FURTHER READING
1 IACP no. 870 (1110–11).
2 McNicoll, Anthony W. 1997. Hellenistic Fortifications from the Aegean to the Euphrates, 31–38. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
ALABANDA IN PHRYGIA (τῆς Φρυγίης Ἀλαβάνδα)
JEREMY LABUFF
Northern Arizona University
A “great city” in PHRYGIA under the administration of Amyntas, nephew of ALEXANDER I of MACEDON and son of a Persian notable (8.136.1). Its identification remains insecure, and no other ancient source mentions the city so named (to be distinguished from the ALABANDA IN CARIA). Stephen of Byzantium calls it “Alabastra” (Steph. Byz. s.v. Ἀλάβαστρα (A 185)) and Simon Hornblower (1982, 218 n. 2) proposes that it should be identified with Blaundus on the Lydian‐Phrygian border.
SEE ALSO: Amyntas son of Bubares; Cities; Gygaea
REFERENCE
1 Hornblower, Simon. 1982. Mausolus. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
FURTHER READING
1 Badian, Ernst. 1994. “Herodotus on Alexander I of Macedon: A Study in Some Subtle Silences.” In Greek Historiography, edited by Simon Hornblower, 107–30. Oxford: Clarendon Press.
ALALIA (Ἀλαλίη, ἡ)
HEINZ‐GÜNTHER NESSELRATH
University of Göttingen
Alalia (modern Aleria) on the east coast of Corsica (CYRNUS) was founded by settlers from PHOCAEA in Asia Minor around 560 BCE (1.165.1), although traces of preceding habitation of early Iron Age date have been found as well (Asheri in ALC, 185). Twenty years later a large additional body of Phocaeans arrived (1.166.1); these new settlers came in order to avoid becoming part of the expanding Persian Empire. The newcomers established additional sanctuaries, but their continuous raids on neighboring populations in the subsequent years led to an alliance between the Etruscans and CARTHAGE, who mounted an expedition of 120 ships against Alalia. The Phocaeans went against them with 60 ships of their own; but in the ensuing naval battle (one of the earliest recorded major military engagements of this kind, possibly alluded to in Thuc. 1.13.6) they lost 40 of their ships, and the remaining 20 were rendered useless because their rams were severely damaged (a “Cadmeian” victory, Hdt. 1.166.2). Realizing that they could not withstand another attack, the Phocaeans evacuated Alalia and moved to RHEGIUM at the southwestern tip of ITALY (1.166.3) and from there to ELEA (Hyele/Velia, 1.167.3). Whether all Greeks left is “disputed by archaeologists” (Asheri in ALC, 185). In any case the Etruscans seem now to have been the dominant power on the spot, until the Romans took over in 259 BCE.
SEE ALSO: Agyllaeans; Cadmeians; Colonization; Migration; Naval Warfare; Tyrrhenians
FURTHER READING
1 Nesselrath, Heinz‐Günther. 2012. “Die griechische Westkolonisation in der antiken Literatur: Das Beispiel der Phokaier bei Herodot.” In Griechen in Übersee und der historische Raum, edited by Johannes Bergemann, 11–18. Rahden: Leidorf.
ALARODIANS (Ἀλαρόδιοι, οἱ)
CHRISTOPHER BARON,
University of Notre Dame
In providing a list of the provinces (archai or SATRAPIES, 3.89.1) into which DARIUS I divided the Persian Empire, Herodotus states (3.94.1) that the Alarodians were part of the eighteenth administrative district (νομός, nome). The Alarodians occupied territory near the modern‐day border of Turkey, Iran, and ARMENIA (BA 89 E2; Müller II, 92). Possibly they were descendants of the kingdom of Urartu, which was destroyed in the seventh century BCE (Bryce 2009, 747–52). The Alarodians also appear in the CATALOGUE of XERXES’ invasion force, alongside the SASPEIRES and equipped in the same manner as the COLCHIANS (7.79).
SEE ALSO: Masistius; Persia
REFERENCE
1 Bryce, Trevor. 2009. The Routledge Handbook of the Peoples and Places of Western Asia: The Near East from the Early Bronze Age to the Fall of the Persian Empire. London and New York: Routledge.
ALAZIR (Ἀλάζειρ, ὁ)
TYPHAINE HAZIZA
Université de Caen Normandie
King of BARCA in LIBYA (North Africa) in the first half of the sixth century BCE. Although he bears a Libyan name, it seems that Alazir belonged to the Battiad family which ruled the Greek city of CYRENE. This would explain his support for ARCESILAUS III. It is even possible that he had been placed in charge of the city of Barca after it had been reduced by the forces of Arcesilaus III. Victim of an ambush, the two rulers were murdered by aristocratic Cyrenean EXILES hostile to Arcesilaus and the Barcaeans who supported them, in the AGORA of Barca, around 522 BCE (4.164).
SEE ALSO: Aristocracy; Battus I; Colonization
FURTHER READING
1 Chamoux, François. 1953. Cyrène sous la monarchie des Battiades, 144–52. Paris: de Boccard.
2 Corcella in ALC, 692.
3 Galand, Lionel. 2008. “Noms ‘libyques’ de personnes à Cyrène.” Épigraphie libyco‐berbère 14: 1–2.
ALAZONES , see ALIZONES
ALCAEUS (Ἀλκαῖος, ὁ)
CHARLES C. CHIASSON
University of Texas at Arlington
Alcaeus (born c. 630 BCE) is a lyric poet from LESBOS cited once by Herodotus (5.95) for having discarded his armor in a battle between ATHENS and MYTILENE. One recurrent topic in his surviving verses—the remnants of an Alexandrian edition in at least ten books—is the political turmoil that plagued Lesbos during the late seventh century, as rule by hereditary kingship gave way to a series of TYRANTS, and various aristocratic families (including Alcaeus’ own) jockeyed for power. Alcaeus vividly describes his hatred of PITTACUS, an erstwhile ally turned tyrant, and the tribulations that he himself suffered in political EXILE.
Herodotus mentions Alcaeus in the context of long‐standing conflict between Athens and Mytilene for control of SIGEIUM, a strategically important site at the entrance to the HELLESPONT. Herodotus notes that during a battle (traditionally dated to 607/6, though this passage may raise questions about the CHRONOLOGY) the poet fled and the Athenians seized his armor, which they dedicated in the temple of ATHENA at Sigeium. Herodotus adds that Alcaeus composed a poem about the incident and sent it to Mytilene to inform
