This dissertation examines Hipparchos, the son of Peisistratos, and the years 528-514 B.C. at Athens. Modern scholarship has generally adjudged Hipparchos a powerless, dissolute aesthete on the basis of Thucydides' test- imonia about Hipparchos' murder. Yet, it is clear from other sources that Hipparchos was much more, perhaps even the most important Peisistratid after Peisistratos' death, certainly the most visible. The purpose of this dissertation is to shed new light on this important period by aiming at a better understanding of Hipparchos. Chapter I concerns Hipparchos' image and is a compilation of testimonia relevant to him. The introduction to the chapter attempts to illustrate the importance of image to Greek tyrants of the archaic period and to show that image can be useful as an indicator of tyrannical power. The remainder of the chapter is divided into the archaeological and literary records of Hipparchos. Sections are devoted to Hipparchos' herms, the wall of the Akademy and his Ptolon dedication. The literary record is divided into external affairs (Hipparchos and Ionia), internal/external affairs (the Onomakritos-affair), and internal affairs (the Panathenaia and Hipparchos). The conclusion is that Hipparchos was far more prominent than his brother Hippias and much more significant than previously believed. Chapter II confronts the historiographical problem of succession to Peisistratos. It is divided into examination of the stele concerning the adikia of the tyrants', Thucydides' most important evidence for the successsion, and the literary tradition about the succession. (An appendix examines the evidence of the sixth century archon-list.) The conclusion is that the succession-issue became controversial in the fifth century, apparently well after the end of the tyranny. Chapter III deals with Thucydides' account of Hipparchos' murder. Sections are given to accounts before Thucydides', but later accounts are considered only as they differ from his on specific points. Thucydides1 account is examined in two sections: motivation of the tyrannicides and the act itself. The conclusion is that Thucydides was quite probably influenced by his own preconceptions to read his beliefs into a substructure of earlier material. The evidence for this is inconsistency and implausibility in Thucydides' account. An epilogue considers Hipparchos1 influence over later prominent Athenians and the city itself. / Arts, Faculty of / Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of / Graduate

In the Timaeus Plato sets forth his cosmological system, and near the beginning of the dialogue he carefully qualifies his claims by saying that his account of the cosmos is not absolutely true, but only no less likely than any other account. Rather than being an offhand remark, this statement is key to understanding Plato's aim in constructing his cosmological myth. Plato's epistemological position prevents him from making strong assertions about physical objects and phenomena, but does allow him to make assertions of truth in morality and metaphysics. Thus while the Timaeus is ostensibly an account of the physical universe, for Plato its true value is in using the physical universe as a mythological symbol for moral and metaphysical truth. Plato's account is no less likely than those of other ancient cosmologists because multiple accounts can fit with the observed phenomena. However, his account, while no more likely, is superior to those of others in that it avoids impiety and, by qualifying its claims about the physical universe, is not threatened by future observations. / text

The following offers a new perspective to explain the disintegration of the Peloponnesian League and the Boeotian Federation in the early half of the fourth century B.C. Members of both these alliances had legal and conventional expectations regarding what they had to give and what they could receive from their associations. Tensions and conflicts arose within an alliance once an individual polis did not fulfill its duties and obligations. There were two factors that persuaded a member not to meet their expected responsibilities: one was the role of a polis ' factions and the other was the intervention in the association's affairs by a third party. It was primarily the failure of an alliance's members to meet each others expectations that inevitably led to the dissolution of these interstate organizations.

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This thesis will trace the origin and development of the term "Sacred War" in the corpus of extant Greek literature. This term has been commonly applied by modern scholars to four wars which took place in ancient Greece between the sixth and fourth centuries B. C. The modern use of "the attribute "Sacred War" to refer to these four wars in particular raises two questions. First, did the ancient historians give all four of these wars the title "Sacred War?" And second, what justified the use of this title only for certain conflicts? In order to resolve the first of these questions, it is necessary to examine in what terms the ancient historians referred to these wars. As a result of this examination, it is clear that only two of the modern series of "Sacred Wars" (the so-called Second and Third Sacred Wars) were actually given this title in antiquity. The other two wars (the so-called Second and Third Sacred Wars), although they were evidently associated by the ancients with the "Sacred Wars," were not given this attribution. Consequently, the habit of grouping all four wars together as "Sacred Wars" is modern. Nevertheless, the fact that the ancients did see some connection between these wars does justify this modern classification to some degree. Once this conclusion had been reached, it became possible to proceed to the second of the problems presented in this thesis, namely the justification for the application of the title "Sacred War" to two specific conflicts. In order to achieve this aim, those conflicts labelled "Sacred Wars" by the ancient historians were compared to two categories of test cases: the other two conflicts classified as "Sacred Wars" by modern scholars and conflicts which share elements in common with "Sacred Wars" but which are not given this attribution by ancient or modern authorities. In the course of this comparison, I discovered that little differentiated the so-called "Sacred Wars" from the non-"Sacred Wars" and that all of these latter conflicts appear equally worthy of the title as those which were in fact given this attribution. The deciding factor in the classification of a certain conflict as a "Sacred War," as a result, lies not in the specific elements making up its constitution but rather in the political circumstances surrounding it. The two conflicts labelled by the ancients as "Sacred Wars" were given this title by contemporary powers in order to justify military interference in the political affairs of other states which might otherwise have been considered unnecessary. Thus, the term "Sacred War" arose originally as the result of an effective propaganda campaign. / Arts, Faculty of / Classical, Near Eastern and Religious Studies, Department of / Graduate

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Modern studies of Classical Greek battle devote little attention to the role and importance of the general in achieving battlefield success. As a result of this the general is reduced to a simple leader of men whose only influential decision was where and when to fight, and whose major role was to provide inspiration by fighting in the front ranks. A modern conception of Hellenic fair play in warfare has further limited the importance of the general to Greek armies: apparently advanced manoeuvring and tactics were deliberately rejected in favour of a simple and direct test of strength and morale. I do not believe this to be the case, and in this study I demonstrate the importance of the general to Greek armies by offering a new analysis of his role in hoplite battle.

