Listed 57 sub titles with search on: Biographies for wider area of: "CALABRIA Region ITALY" .
KROTON (Ancient city) CALABRIA
A celebrated athlete of Crotona, who had thrice gained the victory at the Pythian Games. He fought at the battle of Salamis, B.C. 480, in a ship fitted out at his own expense.
Phayllus : Perseus Encyclopedia
There is a statue at Delphi of Phaylus of Crotona. He won no victory at Olympia, but his victories at Pytho were two in the pentathlum and one in the foot-race. He also fought at sea against the Persian, in a ship of his own, equipped by himself and manned by citizens of Crotona who were staying in Greece. Such is the story of the athlete of Crotona.
Democedes. A celebrated physician of Crotona. He practised medicine successively at Aegina, Athens, and Samos. He was taken prisoner by the Persians, in B.C. 522, and was sent to Susa to the court of Darius. Here he acquired great reputation by curing the king's foot and the breast of the queen Atossa. Notwithstanding his honours at the Persian court he was always desirous of returning to his native country, and in order to effect this, he procured by means of Atossa that he should be sent with some nobles to explore the coast of Greece and to ascertain in what parts it might be most successfully attacked. At Tarentum he escaped, and settled at Crotona, where he married the daughter of the famous wrestler Milo.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Democedes, (Demokedes), the son of Calliphon, a celebrated physician of Crotona, in Magna Graecia, who lived in the sixth century B. C. He left his native country and went to Aegina, where he received from the public treasury the sum of one talent per annum for his medical services, i. e. (if we reckon, with Hussey, Ancient Weights and Money, §c., the Aeginetan drachma to be worth one shilling and a penny three farthings) not quite 344l. The next year he went to Athens, where he was paid one hundred minae, i. e. rather more than 406l.; and the year following he removed to the island of Samos in the Aegean sea, and received from Polycrates, the tyrant, the increased salary of two talents, i. e. (if the Attic standard be meant) 487l. 10s. (Herod. iii. 131.) He accompanied Polycrates when he was seized and put to death by Oroetes, the Persian governor of Sardis (B. C. 522), by whom he was himself seized and carried prisoner to Susa to the court of Dareius, the son of Hystaspes. Here he acquired great riches and reputation by curing the king's foot, and the breast of the queen Atossa. (Ibid. c. 133.) It is added by Dion Chrysostom (Dissert. i. De Invid.), that Dareius ordered the physicians who had been unable to cure him to be put to death, and that they were saved at the intercession of Democedes. Notwithstanding his honours at the Persian court, he was always desirous of returning to his native country. In order to effect this, he pretended to enter into the views and interests of the Persians, and procured by means of Atossa that he should be sent with some nobles to explore the coast of Greece, and ascertain in what parts it might be most successfully attacked. When they arrived at Tarentum, the king, Aristophilides, out of kindness to Democedes, seized the Persians as spies, which afforded the physician an opportunity of escaping to Crotona. Here he finally settled, and married the daughter of the famous wrestler, Milo; the Persians having followed him to Crotona, and in vain demanded that he should be restored. (Herod. iii. 137.) According to Suidas (s. v.) he wrote a work on Medicine. He is mentioned also by Aelian (V. H. viii. 17) and John Tzetzes (Hist. ix. 3); and Dion Cassius names him with Hippocrates (xxxviii. 18) as two of the most celebrated physicians of antiquity. By Dion Chrysostom he is called by mistake Denmodocus.
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
RIGION (Ancient city) CALABRIA
(of Rhegium). One of the Greek Logographi.
Hippys, (Hippus or Hipus) of Rhegium, a Greek historian, who lived in the time of the Persian wars, and wrote a work on Sicily (tas Sikelikas praxeis) in five books, which was epitomised by Myes. He also wrote Ktisin Italias, no doubt an account of the early mythical history of Italy, like the works which the Romans called Origines ; Chronika in five books; and, if the text of Suidas is correct (Argologikon g), a miscellaneous work, the fruit of leisure hours, in three books: but few critics will hesitate to accept the conjectural emendation of Gyraldus, Argolikon. (Suid. s. v.) There can be no doubt that the remainder of the article in Suidas (houtos protos egrapse parodian kai choliambun kai alla is misplaced from his article Hipponax. Hippys is quoted by Aelian (N. A. ix. 33), by Stephanus Byzantinus (s. v. Apkas), who says that Hippys first called the Arcadians proselenous; by Plutarch (de Defect. Orac. 23); by the Scholiast on Apollonius Rhodius (iv. 262), and, with a corruption of the name into Hippias and Hippeus, by Athenaeus (i p. 31, b.); by a Scholiast on Euripides (Med. 9); and by Zenobius (Prov. iii. 42). Perhaps too one passage (Antig. Hist. Mir. 133), in which the name of Hippon of Rhegium occurs, may really refer to Hippys. (Vossius, de Hist. Graec., ed. Westermann.)
