Thrasybulus ( el, Θρασύβουλος ὁ Μιλήσιος) was the
tyrant of
Miletus
Miletus (; gr, Μῑ́λητος, Mī́lētos; Hittite transcription ''Millawanda'' or ''Milawata'' (exonyms); la, Mīlētus; tr, Milet) was an ancient Greek city on the western coast of Anatolia, near the mouth of the Maeander River in a ...
in the 7th century BC. Under his rule, Miletus fought a lengthy war against
Lydia
Lydia (Lydian language, Lydian: 𐤮𐤱𐤠𐤭𐤣𐤠, ''Śfarda''; Aramaic: ''Lydia''; el, Λυδία, ''Lȳdíā''; tr, Lidya) was an Iron Age Monarchy, kingdom of western Asia Minor located generally east of ancient Ionia in the mod ...
. This war ended without a decisive victor (a result that Herodotus credits to Thrasybulus's tricking
Alyattes into making peace.). Following the war, Miletus and Lydia concluded an alliance.
Thrasybulus was an ally of
Periander
Periander (; el, Περίανδρος; died c. 585 BC) was the Second Tyrant of the Cypselid dynasty that ruled over ancient Corinth. Periander's rule brought about a prosperous time in Corinth's history, as his administrative skill made Corinth o ...
, the tyrant of
Corinth. He features in a famous anecdote from
Herodotus's ''
Histories
Histories or, in Latin, Historiae may refer to:
* the plural of history
* ''Histories'' (Herodotus), by Herodotus
* ''The Histories'', by Timaeus
* ''The Histories'' (Polybius), by Polybius
* ''Histories'' by Gaius Sallustius Crispus (Sallust), ...
'', in which a messenger from
Periander
Periander (; el, Περίανδρος; died c. 585 BC) was the Second Tyrant of the Cypselid dynasty that ruled over ancient Corinth. Periander's rule brought about a prosperous time in Corinth's history, as his administrative skill made Corinth o ...
asks Thrasybulus for advice on ruling.
[Aristotle tells the same story albeit with reversed roles (Thrasybulus asks Periander) in '' Politics'', 3, 1284a and ''Politics'', 5, 1311a] Thrasybulus, instead of responding, takes the messenger for a walk in a field of wheat, where he proceeds to cut off all of the best and tallest ears of wheat. The message, correctly interpreted by Periander, was that a wise ruler would preempt challenges to his rule by "removing" those prominent men who might be powerful enough to challenge him; this story gave the name to
tall poppy syndrome
The tall poppy syndrome is a cultural phenomenon in which people hold back, criticise or sabotage those who have or are believed to have achieved notable success in one or more aspects of life, particularly intellectual or cultural wealth; "cut ...
.
See also
*
Negative selection (politics)
Negative selection is a political process that occurs especially in rigid hierarchies, most notably dictatorships, but also to lesser degrees in such settings as corporations or electoral politics.
The person(s) on the top of the hierarchy, wi ...
Notes
References
*Fine, John V.A. ''The Ancient Greeks: A critical history'' (Harvard University Press, 1983)
Ancient Milesians
Archaic tyrants
7th-century BC Greek people
{{AncientGreece-bio-stub