surprising Peiraeeus, and would probably have succeeded in their attempt, only their courage failed them at the time of execution, and they sailed to Salamis instead, thereby giving the Athenians notice of their intention. (Thuc. ii. 66, 80-93; Diod. xii. 47, &c.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Nov 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
ARKADIA (Ancient area) PELOPONNISOS
Lysippus (Lusippos). An Arcadian, a comic poet of the old Comedy. His date is fixed by
the marble Didascalia, edited by Odericus, at 01. lxxxvi. 2, B. C. 434, when he
gained the first prize with his Katachienai; and this agrees with Athenaeus, who
mentions him in conjunction with Callias (viii.). Besides the katachenai, we have
the titles of his Bakchai (Suid., Eudoc.), which is often quoted, and his Thursokomos
(Suid.). Vossius de Poet. Graec. p. 227) has followed the error of Eudocia, in
making Lysippus a tragic poet. Besides his comedies he wrote some beautiful verses
in praise of the Athenians, which are quoted by Dicaearchus.
FLIOUS (Ancient city) NEMEA
Diocles (Diokles), of Athens, or, according to others, of Phlius, and perhaps in fact a Phliasian by birth and an Athenian by citizenship, was a comic poet of the old comedy, contemporary with Sannyrion and Philyllius. (Suid. s. v.) The following plays of his are mentioned by Suidas and Eudocia (p. 132), and are frequently quoted by the grammarians : Bakchai, Thalatta, Kuklopes (by others ascribed to Callias), Melittai. The Thuestes and Oneiroi, which are only mentioned by Suidas and Eudocia, are suspicious titles. He seems to have been an elegant poet.
MENALOS (Ancient city) FALANTHOS
Respecting Phormis we fortunately possess some very important facts.
In the first place, like Epicharmus he was neither a born Megarian nor even a
Sicilian, and was most certainly not a Dorian, for we know from Pausanias that
he was a native of Maenalus in Arcadia, that from thence he emigrated to Sicily
to the court of Gelon, son of Deinomenes, and that by distinguishing himself in
the campaign of that king and afterwards in those of his brother Hieron, he attained
to such wealth that he was able to set up certain dedications at Olympia
seen there by Pausanias, and others also at Delphi.
Those at Olympia were statues of two horses, each with a groom beside it. There
were also three statues of Phormis himself in a row, confronting in each case
a foeman. The legend on these set forth that they were dedicated by Lycortas of
Syracuse, apparently a friend
and admirer. Like Aeschylus, the true founder of Attic tragedy, and Cyril Tourneur,
one of the most potent spirits of the Elizabethan drama, Phormis was thus a soldier
as well as a dramatist. Indeed, in view of the fact that the Arcadians in every
age went forth in considerable numbers from their native mountains, like the Highlanders
of Scotland, to take service with any one who wanted a man who could wield a good
spear and draw a good sword, it was probable in such a capacity that Phormis went
to seek and found his fortune at the court of Gelon. According to Suidas he became
a member of that monarch's household and tutor to his children, and wrote eight
comedies--Admetus, Alcinous, The Fall of Ilium, Perseus, Cepheus or Cephaleia,
Alcyones, Hippus and Atalanta. From their names it is obvious that his plays were
all burlesque of familiar epic and tragic themes, not excepting that on his own
national heroine, Atalanta. He was the first who arrayed a (comic) actor in a
robe reaching to the feet, and employed a background (skene) adorned with skins
dyed red. The use in Comedy for the first time of long dignified robes was probably,
like the plot, a consequence of the burlesquing of heroic themes.
Alfred Bates, ed.
This text is cited July 2003 from the TheatreHistory URL below.
...Among them are those dedicated by the Maenalian Phormis. He crossed to Sicily
from Maenalus to serve Gelon the son of Deinomenes. Distinguishing himself in
the campaigns of Gelon and afterwards of his brother Hieron, he reached such a
pitch of prosperity that he dedicated not only these offerings at Olympia, but
also others dedicated to Apollo at Delphi. The offerings at Olympia are two horses
and two charioteers, a charioteer standing by the side of each of the horses.
The first horse and man are by Dionysius of Argos, the second are the work of
Simon of Aegina. On the side of the first of the horses is an inscription, the
first part of which is not metrical. It runs thus:
Phormis dedicated me, An Arcadian of Maenalus, now of Syracuse.
...Among these offerings is Phormis himself opposed to an enemy, and next are
figures of him fighting a second and again a third. On them it is written that
the soldier fighting is Phormis of Maenalus, and that he who dedicated the offerings
was Lycortas of Syracuse. Clearly this Lycortas dedicated them out of friendship
for Phormis. These offerings of Lycortas are also called by the Greeks offerings
of Phormis. The Hermes carrying the ram under his arm, with a helmet on his head,
and clad in tunic and cloak, is not one of the offerings of Phormis, but has been
given to the god by the Arcadians of Pheneus. The inscription says that the artist
was Onatas of Aegina helped by Calliteles, who I think was a pupil or son of Onatas.
This extract is from: Pausanias. Description of Greece (ed. W.H.S. Jones, Litt.D., & H.A. Ormerod, 1918). Cited June 2004 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains comments & interesting hyperlinks.
SIKYON (Ancient city) CORINTHIA
Machon, of Corinth or Sicyon, a comic poet, flourished at Alexandria, where he
gave instructions respecting comedy to the grammarian Aristophanes of Byzantium.
