ANCIENT GREECEiii-Colonization & Tyranny

ANCIENT GREECEiii-Colonization & Tyranny

τρεις τρία γ

Τό Τρίτον Μάθηµα

PRINCIPAL TOPICS

I. Why Colonize?

II. The Nature of Colonies

III. A Tour

IV.Effects of Colonization

V.Tyranny

VI. Rise of Greek Tyrannies

VII. Accomplishments

I. WHY COLONIZE?

I. WHY COLONIZE?

Late sixth century BC krater decorated in

black figure by the Athenian artist Exekias

and exported to Vulci in Etruria, where it was

discovered in a tomb. The bowl, used as a

shallow wine cup, illustrates the story of the

capture of the wine god Dionysos by Etruscan

pirates, and the transformation of the pirates

into dolphins.

Abulafia, The Great Sea, illustration # 18

CHORUS Of so many marvelous things, nothingis more wonderful than man; he crosses the foamy sea

In the south wind, navigating its depths and crests

Sophocles, Antigone, lines 332-334

BUT, FIRST,

they aren’t colonies (colonii, Lat., military settlements)

late Middle English (denoting a settlement formed mainly of retired soldiers, acting as a garrison in newly conquered territory in the Roman Empire): from Latin colonia ‘settlement, farm,’ from colonus ‘settler, farmer,’ from colere ‘cultivate.’

they’re apoikia (ap•oy•KEY•uh-ἀπ0ικία, Gk., literally, “away home,” from ἀπο + οἶκος)

the above are etymologies (late Middle English: from Old French ethimologie, via Latin from Greek etumologia, from etumologos ‘student of etymology,’ from etumon, neuter singular of etumos ‘true.’)

SECONDLY, WHY DOES IT NEED TO BE EXPLAINED?

until the 20th century, the vast majority of humankind never travelled more than a day’s journey or so from their homes, from birth to death!

the Greeks were especially devoted to their ancestors, proper burial rites. Leaving their polis meant leaving those graves

most colonies required a sea journey, and Greeks were quite properly afraid to do this!

Ἴσον ἐστὶν ὀργῃ καὶ θάλασσα καὶ γυωή--Μένανδρος, Μον. 264

colonizing meant leaving everything familiar and facing many unknowns

THIRDLY,SO WHY DID THEY COLONIZE?

we don’t know, no Greek primary sources address this

but we can hypothesize

hypothesize |hīˈpäTH"ˌsīz| verb [ with obj. ] put (something) forward as a hypothesis: it was

reasonable to hypothesize a viral causality | [ with clause ] : they hypothesize that the naturally high insulin levels result from a “thrifty gene.”

from late 16th cent.: via late Latin from Greek hupothesis ‘foundation,’ from hupo ‘under’ + thesis ‘placing.’

THIRDLY,SO WHY DID THEY COLONIZE?

we don’t know, no Greek primary sources address this

but we can hypothesize

hypothesize |hīˈpäTH"ˌsīz| verb [ with obj. ] put (something) forward as a hypothesis: it was

reasonable to hypothesize a viral causality | [ with clause ] : they hypothesize that the naturally high insulin levels result from a “thrifty gene.”

from late 16th cent.: via late Latin from Greek hupothesis ‘foundation,’ from hupo ‘under’ + thesis ‘placing.’

because a great deal is known about about modern colonists’ motivation

ACCORDING TO PROF. KAGAN

1. land hunger at the end of the “Dark Ages”

2. for a trading entrepôt (Abulafia puts this first)

3. political motives

1. the group which has lost in a civil war or revolution

2. wartime refugees

3. individuals who are exiled, (ostracized)

4. finally, (a small group) for the sheer adventure of it, “fortune seekers”

“Sappho Hears a Favorite Poet,” Lawrence Alma-Tadema

Solon of Athens heard his nephew sing a song of Sappho's over the wine and, since he liked the song so much, he asked the boy to teach it to him. When someone asked him why, he said, "So that I may learn it, then die."

Stobaeus, Florilegium, (3.29.58)

II. THE NATURE OF COLONIES

II. THE NATURE OF COLONIES

Of these [Dark Ages refugees], the most famous, perhaps the most important, was Miletus, an Ionian city located on the west coast of Asia Minor, which sent many a colony into different parts of the world, particularly up towards the straits and the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. The way the Greeks did their immigration into Asia Minor actually had a pattern. From north to south, there is a consistent pattern.

The northernmost settlements spoke Greek with an Aeolian dialect; the Aeolian dialect is the one that you see on the mainland in Boeotia, for instance Thebes.

South of the Aeolian section was the region of Asia Minor inhabited chiefly by Ionians. The people on the mainland who are the main Ionians are the Athenians.

Finally, on the most southern part of the west coast of Asia Minor, were the Dorian-speaking Greeks. The whole Peloponnesus, was fundamentally a Dorian speaking place. That's the way the world looks when the polis is invented and when major colonization begins. Kagan

Of these [Dark Ages refugees], the most famous, perhaps the most important, was Miletus, an Ionian city located on the west coast of Asia Minor, which sent many a colony into different parts of the world, particularly up towards the straits and the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. The way the Greeks did their immigration into Asia Minor actually had a pattern. From north to south, there is a consistent pattern.

The northernmost settlements spoke Greek with an Aeolian dialect; the Aeolian dialect is the one that you see on the mainland in Boeotia, for instance Thebes.

South of the Aeolian section was the region of Asia Minor inhabited chiefly by Ionians. The people on the mainland who are the main Ionians are the Athenians.

Finally, on the most southern part of the west coast of Asia Minor, were the Dorian-speaking Greeks. The whole Peloponnesus, was fundamentally a Dorian speaking place. That's the way the world looks when the polis is invented and when major colonization begins. Kagan

PITHECUSAE-775 BCTRADITIONALLY, THE FIRST APOIKIA

ΠΙΘΕΚΥΣΑΙ

first Greek colony set up at Pithecusae (Ischia), a small island off Naples, by colonists from Chalcis and Eretria in Euboea and from Cyme in Aeolis in search of precious metals–especially copper and iron–from the Etruscans.

