3rd Day of Advent

[Alexias]

3 Acropolis.jpg (210.29 KiB) Viewed 7697 times

The Acropolis head of a young Alexander by Leochares, dated to after 338 BC. This is believed to be a portrait commissioned during Alexander and Parmenion's diplomatic visit to Athens after the battle of Chaeronea. This was Parmenion's second official visit to Athens when earlier he ratified the peace treaty in 346 BC.

EDIT: Apologies, it was Antipater who went to Athens with Alexander, not Parmenion. Thanks to hiphys for pointing it out. Parmenion went with Amyntas, Alexander's cousin, to Thebes after Chaeronea.

Alexander was about 18 at this point, and the portrait shows similarities with the Azara herm in the length of the lower part of the face.

[hiphys]

Very beautiful head, perhaps the most moving I ever saw. But Alexander went in Athens with Antipater (Justin 9, 4, 5, not Parmenion) and Alkimachos (Hypereides, frg.B 19, 2 Burtt = 77 Jensen): Heckel s.v. Antipatros and Alkimachos.

[Alexias]

Very beautiful head, perhaps the most moving I ever saw. But Alexander went in Athens with Antipater (Justin 9, 4, 5, not Parmenion) and Alkimachos (Hypereides, frg.B 19, 2 Burtt = 77 Jensen): Heckel s.v. Antipatros and Alkimachos.

Oh, I'm sorry! I had a suspicion I was wrong but forgot to check it.

[Autolykos]

I'm wondering what the source for Parmenio and Amyntas Perdikka being sent to Thebes after the battle of Chaeronea?

I knew Amyntas had been sent with Clearchus to Thebes before the battle but I never knew he'd been sent there twice.
Additionally there were surviving inscriptions from Oropus and Lebadea that mention that Amyntas had been to both of those Beoetian cities. Philip really seems to have been making considerable use of Amyntas as a diplomat.

Many scholars date Philip showing favor to Amyntas as starting after the quarrel at Philip's wedding to Cleopatra and see it as an implied threat to Alexander but this seems to show that Amyntas was already bring sent on missions of importance by 338 b.c. before any major friction had started between Philip and Alexander.

That in itself seems to lend more likelihood to the theory that Amyntas Perdikka was THE Amyntas who was sent with Parmenio and Attalus as one of three commanders of the initial invasion force against the Persian Empire in 336 b.c.

It also seems to indicate that Philip wasn't so much trying to foster rivalry between Alexander and Amyntas as he was trying to be sure Amyntas would be able to step in as king if both Philip and Alexander were to die in battle.

[Alexias]

I'm wondering what the source for Parmenio and Amyntas Perdikka being sent to Thebes after the battle of Chaeronea?

I knew Amyntas had been sent with Clearchus to Thebes before the battle but I never knew he'd been sent there twice.
Additionally there were surviving inscriptions from Oropus and Lebadea that mention that Amyntas had been to both of those Beoetian cities. Philip really seems to have been making considerable use of Amyntas as a diplomat.

Thanks for your post. To be honest, I have read it in so many books that Amyntas and Parmenion went to Thebes after Chaeronea that I have just accepted it. Yet I have looked in Heckel's Who's Who and he does not mention it. But he does say that "The honors for Amyntas son of Perdiccas at Lebedeia (IG vii.3055, 9) and Oropus (SIG3 258; Rhodes & Osborne no. 75), the former calling him basileus, may belong to the turmoil after the
death of Philip II".

He also says that the Amyntas who accompanied Clearchus to Thebes, according to Berve, may have been Amyntas son of Arrhabaeus, nephew of Alexander of Lyncestis. The problem is, there are so many Amyntas's around this time that it is difficult to work out who was who. This Amyntas seems to have been the one Philip sent with Parmenion and Attalus to Asia Minor and he was later a senior commander in Alexander's army, as was Amyntas son of Andromenes, a close friend of Philotas. It seems unlikely that Philip would have sent Amyntas son of Perdiccas to Asia Minor as he wasn't a battalion commander, didn't have a lot of experience and, given the reverses the expeditionary force met with, wouldn't really have been seen as potentially expendable. And Alexander would not have liked it if his cousin had been sent to Persia before him.

I'll have to do a bit of investigating about the visit to Thebes.

It is impossible for us to know whether Philip was grooming Amyntas as a potential successor, but it seems unlikely. He was another string to his bow, but he would only have been thinking of one of his own sons succeeding him.

[marcus]

Thanks for your post. To be honest, I have read it in so many books that Amyntas and Parmenion went to Thebes after Chaeronea that I have just accepted it. Yet I have looked in Heckel's Who's Who and he does not mention it. But he does say that "The honors for Amyntas son of Perdiccas at Lebedeia (IG vii.3055, 9) and Oropus (SIG3 258; Rhodes & Osborne no. 75), the former calling him basileus, may belong to the turmoil after the
death of Philip II".

It is an interesting question. With regard to Parmenion, there is no source that says that he was sent to Thebes after Chaeronea. However, when one tallies up the number of cities where Philip installed garrisons after the battle, and then considers that Philip proceeded to Corinth and then to the Peloponnese, it is very likely that Parmenion was detailed to carry out some of the garrison building. Therefore, it is often assumed - a likelihood becomes a fact in so many issues relating to Philip and Alexander's reigns - that Parmenion was in Thebes.