Wandering Greeks
Page 30
Philistus, Syracusan historian and politician: Banished by Dionysius I, tyrant of Syracuse, in 386; lived in Epirus, where he wrote a history of Sicily; recalled to Syracuse twenty years later.
Pisander, Athenian politician: Fled to Sparta in 411 when the Council of Four Hundred was overthrown.
Pisistratus, tyrant of Athens: Went into self-imposed exile for ten years in Thrace and Eretria after his second failed attempt to establish a tyranny in Athens; eventually returned to Athens in ca. 546 and established a secure tyranny; died in 528/7.
Pleistoanax, Spartan king: Exiled sometime between 446 and 444 on the charge of accepting a bribe from the Athenians to have him withdraw his army from ravaging Attica during the so-called First Peloponnesian War (Thuc. 1.114.2; 2.21.1); recalled to Sparta in 426; faced ongoing criticism that his recall was responsible for Sparta’s reverses (Thuc. 5.16).
Pythagoras, philosopher from Samos: Allegedly fled from Samos in ca. 531 to escape the tyranny of Polycrates; migrated to Croton, where he founded a sect that bore his name; later fled to Metapontum, where he died.
Pythodorus, Athenian general: Exiled from Athens in 424 on the charge of accepting a bribe from the Sicilians (Thuc. 4.65.3).
Sophocles, Athenian general: Exiled from Athens in 424 on the charge of accepting a bribe from the Sicilians (Thuc. 4.65.3).
Themistocles, Athenian politician and general: Ostracized at the end of the 470s; went to live in Argos, from which he “visited other places in the Peloponnese” (Thuc. 1.135.3; Plu. Them. 23–4); fled westward to Corcyra and Epirus and then eastward via Macedonia to Persia, where Artaxerxes I made him governor of Magnesia; recalled to stand trial for treason and condemned to death in absentia; remained in Magnesia till his death, when his bones were returned to Athens and secretly buried.
Theognis, elegiac poet from Megara: Possibly driven into exile, though the evidence for this claim is based on a single problematic passage in his poetry (ll. 1197–1202; see Lane Fox [2000, 44] and Bowie [2007, 42–43]).
Thrasybulus, Athenian general and politician: Banished by the Thirty Tyrants in 404; fled to Thebes, where he assembled a band of exiles; seized Phyle and later the Piraeus; defeated an army of the Thirty Tyrants; returned to Athens in 403, when an amnesty was proclaimed and the democracy restored.
Thucydides, son of Olorus, Athenian general and historian: Exiled (or fled) to avoid prosecution in 424 for his failure to save Amphipolis from the Spartan general Brasidas; subsequently associated “especially with the Peloponnesians”; remained in exile for twenty years, returning at the end of the war; died a few years after its end (Thuc. 5.26.5).
Thucydides, son of Melesias, Athenian politician: Ostracized in 433 or slightly later, as the result of a clash with Pericles (Plu. Per. 14; see Forsdyke [2005, 168–69]).
Timaeus of Tauromenium, historian: Exiled by the tyrant Agathocles in 315; went to live in Athens; took revenge on Agathocles after his death by “defaming him for all time”; may have returned to Sicily in ca. 265 (D.S. 21.17.1; FGrH 566 T 4a).
Timotheus, Athenian general: Went into voluntary exile in Chalcis in 355 after being heavily fined for his failure to take Chios.
Xanthippus, Athenian politician, father of Pericles: Ostracized in 484; recalled in 480 when a political amnesty was announced in advance of Xerxes’ invasion of Greece.
Xenophanes of Colophon: Went into voluntary exile probably as a result of the Persian conquest in 545; “wandered” for 67 years (fr. 8 IEG).
Xenophon, Athenian general: Exiled from Athens in ca. 394 for having fought against his fellow-citizens as a mercenary at the Battle of Coronea; went to live first in a Spartan settlement near Olympia, then in Corinth; permitted to return to Athens in ca. 368 (Anab. 5.3.7).
APPENDIX E
CATALOGUE OF THE ENSLAVED
This catalogue includes Greeks who were enslaved by non-Greeks, non-Greeks who enslaved Greeks, and Greeks who enslaved other Greeks. I am much indebted to Pritchett (1991, 226ff.); Rosivach (1999, 131–32); and Hansen and Nielsen (2004, Index 20 [pp. 1363–64]). We know little of enslavement in historical times before Herodotus.
