Who's Who in the Age of Alexander the Great: Prosopography of Alexander's Empire

419 Pages·2006·5.14 MB·English

by  Waldemar Heckel

Who’s Who in the Age of
Alexander the Great
Prosopography of
Alexander’s Empire
Waldemar Heckel

Who’s Who in the Age of Alexander the Great
For Anneli, who was usually on the podium before I ever caught
sight of the finish line, and who kept raising the bar – so that I
could get under it.
Who’s Who in the Age of
Alexander the Great
Prosopography of
Alexander’s Empire
Waldemar Heckel
© 2006 by Waldemar Heckel
BLACKWELL PUBLISHING
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First published 2006 by Blackwell Publishing Ltd
1 2006
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Heckel, Waldemar, 1949–
Who’s who in the age of Alexander the Great / Waldemar Heckel.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN-13: 978-1-4051-1210-9 (hard cover: alk. paper)
ISBN-10: 1-4051-1210-7 (hard cover: alk. paper)
1. Greece—History—Macedonian Expansion, 359–323 bc—Biography—Dictionaries.
2. Iran—History—Macedonian Conquest, 334–325 bc—Biography—Dictionaries.
3. Alexander, the Great, 356–323 bc—Friends and associates. I. Title.
DF234.2.H39 2005
938′.07′0922—dc22 2005010995
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Contents
Introduction vi
Chronological Table x
Abbreviations I: Ancient Authors xiii
Abbreviations II: Multi-Volume Reference Works xvi
Abbreviations III: Modern Works xviii
Map of Alexander’s campaigns, 334–323 bc xxiv
A to Z 1–273
Anonymous Individuals: Women 274
Anonymous Individuals: Men 279
Notes 285
Appendix 345
Glossary 348
Concordance 353
Bibliography 359
Stemmata 376
v
Introduction
In 1926 Helmut Berve published Das Alexanderreich auf prosopographischer
Grundlage, a two-volume study of the individuals, the administration, and
the military organization of Alexander’s army and empire. The second vol-
ume deals with all individuals of whom it could be shown that they came
into contact with Alexander (“Personen, welche mit Alexander nachweislich
in Berührung gekommen sind”). Of course, Berve used the word Berührung
(“contact”) loosely, and I have followed a similar principle by restricting the
individuals in my collection to people who are attested as involved in events
that pertained to the Historyof Alexander, that is, primarily the literary texts.
In some cases, famous persons made only brief appearances on Alexander’s
stage, and I have found it impractical to include all the details of their lives
beyond the roles they played in the Alexander history. Hence, in the case of
major figures like Aristotle, Demosthenes, and Theopompus, I have provided
brief summaries of their careers while giving detailed information concern-
ing their dealings with Alexander or those closely connected with him. I have
also included non-historical figures, like Thalestris the Amazon queen, whose
relationships with the Macedonian conqueror, although fictitious, are featured
in the major historical accounts. On the other hand, historical individuals,
who appear only in the most unreliable sources like the Alexander Romance
and whose connections with Alexander cannot otherwise be substantiated,
are omitted. Others still, like those Athenian orators and politicians, whose
only connection with the history of Alexander is that they are named as pro-
secutors in the Harpalus affair, are given very brief treatment.
Berve, in his prosopography, omitted both Philip II and Alexander the Great,
and the reasons for this are clear enough: the work was intended to facili-
tate the study of the Macedonian kingdom, and of Alexander in particular,
by shedding light on the individuals around the King. I would have followed
this practice, but for the comments of the readers whose opinions were solicited
by the publisher. One remarked that a Who’s Who in the Age of Alexanderwith-
out Alexander himself was “like Hamlet without the Prince.” Although I rather
doubt that my Who’s Who will be required reading in literature courses five
hundred years from now, I have taken the advice of my readers and added
entries on father and son. The entry on Alexander (Alexander[2]) covers the
basics of the conqueror’s life, without further elucidation; that on Philip II
vi
Introduction
gives a brief outline of the man’s career and provides more detail on his rela-
tionship with Alexander.
The greatest difficulty is to do justice to those men who began their careers
under Philip or Alexander and became even more influential in the age of
the Successors. Complete biographies of these men have been published in
various modern languages, and particularly in recent years in English. Hence,
for Antigonus the One-Eyed, Cassander, Eumenes of Cardia, Lysimachus, Ptol-
emy son of Lagus, and Seleucus, I have chosen in most cases (and, I admit,
somewhat arbitrarily) to end with the settlement at Triparadeisus (which
I date to 320) or the death of Antipater and the power-struggle between
Polyperchon and Cassander. For some of the lesser lights, I have included
complete biographies, especially if their careers do not extend beyond the
year of Ipsus (301). On the other hand, I have also included brief notices of
individuals who do not, strictly speaking, belong to the age of Alexander but
who are closely connected with prominent individuals or royal families, and
I have included them in my stemmata.
After much consideration and on the advice of numerous friends and col-
leagues, I have decided to adopt Latinized spellings of names, despite the fact