He was contemporary with Apollodorus of Carystus, and flourished between the 120th
and 130th Olympiads (B. C. 300--260). He held a high place among the Alexandrian
poets; Athenaeus says of hin, en d' agathos poietes eis tis allos ton meta touis
hepta, and quotes an elegant epigram in his praise. We have the titles of two
of his plays, Agnoia and Epistole, and of a sententious poem in iambic senarii,
entitled Chreiai, of which Athenaeus has preserved several fragments. (Athen.
vi.; xiv., viii., xiii.; Meineke, Hist. Crit. Corn. Graec.; Fabric. Bibl. Graec.
vol. ii.)
VOURVOURA (Village) SKYRITIDA
1874 - 1966
ARGOS (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
Eupolemus (Eupolemos), an Argive architect, who built the great Heraeun at Mycenae, after its destruction by fire in B. C. 423. The entablature was ornamented with sculptures representing the wars of the gods and giants, and the Trojan war. A full description of the other works of art connected with this temple is given by Pausanias. (Paus. ii. 17.3; Thuc. iv. 133.)
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
Perseus Encyclopedia
In 330 BC he rebuilt, along with Spinthar and Xenodorus, the temple of Apollo at Delphi, which had been destroyed by earthquakes.
LAKEDEMON (Ancient country) PELOPONNISOS
Batrachus (Batrachos), a Lacedaemonian sculptor and architect of the time of Augustus.
Pliny (H. N. xxxvi. 5. s. 14) relates, that Batrachus and Sauras (Frog and Lizard),
who were both very rich, built at their own expense two temples in Rome, one to
Jupiter and the other to Juno, hoping they would be allowed to put their names
in the inscription of the temples (inscriptionem sperantes). But being denied
this, they made the figures of a frog and a lizard in the convolutions of the
Ionic capitals (in columnarum spiris, comp. Thiersch, Epoch. Anm.) That this tale
is a mere fall founded on nothing but the appearance of the two figures on the
columns, scarcely needs to be remarked.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Sep 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KOUTSOPODI (Village) ARGOLIS
Koutsopodi is Jim Londos's birthplace. His real name being Christos
Theophilou, he was born in 1896 and emigrated to America at a very early age.
There he struggled hard and became a champion wrestler with a worldwide fame and
reputation. He is said to have been as manly as Apollo and as strong as Hercules.
He beat every famous wrestler of those days and on June 30, 1930 he conquered
the title of the world champion and the gold and stubbed with diamonds belt which
he kept for 16 years. He left the ring being invincible after having taken part
in 2.500 fights all over the world. The «Golden Greek» as people used to call
him in America , became legend and his so called «aeroplane trick» was written
down the athletic history as a device through which he beat all his opponents
in the ring. On 7th October of 1956, the veteran wrestler made a great appearance
and was applauded by the people of Argolidas at the ancient theatre of Argos.
He died at the «Palomar Hospital» of Kalifornia on 19 August 1975. The mayor and
the local council of Koutsopodi borough plan to construct a museum in which to
accommodate personal objects and the trophies of this famous wrestler.
This extract is cited Oct 2002 from the Municipality of Koutsopodion URL below.
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
Lais (celebrated Grecian hetaera). The elder, a native probably
of Corinth, lived in the time of the Peloponnesian War, and was celebrated as
the most beautiful woman of that age. She was notorious also for her avarice and
caprice. One of her lovers was the Cyrenaic philosopher Aristippus, two of whose
works were inscribed with her name. In her old age she took to drink. At her death
she was buried in Corinth, and over her was placed a monument representing a lioness
tearing a ram. So much was her reputation a part of that of her city that there
arose the proverb ou Korinthos oute Lais. A number of anecdotes regarding her
are preserved in Athenaeus.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Lais: The elder Lais, a native probably of Corinth. Athenaeus (xiii.) says that she was born at Hyccara, in Sicily, but he has probably confounded her with her younger namesake, the daughter of Timandra (Athen. xii, xiii.); for Timandra, as we know from Plutarch (Alcib. 39), was a native of Hyccara. The elder Lais lived in the time of the Peloponnesian war, and was celebrated as the most beautiful woman of her age. Her figure was especially admired. She was notorious also for her avarice and caprice. Amongst her numerous lovers she numbered the philosopher Aristippus, two of whose works were entitled Pros Laida, and Pros Laida peri tou katoptrou (Diog. Laεrt. ii. 84). She fell in love with and offered her hand to Eubotas, of Cyrene, who, after his victory at Olympia, fulfilled his promise of taking her with him to Cyrene, in word only--he took with him her portrait (Aelian, V. H. x. 2; Clemens Alex. Strom. iii.). In her old age she became addicted to drinking. Of her death various stories were told (Athen. xiii.; Phot. cod. cxc.). She died at Corinth, where a monument (a lioness tearing a ram) was erected to her, in the cypress grove called the Kraneion (Paus. ii. 2. Β 4; Athen. xiii.). Numerous anecdotes of her were current, but they are not worth relating here. (Athen. xiii.; Auson. Epig. 17). Lais presenting her looking-glass to Aphrodite was a frequent subject of epigrams (Brunck. Anal. i., ii.; Anthol. Pal. vi. 1, 19). Her fame was still fresh at Corinth in the time of Pausanias (ii. 2. Β 5), and ou Korinthos oute Lais became a proverb. (Athen. iv.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Lais. The younger Lais was the daughter of Timandra, who is sportively called Damasandra in Athenaeus (xiii.). Lais was probably born at Hyccara in Sicily. According to some accounts she was brought to Corinth when seven years old, having been taken prisoner in the Athenian expedition to Sicily, and bought by a Corinthian (Plut. l. c.; Paus. ii. 2. Β 5; Schol. ad Aristoph. Plut. 179; Athen. xiii.). This story however, which involves numerous difficulties, is rejected by Jacobs, who attributes it to a confusion between this Lais and the elder one of the same name. The story of Apelles having induced her to enter upon the life of a courtezan must have reference to the younger Lais. She was a contemporary and rival of Phryne. She became enamoured of a Thessalian named Hippolochus, or Hippostratus, and accompanied him to Thessaly. Here, it is said, some Thessalian women, jealous of her beauty, enticed her into a temple of Aphrodite, and there stoned her to death. (Paus. ii. 2 Β 5; Plut. vol. ii; Athen. xiii.). According to the scholiast on Aristophanes (Plut. 179), a pestilence ensued, which did not abate till a temple was dedicated to Aphrodite Anosia. She was buried on the banks of the Peneus. The inscription on her monument is preserved by Athenaeus (xiii.).