Kagan handout

STEPS FOR ESTABLISHING A COLONY

1. an individual of some eminence, the οικιστες (oikistes), decides he wishes to found a colony

2. he then seeks approval from the town council, that polis which will become the µητηρπολις (mētērpolis-metropolis). His proposal must be specific

3. next, the approval of the oracle at Delphi is sought

4. now, a concrete written proposal:governmental structure, how land will be allotted

5. finally, recruitment; a critical stage. Enough men for defense, people with key skills

The best time [to recruit] would be at some great festival. There are festivals held in each city just for its own citizens. When you felt that you could recruit a full colony from your fellow citizens, in Corinth, let us say, that's what you did. But it would often happen that there were not enough Corinthians who were ready to go with you on your expedition.

So, you would try to take your message to one of the Pan-Hellenic festivals which were getting organized about this time. As you know, the Olympic Games are alleged to have started in 776. So, that would be a place where Greeks from all over might come and you could then try to recruit settlers for your new colony there. Then, we don't know precisely when, there were Pan-Hellenic Games near Corinth, the Isthmian Games. There were Pan-Hellenic Games at Delphi and there were Pan-Hellenic Games in the northeastern Peloponnesus at a town called Nemea.So, there would always be some opportunity for you to go out and make your pitch.

So now you have everything in place, you've recruited your settlement, you get on your ships and sail, in this case out to the west central Mediterranean, you find your way to Sicily, work your way into the harbor at Syracuse and things work out, and now we have this apoikia called Syracuse.

Kagan

You're out there in Sicily and you discover, of course, that you don't have all of the things that you used to have available to you, that used to be made let us say in Corinth. As a matter of fact, in the early days, Corinth was a great center of painted pottery and was the leading producer and exporter of that. So, maybe you wanted a really fine pot of the kind you used to be able to walk to the corner and pick up at a pottery shop, but you can't get now, so you would want to buy what the Corinthians sell.

Guess what? You've got great grain fields out there in Syracuse. Hard to believe today, but Sicily was one of the major granaries of the Mediterranean world at that time, tremendously fruitful, able to grow the best possible crops, very good wheat and so on. Corinth always needs that kind of stuff, so we sell you our wheat, you sell us your pottery, you sell good wine that we can't grow yet and maybe never will be able to grow in our neighborhood, so on and so forth. So you can see why it would be very natural for all sorts of ties to unite this colony and mother city.

Kagan

734/33 BC- oicist Archias brings settlers from Corinth

he names it Sirako, referring to a nearby salt marsh. The nucleus of the polis is the small island of Ortygia

the lands were fertile and the native tribes well-disposed

the city grew and prospered, and for some time stood as the most powerful Greek city anywhere in the Mediterranean

734/33 BC- oicist Archias brings settlers from Corinth

he names it Sirako, referring to a nearby salt marsh. The nucleus of the polis is the small island of Ortygia

the lands were fertile and the native tribes well-disposed

the city grew and prospered, and for some time stood as the most powerful Greek city anywhere in the Mediterranean

734/33 BC- oicist Archias brings settlers from Corinth

he names it Sirako, referring to a nearby salt marsh. The nucleus of the polis is the small island of Ortygia

the lands were fertile and the native tribes well-disposed

the city grew and prospered, and for some time stood as the most powerful Greek city anywhere in the Mediterranean

664-598 BC-Syracuse, in turn, became the metropolis of new apoikiai in Sicily

III. A TOUR

III. A TOUR

Before this period of the polis (and the period of colonization which is connected with the rise of the polis), centuries before that, the Greeks had already spread out from their original settlements. Right after the collapse of the Mycenaean world there was a period of tremendous confusion and panic and fear, we know that people fleeing from whoever destroyed the Mycenaean world fled typically eastward into the islands of the Aegean Sea and continuing on to the coast of Asia Minor beyond them. By the tenth century BC, we see Greek cities lining the coast of Asia Minor on the west, and even around to the south and to some degree northward.

So there is an expansion of the Greek world already by the tenth century. These Greeks are now settled down, so that some of these cities are among the most important cities sending out colonies of their own.

Of these, the most famous, perhaps the most important, was Miletus, an Ionian city located on the west coast of Asia Minor, which sent many colonies into different parts of the world, particularly north towards the Dardanelles, the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. That's the way the world looks when the polis is invented and when colonization proper begins..

Kagan

Before this period of the polis (and the period of colonization which is connected with the rise of the polis), centuries before that, the Greeks had already spread out from their original settlements. Right after the collapse of the Mycenaean world there was a period of tremendous confusion and panic and fear, we know that people fleeing from whoever destroyed the Mycenaean world fled typically eastward into the islands of the Aegean Sea and continuing on to the coast of Asia Minor beyond them. By the tenth century BC, we see Greek cities lining the coast of Asia Minor on the west, and even around to the south and to some degree northward.

So there is an expansion of the Greek world already by the tenth century. These Greeks are now settled down, so that some of these cities are among the most important cities sending out colonies of their own.

Of these, the most famous, perhaps the most important, was Miletus, an Ionian city located on the west coast of Asia Minor, which sent many colonies into different parts of the world, particularly north towards the Dardanelles, the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. That's the way the world looks when the polis is invented and when colonization proper begins..

Kagan

Before this period of the polis (and the period of colonization which is connected with the rise of the polis), centuries before that, the Greeks had already spread out from their original settlements. Right after the collapse of the Mycenaean world there was a period of tremendous confusion and panic and fear, we know that people fleeing from whoever destroyed the Mycenaean world fled typically eastward into the islands of the Aegean Sea and continuing on to the coast of Asia Minor beyond them. By the tenth century BC, we see Greek cities lining the coast of Asia Minor on the west, and even around to the south and to some degree northward.

So there is an expansion of the Greek world already by the tenth century. These Greeks are now settled down, so that some of these cities are among the most important cities sending out colonies of their own.

Of these, the most famous, perhaps the most important, was Miletus, an Ionian city located on the west coast of Asia Minor, which sent many colonies into different parts of the world, particularly north towards the Dardanelles, the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. That's the way the world looks when the polis is invented and when colonization proper begins..

