Polydamas of

Pharsalus ''Pharsalus''Melichar L (1906) ''Monographie der Issiden. (Homoptera). Abhandlungen der K. K. Zoologisch-botanischen Gesellschaft in Wien.'' Wien 3: 1-327 21 is the type genus of planthoppers in the subfamily Pharsalinae (family Ricaniidae); it ...

(

Ancient Greek Ancient Greek includes the forms of the Greek language used in ancient Greece and the ancient world from around 1500 BC to 300 BC. It is often roughly divided into the following periods: Mycenaean Greek (), Dark Ages (), the Archaic p ...

: Πολυδάμας, gen. Πολυδάμαντος, ''Polydámas'', ''Polydámantos'') was a Thessalian statesman. He was entrusted by his fellow-citizens about 375 BC, with the supreme government of their native town. Polydamas formed an alliance with

Sparta Sparta ( Doric Greek: Σπάρτα, ''Spártā''; Attic Greek: Σπάρτη, ''Spártē'') was a prominent city-state in Laconia, in ancient Greece. In antiquity, the city-state was known as Lacedaemon (, ), while the name Sparta referre ...

, with which state his family had long been connected by the bonds of public hospitality (

proxeny Proxeny or ( grc-gre, προξενία) in ancient Greece was an arrangement whereby a citizen (chosen by the city) hosted foreign ambassadors at his own expense, in return for honorary titles from the state. The citizen was called (; plural: o ...

), but he soon after entered into a treaty with

Jason of Pherae Jason of Pherae ( grc-gre, Ἰάσων ὁ Φεραῖος) was the ruler of Thessaly during the period just before Philip II of Macedon came to power. He had succeeded Lycophron I of Pherae, possibly his father, as tyrant of Pherae and was appoi ...

. On the murder of Jason in 370 BC, his brother Polyphron, who succeeded to his power, put to death Polydamas and eight other most distinguished citizens of Pharsalus.

References

* {{SmithDGRBM 4th-century BC Greek people Ancient Thessalian statesmen Proxenoi People from Farsala