Nikanor (Admiral)

Nikanor ( Greek  Νικάνωρ ) was the name of two Macedonian naval commanders in the 4th century BC. A common identity cannot be ruled out.

Nikanor (334 BC)

When in 334 BC When Alexander the Great set off on his famous campaign to Asia , he had his troops transported across the Hellespont from Europe to Asia by a fleet of 160 ships, which the Hellenic League provided from Corinth . This fleet was under the command of a Nikanor who was probably a Macedonian. He then took part in the siege of Miletus , where he blocked the port entrance of the besieged city with his ships and thus prevented the Persian fleet from entering Memnon . After the end of the siege, Alexander disbanded the federal fleet except for 20 Athenian ships; what became of the commander Nikanor is unclear.

Nikanor (319-317 BC)

At the beginning of the Second Diadoch War in 319 BC A Nikanor was in command of the Macedonian occupation of the fortified hill Munychia , which ruled the port of Piraeus , which was important for Athens . In this post he was only appointed shortly after the death of the Macedonian regent Antipater by his son Kassander , as the successor to the after the end of the Lamic war in 322 BC. Menyllos inserted in BC . He maintained a close relationship of trust with the leader of the oligarchic regime in Athens, Phocion . When war broke out in 319 BC As a result, Nikanor took sides with Kassander and not with the designated regent Polyperchon . In a coup d'état he seized control of Piraeus, which is why Phocion in Athens was sentenced to suicide by the Democrats. The queen widow Olympias asked him in a letter to place the fortress and the port under the sovereignty of the Athenians again in accordance with the Freedom Decree of Polyperchon. Nikanor consented, but delayed the execution of the order and instead allowed Cassander, who was coming to Athens with a fleet, to enter Piraeus.

In the summer of 317 BC Nikanor was ordered by Kassander with the fleet to the Hellespont to fight the Admiral Kleitos the white , who was operating there and a follower of the Polyperchon. In association with Antigonos Monophthalmos , after initial setbacks, he was able to win a sea ​​battle off Byzantium . Using the enemy's ram spurs as trophies, Nikanor landed with his fleet again in Piraeus, whereupon the Athenians under Demetrios of Phaleron went over to the side of Kassander. Soon after, Nikanor fell out of favor with Kassander, presumably because Kassander saw him as a potential competitor for the military leadership. Nikanor was born in 316 BC. Before the army meeting accused of high treason and executed on orders from Kassander.

identity

In historical research, the identity and origin of the in the year 319 BC is particularly important. Nikanor occurring a point of discussion. In older literature in particular, he is occasionally identified with Nikanor from Stageira , Aristotle's son-in-law and classmate of Alexander the Great in Mieza . Nikanor from Stageira had apparently taken part in Alexander's ten-year campaign in Asia, since he was 324 BC. Was commissioned by this in Babylon with the proclamation of the banishing decree at the Olympic Games . Representatives of more recent research such as Waldemar Heckel and AB Bosworth therefore consider it unlikely that the admiral of 319 BC B.C. could be identical with Aristotle's son-in-law, since he would have found it difficult to find a position of trust in the Antipater's family due to his absence in Macedonia. Also, the Nikanor from Stageira is unlikely to have had any military skills that would have justified being placed in command of the strategically important Munychia Hill.

AB Bosworth recognizes in the Nikanor from 319 BC Instead, a nephew Kassander, a son of his sister Phila and the royal bodyguard Balakros († 324 BC). The basis for this thesis is the person listed in the Suda , "Nikanor, son of Balakros". In anticipation of the confrontation with Polyperchon to be expected after Antipater's death, Kassander would have entrusted his nephew with the authority of the strategically important Munychia in order to protect him to know under his control at the outbreak of war.

Bosworth's thesis is rejected by Waldemar Heckel, who sees a completely different person in “Nikanor, Son of Balakros”. According to him, this Nikanor was not the son of Phila, but that of another former wife of the bodyguard Balakros, who was more likely to be associated with 310 BC. BC against Seleukos I. fallen Antigonid strategist Nikanor could have been identical. Furthermore, it is unlikely that Kassander in the middle of the Second Diadoch War, the 317 BC. Was not yet decided, executed his own nephew, who at that time must have been a stepson of Demetrios Poliorketes , whose father Antigonos Monophthalmos was Cassander's most important ally.

Nikanor, son of Balakros, and his possible relatives:

Antipater

Nikanor

Antigonos Monophthalmos

?

Balacros

Phila

Demetrios Poliorketes

Cassander

Nikanor † 310 BC Chr. (Heckel)

Philip

Antipater Thraseas Balacros

Nikanor † 317 BC BC (Bosworth)

Heckel, however, favors the identification of the 334 and 319 BC. Occurring fleet commanders as one person. At the latest after Alexander the Great in 333 BC When the recalled federal fleet had been placed under the command of the officers Hegelochus and Amphoterus , Nikanor, thus relieved of his duties, could have returned to Macedonia and served the entourage of Antipater and his son Kassander. His experience in naval warfare finally gave him 322 BC. Predestined for command of Munychia and Piraeus.

Individual evidence

1. ↑ Arrian , Anabasis 1, 18. 4-5 and 5, 19, 3-5.
2. ↑ Plutarch , Phocion 31, 1-2.
3. ↑ Plutarch, Phocion 31, 3.
4. ↑ Diodor 18, 64f .; 18, 68, 1.
5. ↑ Diodor 18, 72, 2-8.
6. ^ Diodor 18, 75, 1.
7. ↑ So also Werner Huss : Egypt in Hellenistic times 332–30 BC. Chr . CH Beck, Munich 2001, ISBN 3-406-47154-4 , p. 132, note 280 .
8. ↑ Suda N 376.

literature

• Helmut Berve : The Alexander Empire on a prosopographical basis. Volume 2 , CH Beck, Munich 1926 (No. 555).
• AB Bosworth: A New Macedonian Prince , In: The Classical Quarterly , New Series, Vol. 44 (1994), pp. 57-65.
• Waldemar Heckel : Who's who in the age of Alexander the Great. Prosopography of Alexander's empire . Blackwell, Oxford 2006, pp. 176-178, ISBN 978-1-4051-1210-9
• Waldemar Heckel: Nicanor Son of Balacrus , In: Greek, Roman, and Byzantine Studies , Vol. 47 (2007), pp. 401-412.