Callias of Chalcis (

Greek Greek may refer to: Greece Anything of, from, or related to Greece, a country in Southern Europe: *Greeks, an ethnic group. *Greek language, a branch of the Indo-European language family. **Proto-Greek language, the assumed last common ancestor ...

: Kαλλίας; fl. 4th century BC), son of Mnesarchus, together with his brother Taurosthenes, succeeded his father as tyrants of

Chalcis Chalcis ( ; Ancient Greek & Katharevousa: , ) or Chalkida, also spelled Halkida (Modern Greek: , ), is the chief town of the island of Euboea or Evia in Greece, situated on the Euripus Strait at its narrowest point. The name is preserved from ...

. Callias formed an alliance with

Philip of Macedon Philip II of Macedon ( grc-gre, Φίλιππος ; 382 – 21 October 336 BC) was the king (''basileus'') of the ancient kingdom of Macedonia from 359 BC until his death in 336 BC. He was a member of the Argead dynasty, founders of the a ...

against

Plutarch Plutarch (; grc-gre, Πλούταρχος, ''Ploútarchos''; ; – after AD 119) was a Greek Middle Platonist philosopher, historian, biographer, essayist, and priest at the Temple of Apollo in Delphi. He is known primarily for his ''P ...

, tyrant of

Eretria Eretria (; el, Ερέτρια, , grc, Ἐρέτρια, , literally 'city of the rowers') is a town in Euboea, Greece, facing the coast of Attica across the narrow South Euboean Gulf. It was an important Greek polis in the 6th and 5th centur ...

, with the view of extending his authority over the whole of

Euboea Evia (, ; el, Εύβοια ; grc, Εὔβοια ) or Euboia (, ) is the second-largest Greek island in area and population, after Crete. It is separated from Boeotia in mainland Greece by the narrow Euripus Strait (only at its narrowest poin ...

, a design which, according to

Aeschines Aeschines (; Greek: , ''Aischínēs''; 389314 BC) was a Greek statesman and one of the ten Attic orators. Biography Although it is known he was born in Athens, the records regarding his parentage and early life are conflicting; but it seems ...

, he disguised as a plan for uniting in one league the states of the island and establishing a general Euboean congress based at Chalcis. In response to the threat from Callias, Plutarch sought aid from

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

, which was granted in opposition to the advice of

Demosthenes Demosthenes (; el, Δημοσθένης, translit=Dēmosthénēs; ; 384 – 12 October 322 BC) was a Greek statesman and orator in ancient Athens. His orations constitute a significant expression of contemporary Athenian intellectual prow ...

. An army was sent into Euboea under the command of

Phocion Phocion (; grc-gre, Φωκίων ''Phokion''; c. 402 – c. 318 BC; nicknamed The Good (''ὁ χρηστός'')) was an Athenian statesman and strategos, and the subject of one of Plutarch's ''Parallel Lives''. Phocion was a successful politici ...

, who defeated Callias at Tamynae in 350 BC. After the defeat at Tamynae, Callias went to the

Macedon Macedonia (; grc-gre, Μακεδονία), also called Macedon (), was an ancient kingdom on the periphery of Archaic and Classical Greece, and later the dominant state of Hellenistic Greece. The kingdom was founded and initially ruled by ...

ian court, where for some time he had been held in high regard by Philip. However, having in some way offended the Macedonian king, Callias travelled to Thebes, in the hope of gaining their support. After also falling out with the Thebans and fearing an attack both from them and from Philip, he sought the support of Athens and, through the influence of Demosthenes, not only obtained an alliance and an acknowledgement of the independence of Chalcis, but even persuaded the Athenians to transfer to Chalcis the annual contributions from

Oreus Oreus or Oreos ( grc, Ὠρεός, Ōreos), prior to the 5th century BC called Histiaea or Histiaia (Ἱστίαια), also Hestiaea or Hestiaia (Ἑστίαια), was a town near the north coast of ancient Euboea, situated upon the river Ca ...

and Eretria. In return, Callias promised (apparently never realized) assistance in men and money from

Achaea Achaea () or Achaia (), sometimes transliterated from Greek as Akhaia (, ''Akhaïa'' ), is one of the regional units of Greece. It is part of the region of Western Greece and is situated in the northwestern part of the Peloponnese peninsula. The ...

Megara Megara (; el, Μέγαρα, ) is a historic town and a municipality in West Attica, Greece. It lies in the northern section of the Isthmus of Corinth opposite the island of Salamis Island, Salamis, which belonged to Megara in archaic times, befo ...

, and Euboea. Callias' actions seemed to have taken place in 343 BC, at the time of Philip's planned attempt to take

Ambracia Ambracia (; grc-gre, Ἀμβρακία, occasionally , ''Ampracia'') was a city of ancient Greece on the site of modern Arta. It was captured by the Corinthians in 625 BC and was situated about from the Ambracian Gulf, on a bend of the navigabl ...

. Aeschines ascribes his rival's support of Callias to be the result of corruption, but Demosthenes may have thought that Euboea, united under a strong government, might serve as an effective barrier to Philip's ambition. In 341 BC, the defeat by Phocion of the Macedonian party in Eretria and Oreus under

Cleitarchus Cleitarchus or Clitarchus ( el, Κλείταρχος) was one of the historians of Alexander the Great. Son of the historian Dinon of Colophon, he spent a considerable time at the court of Ptolemy Lagus. He was active in the mid to late 4th cent ...

and Philistides, gave control over the island to Callias. Callias seems to have been still living in 330 BC, the date of Demosthenes' oration, ''On the Crown''. This can be deduced by comments made by Aeschines, who mentions a proposal by Demosthenes to confer on Callias and his brother Taurosthenes the honour of Athenian citizenship.

Notes

References

* Smith, William (editor); ''

Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology The ''Dictionary of Greek and Roman Biography and Mythology'' (1849, originally published 1844 under a slightly different title) is an encyclopedia/biographical dictionary. Edited by William Smith, the dictionary spans three volumes and 3,700 p ...

''
"Callias (4)"

Boston Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...

, (1867) *

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