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Posted: Thu May 03, 2007 8:29 pm
by smittysmitty
Her name was Gygaea. It has been suggested by at least one modern scholar that the the child of Bubares and Gygaea, (Amyntas) was being groomed to become satrap of Macedon. Due to the Persian wars, he remained an official at Alabanda, a Phrygian town under Achaemenid control. We can only speculate on the relationship he had, if any, with his uncle Alexander I of Macedon.
Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 7:11 am
by Alita
amyntoros wrote:Alita wrote:When did the Persians conquer Macedon? And what do you mean by Greece being connected to the Persian king's purse? There were mercenaries in Asia Minor, certainly, but most of the Greeks were independent and free. It's for this reason that they could go out and fight the Persians on so many occasions; to preserve this freedom.
When on the borders of Macedonia, Darius I sent emissaries to the court of Amyntas I asking for the traditional signs of symbolic submission – earth and water. Amyntas gave these and Macedonia became a vassal state of Persia. (There was a marriage alliance as well, but I can’t recall between whom.) Amyntas’s son, Alexander I, was even pressed into Persian service under Xerxes, along with the Macedonian cavalry.
As for the Greeks being connected to the Persian king’s purse, see the following from
Livius.
After the Athenian defeat in the Peloponnesian War, Sparta was the leading power in Greece. Immediately, it started to support the revolt of Cyrus the Younger against the Persian king Artaxerxes II Mnemon, and later, its king Agesilaus invaded Asia. The only result was that the Persians started to support Athens, which returned to its former power in 395. To keep the Greeks divided, the Persians continued to switch sides. They were responsible for the rise of Thebes, supporting general Epaminondas, who was able to overcome the Spartans at Leuctra (371) and Mantinea (362). Although he was killed during the second battle, his inheritance was important enough: Sparta was no longer a great power.
During the fourth century, the Greeks remained politically divided - Persian gold was sufficient to ensure an endless series of wars. Meanwhile, Macedonia gained strength and after 346, it was clearly the strongest power in Europe. The Athenian politician Aeschines (c.390-c.315) tried to make the best of it. In his view, the best way to safeguard Athenian independence was cooperation with Macedonia. However, the Athenians preferred war.
Best regards,
Sorry Amyntoros, I took your comment a little out of context. I forgot your were referring to the temporary submission of Macedonia to Persia. But as for Peloponnesos, apart from Sparta, most of the city states were autonomous and others were under the jurisdiction of Athens.
Posted: Sun May 06, 2007 10:09 am
by Paralus
Alita wrote:I forgot your were referring to the temporary submission of Macedonia to Persia.
How temporary is "temporary"? Macedon was listed in the Naqs-i-Rustom inscription and was part of the Empire by the last years of the sixth century. They were "liberated" by the events following Plataea in 479.
With parole, one might get less for murder!
Alita wrote:But as for Peloponnesos, apart from Sparta, most of the city states were autonomous and others were under the jurisdiction of Athens.
The others were "under" Athens from mid sixth century onwards as alliance morphed through dependence and into empire. At the time of the Persian invasion of 480 Athens ruled no state.
All of which means what exactly when it comes to the Persian Purse?
Sparta was offered Persian money in or about 459/8 to keep Athens off the King's back. We are told she did not accept. That had changed by 432/1 when Archidamus recommends to the Spartans that they see what help (monetary) they might obtain from the Great King. Spartan ambassadors were intercepted on their way back from the Persian court in 425.
This does require its own thread methinks. Having just returned home from a Saturday and Sunday spent at a company conference, I'm bushed so it can wait! time for bed and Cawkwell's book, or, maybe P Briant's...