that this practice requires me to “invent” unattested Latin forms. The majority
of Alexander scholars writing in English use the Latinized spellings and the
most popular biographies do so as well. I have therefore considered it more
useful to readers – especially laymen, students, and scholars in other fields –
to employ the more recognizable forms. There is in the transliteration of Greek
no consistency amongst scholars, and I myself have difficulty with some of
the spellings favored by the “purists.” But, even with the Latin forms, there
are problems. I have chosen to convert “ou” to “u” (that is, Aristobulus rather
than Aristoboulus) but have retained “ei” instead of “i” (as in Cleitus and
Cleitarchus instead of Clitus, Clitarchus). Certain names have been anglicized:
Ptolemy instead of Ptolemaeus; Philip instead of Philippus; but Heracles is
preferred to Hercules, Rhoxane to Roxane (indeed, all names beginning with
the Greek letter rho are written Rh-). Names ending in -on in Greek but in -o
in Latin remain in the Greek form: Damon, Parmenion, Platon. Of course, the
catalogue follows English rather than Greek alphabetical order. Variant forms
are provided in parentheses at the beginning of each entry, and a concordance
of forms is supplied at the end of the book.
The citation of works is equally idiosyncratic, but employs a logic of sorts.
Standard works (Abbreviations II) are provided as follows: Beloch iii22.126;
SEG xiv.24; IG ii2 461; Tarn ii.115; Berve ii.32 etc. Single-volume works that
are cited frequently (Abbreviations III) are given by author’s last name and
page number (e.g. Carney 204 or Billows 414 no. 86). Other works, listed in
the Bibliography at the end of the book, are cited in the “Harvard” or “Social
Sciences” style. I have also adopted a set of convenient abbreviations for the
ancient sources, although in the case of some less familiar authors and texts
– especially those that are cited infrequently – I have given the full names
of authors and works, the latter often in English (e.g. Lucian, How to Write
History). But even here there will be a certain amount of unavoidable incon-
vii
Introduction
sistency, and I ask the reader to keep in mind that my aim is to make the
work as useful as possible to a wider audience. Some of the more detailed
arguments or references to details that are not essential to the basic under-
standing of an individual’s career have been relegated to endnotes.
I have also included a list of 138 anonymous individuals (out of a collec-
tion of well over 200), most of whom are certainly historical and, in fact,
prominent persons, especially the women.1The names of some of these indi-
viduals may yet become known (through the discovery of new documents) or
their relationships to known persons verified. In some cases, I have included
nameless individuals who are the subject of stories both real and fictitious.
But I have left out the nameless agents of various actions (for example,
“a messenger was sent,” “a bugler sounded the alarm,” “an archer wounded
someone”) since this would mean including thousands of unnamed soldiers
and civilians. For a similar reason, I have omitted the ten Gymnosophists
who were said to have debated Alexander and other “groups” of persons who
are doubtless historical, even if the stories about them are untrue. Anonymous
females are listed as F and males as M.
Several individuals in my collection have left behind published works, either
extant or known only from fragments. Berve, in many cases, discussed the
nature of these works in detail. I have omitted such discussions, since a great
deal of literature is available on most orators, philosophers, and historians,
and have referred the reader to the most important or accessible modern works.
Although it was my intention, when I began my prosopographic work in the
1970s, to provide an updated, English-language Who’s Who of the Alexander
period, this work does not claim to be the English equivalent of Berve’s funda-
mental work – comparisons will inevitably be made and I am afraid that
my efforts must fall short of the master’s – or even “Son of Berve,” as many
of my colleagues have jokingly called it. My inspiration in recent years – though,
again, I do not pretend to have produced its equal – has been the splendid
Who’s Who of the Conquistadors by Hugh Thomas (London: Cassell, 2000),
which attempts to reach a wider audience without sacrificing scholarly con-
tent. Occasionally, I have retained, with the permission of the Taylor and
Francis Group, the original wording of entries, or portions thereof, in The
Marshals of Alexander’s Empire (London, 1992); for there were places where
I could hardly do otherwise. The major biographies contained there are,
however, compressed and somewhat truncated in this version. My editor, Al
Bertrand, kindly agreed to accept a typescript that far exceeded the origin-
ally contracted length. Nevertheless, in most places I have written much
less than I intended. Lord Thomas calls his work “a labor of love,” and so is
mine, though there have been many times in the final stages of composition
when I have questioned the depth of my devotion. Nevertheless, I am sure
that the layman will complain that the book contains more than he needs
and the scholar that it does not have everything he wants. But, if I have
done something to make the work of others – amateurs, students, scholars –
easier and more enjoyable, then I shall feel that the labor has not been in
vain.
viii