A question about supporters of Polyperchon/Phokion/Kassandro

[ruthaki]

I'm trying to sort out the factions who met at Pharygae when Polyperchon went to meet Phokion who had been accused of treason by the Athenians. In the party were Deinarchus of Corinth and Solon of Plataia, long-time friends of Antipater and his principle agents in the Peloponnese and supposed friends of Polyperchon. They had escorted Phokion to the meeting as 'friends'. Plutarch says that Polyperchon condemned Deinarchus to be tortured and killed. (I can't exactly figure out why?) and in further research I see this same Deinarchus is still around much later, friends of Demetrios of Phaliron. Was he therefore reprieved after Polyperchon's death sentence?

Also..the only Solon of Plataia I can find when I google the name is that of the famous Solon who lived a long time before. So I am confused. Who is this Solon?? And was he also condemned by Polyperchon?

Any comments and information would be much appreciated. Thanks in advance.

[amyntoros]

Hi Ruthaki,

Tim SpaldingGÇÖs The Ancient Library is usually helpful for this kind of question. YouGÇÖll find a listing for Deinarchus of Corinth on this page of SmithGÇÖs Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology where it says he died in Athens at an advanced age. However, on the following page is another listing for a Deinarchus of Corinth which says this:

2. Of Corinth, a contemporary of the orator, with whom he has frequently been confounded. He was likewise a friend of Phocion, and when the latter was dragged to Athens for execution, Deinarchus too was put to death by the command of Polysperchon. (Plut. Plioc. 33.) As this person is not mentioned elsewhere, the name Deinarchus in Plutarch may be a mistake.

You are right in that thereGÇÖs nothing to be found on Solon of Plataea on the web. Thanks to ParalusGÇÖ unabashed enthusiasm I finally purchased PeterGÇÖs GreenGÇÖs telephone-book sized Alexander to Actium. I thought that if there was anything else known about this fellow then Green would be the man to have found it. He doesnGÇÖt even mention him, however, so it looks like this Solon is an unknown quantity.

An aside to Paralus: While checking Green for references I noticed that he calls Stratocles a sedulous ape! Not a man to mince words, is he?

Best regards,

[ruthaki]

Thanks for your prompt reply Amyntoros. I had seen the Ancient Library listings but missed the second reference to 'the other' Deinarchus of Corinth. All these characters with conflicting names become confusing when writing my historical fiction novel so I suppose, at best, I can use some poetic license and go with the second version. I can easily just glaze over the Solon who is mentioned. Although these are mere bit players in the scenario I am writing I don't like to make glaring mistakes.

[Paralus]

Thanks to ParalusGÇÖ unabashed enthusiasm I finally purchased PeterGÇÖs GreenGÇÖs telephone-book sized Alexander to Actium. I thought that if there was anything else known about this fellow then Green would be the man to have found it. He doesnGÇÖt even mention him, however, so it looks like this Solon is an unknown quantity.

An aside to Paralus: While checking Green for references I noticed that he calls Stratocles a sedulous ape! Not a man to mince words, is he?

G'day Amyntoros.

"Unabashed enthusiasm" indeed! Afraid I can't help with Solon. Plutarch does describe the king making as if to run Hegemon, one of Phocion's group, through with a spear. How intriguing. Perhaps the supposed "half-wit" didn't need to be drunk to emulate Alexander (even if it was only an Athenian).

"Sedulous ape". Ha, ha ha! No, he does not mince words: "Polyperchon, a man of no great intelligence or acheivement" and Pyrrhus is - if I remember correctly - "a feckless condottiere".

The portrait of Olympias, though, is always good: "...that dreadful and still dangerous matriarch". His description of Flamininus establishing what would become a peculiarly and wholly Roman form of substance abuse (post Cynoscephale) is rather amusing as well. He has Flamininus retailing the hoary old chestnut of "freedom of the Greeks" at the Olympic Games - whilst busily freeing them of their works of art at the Corinthian docks. Seems every time afterward that Rome sallied east, it returned with more to feed the habit.

Good to see someone has taken up the tome. As with all "telephone book" sized works, it has its critics and its "typos". It remains the best all-round work on the period I've read.