Nysaios of Syracuse

Nysaios (* around 385 BC; † no earlier than 346 BC) was from 351 to 346 BC. BC as a tyrant ruler of Syracuse .

Origin and family

Nysaios was a son of Dionysius I , the founder of the "younger tyranny" in Syracuse. It came from his marriage to the noblewoman Aristomache . Nysaios had an older brother, Hipparinos , and two older sisters, Sophrosyne and Arete. Dionysius I also had children from another marriage with the noble Doris from Lokroi . Among these was Dionysius II , the eldest son of the tyrant; he married Sophrosyne and thus became the brother-in-law of his half-brothers Hipparinos and Nysaios.

As the brother of Aristomache, Nysaios' uncle Dion was a brother-in-law of Dionysius I and a confidante of this tyrant; as the husband of his own niece Arete, he was also the son-in-law of Dionysius I.

Life

Southern Italy at the time of Nysaios

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. Was murdered, followed a restless period full of struggles and changes of rule, whereby after the disempowerment of the tyrant family the old democratic state order with the people's assembly as the highest authority came into force again. Dion's relatives and former followers gathered around his nephew Hipparinos; they gathered in Leontinoi . In 353 BC In BC, Hipparinos succeeded in taking Syracuse with a surprise attack and thus restoring 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. Chr. Nysaios to succeed him. He is portrayed as a weak ruler and is said to have been prone to alcohol abuse.

Dionysius II had by no means given up his claim to rule over the Syracusan empire, but tried to keep a remnant of his former dominion - some cities in southern Italy and Sicily - from Lokroi. In 346 BC He was able to take Syracuse with a mercenary force and put an end to the rule of Nysaios. Treason played a part in this; So Dionysius had helpers in town. It is not known whether Nysaios was killed in his fall.

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.

predecessor	Office	successor
Hipparinos	Tyrant of Syracuse 351–347 BC Chr.	Dionysius II of Syracuse