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
Lycus (Lukos), of Rhegium, surnamed Boutheras, the father, real or adoptive, of the poet Lycophron, was an historical writer in the time of Demetrius Phalereus, who, for some unknown reason, aimed at his life. He wrote a history of Libya, and of Sicily, and a work on Alexander the Great. He is quoted by several ancient writers, some of whom ascribe to him also works upon Thebes and upon Nestor, which seem clearly to have been of a mythological character. (Suid. s. v.; Steph. Byz. s. v. Habrotonon, Skidros; Schol. ad Aristoph. Pac. 924; Antig. Caryst. 46, 148, 154, 170, 188; Tzetzes, Vit. Lycophr.; Schol. ad Lycoph. 615, 1206; Schol. ad Hesiod. Theog. 326; Vossius, de Hist. Graec.)
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
LOKRI EPIZEFIRIOI (Ancient city) ITALY
Ephorus, in his mention of the written legislation of the Locri which was drawn up by Zaleucus from the Cretan, the Laconian, and the Areopagite usages, says that Zaleucus was among the first to make the following innovation--that whereas before his time it had been left to the judges to determine the penalties for the several crimes, he defined them in the laws, because he held that the opinions of the judges about the same crimes would not be the same, although they ought to be the same. And Ephorus goes on to commend Zaleucus for drawing up the laws on contracts in simpler language. . .
Zaleucus, (Zaleukos). The celebrated lawgiver of the Epizephyrian Locrians, is said by some to have been originally a slave, but is described by others as a man of good family. He could not, however, have been a disciple of Pythagoras, as some writers state, since he lived upwards of one hundred years before Pythagoras. The date of the legislation of Zaleucus is assigned to B.C. 660. His code, which was severe, is stated to have been the first collection of written laws that the Greeks possessed. Among other enactments we are told that the penalty of adultery was the loss of the eyes. There is a celebrated story of the son of Zaleucus having become liable to this penalty, and the father himself suffering the loss of one eye, that his son might not be utterly blinded. It is further related that among his laws was one forbidding any citizen, under penalty of death, to enter the senate-house in arms. On one occasion, however, on a sudden emergency in time of war, Zaleucus transgressed his own law, which was remarked to him by one present; whereupon he fell upon his own sword, declaring that he would himself vindicate the law. Other authors tell the same story of Charondas, and of Diocles.
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
Theano. A celebrated female philosopher of the Pythagorean School, appears to have been the wife of Pythagoras, and the mother by him of Telauges, Mnesarchus, Myia , and Arignote; but the accounts respecting her were various. Letters ascribed to her, but not genuine, exist, and are edited by Hercher (1873).
Theano : Various WebPages
Theano was the wife of Pythagoras. She and her two daughters carried
on the Pythagorean School after the death of Pythagoras.
She wrote treatises on mathematics, physics, medicine, and child psychology.
This extract is cited July 2003 from the Malaspina Great Books URL below.
Of Crotona: wins prize for singing at Pythian games.
LOKRI EPIZEFIRIOI (Ancient city) ITALY
Eunomus, (Eunomos), a cithara-player of Locri, in Italy. One of the strings of his cithara being broken (so runs the tale) in a musical contest at the Pythian games, a cicada perched on the instrument, and by its notes supplied the deficiency. Strabo tells us there was a statue of Eunomus at Locri, holding his cithara with the cicada, his friend in need, upon it. (Strab. vi.; Casaub. ad loc. ; Clem. Alex. Protrept. i.; comp. Ael. Hist. An. v. 9.)
Philolaus, (Philolaos). A distinguished Pythagorean philosopher. He was a native of Croton or Tarentum, a contemporary of Socrates, and the instructor of Simmias and Cebes at Thebes, where he appears to have lived many years. Pythagoras and his earliest successors did not commit any of their doctrines to writing, and the first publication of the Pythagorean doctrines is pretty uniformly attributed to Philolaus. He composed a work on the Pythagorean philosophy in three books, which Plato is said to have procured at the cost of 100 minae through Dion of Syracuse, who purchased it from Philolaus, who was at the time in deep poverty. Other versions of the story represent Plato as purchasing it himself from Philolaus or his relatives when in Sicily. Plato is said to have derived from this work the greater part of his Timaeus.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Alcmaeon (Alkmaion), one of the most emlinent natural philosophers of antiquity, was a
native of Crotona in Magna Graecia. His father's name was Pirithus, and he is
said to have been a pupil of Pythagoras, and must therefore have lived in the
latter half of the sixth century before Christ (Diog. Laert. viii. 83). Nothing
more is known of the events of his life. His most celebrated anatomical discovery
has been noticed in the Dict. of Ant. p. 756, a; but whether his knowledge in
this branch of science was derived from the dissection of animals or of human
bodies, is a disputed question, which it is difficult to decide. Chalcidius, on
whose authority the fact rests, merely says, " qui primus exsectionem aggredi
est ausus" and the word exsectio would apply equally well to either case. He is
said also to have been the first person who wrote on natural philosophy (Phusikon
logon), and to have invented fables. He also wrote several other medical and philosophical
works, of which nothing but the titles and a few fragments have been preserved
by Stobaeus Plutarch and Galen. A further account of his philosophical opinions
may be found in Menage's Notes to Diogenes Laertius.
