Callisthenes of Olynthus (; grc-gre, Καλλισθένης; 360327 BCE) was a well-connected
Greek historian in
Macedon, who accompanied
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
during his Asiatic expedition.
The philosopher
Aristotle was Callisthenes's great uncle.
Early life
His mother Hero was the niece of Aristotle, and daughter of
Proxenus of Atarneus Proxenus of Atarneus ( el, Πρόξενος ὁ Ἀταρνεύς) is most famous for being Aristotle's guardian after the death of his parents. Proxenus educated Aristotle for a couple of years before sending him to Athens to Plato's Academy. He ...
and
Arimneste
Arimneste ( grc, Ἀριμνήστη) was the daughter of Nicomachus and Phaestis, and Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Clas ...
, which made Callisthenes the great-nephew of Aristotle by his sister
Arimneste
Arimneste ( grc, Ἀριμνήστη) was the daughter of Nicomachus and Phaestis, and Aristotle
Aristotle (; grc-gre, Ἀριστοτέλης ''Aristotélēs'', ; 384–322 BC) was a Greek philosopher and polymath during the Clas ...
, Callisthenes's grandmother. They first met when Aristotle tutored
Alexander the Great
Alexander III of Macedon ( grc, Ἀλέξανδρος, Alexandros; 20/21 July 356 BC – 10/11 June 323 BC), commonly known as Alexander the Great, was a king of the ancient Greek kingdom of Macedon. He succeeded his father Philip II to ...
.
Career
Through his great-uncle's influence, Callisthenes was later appointed to attend Alexander the Great on his
Asiatic expedition as the official historian.
During the first years of Alexander's campaign in Asia, Callisthenes showered praises upon the
Macedonian conqueror. As the king and army penetrated further into Asia, however, Callisthenes's tone began to change. He began to sharply criticize Alexander's adoption of
Persian
Persian may refer to:
* People and things from Iran, historically called ''Persia'' in the English language
** Persians, the majority ethnic group in Iran, not to be conflated with the Iranic peoples
** Persian language, an Iranian language of the ...
customs, with special scorn for Alexander's growing desire that those who presented themselves before him perform the servile ceremony of
proskynesis
Proskynesis or proscynesis , or proskinesis (Greek , ''proskýnēsis''; Latin adoratio) is a solemn gesture of respect for the gods and people; among the Persians, it referred to a man prostrating himself and kissing the earth, or the limbs ...
, a physical act of submission. In the end, Alexander did not continue the practice.
Death
Callisthenes was implicated by his former pupil,
Hermolaus of Macedon
Hermolaus of Macedon ( el, Ἑρμόλαος) was a page to Alexander the Great in 327 BC, who was executed for planning regicide.
Early life
The son of hipparch Sopolis of Macedon, Hermolaus was one of the Macedonian youths drawn from sons of th ...
, one of Alexander's
pages
Page most commonly refers to:
* Page (paper), one side of a leaf of paper, as in a book
Page, PAGE, pages, or paging may also refer to:
Roles
* Page (assistance occupation), a professional occupation
* Page (servant), traditionally a young mal ...
, in a conspiracy to assassinate Alexander. He was thrown into prison where he died seven months later,
from either torture or disease.
This event brought Alexander's relationship with Aristotle to a close.
Callisthenes's death was commemorated in a special treatise (''Callisthenes or a Treatise on Grief'') by his friend
Theophrastus, whose acquaintance he made during a visit to
Athens. There are nevertheless several different accounts of how he died or was executed.
Crucifixion
Crucifixion is a method of capital punishment in which the victim is tied or nailed to a large wooden cross or beam and left to hang until eventual death from exhaustion and asphyxiation. It was used as a punishment by the Persians, Carthagin ...
is the method suggested by
Ptolemy, but
Chares of Mytilene
Chares of Mytilene ( grc, Χάρης ὁ Μυτιληναῖος) was a Greek belonging to the court of Alexander the Great. He was appointed court-marshal or introducer of strangers to the king, an office borrowed from the Persian court. He wrote ...
and
Aristobulus of Cassandreia
Aristobulus of Cassandreia (c. 375 BC – 301 BC), Greek historian, son of Aristobulus, probably a Phocian settled in
Cassandreia, accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns. He served throughout as an architect and military engineer as we ...
both claim that Callisthenes died of natural causes while in prison.
Writings
Callisthenes wrote an account of Alexander's expedition up to the time of his own execution, a history of Greece from the
Peace of Antalcidas
The King's Peace (387 BC) was a peace treaty guaranteed by the Persian King Artaxerxes II that ended the Corinthian War in ancient Greece. The treaty is also known as the Peace of Antalcidas, after Antalcidas, the Spartan diplomat who traveled ...
(387 BCE) to the start of the
Phocian war, a history of the Phocian war (356 BCE–346 BCE), and other works, all of which have perished. However, his account of Alexander's expedition was preserved long enough to be mined as a direct or indirect source for other histories that have survived.
Polybius scolds Callisthenes for his poor descriptions of the battles of Alexander.
