Aristomache

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Aristomache ( Greek  Ἀριστομάχη Aristomáchē ; † 353 BC ) was one of the wives of the tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse and mother of the tyrants Hipparinos and Nysaios of Syracuse .

Aristomache was one of the daughters of Hipparinos, a distinguished and respected Syracusan who was a companion and confidante of the tyrant Dionysius. She was an older sister of Dion , who was one of the prominent figures at the court of tyrants. When Hipparinos died, his children were still underage; the tyrant took over the guardianship.

Dionysius I concluded a double marriage - at that time unusual among the Greeks - he married Aristomache and Doris at the same time , who came from a noble family of Lokroi in Calabria . This happened after the account of the historian Diodorus in the year 398, before the start of Dionysius' second war against the Carthaginians. In more recent research, however, a later date - 393 - is sometimes favored. It is unclear whether it is a double wedding on the same day or whether Doris was married first and Aristomache a few days, weeks or months later. Doris soon gave birth to a son, while Aristomache remained childless for a long time. Plutarch reports that Dionysius treated the two women equally and assigned them the same rank. Aristomache is said to have been the “most outstanding” bride in Syracuse.

The marriage of Aristomache and Dionysius had four children: a daughter named Arete who married her uncle Dion, another daughter named Sophrosyne and two sons, Hipparinos and Nysaios. With Doris, Dionysius had a son, Dionysius II , who became his sole successor after the death of his father (367 BC) after an attempt by Dion to get his nephews Hipparinos and Nysaios to participate in power had failed. Dionysius I had married his son Dionysius II with his half-sister Sophrosyne, the daughter Aristomaches, and thus connected the two branches of his offspring.

Syracuse in antiquity with the offshore island of Ortygia

In 366 BC Dion was defeated in the power struggle at court against an opposing party whose leader was Philistus ; he was banished and went into exile in Greece, while Aristomache and Arete stayed in Syracuse. At first Dionysius did not touch Dion's great fortune, and both sides left the possibility of a reconciliation open, but in 361 BC. There was a final break; Dionysius confiscated Dion's property and ordered his half-sister Arete, Dion's wife, to dissolve their marriage and to marry one of his favorites, a high-ranking officer named Timocrates.

357 BC Dion returned to Sicily with a relatively small force of mercenaries and overthrew Dionysius II. Initially, the tyrant was expelled from the city of Syracuse, but was able to keep the city fortress on the offshore island of Ortygia . There were Aristomache and Arete in his hand. It was not until the occupation of Ortygia in 355 BC. BC capitulated, Aristomache and Arete were released. Already in the following year Dion fell victim to a conspiracy of his confidante Callippus , he was murdered. For 13 months (354–353), Kallippos was the leading politician in Syracuse, which had returned to a democratic state after the end of the tyrannical rule. Kallippus had Aristomache and the pregnant Arete thrown into prison, where Arete gave birth to a son. Presumably he wanted to prevent dynastic claims of the Dions family, which could endanger democracy.

353 BC BC succeeded Aristomaches son Hipparinos, who was now the leader of the former followers of Dion, with a surprise attack Syracuse and so to restore the tyrant rule of the dynasty Dionysius I; he himself seized power as a new tyrant. Aristomache and Arete were released from prison. Hipparinos entrusted the two women to one of his officers named Hiketas . Hiketas had Aristomache and Arete brought to Greece, but they perished on the crossing. According to a tradition given by Plutarch , they were murdered en route on the orders of the Hiketas; Hiketas is said to have acted on behalf of enemies of Dion. This claim is likely to be defamation from an enemy of the Hiketa.

literature

  • Helmut Berve : Dion. Publishing house of the Academy of Sciences and Literature, Mainz 1957
  • Karl Friedrich Stroheker : Dionysius I figure and history of the tyrant of Syracuse. Franz Steiner, Wiesbaden 1958

Remarks

  1. ↑ Helmut Berve: Dion , Mainz 1957, p. 18 f.
  2. ↑ Karl Friedrich Stroheker: Dionysios I figure and history of the tyrant of Syracuse , Wiesbaden 1958, p. 68.
  3. ↑ Diodor, Libraries 14.44.6-14.45.2.
  4. ↑ Ignazio D'Angelo: Locri Epizefirii e Dionigi I di Siracusa. In: Aevum 84, 2010, pp. 41–60, here: 49.
  5. ↑ Ignazio D'Angelo: Locri Epizefirii e Dionigi I di Siracusa. In: Aevum 84, 2010, pp. 41–60, here: 47–49.
  6. ↑ Plutarch, Dion 3.
  7. ↑ Diodor, Libraries 14,44,8.
  8. ↑ Helmut Berve: Die Tyrannis bei den Greeks , Vol. 1, Munich 1967, pp. 249 f., 260.
  9. ↑ Helmut Berve describes the course of events: Die Tyrannis bei den Greeks , Vol. 1, Munich 1967, pp. 29–39, 60.
  10. ↑ Plutarch, Dion 57.
  11. ↑ Lionel J. Sanders: Callippus . In: Mouseion. Journal of the Classical Association of Canada 2, 2002, pp. 1–21, here: 18f., 21.
  12. ↑ Plutarch, Dion 58, Timoleon 33; on this Helmut Berve: Dion , Mainz 1957, p. 120; Henry D. Westlake: Friends and Successors of Dion . In: Historia 32, 1983, pp. 161-172, here: 168.
personal data
SURNAME Aristomache
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Wife of the tyrant Dionysius I of Syracuse
DATE OF BIRTH 5th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH 353 BC Chr.