Herakleides of Syracuse

Herakleides of Syracuse († 354 BC in Syracuse ) was an officer and democratic politician in the Greek-populated part of Sicily . Under the tyrant Dionysios II , he had to flee from his hometown Syracuse. He went into exile in Greece. After the overthrow of the tyrant, the Syracusans elected him to command the navy. Domestically, he was the most prominent champion of democracy.

Under tyranny and in exile

Herakleides was obviously of noble origin, he came from the politically leading class of Syracuse. Even under the tyrant Dionysius I († 367 BC) he had an officer position; under his son and successor Dionysius II he was commander of the cavalry or the mercenaries. After Dionysius II came to power, Dion of Syracuse , who was both brother-in-law and son-in-law of Dionysius I and a friend of the philosopher Plato, was one of the most influential personalities at the court of the new tyrant. Soon after the change of government, Dion was accused of having spoken to Herakleides and his uncle Theodotes about plans to overthrow Dionysius II. Soon after, Dion was banished; in the late summer of 366 he went to Greece. Herakleides, on the other hand, seems to have retained his office.

During Plato's third trip to Sicily (361-360), mercenaries revolted after the tyrant tried to cut their wages. The mercenaries forced the withdrawal of this decision. It was said that Herakleides was the instigator of the riot. Herakleides then hid, and the search for him was in vain. Theodotes and Plato stood up for him without success. Eventually he was able to escape to the territory of the Carthaginians , who then ruled western Sicily. From there he went to Greece and became one of the leaders of the opposition in exile.

After all attempts at reconciliation had failed, Dion decided to overthrow the tyrant with a small force of mercenaries whom he paid himself. After long preparations he sailed in 357 BC. With around 800 men on five ships from the Greek island of Zakynthos . Herakleides stayed behind in Zakynthos, allegedly because even then there had been differences of opinion between him and Dion. However, it was probably a plan of the two: First Dion was to sail across the open sea, open the battle in Sicily and thus force the far superior enemy fleet to withdraw from the Strait of Otranto , then Herakleides with a second squadron on the Follow coastal route.

Homecoming, rise and fall

Southern Italy around the middle of the 4th century

Dion's daring venture quickly succeeded. The Syracusans rose against the tyrant who had sailed with his fleet to southern Italy. They welcomed Dion enthusiastically and chose him to be their commander-in-chief. However, they were unable to take the tyrant's center of power, his fortress on the island of Ortygia off Syracuse. Dionysius returned there. He still had his naval forces, which were under the command of the proven Nauarch (naval commander) Philistus . But now Herakleides arrived with his squadron; he had 20 triremes and about 1500 mercenaries. The Syracusans chose Herakleides as their nauarch. Thereupon a controversy arose with Dion over the supreme command, which ended with Herakleides having to submit to Dion. Herakleides now had enough ships to dare to fight Philistus. Philistus was defeated and captured in a sea battle, then tortured and killed by the Syracusans.

Through this great success the fame of Heracles grew. As the naval commander, he was still subordinate to Dion's military command, but politically he became his rival. In addition to personal rivalry, there was a fundamental political contradiction. After the tyrant was driven out of the city, the Syracusans had returned to their previous democratic state, which gave the people's assembly supreme decision-making power. However, Dion strove for an aristocratic constitution and was probably influenced by the philosophical ideas of his friend Plato, who rejected democracy. Herakleides began to agitate against Dion and campaign for democracy and the interests of the common people. In the summer of 356, the democratic forces succeeded, against Dion's resistance, in bringing about a popular resolution on the redistribution of the property. In addition, the people's assembly decided to stop paying Dion's mercenaries and depose him as commander-in-chief. A college of 25 generals was elected, including Herakleides, but not Dion. With this, the Syracusans returned in the organization of their armed forces to the democratic conditions that had existed before the establishment of tyranny. Dion no longer had a power base in Syracuse and withdrew with his mercenaries to the city of Leontinoi . However, when mercenaries of Dionysius attacked surprisingly and took and devastated most of Syracuse, the Syracusans had to turn to Dion in dire need. Dion managed to repel the enemy mercenaries. As a result, he was once again seen as the city's savior, while the Democratic Party and its generals were discredited. According to the new balance of power, power was shared. The Syracusans chose Dion as commander in chief of the land forces, and Herakleides was restored to command of the fleet. Now Herakleides thought his position was so strong that he thought he could negotiate with Dionysius about a peace solution on his own initiative.

Syracuse in antiquity with the offshore island of Ortygia

Dion used his regained authority to enforce the restoration of the previous ownership and set about realizing his political ideas. He was even able to achieve that the supposedly no longer needed fleet, which formed the strongest support of Herakleides, was disbanded. A college ( synhédrion ) convened by him , as a legislative assembly, was supposed to draw up an aristocratic constitution. Dion tried to involve Herakleides by appointing him to be a member of this body. Herakleides, however, refused any cooperation, as the project was completely contrary to its goals, and referred to the competence of the people's assembly. He began to agitate against Dion again, accusing him of seeking tyranny. In this Dion saw such a serious threat to his insufficiently secured power that he only knew what to do with violence. Herakleides was murdered in his house, if not on Dion's orders, then at least with his approval. Dion arranged a splendid funeral, which he attended himself.