Kagan

Before this period of the polis (and the period of colonization which is connected with the rise of the polis), centuries before that, the Greeks had already spread out from their original settlements. Right after the collapse of the Mycenaean world there was a period of tremendous confusion and panic and fear, we know that people fleeing from whoever destroyed the Mycenaean world fled typically eastward into the islands of the Aegean Sea and continuing on to the coast of Asia Minor beyond them. By the tenth century BC, we see Greek cities lining the coast of Asia Minor on the west, and even around to the south and to some degree northward.

So there is an expansion of the Greek world already by the tenth century. These Greeks are now settled down, so that some of these cities are among the most important cities sending out colonies of their own.

Of these, the most famous, perhaps the most important, was Miletus, an Ionian city located on the west coast of Asia Minor, which sent many colonies into different parts of the world, particularly north towards the Dardanelles, the Bosporus and the Sea of Marmara. That's the way the world looks when the polis is invented and when colonization proper begins..

Kagan

Priene is one of the oldest cities of Ionia, possibly 2nd millennium

6th c. was the most prosperous era

Bias, one of the “Seven Sages” put the laws of the city “in order”

545 BC-Mazares, commander of the Persian “Great King” attacked the city, burned it, and enslaved its people

the Hittite documents speak of a kingdom of Ahhiyava (Achaea?) and a city of Millavanda (Miletus?)

10th c-Strabo says Cretans, Homer says Carians; others, Ionians founded it

archaeology in the ‘50s point to a Mycenaen settlement, ca 1400 BC!

the earliest settlement was on #9

670 BC-although much fertile land was available, Miletus began her own colonizing northwards

Now, let's take a look at the world of the Mediterranean and see how Greek expansion worked. Let's start with the Aegean Sea. Almost all the islands are inhabited by Greeks, mostly by the Greeks that came in that first wave of immigrants earlier on, not colonized during the eighth century and afterwards. But if you go to the north shore of the Aegean Sea, into the region that the Greeks called Thrace — sorry, before I even get to Thrace, maybe even a little bit of Thessaly which is off mostly west of the Aegean Sea, a little bit but not Thrace chiefly, which is the northern shore of the Aegean Sea, lots of Greek colonies there; it's fundamentally part of Greece. This is not a bad time for me to remind you that in one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates says the Greeks sit like frogs around a pond and that pond is the Aegean Sea. It's a helpful little image to remember, because we tend to think of Greece as that peninsula of which there is a sub-peninsula at the bottom, the Peloponnesus. That was not the Greece of antiquity. If you had to pick a central focus of where the Greeks were, it would be in the Aegean Sea so that's useful to remember.

Kagan

Now, let's take a look at the world of the Mediterranean and see how Greek expansion worked. Let's start with the Aegean Sea. Almost all the islands are inhabited by Greeks, mostly by the Greeks that came in that first wave of immigrants earlier on, not colonized during the eighth century and afterwards. But if you go to the north shore of the Aegean Sea, into the region that the Greeks called Thrace — sorry, before I even get to Thrace, maybe even a little bit of Thessaly which is off mostly west of the Aegean Sea, a little bit but not Thrace chiefly, which is the northern shore of the Aegean Sea, lots of Greek colonies there; it's fundamentally part of Greece. This is not a bad time for me to remind you that in one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates says the Greeks sit like frogs around a pond and that pond is the Aegean Sea. It's a helpful little image to remember, because we tend to think of Greece as that peninsula of which there is a sub-peninsula at the bottom, the Peloponnesus. That was not the Greece of antiquity. If you had to pick a central focus of where the Greeks were, it would be in the Aegean Sea so that's useful to remember.

Kagan

Thrace

Now, let's take a look at the world of the Mediterranean and see how Greek expansion worked. Let's start with the Aegean Sea. Almost all the islands are inhabited by Greeks, mostly by the Greeks that came in that first wave of immigrants earlier on, not colonized during the eighth century and afterwards. But if you go to the north shore of the Aegean Sea, into the region that the Greeks called Thrace — sorry, before I even get to Thrace, maybe even a little bit of Thessaly which is off mostly west of the Aegean Sea, a little bit but not Thrace chiefly, which is the northern shore of the Aegean Sea, lots of Greek colonies there; it's fundamentally part of Greece. This is not a bad time for me to remind you that in one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates says the Greeks sit like frogs around a pond and that pond is the Aegean Sea. It's a helpful little image to remember, because we tend to think of Greece as that peninsula of which there is a sub-peninsula at the bottom, the Peloponnesus. That was not the Greece of antiquity. If you had to pick a central focus of where the Greeks were, it would be in the Aegean Sea so that's useful to remember.

Kagan

Thessaly

Now, let's take a look at the world of the Mediterranean and see how Greek expansion worked. Let's start with the Aegean Sea. Almost all the islands are inhabited by Greeks, mostly by the Greeks that came in that first wave of immigrants earlier on, not colonized during the eighth century and afterwards. But if you go to the north shore of the Aegean Sea, into the region that the Greeks called Thrace — sorry, before I even get to Thrace, maybe even a little bit of Thessaly which is off mostly west of the Aegean Sea, a little bit but not Thrace chiefly, which is the northern shore of the Aegean Sea, lots of Greek colonies there; it's fundamentally part of Greece. This is not a bad time for me to remind you that in one of Plato's dialogues, Socrates says the Greeks sit like frogs around a pond and that pond is the Aegean Sea. It's a helpful little image to remember, because we tend to think of Greece as that peninsula of which there is a sub-peninsula at the bottom, the Peloponnesus. That was not the Greece of antiquity. If you had to pick a central focus of where the Greeks were, it would be in the Aegean Sea so that's useful to remember.