Thesis (MPhil (Ancient Studies))--University of Stellenbosch, 2011. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main purpose of this thesis is to examine examples of information-gathering and political intelligence in Herodotus' Histories. In Herodotus' account, dialogues, anecdotes, and even inserted authorial commentary describe how leaders obtain politically relevant and timely information about other individuals and nations (intelligence). Herodotus links political decisions, based on gathered information, with his presentation of historical causation. In his multi-themed account, Herodotus provides tales of commissioned information-gathering missions, espionage, secret messages, and even disguises as nations and political leaders attempt to find out about their enemies and their allies. While the various anecdotes of information-gathering may not be historically precise, they may, in fact, infer real goals and problems of ancient Greek intelligence practices. The second purpose of this thesis is to explore Herodotus' use of cultural information within decision-making and statecraft. Herodotus presents nomos (culture or custom) as a compelling force for human behavior and military action. By articulating the importance of cultural information to political and military intelligence, Herodotus' work foreshadows modern intelligence theories and practices. This nomos-aspect of Herodotus' information-gathering anecdotes is especially relevant to current post-modern trend of culturally-based intelligence solutions to western counter-insurgency efforts. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoel van hierdie tesis is om voorbeelde van inligtingversameling en politieke intellegensie in Herodotus se Histories te ondersoek. In Herodotus se verslae, dialoë, anekdotes en selfs ingevoegde ouktoriele kommentaar word daar beskryf hoe leiers polities relevante en aktuele inligting oor ander indiwidue en nasies (intellegensie) verkry. Herodotus verbind politieke besluite, gebaseer op ingewinde inligting, met sy voorstelling van historiese kousaliteitsleer. In sy vertellings met meervoudige temas, verskaf Herodotus verhale van opdragte wat gegee is vir inligtingsinwinningsendings, spioenasiewerk, geheime boodskappe en selfs vermommings waarmee nasionale en politieke leiers gepoog het om uit te vind oor hul vyande en bondgenote. Terwyl die verskeie anekdotes van inligtinginwinning moontlik nie histories presies is nie, is hulle dalk in werklikheid afgelei van regte doelstellings en probleme van antieke Griekse intellegensiepraktyke. Die tweede doel van hierdie tesis is om ondersoek in te stel na Herodotus se gebruik van kulturele inligting in besluitneming en regeerkuns. Herodotus stel nomos (kultuur of gebruik) as ‟n dwingende krag vir menslike gedrag en militêre aksie voor. Deur die belangrikheid van kulturele inligting vir politieke en militêre intellegensie te artikuleer, is Herodotus se werk ‟n voorafskaduwing van moderne intellegensie teorieë en praktyke. Hierdie nomos-aspek van Herodotus se inligtingsinwinningsanekdotes is veral relevant vir die huidige post-modernistiese neiging van kultuur-gebaseerde intellegensieoplossings vir westerse teen-insergensie pogings.

This thesis is an examination of how Greek tyranny in the fourth century and the early Hellenistic age was influenced by Achaemenid Persia and the Ancient Near East. The introduction lays out the problems of interpreting the Ancient Near East through Greco-Roman sources, via Ephippus' description of Alexander the Great, as well as discussing two important examples of Persianisation that have been examined in detail in the past: Pausanias of Sparta and Alexander the Great. The relevant Classical Greek and Achaemenid sources concerning Persian kingship are then considered, in order to establish four categories by which to examine the tyrannical dynasties chosen as case studies: Appearance, Accessibility, Dynasty and Military Function. Using these four categories, the dynasties of the Dionysii of Syracuse, the Clearchids of Heraclea Pontica, the Hecatomnids of Caria and Agathocles of Syracuse, chosen for their geographical and temporal variance, are examined individually over the next four chapters. Appearance concerns the ruler's dress and body presentation, the use of status items such as crowns and sceptres, and the display of luxury. Accessibility concerns the use of architecture and fortifications, as well as court protocol and bodyguards, in order to control access to the ruler. Dynasty concerns family trees, marriages and the role of women, and the role of close family and subordinates in important administrative positions. Military Function concerns the role of the ruler in warfare as well as power symbols, titles and epithets. The analysis of the tyrannies taken altogether using the same categories forms the basis of the subsequent chapter, and allows for comparison with the Achaemenid Persian evidence in order to determine whether there is any significant correlation. This chapter also examines the potential methods of transmission. The thesis concludes that there are significant similarities in some aspects of tyrannical rule with that of Achaemenid kingship, and demonstrates that tyrants were engaging in the political and philosophical discourse of the era. The 'royal nature' as demonstrated by Xenophon proves to be something that tyrants aspire to, without becoming kings in name. The thesis also concludes that thinking of Greek tyrants in rigid characterisation is no longer acceptable, whether temporally as alter and junger tyranny, or geographically as Greek rulers of Greek cities with no contextual influence.