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
CHALAZONI (Village) FILIATRA
Born in 1952 in Chalazoni, Messinia. After his graduation from the
School of Dramatic Art he worked in the theatre as an actor, writer and director.
In 1976 he founded a theatrical company which toured the country. At the same
time he worked in television and motion pictures.
This text is cited October 2004 from the Greek Film Center URL below
TRIPOLI (Town) ARCADIA
1937
Born in Tripolis (Arcadia)
in October 1937, he completed his studies in Athens.
He began his film career in 1958 working as an assistant director on 54 films.
In 1968 he made his first full-length feature for Finos Film The Young Runaway.
Panic and The City Jungle followed in 1969. In 1970 his film Abuse ofAuthoritγ
became the biggest Greek box office hit ever made and was screened in thirty-six
countries. That same year he stopped making films. Stavros Tsiolis returned to
filmmaking in 1985 with Such a Long Absence. It was followed by About Vassilis
(1986), Invincible Lovers (1988), Love Under the Date-Tree (1990), Please, Ladies,
don’t Cry (1992) which he co-directed with the late Christos Valakopoulos and
The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha (1995).
Films
•Invincible Lovers
•Love Under the Date-Tree
•Please Ladies,
•Don't Cry Such A Long Absense
•The Lost Treasure of Hursit Pasha
This text is cited Apr 2003 from the Hellenic Ministry of Culture URL below.
SPARTI (Ancient city) LACONIA
Agathinus (Agathinos), an eminent ancient Greek physician, the founder of a new medical
sect, to which he gave the name of Episynthetici. He was born at Sparta and must
have lived in the first century after Christ, as he was the pupil of Athenaeus,
and the tutor of Archigenes. He is said to have been once seized with an attack
of delirium, brought on by want of sleep, from which he was delivered by his pupil
Archigenes, who ordered his head to be fomented with a great quantity of warm
oil. He is frequently quoted by Galen, who mentions him among the Pneumatici.
None of his writings are now extant, but a few fragments are contained in Matthaei's
Collection, entitled XXI Veterum et Clarorum Medicorum Graccorum Varia Opuscula,
Mosquae, 1808, 4to. The particular opinions of his sect are not exactly known,
but they were probably nearly the same as those of the Eclectici.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Sep 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
Bacchiadae (Bakchiadai), a Heracleid clan, derived their name from Bacchis, who
was king of Corinth from 926 to 891 B. C., and retained the supreme rule in that
state, first under a monarchical form of government, and next as a close oligarchy,
till their deposition by Cypselus, about B. C. 657. Diodorus (Fragm. 6), in his
list of the Heracleid kings, seems to imply that Bacchis was a lineal descendent
from Aletes, who in B. C. 1074 deposed the Sisyphidae and made himself master
of Corinth (Wess. ad Diod. l. c.; Pind. Olymp. xiii. 17; Schol. ad Pind. Nem.
vii. 155; Paus. ii. 4; Mull. Dor. i. 5.9); while from Pausanias it would rather
appear, that Bacchis was the founder of a new, though still a Heracleid, dynasty.
In his line the throne continued till, in B. C. 748, Telestes was murdered by
Arieus and Perantas, who were themselves Bacchiads, and were perhaps merely the
instruments of a general conspiracy of the clan to gain for their body a larger
share of power than they enjoyed under the regal constitution. From Diodorus,
it would seem that a year, during which Automenes was king, elapsed before the
actual establishment of oligarchy. According to the same author, this form of
government, with annual prytanes elected from and by the Bacchiadae, lasted for
ninety years (747-657); nor does it appear on what grounds a period of 200 years
is assigned to it by Strabo. (Strab. viii.; Mull. Dor. Append. ix. note x.) It
was indeed of too narrow and exclusive a kind to be of any very long duration;
the members of the ruling clan intermarried only with one another (Herod. v. 92);
and their downfall was moreover hastened by their excessive luxury (Ael. V. H.
i. 19), as well as by their insolence and oppression, of which the atrocious outrage
that drove Archias from Corinth, and led to the founding of Syracuse and Corcyra,
is probably no very unfair specimen. (Diod. Exc. de Virt. et. Vit. 228; Plut.
Amat ; Schol. ad Apollon. Rhod. iv. 1212.) On their deposition by Cypselus,
with the help of the lower orders (Herod. v. 92; Aristot. Polit. v. 10, 12), they were for the most part driven into banishment, and are said to have
taken refuge in different parts of Greece, and even Italy. (Plnt. Lysand. c. 1;
Liv. i. 34) Some of them, however, appear to have still remained at Corinth, if
we may consider as a Bacchiad the Heracleid Phalius, who led the colony to Epidamnus
in B. C. 627. (Thuc. i. 24.) As men of the greatest distinction among the Bacchiadae,
may be mentioned Philolaus, the legislator of Thebes, about B. C. 728 (Aristot.
Polit. ii. 12, ed. Bekk.), and Eumelus, the cyclic poet (Paus. ii. 1, 3, iv. 33;
Athen. i., c.; Schol. ad Pind. Olymp. xiii. 30)
Strabo tells us also (vii.), that the Lyncestian kings claimed descent from the
Bacchiadae.