Kagan

760-750 BC

ca-550 BC

657 BC

650 BC ca 600 BC

ca 543 BC

ca-700 BC

ca-650 BC

emporium 7th c BC

polis 350 BC

756 BC

ca 600 BC

6th c BC

6th c BC

Megara756 BC

Klazomene

Klazomene

c 625 BC

667 BC

675 BC

Lesbos

MiletusCorinth

600 BC

Rhodesca-700 BC

810 BC

Euboea

Now, we sail backout of the Black

Sea

760-750 BC

ca-550 BC

657 BC

650 BC ca 600 BC

ca 543 BC

ca-700 BC

ca-650 BC

emporium 7th c BC

polis 350 BC

756 BC

ca 600 BC

6th c BC

6th c BC

Megara756 BC

Klazomene

Klazomene

c 625 BC

667 BC

675 BC

Lesbos

Miletus

Phokaia

Corinth

600 BC

Rhodesca-700 BC

810 BC

Euboea

Now, we sail backout of the Black

Sea

• probably Minoan, certainly Mycenaean trade with Egypt, no settlements

• 7th c. Ionian pirates forced to land, given two στραπεδοπεδα (parcels) by Pharaoh Psammetichus

• 570 BC-Pharaoh Amasis grants the entrepot of Naucratis to Greek traders (and possibly Phoenicians)

Thera

630 BCPhoenician!

When you go west, however, Greek settlement stops on the coast of North Africa — the reason being the rest of North Africa is dominated by Carthage. Carthage is a colony of Phoenician cities. Phoenicia was located where Lebanon is now, and it goes back to maybe the tenth century, maybe the ninth [high point 1200-800 BC-Wikipedia], and it was powerful. The Tyrians [Tyre was the principal port] tried to control not only North Africa, but the waters of the Western Mediterranean entirely. The Carthaginians, in fact, have a powerful pied à terre [foothold] in the western part of Sicily and the Greeks will have to fight the Carthaginians over the years for control of the island of Sicily. So, that's how far east they get and in time the Carthaginians also cross over into Spain and they control some portion of the Spanish coast closest to Africa. So, there are no Greeks there. They're shut out there for the same reasons. However, once you get beyond the Carthaginian foothold in Spain, there are now Greek cities on the northeast coast of Spain and there continue to be Greek cities, not everywhere, but into France of which the most important and famous is the one that the Romans called Masillia, Marseille, a Greek town.

Kagan

Carthage

Carthage

Phokaia

600 BC

Carthage

Phokaia

600 BC

Phokaia

566 BC

From the people of Massalia, therefore, the Gauls learned a more civilized way of life, their former barbarity being laid aside or softened; and by them they were taught to cultivate their lands and to enclose their towns with walls. Then too, they grew accustomed to live according to laws, and not by violence; then they learned to prune the vine and plant the olive; and such a radiance was shed over both men and things, that it was not Greece which seemed to have immigrated to Gaul, but Gaul that seemed to have been transplanted into Greece.

Abulafia, quoting Justin, The Great Sea, p. 125

So Nice is a Greek town. Nice was Nikea, (victory town) and there are several others. But what about the Italian Riviera? That's pretty nifty. Were the Greek colonies near Portofino where you could put in? No!. And the reason was in the northern part of Italy, there were Etruscans, another powerful ancient people who control their own area and were not about to have anybody colonizing their territory. However, when you keep going south in Italy, past Rome, Roman tradition says the city was founded in 753. So, in the period we're talking about there are no powerful Romans that you have to worry about. So, south of Rome there is a tremendous colonizing of southern Italy. Greek cities are all over the place. So Greek was that area that when the Romans do come to dominate most of Italy and move up against the southern region they refer to the whole southern portion of that peninsula as Magna Graecia, great Greece because they're all Greeks down there. Finally, down we go to Sicily, the east coast.Two-thirds of the coast of Sicily is filled with Greek towns. The third to the west is under Carthaginian control. The inland, the Greeks don't move in there. The natives Sicilians inhabit that territory and the Greeks are not interested. You will find very rare of the case of a Greek city, which is founded away from the sea; they always wanted to be close to the sea for varieties of reasons.So, now I hope you have in your mind a picture of the way the Greek world had expanded by the time this wave of colonization was complete — pretty complete, sometime in the seventh century B.C.

Kagan

Which Poleis colonized?

A word about the leading colonizing poleis.Why did some cities send out lots of colonies, some cities send out only a few, and others none at all for quite a while? Well, if you see who does then you may have a clue. Here is a list of the early extensive colonizers. Miletus, from Asia Minor; Corinth on the isthmus; Megara right next door to Corinth, also on the isthmus. The island of Euboea, that long island that's right next to the east coast of Attica, Euboea. There were two important cities on that island. Calkis ands Eretria. We hear about them relatively early in the eighth century, already being very important, very strong and fighting each other in a famous [Lelantine] war. But these cities were very active in colonizing in a variety of directions. Lots of these towns sent colonists up north into the Dardanelles and beyond and both sent out colonies to Sicily, so that for the real colonizing states there was no limit to where they would send people who wanted to go to those areas.

Kagan

IV. EFFECTS OF COLONIZATION

IV. EFFECTS OF COLONIZATION

CULTURAL--A GREEK RENAISSANCE

to the east and south of Asia Minor, the Levant and Egypt, Greeks had extensive contact with societies which had much to teach them

“the Greeks are absorbing tremendously useful information, talent, and skills, that help explain future developments”-Kagan

this took the form of ideas, but also artisans and imported goods

“Anybody who looks at Greek mythology and Greek poetry...sees there is a powerful influence coming into Greek thought, mainly from Mesopotamia”

MILETUS-GATEWAY TO THE EAST

“Philosophy is going to be invented in Miletus, probably in the 6th century

“Miletus was on the main route to all the places where advanced knowledge could be found, Mesopotamia, Egypt…”

Kagan

CULTURAL--GREEKS AS TEACHERS

“their impact was greater in the west and the north than it was in the east and the south” --Kagan

the Black Sea coast was populated by the barbaroi, proto-Huns and Mongols

in the future France, traders seeking tin and silver pushed up the Rhone spreading Greek civilization among the Gauls

Southern Italy was so densely settled that when Rome finally moved against them, they called the region Magna Graecia (Great Greece)--hence our word for Hellas

Sicily was the richest and most densely settled region of colonial settlement; hence, the most influenced

The opening of contact between the Greeks of the Aegean (specifically Euboia) and the lands facing the Tyrrhenian Sea [French Riviera and Southern Italy] has enthusiastically been described as a moment ‘of greater lasting significance for western civilization than almost any other single advance achieved in antiquity’.

