Related Research Articles
Herodotus was a Greek historian and geographer from the Greek city of Halicarnassus, part of the Persian Empire and a later citizen of Thurii in modern Calabria, Italy. He wrote the Histories, a detailed account of the Greco-Persian Wars, and was the first writer to apply a scientific method to historical events. He has been described as "The Father of History", a title conferred on him by the ancient Roman orator Cicero, and the "Father of Lies" by others.
Thucydides was an Athenian historian and general. His History of the Peloponnesian War recounts the fifth-century BC war between Sparta and Athens until the year 411 BC. Thucydides has been dubbed the father of "scientific history" by those who accept his claims to have applied strict standards of impartiality and evidence-gathering and analysis of cause and effect, without reference to intervention by the gods, as outlined in his introduction to his work.
Xenophon of Athens was a Greek military leader, philosopher, and historian. At the age of 30, he was elected as one of the leaders of the retreating Greek mercenaries, the Ten Thousand, who had been part of Cyrus's attempt to seize control of the Achaemenid Empire. As the military historian Theodore Ayrault Dodge wrote, "the centuries since have devised nothing to surpass the genius of this warrior". Xenophon established precedents for many logistical operations and was among the first to describe strategic flanking maneuvers and feints in combat.
Cyrus the Younger was an Achaemenid prince and general. He ruled as satrap of Lydia and Ionia from 408 to 401 BC. Son of Darius II and Parysatis, he died in 401 BC in battle during a failed attempt to oust his elder brother, Artaxerxes II, from the Persian throne.
Arrian of Nicomedia was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander, and philosopher of the Roman period.
Plataea was an ancient Greek city-state situated in Boeotia near the frontier with Attica at the foot of Mt. Cithaeron, between the mountain and the river Asopus, which divided its territory from that of Thebes. Its inhabitants were known as the Plataeans.
The Alcmaeonidae or Alcmaeonids were a wealthy and powerful noble family of ancient Athens, a branch of the Neleides who claimed descent from the mythological Alcmaeon, the great-grandson of Nestor.
The Battle of Tanagra was a land battle that took place in Boeotia in 457 BC between Athens and Sparta during the First Peloponnesian War. Tension between Athens and Sparta had built up due the rebuilding of Athens' walls and Spartan rejection of Athenian military assistance. The Athenians were led by Myronides and held a strength of 14,000. The Spartans were led by Nicomedes and had a total of 11,500 soldiers. While both the Athenians and Spartans suffered great losses, Sparta ultimately claimed victory in this battle.
The Anabasis of Alexander was composed by Arrian of Nicomedia in the second century AD, most probably during the reign of Hadrian. The Anabasis is a history of the campaigns of Alexander the Great, specifically his conquest of the Persian Empire between 336 and 323 BC. Both the unusual title "Anabasis" and the work's seven-book structure reflect Arrian's emulation of the Greek historian Xenophon, whose own Anabasis in seven books concerned the earlier campaign "up-country" of Cyrus the Younger in 401 BC.
A hypaspist is a squire, man at arms, or "shield carrier". In Homer, Deiphobos advances "ὑπασπίδια" or under cover of his shield. By the time of Herodotus (426 BC), the word had come to mean a high status soldier as is strongly suggested by Herodotus in one of the earliest known uses:
Now the horse which Artybius rode was trained to fight with infantrymen by rearing up. Hearing this, Onesilus said to his hypaspist, a Carian of great renown in war and a valiant man ...
Hellenica simply means writings on Greek (Hellenic) subjects. Several histories of 4th-century Greece, written in the mould of Thucydides or straying from it, have borne the conventional Latin title Hellenica. The surviving Hellenica is an important work of the Ancient Greek writer Xenophon and one of the principal sources for the last seven years of the Peloponnesian War not covered by Thucydides, as well as the war's aftermath.
Antandrus or Antandros was an ancient Greek city on the north side of the Gulf of Adramyttium in the Troad region of Anatolia. Its surrounding territory was known in Greek as Ἀντανδρία (Antandria), and included the towns of Aspaneus on the coast and Astyra to the east. It has been located on Devren hill between the modern village of Avcılar and the town of Altınoluk in the Edremit district of Balıkesir Province, Turkey.
Pisistratus was a politician in ancient Athens, ruling as tyrant in the late 560s, the early 550s and from 546 BC until his death. His unification of Attica, the triangular peninsula of Greece containing Athens, along with economic and cultural improvements laid the groundwork for the later pre-eminence of Athens in ancient Greece. His legacy lies primarily in his institution of the Panathenaic Games, historically assigned the date of 566 BC, and the consequent first attempt at producing a definitive version of the Homeric epics. Pisistratus' championing of the lower class of Athens is an early example of populism. While in power, he did not hesitate to confront the aristocracy and greatly reduce their privileges, confiscating their lands and giving them to the poor. Pisistratus funded many religious and artistic programs, in order to improve the economy and spread the wealth more equally among the Athenian people.