Although Alcmaeon is termed a pupil of Pythagoras, there is great
reason to doubt whether he was a Pythagorean at all; his name seems to have crept
into the lists of supposititious Pythagoreans given us by later writers. Aristotle
(Metaphys. A. 5) mentions him as nearly contemporary with Pythagoras, but distinguishes
between the stoicheia of opposites, under which the Pythagoreans included all
things, and the double principle of Alcmaeon, according to Aristotle, less extended,
although he does not explain the precise difference. Other doctrines of Alcmaaeon
have been preserved to us. He said that the human soul was immortal and partook
of the divine nature, because like the heavenly bodies it contained in itself
a principle of motion. The eclipse of the moon, which was also eternal, he supposed
to arise from its shape, which he said was like a boat. All his doctrines which
have come down to us, relate to physics or medicine; and seem to have arisen partly
out of the speculations of the Ionian school, with which rather than the Pythagorean,
Aristotle appears to connect Alcmaeon, partly front the traditionary lore of the
earliest medical science.
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
Aresas, of Lucania, and probably of Croton, was at the head of the Pythagorean school, and the sixth in succession from Pythagoras. Some attribute to him a work "about Human Nature", of which a fragment is preserved by Stobaeus; but others suppose it to have been written by Aesara.
Aristaeus (Aristaios), the son of Damophon, of Croton, a Pythagoraean philosopher,
who succeeded Pythagoras as head of the school, and married his widow Theano (Iambl.
c. 36). He was the author of several mathematical works, which Euclid used (Pappus,
lib. vii. Mathem. Coll. init.). Stobaeus has given an extract from a work on Harmony
(Pepi Harmonias), by Aristaeon, who may be the same as this Aristaeus.
Diodorus, of Croton, a Pythagorean philosopher, who is otherwise unknown. (Iamblich. Vit. Pythag. 35.)
Eurytus, (Eurutos), an eminent Pythagorean philosopher, whom Iamblichus in one
passage (de Vit. Pyth. 28) describes as a native of Croton, while in another (ibidd.
36) he enumerates him among the Tarentine Pythagoreans. He was a disciple of Philolaus,
and Diogenes Laertius (iii. 6, viii. 46) mentions him among the teachers of Plato,
though this statement is very doubtful. It is uncertain whether Eurytus was the
author of any work, unless we suppose that the fragment in Stobaeus (Phys. Ecl.
i.), which is there ascribed to one Eurytus, belongs to our Eurytus. (Ritter,
Gesch. der Pythag. Philos.)
Hippostratus, (Hippostratos). A native of Crotona, mentioned by Iamblichus in
his list of Pythagorean philosophers. (Vit. Pyth. c. 36.267.)
LOKRI EPIZEFIRIOI (Ancient city) ITALY
Timaeus of Locri, in Italy, a Pythagorean philosopher, is said to have been a teacher of Plato. He gives his name to a dialogue of Plato, in which is given the account of the mythical island Atlantis, lying in the Western Ocean, and supposed by many in modern times to have been suggested by vague stories of the American continent.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Elicaon or Helicaon (Helikaon), of Rhegium, a Pythagorean philosopher. He is mentioned along with other Pythagoreans, who gave good and wholesome laws to Rhegium, and endeavoured to make practical use of the philosophical principles of their master in the administration of their country. (Iamblich. Vit. Pythag. 27, 30, 36.)
Euthycles. Of Rhegium, a Pythagorean philosopher. (Iamblich. Vit. Pyth. cc. 27, 36.)
LOKRI EPIZEFIRIOI (Ancient city) ITALY
A Greek poetess of Locri in Italy who lived in the fourth century B.C., and wrote twelve epigrams preserved in the Greek Anthology.
RIGION (Ancient city) CALABRIA
Ιbycus, (Ibukos). A Greek lyric and erotic poet of Rhegium in
Lower Italy, who flourished about B.C. 530. Like Anacreon, he led a roving life,
and spent much of his time at the court of Polycrates of Samos. According to his
epitaph, he died in his native town; but according to the legend made familiar
by Schiller's poem, he was slain on a journey to Corinth, and his murderers were
discovered by means of a flock of cranes, which, as he died, he had invoked as
his avengers. The story goes that, after his murder, when the Corinthians were
gathered in the theatre, the cranes appeared; whereupon one of the assassins who
was present cried out, "See the avengers of Ibycus!" thus giving a clue
to their detection. Hence arose the expression used of the cranes, Ibukou geranoi.
His poems, which were collected into seven books, survive in scanty fragments
only. They dealt partly with mythological themes in the metres of Stesichorus
and partly with love-songs in the spirit of Aeolic lyric poetry, full of glowing
passion and sensibility. It was mainly to the latter that he owed his fame.
This text is from: Harry Thurston Peck, Harpers Dictionary of Classical Antiquities. Cited Oct 2002 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Ibycus. Poet from the Greek city of Rhegium on the very toe of Italy,
who lived in the first half of the 6th century BC. When he was offered to become
the dictator of the city, he refused and went traveling instead. He ended up on
Samos, where he enjoyed life
at the court of Polycrates.
Ibycus was known to have a passion for boys, and there is definitely
a homosexual stroke in his poetry. Not much of his work has survived, but we know
he wrote mythological stories as well as personal love poems. He also wrote choral
poetry, and is said to have invented the victory ode.
He had a great love for nature, especially birds, which was to affect
his fate in a rather bizarre way: he was attacked and killed by robbers, and as
he died, he said that the cranes that flew above their heads would revenge him.
The villains went to a nearby village, and soon some cranes flew over the city.
One of them then said “look, the avengers of Ibycus”, which the crowd
heard and apprehended them.
