Amyntor Amyntoros
Posted: Wed Apr 29, 2015 11:28 pm
Sorry, I seem to have written a bit of an essay here.
In her doctoral thesis, J Reames has the following:
“A more likely relation (to Hephaestion) might be found on an inscription from Kolophon (Maier 69.139) which Maier (227) dates to 313/306 but Meritt (1935: 371) dates to 334. It does not even require the Amyntor of the IG II 405 inscription to be Hephaistion’s father (Amyntor son of Demetrios being granted Athenian citizenship in 334/3 BC). This Kolophon inscription is a building decree for walls which includes a list of contributors and their respective amounts, among them one “Amyntor gerontos Makedon” who donated five hundred thousand gold pieces. Given the style of the rest of the inscription, gerontos, although without the attendant article, means “son of the elder Amyntor”.
I am unclear whether the ‘Makedon’ refers to either or both of the Amyntors.
JR postulates that this Amyntor son of Amyntor was a much younger, posthumous half-brother of Hephaestion, named after his deceased father, who was on his way out from Macedon to join his brother and stalled at Kolophon following Alexander and Hephaestion’s deaths.
There are, I think, a number of problems with this interpretation.
Firstly, it may be a peculiarity of the translation, but “the elder Amyntor” implies someone who was known to the inhabitants of Kolophon, and was either still alive or recently deceased. If his father was not an inhabitant of the city, is it more likely that the younger Amyntor would have been known just as “of Macedon” or something similar.
Secondly, there may be a dating problem in identifying the younger Amyntor with Hephaestion. If he were coming out from Macedon to join his brother at court in 324/3 BC, that would mean he would have had to be about 14 to join the Pages, giving him a birthdate of about 338. If he were any older than this it is likely he would have already been at court, and if younger, Alexander may have sent for Hephaestion’s only living relative after his death but, given that his own son by Barsine was living at Pergamon and not with him, this seems unlikely.
If the dating of the inscription to 334 is correct (and the conjectured birthdate), that would make him four years old when the wall building contribution was made, so that would completely rule out an association with Hephaestion based on JR’s hypothesis. If the later dating for the inscription is correct, he would then have been in his late twenties, but it seems unlikely that he would still be known as the younger Amyntor nearly thirty years after his father’s death.
Reames states that the fact that the younger Kolophon Amyntor was named after his father, rather than his grandfather, might indicate that he was born after his father’s death. Yet if he were a posthumous son and also Hephaestion’s brother on his way out to join the king, his father cannot be identified with the Amnytor son of Demetrios who was granted Athenian citizenship in 334/3 BC, if the younger Kolophon Amyntor’s posthumous birthdate is four years earlier around 338.
if Amyntor was not a posthumous son, and his father was the Athenian Amyntor, that begs the question why was he living in Kolophon when he had been granted Athenian citizenship along with his father. Kolophon however appears to have been founded by Athenians so it may be possible the Athenian Amyntor, or the older Kolophon Amyntor if they are not the same man, had links in both cities.
However, if they are the same man, and the earlier date for the inscription is correct, ignoring any connection with Hephaestion, in 334/3 we would have the father in Athens receiving citizenship and the son in Kolophon building walls, and yet the family would appear to be originally from Macedon. In 334, Alexander might have passed through Kolophon on his way south to Ephesus. It might be that the younger Amyntor was left behind to assist in rebuilding the walls, but the question is where did he get the money from as Alexander was still comparatively impoverished, having only the spoils from Granicus and whatever he got from Ephesus. Anything he got from Ephesus was likely to have been used for his own needs or for the rebuilding of Artemis’s temple. What spare cash Alexander did have appears to have been used to commemorate the dead Companions from the Granicus as he commissioned memorial statues. He may have got the cash for this from the sale of the Greek mercenaries on the Persian side into slavery, and it would not be lost on Alexander that the revenge inflicted on the defeated paid for the glorification of the sacrifice of the victors, rather than on building walls in a comparatively unimportant town.
If the walls were built around 334, it would seem more likely therefore that they were built in response to Alexander’s invasion rather than as a result of his liberation. Yet it doesn’t seem likely that a Macedonian would be fortifying the city against Alexander.
A date of 313/306 would therefore seem more likely for the wall building during the various activities of the Successors and that the elder Amyntor was likely to be an adherent, if not a direct appointee, of Antigonus, who was stationed in the city. His son in turn may have been associated with Demetrius and have nothing to do with Hephaestion or the Athenian Amyntor (who in my opinion was more likely to have been a prosperous merchant than having any connection with Macedon or Hephaestion).