Abulafia, quoting D. Ridgeway, The Great Sea, p. 89

ECONOMIC IMPACT

commerce and trade (imports and exports) expanded tremendously after the economic isolation of the Dark Ages

as industry [handicraft] in the mētērpoleis grew, colonists pushed farther inland in search of silver, tin, copper, dyes and selling Greek products:

scented olive oil

wine

ceramics

the non-farm sector of the labor force [never approaching a majority] grew, both abroad and at home

Some scholars early in the 20th century, influenced by Marxist theories, suggested that you had a capitalist class growing up, there's just no evidence of that; it's just wrong. The earliest traders of any significance were noblemen who also had land and estates back home, but who had the opportunity, the know-how, the connections to make it possible to make money in trade. Even so, while you don't have a class of separate people who are just in the business of making things and making money, you do have people who are engaged in those activities and who have some interests that are different from those of the rest of their people who are only hoplite farmers.

Kagan

A COMPLEX OF CHANGES WITH IMPORTANT POLITICAL CONSEQUENCES

the hoplite revolution means more and more of the rural populace is not content to remain politically impotent

the new wealthy class, not just the landed aristocrats of earlier times, those who had become prosperous from commerce and industry, also want a greater voice

first there are factional struggles within the aristocracy, then “outsiders” join in--the hoplites, sometimes on several sides!

this strife back home, sometimes approaching civil war, is a negative stage in the development of political change

KAGAN’S ANALOGY OF THE AMERICAN FRONTIER THESIS

those who were on the losing side of these upheavals didn’t have to stay and fight it out

the overseas colonies were a place where the “outs” could start over among their fellow Greeks

just as in America the frontier had been a “safety valve” beginning in colonial times and up until the 1890s

V. TYRANNY

V. TYRANNY

Tyranny emerges in the seventh century B.C. — for many of the same reasons and in response to some of the same developments that [contributed to] the great burst of colonization that began in the eighth century. All of those tumultuous, troubling, changing forces were at work in bringing about this new kind of regime, which lasted from one to three generations among the Greeks before it faded away. It was a transitional phase in Greek society, rather than one that lasted for a long time, but it was not trivial, in some cases it went for three generations.

Kagan

The word tyranneia is tyranny, the word tyrannos is tyrant, and etymologically the word is not a Greek word. It was a borrowed word [which the Greeks] applied to certain elements that emerged in their society. It [probably was] borrowed from Lydia, that kingdom in Asia Minor that was inland from the Greek settlements on the coast. The first Lydian king, of whom we hear that could fit as the first tyrant from the Greek perspective was a man called Gyges, who ruled in Lydia from approximately 685 to 657.

Kagan

LET’S BEGIN WITH THE WORD

object of much mythologizing

the ring of Gyges

the seduction of Queen Tudo and the murder of King Candaules [see below]

served as the model for the earliest Greek use of the word “tyranny”

"I don't care for the wealth of golden Gyges, nor have I ever envied him. I am not jealous of the

works of the gods and I have no desire for lofty tyranny."-- the Ionian poet Archilochus

GygesΓύγης

King of Lydiaf. early 7th century

CHARACTERISTICS

a single ruler

not legitimately acquired

not responsible to any other authority, i.e., despotic

the power is abused with violence, often sexual in nature

which are so rich in telling us so much about it. He says, "I am not jealous of the works of the gods." The Greek view of tyranny was that tyrants see themselves as rivaling the gods. And because they have the power and the wealth, because they have no responsibility to anybody, presumably they can, and this is one of the things that makes them terrible. It's this act of behaving as though they were gods that Greeks called hubris, this arrogant, this violent exercise of power. That is the way things looked in the Classical Period. But even in the Classical Period there was a remnant of what was the special characteristic of the idea in its earlier day — not so much how evil tyranny was, because in the early days it's not clear that they thought it was, but the fact that it was not legitimately acquired.

Kagan

LET’S GO BACK TO ARCHILOCHUS’ FEW WORDS

The contemporaries of Gyges and the tyrants that came after him in Greece probably didn't use the term yet. It probably sprang up at a later time. For the Greeks it originally meant something much more neutral, without this great moral baggage. It simply meant more than anything else, two things.

• One man rule, well that would always raise an eyebrow, but you could imagine it being okay, and

• that it was unconstitutional. It did not come about in a way that followed tradition, which was what Greek constitutions were, traditional sets of laws or customs.

[edited & emphasis & bullets added] Kagan

VI. RISE OF GREEK TYRANNIES

VI. RISE OF GREEK TYRANNIES

Okay, that's the general picture; let's take a look at tyranny as it emerges in Greece, and we don't know very much about it. Here's another one of these cases where we are dependent on later sources, we have...nothing really contemporary at all that speaks about any tyrant. So that's a problem, but we have to deal with that.

There are very limited tales that are told about them, so that we have to piece together a lot of information and ask ourselves what it all means.

In any case, the first tyrant named in the Greek tradition is a man called Pheidon of Argos, who is mentioned by Aristotle in his Politics, and he says some interesting things. I'll come back [to Aristotle’s account] in a moment, but here are some of the facts or alleged facts that surround Pheidon in the Greek tradition. He is the King of Argos, and Argos you know in the Homeric tradition is a very big, powerful, important place; Argos includes Mycenae and all of that. So, this would be a king of a large and important area.