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Sep 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
VLACHORAPTI (Village) GORTYS
1904
MYSTRAS (Byzantine settlement) PELOPONNISOS
1404 - 1453
CONSTANTINE XI PALAEOLOGOS (1404-1453) , also called Dragases, last
Byzantine emperor, was born in 1404 in Mistra, the son of Emperor Manuel II. He
was trained as a soldier, and in 1441 conquered the peninsula of Morea in Greece,
which had been under the Frankish principality of Achaia, a state established
by the Crusaders.
Constantine later occupied Boeotia. In 1446, however, the Turkish
ruler Murad II reconquered these lands.
The Turks had begun their invasions of the Balkans nearly a century
before, and now began to close in on Constantinople.
Constantine was crowned emperor on Jan. 6, 1449, succeeding his brother,
John VIII. A little less than four years later, on Dec. 12, 1452, the union of
the Roman Catholic and Greek Orthodox churches was proclaimed in Constantinople
in the presence of the papal legate and the Patriarch Gregory.
Constantine had been a strong advocate of this union, but the people
generally opposed it, and riots ensued. The popular insistence on Byzantine religious
autonomy furthered the estrangement between eastern and western Roman Christendom
and weakened Byzantine resistance to the Turks. The Turkish sultan, Mehmed II,
advanced on Constantinople, sacked the country around it and, after a determined
siege, captured the city on May 29, 1453.
Constantine was killed in the final assault.
This text is cited Apr 2003 from the Laconian Professionals URL below, which contains image.
LEFKOCHORA (Village) MESSINI
1914 - 1985
ANO TRIKALA (Village) TRIKALA KORINTHIAS
LACONIA (Prefecture) PELOPONNISOS
ISSARIS (Village) MEGALOPOLI
A family many members of which were klephts, armatoli (=they carried guns) and fighters of the 1821 War of Independence.
KATO MELPIA (Village) ANDANIA
1745 - 1838
KORINTHOS (Town) PELOPONNISOS
1766 - 1826
KOUTSOPODI (Village) ARGOLIS
He is one of the most famous heroes from Koutsopodi , that took part in the revolution of 1821 against the Turkish yoke and occupation. Under the command of Theodoros Kolokotronis , Tasos Nezos belonged to that band of brave guerilla soldiers who conquered the Turkish hordes at Dervenakia battle. Having under his command 200 men of Koutsopodi, he fought bravely but unfortunately he was wounded at his knee and so he was lame from then on. He and his men helped Kolokotronis to burn the crops and the result from this was the assault of hunger for the Turkish cavalry and soldiers.
Tasos Nezos and his band of men, also took part and fought bravely during the siege of Nafplio. You can still see the ruins of his old house and his yataghan with the silver handle which is treasured up by his descendants.
This extract is cited Oct 2002 from the Municipality of Koutsopodion URL below.
LACONIA (Prefecture) PELOPONNISOS
; - 1822
1790 - 1885
1793 - 1879
MYSTRAS (Village) PELOPONNISOS
1785 - 1822
PALOUMBA (Village) IREA
1786 - 1864
POLIANI (Village) THOURIA
1786 - 1825
STEMNITSA (Village) TRIKOLONES
Son of Theodoros Kolokotronis, his mansion in the village.
1787 - 1843
Bishop of Vrestheni and a fighter, one of the most eminent bishops who fought at the 1821 War of Independence.
TOURKOLEKAS (Village) FALESSIA
1787 - 1849
ZATOUNA (Village) DIMITSANA
1798 - 1835
KALAMATA (Town) MESSINIA
1852 - 1921
Kalamata is where Nikolaos Politis (1852-1921) the Father of Greek Folklore was born and brought up. With the showing of the folkloric wealth, the manuscripts, speeches and deeds of the people as well as with the customs, the legends and their traditions, as these were saved and passed on from one generation to the other, he proved the historic continuity of the Greeks on the basis of their heritage.
This extract is cited March 2003 from the Messenia Prefecture Tourism Promotion Commission URL below, which contains image.
PERA MELANA (Village) APOLLON
AKROKORINTHOS (Castle) KORINTHOS
Commander of Macedonian garrison in Corinth, pupil of philosopher Zeno, slain by Aratus.
ARGOS (Ancient city) ARGOLIS
Stategus (strategos) was the title applied to the chief military commanders in
inmost of the constitutional governments of Greece; as a rule they had the direction
of foreign affairs as well as the leadership in war: and, as the control of external
relations was the most important part of administration in a Greek state, the
strategia was practically the chief magistracy in the communities in which it
is found.
Strategi were set up in the Ionian states of Asia Minor after the despotisms had
been overthrown in 504 B.C. (Herod. v. 38); at Argos we find hoi pente strategoi
who commanded the five Argive lochi (Thuc. v. 59, 72): similar magistrates are
also met with at Syracuse (Thuc. vi. 72), in later times in Boeotia, and in Amorgus.
They are also found frequently at the head of leagues; after the founding of Megalopolis
we find a strategos at the head of to koinon Arkadon (Xen. Hell. vii. 3, 1), and
in the third century strategoi at the head of the koinon ton Akarnanon (Polyb.
v. 6; Liv. xxxvi. 11) and the koinon ton Apeiroton. They were also the chief military
officers of the Achaean and Aetolian leagues; and after the reconstruction of
the Thessalian alliance in 196 B.C., a strategus appointed yearly is found at
the head of this confederacy. In Egypt, under the Ptolemies and under Roman rule,
the strategoi were the governors of the nomes; over these were the epistrategoi,
the governors of the three great districts of the Delta, Heptanomis, and Thebais:
both these classes of officers being under the authority of the Praefectus Aegypti.