6th century? BCE The inhabitants of Methymna on Lesbos enslaved their fellow islanders inhabiting the polis of Arisba (Hdt. 1.151.2).
545?
Mazares the Mede captured Priene and enslaved its inhabitants (Hdt. 1.161).
ca. 513
The Persians enslaved the inhabitants of Barce, a polis in Libya (Hdt. 4.203.1).
ca. 511?
The Persian governor of Lemnos enslaved all the islanders (Hdt. 5.27.1–3).
494
After the Persians had destroyed Miletus, they sent all their prisoners, mainly women and children, to Susa. King Darius I later permitted them to settle at Ampe on the Persian Gulf (Hdt. 6.18–20).
493
Hippocrates, tyrant of Gela, enslaved “most of the inhabitants of Zancle,” after previously promising to lend them military assistance (Hdt. 6.23.6).
After suppressing the Ionian Revolt, the Persians castrated the most handsome boys and enslaved the most beautiful virgins. Herodotus (6.32) comments: “In this way the Ionians were reduced to slavery for the third time, first by the Lydians, twice by the Persians.”
490
The Persians enslaved “those of the Naxians whom they captured.” The remainder “fled to the hills” (Hdt. 6.96).
King Darius I enslaved the Eretrians after plundering and setting fire to their temples (Hdt. 6.101.3).
ca. 485
When he became tyrant of Syracuse, Gelon “sold the dêmos of Megara Hyblaea into slavery for export from Sicily” (Hdt. 7.156.2).
480
Gelon captured, and presumably enslaved, 10,000 Carthaginians before the Battle of Himera (D.S. 11.21.2). After his victory he apportioned “a vast number of prisoners” among his allies. Most were put in chains and used for building public works (11.25.1–2). Of these the majority was apportioned to the Acragantines.
478
The Athenians enslaved the inhabitants of Eïon and Scyros (Thuc. 1.98.1–2; cf. Hdt. 7.107.1–2).
476
Theron of Acragas either executed or deported and presumably enslaved those who had been plotting against his rule in Himera (D.S. 11.48.6–8).
470
The Athenian general Cimon captured 20,000 Persians, whom he presumably enslaved (D.S. 11.62.1).
468
The Argives enslaved the Mycenaeans and dedicated a tenth part of them “to the god” (D.S. 11.65.5).
453
The Syracusan general Apelles took “a multitude of prisoners” from among the Tyrrhenians living on Corsica and presumably enslaved them (D.S. 11.88.5).
450
Cimon captured the crews of 100 Persian ships and presumably sold them into slavery (D.S. 12.3.3).
As a result of Pericles’ citizenship law, “rather fewer than 5,000” were denounced and sold into slavery (Plu. Per. 37.3–4).
447
The Athenians enslaved the inhabitants of Chaeronea (Thuc. 1.113.1).
446
The Athenians rescued(?) 2,000 prisoners in their war against Megara (ML 51 = Fornara 101; cf. Thuc. 1.114).
440
The Syracusans enslaved the inhabitants of Trinacie, a Sicel town of uncertain location (D.S. 12.29.4).
435
The Corcyraeans enslaved “the epêludes” (foreigners), viz a group of Corinthians who had intended to settle on Corcyra (Thuc. 1.29.5).
433
The Corinthians enslaved 800 Corcyraeans (Thuc. 1.55).
430
The Athenians enslaved the Ambraciots (Thuc. 2.68.7).
427
The Spartans enslaved the women of Plataea (Thuc. 3.68.2).
425
The Corcyraeans enslaved the female relatives of the oligarchic insurgents whom they had massacred (Thuc. 4.48.4).
424
The Athenian general Nicias enslaved the inhabitants of Thyrea in Laconia (D.S. 12.65.9
).
422
The Athenians enslaved the women and children of Torone (Thuc. 5.3.4).
The oligarchs of Leontini deported the dêmos (Thuc. 5.4.2).
421
The Athenians enslaved the women and children of Scione (Thuc. 5.32.1).
The Campanians enslaved the inhabitants of Cyme, a polis on the west coast of Italy (D.S. 12.76.4).
416/5
The Athenians enslaved the women and children of Melos (Thuc. 5.116.4).