The murder caused a sensation. As a result, the population became more and more convinced that Dion was about to become the new tyrant. This caused a dramatic decline in his popularity and led to the fact that he himself was murdered that same year.

reception

The judgments of posterity have turned out differently. Platonic-minded authors like Timonides von Leukas and Plutarch sided with Dion and portrayed Herakleides as a faithless, uninhibited demagogue, while the historian Diodorus found words of praise for Herakleides. There is a (controversial) direction in recent research that sees Dion as a power-hungry oligarch rather than a philosophical idealist. It is unclear whether Herakleides should be seen as a staunch champion of democracy or more as a demagogue who was only interested in increasing his own power. Some historians believe that it was not about a real "ideological" antagonism, but primarily about personal rivalry between ambitious politicians.

literature

Helmut Berve : Dion . Wiesbaden 1957.
Gustav Adolf Lehmann : Dion and Herakleides . In: Historia 19, 1970, pp. 401-413.
Wolfgang Orth : The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51-64.

Remarks

↑ Wolfgang Orth: The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51-64, here: 52 f.
↑ Plutarch, Dion 32.
^ Gustav Adolf Lehmann: Dion and Herakleides . In: Historia 19, 1970, pp. 401–413, here: p. 401 note 1; Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 33; Wolfgang Orth: The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51-64, here: 53.
↑ Plutarch, Dion 12; Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 33 f. and p. 55 note 1.
↑ Plato, Seventh Letter 348a – 349c.
↑ Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 54 f.
↑ Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, pp. 66-69; Gustav Adolf Lehmann: Dion and Herakleides . In: Historia 19, 1970, pp. 401-413, here: 402-406; Wolfgang Orth: The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51-64, here: 54 f.
^ Kurt von Fritz : Plato in Sicily and the problem of the rule of philosophers , Berlin 1968, p. 86 f. and note 136; Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 79 f.
↑ On these processes, see Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, pp. 78–81.
↑ Plutarch, Dion 37-38; Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 86 f .; Kai Trampedach : Platon, the Academy and contemporary politics , Stuttgart 1994, p. 114 f .; Kurt von Fritz: Plato in Sicily and the problem of the rule of the philosophers , Berlin 1968, p. 90.
↑ Plutarch, Dion 39-40.
↑ Wolfgang Orth: The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp 51-64, here: p. 60 Note 27, however, says that Plutarch's statements in this regard ( Dion may be based 48) on opposing defamation.
↑ Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 100 f .; Jürgen Sprute : Dion's Syracusan politics and the political ideals of Plato. In: Hermes 100, 1972, pp. 294-313, here: 303 f.
↑ Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 105 f.
↑ Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 107 f., 112 f.
↑ Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 9.
^ Kai Trampedach: Plato, the academy and contemporary politics , Stuttgart 1994, p. 114. Wolfgang Orth: The Syrakusaner Herakleides as politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51–64, here: 52–64 doubts that Herakleides acted out of genuine democratic convictions.

personal data
SURNAME	Herakleides of Syracuse
BRIEF DESCRIPTION	ancient Greek politician and officer
DATE OF BIRTH	before 367 BC Chr.
DATE OF DEATH	354 BC Chr.
Place of death	Syracuse

[1] Wolfgang Orth: The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51-64, here: 52 f.

[2] Plutarch, Dion 32.

[3] Gustav Adolf Lehmann: Dion and Herakleides . In: Historia 19, 1970, pp. 401–413, here: p. 401 note 1; Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 33; Wolfgang Orth: The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51-64, here: 53.

[4] Plutarch, Dion 12; Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 33 f. and p. 55 note 1.

[5] Plato, Seventh Letter 348a – 349c.

[6] Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 54 f.

[7] Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, pp. 66-69; Gustav Adolf Lehmann: Dion and Herakleides . In: Historia 19, 1970, pp. 401-413, here: 402-406; Wolfgang Orth: The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51-64, here: 54 f.

[8] Kurt von Fritz : Plato in Sicily and the problem of the rule of philosophers , Berlin 1968, p. 86 f. and note 136; Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 79 f.

[9] On these processes, see Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, pp. 78–81.

[10] Plutarch, Dion 37-38; Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 86 f .; Kai Trampedach : Platon, the Academy and contemporary politics , Stuttgart 1994, p. 114 f .; Kurt von Fritz: Plato in Sicily and the problem of the rule of the philosophers , Berlin 1968, p. 90.

[11] Plutarch, Dion 39-40.

[12] Wolfgang Orth: The Syracusan Herakleides as a politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp 51-64, here: p. 60 Note 27, however, says that Plutarch's statements in this regard ( Dion may be based 48) on opposing defamation.

[13] Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 100 f .; Jürgen Sprute : Dion's Syracusan politics and the political ideals of Plato. In: Hermes 100, 1972, pp. 294-313, here: 303 f.

[14] Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 105 f.

[15] Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 107 f., 112 f.

[16] Helmut Berve: Dion , Wiesbaden 1957, p. 9.

[17] Kai Trampedach: Plato, the academy and contemporary politics , Stuttgart 1994, p. 114. Wolfgang Orth: The Syrakusaner Herakleides as politician . In: Historia 28, 1979, pp. 51–64, here: 52–64 doubts that Herakleides acted out of genuine democratic convictions.