Neon ( grc, Νέων) was the name of a number of figures from classical antiquity: *A Corinthian officer who accompanied Timoleon in his expedition to Sicily and was appointed by him to command the citadel of

Syracuse Syracuse may refer to: Places Italy *Syracuse, Sicily, or spelled as ''Siracusa'' *Province of Syracuse United States *Syracuse, New York **East Syracuse, New York **North Syracuse, New York *Syracuse, Indiana * Syracuse, Kansas *Syracuse, Miss ...

, when that fortress was placed in his hands by Dionysius II. In this post Neon not only held out against the combined efforts of Hicetas and the

Carthaginian The term Carthaginian ( la, Carthaginiensis ) usually refers to a citizen of Ancient Carthage. It can also refer to: * Carthaginian (ship), a three-masted schooner built in 1921 * Insurgent privateers; nineteenth-century South American privateers, ...

general Mago, but took advantage of their absence on an expedition against Catana, to make himself master of the important quarter of Acradina. *A Messenian, son of Philiades, and brother of

Thrasybulus Thrasybulus (; grc-gre, Θρασύβουλος ; 440 – 388 BC) was an Athenian general and democratic leader. In 411 BC, in the wake of an oligarchic coup at Athens, the pro-democracy sailors at Samos elected him as a general, making him a ...

, who was accused by Demosthenes of having betrayed his country to Philip II of Macedon. An elaborate vindication of his conduct, together with that of others of his contemporaries who had adopted the same line of policy, is given by the historian

Polybius Polybius (; grc-gre, Πολύβιος, ; ) was a Greek historian of the Hellenistic period. He is noted for his work , which covered the period of 264–146 BC and the Punic Wars in detail. Polybius is important for his analysis of the mixed ...

. *An officer who commanded under Demetrius Poliorcetes in the great sea-fight off Salamis in Cyprus in 306 BCE. *A Boeotian, who was one of the leaders of the

Macedonian Macedonian most often refers to someone or something from or related to Macedonia. Macedonian(s) may specifically refer to: People Modern * Macedonians (ethnic group), a nation and a South Slavic ethnic group primarily associated with North M ...

party in his native country during the reign of

Antigonus III Doson Antigonus III Doson ( el, Ἀντίγονος Γ΄ Δώσων, 263–221 BC) was king of Macedon from 229 BC to 221 BC. He was a member of the Antigonid dynasty. Family background Antigonus III Doson was a half-cousin of his predecessor, Demetri ...

. An accident put it in his power to confer a great personal obligation upon that monarch: for Antigonus having touched with his fleet on the coast of Boeotia, the ships were all left aground by a sudden change of tide: Neon, who was

hipparch ''Hipparchus'', anglicized hipparch ( gr, ἵππαρχος, hipparchos), was the title of an ancient Greek cavalry officer, commanding a ''hipparchia'' (unit of about 500 horsemen); two such units were commanded by an ''epihipparchos Epihipparc ...

at the time, came up with the Boeotian cavalry, but instead of taking advantage of the situation of Antigonus, he allowed him to depart in safety. For this act he incurred much censure from his countrymen, but obtained a high place in the favor of Antigonus and his successor Philip V of Macedon. *A Theban, probably grandson of the preceding, took a prominent part in the politics of Boeotia during the disputes between the Romans and Perseus of Macedon. He was one of the principal authors of the alliance concluded by the Boeotianis with Perseus, on which account he was driven into exile, when the cities of Boeotia submitted to the Roman deputies Marcius and Aulus Atilius Serranus in 172 BCE. Hereupon he took refuge with Perseus, to whose fortunes he seems to have henceforward closely attached himself, as he was one of the three companions of the king's flight after the decisive

Battle of Pydna The Battle of Pydna took place in 168 BC between Rome and Macedon during the Third Macedonian War. The battle saw the further ascendancy of Rome in the Hellenistic world and the end of the Antigonid line of kings, whose power traced back to ...

. He eventually fell into the hands of the Romans, by whom he was executed the following year in 167 BCE. Plutarch, ''

Parallel Lives Plutarch's ''Lives of the Noble Greeks and Romans'', commonly called ''Parallel Lives'' or ''Plutarch's Lives'', is a series of 48 biographies of famous men, arranged in pairs to illuminate their common moral virtues or failings, probably writt ...

'' Aemilius Paullus 23

Notes

{{DGRBM, author=EHB, title=Neon, volume=2, page=1153-1154, url=http://quod.lib.umich.edu/m/moa/ACL3129.0002.001/1163 Anabasis (Xenophon) People of the Greco-Persian Wars 4th-century BC Greek people Ancient Corinthians Ancient Messenians 3rd-century BC Macedonians Ancient Boeotians Ancient Thebans 2nd-century BC executions Year of birth unknown