The strategia at Athens, according to the unanimous verdict of ancient
writers, was the highest political office in the state. Its importance was due
to the great extent of the duties of administration which it involved, and to
the special power of initiative in legislation with which its holder was invested;
while the continuity in the office, due to the possibility of indefinite re-election,
rendered possible a continuity of policy on the part of its holder. That this
power of permanent administration was actually realised in the history of Athens,
there can be no doubt; whether it was definitely contemplated in the theory of
the constitution will depend on the view that is taken as to the mode in which
the functions of this office were distributed; but in any case it may be asserted
that in the strategia we have the central point of Athenian administration, and
any opinion as to the position of the strategus must inevitably affect our views
as to the whole system of executive government at Athens. The strategi formed
a college of ten, based on the ten tribes of the Cleisthenean constitution: and
the number seems to have continued unaltered, as long as the collegiate principle
was observed; it was not until a late period, falling between the years 52 and
42 B.C., that the college of generals was replaced, probably through an act of
the dictator Caesar's, by a single magistrate bearing the title ho strategos,
ho strategos epi ta hopla or epi tous hoplitas.
Among the powers of the strategi, the most distinctive was that of
summoning the assembly. The debate in the assemblies thus specially convened (sunkletoi)
seems to have been limited strictly to the proposal put before them by the general;
and such assemblies took precedence of all other meetings of the ekklesia, allo
de prochrematisai touton mede, ean meti hoi strategoi deontai); yet it seems that
in convening them the generals could not omit the formality of consulting the
prutaneis, and that their motions, though standing first on the orders of the
day, could only be introduced through the regular standing committee of the boule
(Thuc. iv. 118, ekklesian de poiesantas tous strategous kai tous prutaneis, k.t.l.).
An important power, which resulted from this right of convening the assembly on
matters of foreign administration, would have been the setting forth of the estimates
of the military budget for the year, together with proposals for raising the requisite
supplies. Foreign administration and finance must necessarily have gone closely
together during the greater part of the history of Athens, and have been united
in the same person; but the power of the generals was not limited to initiating
measures for such grants; they had the control of the details of expenditure:
the moneys voted from the treasuries of Athens for military purposes were placed
in their hands and there were other extraordinary sources of revenue, such as
those from booty (Lys. c. Ergocl. 5), from the payments made by merchant-ships
convoyed in time of war (para ton naukleron kai emporon, Id. de Bon. Aristoph.
50) and from fines imposed at their own discretion, over which they would probably
have had entire control. As minister of finance for foreign affairs, it was the
strategus who nominated to the trierarchy, in the 4th and probably in the 5th
century (Dem. adv. Boeot. 8), and who had the hegemonia dikasteriou in suits arising
from it (Suid. s. v. hegem. dikast.), as well as a similar presidency in the court
constituted for the settlement of disputes arising from the eisphora (Suid. l.
c.). Amongst the special military duties that devolved on the strategi at home
were the distribution and command of the home forces, including the peripoloi,
and the control of the home defences (phulakai kata gen kai kata thalassan, Thuc.
ii. 24); duties which, after different functions were distributed amongst different
members of the college, devolved on the general who bore the title strategos epi
tes choras (Plut. Phoc. 32). In the case of certain levies the generals exercised
the right of personal selection (Philostr. Vit. Soph. i. 23, 1; Lys. c. Alcib.
i. 6). They also had jurisdiction in military matters; the appeals against the
levy were made to them (Lys. de Mil. 4), and they had the hegemonia dikasteriou
in the case of the military charges known as the graphai astrateias, lipotaxiou
and deilias (Lys. c. Alcib. i. 21), which they either undertook in person or remitted
to the taxiarchoi (Dem. adv. Boeot.17). Besides this jurisdiction at home, the
general seems to have had the power to punish with death the most serious offences,
such as treasonable negotiations with the enemy, and to confer military honours
for bravery in the field (Lys. c. Alcib. i. 22; Plut. Alcib. 7); while the public
funeral for citizens who had fallen in battle (demosios taphos) was proposed by
him (Aristoph. Aves, 395 ). The initiative in cases of treason seems also to have
been amongst his duties (Plut.- Vit. Antiph. 23); and one of his chief responsibilities
was the corn-supply of Athens. The duties of the generals as regards foreign administration
must have involved the introduction of most of such business to the assembly;
questions arising from treaties or the details of foreign policy must have been
usually brought forward by them; while we find that they were responsible for
the execution of a treaty, saw that the oath was taken, and that the proper sacrifices
were offered on the occasion. The existence of the Athenian Empire also added
to the sphere of the general's powers; they must have been the commanders-in-chief
of the phrourarchoi and the phrourai, which we find in the subject states, as
in Erythrae. They saw to the exaction of the tribute when it was in arrears, by
commanding the argurologoi nees; and probably had the levying of contingents from
the allies in ships and men.
It will be seen from this enumeration of their functions that the
generals at Athens were at once leaders in war, ministers of war, foreign ministers,
and to a great extent ministers of finance. It is difficult to see how such powers
could have been exercised collectively by a college. Distributed they must have
been, even in the 5th century B.C., where we as yet meet no trace of the subsequent
differentiation of functions; but it is not easy to say how this distribution
was effected, whether by agreement amongst the members of the college, or by lot,
of the use of which some traces are found (Thuc. vi. 42, 62; viii. 30), or finally
by the presidency of one of the members of the college who assigned the duties
of the others. It is not until the close of the 4th century, about the year 325
B.C., that we find the practice arising of assigning different spheres of action
to the generals on election. As late as the year 306-305 B.C. we find several
generals elected for the performance of the same function (strategoi hoi epi ten
tou polemou paraskeuen kecheirotonemenoi); but as early as 349 B.C. a mention
is traced of a general with a special competence, the supervision of the eisphora
(Dem. Olynth. ii.), and at a later period we find the functions assigned to the
several generals distinctly expressed in the titles borne by each. Such titles
are (ho strategos) ho epi ten Mounuchian kai ta neoria: ho epi ton Peiraia: ho
epi ten choran: ho epi ten choran ten paralian: ho epi Eleusinos: ho epi tas summorias:
ho epi ten paraskeuen: ho epi tous xenous: ho epi to nautikon: ho epi ta hopla
or ho epi tous hoplitas, this last title being borne by the general who stood
at the head of the college and was elected to the first place by the people (cheirotonetheis
epi ta hopla protos hupo tou demou).
