Bakchiads
The Bakchiads ( Greek Βακχιάδαι Bakchiadai ) is an ancient Corinthian noble family, named after the fifth king of Corinth, Bacchis. They trace their ancestry back to the Heraclids , from 748 BC. They exercised an exclusively oligarchic rule for almost a whole century , whereby the city experienced a strong economic boom under their rule. Every year they elected a new head of state from their midst, a so-called Prytanis and, according to Strabo, treated the income from Corinth's lively trade as private income.
Traits of tyranny were already recognizable here; most of the other Corinthian noble families had to emigrate. Two famous cities were founded by emigrated Heraclids, one was Korkyra , which was hostile from the beginning, by Chersicrates and Syracuse by Archias . After the defeat against Kerkyra around 660 BC. BC, the first sea battle in Greek history, the Bakchiad dynasty around 657 BC. Overthrown by the lower social classes. The brutality of their rule had long made them unpopular with the people.
They are not to be confused with the cultic admirers of Dionysus , the Bacchae .
literature
- Franz Kiechle: Bakchiadai. In: The Little Pauly (KlP). Volume 1, Stuttgart 1964, Col. 809 f.
- Will, Edouard. Corinthiacs. Research on l'histoire et la civilization de Corinthe des origines aux guerres médiques