This text is cited Sept 2003 from the In2Greece URL below.
Ibycus (Ibukos), the fifth lyric poet in the Alexandrine canon, was a native of
Rhegium. One writer calls him a Messenian, no doubt because the survivors of the
second Messenian War formed a considerable portion of the population of Rhegium.
His father's name is differently stated, as Phytius, Polyzelus, Cerdas, Eelidas,
but Phytius is probably the right name. The best part of his life was spent at
Samos, at the court of Polycrates, about 01. 60, B. C. 540. Suidas erroneously
places him twenty years earlier, in the time of Croesus and the father of Polycrates.
We have no further accounts of his life, except the well-known story, about which
even some doubt has been raised, of the manner of his death. While travelling
through a desert place near Corinth, he was attacked by robbers and mortally wounded,
but before he died he called upon a flock of cranes that happened to fly over
him to avenge his death. Soon afterwards, when the people of Corinth were assembled
in the theatre, the cranes appeared, and as they hovered over the heads of the
spectators, one of the murderers, who happened to be present, cried out involuntarily,
"Behold the avengers of Ibycus": and thus were the authors of the crime detected.
The phrase hai Ibukou geranoi passed into a proverb (Suid.; Antip. Sid. Epig.
78, ap. Brunck, Anal. vol. ii.; Plut. de Garrul.). The argument against this account
of the poet's death, adduced by Schneidewin from another epigram in the Anthology
(Brunck, Anal. vol. iii.), which seems to imply that Ibycus was buried at Rhegium,
is answered by reference to the prevailing practice of erecting cenotaphs to the
memory of great men, especially in their native place. The story at all events
proves one thing, namely, that Ibycus was loved as well as admired by his contemporaries,
who therefore thought that he ought to be dear to the gods.
His poetry was chiefly erotic, and partook largely of the impetuosity
of his character. The charge of paiderastia is brought against him above all other
erotic poets (Cic. Tusc. iv. 33). Others of his poems were of a mythical and heroic
character, but some of these also were partially erotic. In his poems on heroic
subjects he very much resembled Stesichorus, his immediate predecessor in the
canon. In his dialect, as well as in the character of his poetry, there was a
mixture of the Doric and Aeolic. Suidas mentions seven books of his lyric poems,
of which only a few fragments now remain.
The best edition of the fragments is that of Schneidewin. (Schneid.
Ibyci Carm. Reliq., with an introductory Epistle from K. O. Muller, Gotting. 1835)
This text is from: A dictionary of Greek and Roman biography and mythology, 1873 (ed. William Smith). Cited Jan 2006 from The Perseus Project URL below, which contains interesting hyperlinks
Cleomenes of Rhegium, a dithyrambic poet, censured by Chionides (Athen. xiv.), and by Aristophanes, according to the Scholiast (Nubes, 332, 33..) He seems to have been an erotic writer, since Epicrates mentions him in connexion with Sappho, Meletus, and Lamynthius (Athen.xiv.). The allusions of other comedians to him fix his date in the latter part of the fifth century B. C. One of his poems was entitled Meleager. (Athen. ix.)
Glaucus. Of Rhegium, sometimes mentioned merely as of Italy, wrote on the ancient poets and musicians (sungramma ti peri ton archaion poieton te kai mousikon, Plut. de Music. 4). Diogenes Laertius quotes statements of his respecting Empedocles and Democritus, and says that he was contemporary with Democritus (viii. 52, ix. 38). Glaucus is also quoted in the argument to the Persae of Aeschylus. (Glaukos en tois peri Aischulou muthon.) His work was also ascribed to the orator Antiphon. (Plut. Vit. X. Orat.)
KROTON (Ancient city) CALABRIA
Aristomachus, the leader of the popular party at Croton, in the Hannibalian war, about B. C. 215. At that time nearly all the towns of southern Italy were divided into two parties, the people being in favour of the Carthaginians, and the nobles or senators in favour of the Romans. The Bruttians, who were in alliance with the Carthaginians, had hoped to gain possession of Croton with their assistance. As this had not been done, they determined to make the conquest by themselves. A deserter from Croton informed them of the state of political parties there, and that Aristomachus was ready to surrender the town to them. The Bruttians marched with an army against Croton, and as the lower parts, which were inhabited by the people, were open and easy of access, they soon gained possession of them. Aristomachus, however, as if he had nothing to do with the Bruttians, withdrew to the arx, where the nobles were assembled and defended themselves. The Bruttians in conjunction with the people of Croton besieged the nobles in the arx, and when they found that they made no impression, they applied to Hanno the Carthaginian for assistance. He proposed to the Crotoniats to receive the Bruttians as colonists within the extensive but deserted walls of their city; but all the Crotoniats, with the exception of Aristomachus, declared that they would rather die than submit to this. As Aristomachus, who had betrayed the town, was unable to betray the arx also, he saw no way but to take to flight, and he accordingly went over to Hanno. The Crotoniats soon after quitted their town altogether and migrated to Locri. (Liv. xxiv. 2, 3)
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
KRIMISSA (Ancient city) CALABRIA
Hamilcar. One of the commanders of the great Carthaginian army, which was defeated by Timoleon at the passage of the Crimissus, B. C. 339. (Plut. Timol. 25.) The fate of the generals in that action is not mentioned; but it seems probable, from the terms in which Plutarch shortly after speaks of the appointment of Gisco to the command (Ibid. 30), that they both perished.
