Medismos

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As medism the Greeks called during ancient times , the voluntary collaboration of individual Greeks or Greek cities with the prestigious than enemies Persians . They called this Medismos because the Greeks also called the Persians Medes .

Historical background

In the 5th century BC Greece was split up into numerous city-states ( poleis ). The huge Persian Empire seemed to have an easy time of it when it tried to conquer Greece. However, the Greeks were able to repel two attacks by the Persians in the so-called Persian Wars. From then on, many Greeks viewed the Persians as the common enemy of all Greeks and any cooperation with them as treason. They even had their own name for this type of betrayal: medismos.

punishment

Medismos was considered more reprehensible than other types of betrayal (gr .: prodosía), e.g. B. the betrayal of the hometown to another Greek city, because here pan-Greek interests were at play. Even so, the penalties for both types of treason were the same. Athens, for example, punished treason with banishment or death, confiscation of all goods and a ban on burial in Athens.

Examples

Medismos were:

  • active political cooperation with the Persians,
  • but also the adoption of Persian customs and traditions
  • or a luxurious lifestyle that is regarded as oriental .

All of these things were accused , for example, of the Spartan regent Pausanias .

literature