Demodamas

Demodamas ( Greek Δημοδάμας ), son of Aristeides, was a follower of the first Seleucid kings in the early 3rd century BC. Chr.

Demodamas came from Miletus and spoke there in 299 BC. As a member of the city council ( synhedrion ) for the support of the building of a stoa by the prince Antiochus I , in whose honor an equestrian statue was to be erected. Shortly afterwards he acted as the initiator of the erection of a statue of Apollo in Didyma in honor of Queen Apame , for which Prince Antiochus agreed to build a hall the length of a stadium . In this case, he was only able to submit the application through an intermediary in the city council, as he was probably no longer a member at that time.

Probably between the years 294/293 and 281/280 BC. Demodamas officiated as governor ( satrap ) of the Seleucids in Bactria - Sogdia . He undertook a military expedition to explore the Scythian country across the Jaxartes River (Syrdarja) , although it is unclear how far he advanced north. This river was crossed only once by a Hellenic, namely by Alexander the Great in 329 BC. BC (see Battle of Jaxartes ), and like him, Demodamas erected a cult altar there, which was consecrated to the Didymeic Apollo as the patron of the Seleucid dynasty, while the altar of Alexander was still being erected for his ancestor Heracles .

Demodamas was probably identical with the writer of the same name named by Athenaios "from Halicarnassus or Miletos", who wrote one work each on India and Halicarnassus .

literature

Wilhelm Dittenberger : Orientis Graeci inscriptiones selectae. Volume 1. Hirzel, Leipzig 1903, ( digitized ).
William Woodthorpe Tarn : Two Notes on Seleucid History: 1. Seleucus' 500 Elephants, 2. Tarmita. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Vol. 60, 1940, pp. 84-94, doi : 10.2307 / 626263 .
Richard Hennig : Terrae incognitae. A compilation and critical evaluation of the most important pre-Columbian voyages of discovery on the basis of the original reports on them. Volume 2: AD 200 - 1200. Brill Leiden 1950, pp. 222-223.
Theodor Wiegand : Didyma. Part 2: Albert Rehm : The inscriptions. Published by Richard Harder . von Zabern et al., Mainz et al. 1958.
Helmut Müller: Miletic popular resolutions. A study of the constitutional history of the city of Miletus in Hellenistic times (= Hypomnemata . 47). Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht, Göttingen 1976, ISBN 3-525-25139-4 (also: Heidelberg, University, dissertation, 1972).
Louis Robert : Documents d'Asie mineure XXXI. Pline VI 49, Démodamas de Milet et la Pure Apamé. In: Bulletin de correspondance hellénique . Vol. 108, No. 1, 1984, pp. 467-472, doi : 10.3406 / bch.1984.1866 .
Susan M. Sherwin-White, Amélie Kuhrt: From Samarkhand to Sardis. A New Approach to the Seleucid Empire (= Hellenistic Culture and Society. 13). University of California Press, Berkeley, CA et al. 1993, ISBN 0-520-08183-8 .
Klaus Bringmann , Hans von Steuben (Ed.): Donations from Hellenistic rulers to Greek cities and shrines. Part 1: Walter Ameling , Klaus Bringmann, Barbara Schmidt-Dounas: Testimonials and comments. Akademie-Verlag, Berlin 1995, ISBN 3-05-002274-4 .
John D. Grainger: A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer (= Mnemosyne . Supplementum. 172). Brill, Leiden et al. 1997, ISBN 90-04-10799-1 , p. 86.

Remarks

↑ Inscriptions Didyma 479 = Bringmann & Steuben, KNr. 281 [E1], pp. 338-341 = Wilhelm Dittenberger , Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae 213 ( online ).
^ Inscriptions Didyma 480 = Bringmann & Steuben, KNr. 281 [E2], pp. 341-344.
↑ Demodamas is referred to as Seleuci et Antiochi regnum dux by Pliny , which means that his office as governor can be dated to the time of Antiochus I's co-reign with his father Seleucus I (294 / 293–281 / 280 BC). He probably held office until around 285 BC. BC, see Tarn, pp. 92–94 and Sherwin-White & Kuhrt, p. 19. Hennig, however, estimated the term of office to be before 300 BC. BC, before the consecration foundations in Milet / Didyma, after Seleukos I 308 BC. Had set out on a campaign to Central Asia.
↑ Pliny , Naturalis historia 6, 49.
↑ Athenaios 15, 682d = FGrHist 428.

personal data
SURNAME	Demodamas
ALTERNATIVE NAMES	Δημοδάμας
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	Follower of Seleucus I and Antiochus I.
DATE OF BIRTH	4th century BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	3rd century BC Chr.

[1] Inscriptions Didyma 479 = Bringmann & Steuben, KNr. 281 [E1], pp. 338-341 = Wilhelm Dittenberger , Orientis Graeci Inscriptiones Selectae 213 ( online ).

[2] Inscriptions Didyma 480 = Bringmann & Steuben, KNr. 281 [E2], pp. 341-344.

[3] Demodamas is referred to as Seleuci et Antiochi regnum dux by Pliny , which means that his office as governor can be dated to the time of Antiochus I's co-reign with his father Seleucus I (294 / 293–281 / 280 BC). He probably held office until around 285 BC. BC, see Tarn, pp. 92–94 and Sherwin-White & Kuhrt, p. 19. Hennig, however, estimated the term of office to be before 300 BC. BC, before the consecration foundations in Milet / Didyma, after Seleukos I 308 BC. Had set out on a campaign to Central Asia.

[4] Pliny , Naturalis historia 6, 49.

[5] Athenaios 15, 682d = FGrHist 428.