1 Masson, Olivier. 1984. “En marge d’Hérodote: deux peuplades mal connues, les Bacales et les Cabaléens.” MH 41.3: 139–45.
2 Winnicki, Jan Krzysztof. 2006. “Der Libysche Stamm der Bakaler im pharaonischen, persischen und ptolemäischen Ägypten.” AncSoc 36: 135–42.
FURTHER READING
1 Corcella in ALC, 698.
2 Winnicki, Jan Krzysztof. 2009. Late Egypt and Her Neighbours: Foreign Population in Egypt in the First Millennium BC, translated by Dorota Dzierzbicka, 421–25. Warsaw: The Journal of Juristic Papyrology Supplement XII.
BACCHIADAE (Βακχιάδαι, οἱ)
MAURIZIO GIANGIULIO
Università di Trento, Italy
The name (properly a patronymic, meaning “the descendants of Bacchis”) by which a number of prominent Corinthian families (more than 200 according to later sources) identified themselves as an elite group, claiming descent from the fifth king of CORINTH, the Heraclid Bacchis. In the Histories the Bacchiadae are mentioned by the Corinthian SOCLES in the speech he allegedly gave before the ASSEMBLY of the ALLIES of SPARTA c. 504 BCE, when the Spartans proposed to restore HIPPIAS as TYRANT of ATHENS (5.91–92). Socles, whose aim was to show how tyranny is unjust and bloodthirsty, began by reporting the rise to power of the tyrant CYPSELUS SON OF EËTION at the expense of the Bacchiadae who ruled the city as an OLIGARCHY and married only among themselves (5.92). Here the word oligarchy, however, is chronologically inconsistent, as it is unattested before the fifth century BCE, and endogamy may be a rationalizing inference from the story of Cypselus’ mother LABDA who had to marry outside the FAMILY. Late historical tradition (Diod. Sic. 7.9; Paus. 2.4.4) has the Bacchiadae rule Corinth for ninety years after the fall of the last of the kings. A chief official called prytanis was chosen among themselves to carry out the functions of the king.
SEE ALSO: Cleomenes; Heracleidae; Marriage
FURTHER READING
1 Oost, Stewart I. 1972. “Cypselus the Bacchiad.” CPh 67: 10–30.
2 Roussel, Denis. 1976. Tribu et cité: études sur les groupes sociaux dans les cités grecques aux époques archaïque et classique, 53–54. Paris: Les Belles Lettres.
3 Salmon, J. B. 1984. Wealthy Corinth: A History of the City to 338 BC, 54–57, 65–66. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
4 Will, Edouard. 1955. Korinthiaka. Recherches sur l’histoire et la civilisation de Corinthe des origines aux guerres médiques, 295–306. Paris: de Boccard.
BACCHUS, see DIONYSUS
BACIS (Βάκις, ὁ)
MARGARET FOSTER
Indiana University
Legendary figure credited with a well‐known collection of hexametric ORACLES. Herodotus mentions oracles of Bacis four times in the Histories, all within the context of key battles of the PERSIAN WARS. In three of these references (8.20.2; 8.77.1–2; 9.43.2), Herodotus quotes the oracles verbatim. Following the Battle of ARTEMISIUM, the EUBOEANS neglected to heed an oracle of Bacis and suffered destruction as a result (8.20.2). Herodotus also relates an oracle of Bacis that anticipates the Greeks’ victory at SALAMIS (8.77.1–2). Herodotus uses this as EVIDENCE of the truthfulness of clear oracles, asserting his unwavering belief in such oracles and his refusal to refute them. (Some modern editors suggest that this chapter is a later interpolation and/or not written by Herodotus: see Wilson 2015, 161). In two further passages, Herodotus connects Bacis to another legendary figure associated with an oracle collection, MUSAEUS. Unlike those of Bacis, however, Musaeus’ oracles are never quoted. Following the Battle of Salamis, Herodotus reports that every oracle was fulfilled, including those of Bacis and Musaeus (8.96.1–2). A final oracle of Bacis, which Herodotus notes was similar to an oracle of Musaeus, predicts the Greeks’ victory over the Persians at PLATAEA (9.43.2). ARISTOPHANES repeatedly lampoons Bacis, whom he seems to deploy as the archetypal chrēsmologos (“oracle‐monger”) (e.g., Ar. Eq. 123–24, 1004; Av. 962). According to the Suda, PEISISTRATUS’ nickname was Bacis (Suda s.v. Βάκις (B 47); schol. Ar. Pax 1071). Although Herodotus only refers to a single Bacis, multiple Bacides are reported by later ancient authors (Ael. VH 12.35).
SEE ALSO: Eleon; Prophecy; Religion, Herodotus’ views on
REFERENCE
1 Wilson, N. G. 2015. Herodotea. Studies on the Text of Herodotus. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
FURTHER READING
1 Asheri, David. 1993. “Erodoto e Bacide. Considerazioni sulla fede di Erodoto negli oracoli (Hdt. VIII 77).” In La profezia nel mondo antico, edited by Marta Sordi, 63–76. Milan: Vita e Pensiero.
2 Dillery, John. 2005. “Chresmologues and Manteis: Independent Diviners and the Problem of Authority.” In Mantikē: Studies in Ancient Divination, edited by Sarah Iles Johnston and Peter T. Struck, 167–231. Leiden: Brill.
3 Dillon, Matthew. 2017. Oracles and Omens: Divination in Ancient Greece. London and New York: Routledge.
BACTRIANS (Βάκτριοι, οἱ)
REBECCA FUTO KENNEDY
Denison University
Peoples residing along with the AEGLIANS in the twelfth provincial district of the Persian Empire (in modern Afghanistan) under DARIUS I (3.92.2). The Bactrians were best‐known to Herodotus for their prowess in battle, their CAVALRY in particular. They first appear in extant written sources in the BISITUN inscription (DB §6), where the SATRAP of Bactria was said by Darius to have put down the revolt of Frâda of Margiana (DB §38). They were among the “best” troops selected by MARDONIUS to remain with him in Greece after the Persian defeat at SALAMIS in 480 BCE (8.113.2). At the Battle of PLATAEA in 479, they were stationed next to the MEDES (9.31.3).
According to Herodotus, the Bactrians along with the Aeglians paid 360 TALENTS in annual TRIBUTE, a large sum compared with other districts in the empire. On the east stair of the great Apadana at PERSEPOLIS, the Bactrians are pictured escorting a double‐humped CAMEL and carrying ointments (Kuhrt 2007, 523). Herodotus describes their attire as Median in style (7.64), a description supported by the images on the Apadana relief. This consistent pairing with, and noted similarity to, the Medes in both Herodotus and Persian sources suggests a strong or long‐standing affinity between the two peoples, though the Bactrians are also linked frequently with the SACAE, whom the Persians and Greeks placed north of the Bactrians. Bactria was also the place whither those in opposition to the king (or, later, to Alexander), retreated to raise revolt, suggesting a streak of independence, WEALTH, and military strength.
SEE ALSO: Horses; Persia
REFERENCE
1 Kuhrt, Amélie. 2007. The Persian Empire. A Corpus of Sources from