Kagan

PHEIDON’S PATH TO POWER

a Basileus (aristocrat, not king)

668 BC-soundly defeats the Spartans,

gets himself elected president of the Olympic Games

establishes a system of weights and measures for the whole Peloponnesus

was the first to strike coins on the island of Aegina (huge controversy)

possible image of Pheidon

WHAT DOES IT TAKE TO BECOME A TYRANT?

military force, in the 7th century this meant the backing of some or most of the hoplite farmers

widespread public dissatisfaction with the existing aristocratic élites

wide support of the new wealthy commercial and industrial class which is being kept out of power by the eupatridai (well-born aristocrats)

detail, Protocorinthian olpē

by the Chigi painter, 7th c.

found in an Etruscan tomb

Argos, in addition to being a fine agricultural area, also had commercial activity from an early time. So, that fits. Then on top of that, the next three towns [whose tyrants will be examined were] very active in colonization — Corinth, the neighboring town Sicyon also has an early tyrannical family and Megara. Sicyon is south and to the west of Corinth, and Megara is north and to the east or Corinth. All three are right on and around the Isthmus of Corinth. These are states that are very, very active in the colonial movement. Miletus has a tyrant at a fairly early time, just as you would expect, because it fits into the whole. You don't have tyrannies very early, if at all, in places like Athens. They will have a famous tyrant, but that will come later. Thebes will not have a tyrant in spite of the mythology surrounding Oedipus. Sparta, of course, never has a tyrant so all of this is sort of reasonable support for the interpretation which most scholars take. So, you have all of these factors: • the pressure of a growing population • new groups challenging the aristocracy, hoplites among them.

Kagan

CYPSELUS-CORINTHIAN TYRANT-OUTSIDER

he was a polemarch, the war archon

by tradition he was the son of a “mixed marriage” between an aristocrat and a commoner

Periander[son]of Cypselus

Corinthian

CYPSELUS-CORINTHIAN TYRANT-OUTSIDER

he was a polemarch, the war archon

by tradition he was the son of a “mixed marriage” between an aristocrat and a commoner

Kagan compares him to the marginal Napoleon, an outsider on the margin, determined to win respect

CYPSELUS-CORINTHIAN TYRANT-OUTSIDER

he was a polemarch, the war archon

by tradition he was the son of a “mixed marriage” between an aristocrat and a commoner

Kagan compares him to the marginal Napoleon, an outsider on the margin, determined to win respect

the aristocracy of Corinth, which Kypselus was determined to overthrow was unusually narrow, a single clan, the Βακχιάδαι (Bakkhiadai)

that meant that there were many powerful people in Corinth who were not part of the establishment

CYPSELUS-SUCCESSFUL TYRANT

657 BC-during an unpopular war with Argos and Corcyra he used his military position to drive out the Bacciadai

he expelled other opponents to his rule but allowed them to set up colonies in northwestern Greece

CYPSELUS-SUCCESSFUL TYRANT

657 BC-during an unpopular war with Argos and Corcyra he used his military position to drive out the Bacciadai

he expelled other opponents to his rule but allowed them to set up colonies in northwestern Greece

CYPSELUS-SUCCESSFUL TYRANT

657 BC-during an unpopular war with Argos and Corcyra he used his military position to drive out the Bacciadai

he expelled other opponents to his rule but allowed them to set up colonies in northwestern Greece

commerce and colonization expanded during his 30 year rule

CYPSELUS-SUCCESSFUL TYRANT

657 BC-during an unpopular war with Argos and Corcyra he used his military position to drive out the Bacciadai

he expelled other opponents to his rule but allowed them to set up colonies in northwestern Greece

commerce and colonization expanded during his 30 year rule

527 BC-he was able to pass the power on to his son, Periander

So Corinth is colonizing quite vigorously in the time of the Cypselid tyranny, mostly, out in the west, that sort of empty territory from a Greek point of view, and so you will see Corinthian colonies stretching out along the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth. It is less Greek, more barbaric, than the south shore which is the Peloponnesus. Then if you sail west out of the Gulf of Corinth and bear north and head up into the Ionian Sea and beyond that the Adriatic...

Corinthian colonies are right along in there and they suggest, and I think they're supported by other archaeological evidence, that commerce was one of the things that was very important for Cypselus. Corinth is booming during the years of the Cypselid tyrants. None of that is surprising, all of this is very characteristic of this phase of Greek tyranny. In addition to that, we know that Cypselus like just about all the tyrants used his power to do something that the Greek governments normally did not do, that is, collect taxes from their people. You have to understand that the idea of taxation being normal would have gotten a Greek foaming at the mouth. When there is no tyranny, there's no taxes, no direct tax I should say. The normal form of taxation that existed in the Greek world, when it was in its independent polis phase, is simply customs duties on trade. But the hoplite farmer wasn't going to be taxed. Paying taxes is what barbarian kings did to their people.

No surprise that Cypselus and his descendants, just like the other tyrants, were very wealthy. Undoubtedly they seized wealth when they took power, then there was the wealth from the tremendous income that would come from the taxation on the booming commerce. Immense wealth is another image that goes with tyranny.

Kagan

So Corinth is colonizing quite vigorously in the time of the Cypselid tyranny, mostly, out in the west, that sort of empty territory from a Greek point of view, and so you will see Corinthian colonies stretching out along the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth. It is less Greek, more barbaric, than the south shore which is the Peloponnesus. Then if you sail west out of the Gulf of Corinth and bear north and head up into the Ionian Sea and beyond that the Adriatic...

Corinthian colonies are right along in there and they suggest, and I think they're supported by other archaeological evidence, that commerce was one of the things that was very important for Cypselus. Corinth is booming during the years of the Cypselid tyrants. None of that is surprising, all of this is very characteristic of this phase of Greek tyranny. In addition to that, we know that Cypselus like just about all the tyrants used his power to do something that the Greek governments normally did not do, that is, collect taxes from their people. You have to understand that the idea of taxation being normal would have gotten a Greek foaming at the mouth. When there is no tyranny, there's no taxes, no direct tax I should say. The normal form of taxation that existed in the Greek world, when it was in its independent polis phase, is simply customs duties on trade. But the hoplite farmer wasn't going to be taxed. Paying taxes is what barbarian kings did to their people.

No surprise that Cypselus and his descendants, just like the other tyrants, were very wealthy. Undoubtedly they seized wealth when they took power, then there was the wealth from the tremendous income that would come from the taxation on the booming commerce. Immense wealth is another image that goes with tyranny.

Kagan

So Corinth is colonizing quite vigorously in the time of the Cypselid tyranny, mostly, out in the west, that sort of empty territory from a Greek point of view, and so you will see Corinthian colonies stretching out along the north shore of the Gulf of Corinth. It is less Greek, more barbaric, than the south shore which is the Peloponnesus. Then if you sail west out of the Gulf of Corinth and bear north and head up into the Ionian Sea and beyond that the Adriatic...