The only known insignia of the general were the chlamys or military
cloak (Ael. V. H. xiv. 10; Plut. Quaest. Conviv. i. 4, 2) and the stephanos which
was worn by all Athenian magistrates. They had specially reserved seats in the
theatre (Theophr. Char. 21), and conducted the military processions at the; Panathenaea
(Dem. Phil. i. 26). Their place of business was the strategion (Plut. Nic. 5,
15; Per. 37; Phoc. 8), where they dined at the public cost (Dem. de fals. Leg.
90). Special honours were sometimes conferred on successful generals, which took
the form of statues (Adoc - c. Alcib. 31), of public dinners in the Prytaneum
(Aristoph. Eq. 709), or of proedria (ib. 575, 702). There is some evidence that
the generals received payment on foreign service, and it has been concluded from
a passage in Aristophanes (Acharn. 602) that the rate was three drachmae a day,
which was perhaps given as a siteresion rather than as a misthos.
There are some difficulties connected with the date at which the generals
were elected; but there is almost a consensus of opinion in favour of the view
that during the greater part of the 5th century and onwards they were elected
towards the close of Mlunychion, at the beginning of the ninth prytany, and entered
office on the first of Hecatombaeon, the beginning of the Attic year. They would
thus have been elected in April or May, and entered office in July, the interval
between the two acts being employed no doubt for the purpose of the dokimasia.
But in time of war a general's command might be prolonged beyond his term of office,
even though he were not re-elected; thus Laches, who was strategos during 427-426,
was first replaced by Pythodorus, strategos for 426-425 in the winter of that
year (Thuc. iii. 86, 115). The generals gave in their names before the nine archons
(Poll. viii. 87), and the elections were conducted by them on the Pnyx (Hesych.
s. v. Pnux): election seems to have been preceded by canvassing (Plut. Phoc. 8),
and was, in the 4th century, not unfrequently tainted by bribery. The generals
took an oath on coming into office, a special clause in which was tous astrateutous
katalexein (Lys. de Mil. 15). Besides the ordinary qualifications required for
Athenian magistrates, the special qualifications required for the generals were
that they should be married and have children, and possess property within the
bounds of Attica (Dinarch. in Demosth. 71). There was apparently no qualification
of age, but the (strategia was not usually held before the age of forty. Re-election
to the office in successive years was frequent; Pericles was general for fifteen
years and Phocion forty-five times (Plut. Per. 15; Phoc. 8). A general might be
deposed from office in the 4th century at the epicheirotonia held at the beginning
of each prytany, and at the close of his office was subject to the usual audit
(euthunai), which in his case was conducted before a heliastic jury under guidance
of the thesmothetae (Poll. viii. 88). This was mainly concerned with the account
of the moneys which had passed through his hands; it was probably on a charge
of malversation of funds that Pericles was convicted and fined (Thuc. ii. 65;
Plut. Per. 23 and 35), but a special graphe klopes might be preferred against
him, either at the euthune or after the apocheirotonia, together with other charges,
such as the graphe prodosias or graphe doron.
The question as to what was the precise process of election to the
strategia is at once the most important of those connected with the office and
the most difficult to answer. It is equally doubtful who the electors were, and
from what body the elected were chosen; and according to our decision on these
points must depend to a large extent our estimate of the position of the strategos
in the state. In the early period of Athenian history the ten generals bore a
close relation to the ten tribes; at Marathon each general commanded a tribe (Plut.
Arist. 5), and Plutarch's language in this passage and in another, where he describes
the employment of Cimon and his nine colleagues as judges in the theatre, tends
strongly to the view that the general belonged to the tribe which he commanded
(Plut. Cim. 8, apo phules mias hekaston). This was, however, certainly not the
case at a later period: Pollux tells us that the generals were chosen out of all
the citizens (ex hapanton, Poll. viii. 86); several instances are found of two
generals in the same year belonging to the same tribe; and, as Gilbert says, It
would have violated all considerations of political expediency if the Athenians,
through the condition that a general must be taken from each tribe, had robbed
themselves of the possibility of employing two gifted and experienced men, because
they happened to belong to the same tribe. Yet it is known at the close of the
5th century the generals offered themselves as representatives of special tribes
(Xen. Mem. iii. 4, 1); and, as they were chosen out of all Athenian citizens,
two modes of election have been suggested: either that the generals were elected
out of all the Athenian people by the special tribes and for the special tribes,
or the view which is held by Droysen, that they were elected for each tribe from
all the Athenians by the whole people (Hermes, ix. p. 8). The first, though in
accordance with modern ideas of representation, is thought to be inconsistent
with ancient ideas on the subject, while the second is contrary to all the analogies
of tribal election in Athens. A modified view has been put forward by Beloch,
which, while it gives a theory of election, contains a definite suggestion as
to the distribution of powers within the college. He holds that the college consisted,
not of ten equal members, but of a prutanis and sunarchontes, on the analogy of
the treasurers of Athens and of the Hellenotamiae: the expression ho deina kai
sunarchontes being found applied to the strategia in an inscription. This president,
he considers, was elected by all and out of all, but his nine colleagues each
by his own tribe and from his own tribe, one of the ten tribes each year giving
up its right to election. Consequently in nine cases out of ten a general must
have belonged to a phyle that was already represented, or conversely, when two
generals are found to belong to the same phyle, one of them must be the prytanis.