LOKRI EPIZEFIRIOI (Ancient city) ITALY
P.Matienus, a tribune of the soldiers in the army of P. Scipio in Sicily, was sent by Scipio with M. Sergius, another tribune, to Q. Pleminius, who commanded as propraetor in Rhegium, to co-operate with him in taking the town of Locri. After the town had been taken a quarrel arose between the soldiers of the tribunes and those of Pleminius, and in the fight which ensued the latter were defeated. Pleminius enraged commanded the tribunes to be scourged; but they were rescued, after receiving a few blows, by their own soldiers, who, in retaliation, fell upon the propraetor and handled him most unmercifully. Scipio arrived a few days after at Locri, and having investigated the case, he acquitted Pleminius of blame, but ordered the tribunes to be put into chains and sent to Rome to the senate. This, however, did not satisfy Pleminius, who burned for revenge; and, accordingly, no sooner had Scipio returned to Sicily, than he commanded the tribunes to he put to death with the most excruciating tortures, and then would not allow their corpses to be buried. (Liv. xxix. 6, 9.)
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
RIGION (Ancient city) CALABRIA
Decius, a Campanian, and commander of the Campanian legion which the Romans stationed at Rhegium in B. C. 281 for the protection of the place. Decius and his troops, envious of the happiness which the inhabitants of Rhegium enjoyed, and remembering the impunity with which the Mamertines had carried out their disgraceful scheme, formed a most diabolical plan. During the celebration of a festival, while all the citizens were feasting in public, Decius and his soldiers attacked them; the men were massacred and driven into exile, while the soldiers took the women to themselves. Decius put himself at the head of the city, acted as tyrannus perfectly independent of Rome, and formed connexions with the Mamertines in Sicily. He at first had endeavoured to palliate his crime by asserting that the Rhegines intended to betray the Roman garrison to Pyrrhus. During the war with Pyrrhus the Romans had no time to look after and punish the miscreants at Rhegium, and Decius for some years enjoyed the fruits of his crime unmolested. During that period he was seized by a disease of the eyes, and not venturing to trust a Rhegine physician, he sent for one to Messana. This physician was himself a natire of Rhegium, a fact which few persons knew, and he now took the opportunity to avenge on Decius the wrongs he had inflicted upon Rhegium. He gave him something which he was to apply to his eyes, and which, however painful it might be, he was to continue till the physician should return from Messana. The order was obeyed, but the pain became at last quite unbearable, and Decius in the end found that he was quite blind. After the death of Pyrrhus, in B. C. 271, Fabricius was sent out against Rhegium; he be sieged the place, and took it. All the survivors of the Campanian legion that fell into his hands, upreceive wards of three hundred men, were sent to Rome, where they were scourged and beheaded in the forum. The citizens of Rhegium who were yet alive were restored to their native place. Decius put an end to himself in his prison at Rome. (Appian, Samnit. Excerpt. ix. 1-3; Diodor. Fragm. lib. xxii.; Liv. Epit. 12, 15; Polyb. i. 7; Val. Max. vii. 7.15.)
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
Leptines. A Syracusan, who joined with Callippus in expelling the garrison of the younger Dionysius from Rhegium, B. C. 351. Having effected this, they restored the city to nominal independence, but it appears that they continued to occupy it with their mercenaries: and not long afterwards Leptines took advantage of the discontent which had arisen among these, to remove Callippus by assassination. (Diod. xvi. 45; Plut. Dion. 58.) We know nothing of his subsequent proceedings, nor of the circumstances that led him to quit Rhegium, but it seems probable that he availed himself of the state of confusion in which Sicily then was to make himself master of the two cities of Apollonia and Engyum: at least there is little doubt that the Leptines whom we find established as the tyrant of those cities when Timoleon arrived in Sicily is the same with the associate of Callippus. He was expelled in common with all the other petty tyrants, by Timoleon; but his life was spared, and he was sent into exile at Corinth, B. C. 342. (Diod. xvi. 72; Plut. Timol. 24.)
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
Pliny places Pythagoras fourth in his selection of five bronze-casters, after Pheidias, Polykleitos, and Myron, and before Lysippos.
Assembling all the evidence, his recorded works, all bronzes, are as follows:
Victor statues
- The wrestler Leontiskos of Messana, at Olympia
- The runner Astylos of Kroton, at Olympia
- The boxer Euthynos of Italian Locri, at Olympia
- The pankratiast Dromeus of Mantinea, at Olympia
- The hoplite runner Mnaseas of Kyrene, nicknamed Libys, at Olympia
- The charioteer Kratisthenes of Kyrene, his chariot, and Nike, at Olympia
- The boy-boxer Protolaos of Mantinea, at Olympia
- A pankratiast, at Delphi
- The kithara-player Kleon, at Thebes
Gods and heroes
- Apollo shooting the dragon, perhaps at Kroton
- A wounded man, at Syracuse
- Seven nudes and an old man, later at Rome
- Eteokles and Polyneikes
- Perseus
- Europa on the Bull, at Taras
Pythagoras.Of Rhegium, one of the most celebrated statuaries
of Greece, probably flourished B.C. 480-430. His most important works appear to
have been his statues of athletes.