Corinthian colonies are right along in there and they suggest, and I think they're supported by other archaeological evidence, that commerce was one of the things that was very important for Cypselus. Corinth is booming during the years of the Cypselid tyrants. None of that is surprising, all of this is very characteristic of this phase of Greek tyranny. In addition to that, we know that Cypselus like just about all the tyrants used his power to do something that the Greek governments normally did not do, that is, collect taxes from their people. You have to understand that the idea of taxation being normal would have gotten a Greek foaming at the mouth. When there is no tyranny, there's no taxes, no direct tax I should say. The normal form of taxation that existed in the Greek world, when it was in its independent polis phase, is simply customs duties on trade. But the hoplite farmer wasn't going to be taxed. Paying taxes is what barbarian kings did to their people.

No surprise that Cypselus and his descendants, just like the other tyrants, were very wealthy. Undoubtedly they seized wealth when they took power, then there was the wealth from the tremendous income that would come from the taxation on the booming commerce. Immense wealth is another image that goes with tyranny.

Kagan

Chapter 4. Herodotus's Story of Orthagoras at Sicyon [00:40:18]

If you go to Sicyon, another element comes into the picture. There, the founder of the tyranny was a man called Orthagoras, and again, he was peripolarchos, leader of the peripoloi (border police). His son, Cleisthenes of Sicyon will succeed him. [Just remember this is Cleisthenes of Sicyon as opposed to Cleisthenes, the Athenian]

Orthagoras, a man of great ability, came to power by appealing to the racial sentiments of the people, as soon as he was appointed General. He convinced them, that they were of Achaean origin and had been governed unfairly by Dorians. The result was the revolution that made him tyrant.

But once you're past this ethnic peculiarity, you find that these tyrants are pretty much like all the other tyrants. They have great wealth. They are patrons of the arts. They engage in conspicuous display, which is what tyrants do, and they are filled with a tremendous ego and a terrific sense of their own importance, the kind of thing that made Archilochus say, "I'm not going to try to vie with the gods the way these tyrants do."

Kagan

Herodotus tells a tale about Orthagoras’ successor, Cleisthenes. He was an athlete. He won the Olympic four-horse chariot race, a contest for the wealthiest Greek aristocrats. He invites all the best aristocratic, richest, handsomest, most athletic men in all of Greece to come to Sicyon and spend a year, at his expense, and treated royally all that time to compete for the hand of his daughter.

Herodotus reads off the names of all of these amazing young men who come to the competition, in the style of Homer's catalog of the ships in book ii of the Iliad and they come. Well, after this year of trials, two finalists are emerging. One is Hippocleides and the other is Megacles of Athens. [About whom, much more later]

It seems Hippocleides has the edge. But he too much wine at the party celebrating the final stages, and next he jumps on a table and he begins dancing wildly. I mean like beyond what is seen to be seemingly dancing, we expect a young nobleman to be a good dancer, but this guy is doing stuff that nobody ever heard of and this is making Cleisthenes a little nervous. I mean who is this guy? What's happening here? Then he begins to dance on his hands, with his feet flipping around in the air, at which point Herodotus tells us Cleisthenes speaks up and says, ‘Son of Tysander, you have danced your bride away!”He lost and Megacles got to marry Agariste.

Well, what are we to make of that tale? I don't know, but this much I think is clear. Such a legend does not come from nothing. The picture is first of all of a man who is fabulously wealthy. Think of the kind of entertaining he is said to have done. Also, fabulously full of himself, just imagine saying ‘my daughter will only marry the very best young man there is, and you will all have to go out there and compete for her hand and I'll tell you who she's going to marry.’

Hubris.

Kagan, severely edited

Herodotus tells a tale about Orthagoras’ successor, Cleisthenes. He was an athlete. He won the Olympic four-horse chariot race, a contest for the wealthiest Greek aristocrats. He invites all the best aristocratic, richest, handsomest, most athletic men in all of Greece to come to Sicyon and spend a year, at his expense, and treated royally all that time to compete for the hand of his daughter.

Herodotus reads off the names of all of these amazing young men who come to the competition, in the style of Homer's catalog of the ships in book ii of the Iliad and they come. Well, after this year of trials, two finalists are emerging. One is Hippocleides and the other is Megacles of Athens. [About whom, much more later]

It seems Hippocleides has the edge. But he too much wine at the party celebrating the final stages, and next he jumps on a table and he begins dancing wildly. I mean like beyond what is seen to be seemingly dancing, we expect a young nobleman to be a good dancer, but this guy is doing stuff that nobody ever heard of and this is making Cleisthenes a little nervous. I mean who is this guy? What's happening here? Then he begins to dance on his hands, with his feet flipping around in the air, at which point Herodotus tells us Cleisthenes speaks up and says, ‘Son of Tysander, you have danced your bride away!”He lost and Megacles got to marry Agariste.

Well, what are we to make of that tale? I don't know, but this much I think is clear. Such a legend does not come from nothing. The picture is first of all of a man who is fabulously wealthy. Think of the kind of entertaining he is said to have done. Also, fabulously full of himself, just imagine saying ‘my daughter will only marry the very best young man there is, and you will all have to go out there and compete for her hand and I'll tell you who she's going to marry.’

Hubris.

Kagan, severely edited

Herodotus tells a tale about Orthagoras’ successor, Cleisthenes. He was an athlete. He won the Olympic four-horse chariot race, a contest for the wealthiest Greek aristocrats. He invites all the best aristocratic, richest, handsomest, most athletic men in all of Greece to come to Sicyon and spend a year, at his expense, and treated royally all that time to compete for the hand of his daughter.

Herodotus reads off the names of all of these amazing young men who come to the competition, in the style of Homer's catalog of the ships in book ii of the Iliad and they come. Well, after this year of trials, two finalists are emerging. One is Hippocleides and the other is Megacles of Athens. [About whom, much more later]

It seems Hippocleides has the edge. But he too much wine at the party celebrating the final stages, and next he jumps on a table and he begins dancing wildly. I mean like beyond what is seen to be seemingly dancing, we expect a young nobleman to be a good dancer, but this guy is doing stuff that nobody ever heard of and this is making Cleisthenes a little nervous. I mean who is this guy? What's happening here? Then he begins to dance on his hands, with his feet flipping around in the air, at which point Herodotus tells us Cleisthenes speaks up and says, ‘Son of Tysander, you have danced your bride away!”He lost and Megacles got to marry Agariste.