[Polybius, XII.17 "Polybius dedicated to Callisthenes a whole chapter in his 12th book called ''"On the Inexperience of Callisthenes as to the Provision of Deeds of War"'']
A quantity of the more legendary material coalesced into a text known as the ''
Alexander Romance'', the basis of all the Alexander legends of the
Middle Ages, originated during the time of the
Ptolemies
The Ptolemaic dynasty (; grc, Πτολεμαῖοι, ''Ptolemaioi''), sometimes referred to as the Lagid dynasty (Λαγίδαι, ''Lagidae;'' after Ptolemy I's father, Lagus), was a Macedonian Greek royal dynasty which ruled the Ptolemaic K ...
, but in its present form belongs to the 3rd century CE. Its author is usually known as Pseudo-Callisthenes, although in the Latin translation by
Julius Valerius Alexander Polemius Julius Valerius Alexander Polemius ( AD) was a translator of the Greek '' Alexander Romance'', a romantic history of Alexander the Great, into Latin under the title ''Res gestae Alexandri Macedonis''. The work is in three books on his birth, acts a ...
(early 4th century) it is ascribed to a certain
Aesopus;
Aristotle,
Antisthenes
Antisthenes (; el, Ἀντισθένης; 446 366 BCE) was a Greek philosopher and a pupil of Socrates. Antisthenes first learned rhetoric under Gorgias before becoming an ardent disciple of Socrates. He adopted and developed the ethical side ...
,
Onesicritus
Onesicritus ( el, Ὀνησίκριτος; c. 360 BC – c. 290 BC), a Greek historical writer and Cynic philosopher, who accompanied Alexander the Great on his campaigns in Asia. He claimed to have been the commander of Alexander's fleet but ...
, and
Arrian
Arrian of Nicomedia (; Greek: ''Arrianos''; la, Lucius Flavius Arrianus; )
was a Greek historian, public servant, military commander and philosopher of the Roman period.
''The Anabasis of Alexander'' by Arrian is considered the best so ...
have also been credited with the authorship.
There are also Syrian, Armenian, and Slavonic versions, in addition to four
Greek versions (two in prose and two in verse) in the Middle Ages (see
Krumbacher
Karl Krumbacher (23 September 1856 – 12 December 1909) was a German scholar who was an expert on Byzantine Greek language, literature, history and culture. He was one of the principal founders of Byzantine Studies as an independent academic ...
, ''Geschichte der byzantinischen Literatur'', 1897, p. 849).
Valerius's translation was completely superseded by that of
Leo, archpriest of Naples in the 10th century, the so-called ''Historia de Preliis''.
References
Sources
Primary sources
*
Sudabr>
s.v.*
Diog. Laërtius v. 1;
* Arrian, ''Anab.'' iv. 10-14;
*
Quintus Curtius viii. 5-8;
*
Plutarch, ''Alexander'', 52-55;
Secondary sources
*
J. Zacher, ''Pseudo-Callisthenes'' (1867);
*
Wilhelm von Christ
Wilhelm von Christ (2 August 1831 – 8 February 1906) was a German classical scholar.
Biography
He was born in Geisenheim in Hesse-Nassau. From 1854 till 1860 he taught in the Maximiliansgymnasium at Munich, and in 1861 was appointed professor o ...
, ''Geschichte der griechischen Litteratur'' (1898), pp. 363, 819;
*
Eduard Meyer
Eduard Meyer (25 January 1855 – 31 August 1930) was a German historian. He was the brother of Celticist Kuno Meyer (1858–1919).
Biography
Meyer was born in Hamburg and educated at the Gelehrtenschule des Johanneums and later at the univer ...
, article in
Ersch
Johann Samuel Ersch (23 June 1766 – 16 January 1828) was a German bibliographer, generally regarded as the founder of German bibliography.
Biography
He was born in Großglogau (now Głogów), in Silesia. In 1785 he entered the University of H ...
and
Gruber __NOTOC__
Gruber is a German surname from Austria and Bavaria, referring to a person from a geological depression, mine, or pit. It is the most common surname in Austria (see List of most common surnames).
Places
* Gruber Mountains, Antarctica ...
's ''Allgemeine Encyklopädie'';
*
Adolf Ausfeld, ''Zur Kritik des griechischen Alexanderromans'' (Bruchsal, 1894);
* Sabine Müller, "Kallisthenes of Olynthos and the Twofold Image of "Being Alone" at Alexander's Court", in Rafał Matuszewski (ed.), ''Being Alone in Antiquity. Greco-Roman Ideas and Experiences of Misanthropy, Isolation and Solitude''. de Gruyter, Berlin/Boston 2022, pp. 185–200.
*
A. Westermann, ''De Callisthene Olynthio et Pseudo-Callisthene Commentatio'' (1838–1842);
*
Scriptores rerum Alexandri Magni',
Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Müller
Karl Wilhelm Ludwig Müller ( la, Carolus Müllerus; 13 February 1813 in Clausthal – 1894 in Göttingen) is best known for his still-useful Didot editions of fragmentary Greek authors, especially the monumental five-volume ''Fragmenta Historico ...
(ed.), Parisiis, editore
Ambrosio Firmin Didot, 1846.
Attribution
*
External links
Pothos.org: Callisthenes
{{Authority control
360s BC births
328 BC deaths
4th-century BC Greek people
4th-century BC historians
Conspirators against Alexander the Great
People executed by Alexander the Great
Ancient Olynthians
Historians who accompanied Alexander the Great