On the right of the Lady of the Bronze House [at Sparta] has been set up an image of Zeus Most High, the oldest image of bronze in existence. It is not wrought in one piece. Each of the limbs has been hammered separately; these are fitted together, being prevented from coming apart by nails. They say that the artist was Klearchos of Rhegion, who is said by some to have been a pupil of Dipoinos and Skyllis, by others of Daidalos himself. (Pausanias 3.17.6)
Clearchus, a sculptor in bronze at Rhegium, is important as the teacher of the celebrated Pythagoras, who flourished at the time of Myron and Polycletus. Clearchus was the pupil of the Corinthian Eucheir, and belongs probably to the 72nd and following Olympiads. The whole pedigree of the school to which he is to be ascribed is given by Pausanias. (vi. 4.2)
Learchus (Learchos), of Rhegium, is one of those Daedalian artists who stand on
the confines of the mythical and historical periods, and about whom we have extremely
uncertain information. One account made him a pupil of Daedalus, another of Dipoenus
and Scyllis. (Paus. iii. 17.6). Pausanias saw, in the Brazen House at Sparta,
a statue of Zeus by him, which was made of separate pieces of hammered bronze,
fastened together with nails. Pausanias adds, that this was the most ancient of
all existing statues in bronze. It evidently belonged to a period when the art
of casting in bronze was not yet known. But this is inconsistent with the account
which made Learchus the pupil of Dipoenus and Scyllis, for these artists are said
to have been the inventors of sculpture in marble, an art which is generally admitted
to have had a later origin than that of casting in bronze. Moreover, Rhoecus and
Theodorus, the inventors of casting in bronze, are placed about the beginning
of the Olympiads. Learchus must, therefore, have flourished still earlier; but
the date of Dipoenus and Scyllis is, according to the only account we have of
it, about 200 years later.
The difficulty is rather increased than diminished if we substitute
for Learchon, in the passage of Pausanias, Klearchon, which is probably the true
reading. (See the editions of Schubart and Walz, and Bekker). In another passage,
Pausanias mentions (vi. 4.2) Clearchus of Rhegium as the instructor of Pythagoras
of Rhegium, and the pupil of Eucheirus of Corinth. This Clearchus must therefore
have lived about B. C. 500, eighty years later than Dipoenus and Scyllis. We must
therefore either assume the existence of two Clearchi of Rhegium, one near the
beginning, and the other at the end of the Daedalian period, or else we must account
for the statement of Pausanias by supposing that, as often happens, a vague tradition
affixed the name of a well-known ancient artist to a work whose true origin was
lost in remote antiquity.
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
KROTON (Ancient city) CALABRIA
Now at this time, (510 bc) as the Sybarites say, they and their king Telys were making ready to march against Croton, and the men of Croton, who were very much afraid, entreated Dorieus to come to their aid. Their request was granted, and Dorieus marched with them to Sybaris helping them to take it. This is the story which the Sybarites tell of Dorieus and his companions, but the Crotoniats say that they were aided by no stranger in their war with Sybaris with the exception of Callias, an Elean diviner of the Iamid clan. About him there was a story that he had fled to Croton from Telys, the tyrant of Sybaris, because as he was sacrificing for victory over Croton, he could obtain no favorable omens.
Callias (Kallias), a soothsayer of the sacred Elean family of the Iamidae. (Pind. Olymp. vi.), who, according to the account of the Crotonians, came over to their ranks from those of Sybaris, when he saw that the sacrifices foreboded destruction to the latter, B. C. 510. His services to Crotona were rewarded by an allotment of land, of which his descendants were still in possession when Herodotus wrote. (Herod. v. 44, 45.)
RIGION (Ancient city) CALABRIA
Anaxilaus (Anaxilaos) or Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium, was the son of Cretines,
and of Messenian origin. He was master of Rhegium in B. C. 494, when the Samians
and other Ionian fugitives seized upon Zancle. Shortly afterwards he drove them
out of this town, peopled it with fresh inhabitants, and changed its name into
Messene (Herod. vi. 22, 23; Thuc. vi. 4; comp. Aristot. Pol. v. 10.4). In 480
he obtained the assistance of the Carthaginians for his father-in-law, Terillus
of Himera, against Theron (Herod. vii. 165). The daughter of Anaxilaus was married
to Hiero. Anaxilaus died in 476, leaving Micythus guardian of his children, who
obtained possession of their inheritance in 467, but was soon afterwards deprived
of the sovereignty by the people (Diod. xi. 48, 66, 76). The chronology of Anaxilaus
has been discussed by Bentley, who has shewn that the Anaxilaus of Pausanias (iv.
23.3) is the same as the one mentioned above.
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
Leophron, son of Anaxilas, tyrant of Rhegium. According to Dionysius of Halicarnassus (Exc. xix. 4), he succeeded his father in the sovereign power; it is therefore probable that he was the eldest of the two sons of Anaxilas, in whose name Micythus assumed the sovereignty, and who afterwards, at the instigation of Hieron of Syracuse, dispossessed the latter of his authority. Diodorus, from whom we learn these facts, does not mention the name of either of the young princes. According to the same author, their reign lasted six years (B. C. 467-461), when they were expelled by a popular insurrection both from Rhegium and Zancle (Diod. xi. 48, 66, 76). Leophron is elsewhere mentioned as carrying on war against the neighbouring city of Locri, and as displaying his magnificence at the Olympic games, by feasting the whole assembled multitude. His victory on that occasion was celebrated by Simonides. (Justin. xxi. 3; Athen. i.)
