Patrokles (explorers)
Patrokles ( Greek Πατροκλῆς ) was a Macedonian general, naval commander and discoverer of the first Seleucid kings .
During the Diadoch Wars , Patrokles was defeated by Seleucus I in 312 BC. Entrusted with the defense of Babylon , which he successfully defended against Demetrios I Poliorketes . In 286 BC He was involved in the capture of Demetrios Poliorketes.
Patrokles explored on behalf of Seleucus I in the years 285 to 282 BC. The Caspian Sea . Except for fragments, his report has been lost. Apparently he assumed that the Oxus , now the Amu Darya , which opens in the Caspian Sea and concluded that there is a link between the Caspian Sea and the Okeanos give, which India could have been reached from the Caspian Sea via the waterway. This false assumption may stem from the fact that all seas known to the Greeks up to that point were connected to the Ocean, even if only via a narrow waterway like the Bosporus . The Dead Sea was considered a lake and was therefore no exception. The assumption lasted until the 16th century.
Under Antiochus I , Patrokles officiated in 280 BC. As commander in chief in Asia Minor, where one of his subordinates was defeated in a battle against Zipoites .
swell
- Diodor , Bibliotheke historike 19, 100, 5.
- Plutarch , Demetrius 47, 3.
- Memnon , FrGrHist 434 §9, 1-2.
- Pliny the Elder , Naturalis historia 6, 21, 58.
- Strabon , Geographika 2.68-74; 9.508f
- Photios 224
- FGrH 712 F 4f.
literature
- Max Cary, Eric H. Warmington: The Discoveries of Antiquity. Kindler, Zurich 1966, p. 294.
- Richard Hennig : Terrae incognitae. A compilation and critical evaluation of the most important pre-Columbian voyages of discovery on the basis of the original reports on them. Brill, Leiden 1944, pp. 233-236.
- Raimund Schulz : Antiquity and the Sea. Primus, Darmstadt 2005, ISBN 3-89678-261-4 , p. 146.
- William Woodthorpe Tarn : Patrocles and the Oxo-Caspian Trade Route. In: The Journal of Hellenic Studies . Volume 21, 1901, pp. 10-29.
- John D. Grainger: A Seleukid Prosopography and Gazetteer. 1997, p. 111.
Individual evidence
- ↑ Tarn p. 10.
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Patrocles |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | Hellenistic naval leader and explorer |
| DATE OF BIRTH | before 312 BC Chr. |
| DATE OF DEATH | after 282 BC Chr. |