In her doctoral thesis, J Reames has the following:
“A more likely relation (to Hephaestion) might be found on an inscription from Kolophon (Maier 69.139) which Maier (227) dates to 313/306 but Meritt (1935: 371) dates to 334. It does not even require the Amyntor of the IG II 405 inscription to be Hephaistion’s father (Amyntor son of Demetrios being granted Athenian citizenship in 334/3 BC). This Kolophon inscription is a building decree for walls which includes a list of contributors and their respective amounts, among them one “Amyntor gerontos Makedon” who donated five hundred thousand gold pieces. Given the style of the rest of the inscription, gerontos, although without the attendant article, means “son of the elder Amyntor”.
I am unclear whether the ‘Makedon’ refers to either or both of the Amyntors.
JR postulates that this Amyntor son of Amyntor was a much younger, posthumous half-brother of Hephaestion, named after his deceased father, who was on his way out from Macedon to join his brother and stalled at Kolophon following Alexander and Hephaestion’s deaths.
There are, I think, a number of problems with this interpretation.
Firstly, it may be a peculiarity of the translation, but “the elder Amyntor” implies someone who was known to the inhabitants of Kolophon, and was either still alive or recently deceased. If his father was not an inhabitant of the city, is it more likely that the younger Amyntor would have been known just as “of Macedon” or something similar.
Secondly, there may be a dating problem in identifying the younger Amyntor with Hephaestion. If he were coming out from Macedon to join his brother at court in 324/3 BC, that would mean he would have had to be about 14 to join the Pages, giving him a birthdate of about 338. If he were any older than this it is likely he would have already been at court, and if younger, Alexander may have sent for Hephaestion’s only living relative after his death but, given that his own son by Barsine was living at Pergamon and not with him, this seems unlikely.
If the dating of the inscription to 334 is correct (and the conjectured birthdate), that would make him four years old when the wall building contribution was made, so that would completely rule out an association with Hephaestion based on JR’s hypothesis. If the later dating for the inscription is correct, he would then have been in his late twenties, but it seems unlikely that he would still be known as the younger Amyntor nearly thirty years after his father’s death.
Reames states that the fact that the younger Kolophon Amyntor was named after his father, rather than his grandfather, might indicate that he was born after his father’s death. Yet if he were a posthumous son and also Hephaestion’s brother on his way out to join the king, his father cannot be identified with the Amnytor son of Demetrios who was granted Athenian citizenship in 334/3 BC, if the younger Kolophon Amyntor’s posthumous birthdate is four years earlier around 338.
if Amyntor was not a posthumous son, and his father was the Athenian Amyntor, that begs the question why was he living in Kolophon when he had been granted Athenian citizenship along with his father. Kolophon however appears to have been founded by Athenians so it may be possible the Athenian Amyntor, or the older Kolophon Amyntor if they are not the same man, had links in both cities.
However, if they are the same man, and the earlier date for the inscription is correct, ignoring any connection with Hephaestion, in 334/3 we would have the father in Athens receiving citizenship and the son in Kolophon building walls, and yet the family would appear to be originally from Macedon. In 334, Alexander might have passed through Kolophon on his way south to Ephesus. It might be that the younger Amyntor was left behind to assist in rebuilding the walls, but the question is where did he get the money from as Alexander was still comparatively impoverished, having only the spoils from Granicus and whatever he got from Ephesus. Anything he got from Ephesus was likely to have been used for his own needs or for the rebuilding of Artemis’s temple. What spare cash Alexander did have appears to have been used to commemorate the dead Companions from the Granicus as he commissioned memorial statues. He may have got the cash for this from the sale of the Greek mercenaries on the Persian side into slavery, and it would not be lost on Alexander that the revenge inflicted on the defeated paid for the glorification of the sacrifice of the victors, rather than on building walls in a comparatively unimportant town.
If the walls were built around 334, it would seem more likely therefore that they were built in response to Alexander’s invasion rather than as a result of his liberation. Yet it doesn’t seem likely that a Macedonian would be fortifying the city against Alexander.
A date of 313/306 would therefore seem more likely for the wall building during the various activities of the Successors and that the elder Amyntor was likely to be an adherent, if not a direct appointee, of Antigonus, who was stationed in the city. His son in turn may have been associated with Demetrius and have nothing to do with Hephaestion or the Athenian Amyntor (who in my opinion was more likely to have been a prosperous merchant than having any connection with Macedon or Hephaestion).