This seems confirmed by the fact that between the years 441-0 and 356-5 there
are nine certain instances of two generals, but no certain instance of more than
two, belonging to the same tribe in the same year: this occurs twice when Pericles,
once when Laches is general, and one of the names is usually of sufficient eminence
for us to consider its bearer a possible president of the college. The prutaneia
of the college he also thinks to be signified by the expression strategos tegos
dekatos autos, which is twice used in reference to Pericles (Thuc. i. 116; ii.
13). Gilbert had thought that the additions pemptos, tetartos autos to a general's
name signified some superiority of power possessed by that general over his colleagues,
and that this power is the same as that expressed in the words strategos tegos
autokrator: thus ho deina pemptos autos would mean that the general possessed
authority over his four colleagues who went on the expedition with him; ho deina
dekatos autos would signify, not necessarily that the general's nine colleagues
went with him on an expedition, but that he possessed the power of an autokrator
over the whole college. It is certain that a general was appointed autokrator,
not at the elections, but with reference to a definite service, although it is
possible that, in the face of a pressing danger, a general might be elected with
autocratic powers at the archaeresia (Plut. Arist. 8, cheirotonetheis autokrator).
Only the most general instructions were given to such a that commander: he was
freed from the necessity of consulting the boule and the ekklesia on the details
of administration, could raise supplies at his own discretion (Thuc. vi, 26),
and had perhaps authority over his other colleagues; three generals were so appointed
for the Sicilian expedition (Thuc. l. c.: hoi Athenaioi epsephisanto euthus autokratoras
einai kai peri stratias plethous kai peri tou pantos plou tous strategous prassein
he an autois dokei arista einai Athenaiois: cf. Plut. Arist. 8 and 11), and Alcibiades
in 408 B.C. was hapanton hegemon autokrator (Xen. Hell. i. 5, 20). Beloch's theory,
on the other hand, is that the prutanis differed from the autokrator in that a
general was appointed prutanis at the archairesiai, [p. 720] autokrator with reference
to a definite service; that the one had a standing, the other only a temporary
superiority over his colleagues; and that the two expressions would have coincided
only when one strategos autokrator was appointed, in which case the president
of the college would undoubtedly have been selected as the general on whom these
special exemptions were conferred. If Beloch's theory is valid, this president
of the college was the first minister of Athens; and it is no anachronism to speak
of party government in the sense of ministerial government, when we are dealing
with Athenian politics.
That this ministerial power was realised in later times is shown by
an inscription of a strategos epi ta hopla, who records that peristanton tei polei
kairon duskolon diephulazen ten eirenen tei chorai apophainomenos aiei ta kratista--kai
ten polin eleutheran kai demokratoumenen autonouon paredoken kai tas nomes kurious
tois meth' heauton. For the earlier period of Athenian history, it is difficult
to establish a constitutional basis for this power: yet that it existed cannot
be doubted. It is shown by the language in which Pericles' position is described
(Thuc. ii. 65, strategon heilonto kai panta ta pragmata epetrepsan: cf. Diod.
xiii. 42): he was alone responsible for the conduct of affairs, and had the power
to prevent the ekklesia from assembling (Thuc. ii. 23, 2). It is true that the
expression ho deina kai sunarchontes may only denote a changing presidency; and
the expressions tritos, tetartos, and even dekatos autos may be explained of specially
conferred powers, yet something more seems to be demanded for a position such
as that of Themistocles at Salamis (Plut. Arist. 8), of Pericles during the last
fifteen years of his life, and of Nicias in 425 B.C. (Thuc. iv. 28): in these
cases a definite leadership of the college seems to be implied, however vague
and conjectural may be the powers which we are enabled to attribute to such a
presidency.
(Appendix). Ath. pol., c. 4, speaks of strategoi in the time of Draco, mentioning the qualification that they must be married, and adding that they must have children over ten years of age. As the text stands we are told of a property qualification of 100 minae; but, since the qualification of an archon (at that time a more important office) was only ten minae. this is unlikely, and hekaston e (implying a qualification of eight minae) may be a truer reading than e hekaton.
The election of one strategus from each tribe in the time of Cleisthenes
is mentioned in c. 57: we learn also that after the reforms of Cleisthenes they
were still of lower rank than the archons and subordinate in military rule to
the Polemarch (c. 22, tes d hapases stratias hegemon en ho Polemarchos). This
bears out the account of Herod. vi. 109, 111, placing the growth of their importance
later.
From c. 61 we learn that, instead of one being elected as in older
times from each tribe, the ten were now chosen by cheirotonia from the whole body
of citizens (ex apanton), which obviously gave a greater freedom for choosing
the best men. It is not, however, stated when this change was made.
The assignment of the five first strategi to special duties is mentioned
as fixed and definite:
1. the commander of hoplites on service out of the country:
2. over the local defence and general-in-chief in case of invasion:
3. over Munychia:
4. over the shore (= the chora paralia)
3 & 4 are reckoned together as epi ton Peiraiea:
5. epi tas summorias, the duties specified being to make out the register of the
trierarchs, to carry out the antidoseis and to preside at legal proceedings connected
with the trierarchy (cf. p. 892 a). The other five strategi were employed as occasion
demanded (tous d allous pros ta paronta pragmata ekpempousin). It is added that
the strategus could imprison and fine (epibolen epiballein) anyone guilty of breach
of discipline on service, but that the fine was rarely resorted to. It will be
seen from the above that the treatise gives a clearer view of the question of
election (discussed on pp. 719, 720), and a definite apportionment of their functions
in more regular order (cf. p. 718 a). In this point the supposed date of the treatise
will bear out Gilbert's deduction from inscriptions, that the special office of
strategos epi summorias began sometime between 334 and 324 B.C.; and agrees also
with the fact, which he notices, that a further apportionment of offices, not
here mentioned, such as epi to nautikon, epi tous xenous, &c. (presumably taking
up the other five strategi), is traceable first in reference to an event shortly
before 315 B.C. (i. e. later than the date assigned to Ath. pol.).
