Hipparinos

Hipparinos (* around 385 BC; † 351 BC ) was from 353 to 351 BC. BC as a tyrant ruler of Syracuse .

Origin and family

Hipparinos was a son of Dionysius I , the founder of the "younger tyranny" in Syracuse. It came from his marriage to the noblewoman Aristomache . His maternal grandfather of the same name, after whom he was probably named, was a Syracusan nobleman and a campaigner of Dionysius I. Hipparinos had a younger brother named Nysaios and two older sisters, Sophrosyne and Arete . Dionysius I also had children from another marriage with the noble Doris from Lokroi , including his eldest son, Dionysios II. Dionysius II married Sophrosyne and thus became the brother-in-law of his half-brothers Hipparinos and Nysaios.

One of the most important confidants of the dynasty founder Dionysius I was Hipparinos' uncle Dion , who, as Aristomache's brother, was a brother-in-law of Dionysius I and, as the husband of their daughter Arete, his niece, was also his son-in-law. He was a friend of the philosopher Plato and influenced by his ideas.

Life

Southern Italy at the time of the Hipparinos

When Dionysius I fell fatally ill, Dion campaigned for a succession plan that would have included his nephews Hipparinos and Nysaios in power. However, these efforts were unsuccessful; after the death of Dionysius I in 367 BC Dionysius II succeeded him as sole ruler. The following year Dion was banished and went into exile in Greece.

357 BC Dion, who had returned with a mercenary army, succeeded in overthrowing Dionysius II and driving him out of Syracuse. On the brief reign of Dion, who already existed in 354 BC. Betrayed by his confidante Callippus and murdered by mercenaries on his orders, followed a troubled period full of battles and changes of rule. Kallippos was able to hold his position as a leading politician in the now again democratic Syracuse for only 13 months. At that time, Hipparinos was staying in Leontinoi with his partisans, who included the former supporters of his uncle Dion . When Callippus in 353 BC Wanted to seize the city of Katane and was absent from Syracuse with his army, Hipparinos succeeded in a surprise attack to capture Syracuse and so restore the tyrannical rule of the Dionysius I dynasty. Hipparinos now seized power himself and ignored the claims of his half-brother and brother-in-law Dionysius II, who had retired to Lokroi and ruled there as a tyrant. The rule of Hipparinos lasted two years. After his death - he is said to have been murdered - occurred in 351 BC. His younger brother Nysaios succeeded him.

The philosopher Plato , who traveled three times to Syracuse and hoped that a Platonic ideal state could be established through his influence in Sicily, mentions Hipparinos in his Eighth Letter, the authenticity of which is, however, controversial. The Eighth Letter, which contains “Advice to Dion's Friends in Dion's Way”, offers a plan for the future political order in the Syracusan state. As a concrete solution to the problems in Syracuse, Plato proposes the establishment of a constitutional monarchy in which power should be shared between three kings as a compromise. The second of these kings was supposed to be Hipparinos according to Plato's ideas. Plato justifies this suggestion with regard to the help now given and to his (Hipparinos') virtuous character; for this, although the son of a tyrant, is now liberating the city by gaining eternal glory for himself and his family instead of a short and unjust tyranny. Plato, who rejected tyranny, hoped to win Hipparinos for his political ideas.

swell

Sources for the life and government of Hipparinos are, in addition to Plato's Eighth Letter (which also provides valuable information in the case of inauthenticity), the biography of Dion by Plutarch as well as Diodor , Polyainus and Theopompus .

literature

• Henry D. Westlake: Friends and Successors of Dion. In: Historia . Vol. 32, 1983, pp. 161-172.
• Helmut Berve : The tyranny among the Greeks. 2 volumes. Beck, Munich 1967.

Remarks

1. ↑ Plato, Eighth Letter 356a.
2. ↑ Diodor, Libraries 16:36.
3. ↑ Polyainos, Stratageme 5.4.
4. ^ Theopompus, fragment 186.