Arkesilaos II

Portrait of Arkesilaos on the Arkesilas bowl

Arkesilaos II. ( Greek  Ἀρκεσίλαος ὁ Χαλεπός ) was from about 565 / 60–555 / 50 BC. As the successor of his father Battos II. King of Cyrene .

Arkesilaos, who was nicknamed "the hard one" (also "the cruel one"), had created not only the difficulties with the local tribes but also internal hardships. His authoritarian leadership style motivated his brothers to leave the royal seat and to found a new settlement called Barke in western Kyrenaica . From there, the renegade siblings sabotaged their brother and incited the locals to riot.

The Libyans were initially thrown far to the east during the revenge campaign of the Arkesilaos, but then the cornered tribes achieved a brilliant victory at Leukon. The king lost 7,000 hoplites . Arkesilaos, who soon became seriously ill, fell victim to an assassination attempt by his brother, who was a friend of the king for Plutarch , and who was striving for the dignity of the ruler. Arkesilaos' widow Eryxo avenged him and murdered Laarchus.

swell

• Herodotus : Historien , 4, 160–161.
• Plutarch: Valor of Women , 260 (25)

literature

• Helmut Berve : The tyranny among the Greeks . Munich 1967.
• Eduard Meyer : Arkesilaos 5 . In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume II, 1, Stuttgart 1895, Col. 1162 f.

Web links

• General view of the "Arkesilas bowl"

predecessor	Office	successor
Battos II.	King of Cyrene 565 / 560–555 / 550 BC Chr.	Battos III.