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
SKYLAKION (Ancient city) CALABRIA
Cassiodorus, Magnus Aurelius, or Cassiodorius. The MSS. vary between these two
forms of the name, although the former has been generally adopted, was born about
A. D. 468, at Scylaceum (Squillace), in the country of the Bruttii, of an ancient,
honourable, and wealthy Roman family. His father was at one period secretary to
Valentinian the Third, but retired from public life upon the death of that prince
and the extinction of the Western Empire. Young Cassiodorus was soon discovered
to be a boy of high promise, and his talents were cultivated with anxious assiduity
and care. At a very early age his genius, accomplishments, and multifarious learning,
attracted the attention and commanded the respect of the first barbarian king
of Italy, by whom he was chosen Comes rerum privatarum and eventually Comes sacrarum
largitionum, an appointment which placed him at the head of financial affairs.
But when Odoacer after a succession of defeats was shut up in Ravenna by Theodoric,
Cassiodorus withdrew to his estates in the south, and hastened to recommend himself
to the conqueror by persuading his countrymen and the Sicilians to submit without
resistance. Hence, after the murder of his former patron, he was received with
the greatest distinction by the new sovereign, was nominated to all the highest
offices of state in succession, and under a variety of different titles (for the
parade and formality of the old court were studiously maintained), regulated for
a long series of years the administration of the Ostrogothic power with singular
ability, discretion, and success, possessing at once the full confidence of his
master and the affection of the people. Perceiving, however, that Theodoric, enfeebled
by age, was beginning to yield to the selfish suggestions of evil counsellors
and to indulge in cruelty towards his Italian subjects, Cassiodorus wisely resolved
to seek shelter from the approaching storm, and, resigning all his honours, betook
himself to the country in 524, thus avoiding the wretched fate of Boethius and
Symmachus. Recalled after the death of Theodoric, he resumed his position, and
continued to discharge the duties of chief minister under Amalasontha, Athalaric,
Theodatus, and Vitiges, exerting all his energies to prop their tottering dominion.
But when the triumph of Belisarius and the downfall of the Ostrogoths was no longer
doubtful, being now 70 years old, he once more retired to his native province,
and having founded the monastery of Viviers (Coenobium Vivarienses. Castellense),
passed the remainder of his life, which was prolonged until he had nearly completed
a century, in the seclusion of the cloister. Here his activity of mind was no
less conspicuous than when engaged in the stirring business of the world, and
his efforts were directed towards the accomplishment of designs not less important.
The great object which he kept steadily in view and prosecuted with infinite labour
and unflagging zeal, was to elevate the standard of education among ecclesiastics
by inducing them to study the models of classical antiquity, and to extend their
knowledge of general literature and science. To accomplish this he formed a library,
disbursed large sums in the purchase of MSS., encouraged the monks to copy these
with care, and devoted a great portion of his time to labour of this description
and to the composition of elementary treatises on history, metaphysics, the seven
liberal arts, and divinity, which have rendered him not less celebrated as an
author and a man of learning than as a politician and a statesman. The leisure
hours which remained he is said to have employed in the construction of philosophical
toys, such as sun-dials, water-clocks, everlasting lamps, and the like. The benefit
derived from his precepts and example was by no means confined to the establishment
over which he presided, nor to the epoch when he flourished. The same system,
the advantages of which were soon perceived and appreciated, was gradually introduced
into similar institutions, the transcription of ancient works became one of the
regular and stated occupations of the monastic life, and thus, in all probability,
we are indirectly indebted to Cassiodorus for the preservation of a large proportion
of the most precious relics of ancient genius. The following is a list of all
the writings of Cassiodorus with which we are acquainted:
1. "Variarum (Epistolarum) Libri XII.", an assemblage of state papers
drawn up by Cassiodorus in accordance with the instructions of the sovereigns
whom he served. In the first ten books the author always speaks in the person
of the ruler for the time being; in the last two, in his own. The first five contain
the ordinances of Theodoric, the sixth and seventh regulations (formulae) with
regard to the chief offices of the kingdom, the eighth, ninth, and tenth, the
decrees promulgated by the immediate successors of Theodoric, the eleventh and
twelfth the edicts published by Cassiodorus himself during the years 534-538,
when praefect of the praetorium. This collection is of the greatest historical
importance, being our chief and most trustworthy source of information in regard
to everything connected with the constitution and internal discipline of the Ostrogothic
dominion in Italy. We must not, however, expect to find much that is attractive
or worthy of imitation in the style of these documents. While we cannot help admiring
the ingenuity displayed in the selection and combination of phrases, moulded for
the most part into neat but most artificial forms, and polished with patient toil,
we at the same time feel heartily wearied and disgusted by the sustained affectation
and declamatory glitter which disfigure every page. The language is full of strange
and foreign words, and little attention is paid to the delicacies of syntax, but
Funccius is too harsh when he designates it as a mere mass of Gothic solecisms.
Perhaps the best description which can be given of the general effect produced
upon the reader by these compositions is contained in the happy expression of
Tiraboschi, who characterises the diction of Cassiodorus as "barbara eleganza".