Thrasyllus or Thrasylus (Thrasullos, Thrasulos). An Argive, was one of the five generals of the commonwealth when Argolis was invaded by the Lacedaemonians under Agis II., in B. C. 418. Agis succeeded in placing a division of his army between the Argive forces and Argos, thus cutting them off from their city, while their flank and rear were threatened by his two other divisions. Thrasyllus perceived the danger of this position, and, together with Aleiphron (one [p. 1110] of his fellow-citizens and a proxenus of Lacedaemon), obtained an interview with Agis, and induced him by the hope of a permanent peace to grant them a truce for four months. Thrasyllus and Alciphron, however, had taken this step without being authorized; and the Argives, who imagined that they had been on the point of gaining an easy victory over the Lacedaemonians. shut in as the latter were between them and the city, were highly exasperated, and began to stone Thrasyllus in the military court which was always held just outside the walls of Argos after an expedition. He saved his life only by taking refuge at an altar, and he was punished by the confiscation of his property. (Thuc. v. 59, 60.)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited June 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Peisias. An Argive general. In B. C. 366, when Epaminondas was preparing to invade Achaia, Peisias, at his instigation, occupied a commanding height of Mount Oneium, near Cenchreae, and thus enabled the Thebans to make their way through the isthmus, guarded though it was by Lacedaemonian and Athenian troops. (Xen. Hell. vii. 1.41; Diod. xv. 75.)
KORINTHOS (Ancient city) PELOPONNISOS
Lives, by Plutarch
Timoleon, (Timoleon). The son of Timodemus or Timaenetus and Demariste. He belonged to one of the noblest families at Corinth. His early life was stained by a dreadful deed of blood. We are told that so ardent was his love of liberty that when his brother Timophanes endeavoured to make himself tyrant of their native city, Timoleon murdered him rather than allow him to destroy the liberty of the State. At the request of the Greek cities of Sicily, the Corinthians despatched Timoleon with a small force in B.C. 344 to repel the Carthaginians from that island. He obtained possession of Syracuse, and then proceeded to expel the tyrants from the other Greek cities of Sicily, but was interrupted in this undertaking by a formidable invasion of the Carthaginians, who landed at Lilybaeum, in 339, with an immense army, under the command of Hasdrubal and Hamilcar, consisting of 70,000 foot and 10,000 horse. Timoleon could only induce 12,000 men to march with him against the Carthaginians; but with this small force he gained a brilliant victory over the Carthaginians on the river Crimissus (339). The Carthaginians were glad to conclude a treaty with Timoleon in 338, by which the river Halycus was fixed as the boundary of the Carthaginian and Greek dominions in Sicily. Subsequently he expelled almost all the tyrants from the Greek cities in Sicily, and established democracies instead. Timoleon, however, was in reality the ruler of Sicily, for all the States consulted him on every matter of importance; and the wisdom of his rule is attested by the flourishing condition of the island for several years even after his death. He died in 337. His life was written by Plutarch.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Nov 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Nepos: Timoleon
Timoleon: Perseus Project index
Perseus Project index
Corinthian general, slain by Aristomenes
Corinthian general
a Corinthian, bribed by Persians
Aristeus, or Aristeas, a Corinthian, son of Adeimantus, commanded the troops sent by Corinth to maintain Potidaca in its revolt, B. C. 432. With Potidaea he was connected, and of the troops the greater number were volunteers, serving chiefly from attachment to him. Appointed on his arrival commander-in-chief of the allied infantry, he encountered the Athenian Callias, butwas outmanoeuvred and defeated. With his own division he was successful, and with it on returning from the pursuit he found himself cut off, but byy a bold course made his way with slight loss into the town. This was now blockaded, and Aristeus, seeing no hope, bid them leave himself with a garrison of 500, and the rest make their way to sea. This escape was effected, and he himself induced to join in it; after which he was occupied in petty warfare in Chalcidice, and negotiations for aid from Peloponnesus. Finally, not long before the surrender of Potidaea, in the second year of the war, B. C. 430, he set out with other ambassadors from Peloponnesus for the court of Persia; but visiting Sitalces the Odrysian in their way, they were given to Athenian ambassadors there by Sadocus, his son, and sent to Athens; and at Athens, partly from fear of the energy and ability of Aristeus, partly in retaliation for the cruelties practised by Sparta, he was immediately put to death. (Thuc. i. 60-65, ii. 67; Herod. vii. 137)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Oct 2005 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Androsthenes of Corinth, who defended Corinth against the Romans in B. C. 198, and was defeated in the following year by the Achaeans. (Liv. xxxii. 23 ; xxxiii. 14, 15)
Eumachus, (Eumachos). A Corinthian, son of Chrysis, was one of the generals sent by the Corinthians in the winter of B. C. 431 in command of an armament to restore Evarchus, tyrant of Astacus, who had been recently expelled by the Athenians. (Thuc. ii. 33.)
MEGALOPOLIS (Ancient city) ARCADIA
A Megalopolitan general, descendant of Arcesilaus. (Paus. 8.10.6, 10)
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