Herodotus (I 163–167), reporting the historical events regarding Phocaea, in Ionia, at the time of the Persian conquest, says that the inhabitants, loving freedom, left the city and headed for the West, but he does not say who these exiles were. According to Antiochus of Syracuse (FGrHist 555 F 8), these Phocaeans exiles were οἱ δυνάμενοι, i. e. the aristocratic citizens who had practised emporia until then. The aim of this paper is to try to clarify the political situation of Phocaea during the Persian conquest and to investigate the reasons that led the Phocaeans (or part of them) to leave the city: in fact, the exodus of the Phocaeans could be connected with the beginning of a new political context, relating to the emergence in the city of a group related to the Persians in opposition to an anti-Persian one, and this situation could maybe have destabilized the Phocaean trade in the Mediterranean Sea.
I Focei e la conquista persiana
Luigi Vecchio
2021-01-01
Abstract
Herodotus (I 163–167), reporting the historical events regarding Phocaea, in Ionia, at the time of the Persian conquest, says that the inhabitants, loving freedom, left the city and headed for the West, but he does not say who these exiles were. According to Antiochus of Syracuse (FGrHist 555 F 8), these Phocaeans exiles were οἱ δυνάμενοι, i. e. the aristocratic citizens who had practised emporia until then. The aim of this paper is to try to clarify the political situation of Phocaea during the Persian conquest and to investigate the reasons that led the Phocaeans (or part of them) to leave the city: in fact, the exodus of the Phocaeans could be connected with the beginning of a new political context, relating to the emergence in the city of a group related to the Persians in opposition to an anti-Persian one, and this situation could maybe have destabilized the Phocaean trade in the Mediterranean Sea.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.