415
The Athenians enslaved the inhabitants of Hyccara, a polis in Sicily (Thuc. 6.62.3).
413
The Syracusans enslaved the allied soldiers who had fought against them, except for the Athenians and the Sicilian Greeks (Thuc. 7.87.3). The total amounted to several thousand.
412
The Spartans appropriated slaves belonging to the inhabitants of Meropid Cos (Thuc. 8.41.2).
After sacking Iasus the Peloponnesians sold its inhabitants, both free and servile, to the Persians for the price of one statêr apiece (Thuc. 8.28.4).
411
The Athenians appropriated slaves belonging to the Lampsacenes (Thuc. 8.62.2).
409
The Carthaginian general Hannibal “distributed among his army” (that is, as slaves) the women and children of Himera (D.S. 13.62.4).
The Athenians seized slaves belonging to the Lydians (Xen. Hell. 1.2.4).
406
The Spartan navarch Callicratidas sold into slavery the Athenian garrison serving at Methymna on the island of Lesbos. He also auctioned off the slaves whom he captured. However, he resisted appeals from his allies to enslave the inhabitants of the city (Xen. Hell. 1.6.15).
405
The Spartan navarch Lysander enslaved the inhabitants of Cedreiae in Caria (Xen. Hell. 2.1.15). He also appropriated slaves belonging to the Lampsacenes (Xen. Hell. 2.1.18–19) and sold as booty the women and children of Iasus, a polis in Caria (D.S. 13.104.7).
404
The Campanians “married” the wives of the inhabitants of Entella, a polis in Sicily, after massacring all the men who were liable to military service (D.S. 14.9.9). We do not know what status the women were accorded, though some may have lived in conditions close to slavery.
400
Aristarchus, the Spartan governor of Byzantium, sold 400 of the 10,000 mercenaries who had served in Cyrus the Younger’s army because they refused to vacate the city. Cleander, the previous governor, had been looking after the sick and compelling the Byzantines to give them shelter in their homes—seemingly a rare instance of humanitarianism (Xen. Anab. 7.2.6). It is possible that Aristarchus sold them to the Persian satrap Pharnabazus, rather than offer them on the open market (Rosivach 1999, 139).
399
Seuthes and Xenophon captured 1,000 Thracians, whom they sold (Xen. Anab. 7.3.48, 7.4.2, 7.5.2).
398
The Spartan king Agis appropriated “a vast number of slaves”from Elis (Xen. Hell. 3.2.26).
397
The Syracusan tyrant Dionysius I sold as booty the inhabitants of Motya, a stronghold of the Carthaginians (D.S. 14.53.4).
395
Medius, the ruler of Larissa, sold as booty the inhabitants of Pharsalus (D.S. 14.82.6).
The Spartan king Agesilaus displayed for sale naked non-Greek prisoners, whom his army had captured in raiding parties (Xen. Hell. 3.4.19).
390
Agesilaus “displayed for purchase” the prisoners he had taken from Piraeum, a peninsula close to the Isthmus of Corinth (Xen. Hell. 4.5.8).
389
Agesilaus appropriated “a great many slaves” from the Acarnanians and sold them (Xen. Hell. 4.6.6).
387
Dionysius I of Syracuse sold into slavery all of his prisoners from Rhegium who could not pay him one mina as their ransom. They numbered more than 6,000 (D.S. 14.111.4).
384
Dionysius I captured and presumably sold as booty the inhabitants of Agylla (D.S. 15.14.4).
374
The Persians captured and presumably enslaved some Egyptians (D.S. 15.42.5).
373
The Spartan navarch Hypermenes appropriated slaves belonging to the Corcyraeans and “sent them off,” presumably for sale (Xen. Hell. 6.2.25).
369
The Arcadians enslaved the inhabitants of Pellene (D.S. 15.67.2).
365
After taking 200 prisoners, the Eleans sold into slavery all those who were xenoi and slaughtered all those who were exiles. In a separate operation the Argives, Thebans, Arcadians, and Messenians captured over 100 Spartans and perioikoi and distributed them evenly among themselves as slaves (Xen. Hell. 7.4.26–27).
364
The Thebans sold into slavery the women and children of Orchomenus (D.S. 15.79.6).
ca. 364?