The Editio Princeps of the "Variarum" was printed under
the inspection of Accursius by Henr. Sileceus, at Augsburg, in the month of May
1533, the disquisition "De Anima" being included in the same volume.
2. "Chronicon", a dull, pompous, clumsy summary of Universal History,
extending from the creation of the world down to A. D. 519, derived chiefly from
Eusebius, Hieronymus, Prosper, and other authorities still accessible. It was
drawn up in obedience to the orders of Theodoric, and by no means deserves the
respect with which it was regarded in the middle ages, since it is carelessly
compiled and full of mistakes.
3. "Historiae Ecclesiasticae Tripartitae ex tribus Graecis Scriptoribus,
Sozomeno, Socrate, ac Theodoreto ab Epiphanio Scholastico Versis, per Cassiodorum
Senatorem in Epitomen redactae Libri XII". The origin of this work is sufficiently
explained by the title. It contains a complete survey of ecclesiastical history
from Constantine down to the younger Theodosius. This, like the Chronicon, is
of little value in the present day, since the authorities from which it is taken
are still extant, and are infinitely superior both in matter and manner to the
epitomizer. Prefixed we have an introduction, in which Cassiodorus gives full
scope to his taste for inflated grandiloquence. The editio princeps of the Ecclesiastical
History was printed by Johannes Schussler, at Augsburg, 1472.
4. "Computus Paschalis sive de Indictionibus, Cyclis Solis et Lunae",
&c., containing the calculations necessary for the correct determination of
Easter. This treatise belongs to the date 562, and this is the latest year in
which we can prove the author to have been alive.
5. "De Orthographia Liber", compiled by Cassiodorus when 93 years old
from the works of nine ancient grammarians -Agnaeus Cornutus, Velius Longus, Curtius
Valerianus, Papirianus, Adamantius Martyrius, Eutyches, Caesellius, Lucius Caecilius
Vindex, and Priscianus, in addition to whom we find quotations from Varro, Donatus,
and Phocas.
6. "De Arte Grammatica ad Donati Mentem", of which a fragment only has
been preserved. This tract, together with the preceding, will be found in the
"Grammaticae Latini Auctores an tiqui" of Putschius, Hanov. 1605.
7. " De Artibus ac Disciplinis Liberalium Lite rarum", in two books,
a compilation from the best authorities, much esteemed and studied during the
middle ages. It contains a compendium of the seven liberal arts which were at
one time supposed to embrace the whole circuit of human knowledge -Grammar, Rhetoric,
Dialectics, Arithmetic, Geometry, Astronomy, Music.
8. "De Anima", on the name, origin, nature, qualities, abode, and future
existence of the soul, together with speculations upon other topics connected
with the same subject.
9. "De Institutione Divinarum Literarum", an introduction to the profitable
reading of the Holy Scriptures, intended for the use of the monks. This is perhaps
the most pleasing of all our author's works. His profound and varied knowledge
is here displayed to the best advantage, his instructions are conveyed in more
plain and simple phraseology than he elsewhere employs, while a truly Christian
tone and spirit pervades the whole.
10. "Expositio in Psalmos sive Commenta Psalterii", extracted chiefly
from the "Enarrationes" of St. Augustin, although we gather from internal
evidence that the exegetical treatises of Hilarius, Ambrosius, Hieronymus, and
others upon the same subject, had been carefully consulted. As a matter of course
we detect in the copy the same features which distinguish the original, the same
love of overstrained allegorical interpretation, the same determination to wring
from the plainest and least ambiguous precepts some mystical and esoteric doctrine.
11. The "Expositio in Cantica Canticorum", although breathing a spirit
similar to the commentary just described, and set down in all MSS. as the production
of Cassiodorus, is throughout so different in style and language from all his
other dissertations, that its authenticity has with good reason been called in
question.
12. "Complexiones in Epistolas Apostolorum, in Acta et in Apocalypsim". Short
illustrations of the apostolic Epistles, the Acts, and Revelations, first brought
to light by Scipio Maffei, published by him at Florence from a Verona MS. in 1721,
and reprinted at London with the notes of Chandler in 1722, and at Rotterdam in
1723. These annotations are not considered by theologians of any particular value.
In addition to the above we frequently find two tracts included among the writings
of Cassiodorus, one a rhetorical essay entitled "De Schematibus et Tropis", and
the other "De Amicitia Liber". Of these the former is now generally ascribed to
the renerable Bede, while the latter is believed to have been composed by Petrus
Blesensis, archdeacon of London, an ecclesiastic of the twelfth century.
Among his lost works we may name: 1. "Libri XII De Rebus Gestis Gothorum",
known to us only through the abridgement of Jornandes; 2. "Liber Titulorums. Memorialis",
short abstracts, apparently, of chapters in holy writ; 3. "Expositio Epistolae
ad Romanos", in which the Pelagian heresy was attacked and confuted. The last
two, together with the " Complexiones" and several other treatises already mentioned,
are enumerated in the preface to the "De Orthographia Liber".
The first edition of the collected works of Cassiodorus is that published
at Paris in 1584, with the notes of Fornerius; the best and most complete is that
published by D. Garet at Rouen, 1679, and reprinted at Venice in 1729.
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
Receive our daily Newsletter with all the latest updates on the Greek Travel industry.
Subscribe now!
