Eunus
Eunus ( Greek Εὔνους Eunous ; † 132 BC ) was a Syrian slave in Sicily , who was the most important leader of the first Sicilian slave revolt (136-132 BC).
Eunus came from Apamea in Syria and established a state in the almost impregnable fortress town of Enna , which is located on a rock and which is based on the model of the Seleucid kings and in which former slaves formed the lead. Eunus himself gave himself the (also Seleucid) king name "Antiochus", wore a diadem and other royal insignia and even had coins minted with his name and title. He was considered a fortune teller and magician, which earned him the respect of his fellow combatants and rose to their leader after the beginning of the revolt. He worshiped the oriental goddess Atargatis (Dea Syria) .
Eunus and his followers were not concerned with the abolition of slavery in general and everywhere. Rather, the participants in the uprising sought to free themselves from their oppressive situation and to take revenge for the bad treatment by the slave owners. His army was defeated by the Roman consul Publius Rupilius . Eunus was taken prisoner and died shortly after of an illness, according to Plutarch in Rome, after Diodorus in Morgantina .
literature
- Edward Herbert Bunburry: Eunus . In: William Smith (Ed.): Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology . tape 2 : Ea'rinus, Fla'vius – Nyx . Little, Brown and Company, Boston 1870, p. 95–96 (English, Textarchiv - Internet Archive ).
- David Engels , A Syrian Sicily? Seleucid Aspects of the First Sicilian Slave War and the rule of Eunus-Antiochus , in: Polifemo 11, 2011, 233-251.
- Moses I. Finley , Denis Mack Smith, Christopher Duggan: History of Sicily and the Sicilians . CH Beck, Munich 2006, ISBN 3-406-54130-5 .
- Friedrich Münzer : Eunus. In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume VI, 1, Stuttgart 1907, Sp. 1143-1145.
- Wolfgang Zeev Rubensohn: The great slave revolts in antiquity . Scientific Book Society, Darmstadt 1993, ISBN 3-534-08807-7 .
- Iris Samotta: Eunus. In: Heinz Heinen (Hrsg.): Concise dictionary of ancient slavery. Franz Steiner, Stuttgart
- Meret Strothmann : Eunus. In: The New Pauly (DNP). Volume 4, Metzler, Stuttgart 1998, ISBN 3-476-01474-6 , column 258 f.
Web links
- Jona Lendering: Eunus . In: Livius.org (English)
- Mike Dash : King, magician, general ... slave: Eunus and the First Servile War against Rome . Post July 16, 2016 A Blast From the Past (English)
Individual evidence
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Eunus |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Leader of the first Sicilian slave revolt |
| DATE OF BIRTH | 2nd century BC Chr. |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Syria |
| DATE OF DEATH | 132 BC Chr. |