Helos, also Hele (Ἕλη), was a town of ancient Laconia, situated east of the mouth of the Eurotas, close to the sea, in a plain which, though marshy near the coast, is described by Polybius as the most fertile part of Laconia. In the earliest times it appears to have been the chief town on the coast, as Amyclae was in the interior; for these two places are mentioned together by Homer in the Catalogue of Ships in the Iliad. Helos is said to have been founded by Heleius, the youngest son of Perseus. On its conquest by the Dorians its inhabitants were reduced to slavery; and, according to a common opinion in antiquity, their name became the general designation of the Spartan bondsmen, helots, but the name of these slaves (εἵλωτες) probably signified captives, and was derived from the root of ἑλεῖν. In the time of Strabo Helos was only a village; and when it was visited by Pausanias, it was in ruins. Helos is also mentioned by Thucydides, Xenophon, and Stephanus of Byzantium.
Martin Hammond is an English classical scholar and former public school headmaster.
Methydrium or Methydrion was a town in central ancient Arcadia, situated 170 stadia north of Megalopolis. It obtained its name, like the places called Interamna, from being situated upon a lofty height between the two rivers Maloetas and Mylaon. According to Greek mythology, it was founded by Orchomenus; but its inhabitants were removed to Megalopolis, upon the establishment of that city (371 BCE). It never recovered its former population, and is mentioned by Strabo among the places of Arcadia which had almost entirely disappeared. It continued, however, to exist as a village in the time of Pausanias, who saw there a temple of Poseidon Hippius upon the river Mylaon. He also mentions, above the river Maloetas, a mountain called Thaumasium, in which was a cave where Rhea took refuge when pregnant with Zeus. At the distance of 30 stadia from Methydrium was a fountain named Nymphasia. Methydrium is also mentioned by Thucydides, Xenophon,, Polybius, Pliny the Elder, and Stephanus of Byzantium.
Myrcinus or Myrkinos was an ancient Greek city located in Macedonian Thrace, in the region of Edonis between the Strymon and the Nestos Rivers, on the left bank of the Strymon. It was within the territory of the Edonians, a Thracian tribe, and was founded as a polis by colonists from Miletus in 497 BCE. The colonists were led by Histiaios, whom Darius had allowed to build a city in reward for his help. Its site offered great advantages to settlers, as it contained an abundant supply of timber for shipbuilding, as well as silver mines. Aristagoras retired to this place, and, soon after landing, perished before some Thracian town which he was besieging. Afterwards, it had fallen into the hands of the Edoni; but on the murder of Pittacus, chief of that people, it surrendered to Brasidas after he captured Amphipolis, Oesyme and Galepsus in 422 BCE. During the Byzantine empire it was known as Doxompos (Δοξόμπος) or Doxompus (Δοξόμπους).
Korkyra was an ancient Greek city on the island of Corfu in the Ionian Sea that is adjacent to Epirus. It was a colony of Corinth that was founded in the Archaic period. Korkyra was acting as a port of call on the sailing routes, especially to reach the Italian coast or to venture farther north. According to Thucydides, the earliest recorded naval battle took place between Korkyra and Corinth, roughly 260 years before he was writing, and thus in the mid-7th century BC. He also writes that Korkyra was one of the three great naval powers in 5th-century BC Greece, along with Athens and Corinth.
Tim Rood is a British classical scholar, specialising in Greek historiography and reception studies. He is Professor of Greek Literature at the University of Oxford and a fellow and tutor at St Hugh's College, Oxford. His research is principally concerned with the literary techniques of Herodotus, Thucydides, and Xenophon.
Halieis, or Halice or Halike (Ἁλίκη), or Halia (Ἁλία), or Alycus or Alykos (Ἄλυκος), or Haliai (Ἁλιαί), was a port town of Hermionis, in ancient Argolis at the mouth of the Argolic Gulf. The district is called Halias by Thucydides.
References
- ↑ "Forthcoming Titles". The Landmark Ancient Histories. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ "The Landmark Polybius". WritersReps. Retrieved 10 July 2024.
- 1 2 Rothstein, Edward. "Herodotus Now: 'Omnivorous Curiosity' and Double Vision". The New York Times. No. Dec. 10, 2007. Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ Kulikowski, Michael (18 June 2020). "A Very Bad Man". London Review of Books. 42 (12). Retrieved 20 June 2024.
- ↑ Romm, James (Dec 1, 2017). "Review: 'Julius Caesar' and the Bloody Road to Empire". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 20 June 2024.