Well, what are we to make of that tale? I don't know, but this much I think is clear. Such a legend does not come from nothing. The picture is first of all of a man who is fabulously wealthy. Think of the kind of entertaining he is said to have done. Also, fabulously full of himself, just imagine saying ‘my daughter will only marry the very best young man there is, and you will all have to go out there and compete for her hand and I'll tell you who she's going to marry.’

Hubris.

Kagan, severely edited

Chapter 5. The Story of Gyges and Unconventional Power [00:50:25]

Summing up some points about tyrants: untraditional route to power is important. Perhaps you remember the story of Gyges. Gyges was sort of the prime minister of the King of Lydia. The king had this incredibly beautiful wife. He was terribly proud of her, and so he said to Gyges, “You can't believe how gorgeous my wife is.” Gyges says, of course she's wonderfully beautiful. “You can't tell with her clothes on for God's sake,” the king says, “come on, come with me.” Gyges says, no, no, no please your majesty!” “Come with me!” So, there's Gyges hidden behind a curtain and here's the queen disrobing and indeed she was as advertised. The king goes out, and Gyges tried to slip away, but the queen spots him and, of course, she's totally disgraced. She's deeply embarrassed just to put it very, very mildly, and so she says to him, unless you do what I tell you I will tell my husband that you sneaked in and did this and he will kill you. But what I want you to do is to kill him and marry me. That's how you can make it up. What could Gyges do?

So he did; that's how he became king. This is not your normal constitutional procedure even in Lydia. So that's Gyges…

Kagan, in his best comic mode

Pheidon I've talked to you about already. Theagenes of Megara I haven't mentioned, but he comes to power by force, with the use of the soldiers and same thing is true of Cypselas…. They typically...introduce something new, mercenary soldiers.

It's one thing to seize the power with the help of the hoplites, but to hold onto it you're going to need something more solid than that. First of all, hoplites don't stick around in uniform; they go back and work their fields. So, they're not around to suppress anything. Beyond that tyrants grow unpopular. This is one of the great rules of politics in any system. The one question that's in the minds of all people…; that is “What have you done for me lately?” Any benefit that people might have achieved from the establishment of the tyranny gets to be taken for granted after awhile. Then they ask why is this guy taking taxes from me? Why is he such a big shot and I'm not? That's just going to be inevitable, and so if you're going to keep your power and keep people down, you can't just rely on the citizen body and so tyrants typically hire foreigners to serve as mercenaries for them.

"Candaules, King of Lydia, Shews his Wife by Stealth to Gyges, One of his Ministers, As She Goes to Bed" (1820), by William Etty

aristocracy

PLATO’S CYCLICAL THEORY OF GOVERNMENT

best

worst

Hesiod’sFive Ages

GOLDEN

aristocracy

timocracy

PLATO’S CYCLICAL THEORY OF GOVERNMENT

best

worst

Hesiod’sFive Ages

GOLDEN

SILVER

timocracy

oligarchy

PLATO’S CYCLICAL THEORY OF GOVERNMENT

best

worst

Hesiod’sFive Ages

GOLDEN

SILVER

BRONZE

HEROIC

oligarchy

democracy

PLATO’S CYCLICAL THEORY OF GOVERNMENT

best

worst

Hesiod’sFive Ages

GOLDEN

SILVER

BRONZE

HEROIC

IRON

tyranny

PLATO’S CYCLICAL THEORY OF GOVERNMENT

best

worst

Hesiod’sFive Ages

GOLDEN

SILVER

BRONZE

HEROIC

IRON

PLATO’S CYCLICAL THEORY OF GOVERNMENT

aristocracybest

worst

Hesiod’sFive Ages

GOLDEN

SILVER

BRONZE

HEROIC

IRON

VII ACCOMPLISHMENTS

VII ACCOMPLISHMENTS

“Water nymphs...May your lovely feet tread on this watery house...while you fill it with a pure draught”--Greek

Anthology Painting by H.M. Herget

the diolkos built by Periander, tyrant of Corinth , (627-585 BC)

the diolkos built by Periander, tyrant of Corinth , (627-585 BC)

economic prosperity and diverse economies, because they support trade and industry, sometimes even agriculture [Peisistratus in Athens]

many of the tyrants foster colonization

civic improvements in the principal city of the polis

aqueducts, water houses, fountains and sewers

development of the agora-a political, religious & commercial center

economic prosperity and diverse economies, because they support trade and industry, sometimes even agriculture [Peisistratus in Athens]

many of the tyrants foster colonization

civic improvements in the principal city of the polis

aqueducts, water houses, fountains and sewers

development of the agora-a political, religious & commercial center

the tyrants, like modern strongmen, established courts, sought artists, sculptors and architects to build great monuments, especially temples, all to increase the prestige of their capital cities

URBANIZATION--OF A SORT

the tyrants, like modern strongmen, established courts, sought artists, sculptors and architects to build great monuments, especially temples, all to increase the prestige of their capital cities

URBANIZATION--OF A SORT

the tyrants, like modern strongmen, established courts, sought artists, sculptors and architects to build great monuments, especially temples, all to increase the prestige of their capital cities

just as now, this work and economic opportunity attracted new residents

URBANIZATION--OF A SORT

the tyrants, like modern strongmen, established courts, sought artists, sculptors and architects to build great monuments, especially temples, all to increase the prestige of their capital cities

just as now, this work and economic opportunity attracted new residents

as the population of the central city of the polis increased, sanitation required water and sewage works

URBANIZATION--OF A SORT

Here we see the Athenian agora, a century after the tyrant Peisistratus

(pie•SIS•truh•tus) greatly expanded it. In the distance, looming over it, the

Parthenon, brightest jewel in the crown of Athens’ Golden Age. It was built

by the direction of Pericles (pair•UH•kleez-”surrounded with glory), who

was called a tyrant by his political enemies. But that’s two other stories...