Philip II of Macedon “enslaved very many cities” (Theopompus, FGrH 115 F 27.3 = Polyb. 8.11.1). His destruction of these cities—over thirty according to Demosthenes (9.26)—was so thorough “that a wayfarer would find it hard to say whether they had ever actually existed.”
358/7
Philip II sold the inhabitants of Potidaea into slavery (D.S.16.8.5).
ca. 358/7?
Philip II sold the inhabitants of Stagira into slavery, though he later refounded the polis as a synoecism “and restored those of its citizens who had either been exiled or enslaved” (Plu. Alex. 7.2).
356/5
The mercenary general Nypsius enslaved many Syracusan women and children and appropriated those already enslaved (D.S. 16.19.4).
353/2
The Phocian general Onomarchus enslaved the inhabitants of Thronion, a town of unknown location in Epirus (D.S. 16.33.3). The Athenian general Chares slew the men of military age in Sestus and enslaved the rest (D.S. 16.34.3).
348
Philip II enslaved the inhabitants of Olynthus and sold them as booty (D.S. 16.53.2–3).
346/5
After defeating a band of Elean exiles, the Arcadians and Eleians divided up their captives. This included 4,000 mercenaries, who had been assisting the Elean exiles. The Arcadians sold their share of the captives into slavery, whereas the Eleians, incensed because the mercenaries had plundered the sanctuary at Delphi, executed theirs (D.S. 16.63.5).
344
Philip II captured and enslaved 10,000 Sarnousians, a people living inside the Persian Empire, and deported them to Macedonia (Polyaenus 4.2.12).
340/39
The Corinthian general Timoleon captured “no fewer than 15,000” Carthaginians and presumably enslaved them (D.S. 16.80.5).
335
The Macedonian general Parmenion sold as booty the inhabitants of Grynium, a polis on the northwest coast of Anatolia (D.S. 17.7.9).
Alexander the Great sold 30,000 Thebans into slavery for the sum of 440 talents. The only Thebans whom he excluded from this punishment were the priests, the xenoi (guest friends) of the Macedonians, and the descendants of the poet Pindar (Din. 1.24; D.S. 17.14.1, 4; Arr. Anab. 1.9.9–10; Plu. Alex. 11.6).
334
At the battle of the River Granicus, Alexander captured 20,000 Persians, whom he presumably sold as slaves (D.S. 17.21.6). He enchained the Greek mercenaries who had fought in the battle and sent them to Macedon to do hard labor “because they had fought with barbarians against Greeks” (Arr. Anab. 1.16.6). He later enslaved the Persians who had fought to defend Miletus (D.S. 17.22.5).
332
Alexander enslaved the women and children of the Phoenician city of Tyre (D.S. 17.46.4).
330
Alexander enslaved the women of Persepolis (D.S. 17.70.6).
CHRONOLOGY
ca. 770–750
BCE Al-Mina (modern name of the port, whose ancient name is unknown) is founded at the mouth of the Orontes River in Turkey, possibly as the first Greek emporion.
ca. 770
Pithecusae, the island of Ischia in the Bay of Naples, is established by Chalcidians and Eretrians as the earliest
Greek overseas settlement in the west.
ca. 750–550
Approximate dates of the so-called Greek age of colonization.
ca. 650
A sizable number of Colophonians and other Ionians partially relocate to Siris in southern Italy.
ca. 621
The Athenian Alcmaeonid genos is exiled in perpetuity.
ca. 607/6
The Athenians make an abortive attempt to colonize Sigeum in the Troad.
ca. 555
Voluntary émigrés from Athens under Miltiades the Elder settle in the Thracian Chersonese.
ca. 545
The Phocaeans evacuate their city in order to avoid being enslaved by the Persians. A few years later they establish themselves at Elea on the west coast of Italy. The Teans partially relocate to Abdera.
494
The population of Miletus is massacred, enslaved, or resettled on the Erythraean Sea by the Persians.
487
Hipparchus is ostracized from Athens—the first victim of the process.
ca. 485
Gelon, tyrant of Gela, orders the mass transfer of the populations of Gela, Camarina, Megara Hyblaea, and Euboea to Syracuse.
480
The population of Athens is evacuated in advance of the Persian invasion under Xerxes. Themistocles threatens to relocate the polis to Siris in south Italy before the Battle of Salamis.