Pausanias (Macedonian)

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Pausanias (* in Orestis ; † 336 BC in Aigai ) was the murderer of the Macedonian king Philip II . He was born in Orestis in upper Macedonia as the son of Kerastus and belonged to Philip's bodyguard ( somatophylakes ). In the autumn of 336 BC He murdered his master during the wedding of his daughter Cleopatra and his brother-in-law Alexander of Epirus in the theater of Aigai . In some ancient sources the suspicion is expressed that Philip's wife Olympias and her son Alexander the Great were involved in the assassination attempt, as they had recently had a violent rift with the murdered king. Modern research is divided on this issue.

Antique depictions of murder

Aristotle and Diodorus

The famous philosopher and teacher of Alexander the Great, Aristotle , briefly mentions the murder of Philip in his political work, Politics . As a motive for the act, he indicates that the king left unpunished for an abuse that the Macedonian nobleman Attalus and his followers Pausanias had inflicted.

The Sicilian historian Diodorus , who lived in the first century BC, significantly expands Aristotle's statements in his account of the murder. According to this account, Pausanias was loved by the king for his good looks until he was ousted out of Philip's affection by a young man of the same name. Out of jealousy, the later regicide showered his rival with diatribes. Pausanias' namesake took the insult to heart so much that he confided in his friend Attalus and then voluntarily passed away by providing a living shield for the king during a campaign against the Illyrian king Pleurias . Attalus took revenge by inviting Pausanias to a banquet, having him served plenty of wine and, in a completely intoxicated state, exposing him to shameful treatment by his grooms (he was allegedly raped several times). Having sobered up again, Pausanias noticed how badly he had been played along and complained to King Philip about it. But the latter was not ready to punish the offense, since he had appointed Attalus as a capable general to lead the advance command of the planned Persian war ; in addition, Attalus was the uncle of Philip's last wife Cleopatra . The monarch put Pausanias off with gifts and acceptance among the royal bodyguards. Disappointed that Attalus was not punished, Pausanias now hated the king too. He was also instructed by the sophist Hermocrates that he could gain much fame by murdering the man who performed the greatest deeds. In Pausanias the intention to kill the king matured, which he put into practice during the festivities on the occasion of the wedding of the king's daughter Cleopatra with Alexander of Epirus. When Philip left his bodyguard behind and headed for the theater alone, Pausanias, who was already lurking, ran up to him and stabbed him. The surprise effect gave the assassin a head start to escape. But when he reached the horses posted at the entrance and wanted to swing himself into the saddle, his shoe got stuck in a tendril, so that he fell and was now followed by three bodyguards Leonnatos , Perdikkas and Attalos (not identical with the named general of the same name) was killed on the spot.

Justin

Justin , who probably lived in the second or third century AD, deviates considerably from Diodor's account in his account of the murder of Philip II. He also mentions that Attalus made Pausanias drunk and let his subordinates treat him shamefully, but the reason given by Diodorus that Pausanias was jealous of a rival of the same name and thus drove him to death is missing. According to Justinus, King Philip not only ignored Pausanias' complaints about Attalus, but also ridiculed him. Furthermore, no philosopher is mentioned who, through his speeches, incited Pausanias to murder. On the other hand, Justin says that there was a suspicion that Olympias incited Pausanias to the act because of considerable disputes with her husband; and even Alexander the Great might have been initiated. When he was murdered, in contrast to Diodor's portrayal, Philip was not alone, but accompanied by Alexander the Great and Alexander of Epirus. When the murderer fled, he was not killed immediately, but crucified later. This information fits a papyrus fragment by an unknown ancient historian, who also reports that other people were convicted as accomplices, whom Pausanias probably betrayed during an interrogation carried out after his arrest. According to Justinus, the suspicion against Olympias was corroborated by the fact that she provided the horses for Pausanias' flight and later placed a gold crown on the head of the crucified Christ; Furthermore, she is said to have burned the body of the murderer on the mortal remains of the dead king, built a burial mound for him there, organized annual sacrificial feasts in his memory and dedicated the sword with which the murder was committed to Apollo .

Judgment on murder in modern science

Modern historians judge the possible backgrounds of the murder of Philip II very differently. Some of the researchers believe Olympias and Alexander the Great to be the instigators, others believe in their innocence. But there is also a group of historians who consider an complicity of Olympias to be likely, but judge more cautiously about Alexander. Robin Lane Fox shares the latter view.

The main motive that Olympias and her son may have instigated the regicide can be found in Philip's last (love) marriage with the young Macedonian Cleopatra. Olympias saw her position endangered and honor injured, left the court and resided with her brother Alexander of Epirus, whom she tried to incite to war against her husband. Alexander the Great also fell out with his father at his wedding party with Cleopatra and later only reconciled externally with him. Above all, he must have seen his succession to the throne threatened by a possible son of his new stepmother, since Olympias as Epirotin was a “foreigner” from the Macedonian point of view and Attalus made a corresponding tactless remark that Philip could finally have a real son from Cleopatra.

Clear evidence for or against Olympias and her son's complicity in the regicide cannot, of course, be produced. The alleged honor described by Justin, which Olympias paid to the murdered murderer, can also be explained by sheer joy at his act. However, she later did not shy away from any acts of violence, such as the removal of Philip's young widow. Aristotle and Diodor's reports are likely to represent the version of the assassination officially widespread at court, as they do not even mention Philip's momentous dispute with his wife and son and describe Pausanias as the sole perpetrator acting out of a purely personal avenging desire. The variant that the disgrace allegedly perpetrated by Attalus on Pausanias and not punished by the king was the only motive for murder was very convenient for Olympias and her son, as Attalus was murdered on Alexander's orders shortly after Philip's death and could therefore no longer object. Finally, it should be noted that other parties, such as the Persians, could have an interest in Philip's death.

literature

Web links

Remarks

  1. ↑ Josephus , Jewish Antiquities 11,304.
  2. ↑ Aristotle , Politics 5,10,1311b.
  3. ↑ Diodorus 16.93.1-16.94.4.
  4. ↑ Iustinus 9,6,4-9,7,14; The Oxyrhynchus Papyri , edited by Bernard Pyne Grenfell and Arthur Surridge Hunt , No. 1798. In addition to Justinus, Plutarch , Alexander 10.5, mentions the suspicion of complicity of Olympias and Alexander in the murder .
  5. ^ Siegfried Lauffer : Alexander the Great . Munich 1993, ISBN 3-423-04298-2 , pp. 37 , note 25 (with a list of the opinions of the most important ancient historians by name).
  6. ↑ Robin Lane Fox : Alexander the Great . Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-608-94078-2 , p. 10-15 .
  7. ↑ Satyros von Kallatis in Karl Müller , Fragmenta historicorum Graecorum (FHG) III 161, fragment 5 = Athenaios 13,557d – e; Plutarch, Alexander 9.6-14; Justin 9,7,3-7. In addition Siegfried Lauffer: Alexander the Great . Munich 1993, ISBN 3-423-04298-2 , pp. 34 ff .
  8. ↑ Thomas Lenschau : Pausanias 6). In: Paulys Realencyclopadie der classischen Antiquity Science (RE). Volume XVIII, 2, Stuttgart 1942, Col. 2399 f. Robin Lane Fox: Alexander the Great . Stuttgart 2004, ISBN 3-608-94078-2 , p. 11, 14-15 .
personal data
SURNAME Pausanias
BRIEF DESCRIPTION Murderer of King Philip II of Macedon
DATE OF BIRTH 4th century BC Chr.
PLACE OF BIRTH Orestis
DATE OF DEATH 336 BC Chr.
Place of death Vergina