|
Alexander () was ''tagus'' or despot of Pherae in Thessaly, and ruled from 369 BC to 358 BC. ==Reign== The accounts of how he came to power vary somewhat in minor points. Diodorus Siculus tells us that upon the assassination of the tyrant Jason of Pherae, in 370 BC, his brother Polydorus ruled for a year, but he was then poisoned by Alexander, another brother.〔Diodorus Siculus, xv. 60-61〕 However, according to Xenophon, Polydorus was murdered by his brother Polyphron, who was, in turn,〔Xenophon, ''Hellenica'' vi. 4. ~ 34〕〔This date is at variance with Pausanias (vi. 5)〕〔Wesseling, ''On Diodorus Siculus'' xv. 75〕 murdered by his nephew Alexander —son of Jason, in 369 BC. Plutarch relates that Alexander worshiped the spear he slew his uncle with as if it were a god.〔〔Plutarch, ''Pelop.'' p. 293, &c.〕 Alexander governed tyrannically, and according to Diodorus,〔 differently from the former rulers, but Polyphron, at least, seems to have set him the example.〔 The states of Thessaly, which had previously acknowledged the authority of Jason of Pherae,〔 were not so willing to submit to Alexander the tyrant, (especially the old family of the Aleuadae of Larissa, who had most reason to fear him). Therefore, they applied for help from Alexander II of Macedon. Alexander of Pherae, prepared to meet his enemy in Macedonia, but the king anticipated him, and, reaching Larissa, was admitted into the city. Alexander withdrew to Pherae whilst the Macedonian King placed a garrison in Larissa, as well as in Crannon, which had also come over to him.〔 But once the bulk of the Macedonian army had retired, the states of Thessaly feared the return and vengeance of Alexander, and so sent for aid to Thebes, whose policy it was to put a check on any neighbor who might otherwise become too formidable. Thebes accordingly dispatched Pelopidas to the aid of Thessaly. On arrival of Pelopidas at Larissa, whence according to Diodorus, he dislodged the Macedonian garrison, Alexander presented himself and offered submission. When Pelopidas expressed indignation at the tales of Alexander's profligacy and cruelty, Alexander took alarm and fled.〔Diodorus Siculus, xv. 67〕〔Plutarch, ''Pelop.'' p. 291-297, d.〕 These events appear to refer to the early part of the year 368 BC. In the summer of that year Pelopidas was again sent into Thessaly, in consequence of fresh complaints against Alexander. Accompanied by Ismenias, he went merely as a negotiator, without any military force, and was seized by Alexander and thrown into prison.〔〔Diodorus Siculus, xv. 71-75〕〔Polybius, viii. 1〕 The scholar William Mitford suggested that Pelopidas was taken prisoner in battle, but the language of Demosthenes hardly supports such an inference.〔Demosthenes, ''Against Aristocrates'' p. 660〕〔William Mitford, ''History of Greece'' ch. 27. sec. 5〕 The Thebans sent a large army into Thessaly to rescue Pelopidas, but they could not keep the field against the superior cavalry of Alexander, who, aided by auxiliaries from Athens, pursued them with great slaughter. The destruction of the whole Theban army is said to only have been averted by the ability of Epaminondas, who was serving in the campaign, but not as general. In 367 BC, Alexander carried out a massacre of the citizens of Skotousa;.〔〔〔Pausanias, ''Description of Greece'' vi. 5〕 A fresh Theban expedition into Thessaly, under Epaminondas resulted, according to Plutarch, in a three-year truce and the release of prisoners, including Pelopidas.〔〔 During the next three years, Alexander seemed to renew his attempts to subdue the states of Thessaly, especially Magnesia and Phthiotis,〔 for upon the expiry of the truce, in 364 BC, they again applied to Thebes for protection from him. The Theban army under Pelopidas is said to have been dismayed by an eclipse (on July 13, 364, see 4th century BC eclipses), and Pelopidas, leaving the bulk of his army behind, entered Thessaly at the head of three hundred volunteer horsemen and some mercenaries. At Cynoscephalae, the Thebans defeated Alexander, but Pelopidas was killed.〔〔Diodorus Siculus, xv. 80〕 This was closely followed by another Theban victory under Malcites and Diogiton. Alexander was then forced to restore the conquered towns to the Thessalians, confine himself to Pherae, join the Boeotian League, and become a dependent ally of Thebes.〔〔〔 If the death of Epaminondas in 362 BC freed Athens from fear of Thebes, it appears at the same time to have exposed it to further aggression from Alexander of Pherae, who made a piratical raid on Tinos and other cities of the Cyclades, plundering them, and making slaves of the inhabitants. He also besieged Peparethus, and "even landed troops in Attica itself, and seized the port of Panormus, a little eastward of Sounion." The Athenian admiral Leosthenes defeated Alexander and managed to relieve Peparethus, but Alexander escaped from being blockaded in Panormus, took several Attic triremes, and plundered the Piraeus.〔〔Diodorus Siculus, xv. 95〕〔Polyaenus, vi. 2〕〔Demosthenes, ''c. Polycl.'' pp. 1207-1208〕〔Connop Thirlwall, ''History of Greece'' vol. v. p. 209〕 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Alexander of Pherae」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
|